Bread and Games in America

 

Poor Man Survival

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Bread and Games

I like to be in America,
O.K. by me in America,
Everything free in America—

Sing along lyrics with Joe Biden on the border!

When most people think of this phrase, they imagine the rich and powerful distracting the poor so they can get richer and more powerful.

Sometimes, says Dutch author and artist Neils Kok, that’s true. Oftentimes, however, it isn’t.

“In rising empires,” says Niels, “bread and games are used as a cheap way to make the masses feel like they're also profiting from the empire's rise.”

But rising empires don’t have a monomaniacal focus on bread and circuses. Not as much, at least, as empires on the decline do. History, Niels says, reveals a consistent pattern. The bigger the decline the more focus is on empty distractions.

Sure, those in power want to keep enriching themselves at the public’s expense. But this isn’t the real reason they put on grand spectacles and dole out seemingly infinite treasures from the dwindling coffers.

The real reason, Niels says, is fear: “Bread and games is a strategy of desperation.” The bread and games phase is usually the last gasp of any monetary order.

In Rome, with its military thinly stretched, and its economy producing few exportable goods… the bread and games were sent into hyperdrive. By this time, the empire relied largely on indentured servants and slaves, acquired by debt-bondage and conquest. Of course, this meant that the Roman citizens were increasingly left with little to do. As they gathered around the public squares, restless and agitated, the Ceasars scrambled to create subsidized housing and doled out grain for the idle, unemployed, homeless, and hungry.

Roman officials simultaneously added holiday after holiday, until, eventually, the Romans spent half of their days attending gladiator games, public executions, and chariot races. This was all to keep the masses from realizing that their way of life was giving way to a “new normal” -- caused by the very thing that, for the moment, was keeping them occupied.

In Weimar Germany, the last gasp came with promises of “guaranteed jobs” and unlimited state assistance (and oh yeah that whole thing about world domination).

Today? Rampant unemployment, subsidized entertainment and sports stadiums, government-run lotteries, massively expanded benefits, and bigger and bolder promises that are sure to solve our biggest problems with even bigger ones.

And up there, at the tippy-top, we have the central banks; pulling the levers, flipping the switches, and keeping the markets guessing.

The Fed Lied

By Graham Summers

Fed Chair Jerome Powell issued some real whoppers as far as inflation was concerned this week during his testimony to Congress.

Some of the more egregious and revealing statements:

* The Fed should look at current higher inflation as temporary unless it persists year after year

*“By inflation, we mean year after year prices go up.”

*Housing is an asset; price rises there is NOT inflation.

*Unless we think there's going to be a multi-year shortage of used cars in the United States, we should look at [inflation] as temporary.”

Let’s dissect each of these detestable lies.

Powell’s first two claims (inflation is merely due to prices rising year over year) are related to a common theme in the financial media today. That theme is the “base effect” argument, which claims that inflation only appears to be “up” based on where the data was a year ago, NOT based on real inflation.

And it’s 100% nonsense.

Here’s a five-year chart for agricultural commodities. Sure, they’re up 40%+ from last year… but they’re also up 20% from where they were three, four, even five years ago.

Indeed, the only way you could argue that inflation hasn’t appeared in most assets is by:

1.     Focusing the few asset prices that have collapsed (oil/energy).

2.     Focusing on commodity measures that are heavily weighted in energy/oil.

3.     Using CPI or other inflation measures that don’t count housing or other primary costs of living.

The people claiming inflation isn’t real but is simply appearing in the data because the data from 2020 was so terrible are using one or more of the above tricks to justify their absurd rational. Talk to anyone who is running a real business and they’ll tell you costs are through the roof in REAL terms.

Indeed, as I write this, 48% of small businesses plan on raising prices. This is a 40-year high.

Which brings us to the single most important statement from Fed Chair Powell’s testimony and Q&A session yesterday:

“Even if higher inflation persists, I expect the Fed will NOT act quickly.”

So… after months of arguing that inflation is transitory, Fed Chair Powell is now admitting that even if it ISN’T, the Fed won’t respond quickly.

So much for the rate hikes and tapering the Fed suggested was coming!

Throw in the fact that Congress looks to be passing the $3+ trillion infrastructure bill (most of which is just handouts to donors and lobbyists), and we’ve got the potential for a real inflationary storm.

More on that, and how to prepare, to come.

Graham Summers

 

SIDEBAR

When people first start prepping, they usually make a few mistakes. I know I did. Sometimes it's because they get caught up in the idea of prepping and rush into it without taking time to plan and really consider what they're preparing for. Other times it is simply because they don't have enough information. If only I had known then what I know now.

As Alfred Sheinwold said, "Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won't have time to make them all yourself."

Don't waste your time, money and energy by repeating the same mistakes that I and so many others have already made. Instead, read this list of prepper tips I wish I'd heard before I started prepping...

​21 Prepper Tips I Wish I'd Heard BEFORE I Started Prepping

They Warned Us That There Would Be A Collapse Of Civilization In Our Generation, And They Were Right

 

MORE RESOURCES:

If you’re prepping for a societal collapse, SHTF, or TEOTWAWKI, you’ve probably already got the basics covered. You might already have lots of standard preps such as lighters, generators, and freeze-dried food on hand.

But there are plenty of other items that could be hard to find when supply chains get interrupted. Stock up on these items to use or barter when people are desperate to find them.

1. Aluminum Foil - You can use it for cooking, baking, reflecting light, and making a funnel, just to name a few of the many uses...

​35 Items Everyone Will Be Looking For After The Collapse​

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