We are just a group of retired spooks that discuss things that you’ll not find anywhere else. It makes us unique. Take a look around. Learn a thing or two.
Suggesting the future of the human existence without showing a single person, Martin Wittfooth creates allegorical oil paintings of majestic animals.
Excepting traditional techniques of the old Masters in combination with new approaches, his visual language reveals exceptional depth in both medium and content. Indicating the issue of climate changes, his mysterious and beautiful images convey the impression that something in this world is wrong.
Although absent, human subsistence is depicted with their rubbish remains, as junked car or demolished buildings, in the world given over to animals that encourage us to think about our place in it.
Suggesting the future of the human existence without showing a single person, Martin Wittfooth creates allegorical oil paintings of majestic animals.
Born in Toronto, Wittfooth spent his childhood in Finland. He moved to his hometown to study where he earned his BAA in illustration from Sheridan College and then MFA at the School of Visual Arts in New York. His work has been shown nationally and internationally and has been published in numerous relevant magazines, as Hi Fructose or New American Paintings.
Surpassing the illustrative genre, he entered the realm of modern masterworks, finding his inspiration in the 19th-century painters. Creating the familiar contents, he incorporates a feeling of dystopia and dilapidation in his post-apocalyptic vision and symbolism of using animals instead of humans as subjects.
Wittfooth underlines the possibilities of what could happen if people do not adopt some changes.
Surpassing the illustrative genre, he entered the realm of modern masterworks, finding his inspiration in the 19th-century painters. Creating the familiar contents, he incorporates a feeling of dystopia and dilapidation in his post-apocalyptic vision and symbolism of using animals instead of humans as subjects.
His series of oil paintings named The Offering explore the theme of shamanism and its revitalization worldwide.
In accordance with its practice of researching altered states of consciousness in order to interact with the world spirit, Wittfooth asserts that those beliefs have an influence on people’s egos and materialistic obsessions, helping the connection with nature and other humans.
There are the traces of destruction in his paintings, as fires rage and oceans surge, but the creatures carry the surreal peacefulness, celebrating the existence, they represent the life-givers.
In accordance with its practice of researching altered states of consciousness in order to interact with the world spirit, Wittfooth asserts that those beliefs have an influence on people’s egos and materialistic obsessions, helping the connection with nature and other humans.
Always been drawn to visual art, Wittfooth’s interests and tastes had passed through a lot of changes.
During the studies in New York, he had a chance to experiment with oils as medium and to reassess his personal ideas. Exploring his own paintings in series, he is trying to have a wider theme over the whole body of work.
Every painting is a piece of a puzzle, but all of them can speak individually, representing their own solo show. In series The Passions, Wittfooth borrowed tittles and composition from classical paintings and sculptures, processing the theme of blind faith and human martyrdom.
One of his favorite motifs, the fire, instead the symbol of destruction, here represents the substitution for halo.
One of his favorite motifs, the fire, instead the symbol of destruction, here represents the substitution for halo.
Featuring creatures in unexpected environment, that deviate from the natural surrounding we used to, in Wittfoot’s paintings smog fills the sky and garbage and decay lay on the ground.
Small animals get the heroic role, while large ones represent the calmness and peacefulness. Aiming to induce the viewer to question and challenge which is taken for granted, he’s work investigate themes of industry and nature, human influence on environment, the collision of obsolete ideologies with modern fears.
His creative language uses the combination of symbolism, the juxtaposition of visual narratives and the displacement of expected realities.
Small animals get the heroic role, while large ones represent the calmness and peacefulness. Aiming to induce the viewer to question and challenge which is taken for granted, he’s work investigate themes of industry and nature, human influence on environment, the collision of obsolete ideologies with modern fears.
Martin Wittfooth is an artist whose paintings, drawings, installations, and sculptural works investigate themes of the intersection and clash of industry and nature, and the human influence on the environment.
Martin Wittfooth is an artist whose paintings, drawings, installations, and sculptural works investigate themes of the intersection and clash of industry and nature, and the human influence on the environment.
Many of Wittfooth’s works explore the theme of shamanism — rituals and practices as old as our species — through which we have attempted to dialogue with nature: the nature outside ourselves and the nature within. His creative language uses the combination of allegory and symbolism to convey visual narratives.
His creative language uses the combination of allegory and symbolism to convey visual narratives.
Martin Wittfooth was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1981. He currently splits his time between two studios — Savannah, Georgia, and the Hudson Valley. He earned his MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 2008.
Wittfooth’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide, including the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Akron Art Museum in Ohio, and La Halle Saint-Pierre in Paris, with solo exhibitions in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Montreal. His paintings have also appeared in numerous publications.
Martin Wittfooth was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1981. He currently splits his time between two studios — Savannah, Georgia, and the Hudson Valley. He earned his MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 2008.
Wittfooth’s oil paintings explore disquieting themes of industry and nature, unhinged evolution, the clash of old ideologies with modern fears, and the growing shadow of the human footprint on the earth.
Set in atmospheric landscapes rendered over many paint layers on canvas, linen, or wood panels, these themes are realized through a combination of symbolism, the juxtaposition of visual narratives, and the displacement of expected realities.
Set in atmospheric landscapes rendered over many paint layers on canvas, linen, or wood panels, these themes are realized through a combination of symbolism, the juxtaposition of visual narratives, and the displacement of expected realities.
The worlds created in Wittfooth’s paintings implore the viewer to
question the status quo, to challenge that which is taken for granted,
and to proceed with caution on our present course.
The worlds created in Wittfooth’s paintings implore the viewer to question the status quo, to challenge that which is taken for granted, and to proceed with caution on our present course.
This is an index of art that I have found profound, interesting,
beautiful or enlightening. In any event, I find that art soothes my
soul. I enjoy painting figurative and portraits in oils using the more
traditional Flemish technique, but it never really brought me the kind
of money I need to live off of. Such is the life of a painter today.
Please enjoy.
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
Michael Tole is an American artist who was born in 1979. Michael Tole has had several gallery and museum exhibitions, including at the Conduit Gallery. There have been many articles about Michael Tole, including ‘Photo-realism at Cain Schulte’ written by Kenneth Baker for San Francisco Chronicle in 2009.
Backwards and in Stiletto Boots appropriates the macho genre of hunting paintings by Peter Paul Rubens. In it I place Diana, goddess of the hunt, in a position of power and triumph, thus opening Rubens’s all male world to women. This has obvious corollaries in todays society as women have and are making a place for themselves in formerly male dominated fields. Diana is an ancient archetype of a woman…a goddess…achieving and surpassing any peer in a field dominated by men. Another aspect of the work deals with fashion, and the fact that women’s fashion tends to adorn at the expense of functionality. Therefore, like Ginger Rogers, women must do everything their male counterparts do, “Backwards and in high heels.” The wardrobe selections are appropriated from the 2018 Moschino spring/summer line.“A Death of Sardanapalus is a revisionist history in which I reimagine the fall of the last Assyrian king, famously portrayed by Delacroix, as it SHOULD have ended. In my reimagining, far from being passive victims, Sardanapalus’s concubines are about to perform a coup de gras on the wretched tyrant, without him suspecting a thing. Like so many men that have recently been toppled for their bad behavior toward women, Sardanapalus is about to suffer a vengeance spawned by his hedonistic appetites.”“The Concert appropriates and marries two disparate art historical references, Titian’s, The Flaying of Marsyas, and Barbara Kruger’s, You Construct Intricate Rituals Which Allow You to Touch the Skin of Other Men. This piece seeks to probe the source and nature of our discomfort with the nude male body. In our culture, the male body is rarely displayed as an object of beauty. When it is, it is automatically described as “homo-erotic.” To avoid our discomfort, male nudity must always be contextualized into a narrative of fighting, dying, struggling, or making. As Kruger says, “We construct intricate rituals,” to allow us to appreciate the male form. There is no male equivalent to the beauty pageant. “After ten years of prolific artistic production and exhibition around the country, Michael has taken the past four years to re-evaluate and re-invent his work,” a statement says. “This new work reflects his loss of innocence due to an increasing awareness of, and evolving understanding of American pop culture. This dawning awareness results from a reintroduction to pop music via his young daughters, his relocation to Tempe, AZ, and near proximity to Southern California.”This painting reacts to the John Berger quote: “Men act, women appear.” This truism has been demonstrated in Western art countless times over the past two millennia. Second wave feminists, in particular Linda Nochlin, have expounded upon how Western art has turned women into passive objects of delectation. This is “settled case law,” in my opinion, as in the opinion of most people. It is undeniable. However, the inverse of this truism has been little talked about…namely that Western art rarely allows the male figure to simply appear. The male figure, according to many art treatises, must always be active, virile, strong. The male body is valued for what it can do, not simply for what it is or how it appears. Among the few times the male figure is allowed simply to appear for aesthetic appreciation is when that male figure is dead or sleeping. Examples of this are Michelangelo’s, Dying Slave, Girodet’s, Endymion, any number of St. Sebastians and Pietas. This beautiful male nude is immobilized and dying, thus permitting him to express his aesthetic value for the first time. I suspect we must kill beautiful men to appreciate them aesthetically because society’s construct of masculinity includes the male body as perpetual threat. There are reasons for this, of course, but it should also be noted that our society’s ideal for the male form is a body capable of threat and forceful coercion, not passivity. I feel this complex social dynamic is worthy of conscious consideration.“This painting was inspired by a trio of young women I saw at Disneyland with their younger siblings as my wife and were taking our daughters there for the first time. Believe it or not, these outfits are relatively true to what they wore. I found this a surprising wardrobe choice for many reasons, not the least of which was that the sacrifices made for a certain kind of self presentation would seem to negate their own experiential enjoyment of the setting. Yet, the act of conspicuous display and self invention seemed quite in keeping with the Disney ethos. I have found this kind of personal display to be much more common here in Arizona and California than my home state of Texas, and so I have given much thought to the implications of this cultural difference, especially because, as modest Midwesterner, it makes me a bit uncomfortable. As a well indoctrinated second wave feminist, this culture of display has challenged many notions I previously held, and the questions it has posed for me regarding personal freedom, societal expectations, gender equity, the male gaze, female empowerment, subject/object duality and the potential pleasures and pitfalls for both parties, have had a profound influence on the rest of the work in this series. “
This is an index of art that I have found profound, interesting,
beautiful or enlightening. In any event, I find that art soothes my
soul. I enjoy painting figurative and portraits in oils using the more
traditional Flemish technique, but it never really brought me the kind
of money I need to live off of. Such is the life of a painter today.
Please enjoy.
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
This is an amazing artist, and I feel moved by his art whenever I look at it. His technical ability and eye for beauty is astounding. Were I to be able to perform such feats! Ai! He is celebrated all over the world as others, just like myself, have also come to appreciate his brilliance and skill.
This is an amazing artist, and I feel moved by his art whenever I look at it. His technical ability and eye for beauty is astounding. Were I to be able to perform such feats! Ai! He is celebrated all over the world as others, just like myself, have also come to appreciate his brilliance and skill.
Jesús Helguera (May 28, 1910 – December 5, 1971)
was a Mexican painter. Among his most famous works are La Leyenda de los
Volcanes, La Leyenda, Popocapetl & Ixtaccihuatl, Hidalgo,
“Rompiendo las Cadenas”, El Aguila y la Serpiente, and Juan Diego y la
Virgen de Guadalupe.
Jesús Helguera (May 28, 1910 – December 5, 1971) was a Mexican painter. Among his most famous works are La Leyenda de los Volcanes, La Leyenda, Popocapetl & Ixtaccihuatl, Hidalgo, “Rompiendo las Cadenas”, El Aguila y la Serpiente, and Juan Diego y la Virgen de Guadalupe.
Jesús Enrique Emilio de la Helguera Espinoza was born to Spanish economist Alvaro Garcia Helguera and Maria Espinoza Escarzarga on May 28, 1910 in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Jesús Enrique Emilio de la Helguera Espinoza was born to Spanish economist Alvaro Garcia Helguera and Maria Espinoza Escarzarga on May 28, 1910 in Chihuahua, Mexico.
He lived his childhood in Mexico City and later moved to Córdoba in the state of Veracruz.
He lived his childhood in Mexico City and later moved to Córdoba in the state of Veracruz.
His family fled from the Mexican Revolution to Ciudad Real, Castilla la Nueva, Spain and thereafter moved to Madrid. Jesús first gained interest in the arts during primary school and would often be found wandering the halls of the Del Prado Museum.
His family fled from the Mexican Revolution to Ciudad Real, Castilla la Nueva, Spain and thereafter moved to Madrid. Jesús first gained interest in the arts during primary school and would often be found wandering the halls of the Del Prado Museum.
At the age of 14, he was admitted to the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes and later studied at the Academia de San Fernando. Helguera later married Julia Gonzalez Llanos, a native of Madrid, who modeled for many of his later paintings and with whom he raised two children.
At the age of 14, he was admitted to the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes and later studied at the Academia de San Fernando. Helguera later married Julia Gonzalez Llanos, a native of Madrid, who modeled for many of his later paintings and with whom he raised two children.
Jesús first worked as an illustrator at the Editorial Araluce working on books, magazines and comics with many of his published works done in gouache.
Jesús first worked as an illustrator at the Editorial Araluce working on books, magazines and comics with many of his published works done in gouache.
He became a professor of visual arts at a Bilboa Art Institute at the age of 18 and worked for magazines such as Estampa. Helguera was forced to move back to the Mexican state of Veracruz due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and following economic crisis.
He became a professor of visual arts at a Bilboa Art Institute at the age of 18 and worked for magazines such as Estampa. Helguera was forced to move back to the Mexican state of Veracruz due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War and following economic crisis.
Upon his arrival, mural making was en vogue and he was hired by Cigarrera la Moderna, a tobacco company, to produce calendar artwork printed by Imprenta Galas de Mexico.
Upon his arrival, mural making was en vogue and he was hired by Cigarrera la Moderna, a tobacco company, to produce calendar artwork printed by Imprenta Galas de Mexico.
Much of his work reflected his own fascination with Aztec Mythology, Catholicism, and the diverse Mexican landscape. His paintings showed an idealized Mexico and it was his romantic approach that gave his paintings the heroic impact that eventually made him famous.
Much of his work reflected his own fascination with Aztec Mythology, Catholicism, and the diverse Mexican landscape. His paintings showed an idealized Mexico and it was his romantic approach that gave his paintings the heroic impact that eventually made him famous.
In 1940, he created what is arguably the most famous amongst his paintings, La Leyenda de los Volcanes, which was inspired by the legend of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. It was later purchased by Ensenanza Objectiva, a producer of didactic images for schools.
In 1940, he created what is arguably the most famous amongst his paintings, La Leyenda de los Volcanes, which was inspired by the legend of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. It was later purchased by Ensenanza Objectiva, a producer of didactic images for schools.
Many of his paintings would later be reproduced in a variety of different calendars and cigar boxes reaching households and businesses throughout Mexico.
Many of his paintings would later be reproduced in a variety of different calendars and cigar boxes reaching households and businesses throughout Mexico.
Helguera continued to paint privately and illustrate for various clients until his death on December 5, 1971. Jesus Helguera continues to be celebrated in Mexico, Spain and the United States.
Helguera continued to paint privately and illustrate for various clients until his death on December 5, 1971. Jesus Helguera continues to be celebrated in Mexico, Spain and the United States.
His artwork are numerous and profound. The space limitations on this blog are many. I can only cram so much art into it. Here are some last minute additions…
This is an amazing artist, and I feel moved by his art whenever I look at it. His technical ability and eye for beauty is astounding. Were I to be able to perform such feats! Ai! He is celebrated all over the world as others, just like myself, have also come to appreciate his brilliance and skill.
And…
Upon his arrival, mural making was en vogue and he was hired by Cigarrera la Moderna, a tobacco company, to produce calendar artwork printed by Imprenta Galas de Mexico.
And…
Much of his work reflected his own fascination with Aztec Mythology, Catholicism, and the diverse Mexican landscape. His paintings showed an idealized Mexico and it was his romantic approach that gave his paintings the heroic impact that eventually made him famous.
Here are some movies that I consider noteworthy and worth a view. Enjoy.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are
reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly
impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal
library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come
and enjoy a read or two as well.
My Poetry
Art that Moves Me
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
The works of Tokuhiro Kawai always conjure whimsical and phantasmical stories of the likes of the Aesop and Anderson, the Grimm brothers’ fairytales. Each of his painting entails a particular story that draws viewers to its details and its numerous fascinating characters. Characters which encompass from within so vivaciously and vividly.
