investmentwatchblog--2020-06-04--Bubble-Wrapped Americans: How the U.S. Became Obsessed with Physical and Emotional Safety

It ’ s a common refrain : We have bubble-wrapped the world .
Americans in particular are obsessed with “ safety.
” The simplest way to get any law passed in America , be it a zoning law or a sweeping reform of the intelligence community , is to invoke a simple sentence : “ A kid might get hurt.
” Almost no one is opposed to reasonable efforts at making the world a safer place .
But the operating word here is “ reasonable.
” Banning lawn darts , for example , rather than just telling people that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ children , is a perfect example of a craving for safety gone too far .
Beyond the realm of legislation , this has begun to infect our very culture .
Think of things like “ trigger warnings ” and “ safe spaces.
” These are part of broader cultural trends in search of a kind of “ emotional safety ” – a purported right to never be disturbed or offended by anything .
This is by no means confined to the sphere of academia , but is also in our popular culture , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more mainstream variants .
Why are Americans so obsessed with safety ?
What is the endgame of those who would bubble wrap the world , both physically and emotionally ?
Perhaps most importantly , what can we do to turn back the tide and reclaim our culture of self-reliance , mental toughness , and giving one another the benefit of the doubt so that we don ’ t “ bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security , ” as President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about ?
Coddling and Splintering : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ books published in 2018 provide parallel insights into the problems presented by the safety obsession of American culture : The Splintering of the American Mind by William Egginton , focused on the tendency of Americans to tunnel themselves off into self-selected bubbles , and The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt , which deals more with the tendency to avoid any uncomfortable or unpleasant information .
There is an interesting phenomenon involved in coddling : Australian psychologist Nick Haskam first coined the term “ concept creep.
” Basically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elastic and expand past the point of meaning .
Take , for example , the concept of “ trauma.
” This used to have a very limited meaning .
However , “ trauma ” quickly became expanded to mean even slight physical or emotional harm or discomfort .
Thus the increasing belief among the far left that words can be “ violence ” – not “ violent , ” mind you , but actual , literal violence .
In the other direction , the definition of “ hero ” has been expanded to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , firefighter and police officer is now considered a “ hero.
” This isn ’ t to downplay or minimize the importance of these roles in our society .
It ’ s simply to point out that “ hero ” just doesn ’ t mean what it used to 100 or even 30 years ago .
Once this expansion of a term occurs , there is never any kind of retraction .
Trauma now means just about anything , and violence will soon be expanded to include lawful , peaceful speech that one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there will be no going back .
In the words of Sam Harris : It is extremely dangerous to begin labelling everything as violence for reasons of free speech , but perhaps even more dangerous is the notion that when anything is violence , nothing is violence .
Redefining words as “ violence ” means that we have little recourse for when actual violence occurs .
The Coddling of the American Mind notes some other concepts that are important as we speak of America ’ s obsession with “ safety ” above all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with splintering means that people ’ s political views are much more like fanatical religious views than anything .
They don ’ t see themselves as having to debate ideas or seek common ground .
Rather , the opposing side and its proponents are seen as “ dangerous ” and must be discredited at all costs .
It is worth noting that this is much more common among the left than the right or the center , which has now become more the place where “ live and let live ” types congregate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ simply being irritated by irrational people barking at you or at someone else : There is an entire generation of people who are seriously lacking in critical thinking skills .
They think that labelling people and name-calling are excuses for a reasoned argument .
In the words of Voltaire , “ Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
” These problems are hardly confined to political radicalism or academia .
Indeed , the corporate sector is no stranger to this kind of safety obsession .
There is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where the corporations find the latest celebrity cause-du-jour and use it as a marketing strategy .
There is currently an extreme risk aversion in management science .
Companies will now do basically anything to avoid “ a kid getting hurt ” or someone ’ s delicate sensibilities being offended .
Education from kindergarten up to the universities is increasingly about teaching doctrines and ideology , rather than critical thinking and problem solving skills .
All of this is a dangerous admixture that combines the full weight of the academic , cultural and business @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consequences are far reaching .
For those unaware , a “ trigger warning ” is a person ’ s advisory that disturbing content is going to be posted .
However , in an example of concept creep , the meaning of “ disturbing ” has become expanded to mean , well , just about anything that might offend a leftist .
It is also sometimes known as a “ content warning , ” “ TW ” or “ CW.
” A similar concept is that of a “ safe space.
” What used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ place where people in actual danger of physical harm could express themselves , a “ safe space ” now means a place where there is no room for disagreement or questions because language is literally violence .
This might all sound very silly and we definitely agree that it is .
However , it is quickly becoming de rigeur not just in academia , which is increasingly functioning as a bizarre combination of a daycare center for 21 year olds and an indoctrination program , but also in the corporate world and in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surprising that such foolishness has reached our corporate elites , because so many figures within that world come from the Ivy League .
Harvard Law , for example , was the center of a controversy where they were urged not to teach rape law or even use the word “ violate ” ( which makes it pretty hard to talk about violations of the law ) .
A Harvard professor argued that greater anxiety among students to discuss complicated and nuanced séxual assault cases was impeding the ability of professors to adequately teach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lead to poorly prepared attorneys for rape victims in the future .
Beyond a simple discussion in the academic sphere , there are student groups on campus who urge students not to attend or participate in class discussions focused on séxual violence .
The same student groups advocate for warning students in advance so they can skip out on class and even to exclude “ triggering ” material from tests .
Once again , the real victims here are the victims of séxual assault whose attorneys will be ill-prepared to advise them , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the prosecutorial environment .
Northwestern University professor Laura Kipnis was subject to a lengthy investigation by a kangaroo court and frivolous Title IX complaints over an article she wrote for The Chronicle of Higher Education about campus séx panics .
Top comedians like Chris Rock now refuse to perform on college campuses , a place that has typically been their bread and butter .
Another key term to understand here is “ microaggressions ” which means just about anything .
Offensive statements under this umbrella include things like “ I don ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the land of opportunity ” and “ I believe the most qualified person should get the job.
” To readers of Generation X or older , this all might sound like a resurgence of political correctness and , indeed , to some extent it is .
However , there is something different about the current anti-speech craze sweeping not just campuses , but also boardrooms : Political correctness was , at least in theory , about the elimination of so-called “ hate speech ” ( for example , using “ mentally disabled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ little person ” instead of “ midget ” ) and also about broadening the canon of literature to include more women and minorities .
One doesn ’ t need to agree with either objective or be as generous as we are to see that the West has entered a new , accelerated and intensified version of the old political correctness that is qualitatively more dangerous .
The “ safe spaces ” phase of this is about eliminating anything and everything that might be emotionally troubling to students on campus .
This assumes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ college students .
But perhaps this assumption isn ’ t totally off base .
If you were born before 1985 or so , your childhood was vastly different than of those born after you .
As a child , you probably came and went as you pleased , letting your parents know where you were going , who you would be with and when you might be home .
You rode your bike without a helmet and if you were bullied at school there ’ s a good chance that you view this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of deep emotional trauma .
A few things .
First , in 1984 , the “ missing child ” milk carton was introduced .
America became obsessed with child abduction in response to several high-profile child kidnappings over the period of a few years .
Etan Platz , Adam Walsh and Johnny Gosch are just three of the names known to Americans during this time period .
In September 1984 , the Des Moines , Iowa-based Anderson Erickson Dairy began printing the pictures of Johnny Gosch and Eugene Martin on milk cartons .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ state of California .
In December 1984 , a nationwide program was launched to keep the faces of abducted children front and center in the American mind .
The milk cartons didn ’ t find many kids , but they did create the panic of “ stranger danger , ” where children were taught to fear strangers even though the lion ’ s share of child abduction , molestation and abuse comes from friends , family and other trusted figures such as public school teachers or camp counselors .
Most missing children in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of all child abductions , the perpetrator is a non-custodial father .
There is at least one case of “ stranger danger ” being harmful – a lost 11-year-old Boy Scout who thought his rescuers were looking to kidnap him .
Some of the protocols established out of this were useful , such as AMBER Alerts and Code Adam .
Awareness of child abduction in general was raised and as a result there ’ s significantly fewer child abductions today than there were in 1980 .
Indeed , stranger abduction is incredibly rare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has come with a dark side .
You might be familiar with the myriad of cases in suburban America where children playing alone are arrested by the police because they don ’ t have adult supervision .
The parents are then questioned by the police or , in some cases , the state ’ s Child Protective Services .
There was also the panic after the mass shooting at Columbine High School , which led to the bubble wrapping of schools alongside the home .
“ Zero tolerance ” policies were implemented alongside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the result is that there are at least two generations of American children raised in a protective net so tight that they not only have trouble expressing themselves , but also being exposed to failure and discomfort .
What began as a good-faith effort to prevent child abduction and increase overall child welfare has ended up , as a side effect , creating a world where children were raised in such safety that they can ’ t even handle being upset .
This has not only insulated children from the consequences of their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ growing up , but also gives the impression that no matter what their problems , “ adults ” are ready to step in and save the day at any moment .
It ’ s worth noting that , in recent years , there has been a sharp rise in mental illness among young people , both on campus and off , including those with severe mental health problems .
There are two other cultural phenomena worth exploring : The television series Cops and the 24-hour cable news cycle .
As of April 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , having moved from Fox to Spike TV in 2013 .
Cops was more than just a TV series , it was a cultural phenomenon that changed television .
The cinéma vérité style used by the show was to be copied in the 90s by virtually every reality show you can name .
Curiously , it came out around the same time that crime rates had plummeted comparatively to the 70s and 80s .
And just at that time , people started having the worst in human behavior beamed into their homes for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same time , CNN was bringing news into your home 24 hours a day without end .
This meant they had to fill programming around the clock – and most news is bad news .
So in addition to a hugely popular program centered around chasing criminals in the act , Americans also had a constant stream of bad news and dangerous events pumped into their homes .
The result was the end of the “ free range child , ” the kind who learned through play and discovered risk management through trial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ children whose entire existence was micromanaged by adults , with little to no unsupervised play time .
The ability to learn through failure is a well-established principle going back to the Greeks , who called it pathemata mathemata ( “ guide your learning through pain ” ) .
The knowledge and wisdom gained through failure and pain are arguably more lasting and valuable than those learned in school .
Older generations ( Generation X and Baby Boomers ) have a tendency to conflate Millennials and Gen Z ( also known as “ Zoomers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two key differences , one cultural and one clinical : First , Zoomers are much more digital natives than their Millennial counterparts .
They didn ’ t get constant internet access or mobile access at college .
They ’ ve had it since they were in middle school in many cases .
While this is bound to create secondary cultural differences , we know of one clinical difference between Millennials and Zoomers : Zoomers are much more prone to mental illness , specifically depression , anxiety , alcoholism and self-harm .
Depression and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for girls , with moderate increases for boys .
While self-reported cases are up , we also have harder clinical data : There has been a 62 percent increase in hospital admissions .
The Baby Boomers and Gen Xers created an environment where it is safer than ever to be a child , but at what cost ?
There has been widespread and verifiable psychological damage done to the younger generation , which is likely being compounded by the coddling taking place in our nation ’ s universities .
“ Screen time ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ especially among , ironically , those who work in high-tech Silicon Valley jobs such as Steve Jobs , father of the iPhone .
But there seems to be an emerging consensus among those who have actually studied the topic that the problem isn ’ t “ screen time ” per se , but rather the more specific use of it in the form of social media .
