lewrockwell--2020-07-30--The Cultural Revolution in the US and What It Means for the Election

International Man : In 2016 , you accurately predicted that Donald Trump would be the next president of the United States .
It came as a complete shock for most people .
What do you think of his chances of winning a second term ?
Doug Casey : I ’ m not a fan of Trump , per se .
He has no philosophical center , no core beliefs .
He ’ s an opportunist who flies by the seat of his pants .
His economic policies are disjointed and inconsistent .
Many are idiotic .
It ’ s true @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and he deserves kudos for that .
How the South Won the ... Richardson , Heather Cox Best Price : $ 18.11 Buy New $ 20.49 But he ’ s encouraging reckless monetary policies—zero-percent interest rates , gigantic increases in debt , massive public-works projects , and the creation of trillions of new dollars .
He ’ s just building the house of cards higher while enriching the Deep State and corrupting the 30 million Americans making more not working than they made working .
Almost as bad as that is the way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and quotas at whim .
He devastated American farmers by provoking China into a trade war , then spent billions in subsidies to keep them from bankruptcy .
His foreign policies are dangerous .
Provoking the Iranians and the Russians is counterproductive .
What ’ s worse , he ’ s started a cold war with China that could easily spin out of control and turn into a hot war .
But on the bright side , he ’ s a cultural conservative .
And that ’ s why people support him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ return to the golden days of yesteryear , the world of Leave it to Beaver , Ozzie and Harriet , and Father Knows Best .
We ’ d all like to see domestic tranquility and rising prosperity .
But that ’ s not the world we ’ re going to be living in , not just for 2020 , but the whole decade .
For years , I ’ ve joked that I planned on watching riots on my widescreen from a secure location , not out my front window .
Things have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ turn on the news , I kill the audio and just put the Stone ’ s “ Street Fighting Man ” on a continuous loop .
Given a choice between Trump and the Democrats , if you like what ’ s left of the US , you have to be a Trump supporter .
But since we ’ ll be in the midst of a gigantic political , economic , and social crisis in November , people will want a radical change .
That ’ s what the Democrats are promising , so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But there are other factors .
The last election was close enough , but now , four years later , there are four more cohorts of kids that have gone through high school and college and been indoctrinated by their uniformly left-wing teachers .
They ’ re going to vote Democrat overwhelmingly .
Fools , Frauds and Fire ... Scruton , Roger Best Price : $ 15.32 Buy New $ 17.40 The only bright spot for Trump is the stock market .
That said , I ’ m not optimistic about the stock @ @ @ @ @ @ @ levels not because the economy is doing well , but because of the avalanche of money being printed .
Where it is in November is a question of how much more money the Fed will print , and how much of it flows into the stock market .
For reasons I ’ ve detailed in the past , the economy is going to be worse , however .
And people vote their pocketbook .
Bill Clinton was right when he said , “ It ’ s the economy , stupid.
” If stocks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A high stock market can give the illusion of prosperity .
On top of all that , the conservatives are completely demoralized .
It ’ s impossible to defend being a white person anymore ; propaganda has made it shameful to be white .
If you object to the race-baiters , you ’ ll be shouted down in the media—even by other white people .
It looks like everything you grew up with and thought was part of the cosmic firmament is being washed away as unworthy .
Here are two examples @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Georgia , there were 1,000 uniformed , armed black men who went out of their way to say that they were looking for a fight .
“ Where are the rednecks that want to fight with us ?
” Well , that would have been out of the question at any time in the past , but no rednecks showed up to the party .
That ’ s partially because they ’ ve been psychologically cowed , and partially because they recognize that if they did , and if law enforcement was brought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ones that were prosecuted , not the black people .
It ’ s a complete inversion of what would have been the case only a generation ago .
Then the blacks would have been too psychologically cowed to turn up for a fight , and the legal system would have railroaded them .
Just to be clear , I ’ m opposed to any kind of identity politics , regardless of the group .
The point is that there ’ s been a sea change in mass psychology .
After America : Get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 3.39 Buy New $ 6.91 There ’ s also the case of the Black Lives Matter sign painted in yellow on 5th Avenue .
A couple of white people only got as far as painting over a couple of letters before they were arrested .
They ’ re being prosecuted for defacing public property .
But the people who recently destroyed statues are not being prosecuted .
It ’ s a matter of psychology .
Whites and conservatives no longer believe in themselves .
When that ’ s true , it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know it ’ s not true of all of them—but I believe it ’ s a fair generalization .
If I were to bet money this time on who will win the election , with great regret , I ’ d have to pick the Democrats .
International Man : For the entirety of Trump ’ s presidency , there have been nonstop attacks on his legitimacy .
First , it was the allegations of Russian collusion , and then there was the impeachment trial and Ukraine-Gate .
What do you make of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way , it ’ s evidence of the old saying , turnabout is fair play .
For many years , the US government has cultivated regime change in foreign countries by interfering very overtly in their elections .
Why should we be surprised if it happens here ?
Although , as far as the Russians are concerned , it ’ s not even a tempest in a toilet bowl .
I ’ m sure that some Russian kids played around on their computers to see what they could do , but it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problem is that when you have a cultural split—such as developed in the US—a country can not , and more importantly , should not stay together .
Donald J. Trump Signat ... Buy New $ 49.95 At this point , politics has become a contest of who gets to impose their will on the rest of the country .
When that ’ s the case , a country is best off dividing .
People should have freedom of association , generally with those whom they share culture , traditions , and general worldviews @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as we ’ ve seen in the last few months , or maybe a civil war .
And this one wouldn ’ t be like the unpleasantness of 1861–1865 .
That was a failed war of secession .
The South simply wanted to go its own way .
Slavery was an issue , but not the issue .
Perhaps we should analyze the war in a future conversation .
The South should have been allowed to break off , much the way that Slovakia and the Czech Republic separated , or the way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for that matter , the way the Soviet Union broke up into 15 republics .
Abraham Lincoln created the poisonous meme that the states had to be held together by force .
Most people now think it ’ s some type of a crime to even intimate that the US could—or should—break up .
The US is no longer a country that is united by culture and language , ideas , or anything else .
It ’ s become a multicultural domestic empire .
It ’ s too large to be governable .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ It should break up peaceably before the situation gets completely out of control .
Going back to the idea of foreign interference in US elections , there already are millions of foreign citizens—illegal aliens orchestrated by the Left—interfering directly in the outcome by voting .
That ’ s much more of a change than some random Russians making political comments on Facebook .
International Man : There is no question that tensions are running high in the US .
Recently , we saw riots take place in most US cities , a takeover @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tearing down of historical statues and cultural symbols .
Triggered : How the Lef ... Trump Jr. , Donald Best Price : $ 5.33 Buy New $ 16.99 Is the country on the cusp of a full-blown cultural revolution ?
Doug Casey : It appears to be—and these things can come out of almost nowhere .
It ’ s like the witch hysteria in Salem , among other places in the late 17th century .
It just came out of nowhere and took hold—complete irrationality .
But if you argued against the prevailing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and hung .
Look at what happened in Rwanda a generation ago .
The Hutus and Tutsis had lived together , more or less amicably , for generations .
Then , all of a sudden , a million people got hacked with machetes .
The wave blew over , and now things are peaceful again .
But if you weren ’ t out there slaughtering Tutsis during the hysteria , you might be accused of being a sympathizer and killed yourself .
It happened during the Terror of the French Revolution .
Over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ murdered , mostly guillotined .
It happened in Cambodia with Pol Pot , when a quarter of the population was murdered .
That was a cultural revolution against the educated , and essentially anyone who wasn ’ t a peasant .
Of course , China is the largest of all , the Great Cultural Revolution of the 60s .
The whole country , or at least what looked like the whole country , was bamboozled into overthrowing what they called the Four Olds—old customs , old culture , old habits , and old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meme is spreading in the US .
The people promoting a US cultural revolution aren ’ t getting much resistance .
The old regime—the conservatives , the Republicans—are totally bamboozled and intimidated .
They ’ ve been brainwashed into accepting the righteousness of the Left ’ s cultural , political , and social agendas .
They don ’ t like it , but they sheepishly accept it .
The schools , the NGOs , corporations , Hollywood , the media have inculcated their notions into society .
This is a real problem .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the consequences can be genuinely terrible .
Trends in motion tend to stay in motion—and this one is even accelerating .
America is unique among the world ’ s countries because it was founded on the premises of individualism and capitalism , free minds and free markets .
More than any other country , it ’ s lived up to those ideals .
But these people don ’ t want just a change of government ; they want to overturn the actual things that have made America , America .
There ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ America goes .
Where can you run ?
In fact , the whole world is moving in the same direction .
International Man : Let ’ s talk about the Democratic Candidate for president , Joe Biden .
It ’ s clear that Biden is in cognitive decline .
What do you think this means for his chances of winning in November ?
If he does win , who will really be running the country ?
Doug Casey : Maybe it doesn ’ t make any difference who the Democratic candidate is at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a chimpanzee in his place and expect the same result .
This election is all about hating Trump .
It has little to do with what Trump does or doesn ’ t believe—because he has no philosophical center .
Unfortunately , he ’ s an authoritarian and a jingoist at heart .
His supporters equate that with strength .
The fact that Biden is borderline senile is irrelevant .
What ’ s much more important is who ’ s going to be his vice president .
Biden has said it ’ s going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in today ’ s heated environment , means basically a crypto-communist .
That ’ s really dangerous because the president has a lot of power : including the power to make several thousand direct appointees with immense influence .
Trump has been very unsuccessful in all his appointments .
Philosophically , he might as well have picked random names out of the telephone directory .
The Democrats , however , can be counted on to plug in fully vetted idealogues .
If Biden wins , he ’ ll probably get the Senate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will get a vast array of programs and departments approved .
The changes will be much more radical than either Roosevelt ’ s New Deal or Johnson ’ s Great Society .
They ’ ll finance it with unlimited money in a world of Modern Monetary Theory ( MMT ) .
The US will get a makeover .
America will cease to exist .
It ’ s really serious .
The consequences of the Greater Depression will go far beyond a simple bear market .
We ’ ve survived borderline incompetent and crazy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Woodrow Wilson .
During his second term , he was rarely even seen in public .
It ’ s known that his wife was making all the decisions .
She was , in effect , speaking for Woodrow .
Incidentally , he ’ s my candidate for our worst president .
He gave us the Federal Reserve , the income tax , World War One , and much more .
Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932 , 1936 , 1940 and 1944 .
He would have been elected for life if he hadn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans really want a king or a dictator , if Roosevelt is any indication .
Of course , the Constitution now prohibits more than two terms .
But perhaps , that no longer makes much difference .
Sure , the president is important .
But the fact of the matter is that the Deep State—which is to say the top senators and congressmen , heads of the Praetorian agencies , generals , top corporate guys , top academic guys , top media people—really runs the country .
Since the Deep State supports Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do everything in their power to defeat him .
The 2016 election hit them out of left field .
They were taken completely by surprise ; they didn ’ t think it was possible .
This time they ’ re going to be organized , and the Deep State is going to be working actively against Trump ’ s reelection .
That along with everything else I ’ ve enumerated here and , in our conversation , last week makes for a gloomy scenario .
The chances are overwhelming that the Democrats will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out of the bag .
It ’ s all over for the Old America .
Even if we don ’ t have an actual civil war .
The Best of Doug Casey