Kawai’s attempt to reinvigorate Renaissance style of painterly technique by imbuing myth, legend and fantasy has defined a unique sense of visual style. This style is both intriguing and refreshing in the field of Japanese contemporary art.
Each of Kawai’s painting is the blackboard to his imaginary filmstrip that allows his liberal expression to be realised into a magnificent vista that arouses viewer with curiosity and delight… not to forget the natural Japanese love of cats.
Tokuhiro Kawai is known for paintings that both recall and satirize scenes from mythology. Yet, as his statement with Gallery Gyokuei reminds us, “The history of pictorial expression is history of reproduction.”
In recent years, Kawai has specifically garnered popularity for the motif of felines donned in the garb of royalty.
Kawai’s attempt to reinvigorate Renaissance style of painterly technique by imbuing myth, legend and fantasy has defined a unique sense of visual style. This style is both intriguing and refreshing in the field of Japanese contemporary art.
Tokuhiro Kawai (1971-present, Japanese) Tokuhiro Kawai (1971- present, Japanese) is a surrealist contemporary artist who weaves stories into his art. Sometimes relying on fantasy and magic, his works ignore gravity and perspective, stimulating thought and imagination with vivid colors. Kawai’s “regal” cats are whimsical.
- TokuhiroKawai (1971-present, Japanese) - The Great Cat
“After the modern period, art expression has shifted its theme to personal lives and the role of storytelling is gradually passed over to literatures and films. Gyokuei says.
“Upon this, Kawai approaches to work on the now fragile bond between story and picture to bring the two into reunion. Since gods and faith are less related to our modern society, Kawai complements the theme with his own imagination.”
“Upon this, Kawai approaches to work on the now fragile bond between story and picture to bring the two into reunion. Since gods and faith are less related to our modern society, Kawai complements the theme with his own imagination.”
Born in 1971 in Tokyo, Tokuhiro Kawai graduated in 1995 from the oil paintings department at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and in 1997 he graduated with a master’s degree from the same university.
He has held several solo exhibitions in Japan and a group exhibition at the Mori Art Museum in 1997, where he was an award recipient, and at Setsuryosya Firenze in 1999.
In 2006 he took part at a group exhibition at Kabutoya Gallery, Tokyo, as well as being involved in numerous exhibitions at Art Fair Tokyo since 2008.
Born in 1971 in Tokyo, Tokuhiro Kawai graduated in 1995 from the oil paintings department at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and in 1997 he graduated with a master’s degree from the same university.
The works of Tokuhiro Kawai always conjure whimsical and phantasmical stories of the likes of the Aesop and Anderson, the Grimm brothers’ fairy. Each of his painting entails a particular story that draws viewers to its details and its numerous fascinating characters, which encompass from within so vivaciously and vividly.
In Symbiotic Relationship – Automatic Duel (Lot 557) Kawai’s floating angels behold the younglings lopsided in the sky, with the younglings’ swords closely opposed at each other. In which this composition have a nuanced affiliation with the angelic wall mural of The Creation of Adam at the Sistine Chapel from the Renaissance.
Kawai’s attempt to reinvigorate Renaissance style of painterly technique by imbuing myth, legend and fantasy has defined a unique sense of visual style that is both intriguing and refreshing in the field of Japanese contemporary art.
Each of Kawai’s painting is the blackboard to his imaginary filmstrip that allows his liberal expression to be realised into a magnificent vista that arouses viewer with curiosity and delight.
Kawai’s attempt to reinvigorate Renaissance style of painterly technique by imbuing myth, legend and fantasy has defined a unique sense of visual style that is both intriguing and refreshing in the field of Japanese contemporary art.
Kawai has a particular gift for painting animals and many of his compositions are filled from top to bottom with flamingos, foxes, owls, ammonites, and pelicans.
Cats seem to be his favorite and they are pictured as conquerors, tyrants, and gods.
In one of his pictures a feisty cat has killed an angel like it was a songbird and is holding the limp corpse in his fangs while standing like a stylite atop a classical column.
Cats seem to be his favorite and they are pictured as conquerors, tyrants, and gods.
Tokuhiro Kawai is a Japanese artist from Tokyo born in 1971. The works of Tokuhiro Kawai is always coloured with beautiful stories. Ignoring the principles of physics such as gravity and perspective, idealized characters appear inside the picture, creating depth and expression to the view of his world.
Tokuhiro Kawai is a Japanese artist from Tokyo born in 1971. The works of Tokuhiro Kawai is always coloured with beautiful stories. Ignoring the principles of physics such as gravity and perspective, idealized characters appear inside the picture, creating depth and expression to the view of his world.
Tokuhiro Kawai is known for paintings that both recall and satirize scenes from mythology. Yet, as his statement with Gallery Gyokuei reminds us, “The history of pictorial expression is history of reproduction.”
In recent years, Kawai has specifically garnered popularity for the motif of felines…
The cultural depiction of cats and their relationship to humans is old and stretches back over 9,500 years. Cats are featured in the history of many nations, are the subject of legend and are a favorite subject of artists and writers.
Tokuhiro Kawai is known for paintings that both recall and satirize scenes from mythology. Yet, as his statement with Gallery Gyokuei reminds us, “The history of pictorial expression is history of reproduction.”
Cats in Asian art have been a part of Chinese, Japanese and Korean art for centuries and are still prominent subjects of contemporary artists.
The Chinese cat goddess Li Shou was worshipped and adored, and likewise, the Japanese paid tribute to the Maneneko who is said to have saved the life of a Samurai warrior. Rooted deep in myth, cats in Asian art became an icon for Chinese and Japanese as well as other Asian cultures.
Kawai has a particular gift for painting animals and many of his compositions are filled from top to bottom with flamingos, foxes, owls, ammonites, and pelicans.
Owned only by the elite few in Japan, early scrolls show cats on leashes and living luxurious lives indoors.
In contrast, in China cats were depicted as hunters. In the Edo period (1603-1868), Japan was at peace and turned its attention to Ukiyo-e art and culture. Ukiyo-e woodblock prints made art available for the masses, and the merchant class was the first to purchase such prints.
The works of Tokuhiro Kawai always conjure whimsical and phantasmical stories of the likes of the Aesop and Anderson, the Grimm brothers’ fairy. Each of his painting entails a particular story that draws viewers to its details and its numerous fascinating characters, which encompass from within so vivaciously and vividly.
These prints depicted cats going about their natural cat behavior: playing, sleeping and cleaning themselves. Human forms soon became cats that were often caricatures that professed some social commentary.
In the mid-19th century Japanese Kabuki actors were portrayed by cats, as it was against the law to display actual pictures of the real actors and courtesans. Because of cats’ viciousness, cat monsters appeared in art and in literature as Bakenekos. Many Asian artists have portrayed the cat through history as pampered pets, hunters, ghosts, monsters or spirits.
Human forms soon became cats that were often caricatures that professed some social commentary.
Something to look forward to in any trip is a contact with the local animals. Japanese people have lived with cats for ages and because of this history there are places in Japan that are a must-see for all cat-lovers.
‘Cat Cafés’ have become increasingly popular, and the wide variety of cat-themed merchandise available in Japan will surely appeal to the cat-lover in you.
Something to look forward to in any trip is a contact with the local animals. Japanese people have lived with cats for ages and because of this history there are places in Japan that are a must-see for all cat-lovers.
Japanese people have had a long relationship with cats. More than 1000 years ago, people in the upper class were already living with cats. Common people also started having pet cats at home several hundred years ago and Japanese people have been involved with cats in a variety of ways since then.
There are shrines that worship cats as gods across Japan and cats have also played a part in folk beliefs through the ages.
Japanese people have had a long relationship with cats. More than 1000 years ago, people in the upper class were already living with cats. Common people also started having pet cats at home several hundred years ago and Japanese people have been involved with cats in a variety of ways since then.
The extent to which Japanese people have been involved with cats is evident from the volume of artworks that depict cats as the main subject.
In the Edo period (1603-1868), Ukiyoe virtuosos Hiroshige Utagawa and Kuniyoshi Utagawa painted cats, and in the Meiji period (1868-1912）, the great novelist Soseki Natsume wrote the novel “I Am a Cat”, which became a famous masterpiece of Japanese literature.
Even nowadays you can find examples, such as the famous character “Hello Kitty” the cute anthropomorphic cat, and “Krocchi” a stray cat character that has recently started to become popular. Cats have been loved by Japanese people through the ages.
Even nowadays you can find examples, such as the famous character “Hello Kitty” the cute anthropomorphic cat, and “Krocchi” a stray cat character that has recently started to become popular. Cats have been loved by Japanese people through the ages.
Places that show traces of the relationship between cats and people are scattered throughout Japan.
Tashirojima Island in Ishinomaki City located east of Sendai City
is known as the ‘Cat Island’. Cats come to welcome the boats at the
port. Many cats wait patiently around the fishing port for fishermen to
return.
Tashirojima Island in Ishinomaki City located east of Sendai City is known as the ‘Cat Island’. Cats come to welcome the boats at the port. Many cats wait patiently around the fishing port for fishermen to return.
Neko-jinja or the cat shrine is located in the central area of the island and it enshrines a “cat god” in hope of a good catch and safety of the fishermen. Cats have been worshiped as gods for several hundred years when people began forecasting the outcome of fishing based on cats’ behavior.
Tashirojima Island was damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in 2011, but many of the cats survived, evacuating to the area around Neko-jinja.
The extent to which Japanese people have been involved with cats is evident from the volume of artworks that depict cats as the main subject.
Aoshima Island in Shikoku area is also known as a cat island. The catch-phrase of this island is “15 residents and 100 cats, the cat paradise”.
They say that 10 years ago when the population of the island went below 50, the number of cats started to increase. The biggest appeal of Aoshima Island is that you can have an extremely close contact with cats. The island has recently become increasingly popular as a tourist spot, especially among cat lovers.
They say that 10 years ago when the population of the island went below 50, the number of cats started to increase. The biggest appeal of Aoshima Island is that you can have an extremely close contact with cats. The island has recently become increasingly popular as a tourist spot, especially among cat lovers.
Day trips to the island are recommended since there are no accommodation or restaurants in Aoshima.
There is a passenger boat which makes the 45-minute ride twice a day to Aoshima from Nagahama port in Ozu City, Ehime prefecture located at the west end of Shikoku island. There is a limit to the number of passengers since the boat is used for the islanders’ daily use and therefore there is a chance you may not be able to board.
There are also no stores or vending machines on the island, so please make sure you take food and drinks when you visit.
Aoshima Island in Shikoku area is also known as a cat island. The catch-phrase of this island is “15 residents and 100 cats, the cat paradise”.
“Of course, you can also see cats in the city. In Yanaka, a cat town in Tokyo reasonably close to Ueno Park, you can see cats living freely in the city.
You can feel the old atmosphere of Japan in Yanaka Ginza, a shopping street that has kept their old streets and atmosphere. The cats living there also add to the view of the town. Shopping there is also a fun experience for cat-lovers because Yanaka Ginza has many shops selling cat-themed goods.”
You can feel the old atmosphere of Japan in Yanaka Ginza, a shopping street that has kept their old streets and atmosphere. The cats living there also add to the view of the town. Shopping there is also a fun experience for cat-lovers because Yanaka Ginza has many shops selling cat-themed goods.
“Nyankodo” in Jinbocho, approximately 10-minute train ride away from Tokyo Station, is a book store that collects only cat-themed books.
They carry books related to cats published all over the world including photo books, literature, picture books, story books and comics. They also have books on Kuniyoshi Utagawa, a world-famous Ukiyoe painter and a photo collection of Mitsuaki Iwago, a wildlife photographer. You will surely find your favorite book here.
Tokuhiro Kawai (1971-present, Japanese) Tokuhiro Kawai (1971- present, Japanese) is a surrealist contemporary artist who weaves stories into his art. Sometimes relying on fantasy and magic, his works ignore gravity and perspective, stimulating thought and imagination with vivid colors. Kawai’s “regal” cats are whimsical.
“Maneki-neko”, the beckoning or welcoming cat, is best known in Japan as a lucky charm said to bring business success. Cats used to be a lucky charm in the silk industry long ago as they get rid of crops eating rats and silkworms.
They became popular as a lucky charm to increase business. It is believed that a cat with a beckoning paw has the power to bring in more people.
According to a legend, Gotokuji Temple, located approximately 10-minutes from Gotokuji Station on the Odakyu Line in Tokyo, is the birthplace of Maneki-neko. Enshrined on one corner of the temple are a number of Maneki-neko that were donated by those whose wishes came true. There are several kinds of Maneki-neko, ranging from the small ones that cost several hundred yen to big ones that cost as much as 5,000 yen. This is a perfect souvenir for your family and friends. I bet you can almost see the smile on their faces now!
Movies that Inspired Me
Here are some movies that I consider noteworthy and worth a view. Enjoy.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are
reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly
impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal
library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come
and enjoy a read or two as well.
My Poetry
Art that Moves Me
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
There is a cool, quiet elegance to Alan
Macdonald’s paintings, which belies the disequilibrium at their heart.
His figures, grey eyed and dreaming, might be time travellers, drawing
distant cousinship from the portraits of Rembrandt or Frans Hals. His
bucolic northern landscapes lay claim to an equally venerable artistic
heritage. But if an accretion of the art historical past informs his
imagery, it is transposed into a world where confidence has been lost,
where the spiritual beliefs and myths which once bound man to nature,
and through nature, to the divine, fail to connect.
Frequently, single letters or words, even meticulously copied dictionary definitions, are added to the sections of a painting, as if language might hold a key.
Frequently, single letters or words, even meticulously copied dictionary definitions, are added to the sections of a painting, as if language might hold a key.
We follow through the a,b,c, trying to piece together the jigsaw, but language proves as fallible as any system by which we structure our existence, and we are left with a series of miswired lexical circuits. Is a landscape “an area of land regarded as being visually distinct,” or is it “a painting, drawing, photograph etc. depicting natural scenery?”
Macdonald lets both definitions stand. Though he would not call himself a surrealist, like Magritte, he points up the ambiguities surrounding real objects and their images in art, encouraging us to consider his work as more than a simple pictorial narrative.
Though he would not call himself a surrealist, like Magritte, he points up the ambiguities surrounding real objects and their images in art, encouraging us to consider his work as more than a simple pictorial narrative.
The otherworldly characters in his
series of portrait heads have the look of forgotten pilgrims, bonneted
and constrained by cords like the followers of some perverse form of
Puritanism. Each is neatly titled according to a state of mind:
hedonist, altruist, sadist. We read the titles and search their waxen
features, hoping to discover their soul in the curl of a lip, or the
tilt of a chin. Despite this attempt at self assertion the figures
remain isolated, pinned down by their cords, as if by the codes and
strictures of society.
These are beautiful paintings, all the
more potent for their distilled sense of calm. Macdonald gives us no
answers, but the questions he raises about the search for faith and
identity in a difficult modern world touch a nerve, and in the faces of
his pilgrims, we recognise ourselves.
The otherworldly characters in his series of portrait heads have the look of forgotten pilgrims, bonneted and constrained by cords like the followers of some perverse form of Puritanism. Each is neatly titled according to a state of mind: hedonist, altruist, sadist.
It seems fitting that artist Alan Macdonald, born and brought up in Malawi, one of the least populated areas in South East Africa, now lives and works in a small town not too far from medieval Edinburgh, Scotland. His meticulously crafted images are emblematic of Scottish characteristics – love of nature, history, humour, beauty and surreal scenery – linked together in compelling enigmatic and sometimes foreign imagery.
His meticulously crafted images are emblematic of Scottish characteristics – love of nature, history, humour, beauty and surreal scenery – linked together in compelling enigmatic and sometimes foreign imagery.
" “It took me years to realize that it is the darkness in things that I respond to, whether it is a painting by Francisco Goya, a song by Leonard Cohen, a play by William Shakespeare or a film by Pedro Almodovar.
When I was a child living in Africa, I was outside on a night lit by the moon and, feeling a little scared, I stepped from the light into a dark shadow,” the artist told Tatha Gallery.
“The darkness wrapped itself around me and fear was replaced by an understanding that I was being protected. Later, when I was twelve, a boy walked into my classroom with drawings he had done in pencil. They were representations of figures, that went from the white of the paper to the blackest black that the graphite could muster, and from that moment the artistic light for me was ignited.”