This has been identified as the cause of depression and anxiety , particularly among girls .
Why is social media usage particularly impactful among girls ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s because they are more sensitive to the “ perfect ” lives being lived by beautiful social media influencers – at least the lives that they lead online .
What ’ s more , there is a lot of exclusion and bullying taking place on social media .
In days past , you only heard about the party you didn ’ t get invited to , but now you get to watch it unfold in real time on Snapchat or other platforms .
And cyberbullying is much harder to track and police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s a related bubble wrapping going on with regard to a different sort of screen time : Kids today are often forbidden from playing with plastic guns or even finger guns .
There is the notorious case of the 7-year-old child who was suspended for biting a Pop Tart toaster pastry into the shape of a gun .
But millions of children come home ( from the same schools where finger guns can warrant a suspension ) to play Grand Theft Auto for hours on end .
Indeed , there is some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ video games can trigger violent thoughts in some , but not all , people who view them .
The National Institute of Mental Health has done an extensive study detailing the impact that violent media has on those who view it .
There ’ s not much hyperbole in saying that America is barely a single nation anymore .
We talk about “ red states ” and “ blue states , ” but the divide is much deeper than that .
Even the coastal states largely have an urban college-educated Democratic population and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some animosity between different areas of the political spectrum , or even resentment of cities by the countryside and vice versa , is nothing new , the rancor took off sharply in the early 2000s following the controversial election of George W. Bush and his expanded imperial presidency after 9/11 .
Social media makes it easier for extremes to amplify their anger .
What ’ s more , it ’ s much easier for people to become part of an online crusade – or witch hunt – than it is for them to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a big part of what is behind the string of disinvitations and protests on American college campuses .
No one , especially young people ( where “ young ” means “ under 30 ” ) , can bear to listen to the opinions of someone they don ’ t agree with .
Disinvitations aren ’ t limited to highly controversial figures like MILO and Richard Spencer , or even the decidedly much more vanilla Ann Coulter .
Condoleeza Rice , the first black female Secretary of State , was disinvited in 2014 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the IMF and the first female finance minister of a G8 nation , Christine Lagarde .
Because Americans increasingly refuse even to listen to arguments from the other side , inserting instead a strawman in favor of reasoned debate , there is no reason to believe that the American political and ideological divide will not increase .
America and the West have largely adopted a victimhood culture .
It is worth taking a minute to trace this radical transformation of values in the West from its origins .
The earliest societies in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sounds like a no-brainer that we should return to an honor culture , we should unpack precisely what this means .
An honor culture usually means a lot of interpersonal violence .
Small slights must be dealt with through dead violence – because a gentleman can not take any kind of stain on his honor .
Dueling and blood feuds are common in these kinds of cultures .
This is superseded by dignity culture .
Dignity culture is different , because people are presumed to have dignity regardless of what others think of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people are admired because they have a “ thick skin ” and are able to brush off slights even if they are seriously insulting .
While we might find ourselves offended , even rightfully so , it is considered important to rise above the offense and conduct ourselves with dignity .
Everyone heard some variant of “ sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me ” growing up as a child .
This is perhaps the key phrase of a dignity culture .
Victimhood culture is concerned with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ culture .
Indeed , people become incredibly intolerant of any kind of perceived slight , much in the manner of an honor culture .
However , in a victimhood culture , it is being offended , taking offense , and being a victim that provides one with status .
Victimhood culture means that people are divided into classes , where victims are good and oppressors are bad .
There is an eternal conflict with eternal grievances that can never fully be corrected or atoned for .
People feel the need to constantly walk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leads to an overall emphasis on safety , as even words become “ violence ” – we need trigger warnings and safe spaces to protect us .
Victimhood culture is closely associated with safety culture .
Safety culture is , above all else , debilitating .
Those who choose a marginalized identity – and in the contemporary West , a marginalized identity is almost always a choice – become more fragile and more dependent on the broader society .
At the same time , the powerful elements in society gain a stake in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Society provides a case study in this dynamic .
Those who do not receive the so-called “ benefits ” of safety culture are frequently more prepared for the real world .
Who would you rather hire ?
Someone who studied hard in a rigorous discipline for four years or someone who spent four years being coddled in what is basically a day care center for twentysomethings ?
With this in mind , it ’ s not too big of a leap to see that straight white men might actually have become “ privileged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ access to the collective hugbox in higher education .
The Role of Lawyers and Litigation There is a relationship with the litigious society in which we live with warning labels everywhere , often for hazards that would seem incredibly obvious to most observant people .
In previous generations , even power tools didn ’ t come with warnings to roll your sleeves up or take off your watch .
This information was either common sense or passed along in high school shop classes or on the job .
However , the American legal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which has led to an explosion in the number of lawsuits .
There is a massive army of lawyers in the United States ( which has a surplus of some 40 percent ) whose profession revolves around finding aggrieved parties who weren ’ t properly “ warned ” – or indeed to be able to help write the warning labels themselves .
These labels do not even exist for actual safety .
The same type of person who is going to do the thing being warned against is likely the same type @ @ @ @ @ @ @ warnings .
The labels are simply there as a form of “ CYA ” for the firms who make them .
That said , to a certain degree , the “ litigious society ” is a myth .
The oft-cited McDonald ’ s coffee burn is actually more reasonable than people are aware : The elderly woman in question who was burned simply wanted McDonald ’ s – who kept their coffee extra hot to prevent people from taking part of their “ free refills ” policy – to pay for her skin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ McDonald ’ s refused to settle this out of court and the case went to trial , they were rewarded for their efforts at stonewalling with punitive damages .
So the main example of frivolous lawsuits is a big strawman .
But to be clear – frivolous lawsuits are real .
One great example of an actually frivolous lawsuit was the man who sued his dry cleaner for $ 67 million because they delivered his pants to the wrong person .
There was no actual damage here and it ’ s difficult to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claimed was .
This case was thrown out of court , as most of these types of cases are .
Still , litigants pursue them either to get media attention or to harass the defendant or both , a phenomenon known as “ lawfare.
” And these cases clog up genuine claims in the courts .
Civil trials are long and drawn-out things .
And with 40 million of them in the United States every year and over a million lawyers , it ’ s unsurprising that the system has become clogged with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ totally frivolous ( remember – there ’ s no penalty for filing a frivolous lawsuit in America ) or just the type of thing that should be either settled or handled through binding arbitration .
While the litigious society exists in parallel to the “ safe spaces ” of college campuses , it is worth noting because it is part of the larger bubble wrapping of the American landscape .
The same kids who were raised with helicopter parents and a general sense that they had a “ right ” to never be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where people could be sued for anything or , at the very least , this was the public perception .
It is just another factor of risk aversion in American life .
There are other consequences of having too many lawyers around and having them congregate within our political class : Words are chosen to obfuscate and laws proliferate , as legislation becomes a sort of “ jobs program ” for lawyers .
The more laws we have , the less free we are and the less social trust we have .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the place of civil society , the state grows at the expense of everything else and the less trust we have in our society .
In 2020 , the Wuhan Coronavirus broke out of China and spread all around the world .
The world had not seen a deadly , contagious virus with such scope since the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 to 1920 .
At first , the response was denial and apathy .
However , this quickly gave way to what could be considered a massive overreaction : Shutting everything down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this : If people gathering together were what was spreading the virus , then simply keep people apart until the whole thing blows over .
However , this is also potentially a huge overreaction .
It is a medical solution in the driver ’ s seat without any nod to the economic , social or military consequences that flow from it .
Even if one agrees that medical solutions are to be the primary driver , it does not follow that they are the only driver .
Because of the lopsided and often @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solutions don ’ t even make sense : For example , telling everyone they can go to the supermarket while prohibiting them from going to small offices , or shutting down the border between the United States and Canada – two countries with highly infected populations and a sprawling border that is largely unpatrolled .
A brief disclaimer : None of us are epidemiologists or virologists .
And we defer to their superior knowledge on this subject .
However , during the Spanish flu pandemic , life did not shut down quite so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic .
The methods used during the Spanish flu were isolation of the sick , mask wearing in public , and cancellation of large events .
In places where these were practiced rigorously , there was a significant decline in the number of infections and death .
St. Louis in particular is known as an exemplar of what to do during an easily transmissible epidemic .
“ The economy ” has been cited as a reason the total shutdown of life during the Coronavirus pandemic was a poor idea .
This might sound @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only leads to destitution for those when the economy is so paralyzed that there are no other jobs forthcoming .
It also leads to a spike in the suicide rate .
There is a certain calculus that must be done – how much unemployment is worth how much death from Wuhan Coronavirus ?
The reaction to this virus is noteworthy , because it is the first major pandemic of this new , insulated and coddled age .
Rather than reasonable measures to mitigate death , the choice made was to do anything and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Not only might this be an unwise decision , it might be a fool ’ s errand : The virus seems to be much more contagious than was previously thought , as well as much less lethal .
More than one reasonable person has asked what would happen if we all just went about our lives making reasonable precautions , such as hand washing , mask wearing , social distancing , and the cancellation of large events like sports and concerts .
This is effectively what Sweden has done and it appears to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neighbors in Finland who have done basically the same as America .
How much sense does it make to have the entire community converge upon its grocery stores while not allowing anyone to go into an office , ever ?
Compare this with what has passed for reasonable reaction : Closing down every school , every dine-in restaurant , and the government dictating which businesses are essential and which aren ’ t .
A big motivator of this is a compulsion to not lose a single life to the Wuhan Coronavirus , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are going to die .
The question isn ’ t “ how tightly do we have to lock the country down to ensure no one dies , ” but rather “ what are reasonable measures we can take to balance public safety against personal choice and social cohesion ?
” The splintering and division of America in practice has meant that the establishment conservative media was largely in denial over the virus for weeks .
It is not a liberal smear to say that the amount of denialism from establishment conservative media , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elected officials has in practice meant that America responded much more slowly and conservatively than it might have with a more unified America body politic .
At the beginning of spring 2020 , the virus seemed poised to devastate the American South , which largely stuck with the early conservative media denialism , eschewing social distancing , shuttering of certain public places and mask wearing .
Again , a more united body politic and the media and trust in the media that goes along with that might have prevented a lot of illness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Walter Cronkite or Edward Murrow going on television and telling the American public to mask up and maintain distance versus the impact of Rachel Maddow and Tucker Carlson doing it .
“ Vindictive protectiveness ” was a term coined by Haidt and Lukianoff to describe the environment on America ’ s college campuses with regard to speech codes and similar .
However , it can refer more broadly to the cultural atmosphere in the United States and the West today .
From the college campus to the corporate boardroom to the office , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and maybe even what they think lest they fall afoul of extra-legal speech and thought codes .
Perhaps worst of all , an entire generation is being raised to see this not only as normal , but as beneficial .
This means that as this generation comes of age and grows into leadership positions , that there is a significant chance that these codes will be enforced more rigorously , not less .
And while there may be ebbs and flows ( political correctness went into hibernation for pretty much the entire administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be fair , there was an imperfect replacement in the form of post-9/11 jingoism ) , the current outrage factory is much more concerning than the one that sort of just hung around in the background in the 1990s .
Put plainly : the next wave will be worse .
We may not have Maoist-style Red Guards in America quite yet , but we ’ re not far off and the emphasis should be on “ yet .
”

