"This slow and awful self-hypnotism of error is a process that can occur not only with individuals, but also with whole societies. It is hard to pick out and prove; that is why it is hard to cure. But this mental degeneration may be brought to one test, which I truly believe to be a real test.
A nation is not going mad when it does extravagant things, so long as it does them in an extravagant spirit. But whenever we see things done wildly, but taken tamely, then the State is growing insane."
G. K. Chesterton, National Madness
"For death has crept in through the windows, and has entered our strongholds."
Jeremiah 9:21
"The whole concept of sanity in a society where spiritual values have lost their meaning is itself meaningless."
Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable
Stocks were on a tear higher today, on the news that Team Trump, consisting of Mnuchin and Kudlow, are considering its response to the coronavirus. The two major contenders are Fed rate cuts and tax cuts.
I guess this is the one percent rescue effort. I was kind of hoping to hear some news about public health emergency plans etc. I am sure we will get to that, once we work our way through a mountain of platitudes.
And so financial assets recovered with a vengeance, as we decided that we can't be concerned about any pandemics and their economic consequences, as least for today. Markets and all that.
Whatever displeases us must be a hoax, for we are perfect. Barely human, but perfectly obscene in our wanton egoism.
Gold rallied in the morning, and then took its lumps in the afternoon when the Merry Pranksters were calling the shots in the NY paper gold markets.
This is not going to be pretty, by any stretch of the imagination.
The series Babylon Berlin has a new season, its third, posted now on Netflix. It is a period crime piece set in Berlin in 1930. It is well worth watching.
Have a pleasant evening.