-Alan MacDonald
At the base of MacDonald’s work seems to be a need for adventure, exploring inspiration and varying perspectives in each work.
There is seemingly no element too exotic to inhabit an oil painting by Alan MacDonald, whose works traverse cultures and histories to present something always elegant in execution. At the base of MacDonald’s work seems to be a need for adventure, exploring inspiration and varying perspectives in each work.
There is seemingly no element too exotic to inhabit an oil painting by Alan MacDonald, whose works traverse cultures and histories to present something always elegant in execution.
Often incorporating hyper-realistic contemporary popular culture objects and well-known phrases, Macdonald’s Renaissance style paintings are at once familiar yet strange, inviting close inspection as if asking us to solve an amusing, highly original puzzle.
Often incorporating hyper-realistic contemporary popular culture objects and well-known phrases, Macdonald’s Renaissance style paintings are at once familiar yet strange, inviting close inspection as if asking us to solve an amusing, highly original puzzle. Alan Macdonald acknowledges that, indeed, the solution can sometimes elude him; his skill is to give us hauntingly beautiful pictorial clues which tug on our psyche while making us smile, even laugh out loud while encouraging us to search for our own answers.
Alan Macdonald acknowledges that, indeed, the solution can sometimes elude him; his skill is to give us hauntingly beautiful pictorial clues which tug on our psyche while making us smile, even laugh out loud while encouraging us to search for our own answers.
The work is archetypally Northern in its interior quality, the dark grounds and focussed illumination reminiscent of Flemish masters, the looser paint handling, particularly in the landscape backgrounds, akin to Dutch landscape and maritime painting of the 18th century. The unforgiving choice of oil on board makes the sublime delicacy of the painted surface all the more impressive.
The tension in these works is compelling, and their real beauty lies in the fluid nature of association which imaginatively expands the mind of the viewer along multiple pathways of interpretation. These are works not just of a moment but of lifetimes, a real rarity in the world of contemporary art.
This is a fascinating show of contrasting styles, raising expectation about potential developments in Kilmorack’s regularly exhibiting artists and introducing an exciting and dynamic new artist to the gallery’s audience. It is an absolute pleasure to become lost in the multi-layered nature of Alan Macdonald’s work, encouraging repeat viewings of this extraordinary show.
Alan Macdonald considers his work a visual journey with a subtext of a sense of adventure and excitement but destination unknown. As he tells us… “There is the belief in every painting that one day, as you set sail, you will find a faraway beach on which to land, avoiding the ragged rocks and inky depths of doubt. On one of the luckier voyages you arrive somewhere that is strangely familiar but which you have never seen before. It is a distant coast of you”.
While there are many art historical influences to be seen in this work, Macdonald remains his own man, in full knowledge of the canon, playfully seducing the viewer with familiarity of style then subverting expectation of traditional narrative. Displacement of elements; the surreal juxtaposition of classical and industrial architecture, the adornment and status of costume with utilitarian functionality and the presence of consumer branding/ Pop elements in the same frame as traditions of historical painting and portraiture thankfully never allow the audience to get too comfortable.
It took me years to realise that it is the darkness in things that I respond to, whether it is a painting by Francisco Goya, a song by Leonard Cohen, a play by William Shakespeare or a film by Pedro Almodovar. When I was a child living in Africa, I was outside on a night lit by the moon and, feeling a little scared, I stepped from the light into a dark shadow. The darkness wrapped itself around me and fear was replaced by an understanding that I was being protected. Later, when I was twelve, a boy walked into my classroom with drawings he had done in pencil. They were representations of figures, that went from the white of the paper to the blackest black that the graphite could muster, and from that moment the artistic light for me was ignited.
A wise old German painter friend once said to me, after seeing me floundering around trying to explain away one of my paintings, “Remember, Alan, your paintings are like a bubble, and a bubble with a hole in it is no longer a bubble.” So with that in mind, I will tread carefully.
-ALAN MACDONALD
Alan Macdonald considers his work a visual journey with a subtext of a sense of adventure and excitement but destination unknown. As he tells us… “There is the belief in every painting that one day, as you set sail, you will find a faraway beach on which to land, avoiding the ragged rocks and inky depths of doubt.
Nothing pleases me more than when someone laughs out loud whilst looking at one of my paintings. As comedians are aware, humour is a subversive thing, breaking down barriers and making others more receptive to your message or point of view. Years ago, a particularly tired, world-weary man came into my exhibition, with an, 'impress me if you can' expression on his face. He trudged from painting to painting, unimpressed… that is, until he came to a painting of a man covered in tattoos with a row of pins in his forehead, called 'Masochist'. It caused him to burst out laughing! He then went back and looked again at all the paintings he had just trudged past, now taking his time and responding to them all. It confirmed for me the importance of humour in art.
All the shapes and forms my work takes, have evolved over years. Painting clothes that resemble period clothing, for example, happened naturally. At first because it just seemed right, but I now realise that it brings to the work a sense of someone lost and out of time, desperately trying to work out the universal question, “What the hell am I doing here?” Especially when modern items like a can of coke or a scooter are included. Max Ernst once wrote that an artist should have one foot in the subconscious and one in the conscious. This, I think, is what I am trying to do.
-ALAN MACDONALD
“When I begin a painting, I feel like I am embarking on a journey, one in which I have no idea of the ultimate destination. As a result there is a real sense of adventure and excitement as you set sail into the unknown, armed only with a belief that, one day, you will find a faraway beach on which to land. “
When I begin a painting, I feel like I am embarking on a journey, one in which I have no idea of the ultimate destination. As a result there is a real sense of adventure and excitement as you set sail into the unknown, armed only with a belief that, one day, you will find a faraway beach on which to land. Unfortunately, too often, the ship founders on the jagged rocks of doubt, leaving your heart to sink into the inky depths, from where you have to resurrect it. On the luckier voyages, though, you arrive somewhere that is strangely familiar, but which you have never seen before. It’s a distant coast of you.
-ALAN MACDONALD
All the shapes and forms my work takes, have evolved over years. Painting clothes that resemble period clothing, for example, happened naturally. At first because it just seemed right, but I now realize that it brings to the work a sense of someone lost and out of time, desperately trying to work out the universal question, “What the hell am I doing here?”
Alan MacDonald is a brilliant artist, and I would be proud to hang his art within my home.
Movies that Inspired Me
Here are some movies that I consider noteworthy and worth a view. Enjoy.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are
reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly
impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal
library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come
and enjoy a read or two as well.
My Poetry
Art that Moves Me
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
Mark Ryden is an American artist based in California. He is said to have ushered in the new genre of painting and Pop Surrealism, into mainstream art culture. His style, which is reminiscent of the works of the Old Masters, has blurred the traditional boundaries between high and low art. Though inspired by surrealist techniques, he has filled his work with cultural connotations. His work is both mystical and realistic, innocent and eerie. The bright colors and childlike figures on the surface hide a darker, mysterious psyche. His paintings are meticulous and full of detail, with each detail having a significant importance.
Mark Ryden is an American artist based in California. He is said to have ushered in the new genre of painting and Pop Surrealism, into mainstream art culture.
Mark Ryden. The painter Mark Ryden is one of the prominent representatives of the Lowbrow art movement, which is also called Surrealist Pop.
- Mark Ryden - 42 artworks - WikiArt.org
Tell me a bit about yourself? How did you life in art begin?M.R.: I spent the vast majority of my time as a youth drawing and painting. I was also very interested in math and science, but art was my main love. In college, I pursued illustration because I didn’t see myself fitting it with what was happening in the fine art world of the 1980s. I had a passion for classical art, figuration, surrealism, and imagination. These subjects were all but banned from what I saw as a dry and dull art world at that time. For a decade I did commercial work, but things started to change dramatically in the 1990s. I found myself part of the fresh exciting art movement of Pop Surrealism.
“I spent the vast majority of my time as a youth drawing and painting. I was also very interested in math and science, but art was my main love. In college, I pursued illustration because I didn’t see myself fitting it with what was happening in the fine art world of the 1980s.”
Dressed in black with round, wire-rimmed glasses, a black fedora and a silvery goatee, the Pop Surrealist looks like a magical wizard as he surveys the fantastical haven of desserts he’s created for American Ballet Theatre’s new production of “Whipped Cream.”
It was quite the spectacle. It was his paintings brought to life.
” I had a passion for classical art, figuration, surrealism, and imagination. These subjects were all but banned from what I saw as a dry and dull art world at that time. For a decade I did commercial work, but things started to change dramatically in the 1990s. I found myself part of the fresh exciting art movement of Pop Surrealism. “
Ginormous sugary confections glint under draping stage lights: velvety swirls of sugar plum pastry, strawberry-topped cupcakes, powder-coated chocolate drops and glossy, melon-sized gum balls. Theatrical technicians, like Willy Wonka factory workers, scramble around the artist.
Stage hands roll towering peaks of whipped cream across the floor on dollies while prop artists affix Swarovski crystals to vanilla-iced tarts.
Mark Ryden was born in Medford Oregon. He received a BFA in 1987 from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles where he paints slowly and happily amidst his countless collections of trinkets, statues, skeletons, books, paintings and antique toys.
“C’mere,”
Ryden beckons, slipping behind a cotton candy-pink dessert counter, a
proverbial kid in his self-conjured candy store. The black backside of
the giant set piece exposes the infrastructure behind the magic —
ladders and trap doors that the dancers scurry up and through.
“It’s
all these details,” Ryden says, showing off the underside of a
monstrous tin coffee can that one of the characters pops out of. “We had
to make these openings big enough for the dancers’ tutus to get
through.”
“I believe if an artist consciously attempts to develop a “style” that art will be hollow and superficial. An artist’s work has to develop more honestly and naturally. I think my work is simply the result of the subconscious accumulation of everything I am interested in.”
How did you develop your style or aesthetic?M.R.: I believe if an artist consciously attempts to develop a “style” that art will be hollow and superficial. An artist’s work has to develop more honestly and naturally. I think my work is simply the result of the subconscious accumulation of everything I am interested in. I try not to judge any particular inspiration as being more valid than another. I can let an Old Masters painting influence me just as much as a vintage cartoon.
Ryden, nicknamed the “godfather of Pop Surrealism” by Interview
magazine, is known for his kitschy, brightly colored paintings blending
pop culture elements and old master techniques for a glossy,
danger-tinged, fairy-tale-like aesthetic. His first European
retrospective, at the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga in Spain,
closed on March 5.
Ryden, nicknamed the “godfather of Pop Surrealism” by Interview magazine, is known for his kitschy, brightly colored paintings blending pop culture elements and old master techniques for a glossy, danger-tinged, fairy-tale-like aesthetic.
Can you describe your working process from idea to finished product?M.R.: I start by looking at the things I surround myself that inspire me. I can’t move forward in any way if I don’t feel a strong spark of excitement or creativity. It’s important to be in a peaceful state of mind and then I invite the spirits to come into the studio. I don’t stare into a blank canvas or paper. I look through my various collections of books, toys, statues, photographs and other things, and something will trigger an idea. I will make many, very loose sketches. Eventually I will be forced to pick something to take further. The decision is difficult because I can’t make that many finished paintings. They are meticulously painted and take a very long time to create.
“I start by looking at the things I surround myself that inspire me. I can’t move forward in any way if I don’t feel a strong spark of excitement or creativity. It’s important to be in a peaceful state of mind and then I invite the spirits to come into the studio.”
Ryden, who launched his career designing book and album covers, including Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous,” did more than simply design the costumes and backdrops though. His cutesy, seemingly saccharine style with a darkly humorous, Tim Burton-like twist inspired the creation of the production.
There’s something very unsettling, disturbing, about his paintings, which hides behind the sometimes very sweet surface.”
-Alexei Ratmansky
“His style is completely original, it’s very precise and detailed. He uses classical techniques, but the story he tells is very contemporary,”
“His style is completely original, it’s very precise and detailed. He
uses classical techniques, but the story he tells is very contemporary,”
Ratmansky says. “There’s something very unsettling, disturbing, about
his paintings, which hides behind the sometimes very sweet surface. I
just thought it was a good fit for the music and that it would make this
1920s work feel contemporary.”
What are the various challenges you face?M.R.: My biggest challenge is managing my time. There are some many paintings and various projects that I want to do, but I can only do so many things. I often try to do too much. The business and logistical side of being an artist can swallow up all my time if I am not diligent to prevent it. I spend too much time with email. I hate email.
Over the past decade, this marriage of accessibility, craftsmanship and technique with social relevance, emotional resonance and cultural reference has catapulted Ryden beyond his roots and to the attention of museums, critics and serious collectors. Ryden’s work has been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide, including a recent museum retrospective “Wondertoonel” at the Frye Museum of Art in Seattle and Pasadena Museum of.
Ryden typically works solo, painting on flat canvases in his Portland,
Ore., studio. He and his wife, the artist Marion Peck, moved there last
year after Ryden had spent 35 years in L.A.
What kind of narratives or stories do you like to convey through your work?M.R.: I don’t attempt to convey any of my own stories or narratives, instead I like that my work can trigger the viewer to imagine their own narrative or story. For me, the meaning of a painting can’t be described with words or a story. Instead it is the image itself that is the meaning. I choose to work with figures that carry iconic power, but I like to leave the mystery undisturbed. I leave it to the viewer to interpret the images how they will.
Mark Ryden is a veteran of the Pop-Surrealism style, having been at the forefront of this genre since the late 1990’s when it was first taking roots in the artistic community.
Mark Ryden is a veteran of the Pop-Surrealism style, having been at
the forefront of this genre since the late 1990’s when it was first
taking roots in the artistic community. A curiosity cabinet personified,
Mark Ryden’s works are often presented in thematic groups where one
major theme is explored throughout the series, further interacting with
Ryden’s main influences, including: Post world-war toys to historical
figures such as Abraham Lincoln, meat, dogma, religion and symbolism,
and into numerology, mysticism and occultism.
Ryden’s primary
medium is oil on canvas or panel, with each piece beautifully and
precisely encased in its own unique frame, many of which are original
designs by Mark Ryden himself, with the remainder coming from restored
antique frames. The frames are an artwork of and to themselves, and when
married with the artwork, transports the viewer through the
looking-glass and into a most surreal vision of the 19th century.
Mark Ryden’s works are often presented in thematic groups where one major theme is explored throughout the series, further interacting with Ryden’s main influences, including: Post world-war toys to historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, meat, dogma, religion and symbolism, and into numerology, mysticism and occultism.
What would you cite as your inspirations behind your work?M.R.: Inspiration is the most valuable commodity for an artist; it is for me anyway. My studio is packed full of things that inspire me. I live inside my own cabinet of curiosities. My studio and house are overflowing with stuff. I regularly go to flea markets and antique shops where I have amassed a variety of things that inspire me. I collect everything from old children’s books, interesting product packages, to toys, photographs, medical models, skeletons, shells, minerals, and religious statues. I also have an extensive collection of books on shelves that go all the way up to the high ceiling behind my easel and drawing table. I think it is the range of diversity of my inspirations that most defines my art.
Ryden’s primary medium is oil on canvas or panel, with each piece beautifully and precisely encased in its own unique frame, many of which are original designs by Mark Ryden himself, with the remainder coming from restored antique frames.
Artworks
from Ryden’s 1998 “The Meat Show” series contemplate meat and the idea
that we, stripped of our humanity, are ourselves meaty creations. Ryden
also explores the relationship we have to meat as food, in comparison to
the living creatures the meat was originally taken from, and also how
the viewing of meat has changed over the centuries to a point where to
see it depicted in contemporary artwork is almost absurd and strange.
Such is our modern-day relationship with meat in much of western
society.
““I believe to get ideas you have to nourish the spirit. I stuff myself full of the things I like: pictures of bugs, paintings by Bouguereau and David, books about Pheneous T. Barnum, films by Ray Harryhausen, old photographs of strange people, children’s books about space and science, medical illustrations, music by Frank Sinatra and Debussy, magazines, T.V., Jung and Freud, Ren and Stimpy, Joseph Campbell and Nostradamus, Ken and Barbie, Alchemy, Freemasonary, Buddhism. “
“I believe to get ideas you have to nourish the
spirit. I stuff myself full of the things I like: pictures of bugs,
paintings by Bouguereau and David, books about Pheneous T. Barnum, films
by Ray Harryhausen, old photographs of strange people, children’s books
about space and science, medical illustrations, music by Frank Sinatra
and Debussy, magazines, T.V., Jung and Freud, Ren and Stimpy, Joseph
Campbell and Nostradamus, Ken and Barbie, Alchemy, Freemasonary,
Buddhism. At night my head is so full of ideas I can’t sleep. I mix it
all together and create my own doctrine of life and the universe. To me,
certain things seem to fit together. There are certain parallels and
clues all over the place. There may be a little part of Alice in
Wonderland that fits in. Charles Darwin, and Colonel Sanders provide
pieces. To me the world is full of awe and wonder. This is what I put in
my paintings.”