by Sam Jacobs via Ammo.com
It’s a common refrain: We have bubble-wrapped the world. Americans in particular are obsessed with “safety.” The simplest way to get any law passed in America, be it a zoning law or a sweeping reform of the intelligence community, is to invoke a simple sentence: “A kid might get hurt.”
Almost no one is opposed to reasonable efforts at making the world a safer place. But the operating word here is “reasonable.” Banning lawn darts, for example, rather than just telling people that they can be dangerous when used by unsupervised children, is a perfect example of a craving for safety gone too far.
Beyond the realm of legislation, this has begun to infect our very culture. Think of things like “trigger warnings” and “safe spaces.” These are part of broader cultural trends in search of a kind of “emotional safety” – a purported right to never be disturbed or offended by anything. This is by no means confined to the sphere of academia, but is also in our popular culture, both in “extremely online” and more mainstream variants.
Why are Americans so obsessed with safety? What is the endgame of those who would bubble wrap the world, both physically and emotionally? Perhaps most importantly, what can we do to turn back the tide and reclaim our culture of self-reliance, mental toughness, and giving one another the benefit of the doubt so that we don’t “bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security,” as President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about?
Coddling and Splintering: The Transformation of the American Mind
Two books published in 2018 provide parallel insights into the problems presented by the safety obsession of American culture: The Splintering of the American Mind by William Egginton, focused on the tendency of Americans to tunnel themselves off into self-selected bubbles, and The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, which deals more with the tendency to avoid any uncomfortable or unpleasant information.
There is an interesting phenomenon involved in coddling: Australian psychologist Nick Haskam first coined the term “concept creep.” Basically, this means that terms are often elastic and expand past the point of meaning. Take, for example, the concept of “trauma.” This used to have a very limited meaning. However, “trauma” quickly became expanded to mean even slight physical or emotional harm or discomfort. Thus the increasing belief among the far left that words can be “violence” – not “violent,” mind you, but actual, literal violence.
In the other direction, the definition of “hero” has been expanded to mean just about anything. Every teacher, firefighter and police officer is now considered a “hero.” This isn’t to downplay or minimize the importance of these roles in our society. It’s simply to point out that “hero” just doesn’t mean what it used to 100 or even 30 years ago.
Once this expansion of a term occurs, there is never any kind of retraction. Trauma now means just about anything, and violence will soon be expanded to include lawful, peaceful speech that one disapproves of. Once this happens, there will be no going back. In the words of Sam Harris:
“We (as a society) have to be committed to defending free speech however impolitic, or unpopular, or even wrong because defending that is the only barrier to violence. That’s because the only way we can influence one another short of physical violence is through speech, through communicating ideas. The moment you say certain ideas can’t be communicated you create a circumstance where people have no alternative but to go hands on you.”
It is extremely dangerous to begin labelling everything as violence for reasons of free speech, but perhaps even more dangerous is the notion that when anything is violence, nothing is violence. Redefining words as “violence” means that we have little recourse for when actual violence occurs.
The Coddling of the American Mind notes some other concepts that are important as we speak of America’s obsession with “safety” above all else. First, that coddling combined with splintering means that people’s political views are much more like fanatical religious views than anything. They don’t see themselves as having to debate ideas or seek common ground. Rather, the opposing side and its proponents are seen as “dangerous” and must be discredited at all costs. It is worth noting that this is much more common among the left than the right or the center, which has now become more the place where “live and let live” types congregate.
The problem with this goes beyond simply being irritated by irrational people barking at you or at someone else: There is an entire generation of people who are seriously lacking in critical thinking skills. They think that labelling people and name-calling are excuses for a reasoned argument. In the words of Voltaire, “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
These problems are hardly confined to political radicalism or academia. Indeed, the corporate sector is no stranger to this kind of safety obsession. There is the phenomenon of “woke capital,” where the corporations find the latest celebrity cause-du-jour and use it as a marketing strategy.
There is currently an extreme risk aversion in management science. Companies will now do basically anything to avoid “a kid getting hurt” or someone’s delicate sensibilities being offended.
Education from kindergarten up to the universities is increasingly about teaching doctrines and ideology, rather than critical thinking and problem solving skills. All of this is a dangerous admixture that combines the full weight of the academic, cultural and business elites in this country. And its consequences are far reaching.
Trigger Warnings and Safe Spaces
For those unaware, a “trigger warning” is a person’s advisory that disturbing content is going to be posted. However, in an example of concept creep, the meaning of “disturbing” has become expanded to mean, well, just about anything that might offend a leftist. It is also sometimes known as a “content warning,” “TW” or “CW.”
A similar concept is that of a “safe space.” What used to be a term used for a place where people in actual danger of physical harm could express themselves, a “safe space” now means a place where there is no room for disagreement or questions because language is literally violence.
This might all sound very silly and we definitely agree that it is. However, it is quickly becoming de rigeur not just in academia, which is increasingly functioning as a bizarre combination of a daycare center for 21 year olds and an indoctrination program, but also in the corporate world and in the media.
It’s not surprising that such foolishness has reached our corporate elites, because so many figures within that world come from the Ivy League. Harvard Law, for example, was the center of a controversy where they were urged not to teach rape law or even use the word “violate” (which makes it pretty hard to talk about violations of the law). A Harvard professor argued that greater anxiety among students to discuss complicated and nuanced séxual assault cases was impeding the ability of professors to adequately teach their students. This in turn would lead to poorly prepared attorneys for rape victims in the future.
Beyond a simple discussion in the academic sphere, there are student groups on campus who urge students not to attend or participate in class discussions focused on séxual violence. The same student groups advocate for warning students in advance so they can skip out on class and even to exclude “triggering” material from tests. Once again, the real victims here are the victims of séxual assault whose attorneys will be ill-prepared to advise them, to say nothing of the cumulative effect on the prosecutorial environment.
Northwestern University professor Laura Kipnis was subject to a lengthy investigation by a kangaroo court and frivolous Title IX complaints over an article she wrote for The Chronicle of Higher Education about campus séx panics. Top comedians like Chris Rock now refuse to perform on college campuses, a place that has typically been their bread and butter.
Another key term to understand here is “microaggressions” which means just about anything. Offensive statements under this umbrella include things like “I don’t see race,” “America is the land of opportunity” and “I believe the most qualified person should get the job.”
To readers of Generation X or older, this all might sound like a resurgence of political correctness and, indeed, to some extent it is. However, there is something different about the current anti-speech craze sweeping not just campuses, but also boardrooms: Political correctness was, at least in theory, about the elimination of so-called “hate speech” (for example, using “mentally disabled” instead of “retarded” or “little person” instead of “midget”) and also about broadening the canon of literature to include more women and minorities.
One doesn’t need to agree with either objective or be as generous as we are to see that the West has entered a new, accelerated and intensified version of the old political correctness that is qualitatively more dangerous. The “safe spaces” phase of this is about eliminating anything and everything that might be emotionally troubling to students on campus.
This assumes a high degree of fragility among American college students. But perhaps this assumption isn’t totally off base.
The Road to Safety Obsession
If you were born before 1985 or so, your childhood was vastly different than of those born after you. As a child, you probably came and went as you pleased, letting your parents know where you were going, who you would be with and when you might be home. You rode your bike without a helmet and if you were bullied at school there’s a good chance that you view this as a character-building experience, not one of deep emotional trauma.
So what happened?
A few things. First, in 1984, the “missing child” milk carton was introduced. America became obsessed with child abduction in response to several high-profile child kidnappings over the period of a few years. Etan Platz, Adam Walsh and Johnny Gosch are just three of the names known to Americans during this time period. In September 1984, the Des Moines, Iowa-based Anderson Erickson Dairy began printing the pictures of Johnny Gosch and Eugene Martin on milk cartons. Chicago followed suit, then the entire state of California. In December 1984, a nationwide program was launched to keep the faces of abducted children front and center in the American mind.