International Man: In 2016, you accurately predicted that Donald Trump would be the next president of the United States.
It came as a complete shock for most people. What do you think of his chances of winning a second term?
Doug Casey: I’m not a fan of Trump, per se. He has no philosophical center, no core beliefs. He’s an opportunist who flies by the seat of his pants.
His economic policies are disjointed and inconsistent. Many are idiotic. It’s true he wants to deregulate the economy, and he deserves kudos for that. How the South Won the ... Richardson, Heather Cox Best Price: $18.11 Buy New $20.49 (as of 04:07 UTC - Details)
But he’s encouraging reckless monetary policies—zero-percent interest rates, gigantic increases in debt, massive public-works projects, and the creation of trillions of new dollars. He’s just building the house of cards higher while enriching the Deep State and corrupting the 30 million Americans making more not working than they made working.
Almost as bad as that is the way he slaps on import duties, embargoes, and quotas at whim. He devastated American farmers by provoking China into a trade war, then spent billions in subsidies to keep them from bankruptcy.
His foreign policies are dangerous. Provoking the Iranians and the Russians is counterproductive. What’s worse, he’s started a cold war with China that could easily spin out of control and turn into a hot war.
But on the bright side, he’s a cultural conservative. And that’s why people support him. He wants to see the US return to the golden days of yesteryear, the world of Leave it to Beaver, Ozzie and Harriet, and Father Knows Best. We’d all like to see domestic tranquility and rising prosperity. But that’s not the world we’re going to be living in, not just for 2020, but the whole decade.
For years, I’ve joked that I planned on watching riots on my widescreen from a secure location, not out my front window. Things have now become so predictable that when I turn on the news, I kill the audio and just put the Stone’s “Street Fighting Man” on a continuous loop.
Given a choice between Trump and the Democrats, if you like what’s left of the US, you have to be a Trump supporter. But since we’ll be in the midst of a gigantic political, economic, and social crisis in November, people will want a radical change. That’s what the Democrats are promising, so they’re likely to win. But there are other factors.
The last election was close enough, but now, four years later, there are four more cohorts of kids that have gone through high school and college and been indoctrinated by their uniformly left-wing teachers. They’re going to vote Democrat overwhelmingly. Fools, Frauds and Fire... Scruton, Roger Best Price: $15.32 Buy New $17.40 (as of 03:56 UTC - Details)
The only bright spot for Trump is the stock market. That said, I’m not optimistic about the stock market. It’s at current levels not because the economy is doing well, but because of the avalanche of money being printed. Where it is in November is a question of how much more money the Fed will print, and how much of it flows into the stock market.
For reasons I’ve detailed in the past, the economy is going to be worse, however. And people vote their pocketbook. Bill Clinton was right when he said, “It’s the economy, stupid.” If stocks fall, it will compound this effect. A high stock market can give the illusion of prosperity.
On top of all that, the conservatives are completely demoralized. It’s impossible to defend being a white person anymore; propaganda has made it shameful to be white. If you object to the race-baiters, you’ll be shouted down in the media—even by other white people. It looks like everything you grew up with and thought was part of the cosmic firmament is being washed away as unworthy.
Here are two examples.
Recently, in Stone Mountain in Georgia, there were 1,000 uniformed, armed black men who went out of their way to say that they were looking for a fight. “Where are the rednecks that want to fight with us?”
Well, that would have been out of the question at any time in the past, but no rednecks showed up to the party. That’s partially because they’ve been psychologically cowed, and partially because they recognize that if they did, and if law enforcement was brought in, they’d be the ones that were prosecuted, not the black people.
It’s a complete inversion of what would have been the case only a generation ago. Then the blacks would have been too psychologically cowed to turn up for a fight, and the legal system would have railroaded them.
Just to be clear, I’m opposed to any kind of identity politics, regardless of the group. The point is that there’s been a sea change in mass psychology. After America: Get Rea... Mark Steyn Best Price: $3.39 Buy New $6.91 (as of 05:30 UTC - Details)
There’s also the case of the Black Lives Matter sign painted in yellow on 5th Avenue. A couple of white people only got as far as painting over a couple of letters before they were arrested. They’re being prosecuted for defacing public property. But the people who recently destroyed statues are not being prosecuted.
It’s a matter of psychology. Whites and conservatives no longer believe in themselves. When that’s true, it’s game over. Yes, I know it’s not true of all of them—but I believe it’s a fair generalization.
If I were to bet money this time on who will win the election, with great regret, I’d have to pick the Democrats.
International Man: For the entirety of Trump’s presidency, there have been nonstop attacks on his legitimacy.
First, it was the allegations of Russian collusion, and then there was the impeachment trial and Ukraine-Gate.
What do you make of this?
Doug Casey: In a way, it’s evidence of the old saying, turnabout is fair play.
For many years, the US government has cultivated regime change in foreign countries by interfering very overtly in their elections.
Why should we be surprised if it happens here?
Although, as far as the Russians are concerned, it’s not even a tempest in a toilet bowl. I’m sure that some Russian kids played around on their computers to see what they could do, but it was totally trivial and meaningless.
The real problem is that when you have a cultural split—such as developed in the US—a country cannot, and more importantly, should not stay together. Donald J. Trump Signat... Buy New $49.95 (as of 03:36 UTC - Details)
At this point, politics has become a contest of who gets to impose their will on the rest of the country. When that’s the case, a country is best off dividing. People should have freedom of association, generally with those whom they share culture, traditions, and general worldviews.
The alternative is chaos, such as we’ve seen in the last few months, or maybe a civil war. And this one wouldn’t be like the unpleasantness of 1861–1865. That was a failed war of secession. The South simply wanted to go its own way. Slavery was an issue, but not the issue. Perhaps we should analyze the war in a future conversation.
The South should have been allowed to break off, much the way that Slovakia and the Czech Republic separated, or the way that Yugoslavia divided into six republics—or, for that matter, the way the Soviet Union broke up into 15 republics.
Abraham Lincoln created the poisonous meme that the states had to be held together by force. Most people now think it’s some type of a crime to even intimate that the US could—or should—break up.
The US is no longer a country that is united by culture and language, ideas, or anything else. It’s become a multicultural domestic empire. It’s too large to be governable. The central government is totally bankrupt. It should break up peaceably before the situation gets completely out of control.
Going back to the idea of foreign interference in US elections, there already are millions of foreign citizens—illegal aliens orchestrated by the Left—interfering directly in the outcome by voting. That’s much more of a change than some random Russians making political comments on Facebook.
International Man: There is no question that tensions are running high in the US. Recently, we saw riots take place in most US cities, a takeover of part of Seattle, and the tearing down of historical statues and cultural symbols. Triggered: How the Lef... Trump Jr., Donald Best Price: $5.33 Buy New $16.99 (as of 03:47 UTC - Details)
Is the country on the cusp of a full-blown cultural revolution?
Doug Casey: It appears to be—and these things can come out of almost nowhere.
It’s like the witch hysteria in Salem, among other places in the late 17th century. It just came out of nowhere and took hold—complete irrationality. But if you argued against the prevailing hysteria, you too could be accused and hung.
Look at what happened in Rwanda a generation ago. The Hutus and Tutsis had lived together, more or less amicably, for generations. Then, all of a sudden, a million people got hacked with machetes. The wave blew over, and now things are peaceful again. But if you weren’t out there slaughtering Tutsis during the hysteria, you might be accused of being a sympathizer and killed yourself.
It happened during the Terror of the French Revolution. Over a short period perhaps 40,000 people were murdered, mostly guillotined.
It happened in Cambodia with Pol Pot, when a quarter of the population was murdered. That was a cultural revolution against the educated, and essentially anyone who wasn’t a peasant.
Of course, China is the largest of all, the Great Cultural Revolution of the 60s. The whole country, or at least what looked like the whole country, was bamboozled into overthrowing what they called the Four Olds—old customs, old culture, old habits, and old ideas.
Right now, the same meme is spreading in the US.
The people promoting a US cultural revolution aren’t getting much resistance. The old regime—the conservatives, the Republicans—are totally bamboozled and intimidated. They’ve been brainwashed into accepting the righteousness of the Left’s cultural, political, and social agendas. They don’t like it, but they sheepishly accept it. The schools, the NGOs, corporations, Hollywood, the media have inculcated their notions into society.
This is a real problem. When these things get out of control, the consequences can be genuinely terrible. Trends in motion tend to stay in motion—and this one is even accelerating.
America is unique among the world’s countries because it was founded on the premises of individualism and capitalism, free minds and free markets. More than any other country, it’s lived up to those ideals.
But these people don’t want just a change of government; they want to overturn the actual things that have made America, America. There’s no other place to go once America goes.
Where can you run? In fact, the whole world is moving in the same direction.
International Man: Let’s talk about the Democratic Candidate for president, Joe Biden.
It’s clear that Biden is in cognitive decline.
What do you think this means for his chances of winning in November? If he does win, who will really be running the country?
Doug Casey: Maybe it doesn’t make any difference who the Democratic candidate is at this point. They could probably run a chimpanzee in his place and expect the same result. This election is all about hating Trump. It has little to do with what Trump does or doesn’t believe—because he has no philosophical center. Unfortunately, he’s an authoritarian and a jingoist at heart. His supporters equate that with strength.
The fact that Biden is borderline senile is irrelevant. What’s much more important is who’s going to be his vice president. Biden has said it’s going to be a black female. Which, in today’s heated environment, means basically a crypto-communist.
That’s really dangerous because the president has a lot of power: including the power to make several thousand direct appointees with immense influence. Trump has been very unsuccessful in all his appointments. Philosophically, he might as well have picked random names out of the telephone directory. The Democrats, however, can be counted on to plug in fully vetted idealogues.
If Biden wins, he’ll probably get the Senate and the House too. The Democrats will get a vast array of programs and departments approved. The changes will be much more radical than either Roosevelt’s New Deal or Johnson’s Great Society.
They’ll finance it with unlimited money in a world of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). The US will get a makeover. America will cease to exist.
It’s really serious. The consequences of the Greater Depression will go far beyond a simple bear market.
We’ve survived borderline incompetent and crazy presidents before, of course, like Woodrow Wilson. During his second term, he was rarely even seen in public. It’s known that his wife was making all the decisions. She was, in effect, speaking for Woodrow. Incidentally, he’s my candidate for our worst president. He gave us the Federal Reserve, the income tax, World War One, and much more.
Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932, 1936, 1940 and 1944. He would have been elected for life if he hadn’t died in office. Maybe Americans really want a king or a dictator, if Roosevelt is any indication.
Of course, the Constitution now prohibits more than two terms. But perhaps, that no longer makes much difference.
Sure, the president is important. But the fact of the matter is that the Deep State—which is to say the top senators and congressmen, heads of the Praetorian agencies, generals, top corporate guys, top academic guys, top media people—really runs the country.
Since the Deep State supports Biden and despises Trump, they’ll do everything in their power to defeat him.
The 2016 election hit them out of left field. They were taken completely by surprise; they didn’t think it was possible. This time they’re going to be organized, and the Deep State is going to be working actively against Trump’s reelection. That along with everything else I’ve enumerated here and, in our conversation, last week makes for a gloomy scenario.
The chances are overwhelming that the Democrats will win.
Then the cat’s out of the bag. It’s all over for the Old America. Even if we don’t have an actual civil war.
Reprinted with permission from International Man.
The Best of Doug Casey