“I admire and have been influenced by countless artists. Most are from long ago such as Carpaccio and Bronzino from the early Italian Renaissance. I like Northern Dutch artists like Van Eyck and the later French academic painters David, Gérôme and Ingres.”
Which artists do you admire? How have they influenced you?M.R.: I admire and have been influenced by countless artists. Most are from long ago such as Carpaccio and Bronzino from the early Italian Renaissance. I like Northern Dutch artists like Van Eyck and the later French academic painters David, Gérôme and Ingres. But, I also like contemporary artists like John Currin. One of my favorite painters right now is Neo Rauch. They all influence me in many different ways. I like the way Bouguereau exquisitely paints flesh while the characters of Leonoroa Carrington seem mystical.
Ryden is also a proficient writer and
includes artist statements and review essays for each of his artistic
series, which can be found at his website here.
Reading through the writings, one is immediately drawn to the open
frankness Ryden has when discussing his method, as described in his
statement for “Wondertoonel” 2004, (which roughly translates
as “wondrous theatre”) which gives the viewer an insight into the mind
of the artist whilst also providing a guide to navigate his
breathtakingly surreal artworks by:
Clearly infused with classical references, Ryden’s work is not only inspired by recent history, but also the works of past masters. He counts among his influences Bosch, Bruegel and Ingres with generous nods to Bouguereau and Italian and Spanish religious painting.
“It is only in childhood
that contemporary society truly allows for imagination. Children can see
a world ensouled, where bunnies weep and bees have secrets, where
“inanimate” objects are alive. Many people think that childhood’s world
of imagination is silly, unworthy of serious consideration, something to
be outgrown. Modern thinking demands that an imaginative connection to
nature needs to be overcome by “mature” ways of thinking about the
world. Human beings used to connect to life through mystery and
mythology. Now this kind of thinking is regarded as primitive or naive.
Without it, we cut ourselves off from the life force, the world soul,
and we are empty and starving.”
Artworks from Ryden’s 1998 “The Meat Show” series contemplate meat and the idea that we, stripped of our humanity, are ourselves meaty creations.
What would you say is your favorite piece of your own work and what does it mean to you?M.R.: I like different pieces for different reasons. One piece that pops into mind is Medium Yams because of its modest scale and simplicity. In general I gravitate towards creating massive, detailed, and epic works. While Medium Yams was a very small and simple piece it held great power. It was a favorite of many at the exhibition where it was displayed.
Mark Ryden came to preeminence in the 1990’s during a time when many
artists, critics and collectors were quietly championing a return to the
art of painting. With his masterful technique and disquieting content,
Ryden quickly became one of the leaders of this movement on the West
Coast.
Mark Ryden came to preeminence in the 1990’s during a time when many artists, critics and collectors were quietly championing a return to the art of painting.
Upon first glance Ryden’s work seems to mirror the Surrealists’
fascination with the subconscious and collective memories. However,
Ryden transcends the initial Surrealists’ strategies by consciously
choosing subject matter loaded with cultural connotation. His dewy
vixens, cuddly plush pets, alchemical symbols, religious emblems,
primordial landscapes and slabs of meat challenge his audience not
necessarily with their own oddity but with the introduction of their
soothing cultural familiarity into unsettling circumstances.
Viewers are initially drawn in by the comforting beauty of Ryden’s
pop-culture references, then challenged by their circumstances, and
finally transported to the artist’s final intent – a world where
creatures speak from a place of childlike honesty about the state of
mankind and our relationships with ourselves, each other and our past.
There is an obvious horror connected with the meat industry. The blood, the gore, the inhumane butchery. So many of us indirectly participate in this with our ravenous consumption of meat.
There is an obvious horror connected with the meat industry. The blood, the gore, the inhumane butchery. So many of us indirectly participate in this with our ravenous consumption of meat. Sue Coe has explored that arena exquisitely in her work and writings. In my own art I am not personally making a statement or judgement about the meat consumption in our culture. I feel more like I am just observing it. Just like T-rex, I myself am a passionate meat-eater. I feel that the consumption of animal flesh is a natural primal instinct just like sex and making paintings. But there is that paradox of knowing how that scrumptious porterhouse made it to my dinner plate. We have lost any kind of reverence for this. It would be interesting if people would have to kill an animal themselves before they earned the right to eat it.
Beyond the conceptual impact, meat simply has a very strong visual quality. The wonderful variety of textures and patterns in the marbling of the meat is sumptuous. Subtle pinks gently swirl around with rich vermillions and fatty yellow ochres. These visual qualities alone are seductive enough to make meat the subject of a work of art. Meat is glorious to paint. It is so easy to transcend the representational to the abstract. Meat has been a subject for painters from Rembrandt to Van Gogh.
- In a quote from Juxtapoz magazine back in the day, Ryden explains his reason for incorporation meat into his work.
Clearly infused with classical references, Ryden’s work is not only
inspired by recent history, but also the works of past masters. He
counts among his influences Bosch, Bruegel and Ingres with generous nods
to Bouguereau and Italian and Spanish religious painting.
“There may be a little part of Alice in Wonderland that fits in. Charles Darwin, and Colonel Sanders provide pieces. To me the world is full of awe and wonder. This is what I put in my paintings.”
Over the past decade, this marriage of accessibility, craftsmanship
and technique with social relevance, emotional resonance and cultural
reference has catapulted Ryden beyond his roots and to the attention of
museums, critics and serious collectors. Ryden’s work has been exhibited
in museums and galleries worldwide, including a recent museum
retrospective “Wondertoonel” at the Frye Museum of Art in Seattle and
Pasadena Museum of California Art.
Mark Ryden was born in Medford Oregon. He received a BFA in 1987 from
Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He currently lives and works
in Los Angeles where he paints slowly and happily amidst his countless
collections of trinkets, statues, skeletons, books, paintings and
antique toys.
There’s something very unsettling, disturbing, about his paintings, which hides behind the sometimes very sweet surface.
To see more of Mark Ryden’s stunning artwork, please visit his website, or his Facebook page.
Movies that Inspired Me
Here are some movies that I consider noteworthy and worth a view. Enjoy.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are
reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly
impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal
library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come
and enjoy a read or two as well.
My Poetry
Art that Moves Me
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
This is an introduction to the art of Greg (Craola) Simkins. He has created his own form of art with appears to be an off-shoot of the “low brow” movement that originated out of California. He is a talented young man that paints a very odd and eclectic mixture of birds and contemporaneous themes all mashed together in a kind of confusing array of post surrealistic nightmares.
His niche is low-brow bird portraiture.
Greg ‘Craola’ Simkins was born in 1975 in Torrance California, just south of Los Angeles. He grew up with a menagerie of animals including a number of rabbits, which often emerge in his paintings. He began drawing at the early age of three and was inspired by various cartoons and books.
The idea of escape is getting lost in a daydream and wandering through one’s imagination.
Why the name The Escape Artist?
The idea of escape is getting lost in a daydream and wandering through one’s imagination. As I make art, this process is very important to me. It’s important in the planning stages as I just fill my sketchbooks with whatever interesting images that entertain me, and it is important at the composition stage where I lay out these ideas in their ideal situations so as to move onto the final stage of painting them.
Once I get to the painting stage, the concept is at most finalized, but with a bit of room for improvisation. Once I start painting, the muscle memory and mechanics take over and I will put on music, audiobooks, movies, podcasts, etc… but generally, find myself zoning out and falling into the process of painting which can be almost meditative. Next thing you know and 8 hours have passed by and something new has been created on the canvas. It’s an awesome feeling being in that “Escape Zone.”
Simkins’ art continued to progress to the age of 18, when he started
doing graffiti under the name ‘CRAOLA’. Graffiti art became his impetus
for creating and gave him the confidence to paint large works. In
addition it taught him perspective, color theory and further developed
artistic skills, which later translated into his work with acrylics.
Falling into the process of painting which can be almost meditative. Next thing you know and 8 hours have passed by and something new has been created on the canvas. It’s an awesome feeling being in that “Escape Zone.”
What’s an average day in the studio?
Once I get in, I answer emails, go through sketches and draw a little to warm up, maybe edit some video, finish my coffee, and then sit down at the easel and pour my paint for the day. Once that is in place, I will paint as long a stretch as possible. I don’t like taking breaks and will generally eat my lunch while working as well.
I try to keep in that creative headspace and block out the rest of the world. Around dinner time, I go inside and help out making food and getting the kids to the table, we spend time together as a family, put the kids to bed at bedtime, and then sit down to watch a show with my wife and work on drawings and concepts.
After receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art from California
State University of Long Beach in 1999, Simkins worked as an illustrator
for various clothing companies and bands. He later moved on to
Treyarch/Activision where he worked on video games including Tony Hawk
2X, Spiderman 2 and Ultimate Spiderman while attempting to paint with
every free moment he had.
In 2005, Simkins pursued his desire to paint as a full-time artist.
Since then, he has been featured in numerous group exhibitions and had
successfully sold out solo exhibitions.
Birds are key figures in your work. Where does your fascination with birds come from?
How could anyone not be fascinated with birds? They are these jewels, weapons, music boxes, and much more that dart around the sky as masters of the air. They defy gravity, they curiously watch us—waiting for us to make a move, they come in so many varieties, some create bonds with us, others taunt us, and some would even comfort us.
They are incredible creatures, and I have chosen to give them personalities in my work and in The Outside for all these reasons. The main bird in my work is Breeze, a large blue jay that befriends my character Ralf “The White Knight” and protects and teaches him the way of that world.
After receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art from California State University of Long Beach in 1999, Simkins worked as an illustrator for various clothing companies and bands.
It is his careful weaving of pop culture, the old masters, nature,
carnival kitsch, and (most importantly) his warped imagination, that
makes Greg Simkins a sought-after surrealist painter today. Simkins’
artwork has appeared in galleries throughout the world.
The exhibition includes a number of beautiful works on paper. What’s your relationship with drawing and how is it part of your creative process?
It can be either to get an idea out as fast as possible so as not to lose it or something to later be refined into its own finished project. I enjoy getting the gesture of an idea to use later on in a piece, but sometimes I feel that gesture is beautiful in itself, even with all its flaws. It is the kernel of an idea and I chose to share some of those in this exhibition.
I also enjoy doing charcoal portraits which gives me a whole other way to study shape and form and mark making, which speaks to my other work. Working in multiple mediums always teaches me something new to add to each other.
How could anyone not be fascinated with birds? They are these jewels, weapons, music boxes, and much more that dart around the sky as masters of the air. They defy gravity, they curiously watch us—waiting for us to make a move, they come in so many varieties, some create bonds with us, others taunt us, and some would even comfort us.
“My creative demands are self imposed and my frustrations are my
limitations. I sketch a lot and plan many pieces that I never get to paint. It kills me, there are so many things I want to paint and find the ticking of the clock to be deafening. Most of the time it is too many ideas and a lot get shelved or pop up in future shows. It is also a blessing sometimes because I get to revisit these ideas and tinker with them a bit and watch them blossom into something far greater than my original vision. It is as if the technique catches up with the idea over that time span, and I am thankful for it.”
– Greg ‘Craola’ Simkins (Empty Lighthouse Magazine)
It is his careful weaving of pop culture, the old masters, nature, carnival kitsch, and (most importantly) his warped imagination, that makes Greg Simkins a sought-after surrealist painter today. Simkins’ artwork has appeared in galleries throughout the world.
Fictional Story Related Index
This is an index of full text reprints of stories that I have
read that influenced me when I was young. They are rather difficult to
come by today, as where I live they are nearly impossible to find. Yes,
you can find them on the internet, behind paywalls. Ah, that’s why all
those software engineers in California make all that money. Well, here
they are FOR FREE. Enjoy reading them.
Movies that Inspired Me
Here are some movies that I consider noteworthy and worth a view. Enjoy.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are
reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly
impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal
library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come
and enjoy a read or two as well.
My Poetry
Art that Moves Me
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
“The Prince of Pop Art”, Mitch O’Connell is a beloved, cherished and respected leader of the “Lowbrow” art movement and one of the greatest illustrators of all time! Inspired by Pin-ups, hot-rods, comics, sideshows and all things kitsch, cuddly and curvaceous, he takes the vintage and makes it contemporary with his distinctive, eye-popping Pop Art imagery.
“I'm tempted to tear out the pages and hang them on the wall!"
-USA Today
Magazine work includes Newsweek, Time, Rolling Stone, New Yorker, Entertainment Weekly, GQ and Playboy!
He’s happy to play nice and follow instructions with illustration assignments for nearly every publication on Earth.
"We're smitten with everything Mitch has ever done. There's no escaping that his art is awesome!"
-Bizarre magazine
Magazine work includes Newsweek, Time, Rolling Stone, New Yorker, Entertainment Weekly, GQ and Playboy! Overnight deadlines met for newspapers include The New York Times, Village Voice, Chicago Tribune and dozens more!
He’s been featured in the world of rock ’n’ roll on album covers and posters for groups from The Ramones to Weezer to No Doubt to Moby!
He’s been featured in the world of rock ’n’ roll on album covers and posters for groups from The Ramones to Weezer to No Doubt to Moby! Mitch’s doodles are utilized in advertising campaigns for major companies from McDonalds to KFC, 7-11 to Coca-Cola! And when he’s not working with an art director, his fine art paintings have been exhibited in sold-out gallery shows from New York to Berlin, Tokyo to Miami and Hollywood to Mexico City.
"An eye-popping curation of the pop artist's finest illustrations!"
-Yahoo! Music
His sexy tattoo flash is a fixture on the walls of tattoo shops around the word (and on the bodies of thousands of tattoo lovers) with many of the designs collected in two bestselling books “ Mitch O’Connell Tattoos Volume 1” and “Mitch O’Connell Tattoos Volume 2“!
His sexy tattoo flash is a fixture on the walls of tattoo shops around the word (and on the bodies of thousands of tattoo lovers) with many of the designs collected in two bestselling books.
His newest book, “Mitch O’Connell, the World’s Best Artist by Mitch O’Connell” is a huge career-spanning retrospective look at his art from the age of 3 to now!
Just how many book reviews get a 100% love with five stars! Not many. This should tell you all something.
"A pop surrealist and low-brow luminary ...an over-the-top, kitschy, vibrant mood-elevating coffee table book!"
-Huffington Post
The following are some reviews for those of you who are a tad unsure of this artists greatness…
And then there’s the AWESOME, AMAZING ARTWORK on the inside. From tattooed vixens to big-eyed bunny rabbits, there’s something here for the whole family…if you have a family where the kiddies are allowed to look at pictures of nekkid women. There is a mind-altering feast for the eyes in store for you.
Earlier today, if you heard a sort of weird, high-pitched shrieking noise, not unlike the mating cry of some long extinct bird, wafting high above the trees, far off in distance...it was just ME receiving a package from my UPS Heart Throb that contained THIS BOOK, quite possibly THE BEST BOOK EVER!
First of all - it has a vinyl cover. A VINYL COVER!!! Perfect for tubby-time viewing, or perhaps for enjoying in the inflatable wading pool on those hot summer days.
And then there's the AWESOME, AMAZING ARTWORK on the inside. From tattooed vixens to big-eyed bunny rabbits, there's something here for the whole family...if you have a family where the kiddies are allowed to look at pictures of nekkid women. There is a mind-altering feast for the eyes in store for you.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to squeezing that vinyl cover. (This is apparently a new fetish I didn't know I had, and to tell you the truth, it's got me a little worried.)
- I'm Still Squealing!
A review of his book on Amazon.com
If you liked the art on the cover, well, there is more of it inside. The book itself is reminiscent of retro children's books with a foam / vinyl embossed type cover. It even has glitter. Its something you can't appreciate on the internet. The size is thick with tons of vibrant reproductions of his artwork.
There is lots of detail like the pages have a contoured edge. The book construction itself is amazing. The reason I bought this on amazon was because my bookstore's copy was damaged. Seeing it in real life made me want this book, so I had to get it.