The milk cartons didn’t find many kids, but they did create the panic of “stranger danger,” where children were taught to fear strangers even though the lion’s share of child abduction, molestation and abuse comes from friends, family and other trusted figures such as public school teachers or camp counselors. Most missing children in America are runaways and in 99 percent of all child abductions, the perpetrator is a non-custodial father. There is at least one case of “stranger danger” being harmful – a lost 11-year-old Boy Scout who thought his rescuers were looking to kidnap him.
Some of the protocols established out of this were useful, such as AMBER Alerts and Code Adam. Awareness of child abduction in general was raised and as a result there’s significantly fewer child abductions today than there were in 1980. Indeed, stranger abduction is incredibly rare in the United States. But this has come with a dark side.
You might be familiar with the myriad of cases in suburban America where children playing alone are arrested by the police because they don’t have adult supervision. The parents are then questioned by the police or, in some cases, the state’s Child Protective Services.
There was also the panic after the mass shooting at Columbine High School, which led to the bubble wrapping of schools alongside the home. “Zero tolerance” policies were implemented alongside school-wide peanut butter bans.
And so the result is that there are at least two generations of American children raised in a protective net so tight that they not only have trouble expressing themselves, but also being exposed to failure and discomfort. What began as a good-faith effort to prevent child abduction and increase overall child welfare has ended up, as a side effect, creating a world where children were raised in such safety that they can’t even handle being upset.
This has not only insulated children from the consequences of their own actions and the normal pains of growing up, but also gives the impression that no matter what their problems, “adults” are ready to step in and save the day at any moment.
It’s worth noting that, in recent years, there has been a sharp rise in mental illness among young people, both on campus and off, including those with severe mental health problems.
Cops and the 24-Hour News Cycle
There are two other cultural phenomena worth exploring: The television series Cops and the 24-hour cable news cycle. As of April 2020, Cops is still on the air, having moved from Fox to Spike TV in 2013.
Cops was more than just a TV series, it was a cultural phenomenon that changed television. The cinéma vérité style used by the show was to be copied in the 90s by virtually every reality show you can name. Curiously, it came out around the same time that crime rates had plummeted comparatively to the 70s and 80s. And just at that time, people started having the worst in human behavior beamed into their homes for entertainment every Saturday night.
At the same time, CNN was bringing news into your home 24 hours a day without end. This meant they had to fill programming around the clock – and most news is bad news. So in addition to a hugely popular program centered around chasing criminals in the act, Americans also had a constant stream of bad news and dangerous events pumped into their homes. The result was the end of the “free range child,” the kind who learned through play and discovered risk management through trial and error. This was replaced with children whose entire existence was micromanaged by adults, with little to no unsupervised play time.
The ability to learn through failure is a well-established principle going back to the Greeks, who called it pathemata mathemata (“guide your learning through pain”). The knowledge and wisdom gained through failure and pain are arguably more lasting and valuable than those learned in school.
The Generation Gap: Millennials and Gen Z
Older generations (Generation X and Baby Boomers) have a tendency to conflate Millennials and Gen Z (also known as “Zoomers”). However, there are two key differences, one cultural and one clinical: First, Zoomers are much more digital natives than their Millennial counterparts. They didn’t get constant internet access or mobile access at college. They’ve had it since they were in middle school in many cases.
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While this is bound to create secondary cultural differences, we know of one clinical difference between Millennials and Zoomers: Zoomers are much more prone to mental illness, specifically depression, anxiety, alcoholism and self-harm.
Depression and anxiety in particular are through the roof for girls, with moderate increases for boys. While self-reported cases are up, we also have harder clinical data: There has been a 62 percent increase in hospital admissions.
The Baby Boomers and Gen Xers created an environment where it is safer than ever to be a child, but at what cost? There has been widespread and verifiable psychological damage done to the younger generation, which is likely being compounded by the coddling taking place in our nation’s universities.
Screen Time and Social Media
“Screen time” is the new obsession for parents, especially among, ironically, those who work in high-tech Silicon Valley jobs such as Steve Jobs, father of the iPhone. But there seems to be an emerging consensus among those who have actually studied the topic that the problem isn’t “screen time” per se, but rather the more specific use of it in the form of social media. This has been identified as the cause of depression and anxiety, particularly among girls.
Why is social media usage particularly impactful among girls? Dr. Haidt and others postulate that it’s because they are more sensitive to the “perfect” lives being lived by beautiful social media influencers – at least the lives that they lead online. What’s more, there is a lot of exclusion and bullying taking place on social media. In days past, you only heard about the party you didn’t get invited to, but now you get to watch it unfold in real time on Snapchat or other platforms. And cyberbullying is much harder to track and police than its real world equivalent.
There’s a related bubble wrapping going on with regard to a different sort of screen time: Kids today are often forbidden from playing with plastic guns or even finger guns. There is the notorious case of the 7-year-old child who was suspended for biting a Pop Tart toaster pastry into the shape of a gun. But millions of children come home (from the same schools where finger guns can warrant a suspension) to play Grand Theft Auto for hours on end.
Indeed, there is some evidence that suggests that violent movies and video games can trigger violent thoughts in some, but not all, people who view them. The National Institute of Mental Health has done an extensive study detailing the impact that violent media has on those who view it.
A Nation Divided
There’s not much hyperbole in saying that America is barely a single nation anymore. We talk about “red states” and “blue states,” but the divide is much deeper than that. Even the coastal states largely have an urban college-educated Democratic population and a rural non-college-educated Republican population.
While some animosity between different areas of the political spectrum, or even resentment of cities by the countryside and vice versa, is nothing new, the rancor took off sharply in the early 2000s following the controversial election of George W. Bush and his expanded imperial presidency after 9/11.
Social media makes it easier for extremes to amplify their anger. What’s more, it’s much easier for people to become part of an online crusade – or witch hunt – than it is for them to do so without it.
This is a big part of what is behind the string of disinvitations and protests on American college campuses. No one, especially young people (where “young” means “under 30”), can bear to listen to the opinions of someone they don’t agree with. Disinvitations aren’t limited to highly controversial figures like MILO and Richard Spencer, or even the decidedly much more vanilla Ann Coulter. Condoleeza Rice, the first black female Secretary of State, was disinvited in 2014, as was the first female head of the IMF and the first female finance minister of a G8 nation, Christine Lagarde.
Because Americans increasingly refuse even to listen to arguments from the other side, inserting instead a strawman in favor of reasoned debate, there is no reason to believe that the American political and ideological divide will not increase.
The Evolution of Victimhood Culture
America and the West have largely adopted a victimhood culture. It is worth taking a minute to trace this radical transformation of values in the West from its origins.
The earliest societies in the West were honor cultures. While it sounds like a no-brainer that we should return to an honor culture, we should unpack precisely what this means. An honor culture usually means a lot of interpersonal violence. Small slights must be dealt with through dead violence – because a gentleman cannot take any kind of stain on his honor. Dueling and blood feuds are common in these kinds of cultures.
This is superseded by dignity culture. Dignity culture is different, because people are presumed to have dignity regardless of what others think of them. In a dignity culture, people are admired because they have a “thick skin” and are able to brush off slights even if they are seriously insulting. While we might find ourselves offended, even rightfully so, it is considered important to rise above the offense and conduct ourselves with dignity. Everyone heard some variant of “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” growing up as a child. This is perhaps the key phrase of a dignity culture.
Victimhood culture is concerned with status in a similar manner to honor culture. Indeed, people become incredibly intolerant of any kind of perceived slight, much in the manner of an honor culture. However, in a victimhood culture, it is being offended, taking offense, and being a victim that provides one with status.
Victimhood culture means that people are divided into classes, where victims are good and oppressors are bad. There is an eternal conflict with eternal grievances that can never fully be corrected or atoned for. People feel the need to constantly walk on eggshells and censor themselves. This leads to an overall emphasis on safety, as even words become “violence” – we need trigger warnings and safe spaces to protect us.
