"On Wall Street he and a few others—how many?—three hundred, four hundred, five hundred?—had become precisely that ... Masters of the Universe."
Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities
"Christianity is called the religion of pity. Pity stands opposed to the powerful emotions which heighten our vitality; it has a depressing effect. We are deprived of strength when we feel pity.
The essential characteristic of a good and healthy ruling elite is that it views itself not as a function of the monarchy or the commonwealth, but as its very meaning and highest justification, and that it therefore accepts with a good conscience the sacrifice of untold human beings who, for its sake, must be reduced and lowered to incomplete human beings, to slaves, to instruments.
What is good? All that heightens the feeling of power in a man, the will to power, power itself. What is bad? All that is born of weakness. What is happiness? The feeling that power is growing, that resistance is overcome."
Friedrich Nietzsche
"Modern politics is expensive—power follows money. Money confers the power to command the labor of others. Love of money is love of power. And love of power is the root of evil."
Edward Abbey
"Power will achieve its murderous potential. It simply waits for an excuse, an event of some sort, an assassination, a massacre in a neighboring country, an attempted coup, a famine, or a natural disaster, to justify the beginning of murder en masse."
R. J. Rummel
“Each day we are becoming a creature of splendid glory, or one of unthinkable horror.”
C. S. Lewis
Stocks had yet another wide ranging day, with the SP finishing flat and the NDX up a bit.
The VIX dropped sharply.
The Dollar chopped sideways and finished slightly lower.
The precious metals joined in with the old intraday two step, down and then back up a bit.
The CPI came in 'meh' this morning.
Stock option expiration on Friday.
The US is busy shooting down things in its upper atmosphere. Good times.
Have a pleasant evening.