Its just fun to pick up and flip through.
Chances are you are an artist and will find some inspiration in here even if it is a little bit crazy/freaky. I wouldn't give this book to a child, the audience is more adult. I can't say this is lacking anything as it is just an art book with good examples. The time that went into this book puts it over the top.
Worth 5 stars. I can see why 66 people thought it was awesome. I don't know who would rate this a 4 or less unless they had a problem with amazon. Sweet!
The book itself is reminiscent of retro children’s books with a foam / vinyl embossed type cover. It even has glitter. Its something you can’t appreciate on the internet. The size is thick with tons of vibrant reproductions of his artwork.
Indirectly, I've been a fan of Mitch's art since roughly, 1987. I worked as a designer at a newspaper and we had subscriptions to two clip art services (big, hulking glossy printed pages of several images, covering nearly anything that can be advertised).
One was Metro and the other was Dynamic Graphics. Dynamic Graphics was my "go-to" service as, each month, I scoured it's pages for that flashy, interesting, fun art with the peculiar "MoC" signature.
Since then, I learned the MoC was a cool artist named Mitch O'Connell and I saw his work here and there in Heavy Metal and some comics. I've moved on from the newspaper business but, thanks in part to the Internet and various art books, I've been able to follow Mitch's enthusiastic, dynamic work the last several years.
I've always admired his bold, daring renderings. As an illustrator myself, I find inspiration in his lines and color palette. Today, I'm proud to say I now own this comprehensive book. Tons of color, tons of illustrations, tons of inspiration.
Even the design of the book itself is daring and bold. I've perused it several times since receiving it in the mail and I plan on perusing it several more times, seeing something new and interesting each time I open the book.
Mr. O'Connell's art speaks for itself but I'll say that It's unique a completely different style than what anyone may be used to. I especially like the 70s-style. He not only acknowledges it, he embraces it and you have to admire that. I highly recommend!
- Lived up to my expectations
The puffy plastic cover over Mitch O'Connell The World's Greatest Artist gives a damn good indication of what's inside: A massive, whopping, ridiculously definitive collection of Mitch... and all Mitch.
From the cutesy-sweet to the clip art to the truly naughty, here is EVERYthing. Superb book design makes the collection seem to fly, float and take on a life of its own.
There was a long, long wait for this terrific tome; it was truly worth the wait. WOW!
- Holy moley! All this and World War, too.
The puffy plastic cover over Mitch O’Connell The World’s Greatest Artist gives a damn good indication of what’s inside: A massive, whopping, ridiculously definitive collection of Mitch… and all Mitch.
From the cutesy-sweet to the clip art to the truly naughty, here is EVERYthing. Superb book design makes the collection seem to fly, float and take on a life of its own.
This book is so amazing you'll want to sleep with it tucked under your head. And thanks to the soft puffy cover you can!
Try it, i did. Hoping some of O'Connell's brilliance would seep into my brain.
Fat chance! If you have been a long time devote of O'Connell or have no idea who he is (been living under a rock?) You NEED this book!
By merely placing this book on your coffee table you will immediately notice that you have become more attractive to the world.
You'll start getting more dates than you can fit in your calendar. And you don't want to be left behind when it hits the New York Times best seller list, do you? I didn't think so. Get in on Mitch-Mania now!
- My Bible has arrived!
I cant put this book down!! It had me hooked just with the glitter cover. Wow!! I've loved this mans work for years. I can sit and look at his art and tattoo flash for hours. This is a great addition to my collection of his books and art work. Filled with beautiful women and kitsch galore. This book is VERY large and informative. We learn more about the man, myth and legend!!! It's also a great price for so much magnificent eye candy. I highly recommend it to any lover of Pop, Surrealism, Kitsch or just Damn good art! :)
- 5.0 out of 5 stars This book is Fan-Stinken-Tastic!!
I cant put this book down!! It had me hooked just with the glitter cover. Wow!! I’ve loved this mans work for years. I can sit and look at his art and tattoo flash for hours. This is a great addition to my collection of his books and art work. Filled with beautiful women and kitsch galore.
It has a sparkly cover and It's Mitch! So, It's good. I usually only read on the Crapper but I already crapped today. I may just break my own rule and read this while sitting on the couch!
- The most important book you will ever buy
EXCITEMENT! FUN! NUDITY! THRILLS!
BALLOONS! NUDITY! ALCOHOL! CAKE!
HILARITY! NUDITY!
When a book has that as it's opening intro you know you have stumbled across the new bible. Mitch may be the world's best artist (his words, mentioned many many times in this book) he is also probably the world's funniest artist.
This book is comical to the extreme, louds of laughing out loud guffaws and so much drink sprayed across the room, luckily I chose to read this in lots of different locations so everywhere got a nice even coating of beer.
This book is a huge collection of his artwork, from drawings as a kid to early adverts he was commissioned to draw to posters, tattoos and toilet seats, it is all here. The history of his rise to greatness and even a tour of his mansion (puts the Taj Mahal to shame) can be found in this book. Also its the only book I've come across that has a gift shop at the end.
Hopefully there will be more books from Mitch to entertain us all. I'm now off to locate him to get myself one of his tattoos.
- World's best book
The second worst thing about moving to Wisconsin (first being living under incipient fascism)is not having access to Mitch O'Connell. A lot of the art in this book only appeared in posters , leaflets and other material distributed in and around Chicago (Mitch 's art has appeared on everything from pencils and skateboards to delightful women's bare butts- I personally am waiting for the whoopee cushion).
Years ago I could pick the stuff up tear it off walls and enjoy it! My 20 year deprivation has been cured with this book collecting Mitch's unique (well sometimes a bit bizarre) interpretations of reality.
The world goes into Mitch's brain gets mashed around and comes out well wonderfully different- and you can see it all here in this book without skulking around sleazy burlesque houses, grunge band concerts and other affairs- though all of the latter do enhance the experience! Only thing that would make it better would be if it came with an inflatable Little Puddles doll.
- Modest Title Masks True Genius!
This book is a huge collection of his artwork, from drawings as a kid to early adverts he was commissioned to draw to posters, tattoos and toilet seats, it is all here. The history of his rise to greatness and even a tour of his mansion (puts the Taj Mahal to shame) can be found in this book. Also its the only book I’ve come across that has a gift shop at the end.
This is the only art book I own that actually entertained me. Face it - most art books you pay for nothing- a lot of white space around a a reproduction of a piece you can't afford. That means you are paying most of the cover price on blank or what design shysters call negative space. O'Connell doesn't waste anything- including your time.
Rather than hiring some fancy college boy shill to write essays, O'Connell does the writing his'sef which is why I am am actually going to read every word- eventually. Right now I'm just happy to skim and look at all the purty five star pictures.
By the way, not only are there sparkles in the puffy plasticine cover- its spot glitter- which means it was probably really expensive other than just expensive.
- Gave Me A Stiffy
Having known the artist for about 35 years, I've had the great pleasure of watching him progress from talented teen to peerless paragon of pop art. Now, with the publication of this classy compendium, anyone who is even remotely interested in popular art can share in this pleasure. With exceedingly-deft hand, keen eye, and acerbic wit, Mitch O’Connell has come to occupy a place in pop surrealism that is shared with only a few artists --Robert Williams, self-described progenitor of the ‘Lowbrow’ movement, springs to mind.
While many of the pop surrealists or other Lowbrow artists share the same interest in skewering the social, cultural, political, and sexual mores of our consumerist culture, no one --for my money, anyway-- does a better, funnier job of sending up the obsessions of the modern world. While his technical skill is beyond reproach, and repeated study of his work will prove this, it’s Mitch’s sense of humor that will find readers coming back to this volume for amusement long after the average coffee table book has been shelved and forgotten.
In a wonderful addition to the content, the exceedingly-high production values of the book --with a brilliant, sparkled and textured cover; heavy, glossy-stock pages; and stunning page layouts-- will make even those who are not familiar with Mitch’s work sit up and take notice. Presuming there are yearly awards given for outstanding book design, I’ll be not at all surprised to find this book topping the list of nominees.
So, summing up: If you’re a fan of Mitch O’Connell, buy the book. If you’re interested in modern art, buy the book. If you’re fond of well-designed and executed art books, buy the book. If you merely want to take a chance on a bold and brilliant artist, this is the one to pick up...you won’t be disappointed!!
- A peerless artist, a peerless book
While many of the pop surrealists or other Lowbrow artists share the same interest in skewering the social, cultural, political, and sexual mores of our consumerist culture, no one –for my money, anyway– does a better, funnier job of sending up the obsessions of the modern world. While his technical skill is beyond reproach, and repeated study of his work will prove this.
I purchased this book expecting just another glowing biography of yet another pampered, spoiled, filthy rich, low-brow artist. All I can say is "I was blind...and now I see!" After reading this man's, no, this immortals, life story and gazing at his life's work, I declare myself his humble servant.
The colors, line work and, most importantly, the brilliance BEHIND the work, have given my life a purpose. I worship at the filthy, somewhat ripe feet of my Lord and Savior: Mitch O'Connell. Mitch, I hope you are reading this. I have scanned the photos from your book and created wallpaper (no, not digital wallpaper, but actual paper wallpaper) and covered the walls of my cabin with thousands of images from your book, and more importantly, you. I now live in my car and only enter my shrine to you, formally my home, to worship at an alter that I created that features an 8' paper mache head of you (it came out really cool- except the left side looks a little droopy and concave. One of my cats climbed onto it before it was fully dried.).
If you have any personal items that you could send me for my alter I would appreciate it. I would collect your hair, but....! Could you send me some of your old clothes or maybe some toe nail clippings? I would expect them to be brightly colored and dipped in glitter, just like your art. I am working on a life size action figure of you that I can clothe in Holy vestments so you can perform ceremonies and we can have imaginary conversations- together! Everyone out there, please, throw away your Bibles and holy books and pick up Mitch O'Connell The World's Best Artist and let's commence to worshipping at the Holy Church of Mitch! Amen!
- This Book Spoke To Me- no kidding it actually talked
The perfect book to introduce the unsuspecting Cool Kid to the work of Mitch O'Connell!
If you like hot rods, 1950's comics, kitsch culture, tattoos, big-breasted women who aren't afraid to spank you when necessary, pink poodle dogs, aliens, motorcycles and the sarcastic, self-aware humor of one of America's favorite retro-culture artist, then this is the book for you!
And it comes wrapped up in a plushy, plastic foam cover that cleans up easy if splattered with blood, baby vomit or spunk. Or a disgusting combination of all three!
This book will make you laugh!
This book will tentpole your trousers!
This book will make you a cooler individual than your lesser friends! I am cooler than you, because I own this book (and a few other Mitch O'Connell books too.)
What are you waiting for? Get up on this book!
- Throw money at your local bookseller for this book!
If you like hot rods, 1950’s comics, kitsch culture, tattoos, big-breasted women who aren’t afraid to spank you when necessary, pink poodle dogs, aliens, motorcycles and the sarcastic, self-aware humor of one of America’s favorite retro-culture artist, then this is the book for you!
Mitch O'Connell's latest book, "Mitch O'Connell the World's Best Artist by Mitch O'Connell", is the BEST and GREATEST book ever penned by the Master to this date!
Mitch, my friend for over 30 years has created the world's MOST magical collection of SUPER ART.... yes, the term is SUPER ART!
Owning his most current book has cured my arthritis. By reading the pages my 60 year old eyes now possess 20/20 vision. I can walk without a cane. My elderly wife read it and is now using tampons again. THE BOOK IS A MIRACLE!!! This modest genius has created the cures for all maladies of the Human Condition by merely printing the World's Best Art; HIS World's Best Art and AMAZING LIFE STORY in this Remarkable 288 page book!
Ladies & Gentlemen throw away your Bibles because THIS IS IT!!!!!!! The only Good Book you will ever need!
You will never EVER get a bigger bang for your $20.
- GOD'S GIFT TO THE ART WORLD !!
All art books have pictures (that's kind of the idea) but how many would you sit down and read? Sure, "Mitch O'Connell, the World's Best Artist" is chock-full of the requisite lifetime's worth of artwork (well, maybe two-thirds to half a lifetime, he's not dead yet), but it's also brimming with personal tales and anecdotes filled with witty, self-deprecating braggadocio, all wrapped in a puffy, sparkly vinyl cover.
Not many other (any other?) artists can claim to have been published in everything from the New York Times to Juggs and you'll learn that and many other fascinating facts when you read this book.
Did I mention the puffy, sparkly vinyl cover? It's an art book which moonlights as a coaster, which is super-practical (buy a set!). So, if you like 60's kitsch, creepy clowns, and big-eyed rabbits (and who doesn't?) then this is the book for you.
- The first coffee table book you'll actually read!
All art books have pictures (that’s kind of the idea) but how many would you sit down and read? Sure, “Mitch O’Connell, the World’s Best Artist” is chock-full of the requisite lifetime’s worth of artwork (well, maybe two-thirds to half a lifetime, he’s not dead yet), but it’s also brimming with personal tales and anecdotes filled with witty, self-deprecating braggadocio, all wrapped in a puffy, sparkly vinyl cover.
I first saw Mitch's work back in the dark ages - before computers and t'internet and the writing of book online reviews. It was a "graphic novel" (trans.: Fat Expensive Comic Book) called GINGER FOX, and I've been following his work ever since, picking up the odd book or flyer or cover whenever I came across them.
Now, all of that scattered detritus has been collated into one big fat squishy plastic-covered wipe-clean book. Fatter and more expensive than Ginger Fox, who must be in her fatter and more expensive mid-50s' by now.
Mitch has an assured clean graphic line, a searing sense of eye-popping colour, a healthy interest in the female form, and a joyous sense of the pop-art poetry inherent in the commercial ephemera those fancy-pants "high art" snobs just don't get. I want to delve into the dark recesses of this man's "gentleman's magazine" collection, but fear I may never emerge... Go buy!! NOW!!
- Squishy!
I never in a million years would have thought I'd own this book. I'm a fan and I love art books but my own art has consumed all resources and left my book aquiring funds non existent. Fast forward to my B-day party this yr and I get Mitch's book for a gift. So of course we immediatly crack it open to take in the mind bending eye candy.. First words out of my mouth. "danmmit, he IS the Worlds Greatest Artist!"
Endless hours of entertainment. Known about in France. As advertised. All in all pretty stinkin' cool. Color me jealous and inspired all at the same time. So if you're like me, put it on your wish list, and if you can buy it just do it now. You'll be happy you treated yourself.
- Worlds Greatest Artist, yea right.
In 2015 my friend, the fabulous artist Mitch O'Connell, created this excellent illustration of Donald Trump as one of the evil aliens from John Carpenter's 1988 science fiction film, They Live. Once Trump became president, Mitch tried to install a billboard with the illustration, but no one in the US would let him. He ended up displaying it in Mexico City, though.
Well, Mitch recently found out that a Times Square billboard company will allow him to display his illustration on a billboard and he's started a gofundme campaign to make this dream a reality.
The fabulous artist Mitch O’Connell, created this illustration of Donald Trump as one of the evil aliens from John Carpenter’s 1988 science fiction film, They Live. Once Trump became president, Mitch tried to install a billboard with the illustration, but no one in the US would let him.
Fictional Story Related Index
This is an index of full text reprints of stories that I have
read that influenced me when I was young. They are rather difficult to
come by today, as where I live they are nearly impossible to find. Yes,
you can find them on the internet, behind paywalls. Ah, that’s why all
those software engineers in California make all that money. Well, here
they are FOR FREE. Enjoy reading them.
Movies that Inspired Me
Here are some movies that I consider noteworthy and worth a view. Enjoy.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are
reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly
impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal
library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come
and enjoy a read or two as well.
My Poetry
Art that Moves Me
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
There is a sizable majority of the American (and by extension, globalist) oligarchy believe that they will be able to “ride out” the coming “shit-storm” of societal upheaval slated for America. They have bought land, and established residences, and constructed mini-fortresses in far away lands for precisely this purpose. Well, I am going to be the first to lay out the truth; you all will not be able to avoid your comeuppance.
It’s coming.
It’s heading and barrelling right down upon all of us, and this time, the oligarchy will be not be spared.
The American second civil war will not be like Bosnia, Rhodesia, Rwanda, or any other revolutionary messes. You know the ones. Where the wealthy creates a situation, and then skedaddles off to a “safe haven” to wait out the societal reconstruction.
Take note. This time is different.
We are coming after you.