Victimhood culture is closely associated with safety culture. Safety culture is, above all else, debilitating. Those who choose a marginalized identity – and in the contemporary West, a marginalized identity is almost always a choice – become more fragile and more dependent on the broader society. At the same time, the powerful elements in society gain a stake in reinforcing this marginalized identity. The Great Society provides a case study in this dynamic.
Those who do not receive the so-called “benefits” of safety culture are frequently more prepared for the real world. Who would you rather hire? Someone who studied hard in a rigorous discipline for four years or someone who spent four years being coddled in what is basically a day care center for twentysomethings? With this in mind, it’s not too big of a leap to see that straight white men might actually have become “privileged” through the process of not having access to the collective hugbox in higher education.
The Role of Lawyers and Litigation
There is a relationship with the litigious society in which we live with warning labels everywhere, often for hazards that would seem incredibly obvious to most observant people. In previous generations, even power tools didn’t come with warnings to roll your sleeves up or take off your watch. This information was either common sense or passed along in high school shop classes or on the job.
However, the American legal system has no penalty for frivolous lawsuits, which has led to an explosion in the number of lawsuits. There is a massive army of lawyers in the United States (which has a surplus of some 40 percent) whose profession revolves around finding aggrieved parties who weren’t properly “warned” – or indeed to be able to help write the warning labels themselves. These labels do not even exist for actual safety. The same type of person who is going to do the thing being warned against is likely the same type of person who doesn’t read warnings. The labels are simply there as a form of “CYA” for the firms who make them.
That said, to a certain degree, the “litigious society” is a myth. The oft-cited McDonald’s coffee burn is actually more reasonable than people are aware: The elderly woman in question who was burned simply wanted McDonald’s – who kept their coffee extra hot to prevent people from taking part of their “free refills” policy – to pay for her skin graft resulting from the burn. When McDonald’s refused to settle this out of court and the case went to trial, they were rewarded for their efforts at stonewalling with punitive damages.
So the main example of frivolous lawsuits is a big strawman. But to be clear – frivolous lawsuits are real. One great example of an actually frivolous lawsuit was the man who sued his dry cleaner for $67 million because they delivered his pants to the wrong person. There was no actual damage here and it’s difficult to express just how ridiculous the dollar figure claimed was. This case was thrown out of court, as most of these types of cases are. Still, litigants pursue them either to get media attention or to harass the defendant or both, a phenomenon known as “lawfare.” And these cases clog up genuine claims in the courts.
Civil trials are long and drawn-out things. And with 40 million of them in the United States every year and over a million lawyers, it’s unsurprising that the system has become clogged with lawsuits, many of which are either totally frivolous (remember – there’s no penalty for filing a frivolous lawsuit in America) or just the type of thing that should be either settled or handled through binding arbitration.
While the litigious society exists in parallel to the “safe spaces” of college campuses, it is worth noting because it is part of the larger bubble wrapping of the American landscape. The same kids who were raised with helicopter parents and a general sense that they had a “right” to never be offended were likewise raised in an environment where people could be sued for anything or, at the very least, this was the public perception. It is just another factor of risk aversion in American life.
There are other consequences of having too many lawyers around and having them congregate within our political class: Words are chosen to obfuscate and laws proliferate, as legislation becomes a sort of “jobs program” for lawyers. The more laws we have, the less free we are and the less social trust we have. As laws, regulations, and agencies take the place of civil society, the state grows at the expense of everything else and the less trust we have in our society.
Overreacting to the Wuhan Coronavirus
In 2020, the Wuhan Coronavirus broke out of China and spread all around the world. The world had not seen a deadly, contagious virus with such scope since the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 to 1920. At first, the response was denial and apathy. However, this quickly gave way to what could be considered a massive overreaction: Shutting everything down.
There was a certain logic to this: If people gathering together were what was spreading the virus, then simply keep people apart until the whole thing blows over. However, this is also potentially a huge overreaction. It is a medical solution in the driver’s seat without any nod to the economic, social or military consequences that flow from it. Even if one agrees that medical solutions are to be the primary driver, it does not follow that they are the only driver.
Because of the lopsided and often hysterical reaction, many of the proposed solutions don’t even make sense: For example, telling everyone they can go to the supermarket while prohibiting them from going to small offices, or shutting down the border between the United States and Canada – two countries with highly infected populations and a sprawling border that is largely unpatrolled.
A brief disclaimer: None of us are epidemiologists or virologists. And we defer to their superior knowledge on this subject.
However, during the Spanish flu pandemic, life did not shut down quite so completely as it has during the Coronavirus pandemic. The methods used during the Spanish flu were isolation of the sick, mask wearing in public, and cancellation of large events. In places where these were practiced rigorously, there was a significant decline in the number of infections and death. St. Louis in particular is known as an exemplar of what to do during an easily transmissible epidemic.
“The economy” has been cited as a reason the total shutdown of life during the Coronavirus pandemic was a poor idea. This might sound frivolous, but the mass unemployment not only leads to destitution for those when the economy is so paralyzed that there are no other jobs forthcoming. It also leads to a spike in the suicide rate. There is a certain calculus that must be done – how much unemployment is worth how much death from Wuhan Coronavirus?
The reaction to this virus is noteworthy, because it is the first major pandemic of this new, insulated and coddled age. Rather than reasonable measures to mitigate death, the choice made was to do anything and everything possible to prevent death entirely. Not only might this be an unwise decision, it might be a fool’s errand: The virus seems to be much more contagious than was previously thought, as well as much less lethal.
More than one reasonable person has asked what would happen if we all just went about our lives making reasonable precautions, such as hand washing, mask wearing, social distancing, and the cancellation of large events like sports and concerts. This is effectively what Sweden has done and it appears to work, especially when contrasted with their neighbors in Finland who have done basically the same as America. How much sense does it make to have the entire community converge upon its grocery stores while not allowing anyone to go into an office, ever? Compare this with what has passed for reasonable reaction: Closing down every school, every dine-in restaurant, and the government dictating which businesses are essential and which aren’t.
A big motivator of this is a compulsion to not lose a single life to the Wuhan Coronavirus, which is a totally unreasonable goal. People are going to die. The question isn’t “how tightly do we have to lock the country down to ensure no one dies,” but rather “what are reasonable measures we can take to balance public safety against personal choice and social cohesion?”
The splintering and division of America in practice has meant that the establishment conservative media was largely in denial over the virus for weeks. It is not a liberal smear to say that the amount of denialism from establishment conservative media, pundits, think tanks, bureaucrats and elected officials has in practice meant that America responded much more slowly and conservatively than it might have with a more unified America body politic.
At the beginning of spring 2020, the virus seemed poised to devastate the American South, which largely stuck with the early conservative media denialism, eschewing social distancing, shuttering of certain public places and mask wearing. Again, a more united body politic and the media and trust in the media that goes along with that might have prevented a lot of illness and death.
Imagine the impact of Walter Cronkite or Edward Murrow going on television and telling the American public to mask up and maintain distance versus the impact of Rachel Maddow and Tucker Carlson doing it.
What Is Vindictive Protectiveness?
“Vindictive protectiveness” was a term coined by Haidt and Lukianoff to describe the environment on America’s college campuses with regard to speech codes and similar. However, it can refer more broadly to the cultural atmosphere in the United States and the West today. From the college campus to the corporate boardroom to the office, Americans have to watch what they say and maybe even what they think lest they fall afoul of extra-legal speech and thought codes.
Perhaps worst of all, an entire generation is being raised to see this not only as normal, but as beneficial. This means that as this generation comes of age and grows into leadership positions, that there is a significant chance that these codes will be enforced more rigorously, not less. And while there may be ebbs and flows (political correctness went into hibernation for pretty much the entire administration of George W. Bush – though to be fair, there was an imperfect replacement in the form of post-9/11 jingoism), the current outrage factory is much more concerning than the one that sort of just hung around in the background in the 1990s.
Put plainly: the next wave will be worse. We may not have Maoist-style Red Guards in America quite yet, but we’re not far off and the emphasis should be on “yet.”


