George Orwell, Experientia Docet, The New Statesman, August 1937
"All the most noted destroyers and deceivers of our species, all the founders of arbitrary governments and false religions have been extraordinary people; and nine tenths of the calamities that have befallen the human race had no other origin than the union of high intelligence with low desires."
Thomas Babington Macaulay, Milton, Edinburgh Review, August 1825
"Democracy has become a weapon of moneyed interests. It uses the media to create the illusion that there is consent from the governed. The press today is an army with carefully organized weapons, the journalists its officers, the readers its soldiers. The reader neither knows nor is supposed to know the purposes for which he is used and the role he is to play. The notion of democracy is often no different than living under a plutocracy or a government by wealthy elites.”
Oswald Spengler, Der Untergang des Abendlandes, 1922
"Journalism is one of the devices whereby industrial autocracy keeps its control over political democracy; it is the day-by-day, between-elections propaganda, whereby the minds of the people are kept in a state of acquiescence, so that when the crisis of an election comes, they go to the polls and cast their ballots for either one of the two candidates of their exploiters."
Upton Sinclair, The Brass Check, 1919
"The most valued characteristic of our system seems to be the willingness of the individual to surrender themselves to the unspeakable— to do whatever they are told to do, say anything that they are told to say, attend whatever institution and join whatever organization that may be required, and to profess anything with fervent conviction that they are told to believe. And to never, ever violate the secrecy and carefully crafted image of the ruling class."
Jesse, The Higher Immorality of the Elite, 25 October 2024
"The men of the higher circles are not representative men; their high position is not a result of moral virtue; their fabulous success is not firmly connected with meritorious ability. Those who sit in the seats of the high and the mighty are selected and formed by the means of power, the sources of wealth, the mechanics of celebrity, which prevail in their society. Commanders of power unequaled in human history, they have succeeded within the American system of organized irresponsibility. A society that is in its higher circles and on its middle levels widely believed to be a network of smart rackets does not produce men with an inner moral sense; a society that is merely expedient does not produce men of conscience."
C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite, April 1956
“A clique of US industrialists is hell-bent to bring a fascist state to supplant our democratic government and is working closely with the fascist regime in Germany and Italy. I have had plenty of opportunity in my post in Berlin to witness how close some of our American ruling families are to the Nazi regime. Certain American industrialists had a great deal to do with bringing fascist regimes into being in both Germany and Italy. They extended aid to help Fascism occupy the seat of power, and they are helping to keep it there.”
William E. Dodd, Ambassador to Germany, 1938
"The present war crisis is something we have made entirely for and by ourselves. There is in reality not the slightest logical reason for war, and yet the whole world is plunging headlong into frightful destruction, and doing so with the purpose of avoiding war and preserving peace! This is true war-madness, an illness of the mind and spirit that is spreading with a furious and subtle contagion all over the world."
Thomas Merton, The Root of War, The Catholic Worker, October 1961
"Violence does not necessarily take people by the throat and strangle them. They are required merely to become accomplices in its lies. The world is being inundated by the brazen conviction that power can do anything, and justice nothing."
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Nobel Lecture, 1970
Not to put too fine a point on it, but mostly everything that Trump, Bessent, and their mouthpieces in the media said about an imminent peace deal with Iran was a lie woven out of whole cloth.
It's purpose was to smash the price of oil, and further inflate the bubble in US equities.
"Iran's Parliament and National Security Commission is reviewing a formal draft bill on management of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf to severely tighten transit rules, per Fars.
Iran is looking to permanently ban US, Israeli, and all other 'hostile' vessels from transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, with fines of up to 20% of cargo value for violations, both military and civilian. Israeli cargo (military or civilian) will not be allowed to transit through the region."
Most things seem to be chopping sideways these days, like they are pacing around while waiting for the bus or a train.
VIX fell into its usual pattern of complacency.
There will be a Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday. It is being produced by contaminated sources.
Gold and silver popped but were pushed back closer to unchanged.
Everything is chopping sideways now unless it benefits an exceptional few.
I have never seen the like of it except in places suffering an onslaught of lawless corruption that were in highly troubled times.
Yeah, that sounds about right. An illness of the mind and spirit.
It's a contagion that has been spreading for some time.
And in late breaking news after the bell:
Multiple credible intelligence reports indicate Yemen's Houthis, Iraqi militias, and Iran's IRGC are preparing to launch massive coordinated attacks against Saudi Arabia, a senior Saudi source tells Al Arabiya. Targets are expected to include civilian, energy and oil facilities, critical infrastructure, airports, and ports. The source adds that missiles and drones are being repositioned for simultaneous attacks.
It's always something.
Have a pleasant evening.