The world is connected. There’s a Burger King and Pizza Hut on Tutuila island, for goodness sakes! Internet is everywhere. We know where your “hidy holes” are, and who built them, and when, and what mechanical systems you utilize. We know which planes you fly, who pilots them, and where the pilots families reside.
We know a lot more than you think we know, and (drop the bullshit) you know that us “deplorables” are not at all the under-educated white racists that you so loudly proclaim. We are watching you all with seething anger.
I met Lloyd Blankfein at a Super Bowl. It was the New England Patriots and the New Jersey Giants. And Blankfein came up to me, “I know who you are, but you don’t know who I am.” And I said, “The hell I don’t! You run Goldman Sachs. I know who –” and he was stunned that I knew who he was. He said, “I know who you are,” like, “I know who you are. Ha-ha. I know what you’re up to, but you don’t know who I am.” “Oh, yes, I do.”
-Rush Limbaugh
We are chomping at the bit for an excuse to come after you all. It’s gonna be glorious.
Factory
workers, with their company name badges, in the parking lot of their
employer. Two dead and one dying with his legs shot off. He and his
co-workers had no idea that “world war III” would break out while they
were trying to clock in at work. When one group of people identify
another group, and target them with hate, and violence, it only
escalates. It gets worse. Eventually there is whole-scale blood shed. Do
not be under the illusion that it will never happen in America. There
are enormous groups of people just chomping at the bit to attack
conservatives and traditionalists. All in the name of a progressive
utopia.
See how easy it was to find this information, on just a three key-word search. Very easy.
But you know, escape anywhere will be fraught with problems. We, as humans, are all interconnected. He have histories, associations, and ties. And, it’s not all “black and white” internet data streams either. It’s personal. It’s visceral.
It's not going to be like you all think. With some kind of race genocide, on top of political machinations, with overtures of hicks riding around like some scene out of Mad Max.
There are going to be elements of WWIII, and WMD. There's going to be a great deal of political and sociological changes, and you are right to realize that "blue areas" in America will not be safe.
But you are wrong to think that you all can sneak away and go somewhere where you will be forgotten. You will NOT be forgotten.
Let that sink in.
And, it’s all going to come back and haunt you.
What? You think that you don’t have siblings, who are married with kids? You think that they are immune from the consequences of your evil machinations? You think that you are NOT on watch lists? You think that your behavior is not tracked? You think that your “connections” in whatever government entity will protect you?
Listen up.
The world is not a new “enlightened”, and “progressive” reality where wars are long behind us. Where citizens will turn in their weapons willingly to be serfs under a wise Kingly leader. Nope. Those are all imaginary fantasies that many of you all believe.
They are not true.
Most of human history has been fraught with terrible, terrible battles and conflicts. Where entire blood lines were executed. Where women, if they were lucky, were enslaved as sex slaves, while everyone else were killed. Know your history. Entire cities were decimated. Men, women, children, even the dogs and cats. All killed and the ground salted afterwards.
The time has come that you all must start to live like the Kings of old. With poison testers, thrice-tested body guards, and loyalty oaths that are rock solid. You will not be able to hole-up behind strong stone walls. You will not be able to escape to a land where you will be unknown and untraceable. You will not be able to escape the wrath of your fellow citizens who have spent decades watching you cart your weight around and lord over us.
We are coming for you.
Know your history. This is what really happens when a particular group comes to power and their enemies are disarmed. It is never pretty. Know your history.
You think that your accents, behaviors, and lifestyle won’t give you away. You think that being a flabby old white dude walking on the beach of Mahebourg on Mauritus will be overlooked? Is that what you think? Do you actually believe that an extensive underground lair in Dunedin will protect you? Hey! Am I being specific enough for you? Or, perhaps you think that you will be different…
We are coming for you.
No, you do not have to worry about one singular person. Personally, I not going to do Jack Shit. But what you will need to worry about is the consequences of your support… in all the myriad of ways… for the coming Shit Storm that is going to engulf the United States into a conflagration of an unparalleled magnitude.
Read your history books. You cannot simply take on a defensive posture and hole up like some hermit in a monastery while Rome burns, or the Huns sack your city, rape your women and torture everyone else.
The “bubble” of civility is coming to an abrupt end.
Graphic photograph of a capture and subsequent rape of a young girl by German soldiers. Know your history. This will be common. Know your history.
It had a good run. At least in America, it did. Eighty years. That’s long enough to assume that things will always be a certain way, and full danger is really only the stuff of nightmares. Well, it is ending.
In large part because of your actions.
As such, the historical “normal” is returning. Buckle up. You and yours are all in the cross hairs.
Greek authors rarely go into any detail when describing the fall of a city, so if we want to know what this really means, we are to some extent forced to use our imagination. However, it's clear from what little we hear that Xenophon's 'universal law' usually meant 3 things:
All movable property was taken
All adult men were killed
All women, children and elderly men were sold into slavery.
The first of these points is least well attested, but probably most widespread. Every warrior who was sent against an enemy settlement would hope to come away with a profit.
Homes could be stripped of furniture and metal objects; temples could be robbed of their dedications and temple treasuries emptied. If there was time, even the rooftiles and wooden fittings of houses could be torn off and carried away.
The simple fact that large amounts of ancient coinage and jewellry was preserved in its hiding place (buried, thrown into wells, etc.) shows that people were quite concerned to keep their valuables out of the hands of greedy invaders.
The second point is better known, because it was a matter of justice and pride. When a city was attacked, it could choose to surrender; if it did not, it forfeited any claim to mercy. Those who had decided to resist their enemies would get what they deserved. The most explicit example of this is the fate Agamemnon desired for Troy:
Not a single one of them must escape sheer destruction at our hands. Not even if a mother carries one in her belly and he is male, not even he should escape. All together they must be exterminated from Troy, their bodies untended and invisible.
-- Iliad 6.57-62
There are loads of examples from Greek history of sieges ending with the slaughter of all adult men. These massacres removed the defeated community's ability to fight and ensured that there would be no further resistance.
The third point arises from the fact that the Greeks seem to have considered it barbaric to kill captured women and children as well as men. The few examples of this in Greek history were condemned as savage. Once the needs of revenge had been satisfied, the remaining population was instead considered a potential source of profit:
When they were delivered to her by the Persians, Pheretime took the most guilty of the Barkaians and set them impaled around the top of the wall; the breasts of their women she cut off and planted around the wall in like manner. As for the rest of the Barkaians, she told the Persians to take them as plunder.
-- Herodotos 4.202
There was substantial money to be made from this, which is why commanders sometimes tried to restrain the bloodlust of their victorious troops. Even if it was just, as well as satisfying, to kill the defenders, it still amounted to the destruction of a source of income:
Dionysios' entire army burst into the city (...) and now every spot was a scene of mass slaughter; for the Sicilian Greeks, eager to return cruelty for cruelty, slew everyone they encountered, sparing without distinction not a child, not a woman, not an elder. Dionysios, wishing to sell the inhabitants into slavery for the money he could gather, at first attempted to restrain the soldiers from murdering the captives, but when no one paid any attention to him and he saw that the fury of the Sicilian Greeks was not to be controlled, he stationed heralds to cry aloud and tell the Motyans to take refuge in the temples which were revered by the Greeks. When this was done, the soldiers ceased their slaughter and turned to looting the property.
-- Diodoros of Sicily 14.53.1-3
The beginning of this passage is unique in actually describing a scene that must have been typical when a city fell to a Greek army. Most successful siege assaults were not the result of elaborate circumvallation, but of a surprise assault or betrayal.
As a result, rather than bottling up the helpless enemy from all sides, the attackers usually entered the city from one point and began their rampage from there.
Those left in the city therefore had two choices: either to resist or to flee. The former would result in the brutal fate sketched above - but the latter explains how Greek communities often seem to have survived a lost siege despite the genocidal intent of their attackers. It was often possible for a substantial part of the population to get away.
Their ultimate fate would then depend on what the victorious enemy intended to do with the settlement. Sometimes (especially in the Archaic period) their intent was to seize the territory for themselves; in these cases the town would be razed, and the fugitive population cast adrift. Fear of this outcome was supposed to keep the Spartans in the fight against the Messenians early in their history:
The most wretched of all things is for a man to leave his city and its fertile fields, reduced to the life of a beggar, wandering with his mother and aged father, his little children and wedded wife. Wherever he ends up, he will be as an enemy dwelling among them. He will succumb to need and detestable poverty, bring shame upon his family, disgrace his splendid looks. All forms of dishonour and misery will dog him. Since this is how it is and no one cares for or respects a wanderer or his offspring at all, let us fight hard for our land and die for our children without sparing our lives.
-- Tyrtaios fr. 10.3-14
If they had friends elsewhere, they might be able to obtain a temporary home, or even gain resident status and a home away from home, as the Plataians did at Athens when the Spartans razed their settlement in 427 BC.
In the Classical period, the intention was often rather to plant settlers on the conquered territory in order to expand the victorious city's number of land-owning citizens. This is what Athens did with the land of most of its defeated enemies from 506 BC onward. In such cases, the captured city might be reinhabited - at times by the new settlers along with the old population of women and children, whom they took as wives or slaves.
Alternatively, once due vengeance had been exacted, the remnants of the city's population could simply be allowed to return to it, often subjected to tribute and an imposed political regime. When the Athenians finally lost their fleet at Aigospotamoi in 405 BC, fear washed through the city, because the Athenians fully expected to meet the same fate that they had inflicted upon other Greeks throughout the decades of their Empire - the eradication of their community, the death of their men, and the sale of their women into slavery. However, for reasons that are still debated today, the Spartans decided to spare them. They got away with "only" a sack, the destruction of their walls, and the imposition of the tyrannical yoke of the Thirty.
- What actually happens when a city is sacked?
You should have paid attention to history class. The historical normal is one where no one is ever safe. It is always a short bubble of time, no more than one or two generations in length where people can live together in some sort of sanity.
But that bubble always pops, and the people living their nice safe lives are often overtaken by the shock and brutality of the reality that will overwhelm them.
We
know what will happen. It has been well documented. People will be
collected. They will be rounded up into urban areas, or centers. The men
will be separated out from the group. They will be led to an isolated
area, a cellar, a warehouse, a cluster of tree, an area behind a
bulldozer. They will then be held down by two people and shot dead.
We are coming for you.
It’s going to be historical. It will be Biblical, and it will consist of many elements that are not at all “enlightened” and “progressive”. It will be raw and unbridled.
Who are “we”?
We
have learned all about the great con game, and we are fed up. We know
know what is going on and we are pissed, and desire real, substantive
change. Now, for those of us who have awakened from the con, it is time
for a clean break – a refusal to accept that anything over the past 60
years was any good…a desire, that is, to move forward in an entirely
new way, unshackled to whatever we might have said or done in the past.
Like water, we are not one set person, but rather a very lose and amorphous collection of many well-educated people that will not allow instigators, and criminals to scurry away unscathed. It won’t be me, but I’m telling you that it will be others. And they won’t have any set plans, no set maps, no coordination. But they will see you all for what you actually are; big, plump, juicy, lush, targets to seize and use for purposes that you do not want to read about.
Yet…
Yet, there is still time. You can alter your future and atone for your sins. Your future does not need to be that of fertilizer spread out upon a glassed-over barren wasteland. You can change. You can start taking action to prevent the crisis that is barrelling straight down the Pike for us all. You can make a difference.
Yes, YOU!
Well… listen NOW.
But let’s speak frankly to each other. I’m not the smartest guy you’ve ever met, or the hardest-working. I was a mediocre student. I’m not technical at all—I can’t write a word of code. What sets me apart, I think, is a tolerance for risk and an intuition about what will happen in the future. Seeing where things are headed is the essence of entrepreneurship. And what do I see in our future now?I see pitchforks.
- On Friday Jun 27, 2014 at 12:04 pm Michael Krieger posted an article where he offered up a warning for thouse oligarchs about the coming shit-storm and what you can do about it.
He and others have warned you.
Once
a political ideology takes power, they are ruthless in their treatment
of opposition. They will kill you, and if you are a woman, they will
rape you and then kill you. There will not be any mercy. It is better to
die fighting when they come to your house, than to accept the lies that
they will put you into “protection” for your own best interests.
If we don’t do something to fix the glaring inequities in this economy, the pitchforks are going to come for us. No society can sustain this kind of rising inequality. In fact, there is no example in human history where wealth accumulated like this and the pitchforks didn’t eventually come out. You show me a highly unequal society, and I will show you a police state. Or an uprising.
There are no counterexamples. None. It’s not if, it’s when.
-From Nick Hanauer’s excellent Politico Op-Ed: The Pitchforks are Coming…For Us Plutocrats
The is something about money, wealth and power that corrupts. It corrupts everyone it touches, and no one is immune. If you are wealthy then you are corrupted. There are no exceptions.
You might not think that you are corrupted.
You might, somehow, think that you are different. “Just one of the guys that got lucky.” You are deluding yourself.
The “freedom from need” corrupts the soul. Thus, the individual finds other pursuits to occupy the void in their being.
"What I do care about is the kind of power that such money can buy, and how that power is then abused to purchase politicians and run roughshod over entire societies. I have also been disgusted with the fact that the 0.01% as a class seem self-absorbed, apathetic and delusional when it comes to the catastrophe the current economic and financial system is reaping upon the planet. So busy are they patting themselves on the back and scrambling to acquire that next billion to see what is rapidly unfolding beyond their moats."
- Michael Krieger
And that is where you are all.
You might consider yourselves smart, intelligent, lucky, fortunate, or whatever.
But you are not.
You have forgotten so much.
The
progressive liberal communists rounded up anyone who could possibly be a
threat to them. They loaded them into trucks. They tied their hands
behind their backs, and they killed them.
You have forgotten, or maybe never had the experience of being a most valued employee; working 14 hour days for months in a row, earning the company millions of dollars and then you suddenly being let go on Christmas eve. Coming home to a shocked wife, with the baby screaming for food, and you being forced to go into your meager savings… savings that will be depleted in a week… to buy some day-old vegetables, and on-sale food-stuffs.
That’s America for the last fucking three decades you God damn son-of-a-bitches!
You think that we are going to turn the other cheek and not find a scapegoat to roast over some burning embers? Maybe you weren’t the the person who handing out the pink-slip, or the manager that approved it, or the VP that authorized it, or the President that demanded it. But all of you… EVERY… FUCKING… ONE… contributed.
We will never forget.
Your time is coming.
At the same time that people like you and me are thriving beyond the dreams of any plutocrats in history, the rest of the country—the 99.99 percent—is lagging far behind. The divide between the haves and have-nots is getting worse really, really fast. In 1980, the top 1 percent controlled about 8 percent of U.S. national income. The bottom 50 percent shared about 18 percent. Today the top 1 percent share about 20 percent; the bottom 50 percent, just 12 percent.
-From Nick Hanauer’s excellent Politico Op-Ed: The Pitchforks are Coming…For Us Plutocrats
Yes.
Inequality is one aspect of it. There are “haves” and “have nots”. But that’s not the point. Many of us watched our life fall apart before our very eyes, not because we were lazy while we toiled in the company, but rather instead to make the bottom-line look better to the investors of the companies where we were employed.
We see pictures in history books and say, “nah that could never happen here”. The roads are dirt. The people are wearing military clothing. There isn’t anything that looks like a part of America in the pictures.
This attitude… one of us being just a useful tool… like a broom or a toilet brush… has altered the emotional fabric of America. And, yes, part of the turmoil that you see all over America today is a direct result of this arrogant behavior.
But the problem isn’t that we have inequality. Some inequality is
intrinsic to any high-functioning capitalist economy. The problem is that inequality is at historically high levels and getting worse every day. Our country is rapidly becoming less a capitalist society and more a feudal society.
Unless our policies change dramatically, the middle class will
disappear, and we will be back to late 18th-century France. Before the revolution.And so I have a message for my fellow filthy rich, for all of us who live in our gated bubble worlds: Wake up, people. It won’t last.If we don’t do something to fix the glaring inequities in this economy, the pitchforks are going to come for us. No society can sustain this kind of rising inequality.
-From Nick Hanauer’s excellent Politico Op-Ed: The Pitchforks are Coming…For Us Plutocrats
Oh, do not be under the illusion that the situation and the contributors can all be quantified on some sort of chart. They cannot. Like the school kid relentlessly bullied by the school-hall bullies, an anger has been pent up for decades.
You do not want to be on the losing end of that stick.
During
these times and types of conflicts it is NORMAL for women, and girls to
be abducted, raped repeatedly and then killed. This is a historical
norm.
