"It is midnight in our world today. Man is experiencing today a darkness so deep that he can hardly see which way to turn. The best minds of our day, the most prophetic voices, are saying that today our civilization stands at midnight of its revolving cycle. It is a dark age and a dark world in which we live.
It is midnight within the social order. On the international horizon nations are engaged in a colossal and bitter contest for supremacy. Two world wars have been fought within a generation, and the clouds of another war are dangerously low.
It is also midnight within the moral order. At midnight colours lose their distinctiveness and become a sullen shade of grey. Moral principles have lost their distinctiveness. For modern man, absolute right and wrong are a matter of what the majority is doing. Right and wrong are relative to likes and dislikes and the customs of a particular community.
Midnight is the hour when men desperately seek to obey the eleventh commandment, 'Thou shalt not get caught.' According to the ethic of midnight, the cardinal sin is to be caught and the cardinal virtue is to get by. It is all right to lie, but one must lie with real finesse. It is all right to steal, if one is so dignified that, if caught, the charge becomes embezzlement, not robbery.
It is permissible even to hate, if one so dresses his hating in the garments of love that hating appears to be loving. The Darwinian concept of the survival of the fittest has been substituted by a philosophy of the survival of the slickest. This mentality has brought a tragic breakdown of moral standards, and the midnight of moral degeneration deepens.
Faith in the dawn arises from the faith that God is good and just. When one believes this, he knows that the contradictions of life are neither final nor ultimate. He can walk through the dark night with the radiant conviction that all things work together for good for those that love God. Even the most starless midnight may herald the dawn of some great fulfillment.
The dawn will come. Disappointment, sorrow, and despair are born at midnight, but morning follows.”
Martin Luther King, A Knock at Midnight, February 11, 1962
"Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. Everyone who does evil hate the light, and will not come into it so that their sins will be revealed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that they are doing God's will."
John 3:19-21
“The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the catacombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we are ourselves are defeated in our innermost selves?”
Maximilian Kolbe
Although the economic data this morning was a bit weak, that did not give the expected boost to risk assets on expectations of a Fed end to interest rate increases as one might have expected.
Instead what we saw was a flight to safety.
The Dollar chopped sideways, declining slightly.
VIX rose.
And gold and silver were on a genuine roll, while stocks were just rolling over.
We will have the FOMC rate decision tomorrow afternoon.
Expectations are for a 25 bp increase, but *maybe* some indication that we are nearing then end of this tightening cycle for now. Or not.
Non-Farm Payrolls on Friday.
My suspicious side is wary of a precious metals 'wash and rinse' dead ahead, but maybe that is overthinking it. Or not.
The political landscape appears to be dreary as usual, and and in most places it seems.
The choices shaping up are the usual Hobson's choice among lesser undesirables, between the Devious and the Oblivious. Ugh.
Have a pleasant evening.
