“Persuading the people to vote against their own best interests has been the awesome genius of the American political elite.”
Gore Vidal, Homage to Daniel Shays, 1972
"Nothing is great but truth, and the smallest truth is great. The other day I had a thought, which I put like this: Even a harmful truth is useful, for it can be harmful only for the moment and will lead to other truths, which must always become useful, very much so. Conversely, even a useful error is harmful, for it can be useful only for the moment, enticing us into other errors, which become more and more harmful."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Letter to Charlotte von Stein, 1787
"The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth."
H.L. Mencken, The Smart Set, 1922
"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. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.
The minority has discovered a powerful help in influencing majorities. It has been found possible so to mold the mind of the masses that they will throw their newly gained strength in the desired direction. The mechanism by which ideas are disseminated on a large scale is propaganda, in the broad sense of an organized effort to spread a particular belief or doctrine. Propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government.
This practice of creating circumstances and of creating pictures in the minds of millions of persons is very common. Virtually no important undertaking is now carried on without it, whether that enterprise be building a cathedral, endowing a university, marketing a moving picture, floating a large bond issue, or electing a president. Sometimes the effect on the public is created by a professional propagandist, sometimes by an amateur deputed for the job. The important thing is that it is universal and continuous; and in its sum total it is regimenting the public mind every bit as much as an army regiments the bodies of its soldiers.
Modern propaganda is a consistent, enduring effort to create or shape events to influence the relations of the public to an enterprise, idea or group.
Clearly it is the intelligent minorities which need to make use of propaganda continuously and systematically. In the active proselytizing minorities in whom selfish interests and public interests coincide lie the progress and development of America. Only through the active energy of the intelligent few can the public at large become aware of and act upon new ideas."
Edward Bernays, Propaganda, 1928
"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
As a reminder there will be an option expiration on September 18th, and it looks like it may be a memorable example of a triple witch in the latter stages of a dodgy episode of egregiously mispriced risk.
Keep a weather eye on the horizon, for the witch of November may come early.
So, stocks finally bent to the fracas in the Persian Gulf and sensed, as missiles took out various ships and bases and reportedly even struck a carrier, that the risk of war and oil disruptions are in the air.
Stocks fell but in a fairly controlled manner. No panic yet.
Oil rose again and is pushing up against that trendline for a breakout.
The weather might have to get a little chilly for some to wake up. Natural gas is sleeping.
Dollar chop.
Gold and silver rallied. I don't know why Bessent is bothering, since he has his hands full of yen, but it feels like gold is being held down.
At some point, again, it is going to rocket higher.
Bitcoin is dawdling around a trading range.
Inflation data coming out the next two days. I am pressed to believe any numbers coming out of the Administration now.
Bully worship seems to be the trend in the West these days. It's like a bad relationship that never seems to end.
Our 'thought leaders' and our politicians are about as bad as I have ever seen,
This is reminiscent of the days of Senator McCarthy and the Red Scare. Barely a lick of conscience, courage, or conviction for the Constitution and rule of law anywhere, except for a few shining lights now and then.
We will have some serious work to do in the days ahead. I probably won't be here to see it, but I hope you will do yourselves proud.
Have a pleasant evening.