lewrockwell--2020-07-30--Freedom and Political Dissent

Freedom and Political Dissent

Two weeks ago , this column offered a brief history of the freedom of speech in America .
The essence of the column was that all public speech is lawful when there is time for more speech to challenge it and that the remedy for hate speech is not censorship , but more speech .
Last week , this column addressed the unconstitutional behavior of federal agents in Portland , Oregon , most of whom are out among peaceful demonstrators interfering with free speech , travel and assembly .
Also last week , a newspaper in New Jersey , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the essence of this column — that the First Amendment requires the government to protect political dissent and prohibits interfering with it — published my column with the two and a half most important paragraphs removed .
Was I disappointed that a column that was represented as mine had such a substantial portion missing that the printed version failed to make its point ?
Yes .
Anyone would be .
Newspapers should not be in the business of censorship .
Suicide Pact : The Radi ... Napolitano , Andrew P. Best Price : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should the government .
The federal forces in Portland are doing far more than protecting a federal courthouse .
They are listening to people ’ s phone calls and capturing their text messages and emails without warrants .
They are materially interfering with lawful dissent .
It is one thing to build a wall or a fence around a courthouse and man it with armed guards .
It is quite another to wade into a crowd of peaceful demonstrators with tear gas of such intensity and ferocity — its active ingredient is 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by treaties to which the United States is a signatory .
Here is an eyewitness account of events in Portland last Friday night from Marissa Lang , a Washington Post reporter : “ The tear gas started early Friday night , interrupting a line of drums and dancing , chanting protesters , an artist painting in oils underneath a tree in the park and a man with a microphone speaking about the issues of racial justice and policing at the center of these nightly demonstrations .
“ ‘ Hey guys , don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ’ the man said from the steps of the Multnomah County Justice Center , one block over from the federal courthouse in downtown Portland .
‘ All you first-timers out here , it ’ s just tear gas .
Everybody just relax.
’ “ As if on cue , a brigade of orange-shirted men with leaf blowers descended on the cloud , revved their engines and blew the tear gas away .
The crowd cheered .
This chemical can burn skin , permanently damage eyes and lungs and even cause death .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ repeatedly and for hours.
” Why would any government in a democracy that claims to derive its powers from the consent of the governed unleash this deadly agent on anyone ?
Here is the backstory .
The federal government — which originally claimed that COVID-19 was a hoax — is losing the public relations battle over the pandemic .
It was too late to the game to claim leadership .
Now , after nearly 150,000 deaths , a politically induced recession — which the same feds who are suppressing speech foolishly think they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 4 trillion in four months — and a myriad of confusing , conflicting and unlawful state regulations of personal behavior , the feds want to change the subject .
Will federal forces in Portland change the subject ?
Yes , for a while , particularly when the government breaks its own laws .
Try as the government has , it simply can not find any lawful basis for the presence of its forces on Portland ’ s streets .
They have assaulted without provocation and arrested without warrants or probable cause .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ military ?
They look and act and are armed as if they are , but the feds claim the Department of Homeland Security , not the Department of Defense , employs these forces .
Does that make a legal difference ?
The Constitution and federal law prohibit the introduction of the military into domestic law enforcement unless requested by the state legislature or the governor .
Both the Portland mayor and the Oregon governor have asked the feds to go home .
Lies the Government To ... Andrew P. Napolitano Best Price : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Constitution also guarantees the concept of federalism .
When the Supreme Court last looked at that issue in 1997 , the late Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the federal government can not interfere with the discretion of state officials to spend state tax dollars and deploy state assets as they wish ; nor can it commandeer state functions .
If putting hundreds of military-garbed armed forces onto public streets against the wishes of local and state officials and attempting to take them over from local police does not violate the constitutional guarantee of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what does .
This business in the Portland streets is about dissent .
Dissent is integral to our humanity and culture .
This country was born in dissent .
It often irritates , and those in power loath it .
But without it , we ’ d have little freedom and no protection from the tyranny of the majority .
John Stuart Mill argued that if all the world but one person were of the same opinion , the world would have no more right to silence the one than he — if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to silence the world .
I may disagree with what you say , but I will defend to the death your right to say it .
When Voltaire was reputed to have written those words , dissenting speech was punishable by death .
In America , the Supreme Court has ruled , the government must give dissent breathing room .
In Portland ’ s streets , the feds are trying to make it impossible for any but their own to breathe .
Only a government hateful or fearful of the people it claims @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Best of Andrew P. Napolitano

