“Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world; yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky. There have been as many plagues as wars in history; yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise.
When a war breaks out, people say: 'It's too stupid; it can't last long.' But though a war may well be 'too stupid,' that doesn't prevent its lasting. Stupidity has a knack of getting its way; as we should see if we were not always so much wrapped up in ourselves. In this respect our townsfolk were like everybody else, wrapped up in themselves; in other words they were human: they disbelieved in pestilences.
Albert Camus, The Plague
"Things are going to be getting very real this year, even as some continue to deny reality, to an almost astonishing degree of self-absorption and denial. What is it going to take?"
Jesse, 27 February 2020
"Now is a good time to prepare, if you have not already done so, and to begin engaging in those simple procedures that may help us weather this."
Jesse, 28 February 2020
"This is going to end badly. Big changes are coming. What has been hidden will be revealed. Rough seas ahead, mateys."
Jesse, 22 January 2020, I See It Coming
The market crashed today, or at least put the finishing touch on the first phase of the crash of 2020.
As you may recall I have been talking about the significance of this year, specifically the period before July, since 2018.
And away we go.
The Fed is coming in with the money spigot flush open tomorrow, to try and save the debt markets from locking up, thereby seizing the financial system.
I hope they succeed, at least temporarily.
The media pundits are talking again about the V shaped recovery, and buying up these bargains.
This is not over yet. It will not be done until the virus has nearly run its course, and the economic impact has become known.
But the Merry Pranksters of Wall Street are rarely encumbered by conscience or shame.
I saw something remarkable today. They were emptying the shelves at the local grocery store. Not the usual bread-milk-water storm provisions. No, they literally emptied the meat and poultry sections and the restocking from inventory as well, before 2 in the afternoon.
It looks like El Presidente shook up his comfortable Republican constituency in our 'hood last night. No one was saying 'media hype' today.
Ironically enough it appears that he was exposed to an infected person, but is not concerned enough to take a test. I'll bet Melania is not so blasé about it, especially with regard to their son.
Dolly and I are 'social-distancing' as they say. The young man is still in Oxford, England, and won't be returning for a little while. I miss Mary, my best friend, especially on days like this. But I am glad that I do not have to be concerned about her.
Read the first quote from Camus above, and think hard about it, what it is saying.
Losses in the stock market are one thing, although sometimes it seems that this is the biggest concern here in these United States.
The loss of friends and loved ones makes paper money losses pale by comparison. Things can be replaced, people can't. And that is what we are facing in this, at the end of the day, even as we choose to ignore it.
Repentance, forgiveness, thankfulness.
Have a pleasant evening.