The only way that you avid this fate is to confront it.
Face on. Right now.
Do good works, and stay out of politics. Help people.
In fact, there is no example in human history where wealth accumulated like this and the pitchforks didn’t eventually come out. You show me a highly unequal society, and I will show you a police state. Or an uprising. There are no counterexamples. None. It’s not if, it’s when.Here’s what I say to you: You’re living in a dream world. What everyone wants to believe is that when things reach a tipping point and go from being merely crappy for the masses to dangerous and socially destabilizing, that we’re somehow going to know about that shift ahead of time. Any student of history knows that’s not the way it happens.
-From Nick Hanauer’s excellent Politico Op-Ed: The Pitchforks are Coming…For Us Plutocrats
You know that this is coming. Its not a surprise.
You all are not fools. Indeed, you all are investing in property, safeguards and insurance plans.
ISIS
sex slave at a slave auction in an occupied region of Syria. During
periods of change, the plight of women is always a dangerous one.
What I am saying is that clutching your bags of gold and scurrying off to your rat-hole in some remote location is not the answer. Historically it will not end up like you think. This will not be like a Hollywood movie.
Instead, it will (more) be like a barricaded city that tries to deal with an overwhelming and vicious Mongol horde.
Revolutions, like bankruptcies, come gradually, and then suddenly. One day, somebody sets himself on fire, then thousands of people are in the streets, and before you know it, the country is burning. And then there’s no time for us to get to the airport and jump on our Gulfstream Vs and fly to New Zealand. That’s the way it always happens. If inequality keeps rising as it has been, eventually it will happen. We will not be able to predict when, and it will be terrible—for everybody. But especially for us.
-From Nick Hanauer’s excellent Politico Op-Ed: The Pitchforks are Coming…For Us Plutocrats
Imagine that you and your family are living in one of those cities, one thousand years ago.
It’s a very large city for the time. With large stone walls that tower up many, many stories high. You have a great life, based on trade along the “silk road”. You are wealthy. You have a large spacious home. You have a beautiful family, servants, fine clothes and a home filled with fine arts, laughter and parties.
You are aware of the coming Mongols.
You have discussed this matter with your other wealthy friends. They all have strong political connections and everyone reassures you that there is nothing to worry about. Most of the Mongols are over-rated they say. Plus they have provided reassurances that our military, with the best fighters in the world are more than a match for them. They even took you on a tour of the military barracks and you saw first hand how well organized they were.
Rather than agree to the demands of the Mongols, the most intelligent in the city advised that the rulers confront the Mongols with their superior military.
And so a strong force of 20,000 of the best warriors in the city left the city gates and marched forward with trumpets blowing to confront the horde.
You don’t know what will happen. But you have been reassured that your military will be victorious. After all, they have never lost a battle for at least four decades.
Still you worry.
All you know is that the military went out one week ago and never returned. The King gave you every assurance that things are proceeding well, and that you need not worry. But the truth is that you feel very uneasy.
This is a joint suicide by a Burgermeister and his family upon news that the Americans were entering the town.
The wife says that people are beginning to talk and rumors are starting to fly about what happened at the battle last week.
You cannot put your finger on it, but there is this feeling of dread and gloom that you cannot shake. yet, the sky is blue. The birds are fluttering in the trees, and the boys are playing in the yard. Your daughter just bought a nice silk dress that she is going to wear to a religious celebration in two days. Yet, that dread persists.
“Maybe I should flee?” you ask yourself.
Maybe.
At Politicon 2019 in Nashville on Saturday, during a "conversation" with Never Trumper MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace, James Comey said, "Our leaders must reflect the glue that holds us together. They can’t be people who lie all the time. They just can’t. And I hope people see that’s true whether they are Republicans or Democrats.
Wallace then asked, "What if he wins again? Will you still believe that?"
Comey said, "I will be, from my new home in New Zeland, I will still believe in America."
-Townhall
Do you want to place a bet that what Comey says will come true? That he will be safe and forgotten in New Zealand?
Do
not think that in today’s “modern” and “enlightened” society that we
are beyond mass genocide against a particular race, or group of people.
Here are people who were seized out of their homes at the dead of night
by militarized police (the Federal Police), handcuffed with wire-ties
(behind his back) and then killed and dumped in a mass grave. Like this
poor fella. I am quite sure that the person putting the wire-ties on his
clasped wrists was very polite and nice about it. Cool and
professional, most certainly. Then he was handed over to others. Those
others then killed him like one would step on cockroach. And, with just
as much care. What? You think America can’t relive the Bosnia
experience?
Or do you think that he will be in chains before he can ever reach an airplane? Or, barring that, seized by the NZ authorities upon the direction of the American government?
All of you are delusional.
Raped and then killed. This is the fate for most targeted women from the ages of 10 to 40. Those outside will probably just be killed.
You keep on dancing near the fire, unaware that you are dowsed in kerosene and that a single spark can set you, and those around your alight.
Because here’s an odd thing. During the past three decades, compensation for CEOs grew 127 times faster than it did for workers. Since 1950, the CEO-to-worker pay ratio has increased 1,000 percent, and that is not a typo. CEOs used to earn 30 times the median wage; now they rake in 500 times. Yet no company I know of has eliminated its senior managers, or outsourced them to China or automated their jobs. Instead, we now have more CEOs and senior executives than ever before. So, too, for financial services workers and technology workers. These folks earn multiples of the median wage, yet we somehow have more and more of them.
-From Nick Hanauer’s excellent Politico Op-Ed: The Pitchforks are Coming…For Us Plutocrats
Grbavica where a huge complex was set up for the mass internment and rape of women. This is what it looked like at the tail end of the war. 1996.
People! You have jumped over the turnstiles, and gobbled up all the money that you can. Then you set up systems to keep it all for yourself. And somehow you think that the rest of us hasn’t noticed.
Well, we have, and we are royally pissed off over it.
Wal-Mart is our nation’s largest employer with some 1.4 million employees in the United States and more than $25 billion in pre-tax profit. So why are Wal-Mart employees the largest group of Medicaid recipients in many states? Wal-Mart could, say, pay each of its 1 million lowest-paid workers an extra $10,000 per year, raise them all out of poverty and enable them to, of all things, afford to shop at Wal-Mart. Not only would this also save us all the expense of the food stamps, Medicaid and rent assistance that they currently require, but Wal-Mart would still earn more than $15 billion pre-tax per year. Wal-Mart won’t (and shouldn’t) volunteer to pay its workers more than their competitors. In order for us to have an economy that works for everyone, we should compel all retailers to pay living wages—not just ask politely.
-From Nick Hanauer’s excellent Politico Op-Ed: The Pitchforks are Coming…For Us Plutocrats
All of you are fucking guilty.
And if you live in an upscale neighborhood, YOU WILL BE TARGETED.
There will be no avenues of escape. You are FUCKED.
While Donald Trump is undoing many terrible things, nothing is being done about the pre-genocidal conditions already put in place. Unless action is taken by the President or Congress, it is just a matter of time before they will be mobilized against YOU and your family. Take notice.
We rich people have been falsely persuaded by our schooling and
the affirmation of society, and have convinced ourselves, that we are the main job creators. It’s simply not true. There can never be enough super-rich Americans to power a great economy. I earn about 1,000 times the median American annually, but I don’t buy thousands of times more stuff. My family purchased three cars over the past few years, not 3,000. I buy a few pairs of pants and a few shirts a year, just like most American men. I bought two pairs of the fancy wool pants I am wearing as I write, what my partner Mike calls my “manager pants.” I guess I could have bought 1,000 pairs. But why would I? Instead, I sock my extra money away in savings, where it doesn’t do the country much good.
-From Nick Hanauer’s excellent Politico Op-Ed: The Pitchforks are Coming…For Us Plutocrats
Back to the wealthy man living in his villa in the upscale part of the city-state that he inhabits…
Last night over some chicken and some fine vintage wine, you discussed what was going on with a fellow trader friend of yours. He had entered the city and was planning on leaving in the morning. He said some worrisome things.
He said that he used to trade to numerous cities to the East. But he no longer trade with them any more. They no longer exist.
When we went to visit them, they were abandoned. Some still had the walls intact, but most of the homes were empty. Some wild dogs and a goat or two were all that remained. He said that most of the homes no longer had roofs and it looked like the entire city was sacked and set ablaze.
Some had piles of bones blowing in the sand and trapped under broken stone, bricks and walls. Farm fields of plants weren’t harvested and allowed to go fallow. The trees were ripe with apples, but no one collected them.
He couldn’t tell what happened.
All he said was that it looked like it came upon everyone suddenly and no one was spared. Even the churches were burned to the ground. What was not looted, was intentionally destroyed.
He said that he was going to leave in the morning and wanted the family to leave and accompany him.
960403-A-2407B-008
Photo of a suburb in Sarajevo Bosnia after the fighting that took place
between the Serbians and the Muslims,taken by Specialist Nadine Byrnside
from the 55th Signal Company Combat Camera team, in a place called
Grbavica on 3 April 1996.
In Conclusion.
I tip my hats off to Mr. Hanaeur and Mr. Krieger. I think you all should listen to them. But if you choose not to, that is fine. Then listen to me. Your fucking days are numbered, and if America burns, then do not rest easily, for you will be searched out. Located and slaughtered.
It will be historical.
Heed my words. There will be no place for you to hide.
I am talking about the annuals of history and the role that you will play in it. It will not be pretty. But there are things that you can still do about it. You can still make a difference. And running away to hide is not one of them.
This
is what happens to people who do not “go along” with the “new” way of
doing things. It is never pretty. You are rounded up. You are
handcuffed, and you are killed. That is the way it has been for
thousands of years. It never stopped. It will continue.
It is time to atone for your sins. Do not put it off.
Now, you are probably wondering what happened to the family that was awaiting the news of the battle between their city and the Mongol hordes…
Large Urban Cities…
Worse was to come in 1221 — ‘a year to live in infamy’. While Genghis’s other armies had been busy in the east, threatening Tbilisi in Georgia and terrifying the Christian world, Tolui, one of Genghis’s equally reprehensible sons, took Merv (in modern-day Turkmenistan), one of the largest cities in the world.
Promised safety, the citizens surrendered and emerged from behind their walls. Tolui ‘surveyed the masses dolefully gathered with their possessions, mounted a golden chair and ordered mass executions to commence’.
They took four days and nights to complete.
Genghis’s rotten fruit did not fall far from the tree. Terror — and the certainty of its visitation — was a major weapon in Genghis’s arsenal: decapitated women, children and even cats and dogs were reputedly displayed.
- Was Genghis Khan the cruellest man who ever lived?
Complete devastation…
Incursions into Southeast Asia were largely successful, most factions agreed to pay tribute, and only the Invasions into Vietnam and Java failed.
Europe was devastated by the Mongols.
They destroyed near enough every major Russian city, and invaded Volga Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Poland, and Hungary.
If rumours spread that the Mongols were coming, then it would cause a mass panic, and some would run to safety.
There was no guaranteed way to defeat the Mongol hordes, they continuously defeated much larger armies, so numerical strength couldn’t protect you.
Mongol conquests would leave once populous and flourishing areas as wastelands, with little to no people, those remaining would be slaves.
-ESKify
The Women…
Genghis Khan had so much power that he could do whatever he wanted.
For instance, when Genghis occupied some new area, he would kill or enslave all the men and share all the women amongst his tribe.
Genghis Khan would even make beauty contests of captured women to decide which woman is the most beautiful one.
Yeah, he was having his Miss Universe competition before it was cool. So, the queen of those beauty competitions would win the privilege to become one of many Genghis Khan's women.
Rest of the Mongolian army would share all the other contestants.
-The Richest
The Wealthy…
Genghis Khan was the most feared human of the 13th century, who could destroy dynasties just by moving his little finger. He created the Mongol Empire all by himself and earned his eternal spot in the history books.
However, a lot of people had to suffer for Genghis Khan to succeed. Oh yes, the Mongolians were known for their horrendous torturing techniques.
One of the most popular was pouring molten silver down the throat and ears of a victim. Genghis Khan also liked bending his enemy's back until the backbone snapped. If that sounds barbaric, skip this next part.
So, the Mongols once celebrated victory over Russians in a very bizarre way. They picked all the Russian survivors, dropped them on the ground and put a heavy wooden gate on top of them.
Then, Genghis Khan and the entire Mongol army had a huge banquet on that wooden gate. They ate, drank, and watched how Russians were dying one by one from the suffocation, pressure, and wounds.
-The Richest
A return to the old ways…
“The greatest joy for a man is to defeat his enemies, to drive them before him, to take all they possess, to see those they love in tears, to ride their horses, and to hold their wives and daughters in his arms.”
-Genghis Khan.
SHTF Related Index
This is a collection of my posts related to prepping, SHTF (Shit Hit The Fan), CWII (American Civil War 2), Fourth Turning (Strauss–Howe generational theory)
and other posts related to the very sad and sorry tatters that America
is today. Actually, I am a little stunned that I have written so much
about these matters. But America today is very ill and there are things
that really should be said.
Here are the posts.
SHTF and Related Index
Some prepper humor…
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
Today’s artist is the one the only, the amazing painter that turns pop-culture into surreal art, Todd Schorr! Everything he gets his brushes on are simply amazing. All his paintings have so much detail that every time I look back at the paintings I always notice something new to trigger my amazement.
Schorr began doing professional illustration while still in college, and soon after graduating in 1976 he moved to New York City where he provided work for a wide variety of commercial projects including album covers for AC/DC, movie posters for George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, and covers for Time magazine that now reside in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.
Artist Todd Schorr has earned broad recognition as a master painter. The style and influences of his complex narrative painting have been attributed from a multitude of sources from Northern Renaissance to 18th and 19th century Romantic painters.
Todd Schorr is an American artist and one of the most prominent members of the "Lowbrow" art movement or pop surrealism. Combining a cartoon influenced visual vocabulary with a highly polished technical ability, based on the exacting painting methods of the Old Masters, Schorr weaves intricate narratives that are often biting yet humorous.
-Wikipedia
Every viewer brings their own personal perceptions to a depiction of say, Fred Flintstone, but the context he’s been placed in and how he’s been altered physically, triggers new associations in the viewer that didn’t exist before. Conversely, if a depiction of a generic cave man was used in the composition, it might not generate the same intimate emotional response.
Todd Schorr is a living American artist and one of the heavy weights of the “Lowbrow” (pop surrealism) art movement. Keep that phrase “pop surrealism” in mind when you’re looking at his art. Similar to Alex Grey, Todd Schorr‘s pieces are vivid, colorful, and packed with impressively complex and detailed images. Thematically, his art deals with some prominent pop culture themes ranging from fairy tales to television and movie references, from alien encounters to not-so-subtle commentary on modern society.
Todd Schorr was born in New York City in 1954 and grew up in Oakland, New Jersey. His parents enrolled him in art classes when he was five, and understandably he claims influences from movies such “King Kong” and the early animated cartoons of Walt Disney and Max Fleischer were (and apparently still are) a driving force in his creative visions.
"There is still a persistent reluctance on the part of many of these larger institutions in acknowledging this art, but I really feel they’re shooting themselves in the foot on this point, and fail to realize the broader audience this art has the potential to bring in.
I recently witnessed a rather humorous situation at the Museum Of Art in New York where the gallery displaying surrealist art was jam-packed with onlookers, while the gallery containing work of recent conceptual work was occupied solely by a young mother changing the diaper of her baby infant. Does that not tell you something?"
-Todd Schorr quoted in Arrested Motion
Todd Schorr was born in New York City in 1954 and grew up in Oakland, New Jersey. His parents enrolled him in art classes when he was five, and understandably he claims influences from movies such “King Kong” and the early animated cartoons of Walt Disney and Max Fleischer were (and apparently still are) a driving force in his creative visions.
Todd Schorr is a living American artist and one of the heavy weights of the “Lowbrow” (pop surrealism) art movement. Keep that phrase “pop surrealism” in mind when you’re looking at his art. Similar to Alex Grey, Todd Schorr‘s pieces are vivid, colorful, and packed with impressively complex and detailed images. Thematically, his art deals with some prominent pop culture themes ranging from fairy tales to television and movie references, from alien encounters to not-so-subtle commentary on modern society.
By the late 1960’s and early 1970’s Schorr was drumming in bands and found further influences in the psychedelic music posters and underground comics coming out of the west coast art scene. In 1970 he visited the Uffizi gallery in Italy and began to formulate an idea of combining cartoons with the painting techniques of the Old Masters.