Shop all books by Judge Napolitano
Two weeks ago, this column offered a brief history of the freedom of speech in America. The essence of the column was that all public speech is lawful when there is time for more speech to challenge it and that the remedy for hate speech is not censorship, but more speech.
Last week, this column addressed the unconstitutional behavior of federal agents in Portland, Oregon, most of whom are out among peaceful demonstrators interfering with free speech, travel and assembly.
Also last week, a newspaper in New Jersey, the editors of which might have disagreed with the essence of this column — that the First Amendment requires the government to protect political dissent and prohibits interfering with it — published my column with the two and a half most important paragraphs removed.
Was I disappointed that a column that was represented as mine had such a substantial portion missing that the printed version failed to make its point? Yes. Anyone would be. Newspapers should not be in the business of censorship. Suicide Pact: The Radi... Napolitano, Andrew P. Best Price: $0.25 Buy New $2.84 (as of 04:15 UTC - Details)
Neither should the government.
The federal forces in Portland are doing far more than protecting a federal courthouse. They are listening to people’s phone calls and capturing their text messages and emails without warrants. They are materially interfering with lawful dissent.
It is one thing to build a wall or a fence around a courthouse and man it with armed guards. It is quite another to wade into a crowd of peaceful demonstrators with tear gas of such intensity and ferocity — its active ingredient is 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile — that it is prohibited in wartime by treaties to which the United States is a signatory.
Here is an eyewitness account of events in Portland last Friday night from Marissa Lang, a Washington Post reporter:
“The tear gas started early Friday night, interrupting a line of drums and dancing, chanting protesters, an artist painting in oils underneath a tree in the park and a man with a microphone speaking about the issues of racial justice and policing at the center of these nightly demonstrations.
“‘Hey guys, don’t panic, don’t panic,’ the man said from the steps of the Multnomah County Justice Center, one block over from the federal courthouse in downtown Portland. ‘All you first-timers out here, it’s just tear gas. Everybody just relax.’
“As if on cue, a brigade of orange-shirted men with leaf blowers descended on the cloud, revved their engines and blew the tear gas away. The crowd cheered.
“‘Thank you leaf-blower dads!’ shouted a young woman.”
This chemical can burn skin, permanently damage eyes and lungs and even cause death. It is unleashed every night, “repeatedly and for hours.” Why would any government in a democracy that claims to derive its powers from the consent of the governed unleash this deadly agent on anyone?
Here is the backstory.
The federal government — which originally claimed that COVID-19 was a hoax — is losing the public relations battle over the pandemic. It was too late to the game to claim leadership. Now, after nearly 150,000 deaths, a politically induced recession — which the same feds who are suppressing speech foolishly think they can cure by borrowing and spending $4 trillion in four months — and a myriad of confusing, conflicting and unlawful state regulations of personal behavior, the feds want to change the subject.
Will federal forces in Portland change the subject?
Yes, for a while, particularly when the government breaks its own laws. Try as the government has, it simply cannot find any lawful basis for the presence of its forces on Portland’s streets. They have assaulted without provocation and arrested without warrants or probable cause. That’s called kidnapping.
Are they military? They look and act and are armed as if they are, but the feds claim the Department of Homeland Security, not the Department of Defense, employs these forces. Does that make a legal difference?
The Constitution and federal law prohibit the introduction of the military into domestic law enforcement unless requested by the state legislature or the governor. Both the Portland mayor and the Oregon governor have asked the feds to go home. Lies the Government To... Andrew P. Napolitano Best Price: $0.25 Buy New $4.46 (as of 12:15 UTC - Details)
The Constitution also guarantees the concept of federalism. When the Supreme Court last looked at that issue in 1997, the late Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the federal government cannot interfere with the discretion of state officials to spend state tax dollars and deploy state assets as they wish; nor can it commandeer state functions.
If putting hundreds of military-garbed armed forces onto public streets against the wishes of local and state officials and attempting to take them over from local police does not violate the constitutional guarantee of federalism, it is hard to know what does.
This business in the Portland streets is about dissent. Dissent is integral to our humanity and culture. This country was born in dissent. It often irritates, and those in power loath it. But without it, we’d have little freedom and no protection from the tyranny of the majority.
John Stuart Mill argued that if all the world but one person were of the same opinion, the world would have no more right to silence the one than he — if he had the power — would have to silence the world.
I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. When Voltaire was reputed to have written those words, dissenting speech was punishable by death. In America, the Supreme Court has ruled, the government must give dissent breathing room. In Portland’s streets, the feds are trying to make it impossible for any but their own to breathe.
Only a government hateful or fearful of the people it claims to serve uses force to silence them.
Reprinted with the author’s permission.
The Best of Andrew P. Napolitano


lewrockwell--2020-07-30--Crash the Economy, Burn the Cities, Infect the People: the Evil Plan To Remake America

The American people are under attack , the country is under attack , and democracy is under attack .
At present , the enemy is conducting a three-pronged assault on the presidency the objective of which is to remove the existing administration and install their own sock-puppet replacement .
This has been the goal from the very beginning although the great swirl of events has confused many as to the true nature of what is actually taking place .
What we are seeing is a dirty tricks campaign ( Russiagate ) inflated into a full-blown , scorched earth , winner-take-all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the target of the attack is Donald Trump , the brash New York real estate tycoon who was swept into office in November 2016 .
The real target , however , is the office itself , the universally-recognized “ seat of power ” which the enemy believes should remain under the control of the people who own the country .
These are the ruthless oligarchs whose octopus-like tentacles are wrapped around Wall Street , the MSM , the courts , the Congress , the Democratic Party , and powerful elements within the National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and they have no intention of putting it up for grabs by honoring the results of an arbitrary and scattershot election that failed to produce the outcome they sought .
1 % .
The book that the ... Sharratt , Robert Best Price : $ 9.93 Buy New $ 8.99 Once again , this isn ’ t about Trump , it ’ s about the unscrupulous people behind the scenes who have secretly worked the levers of power for the last 4 years in order to roll back the 2016 elections and install @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If the new revelations about Obama ’ s involvement in the spying operation aimed at removing Trump from office have not yet convinced you that senior-level officials ( in the administration , the FBI , the CIA , the NSA , the DOJ , the DNC and MSM ) were all actively engaged in a coup on the elected government , then you should probably stop reading this article now and put your head back in the sand where it belongs .
This is for the people who know how to pick through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ broad terms , what is actually going on .
And what ’ s going on is a cold-blooded , take-no-prisoners power struggle , pure and simple .
The Confluence of Destabilizing Crises ; Coincidence or Calculated Treachery ?
At present , the country is beset by multiple crises : A public health crisis ( Covid-19 ) , an economic crisis ( Ballooning unemployment and impending Depression ) , and widespread social unrest .
All of these crises are real but–at the same time– all of them are clearly being manipulated for political advantage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many targets in this vast operation , in fact , the entire society is being leveled and made-over before our very eyes .
Every institution down to public education and the nature of work itself is being challenged , revised and callously savaged .
Our history , our icons , our heroes , our customs and our traditions are all under fire .
We ’ re no longer one people sharing a mutual culture , background and ideology , but contemptable slave traders and racists undeserving of basic security , undeserving of respect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ account of how the country was formed , who assisted in its creation , and upon which principles the state was built .
All of that is now being wiped clean , erased by faceless group of scheming elites who operate behind the smokescreen of media propaganda , political chicanery and , now , a “ racial justice ” movement .
Do you believe as I do that most of these crises will miraculously vanish just hours if not days after the November balloting ?
Suddenly a life-saving vaccine will appear from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will decide to pack it in and go home , and the economy will magically rebound when the Dems take office promising another round of grueling austerity followed by lavish handouts to Wall Street .
Is that too cynical or are our rulers really devious enough to concoct such a plan ?
That question would be better put to the tens of thousands of victims of US barbarism around the world .
They ’ re the ones who understand the lengths to which these mercenary puppet-masters will go to tighten their grip on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to rake in obscene profits .
As Harold Pinter opined in 2005 in his Nobel acceptance speech : The Road to Ruin : The ... James Rickards Best Price : $ 2.58 Buy New $ 7.99 Only it ’ s not so witty when the weapons are turned on Americans themselves and we suddenly find our own tenuous existence in the globalist crosshairs .
No one really expected that , but then , here we are .
Have you watched the escalating street violence in Seattle and Portland ?
Have you wondered why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thugs destroy public property , topple monuments and launch attacks on police precinct headquarters ?
Have you wondered why the mayor and media continue to applaud the hooliganism and downplay the vast destruction to public and private property ?
Is this really about George Floyd , police brutality and racial justice or is this a premeditated insurrection executed by DNC shock troops aimed at destabilizing the country in order to get rid of Trump and usher in an authoritarian police-state ?
Who is served by BLM-generated violence and destruction ?
Who benefits from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reader at The Unz Review summed it up pretty well .
He said : “ Antifa is supported by the State .
FBI and CIA have long term contacts with them and they are allowed to operate as a street militia for Neoliberalism against people the State actually hates .
The plan was to cause a civilian massacre to be used against Trump , so far that has not panned out .
It is a joke .
Antifa could be rolled up in days if the State turned against them .
Antifa operates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ servers because the FBI views them as friendlies .
This could change if Antifa ever did anything against the System , but for now they are the attack dog of the Deep State.
” There ’ s no doubt that the government knows who these troublemakers are .
There ’ s also no doubt that the riots and looting are part of a political agenda aimed at spreading chaos and racial violence far and wide in order to convince the weary public that the country is rapidly devolving into an ungovernable free-fire zone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Democrats is that they might overshoot their goal and persuade voters that they ’ re stealthily spearheading the nation ’ s descent into mayhem .
And that ’ s where the media comes in , it ’ s their job to shape the narrative by removing the Dems fingerprints from the murder weapon .
So far , the strategy appears to be working .
Fictitious Capital : Ho ... Durand , Cu00e9dric Best Price : $ 13.50 Buy New $ 18.18 In short , the widening social unrest is not a spontaneous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of blacks in America .
It ’ s part of a sinister political ploy to beat Trump and to discredit his mainly-white , working class supporters from the de-industrialized American heartland that have been pummeled by the Democrats immigration and free trade policies for the last 30 years , and who now represent the biggest obstacle to the globalist plan to reduce the economy to rubble , rewrite the nation ’ s history , and reassemble the state so that balanced budgets and the free movement of Capital are adopted as the government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other words , elites are prosecuting a war on America to pave the way to Capitalist Valhalla , the majestic temple of the insatiable Monopolists .
This also explains why the Dems are not emphasizing inclusion or assimilation in their cynical analysis of the BLM phenom .
It ’ s because the Dems don ’ t want inclusion or assimilation , they want to use “ identity ” and “ diversity ” as truncheons to batter their nationalist opponents , that is , the working class people who used to vote Democrat but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ party would no longer give them even tables scraps for their support .
Keep in mind , nationalism or patriotism ( whatever you choose to call it . )
is the arch enemy of globalism which envisions a borderless world in which multinationals dominate and Capital flows unobstructed to any potential source of profit or investment around the planet .
A recent post by Paul Craig Roberts helps to clarify the conflict between “ assimilation and diversity ” .
Here ’ s what he said : “ Multiculturalism might have worked in America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and had not been intentionally shifted to diversity.…It was the white liberals who destroyed the prospects of multiculturalism by teaching blacks to hate whites for oppressing them .
And it was the global corporations that dismantled the ladders of upward mobility… .
Multiculturalism can work if there are no strains and no animosities , but when strains and animosities are intentionally created , there is no prospect of successful multiculturalism .
Antifa , Black Lives Matter , the white liberal media , and the white liberal Democrats and professors are furiously at work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This means , obviously , that the America that they hate will also fail.
” ( “ White Liberals Have Destroyed the Prospects of US Multiculturalism ” , Paul Craig Roberts ) He ’ s right , isn ’ t he ?
And he ’ s also right to suggest that the Democrats are fueling racial animosities .
They ’ re not feeding these polarizing feelings because they intend to improve black lives through better education , universal health care , higher-paying jobs , or basic security .
Oh no , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about these things .
It ’ s like they don ’ t even exist .
Instead , BLM , Covid-19 and the sinking economy are being used to obliterate Trump ’ s prospects for victory and prepare the American people for the shocking economic reckoning that will take place soon afterwards .
It ’ s all part of the Great Reset , an elitist scheme to restructure the economy so more wealth flows upward to the parasite class .
2020 1/4 oz Gold Ameri ...
Check Amazon for Pricing .
The Covid-19 Scamdemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 3-pronged offensive .
The “ fairly mild ” infection ( that kills between 1 in every 200 to 1 in every 1,000 ) has been greatly exaggerated by the media to scare the public , undermine normal relations , prevent physical intimacies , and inflict maximum damage of the fragile psyches of millions of people worldwide .
It ’ s a terror campaign aimed at isolating people so they become more fearful , more dependent , and more easily controlled by the monsters who concocted this pernicious psyops .
Check out this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the Off-Guardian : “ Western civilization , led by the US government and media , has embarked upon a campaign of mass psychological terrorism designed to cover for the collapsing economy , set up a new pretext for Wall Street ’ s ongoing plunder expedition , radically escalate the police state , deeply traumatize people into submission to total social conformity , and radically aggravate the anti-social , anti-human atomization of the people…..
So far , the people are submitting completely to a ( Covid-19 ) terror campaign dedicated to the total @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world , and especially whatever community was starting to be rebuilt…Any kind of human relations , from personal friendship and romance to friendly social gatherings and clubs to social and cultural movements become impossible under such circumstances .
This threatens to be the end of the very concept of shared humanity..…As Hannah Arendt said in The Origins of Totalitarianism : ‘ It has frequently been observed that terror can rule absolutely only over people who are isolated against each other and that therefore one of the primary concerns of tyrannical government is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ may be the beginning of terror ; it certainly is its most fertile ground ; it always is its result… .
isolated people are powerless by definition.
” ( “ The Ultimate Divide and Conquer “ , The Off-Guardian ) Indeed , the goal of Covid conditioning is to create a population of frightened , compliant and powerless people willing to do whatever wretched task is asked of them for skimpy sweatshop wages .
It ’ s all about money and power .
We believe that the American people and their institutions are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the planned demolition of the economy are part of a 3-pronged offensive designed to splinter the country , rewrite its history , enslave its people , and set the stage for an alternate system in which the bulk of the nation ’ s wealth will be controlled by a handful of power-mad Mandarins who will stop at nothing to achieve their ambitions .
It will take a colossal effort to scupper the plan .
Reprinted with permission from The Unz Review .

