A Plea for Civility

"When once the forms of civility are violated, there remains little hope of return to kindness or decency."

Samuel Johnson


"As citizens we have to be more thoughtful and more educated and more informed. I turn on the TV and I see these grown people screaming at each other, and I think, well, if we don't get our civility back we're in trouble."

Emmylou Harris


“Civility means a great deal more than just being nice to one another. It is complex and encompasses learning how to connect successfully and live well with others, developing thoughtfulness, and fostering effective self-expression and communication. Civility includes courtesy, politeness, mutual respect, fairness, good manners...”

Pier Massimo Forni

I recall having cautioned you all that we have entered a period of hysteria several times. I saw this phase coming years ago. And here we are.

1.Exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement.

2.A psychological disorder whose symptoms include conversion of psychological stress into physical symptoms, selective amnesia, susceptibility to autosuggestion.

At other times I have referred to what follows from hysteria as 'the madness.' That is when hysteria is driven into action, sometimes by those who would seek to use that madness for their own ends. And as you recall I often say, 'the madness serves none but itself.'

I have read some things today on the web from fellow bloggers that were utterly 'over the top.' I am not talking about those sites that seek to whip up hysteria in order to provide them a following and 'clicks' for pay because that is to foolishly expect the unexpected, that is, civility from sites that serve their own ends, often political but always commercial.

There are professional people who make a living doing this on television.  Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh come to mind.  Most of the others are legitimate shock comedians and their humour is dark, but sometimes rather funny.  But these others are just vile people pandering to what is most ugly in the human condition.

The bloggers I follow are people from whom I would expect better, because I can tell from their writing that they are informed, most often sincere and intelligent.   And I am disappointed.

I think that saying to one of the mothers of a child that was killed at Newtown that they are an "incompetent and defective sack of meat -- your son is dead because you are unfit to be parents" because they have spoken out in favor of gun control laws to be completely over the top and inexcusable,  even by today's remarkably low standards.

And although it ought not to matter, I happen to be a long time gun owner, and have participated in regional matches, albeit in my younger years.  And my son carries on in this. I don't speak of this much because it is not relevant to what I do intend to talk about.  And I am in favor of background checks and licenses for things that can pose a danger to other people in their use, like airplanes, automobiles, and firearms.

And although I know that markets are made up of differences of opinion, remarking on the fairly heavy handed bear raid on the precious metals sector by saying "Where the fuck is your Gold Messiah now?" is a bit much.   I mean, really. This is analysis?

I can look at the record and see how and where the selling came from as well as these others. And the rest of what follows is about as insubstantial and based on mere opinion rather than anything approaching analysis. I found the sneering takedown of those who are following a long term strategy to be particularly obtuse. Are we all not supposed to be day traders now? 

I think the system as we knew it is changing. And the lack of reform in the financial markets is going to break the confidence of the public.  And those who make their living off the markets may give some mind to speaking out for reform, or learn a useful trade doing something else. Not everyone remembers what the 1970s were like for trading, but some do.

I won't even respond further, because I only do so with public figures speaking out in favor of policy. And sometimes I do use humour and satire. That is what I do. That is what it is called when the weaker party like myself takes on the more powerful. When the more powerful figure takes on the weak the same way, it is just bad manners and bullying. This is why I get so incensed sometimes at the way in which powerful figures beat up the little guys, even while they are taking advantage of them.

I am even breaking a long standing tradition by commenting directly on what other bloggers say. Things are tough enough without those who are operating outside the mainstream fighting amonst themselves, and I probably won't do it again.  That is how formidable I think things are going to be.

I know that people who speak out for and against some thing get abused sometimes by those who hold the other side of the opinion. I get it. And since I happen to be a center progressive I get it a lot, and sometimes from both sides at the same time! For me that is why spam filters exist, and why I do not take the time to monitor comments on my site, preferring to take them privately instead and use what is factual and ignore what is not. Lashing out at those who attack you with ridicule and viciousness merely takes you down to their level where they will beat you with the energy of excessiveness.

I think there is a lot of fear and uncertainty out there. And it is going to get worse. And in such a time it is even more important to stick to the facts, maintain your composure, keep a cap on the rhetorical flourishes and excesses, and remember that if you do not know what will happen, that the other guy might be right as well. Age has taught me that those who see things in pure black and white are often just color blind and nearsighted.

It is those who can proceed calmly and with serenity who will pass through this period relatively well, and even if they do suffer some unavoidable misfortune, they can do so without regret.

"So let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof."

John F. Kennedy

And if you wish you can aspire to something even higher,  probably not fully achievable as a goal based on my own experience, but worthy of an attempt as a way of life.

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”

Mother Teresa

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Shock and Awe in the Currency Wars - Silver Shenanigans

“This is an orchestration (the smash in gold). It’s been going on now from the beginning of April. Brokerage houses told their individual clients the word was out that hedge funds and institutional investors were going to be dumping gold and that they should get out in advance.

Then, a couple of days ago, Goldman Sachs announced there would be further departures from gold. So what they are trying to do is scare the individual investor out of bullion. Clearly there is something desperate going on....

