"When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar. Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman law was long. Everywhere there was stability, in government and in society, for the centurions saw that it was so.
But everywhere there was something else, too. There was oppression — for those who were not the friends of Tiberius Caesar. There was the tax gatherer to take the grain from the fields and the flax from the spindle to feed the legions or to fill the hungry treasury from which divine Caesar gave largess to the people. There was the impressor to find recruits for the circuses. There were executioners to quiet those whom the Emperor proscribed. What was a man for but to serve Caesar?
There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts. There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage. And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life. What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?
Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee saying, 'Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.' And the voice from Galilee, which would defy Caesar, offered a new Kingdom in which each man could walk upright and bow to none but his God. 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.' And he sent this gospel of the Kingdom of Man into the uttermost ends of the earth.
So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders."
Vermont C. Royster, In Hoc Anno Domini, December 24, 1949
"Truth dies from the neglect of many, and thereafter liberty, at the hands of a savage few.
Jesse, Liberty Dies at the Hands of a Savage Few, 3 July 2023
Stocks did a bit of a pop and flop today, led by the 'Magnificent 7' tech stocks.
Gold, silver, and the Dollar all drifted higher.
VIX rose.
There will be a precious metals futures option expiration on Friday.
Stocks of physical gold in the Comex registered Hong Kong warehouses have dropped significantly.
The markets seem to be jogging in place.
At some point they will break. Perhaps they may progress a little more.
But the mispricing of risk is profound.
Stop spreading lies and hate, creating divisions, and slandering others.
Stop oppressing and murdering the innocent.
Simple commandments.
Widely ignored though, amongst our stiff-necked generation that thinks it is above judgement, for whatever reasons and manners of privilege.
A banquet of consequences is awaits.
Have a pleasant evening.