The American people are under attack, the country is under attack, and democracy is under attack. At present, the enemy is conducting a three-pronged assault on the presidency the objective of which is to remove the existing administration and install their own sock-puppet replacement. This has been the goal from the very beginning although the great swirl of events has confused many as to the true nature of what is actually taking place. What we are seeing is a dirty tricks campaign (Russiagate) inflated into a full-blown, scorched earth, winner-take-all assault on the presidency.
Ostensibly, the target of the attack is Donald Trump, the brash New York real estate tycoon who was swept into office in November 2016. The real target, however, is the office itself, the universally-recognized “seat of power” which the enemy believes should remain under the control of the people who own the country. These are the ruthless oligarchs whose octopus-like tentacles are wrapped around Wall Street, the MSM, the courts, the Congress, the Democratic Party, and powerful elements within the National Security State. They own it all and they have no intention of putting it up for grabs by honoring the results of an arbitrary and scattershot election that failed to produce the outcome they sought. 1%. The book that the... Sharratt, Robert Best Price: $9.93 Buy New $8.99 (as of 02:53 UTC - Details)
Once again, this isn’t about Trump, it’s about the unscrupulous people behind the scenes who have secretly worked the levers of power for the last 4 years in order to roll back the 2016 elections and install the candidate of their own choice. If the new revelations about Obama’s involvement in the spying operation aimed at removing Trump from office have not yet convinced you that senior-level officials (in the administration, the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, the DOJ, the DNC and MSM) were all actively engaged in a coup on the elected government, then you should probably stop reading this article now and put your head back in the sand where it belongs. This is for the people who know how to pick through the disinformation and figure out, in broad terms, what is actually going on. And what’s going on is a cold-blooded, take-no-prisoners power struggle, pure and simple.
The Confluence of Destabilizing Crises; Coincidence or Calculated Treachery?
At present, the country is beset by multiple crises: A public health crisis (Covid-19), an economic crisis (Ballooning unemployment and impending Depression), and widespread social unrest. All of these crises are real but–at the same time– all of them are clearly being manipulated for political advantage. The presidency is just one of many targets in this vast operation, in fact, the entire society is being leveled and made-over before our very eyes. Every institution down to public education and the nature of work itself is being challenged, revised and callously savaged. Our history, our icons, our heroes, our customs and our traditions are all under fire. We’re no longer one people sharing a mutual culture, background and ideology, but contemptable slave traders and racists undeserving of basic security, undeserving of respect, and undeserving of even our own account of how the country was formed, who assisted in its creation, and upon which principles the state was built. All of that is now being wiped clean, erased by faceless group of scheming elites who operate behind the smokescreen of media propaganda, political chicanery and, now, a “racial justice” movement.
Do you believe as I do that most of these crises will miraculously vanish just hours if not days after the November balloting? Suddenly a life-saving vaccine will appear from the ether, the legions of BLM activists will decide to pack it in and go home, and the economy will magically rebound when the Dems take office promising another round of grueling austerity followed by lavish handouts to Wall Street. Is that too cynical or are our rulers really devious enough to concoct such a plan?
That question would be better put to the tens of thousands of victims of US barbarism around the world. They’re the ones who understand the lengths to which these mercenary puppet-masters will go to tighten their grip on power to ensure that US multinationals continue to rake in obscene profits. As Harold Pinter opined in 2005 in his Nobel acceptance speech: The Road to Ruin: The ... James Rickards Best Price: $2.58 Buy New $7.99 (as of 10:20 UTC - Details)
“The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It’s a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.”
Only it’s not so witty when the weapons are turned on Americans themselves and we suddenly find our own tenuous existence in the globalist crosshairs. No one really expected that, but then, here we are.
Have you watched the escalating street violence in Seattle and Portland? Have you wondered why the police have stood down while black-hooded thugs destroy public property, topple monuments and launch attacks on police precinct headquarters? Have you wondered why the mayor and media continue to applaud the hooliganism and downplay the vast destruction to public and private property? Is this really about George Floyd, police brutality and racial justice or is this a premeditated insurrection executed by DNC shock troops aimed at destabilizing the country in order to get rid of Trump and usher in an authoritarian police-state?
Who is served by BLM-generated violence and destruction? Who benefits from Antifa? A comment by an anonymous reader at The Unz Review summed it up pretty well. He said:
“Antifa is supported by the State. FBI and CIA have long term contacts with them and they are allowed to operate as a street militia for Neoliberalism against people the State actually hates. The plan was to cause a civilian massacre to be used against Trump, so far that has not panned out.
It is a joke. Antifa could be rolled up in days if the State turned against them. Antifa operates with impunity on social media and chat servers because the FBI views them as friendlies. This could change if Antifa ever did anything against the System, but for now they are the attack dog of the Deep State.”
There’s no doubt that the government knows who these troublemakers are. There’s also no doubt that the riots and looting are part of a political agenda aimed at spreading chaos and racial violence far and wide in order to convince the weary public that the country is rapidly devolving into an ungovernable free-fire zone. Of course, the danger for the Democrats is that they might overshoot their goal and persuade voters that they’re stealthily spearheading the nation’s descent into mayhem. And that’s where the media comes in, it’s their job to shape the narrative by removing the Dems fingerprints from the murder weapon. So far, the strategy appears to be working. Fictitious Capital: Ho... Durand, Cu00e9dric Best Price: $13.50 Buy New $18.18 (as of 03:43 UTC - Details)
In short, the widening social unrest is not a spontaneous eruption of pent-up indignation over the treatment of blacks in America. It’s part of a sinister political ploy to beat Trump and to discredit his mainly-white, working class supporters from the de-industrialized American heartland that have been pummeled by the Democrats immigration and free trade policies for the last 30 years, and who now represent the biggest obstacle to the globalist plan to reduce the economy to rubble, rewrite the nation’s history, and reassemble the state so that balanced budgets and the free movement of Capital are adopted as the government’s primary organizing principles. In other words, elites are prosecuting a war on America to pave the way to Capitalist Valhalla, the majestic temple of the insatiable Monopolists.
This also explains why the Dems are not emphasizing inclusion or assimilation in their cynical analysis of the BLM phenom. It’s because the Dems don’t want inclusion or assimilation, they want to use “identity” and “diversity” as truncheons to batter their nationalist opponents, that is, the working class people who used to vote Democrat but switched sides when they realized that the party would no longer give them even tables scraps for their support. Keep in mind, nationalism or patriotism (whatever you choose to call it.) is the arch enemy of globalism which envisions a borderless world in which multinationals dominate and Capital flows unobstructed to any potential source of profit or investment around the planet. A recent post by Paul Craig Roberts helps to clarify the conflict between “assimilation and diversity”. Here’s what he said:
“Multiculturalism might have worked in America if the emphasis had stayed on assimilation and had not been intentionally shifted to diversity.…It was the white liberals who destroyed the prospects of multiculturalism by teaching blacks to hate whites for oppressing them. And it was the global corporations that dismantled the ladders of upward mobility….
Multiculturalism can work if there are no strains and no animosities, but when strains and animosities are intentionally created, there is no prospect of successful multiculturalism. Antifa, Black Lives Matter, the white liberal media, and the white liberal Democrats and professors are furiously at work making certain that multiculturalism in America fails. This means, obviously, that the America that they hate will also fail.” (“White Liberals Have Destroyed the Prospects of US Multiculturalism”, Paul Craig Roberts)
He’s right, isn’t he? And he’s also right to suggest that the Democrats are fueling racial animosities. They’re not feeding these polarizing feelings because they intend to improve black lives through better education, universal health care, higher-paying jobs, or basic security. Oh no, in fact they won’t even talk about these things. It’s like they don’t even exist. Instead, BLM, Covid-19 and the sinking economy are being used to obliterate Trump’s prospects for victory and prepare the American people for the shocking economic reckoning that will take place soon afterwards. It’s all part of the Great Reset, an elitist scheme to restructure the economy so more wealth flows upward to the parasite class. 2020 1/4 oz Gold Ameri... Check Amazon for Pricing.
The Covid-19 Scamdemic is an even more vile component of the 3-pronged offensive. The “fairly mild” infection (that kills between 1 in every 200 to 1 in every 1,000) has been greatly exaggerated by the media to scare the public, undermine normal relations, prevent physical intimacies, and inflict maximum damage of the fragile psyches of millions of people worldwide. It’s a terror campaign aimed at isolating people so they become more fearful, more dependent, and more easily controlled by the monsters who concocted this pernicious psyops. Check out this excerpt from an article by Russ Bangs at the Off-Guardian:
“Western civilization, led by the US government and media, has embarked upon a campaign of mass psychological terrorism designed to cover for the collapsing economy, set up a new pretext for Wall Street’s ongoing plunder expedition, radically escalate the police state, deeply traumatize people into submission to total social conformity, and radically aggravate the anti-social, anti-human atomization of the people…..
So far, the people are submitting completely to a (Covid-19) terror campaign dedicated to the total eradication of whatever community was left in the world, and especially whatever community was starting to be rebuilt…Any kind of human relations, from personal friendship and romance to friendly social gatherings and clubs to social and cultural movements become impossible under such circumstances. This threatens to be the end of the very concept of shared humanity..…As Hannah Arendt said in The Origins of Totalitarianism:
‘It has frequently been observed that terror can rule absolutely only over people who are isolated against each other and that therefore one of the primary concerns of tyrannical government is to bring this isolation about. Isolation may be the beginning of terror; it certainly is its most fertile ground; it always is its result…. isolated people are powerless by definition.” (“The Ultimate Divide and Conquer“, The Off-Guardian)
Indeed, the goal of Covid conditioning is to create a population of frightened, compliant and powerless people willing to do whatever wretched task is asked of them for skimpy sweatshop wages. It’s all about money and power.
We believe that the American people and their institutions are under attack and that Covd-19, BLM, and the planned demolition of the economy are part of a 3-pronged offensive designed to splinter the country, rewrite its history, enslave its people, and set the stage for an alternate system in which the bulk of the nation’s wealth will be controlled by a handful of power-mad Mandarins who will stop at nothing to achieve their ambitions.
It will take a colossal effort to scupper the plan.
Reprinted with permission from The Unz Review.


