"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”
H.L. Mencken
"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
"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the
organized habits and opinions of the masses is an
important element in democratic society. Those who
manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling
power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our
tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men
we have never heard of.
The invisible government tends to be concentrated in the hands of the few because of the expense of manipulating the social machinery which
controls the opinions and habits of the masses. To
advertise on a scale which will reach fifty million
persons is expensive. To reach and persuade the
group leaders who dictate the public’s thoughts and
actions is likewise expensive.
So vast are the numbers of minds which can be
regimented, and so tenacious are they when regimented, that a group at times offers an irresistible
pressure before which legislators, editors, and teachers are helpless. It was, of course, the astounding success of propaganda during the war that opened the eyes of
the intelligent few in all departments of life to
the possibilities of regimenting the public mind."
Edward Bernays, Propaganda, 1928
"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
“The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.”
Garry Kasparov
"Many will become addicted to hateful and malicious thoughts and hateful words. Slaves to their desires, they will be ferocious, angry despisers of what is good and right. With brutal treachery they will act without restraint, bigoted and blinded by clouds of conceit. They will demand and find their delight in the pleasures of this world, and ignore their need to serve God. They may act religious, but they want to serve themselves."
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Is was another 'risk-off' day, or more properly, a 'risk doesn't matter' day.
The VIX fell.
The Dollar rose on expectations of a hawkish Fed.
Stocks rose.
Gold and silver were punched fairly hard.
Tomorrow must be an FOMC day.
The US financial sector is the eye of the storm, the very heart of darkness.
Have a pleasant evening.
