"If there are damned souls in Hell, it is because men blind themselves.”
E.A. Bucchianeri, Faust: My Soul Be Damned for the World, 2010
"Greed is not good. Greed is a disease, an aberration of simple honest ambition and necessary provision taken to excess. This simple distinction may be lost on a people no longer able to distinguish between virtue and sin, honor and expediency, appetite and gluttony, the means and the ends.
Every great religion, every school of philosophy has cautioned throughout history on the perils of unbridled and unregulated greed. Greed, often in company with hubris and fear, is a handmaiden of the corrupting influence of power and triumph of the will. Greed is contagious, and attacks the very contentment of society at its heart, turning it towards oligarchy and oppression."
Jesse, Greed Is Not Good, 19 December 2010
“When pride comes, then comes disgrace. But with disgrace comes humility, and with humility comes wisdom. The humility of the righteous will guide them, but the deceitfulness of the proud will destroy them."
Proverbs 11:2-3
"For where envy and selfish ambition exist, there is lawlessness, and every wicked action.
Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your worldly desires that make war among yourselves? You desire but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not receive because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive, because you ask for things in the wrong way, to spend it on your passions."
James 3:16-4:3
"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
John 8:43-44
Stocks just wobbled around today.
Gold and the Dollar gained a little.
Silver was smacked down lower for now to the 31 level. Because they can.
They are bulking up the Comex gold inventories in Hong Kong.
This sometimes presages a raid on prices.
There will be an option expiration on the Comex for gold and silver this week on the 25th.
VIX wallowed.
The intention of Israel to invade and occupy parts of Lebanon seems to be progressing.
The markets are not pricing in a wider conflict in the Mideast yet, or the coming climax of the war in Eastern Europe.
The BRICs will be meeting next month, and may have some interesting announcements with regard to currencies.
It is a commonplace to say that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
It is perhaps more to the point that power attracts the corruptible, and those with major personality flaws such as psychopathy and narcissism.
The same is true not only of politics, but of most large organizations, especially those who lack the balance of oversight by the righteous, and rules against the abuses of power.
The world extracts a price from those who serve power for its rewards.
"Evil when we are in its power is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, or even a duty. As soon as men know that they can kill without fear of punishment or blame, they kill; or at least they encourage killers, with approving smiles."
Simone Weil
Such is the way of Leviathan, embodiment of chaos, and the most ardent of its servants.
Have a pleasant evening.