lewrockwell--2020-07-30--One Nation Under House Arrest: How Do COVID-19 Mandates Affect Our Freedoms?

We have become one nation under house arrest .
You think we ’ re any different from the Kentucky couple fitted out with ankle monitoring bracelets and forced to quarantine at home ?
We ’ re not Propaganda Edward Bernays Best Price : $ 6.42 Buy New $ 9.66 Consider what happened to Elizabeth and Isaiah Linscott .
Elizabeth took a precautionary diagnostic COVID-19 test before traveling to visit her parents and grandparents in Michigan .
It came back positive : Elizabeth was asymptomatic for the novel coronavirus but had no symptoms .
Her husband and infant daughter tested negative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country where freedom actually means something , the Linscotts would have the right to determine for themselves how to proceed responsibly , but in the American Police State , we ’ ve only got as much freedom as the government allows .
That ’ s not saying much .
Indeed , it ’ s a dangerous time for anyone who still clings to the idea that freedom means the right to think for yourself and act responsibly according to your best judgment .
In that regard , the Linscotts are a little old-school @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asked to sign a self-quarantine order agreeing to check in daily with the health department and not to travel anywhere without prior approval , she refused .
“ I shouldn ’ t have to ask for consent because I ’ m an adult who can make that decision .
And as a citizen of the United States of America , that is my right to make that decision without having to disclose that to somebody else , ” said Elizabeth .
“ So , no , I wouldn ’ t wear a mask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could to make sure that I wouldn ’ t come in contact with other people because of the fear that ’ s spreading with this .
But no , I would have just stayed home , take care of my child.
” The Communist Manifesto Engels , Friedrich Best Price : $ 3.49 Buy New $ 5.79 Instead of signing the blanket statement , Elizabeth submitted her own written declaration : A few days after being informed that Elizabeth ’ s case was being escalated and referred to law enforcement , the Linscotts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government vehicles , government personnel and the county sheriff armed with a court order and ankle monitors .
“ We didn ’ t rob a store , ” Linscott said .
“ We didn ’ t steal something .
We didn ’ t hit and run .
We didn ’ t do anything wrong.
” That ’ s the point , of course .
In an age of overcriminalization—when the law is wielded like a hammer to force compliance to the government ’ s dictates whatever they might be—you don ’ t have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , arrested or subjected to raids and seizures and surveillance .
Watch and see : just as it did in China , this pandemic is about to afford the government the perfect excuse for expanding its surveillance and data collection powers at our expense .
On a daily basis , Americans are already relinquishing ( in many cases , voluntarily ) the most intimate details of who we are—their biological makeup , our genetic blueprints , and our biometrics ( facial characteristics and structure , fingerprints , iris scans , etc . )
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ world .
Cultural Cancer : Treat ... Kane , Daryl Best Price : $ 20.00 Buy New $ 9.95 COVID-19 , however , takes the surveillance state to the next level .
There ’ s already been talk of mass testing for COVID-19 antibodies , screening checkpoints , contact tracing , immunity passports to allow those who have recovered from the virus to move around more freely , and snitch tip lines for reporting “ rule breakers ” to the authorities .
More to the point , as the head of one tech @ @ @ @ @ @ @ constitutionally monitor someone who ’ s innocent ?
It ’ s uncharted territory.
” Except this isn ’ t exactly uncharted territory , is it ?
It follows much the same pattern as every other state of emergency in recent years—legitimate or manufactured—that has empowered the government to add to its arsenal of technologies and powers .
The war on terror , the war on drugs , the war on illegal immigration , asset forfeiture schemes , road safety schemes , school safety schemes , eminent domain : all of these programs started @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and have since become weapons of compliance and control in the police state ’ s hands .
Into the Lion ’ s ... Maltz , Mr Steve Best Price : $ 14.37 Buy New $ 14.00 It doesn ’ t even matter what the nature of the crisis might be—civil unrest , the national emergencies , “ unforeseen economic collapse , loss of functioning political and legal order , purposeful domestic resistance or insurgency , pervasive public health emergencies , and catastrophic natural and human disasters ” —as long as it allows the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tyranny in the so-called name of national security .
It ’ s hard to know who to trust anymore .
Certainly , in this highly partisan age , when everything from the COVID-19 pandemic to police brutality to football is being recast in light of one ’ s political leanings , it can be incredibly difficult to separate what constitutes a genuine safety concern versus what is hyper-politicized propaganda .
Take the mask mandates , for example .
Currently , 19 states have not issued mask mandates in response to rising COVID-19 infection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enacted some form of mask requirement .
A growing number of retailers , including Walmart , Target and CVS , are also joining the mask mandate bandwagon .
Georgia ’ s governor , in a challenge to mask requirements by local governing bodies , filed a lawsuit challenging Atlanta ’ s dictate that masks be worn within city limits .
In some states , such as Indiana , where masks are required but there are no penalties for non-compliance , government officials are urging people to protect themselves but not to get into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In other states , such as Virginia , the Nanny State is using more strong-handed tactics to force compliance with mask mandates , including the threat of fines , jail time , surprise inspections of businesses , and complaint hotlines that encourage citizens to snitch on each other .
Officials in Las Vegas deployed 100 “ compliance ambassadors ” to help educate and enhance enforcement of the state ’ s mask mandate .
One couple in Knoxville , Tenn. , took mask-shaming to new heights when they created a Facebook page to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ customers .
Agenda 21 : The Wrenchi ... DeWeese , Tom Best Price : $ 9.38 Buy New $ 17.99 In Miami , “ residents now risk a legal penalty if they venture into public without a face mask .
The city has assigned at least 39 police officers to make sure that residents are following the city ’ s mandatory mask ordinance .
Offenders will be warned but , if they refuse to comply , they will be fined .
The first offense will cost $ 100 and the second another $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forbid — the offender will be arrested.
” These conflicting and , in some cases , heavy-handed approaches to a pandemic that has locked down the nation for close to six months is turning this health crisis into an unnecessarily politicized , bureaucratic tug-of-war with no clear-cut winners to be found .
Certainly , this is not the first crisis to pit security concerns against freedom principles .
In this post-9/11 world , we have been indoctrinated into fearing and mistrusting one another instead of fearing and mistrusting the government .
As a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to travel this road many , many times with lamentably predictable results each time : without fail , when asked to choose between safety and liberty , Americans historically tend to choose safety .
Failing to read the fine print on such devil ’ s bargains , “ we the people ” find ourselves repeatedly on the losing end as the government uses each crisis as a means of expanding its powers at taxpayer expense .
Whatever these mask mandates might be—authoritarian strong-arm tactics or health necessities to prevent further spread of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ uphill legal battles for those hoping to challenge them in the courts as unconstitutional restrictions on their right to liberty , bodily autonomy , privacy and health .
In fact , Florida courts have upheld the mask ordinances , ruling that they do not infringe on constitutional rights and that “ there is no reasonable expectation of privacy as to whether one covers their nose and mouth in public places , which are the only places to which the mask ordinance applies.
” Declaring that there is no constitutional right to infect others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that “ the right to be ‘ free from governmental intrusion ’ does not automatically or completely shield an individual ’ s conduct from regulation.
” Moreover , wrote Kastrenakes , constitutional rights and the ideals of limited government “ do not absolve a citizen from the real-world consequences of their individual choices , or otherwise allow them to wholly skirt their social obligation to their fellow Americans or to society as a whole .
This is particularly true when one ’ s individual choices can result in drastic , costly , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ These court decisions take their cue from a 1905 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Jacobson v. Massachusetts in which the Court upheld the authority of states to enforce compulsory vaccination laws .
In other words , the courts have concluded that the government has a compelling interest in requiring masks to fight COVID-19 infections that overrides individual freedoms .
Generally , the government has to show a so-called compelling state interest before it can override certain critical rights such as free speech , assembly , press , privacy , search and seizure , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the government lacks that compelling state interest , but it still manages to violate those rights , setting itself up for legal battles further down the road .
We can spend time debating the mask mandates .
However , criticizing those who rightly fear these restrictions to be a slippery slope to further police state tactics will not restore the freedoms that have been willingly sacrificed on the altar of national security by Americans of all political stripes over the years .
As I ’ ve warned , this is a test to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the principles enshrined in the Bill of Rights—can survive a national crisis and true state of emergency .
It must be remembered that James Madison , the “ father ” of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights and the fourth president of the United States , advised that we should “ take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties .
Whether or not you consider these COVID-19 restrictions to be cause for alarm , they are far from the first experiment on our liberties .
Indeed , whether or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is cause for alarm , we should all be alarmed by the government ’ s response to this pandemic .
By government , I ’ m not referring to one particular politician or administration but to the entire apparatus at every level that conspires to keep “ we the people ” fearful of one another and under virtual house arrest .
This is what we ’ ve all been reduced to : prisoners in our skin , prisoners in our homes , prisoners in our communities—forced to comply with the government ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic or else .
Right now , COVID-19 is the perfect excuse for the government to wreak havoc on our freedoms in the name of safety and security , but as I make clear in my book Battlefield America : The War on the American People , don ’ t believe for a minute that our safety is the police state ’ s primary concern .
The Best of John W. Whitehead