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-04--BlackRock Is Bailing Out Its ETFs with Fed Money and Taxpayers Eating Losses; It’s Also the Sole Man

BlackRock Is Bailing Out Its ETFs with Fed Money and Taxpayers Eating Losses; It’s Also the Sole Manager for $335 Billion of Federal Employees’ Retirement Funds

Tucker Carlson correctly described what we ’ re seeing as a class war disguised as a race war .
The latest example of this comes courtesy of BlackRock , which has been selected in several no-bid contracts to be the sole buyer of corporate bonds and corporate bond ETFs for the Fed ’ s $ 750 billion corporate bond buying program .
From the excellent submission link : BlackRock is being allowed by the Fed to buy its own corporate bond ETFs as part of the Fed program to prop up the corporate bond market .
According to a report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , on behalf of the Fed , “ bought $ 1.58 billion in investment-grade and high-yield ETFs from May 12 to May 19 , with BlackRock ’ s iShares funds representing 48 percent of the $ 1.307 billion market value at the end of that period , ETFGI said in a May 30 report.
” No bid contracts and buying up your own products , what could possibly be wrong with that ?
To make matters even more egregious , the stimulus bill known as the CARES Act set aside $ 454 billion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ losses in the bail out programs set up by the Fed .
A total of $ 75 billion has been allocated to eat losses in the corporate bond-buying programs being managed by BlackRock .
Since BlackRock is allowed to buy up its own ETFs , this means that taxpayers will be eating losses that might otherwise accrue to billionaire Larry Fink ’ s company and investors .

by accountaccumulator
Tucker Carlson correctly described what we’re seeing as a class war disguised as a race war. The latest example of this comes courtesy of BlackRock, which has been selected in several no-bid contracts to be the sole buyer of corporate bonds and corporate bond ETFs for the Fed’s $750 billion corporate bond buying program. From the excellent submission link:
BlackRock is being allowed by the Fed to buy its own corporate bond ETFs as part of the Fed program to prop up the corporate bond market. According to a report in Institutional Investor on Monday, BlackRock, on behalf of the Fed, “bought $1.58 billion in investment-grade and high-yield ETFs from May 12 to May 19, with BlackRock’s iShares funds representing 48 percent of the $1.307 billion market value at the end of that period, ETFGI said in a May 30 report.”
No bid contracts and buying up your own products, what could possibly be wrong with that? To make matters even more egregious, the stimulus bill known as the CARES Act set aside $454 billion of taxpayers’ money to eat the losses in the bail out programs set up by the Fed. A total of $75 billion has been allocated to eat losses in the corporate bond-buying programs being managed by BlackRock. Since BlackRock is allowed to buy up its own ETFs, this means that taxpayers will be eating losses that might otherwise accrue to billionaire Larry Fink’s company and investors.


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-04--Outlook For Oil Remains Grim Despite 90% Rally

WTI rose almost 90 percent last month , which is the strongest monthly increase in the U.S. benchmark price ever recorded .
Naturally , the news has been cause for joy among those rooting for higher oil prices .
But should it ?
It is true that demand for oil is improving , slowly , but improving after lockdowns started being lifted in Asia , Europe , and North America .
China ’ s oil demand , notably , has recovered to 90 percent of pre-crisis levels , and U.S. demand is also on the rise , judging by rising @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Information Administration .
Supply is still being limited , too .
OPEC+ started cutting its agreed 9.7 million bpd last month , and despite far from perfect compliance , it has reduced the amount of oil going into markets .
U.S. producers also cut production significantly in April and May , and so did Canadian oil companies .
All this undoubtedly contributed to the major improvement that WTI prices saw last month .
But there was also another reason for the record-breaking price rise : the fact that before that , WTI had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history .
The swing into the negative on April 20 was an unprecedented event as well as a one-time event .
The reason WTI swung into the negative was traders selling out of oil to avoid physical delivery .
There was little chance this could happen again despite the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission warning about it in May .
“ The lower you fall , the higher you ’ ll fly ” says Chuck Palahniuk , and this has been true for WTI in May .
There was no way the benchmark @ @ @ @ @ @ @ below - $ 37 a barrel in April , not when producers were scrambling to shut in wells , canceling contracts , and generally retrenching .
Not when the repeated warnings of analysts that the global oil storage is filling alarmingly fast prompted Saudi Arabia to cut an additional 1 million bpd on top of what it had already agreed to cut under OPEC+ quotas .
This is why this historically fast price rise could be misleading .
For all the hype oil demand improvement has been getting , it has yet to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ industry—knows if it will recover fully .
It is yet unclear whether OPEC+ will extend its deepest cuts beyond the end-June expiry .
The latest reports here are conflicting , with some sources saying Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed on extending the cuts and others saying Russia is , in fact , in support of the idea to follow the original agreement and ease the cuts to 7.7 million bpd from July .
Yesterday , OPEC+ sources said Russia and Saudi Arabia had agreed to extend the deep cuts by one month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ announced officially .
What ’ s more , U.S. shale producers are beginning to restart their shut-in wells .
This is a necessity for many of them : the longer a well stays shut-in , the higher the risk of losing production .
But this means production will be coming back when storage facilities are still full .
Demand simply can not recover this fast , and fuel inventories are proving it : for two weeks now , gasoline and distillate fuel inventories have been rising , with the latest weekly data showing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 9.9-million-barrel increase in distillate fuel stockpiles .
The global picture is not rosier , either .
More than a billion barrels of unsellable crude sits in storage facilities around the world , Bloomberg ’ s Grant Smith reported earlier this week .
Production may be lower , but these barrels are going nowhere anytime soon .
“ Even with a conservative view — assuming a recovery in demand and OPEC sticking to the deeper cuts — it will take until the middle of next year to reverse the inventory build , ” BNP @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tchilinguirian told Smith .
And this means continued pressure for oil prices , despite the record May gain for WTI .

By Irina Slav
WTI rose almost 90 percent last month, which is the strongest monthly increase in the U.S. benchmark price ever recorded. Naturally, the news has been cause for joy among those rooting for higher oil prices. But should it?
It is true that demand for oil is improving, slowly, but improving after lockdowns started being lifted in Asia, Europe, and North America. China’s oil demand, notably, has recovered to 90 percent of pre-crisis levels, and U.S. demand is also on the rise, judging by rising refinery runs as reported by the Energy Information Administration.
Supply is still being limited, too. OPEC+ started cutting its agreed 9.7 million bpd last month, and despite far from perfect compliance, it has reduced the amount of oil going into markets. U.S. producers also cut production significantly in April and May, and so did Canadian oil companies.
All this undoubtedly contributed to the major improvement that WTI prices saw last month. But there was also another reason for the record-breaking price rise: the fact that before that, WTI had fallen to lows also never seen in history. The swing into the negative on April 20 was an unprecedented event as well as a one-time event. The reason WTI swung into the negative was traders selling out of oil to avoid physical delivery. There was little chance this could happen again despite the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission warning about it in May.
“The lower you fall, the higher you’ll fly” says Chuck Palahniuk, and this has been true for WTI in May. There was no way the benchmark could remain near zero after dropping to below -$37 a barrel in April, not when producers were scrambling to shut in wells, canceling contracts, and generally retrenching. Not when the repeated warnings of analysts that the global oil storage is filling alarmingly fast prompted Saudi Arabia to cut an additional 1 million bpd on top of what it had already agreed to cut under OPEC+ quotas.
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This is why this historically fast price rise could be misleading. For all the hype oil demand improvement has been getting, it has yet to recover fully, and nobody—including the oil industry—knows if it will recover fully. It is yet unclear whether OPEC+ will extend its deepest cuts beyond the end-June expiry.
The latest reports here are conflicting, with some sources saying Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed on extending the cuts and others saying Russia is, in fact, in support of the idea to follow the original agreement and ease the cuts to 7.7 million bpd from July. Yesterday, OPEC+ sources said Russia and Saudi Arabia had agreed to extend the deep cuts by one month, but it has yet to be announced officially.
What’s more, U.S. shale producers are beginning to restart their shut-in wells. This is a necessity for many of them: the longer a well stays shut-in, the higher the risk of losing production. But this means production will be coming back when storage facilities are still full. Demand simply cannot recover this fast, and fuel inventories are proving it: for two weeks now, gasoline and distillate fuel inventories have been rising, with the latest weekly data showing a 2.8-million-barrel rise in gasoline and a 9.9-million-barrel increase in distillate fuel stockpiles.
The global picture is not rosier, either. More than a billion barrels of unsellable crude sits in storage facilities around the world, Bloomberg’s Grant Smith reported earlier this week. Production may be lower, but these barrels are going nowhere anytime soon.
“Even with a conservative view — assuming a recovery in demand and OPEC sticking to the deeper cuts — it will take until the middle of next year to reverse the inventory build,” BNP Paribas’ head of commodity strategy Harry Tchilinguirian told Smith. And this means continued pressure for oil prices, despite the record May gain for WTI.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-04--America headed for post-apocalyptic currency collapse?  No govt can borrow, print money into oblivio

America headed for post-apocalyptic currency collapse?  No govt can borrow, print money into oblivion