I have assumed from the beginning that it is the Fed’s concern with the dollar because the dollar is being printed in huge quantities at the same time that other countries are abandoning the use of the dollar as international payment.

The exchange value of the dollar is (being) threatened, and if that collapses the Fed loses control over interest rates. Then the bond market blows up, the stock market blows up, and the banks that are too big to fail, fail.

So it’s an act of desperation because they’ve got to establish in people’s minds that the dollar is the only safe place, it is the only safe haven, not gold, not silver, and not other currencies.

And to help protect this policy they have convinced or pressured the Japanese to inflate their own currency. The Japanese are now going to print money like the Fed. They are lobbying the ECB to print more. So I see this as a dollar protection policy.

...I know where the gold is coming from in the market, it’s just paper. It’s naked shorts, there is no gold there. If somebody wanted to take delivery on those contracts nobody would be able to provide it. I don’t know what the source of the (physical) gold is. Some people are saying that the actual stocks available for possession are rapidly declining...”

Paul Craig Roberts, Fed Orchestrated Smash in Gold

I am not so sure that Paul Craig Roberts is right in manner of degree.  But it does make some sense, certainly more sense than the theories being put forward by the mouthpieces of the status quo.

I am sure this metals action was a lively point of discussion at Jim Sinclair's talk in Toronto today.

I do not see anything related to option expiration.  The next stock option expiration is next week on the 19th, and the next Comex expiration is the Thursday after that on 25 April.

Personally I think the wheels are falling off the economies of the West, and the financial engineers are hitting the panic button in advance. The BRICs are going to be in open rebellion if the rest of the G7 joins Japan in massive printing.

The Anglo-American banking cartel is doing what they do best: engaging in opaque market operations to shift the pain to the broad mass of innocent people when their schemes start to fall apart.   They have used their usual resources to spread the word in advance.

The kind of mass selling we saw today was not designed to be profit maximizing.  It was designed to flatten price to affect market sentiment and provoke additional selling.   I would imagine we will see some more activity along those lines before this is done.

Andrew Maguire says that there is no physical gold for sale at these prices.  I did check a few websites that post decent amounts of gold and silver for sale and the premiums over spot are widening.

This assault on property and savings is not all that different that what is occurring in Europe, except it is happening on a global scale.  Time for a grand bail-in, and the mechanism will be the yen, pound, euro and dollar.  The banks must be saved and all must pay.

All we can do is be on our watch, and remember who we are, what we know, and what we believe.  

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Overturning the Last Remnants of the New Deal

"Obama’s $3.8 trillion budget proposal released April 10 included language that said the sale of the TVA and similar programs that have achieved their original objectives and no longer require federal participation, can help put the nation on a sustainable fiscal path.”

I see where Obama's budget considers the privatization of one of the last remnants of the New Deal, the Tennessee Valley Authority.

To say Obama is no progressive is an understatement.   

Today's Gold Smackdown Portrayed on a June Futures Chart, 5 Minute Intervals

Why would the government turn a blind eye to this?

Well, in addition to allowing your cronies to make boatloads of money by gaming the markets, there is a not so subtle message wrapped within this chart from the financial engineers of the current banking system.  This is all a part of the currency wars.

"One of the central facts about modern America is that everything is political; on the right, in particular, people choose their views about everything, from environmental science to gun safety, to suit their political prejudices. And the remarkable recent rise of “goldbuggism,” in the teeth of all the evidence, shows that this politicization can influence investments as well as voting.

What do I mean by goldbuggism? Not the notion that buying gold sometimes makes sense. Gold has been a very good investment since the early 2000s, and it’s probably not all bubble. One way to think about this is that gold is like a very long-term bond that’s protected from inflation; and actual long-term inflation-protected bonds have also seen big price increases, reflecting a general perception that there aren’t enough alternative good investments.

No, being a goldbug means asserting that gold offers unique security in troubled times; it also means asserting that all would be well if we abolished the Federal Reserve and returned to the good old gold standard, in which the value of the dollar was fixed in terms of gold and that was that. And both forms of goldbuggism soared after 2008."

Paul Krugman, Lust for Gold

You see, gold is not an investment decision, it is a 'lust.'  And since it does what Mr. Krugman does not wish it to do, it is irrational, and something from his evil adversaries on the right. 

There is nothing quite so cheaply formed as this type of toss off piece from an establishment economist in defense of the status quo. 

This is the common thread I see amongst financial engineers and theoreticians.  The weakness in their theories and models always seems to turn to the brute force of financial market repression when their schemes get into trouble, based on some inherent weakness or false assumption that makes them unstable.  That certainly is the picture in Europe. 

Here is a piece I wrote some time ago about the 38 Year Cycle in Monetary History

Here is a detailed picture of the gold trading on the Comex today. You can look at it and judge for yourself.

There was no news to provoke this kind of a massive sell off in a quiet market and on heavy volume. 

This is just shock and awe in the currency wars.  And everyday people are collateral damage.  And there are always those who will beat the drums, on cue.