“It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens, and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The freeman of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle.”—James Madison
We have become one nation under house arrest.
You think we’re any different from the Kentucky couple fitted out with ankle monitoring bracelets and forced to quarantine at home?
We’re not Propaganda Edward Bernays Best Price: $6.42 Buy New $9.66 (as of 07:40 UTC - Details)
Consider what happened to Elizabeth and Isaiah Linscott.
Elizabeth took a precautionary diagnostic COVID-19 test before traveling to visit her parents and grandparents in Michigan. It came back positive: Elizabeth was asymptomatic for the novel coronavirus but had no symptoms. Her husband and infant daughter tested negative for the virus.
Now in a country where freedom actually means something, the Linscotts would have the right to determine for themselves how to proceed responsibly, but in the American Police State, we’ve only got as much freedom as the government allows.
That’s not saying much.
Indeed, it’s a dangerous time for anyone who still clings to the idea that freedom means the right to think for yourself and act responsibly according to your best judgment.
In that regard, the Linscotts are a little old-school in their thinking. When Elizabeth was asked to sign a self-quarantine order agreeing to check in daily with the health department and not to travel anywhere without prior approval, she refused.
“I shouldn’t have to ask for consent because I’m an adult who can make that decision. And as a citizen of the United States of America, that is my right to make that decision without having to disclose that to somebody else,” said Elizabeth. “So, no, I wouldn’t wear a mask. I would do everything that I could to make sure that I wouldn’t come in contact with other people because of the fear that’s spreading with this. But no, I would have just stayed home, take care of my child.” The Communist Manifesto Engels, Friedrich Best Price: $3.49 Buy New $5.79 (as of 04:13 UTC - Details)
Instead of signing the blanket statement, Elizabeth submitted her own written declaration:
I will do my best to stay home, as I do every other time I get sick. But I cannot comply to having to call the public health department everytime that I need to go out and do something. It’s my right and freedoms to go where I please and not have to answer to anyone for it. There is no pandemic and with a survival rate of 99.9998% I’m fine. I will continue to avoid the elderly, just like PRIOR guidelines state, try to stay home, get rest, get medicine, and get better. I decline.
A few days after being informed that Elizabeth’s case was being escalated and referred to law enforcement, the Linscotts reportedly found their home surrounded by multiple government vehicles, government personnel and the county sheriff armed with a court order and ankle monitors.
“We didn’t rob a store,” Linscott said. “We didn’t steal something. We didn’t hit and run. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
That’s the point, of course.
In an age of overcriminalization—when the law is wielded like a hammer to force compliance to the government’s dictates whatever they might be—you don’t have to do anything wrong to be fined, arrested or subjected to raids and seizures and surveillance.
Watch and see: just as it did in China, this pandemic is about to afford the government the perfect excuse for expanding its surveillance and data collection powers at our expense.
On a daily basis, Americans are already relinquishing (in many cases, voluntarily) the most intimate details of who we are—their biological makeup, our genetic blueprints, and our biometrics (facial characteristics and structure, fingerprints, iris scans, etc.)—in order to navigate an increasingly technologically-enabled world. Cultural Cancer: Treat... Kane, Daryl Best Price: $20.00 Buy New $9.95 (as of 04:04 UTC - Details)
COVID-19, however, takes the surveillance state to the next level.
There’s already been talk of mass testing for COVID-19 antibodies, screening checkpoints, contact tracing, immunity passports to allow those who have recovered from the virus to move around more freely, and snitch tip lines for reporting “rule breakers” to the authorities.
As Reuters reports:
As the United States begins reopening its economy, some state officials are weighing whether house arrest monitoring technology – including ankle bracelets or location-tracking apps – could be used to police quarantines imposed on coronavirus carriers. But while the tech has been used sporadically for U.S. quarantine enforcement over the past few weeks, large scale rollouts have so far been held back by a big legal question: Can officials impose electronic monitoring without an offense or a court order?
More to the point, as the head of one tech company asked, “Can you actually constitutionally monitor someone who’s innocent? It’s uncharted territory.”
Except this isn’t exactly uncharted territory, is it?
It follows much the same pattern as every other state of emergency in recent years—legitimate or manufactured—that has empowered the government to add to its arsenal of technologies and powers.
The war on terror, the war on drugs, the war on illegal immigration, asset forfeiture schemes, road safety schemes, school safety schemes, eminent domain: all of these programs started out as legitimate responses to pressing concerns and have since become weapons of compliance and control in the police state’s hands. Into the Lion’s ... Maltz, Mr Steve Best Price: $14.37 Buy New $14.00 (as of 03:45 UTC - Details)
It doesn’t even matter what the nature of the crisis might be—civil unrest, the national emergencies, “unforeseen economic collapse, loss of functioning political and legal order, purposeful domestic resistance or insurgency, pervasive public health emergencies, and catastrophic natural and human disasters”—as long as it allows the government to justify all manner of government tyranny in the so-called name of national security.
It’s hard to know who to trust anymore.
Certainly, in this highly partisan age, when everything from the COVID-19 pandemic to police brutality to football is being recast in light of one’s political leanings, it can be incredibly difficult to separate what constitutes a genuine safety concern versus what is hyper-politicized propaganda.
Take the mask mandates, for example.
Currently, 19 states have not issued mask mandates in response to rising COVID-19 infection numbers. More than 30 states have enacted some form of mask requirement. A growing number of retailers, including Walmart, Target and CVS, are also joining the mask mandate bandwagon. Georgia’s governor, in a challenge to mask requirements by local governing bodies, filed a lawsuit challenging Atlanta’s dictate that masks be worn within city limits.
In some states, such as Indiana, where masks are required but there are no penalties for non-compliance, government officials are urging people to protect themselves but not to get into confrontations over masks or turn into snitches.
In other states, such as Virginia, the Nanny State is using more strong-handed tactics to force compliance with mask mandates, including the threat of fines, jail time, surprise inspections of businesses, and complaint hotlines that encourage citizens to snitch on each other. Officials in Las Vegas deployed 100 “compliance ambassadors” to help educate and enhance enforcement of the state’s mask mandate. One couple in Knoxville, Tenn., took mask-shaming to new heights when they created a Facebook page to track compliance by businesses, employees and customers. Agenda 21: The Wrenchi... DeWeese, Tom Best Price: $9.38 Buy New $17.99 (as of 04:25 UTC - Details)
In Miami, “residents now risk a legal penalty if they venture into public without a face mask. The city has assigned at least 39 police officers to make sure that residents are following the city’s mandatory mask ordinance. Offenders will be warned but, if they refuse to comply, they will be fined. The first offense will cost $100 and the second another $100. With a third — God forbid — the offender will be arrested.”
These conflicting and, in some cases, heavy-handed approaches to a pandemic that has locked down the nation for close to six months is turning this health crisis into an unnecessarily politicized, bureaucratic tug-of-war with no clear-cut winners to be found.
Certainly, this is not the first crisis to pit security concerns against freedom principles.
In this post-9/11 world, we have been indoctrinated into fearing and mistrusting one another instead of fearing and mistrusting the government. As a result, we’ve been forced to travel this road many, many times with lamentably predictable results each time: without fail, when asked to choose between safety and liberty, Americans historically tend to choose safety.
Failing to read the fine print on such devil’s bargains, “we the people” find ourselves repeatedly on the losing end as the government uses each crisis as a means of expanding its powers at taxpayer expense.
Whatever these mask mandates might be—authoritarian strong-arm tactics or health necessities to prevent further spread of the virus—they have thus far proven to be uphill legal battles for those hoping to challenge them in the courts as unconstitutional restrictions on their right to liberty, bodily autonomy, privacy and health.
In fact, Florida courts have upheld the mask ordinances, ruling that they do not infringe on constitutional rights and that “there is no reasonable expectation of privacy as to whether one covers their nose and mouth in public places, which are the only places to which the mask ordinance applies.”
Declaring that there is no constitutional right to infect others, Circuit Court Judge John Kastrenakes concluded that “the right to be ‘free from governmental intrusion’ does not automatically or completely shield an individual’s conduct from regulation.” Moreover, wrote Kastrenakes, constitutional rights and the ideals of limited government “do not absolve a citizen from the real-world consequences of their individual choices, or otherwise allow them to wholly skirt their social obligation to their fellow Americans or to society as a whole. This is particularly true when one’s individual choices can result in drastic, costly, and sometimes deadly, consequences to others.”
Virginia courts have also upheld mask mandates.
These court decisions take their cue from a 1905 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Jacobson v. Massachusetts in which the Court upheld the authority of states to enforce compulsory vaccination laws.
In other words, the courts have concluded that the government has a compelling interest in requiring masks to fight COVID-19 infections that overrides individual freedoms.
Generally, the government has to show a so-called compelling state interest before it can override certain critical rights such as free speech, assembly, press, privacy, search and seizure, etc. Most of the time, the government lacks that compelling state interest, but it still manages to violate those rights, setting itself up for legal battles further down the road.
We can spend time debating the mask mandates. However, criticizing those who rightly fear these restrictions to be a slippery slope to further police state tactics will not restore the freedoms that have been willingly sacrificed on the altar of national security by Americans of all political stripes over the years.
As I’ve warned, this is a test to see how whether the Constitution—and our commitment to the principles enshrined in the Bill of Rights—can survive a national crisis and true state of emergency.
It must be remembered that James Madison, the “father” of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights and the fourth president of the United States, advised that we should “take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties.
Whether or not you consider these COVID-19 restrictions to be cause for alarm, they are far from the first experiment on our liberties. Indeed, whether or not you concede that the pandemic itself is cause for alarm, we should all be alarmed by the government’s response to this pandemic.
By government, I’m not referring to one particular politician or administration but to the entire apparatus at every level that conspires to keep “we the people” fearful of one another and under virtual house arrest.
This is what we’ve all been reduced to: prisoners in our skin, prisoners in our homes, prisoners in our communities—forced to comply with the government’s shifting mandates about how to navigate this pandemic or else.
Right now, COVID-19 is the perfect excuse for the government to wreak havoc on our freedoms in the name of safety and security, but as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, don’t believe for a minute that our safety is the police state’s primary concern.
The Best of John W. Whitehead