…Some economists are predicting a death blow to small businesses that were already under unprecedented financial strain .
If they weren ’ t ransacked , looted , and destroyed by hooligans , they will feel the macro effects of urban decline and flight , plummeting consumer confidence , falling property values , and worsening budgetary crises for state and local governments .
But don ’ t worry , Walmart , Amazon , Google , JPMorgan Chase , and all their close friends in Washington , D.C. will be just fine .
In the event that any “ too big to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it will get bailed out by the Federal Reserve .
The demands for bailouts going forward will only accelerate .
Lockdown relief is still being dispensed , and soon “ riot relief ” will come too .
The currency crisis will also come – perhaps later this year , perhaps further out in time .
Admittedly , most of us in the sound money camp have been surprised at how resilient the Federal Reserve Note has been for so long .
But the world ’ s primary reserve currency has never had to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we are in now .
No government can borrow into oblivion and no currency can be printed into oblivion without that currency losing credibility and purchasing power .
If you don ’ t own hard money ( gold and silver ) now , what are you waiting for ?
In the post-apocalyptic America that we seem to be heading toward , precious metals may be one of the only things you can count on .
Stock up on gold and silver , guns and ammunition , and non-perishable foods plus household essentials while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fabric unravels , being self-reliant becomes absolutely essential .
Calling 9-1-1 during an emergency may not do much good if the police , fire departments , and ambulances are all overwhelmed .
If you store you precious metals at home rather than a secure depository , a well-concealed fireproof safe to store precious metals will protect them in the event of a home invasion .
Most burglars look for obvious things to grab quickly and then take off to limit their risk of apprehension .
A decoy safe with nothing of real value @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can misdirect a thief ’ s time and efforts while your real safe is hidden from view ( and ideally built into a strong structural element such as concrete ) .
The same supposed leaders in positions of power who are failing us now can be expected to continue failing .
The elites who control the media and both political parties seem to be operating as if wrecking the country is their goal – a point Tucker Carlson powerfully drove home on his Fox News show Monday .
It ’ s time to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you ’ re not already .

via fxstreet
…Some economists are predicting a death blow to small businesses that were already under unprecedented financial strain. If they weren’t ransacked, looted, and destroyed by hooligans, they will feel the macro effects of urban decline and flight, plummeting consumer confidence, falling property values, and worsening budgetary crises for state and local governments.
But don’t worry, Walmart, Amazon, Google, JPMorgan Chase, and all their close friends in Washington, D.C. will be just fine. In the event that any “too big to fail” entity runs into trouble, it will get bailed out by the Federal Reserve.
The demands for bailouts going forward will only accelerate. Lockdown relief is still being dispensed, and soon “riot relief” will come too.
The currency crisis will also come – perhaps later this year, perhaps further out in time.
Admittedly, most of us in the sound money camp have been surprised at how resilient the Federal Reserve Note has been for so long. But the world’s primary reserve currency has never had to weather a storm quite like the one we are in now.
No government can borrow into oblivion and no currency can be printed into oblivion without that currency losing credibility and purchasing power.
If you don’t own hard money (gold and silver) now, what are you waiting for? In the post-apocalyptic America that we seem to be heading toward, precious metals may be one of the only things you can count on.
Stock up on gold and silver, guns and ammunition, and non-perishable foods plus household essentials while you still can!
When the social fabric unravels, being self-reliant becomes absolutely essential. Calling 9-1-1 during an emergency may not do much good if the police, fire departments, and ambulances are all overwhelmed.
If you store you precious metals at home rather than a secure depository, a well-concealed fireproof safe to store precious metals will protect them in the event of a home invasion.
Most burglars look for obvious things to grab quickly and then take off to limit their risk of apprehension. A decoy safe with nothing of real value inside that placed out in the open can misdirect a thief’s time and efforts while your real safe is hidden from view (and ideally built into a strong structural element such as concrete).
The same supposed leaders in positions of power who are failing us now can be expected to continue failing. The elites who control the media and both political parties seem to be operating as if wrecking the country is their goal – a point Tucker Carlson powerfully drove home on his Fox News show Monday.
It’s time to get prepared both personally and financially if you’re not already.


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-04--Curfews DROPPED for LA, Seattle and DC tonight. Almost seems………Coordinated!

Dem AG : Letting America Burn Is the Path to Growth Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey ( D. ) on @ @ @ @ @ violent riots occurring nationwide , likening them to the purifying effects of a forest fire @ @ @ @ @ is burning , but that ’ s how forests grow , ” Healey said in @ @ @ @ @ Boston Chamber of Commerce .

by ObamaSucks
Dem AG: Letting America Burn Is the Path to Growth
Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey (D.) on Tuesday refused to denounce the violent riots occurring nationwide, likening them to the purifying effects of a forest fire.
“Yes, America is burning, but that’s how forests grow,” Healey said in a speech delivered to the Boston Chamber of Commerce.


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-04--Demorat Rep. Eliot Engel caught on hot mic amid riots: ‘If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care’

I ’ ve heard that once in DC , your sole purpose is to get re-elected and you do that by getting money for your district .
And you start fundraising immediately for your next election .
Constituents ?
They are merely the conduit to your political/lobbying/media career .
Nothing more , nothing less .
“ Rep .
Eliot Engel , a New York Democrat facing a tough primary challenge and questions about his absence from his district , was caught on a hot mic at a district event responding to unrest saying twice that he only wanted press coverage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If I didn ’ t have a primary , I wouldn ’ t care , ” Engel said to Ruben Diaz Jr. , the Bronx borough president , at a Tuesday press conference responding to unrest and vandalism in his district related to the recent death of George Floyd.
” Engel ’ s excuse for getting caught for what he said : “ In the context of running for reelection , I thought it was important for people to know where I stand , that ’ s why I asked to speak , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I care deeply about what ’ s happening in this country , that ’ s what I wanted to convey .
I love the Bronx , grew up in the Bronx and lived here all my life .
I would not have tried to impose on the Borough President if I didn ’ t think it was important.
” Read the whole story here .

by DCG
I’ve heard that once in DC, your sole purpose is to get re-elected and you do that by getting money for your district. And you start fundraising immediately for your next election.
Constituents? They are merely the conduit to your political/lobbying/media career. Nothing more, nothing less.
From NBC:
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
“Rep. Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat facing a tough primary challenge and questions about his absence from his district, was caught on a hot mic at a district event responding to unrest saying twice that he only wanted press coverage because of an electoral threat.
“If I didn’t have a primary, I wouldn’t care,” Engel said to Ruben Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president, at a Tuesday press conference responding to unrest and vandalism in his district related to the recent death of George Floyd.”
Engel’s excuse for getting caught for what he said:
“In the context of running for reelection, I thought it was important for people to know where I stand, that’s why I asked to speak,” he said. “Of course I care deeply about what’s happening in this country, that’s what I wanted to convey. I love the Bronx, grew up in the Bronx and lived here all my life. I would not have tried to impose on the Borough President if I didn’t think it was important.”
Read the whole story here.
DCG


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-04--Canadian Depression? with Danielle Park

Canadian Depression? with Danielle Park

Danielle Park returns… Small business is tanking in Canada .
45 % of the population is on some form of @ @ @ @ @ people have no chance of going back to work .
The government appears powerless to @ @ @ @ @ Of course our neighbor to the North is dependent upon the US economy , or @ @ @ @ @ it .
The civil unrest will also have an effect upon the Canadian economy .
@ @ @ @ @ in effect , for example the coming brain drain from Hong Kong and China .
@ @ @ @ @ at work .
We can only hope the system will cleansed and we can eventually @ @ @ @ @ Click Here to Listen to the Audio

from Financial Survival Network
Danielle Park returns… Small business is tanking in Canada. 45% of the population is on some form of government aid. Too many people have no chance of going back to work. The government appears powerless to do anything about it. Of course our neighbor to the North is dependent upon the US economy, or what’s left of it. The civil unrest will also have an effect upon the Canadian economy. Perhaps there are countervailing forces in effect, for example the coming brain drain from Hong Kong and China. Lot’s of things at work. We can only hope the system will cleansed and we can eventually get back to work.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Click Here to Listen to the Audio


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-04--Look at all that systematic racism. United States senators on their knees begging forgiveness for th

Look at all that systematic racism .
United States senators on their knees begging forgiveness for things they didn ’ @ @ @ @

Look at all that systematic racism. United States senators on their knees begging forgiveness for things they didn’t do. t.co/ePbqXSNlxU
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) June 4, 2020


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-04--It turns out you -can- spot a bad apple. You just can’t remove one