lewrockwell--2020-07-30--The Nation Is Falling into the Abyss Between Wall Street and Main Street

The abyss between the Fed ’ s illusion of phantom wealth for Wall Street and the collapse of Main Street is bottomless , and our descent into the abyss is accelerating .
I know this runs counter to every dominant narrative , but a vaccine doesn ’ t really matter , opening up doesn ’ t really matter , and the size of the “ free money ” stimulus checks doesn ’ t matter .
What matters is that the nation is falling into the abyss that ’ s opened between Wall Street and Main Street , and nothing will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ order other than a fundamental re-ordering of the way we create and distribute money and political power , as money buys political influence .
The last economic tide with widespread benefits to Main Street was 30 years ago .
Since then , the Federal Reserve and other central banks have incentivized globalization and financialization , two dynamics that favor mobile capital and financier skims amd scams .
Gods of Money : Wall St ... Engdahl , F. William Best Price : $ 8.98 Buy New $ 29.95 There are a number of factors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but the primary driver is financialization .
Financialization has given those with access to central bank credit ways to skim great wealth from the system without creating any value whatsoever .
Financialization isn ’ t a consequence of having capital : it ’ s the consequence of having access to unlimited central bank credit , leverage and low-risk , low-tax skimming operations ( for example , tax codes enable hedge funds to declare income as low-tax long-term capital gains ) .
Leveraging phantom collateral is another feature of financialization .
Commoners were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lenders were offering no-document , no-down payment mortgages back in 2004-2007 .
Phantom income was posted as collateral for the nothing-but-leverage loan .
Financialization is not about investing in productive enterprises ; it ’ s all about skimming wealth while providing no value to the real economy or society .
The hidden toxin in financialization is the resulting concentration of wealth can buy concentrations of political power .
Financialization is thus self-perpetuating : once the skimming operations generate billions of dollars in profit , it only takes a relatively small piece of these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Once the politicos are in your pocket , the regulators and judiciary fall into line or are marginalized by new statutes or gutted budgets .
Financialization is the disease eating away what ’ s left of democracy .
Unleashing Usury : How ... Westra , Richard Best Price : $ 12.61 Buy New $ 24.95 Financialization is the exploitation of assets/income that were previously safe from predation by central bank funded financiers .
While definitions vary , mine is : Financialization is the commoditization of debt collaterized by previously unsecuritized assets , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only possible in a massive expansion of low-cost credit and leverage for those at the top of the wealth-power pyramid : financiers , banks and corporations .
One example is the student loan “ industry , ” which prior to financialization did not exist .
A previously safe from predation asset/source of income–college degrees–has been securitized so that loans issued to students for largely worthless diplomas can be sold globally as “ secure assets with guaranteed yields.
” That the exploited class of students have little to no income and no guarantee of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ matters is a previously unexploited asset can be turned into debt that can be sold at an immense profit .
The Best of Charles Hugh Smith

The abyss between the Fed’s illusion of phantom wealth for Wall Street and the collapse of Main Street is bottomless, and our descent into the abyss is accelerating.
I know this runs counter to every dominant narrative, but a vaccine doesn’t really matter, opening up doesn’t really matter, and the size of the “free money” stimulus checks doesn’t matter.
What matters is that the nation is falling into the abyss that’s opened between Wall Street and Main Street, and nothing will stave off the collapse of the social order other than a fundamental re-ordering of the way we create and distribute money and political power, as money buys political influence.
The last economic tide with widespread benefits to Main Street was 30 years ago. Since then, the Federal Reserve and other central banks have incentivized globalization and financialization, two dynamics that favor mobile capital and financier skims amd scams. Gods of Money: Wall St... Engdahl, F. William Best Price: $8.98 Buy New $29.95 (as of 03:42 UTC - Details)
There are a number of factors behind the widening canyon of economic inequality, but the primary driver is financialization. Financialization has given those with access to central bank credit ways to skim great wealth from the system without creating any value whatsoever.
Financialization isn’t a consequence of having capital: it’s the consequence of having access to unlimited central bank credit, leverage and low-risk, low-tax skimming operations (for example, tax codes enable hedge funds to declare income as low-tax long-term capital gains).
Leveraging phantom collateral is another feature of financialization. Commoners were allowed a taste of this when subprime lenders were offering no-document, no-down payment mortgages back in 2004-2007. Phantom income was posted as collateral for the nothing-but-leverage loan.
Financialization is not about investing in productive enterprises; it’s all about skimming wealth while providing no value to the real economy or society.
The hidden toxin in financialization is the resulting concentration of wealth can buy concentrations of political power. Financialization is thus self-perpetuating: once the skimming operations generate billions of dollars in profit, it only takes a relatively small piece of these profits to buy/influence the political class. Once the politicos are in your pocket, the regulators and judiciary fall into line or are marginalized by new statutes or gutted budgets.
Financialization is the disease eating away what’s left of democracy. Unleashing Usury: How ... Westra, Richard Best Price: $12.61 Buy New $24.95 (as of 03:15 UTC - Details)
Financialization is the exploitation of assets/income that were previously safe from predation by central bank funded financiers. While definitions vary, mine is:
Financialization is the commoditization of debt collaterized by previously unsecuritized assets, a pyramiding of risk and speculation that is only possible in a massive expansion of low-cost credit and leverage for those at the top of the wealth-power pyramid: financiers, banks and corporations.
One example is the student loan “industry,” which prior to financialization did not exist. A previously safe from predation asset/source of income–college degrees–has been securitized so that loans issued to students for largely worthless diplomas can be sold globally as “secure assets with guaranteed yields.”
That the exploited class of students have little to no income and no guarantee of income doesn’t matter. What matters is a previously unexploited asset can be turned into debt that can be sold at an immense profit.
Read the Whole Article
The Best of Charles Hugh Smith