So it turns out that Derek Chauvin , the former Minneapolis police officer who was filmed murdering George Floyd last week , had 17 different complaints of serious misconduct during his career .
That puts him among the 10 % worst offenders in the Minneapolis police department .
The complaints vary from being named in a brutality lawsuit , to using demeaning , unprofessional language in public , to aiming his weapon at children .
But Chauvin never got into any serious trouble .
On Monday I wrote that civilians have filed 2,600 misconduct complaints against Minneapolis police officers over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of them ( 0.46 % ) resulted in any discipline against the officer , with the most severe punishment being a 1-week suspension .
It ’ s not just Minneapolis .
Around the country , the percentage of civilian complaints that result in disciplinary action is astonishingly low .
And the rate at which offending officers are severely disciplined , fired , or charged with a crime , is effectively zero .
A 2019 academic paper studied 50,000 civilian complaints against Chicago police to see if those complaints could be an indicator of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The results were obvious : officers with the most complaints have the highest likelihood of being involved in a major civil rights issue .
But they ’ re seldom removed .
The Chicago police officer who shot an unarmed 17-year old boy in 2014 , for example , was among the department ’ s worst 3 % in terms of civilian complaints , with half of the complaints alleging excessive force .
So it turns out you can spot a bad apple .
You just can ’ t remove them… and give @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pose obvious risks .
There are plenty of good , duty-minded cops who would love to kick out the bad ones .
But the system fails everyone miserably .
One key reason is a legal doctrine known as “ qualified immunity ” .
This goes back to a 1967 Supreme Court case which ruled that government officials should be shielded from personal liability while carrying out their duties .
This applies to police officers as well .
So in other words , you can ’ t sue the cops if they assault you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home , because they ’ re technically performing their official duties .
The Supreme Court did make allowances , i.e .
police and government agents would not be protected by if their actions violate “ clearly established law or constitutional rights.
” But this is very difficult to prove .
Over the years as civilian victims have attempted to sue police officers for misconduct , courts have routinely sided with the cops .
The argument is that whatever laws the police officers violated were not ‘ clearly established , ’ and hence the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In 2013 , Fresno police officers raided a home that was suspected to be involved in a gambling operation .
They seized $ 275,000 , but only booked $ 50,000 as evidence .
The suspects sued , and amazingly , the court ruled that “ there was no clearly established law holding that officers violate [ the Constitution ] when they steal property seized pursuant to a warrant .
.
.
” and therefore the officers were protected by qualified immunity .
Yes , you did read that correctly .
And even the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has gone too far .
In a 2018 case , Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that qualified immunity is “ an absolute shield for law enforcement officers , gutting the deterrent effect of the Fourth Amendment .
.
.
it tells officers that they can shoot first and think later , and it tells the public that palpably unreasonable conduct will go unpunished.
” Justice Clarence Thomas also voiced “ growing concern with our qualified immunity jurisprudence ” in a 2017 opinion .
As long as qualified immunity lasts , it will continue to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Michigan announced a new bill , the “ Ending Qualified Immunity Act ” , this week .
We ’ ll see what happens .
Another major reason why the system fails is because of the unions .
Police unions exist ( in theory ) to protect their officers .
Like any union , they negotiate wages , working conditions , etc .
But as always , union interference goes way too far .
For example , police unions negotiate contracts with city governments that expressly prohibit officers ’ careers from being blemished by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going fake or overblown complaints against officers .
But union rules require complaints to go through a highly bureaucratic investigation process that ’ s closely monitored by the union .
So the unions protect their officers from scrutiny .
And in the unlikely event that a complaint is sustained ( 0.46 % in the city of Minneapolis ) , the unions protect their officers from any serious punishment .
In New York City , nearly 20 % of the contract negotiated between the police union and the city government is devoted to disciplinary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Article XVI , for example , allows an officer to have his/her disciplinary record expunged under certain circumstances .
And Article XXI provides several pages of lengthy protections for an officer who has been accused of misconduct .
This is why officers , even when they ’ re caught on film committing a crime , are often ‘ suspended with pay ’ , never face trial , and only end up with a slap on the wrist ( which can later be expunged ) .
In Baltimore and Cleveland , union contract require @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Unions also ensure that officers who are disciplined have a multitude of options to have the ruling against them overturned .
This hassle makes it incredibly difficult to weed out troublemakers .
And just in case the end result wasn ’ t completely obvious , economist Rob Gillezeau of the University of Victoria has studied the relationship between police unionization and civilian killings .
According to his analysis , there ’ s an overwhelming increase in civilian shooting deaths once a local police department unionizes .
This is pretty ironic when you think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But this is an obvious example of how unions can be destructive and literally end up killing people .

by Simon Black
So it turns out that Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was filmed murdering George Floyd last week, had 17 different complaints of serious misconduct during his career.
That puts him among the 10% worst offenders in the Minneapolis police department.
The complaints vary from being named in a brutality lawsuit, to using demeaning, unprofessional language in public, to aiming his weapon at children.
But Chauvin never got into any serious trouble.
On Monday I wrote that civilians have filed 2,600 misconduct complaints against Minneapolis police officers over the past several years. Only 12 of them (0.46%) resulted in any discipline against the officer, with the most severe punishment being a 1-week suspension.
It’s not just Minneapolis. Around the country, the percentage of civilian complaints that result in disciplinary action is astonishingly low.
And the rate at which offending officers are severely disciplined, fired, or charged with a crime, is effectively zero.
A 2019 academic paper studied 50,000 civilian complaints against Chicago police to see if those complaints could be an indicator of who is/isn’t a bad apple.
The results were obvious: officers with the most complaints have the highest likelihood of being involved in a major civil rights issue. But they’re seldom removed.
The Chicago police officer who shot an unarmed 17-year old boy in 2014, for example, was among the department’s worst 3% in terms of civilian complaints, with half of the complaints alleging excessive force.
So it turns out you can spot a bad apple. You just can’t remove them… and give the boot to people like Chauvin who pose obvious risks.
There are plenty of good, duty-minded cops who would love to kick out the bad ones. But the system fails everyone miserably.
One key reason is a legal doctrine known as “qualified immunity”.
This goes back to a 1967 Supreme Court case which ruled that government officials should be shielded from personal liability while carrying out their duties.
This applies to police officers as well.
So in other words, you can’t sue the cops if they assault you during arrest, or invasion of your home, because they’re technically performing their official duties.
The Supreme Court did make allowances, i.e. police and government agents would not be protected by if their actions violate “clearly established law or constitutional rights.”
But this is very difficult to prove.
Over the years as civilian victims have attempted to sue police officers for misconduct, courts have routinely sided with the cops. The argument is that whatever laws the police officers violated were not ‘clearly established,’ and hence the cops are protected by qualified immunity.
Here’s one absurd example:
In 2013, Fresno police officers raided a home that was suspected to be involved in a gambling operation. They seized $275,000, but only booked $50,000 as evidence.
The other $225,000 mysteriously disappeared.
The suspects sued, and amazingly, the court ruled that “there was no clearly established law holding that officers violate [the Constitution] when they steal property seized pursuant to a warrant. . .” and therefore the officers were protected by qualified immunity.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Yes, you did read that correctly. And even the Supreme Court now recognizes that qualified immunity has gone too far.
In a 2018 case, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that qualified immunity is “an absolute shield for law enforcement officers, gutting the deterrent effect of the Fourth Amendment. . . it tells officers that they can shoot first and think later, and it tells the public that palpably unreasonable conduct will go unpunished.”
Justice Clarence Thomas also voiced “growing concern with our qualified immunity jurisprudence” in a 2017 opinion.
As long as qualified immunity lasts, it will continue to be abused.
Representative Justin Amash from Michigan announced a new bill, the “Ending Qualified Immunity Act”, this week. We’ll see what happens.
Another major reason why the system fails is because of the unions.
Police unions exist (in theory) to protect their officers. Like any union, they negotiate wages, working conditions, etc.
But as always, union interference goes way too far.
For example, police unions negotiate contracts with city governments that expressly prohibit officers’ careers from being blemished by civilian complaints.
Obviously there are always going fake or overblown complaints against officers. But union rules require complaints to go through a highly bureaucratic investigation process that’s closely monitored by the union.
So the unions protect their officers from scrutiny. And in the unlikely event that a complaint is sustained (0.46% in the city of Minneapolis), the unions protect their officers from any serious punishment.
In New York City, nearly 20% of the contract negotiated between the police union and the city government is devoted to disciplinary procedures and grievances.
Section 8 of Article XVI, for example, allows an officer to have his/her disciplinary record expunged under certain circumstances. And Article XXI provides several pages of lengthy protections for an officer who has been accused of misconduct.
This is why officers, even when they’re caught on film committing a crime, are often ‘suspended with pay’, never face trial, and only end up with a slap on the wrist (which can later be expunged).
In Baltimore and Cleveland, union contract require the deletion of most disciplinary records.
Unions also ensure that officers who are disciplined have a multitude of options to have the ruling against them overturned.
This hassle makes it incredibly difficult to weed out troublemakers.
And just in case the end result wasn’t completely obvious, economist Rob Gillezeau of the University of Victoria has studied the relationship between police unionization and civilian killings.
According to his analysis, there’s an overwhelming increase in civilian shooting deaths once a local police department unionizes.
This is pretty ironic when you think about it: Bolshevik politicians LOVE unions. But this is an obvious example of how unions can be destructive and literally end up killing people.


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-04--Invert the 5-day Put/Call ratio and layer in the S&P 500 behind. Interesting to see how important pi

Invert the 5-day Put/Call ratio and layer in the S & P 500 behind .
Interesting to see how important @ @ @ @ @ tracked just ahead of turning points for $ SPX .
Mom always said nothing good @ @ @ @ @ think nothing good happens below 0.55 on the $ CPCE… pic.twitter.com/XoteTEmw55

Invert the 5-day Put/Call ratio and layer in the S&P 500 behind. Interesting to see how important pivots in this ratio have tracked just ahead of turning points for $SPX.
Mom always said nothing good happens after midnight. I think nothing good happens below 0.55 on the $CPCE… pic.twitter.com/XoteTEmw55
— Grayson Roze (@GraysonRoze) June 4, 2020


investmentwatchblog--2020-06-04--What’s happens if the amount of debt, in a debt based economy, shrinks?

What ’ s happens if the amount of debt , in a debt based economy , shrinks ?
# badtimes

What’s happens if the amount of debt, in a debt based economy, shrinks? #badtimes
I explain in 1, simple, fast step! 🔥😎👇 pic.twitter.com/WpVnAtKK29
— George Gammon (@GeorgeGammon) June 4, 2020