“Like any artist of worth, it took many long years of struggle and investigative thought along with trial and error as well as constant honing of technique to reach the point where I felt I had created a language which, when spoken well, would command some semblance of purpose. I work in what is best described as a surreal style but filtered through the mind and eyes of what is, for better or worse, uniquely American.”
– Todd Schorr
Schorr works in acrylic, creating complex narrative paintings of his favorite childhood characters — Popeye, Tony the Tiger and King Kong — with a technical bravado borrowed from the Old Masters.
In 1972 he entered the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of The Arts) with designs towards being a painter, but he was directed instead to the illustration department.
Schorr began doing professional illustration while still in college, and soon after graduating in 1976 he moved to New York City where he provided work for a wide variety of commercial projects including album covers for AC/DC, movie posters for George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, and covers for Time magazine that now reside in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.
Yeah, Schorr's stuff is just uh-maze-ing. Really on a whole other level, there also HUGE. I think that first one I posted is 90-something inches across.
-Comment found on Universal Monster Army
Fantastic imagery, cartoon characters, and other pop culture icons rendered with an exacting technique and colorful palette defines the signature style of Schorr’s artwork. His iconic work to date is “A Pirate’s Treasure Dream”, 2006, which depicts a plethora of zany phantoms and animals (such as Donald Duck, Coco the Clown, and a Worry-Bird), all parading around — none other than – the lusty Los Angeles Lowbrow (art movement) collector Long Gone John.
AM: One of the things that people love about your work are your many references to pop culture. Can you tell us a little about the significance of this aspect of your paintings?
Schorr: I consider myself a cultural anthropologist and use pop culture reference points in my work because they strike an emotional resonance with people while also forming a common pictorial language that’s accessible to just about everyone. They get the viewer’s attention and pull them into the little scenarios that I’ve laid out before them on my canvases. Every viewer brings their own personal perceptions to a depiction of say, Fred Flintstone, but the context he’s been placed in and how he’s been altered physically, triggers new associations in the viewer that didn’t exist before. Conversely, if a depiction of a generic cave man was used in the composition, it might not generate the same intimate emotional response. I try to get the essence of the pop culture elements I’m referring to but alter the perception of that image.
Schorr works in acrylic, creating complex narrative paintings of his
favorite childhood characters — Popeye, Tony the Tiger and King Kong —
with a technical bravado borrowed from the Old Masters.
Often, they pay humorous homage to his baby boomer childhood or a
revered painter, as in “Parade of the Damned” (2005), based loosely on
the 1562 Flemish masterpiece by Bruegel called “Mad Meg,” which depicts a
harridan who drives everyone around her crazy.
Schorr, 54, grew up in New Jersey, immersed in the world of cartoons, commercials and Hollywood horror films. But it was after he went to Europe as a teenager and visited the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, that a light bulb went on: “If I could learn how to paint in the techniques of the Old Masters but use as subject matter my favorite cartoons, I would have the best of all worlds,” he told himself.
In Schorr’s version, the monsters all come from the world of pop
culture: Frankenstein and King Kong join a cast of fiends as they
casually make their way toward the mouth of hell, where they’re warmly
welcomed by Morticia of the Addams Family.
Sometimes, his works have a distinctly sociopolitical undertone, as
in “The Hydra of Madison Avenue” (2001), a bacchanalia display of old
Saturday morning TV commercial characters — Tony the Tiger, Smokey Bear,
Mr. Clean — all sprouting from a many-headed beast as the Jolly Green
Giant struts alongside a pink fairy tale castle spewing a cloud of black
smoke.
“There’s an undercurrent of malice going in,” acknowledges Schorr,
speaking by phone from Los Angeles. “The way I’m presenting it, it’s a
serious presentation, but it has an absurdity built into it. I’ve got
these ridiculous cartoon characters, but I’m trying to paint them the
way an Old Master would paint them.”
The painting is at once deeply personal and sociopolitical: “It’s
about advertising, of course,” he says. “You cut the head off, and it
keeps coming back. I have mixed feelings about advertising. I think it’s
a horrible profession, but at the same time it has given us all these
fascinating characters.”
Schorr, 54, grew up in New Jersey, immersed in the world of cartoons,
commercials and Hollywood horror films. But it was after he went to
Europe as a teenager and visited the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy,
that a light bulb went on: “If I could learn how to paint in the
techniques of the Old Masters but use as subject matter my favorite
cartoons, I would have the best of all worlds,” he told himself.
Sometimes, his works have a distinctly sociopolitical undertone, as in “The Hydra of Madison Avenue” (2001), a bacchanalia display of old Saturday morning TV commercial characters — Tony the Tiger, Smokey Bear, Mr. Clean — all sprouting from a many-headed beast as the Jolly Green Giant struts alongside a pink fairy tale castle spewing a cloud of black smoke.
From December 2001 through February 2002 the exhibit “Secret Mystic Rites: Todd Schorr Retrospective” was organized by the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Florida. The museum used Schorr’s painting “Clash of the Holidays” on the invitation which provoked some outrage, with various South Florida civil leaders accusing Schorr of blasphemy.
Fortunately the controversy died down after meetings between local, state, and museum officials determined that the cost of the county’s heretic burning permit exceeded the city’s budget for the month.
This resulted in a later ruling by the Florida Supreme Court which reduced the sentence for blasphemy from burning at the stake to simple drawing and quartering, under the logic that the threat of fire damage to the Everglades superseded the rights of local preachers to protect their flocks from outside influence.
The art world is very much tied to fashion and fads, and many young artists easily stray into these traps to gain acceptance and what they perceive as popularity. Consider yourself a very fortunate artist indeed if you manage to find just one or a couple of patrons that truly love your work and stick with you through thick and thin.
In most ways, Todd Schorr is living every artist’s
dream: His beastly cartoon paintings are plastered throughout the
Internet, where they are studied, discussed and analyzed for meaning on
hundreds of art blogs.
AM: Many of the younger artists we talk to list you as one of their inspirations or influences. Being a dedicated artist is not easy, especially in this economic time. We know you also had some struggles when you gave up a lucrative illustration career to focus on your own personal art. Any advice for the younger generation of artists out there?
Schorr: If a person has artistic inclinations and has something that by compulsion needs to be expressed, they will somehow find an outlet and hopefully be able to make a living from that talent. Unlike commercial art, where you can target the type of client or market you’d like to work for, the “fine art” gallery world is such an unpredictable mess of agendas and “of the moment” fashion posturing, that it’s folly to suggest any one path to success.
However, here are a couple of important thoughts to consider. Stay true to your vision and what makes you unique while constantly seeking to evolve and improve on previous efforts. Don’t follow trends. The art world is very much tied to fashion and fads, and many young artists easily stray into these traps to gain acceptance and what they perceive as popularity. Consider yourself a very fortunate artist indeed if you manage to find just one or a couple of patrons that truly love your work and stick with you through thick and thin.
Hollywood celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and David Arquette
collect his massive canvases. Tycoons, such as Mark Parker, the CEO of
Nike, commission his work, while less well-to-do devotees settle for
covering their bodies with tattooed replicas of his iconographic images.
Indeed, he says, if those Flemish Old Masters were living today, they’d be painting cartoons too. And, who knows, he adds, but maybe art lovers of the future will revere paintings of King Kong, Tony the Tiger and Cap’n Crunch.
Today Schorr lives the life of a reclusive billionaire, quietly depicting the reality of a twisted cartoon otherworld while tossing scraps of lobster to his trained pack of hyenas which provide a secure front line between himself and the frothing mass of groupies camped at his gates.
Todd Schoor is brilliant!!! If you like his style, check out paintings by Robert Williams. Robt. Williams pioneered the multi-layered, low-brow painting style.
-Comment found on Universal Monster Army
Although the label “lowbrow” may be shunned by other artists of his generation, Schorr actually validates the colloquial term and summarizes the genre’s basic traits. In other words, he takes what are often considered to be low cultural references and elevates them into significant artifacts that pulsate with intellectual viability.
There may not be a more dedicated and industrious artist than Todd Schorr. His work ethic is legendary, his output exemplified by dogged attention to detail and skill in technique.
Such a notable career, when taken in sum, encapsulates a unique, personal vision of a conjured world in which he establishes surreal appeal by creating phantasmagorical images that mesmerize the viewer in their meticulously painted execution.
Hollywood celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and David Arquette collect his massive canvases. Tycoons, such as Mark Parker, the CEO of Nike, commission his work, while less well-to-do devotees settle for covering their bodies with tattooed replicas of his iconographic images.
Although the label “lowbrow” may be shunned by other artists of his generation, Schorr actually validates the colloquial term and summarizes the genre’s basic traits. In other words, he takes what are often considered to be low cultural references and elevates them into significant artifacts that pulsate with intellectual viability.
Yeah, Robert Williams is pretty much THE MAN when it comes to lowbrow art, he kind of coined the term (as it applies to this movement of art) back in the early '80s, not to mention his stuff is weird with a capital W. I'd post some of his work but it rarely prominently features movie monsters.
-Comment found on Universal Monster Army
“Like any artist of worth, it took many long years of struggle and investigative thought along with trial and error as well as constant honing of technique to reach the point where I felt I had created a language which, when spoken well, would command some semblance of purpose. I work in what is best described as a surreal style but filtered through the mind and eyes of what is, for better or worse, uniquely American.”
Schorr is a seminal figure in what’s known as the lowbrow school of
art, an underground movement centered in Los Angeles that draws on an
iconography of cartoon characters and baby boomer images from TV and pop
culture. Other artists in the movement, which is also known as pop
surrealism, include Camille Rose Garcia, Gary Baseman and Mark Ryden.
Since 1994, they have been steadfastly promoted in the pages of
Juxtapoz Arts & Culture Magazine, a pop surrealist San
Francisco-based publication.
Todd Schorr’s artistic journey is one that hardly conforms to the time-honored stereotype of Bohemian artist. It is rather a post-war tale bracketed by an America infatuated with the limitless potential of consumerism.
Todd Schorr is a living American artist and one of the heavy weights of the “Lowbrow” (pop surrealism) art movement. Keep that phrase “pop surrealism” in mind when you’re looking at his art. Similar to Alex Grey, Todd Schorr‘s pieces are vivid, colorful, and packed with impressively complex and detailed images.
His formative years were spent in a world surrounded by the atomic and space ages, by Saturday morning cartoons and racks of comic books at the local drug store, a land populated by Revell models, Mad Magazine, Testors glue, Mickey Mouse and Rat Fink.
My kind of guy.
Further fueling his developing image bank were the seemingly endless icons from television’s early years: Robbie the Robot, Mighty Joe Young and reel upon reel of animated toons from the likes of Tex Avery, George Pal and Max Fleischer.
Todd Schorr is an American artist and one of the most prominent members of the “Lowbrow” art movement or pop surrealism. Combining a cartoon influenced visual vocabulary with a highly polished technical ability, based on the exacting painting methods of the Old Masters, Schorr weaves intricate narratives that are often biting yet humorous.
The compulsion to replicate these characters led to a formal art education and exposure to a new set of influences drawn from the world of advertising and commercial art.
Artist Todd Schorr has earned broad recognition as a master painter. The style and influences of his complex narrative painting have been attributed from a multitude of sources from Northern Renaissance to 18th and 19th century Romantic painters.
“The artwork I respond to is art that’s entertaining but also (makes)
you feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up,” he says. “It
should be kind of thrilling. A total visceral response.”
Indeed, he says, if those Flemish Old Masters were living today,
they’d be painting cartoons too. And, who knows, he adds, but maybe art
lovers of the future will revere paintings of King Kong, Tony the Tiger
and Cap’n Crunch.
“This work is going to be tremendously important 100 years from now,” Schorr asserts. “It’s so much an art of our time and place.
Movies that Inspired Me
Here are some movies that I consider noteworthy and worth a view. Enjoy.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are
reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly
impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal
library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come
and enjoy a read or two as well.
My Poetry
Art that Moves Me
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
Robert Williams is an artist of extreme uniqueness. He paints art in such a way that inspires and repels at the same time. He reminds me of those “Hot Rod / Monster” models that I used to make in the 1960’s. You know the type, a big ugly hairy monster with big eyeballs is sitting in this deliciously tiny hot rod trying to drive it around. He’s a talent, for certain, but his work is not for everyone.
I want to explain a bit about what lowbrow art is. The lowbrow or pop surrealism movement began in California among the surfer and hot rod culture and was aimed squarely at that culture; it’s therefore considered a populist art movement, unlike movements such as abstract expressionism and the like, which are often regarded (correctly or incorrectly) as elitist.
The art is characterized by the juxtaposition of “fine art” concepts or styles with kitsch, comics—especially underground comix—cartoons and other pop cultural ephemera, often in bizarre or humorous ways. More recently, Japanese culture and anime-style art have made their way into the movement. The founding father of lowbrow is usually considered to be Robert Williams, who facetiously adopted the title The Lowbrow Art of Robert Williams for his first book of collected art, in response to the fact that at the time no major galleries or museums would display his art, considering it trashy and tasteless.
The name stuck and became associated with the movement as a whole, even though Williams himself has since rejected it in application to his own work. (If Williams is the movement’s father, then its godfather is surely Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, famous for his Kustom Kulture art and especially for the character Rat Fink.)
-Pigtails in paint
Robert Williams paintings are a wild pop-culture pastiche of hot rods, pinup girls, and cartoon sex and violence. For the better part of the last 50 years, Robert Williams has waged war on the mainstream art world with those eye-popping paintings, a best-selling art magazine and a growing flock of like-minded rebel artists.
His paintings are a wild pop-culture pastiche of hot rods, pinup girls, and cartoon sex and violence. For the better part of the last 50 years, Robert Williams has waged war on the mainstream art world with those eye-popping paintings, a best-selling art magazine and a growing flock of like-minded rebel artists. In a Robert Williams painting, there might be blood, fiery hot rod crashes or lecherous robots. There have also been surly tooth fairies in torn fishnets that bear a passing resemblance to Symbionese Liberation Army-era Patty Hearst.
In a Robert Williams painting, there might be blood, fiery hot rod crashes or lecherous robots. There have also been surly tooth fairies in torn fishnets that bear a passing resemblance to Symbionese Liberation Army-era Patty Hearst.
Oh, and don’t forget that sexy and very funny series that depicts half-naked women reclining seductively on giant platters of tacos and enchiladas.
The term “Lowbrow” was coined by Juxtapoz magazine founder Robert Williams in the late 1970s as a way to describe a modern art movement that flew in the face of traditional, gallery-safe, “highbrow” elements and imagery. In this eclectic style, which draws inspiration from punk, metal, and rockabilly music, as well as the tattoo, hot rod, tiki, and monster movie subcultures, all rules are thrown out the window.
Williams later referred to the Lowbrow movement as "cartoon-tainted abstract surrealism,” but it has also been called “pop surrealism” and “underground art,” among other things. It often depicts the vehicles and fashions derivative of the pin-up girls of the 1940s, the greasers and cartoons of the 1950s, the Ed “Big Daddy” Roth custom car builders of the 1960s, the music and lowriders of the 1970s, and the London and SoCal street art of the 1980s.
The kustom kulture lowbrow scene emerged from—and remains most prominent in—Los Angeles, where, on any given weekend, you can find an event featuring amazing cars, top tattoo artists, great food, and lively music. You’ll find Lozeau there, somewhere between the surf, skeleton, hot rod, Poly-Pop, and zombie art, working on a new painting in his signature illustrative style.
-David Lozeau
What do you think about art rooted in underground comix, hot rod cars and punk music? How would you imagine this kind of art? If you wouldn’t even call it art, then you are in line with some critics excluding this so called Lowbrow art that led to Pop Surrealism from “legitimate” art movements. Perhaps they are right. I mean, underground comix are cool for a lot of people, and so is punk music, but would you hang something like that in your apartment?
But in the pages of the ’60s counterculture underground comics,
Williams flourished alongside like-minded artists who pushed the
boundaries of free expression. He was a founding member of a San
Francisco-based comic artist collective that also included Robert Crumb,
Gilbert Shelton and the late Spain Rodriguez.
All the while, Williams toiled away on his paintings.
Merriam-Webster dictionary definesthe word “lowbrow” as “not interested in serious art, literature or ideas’ and ‘relating to or intended for people who are not interested in serious art, literature or ideas”. So, you get the idea. It was the late 1970s when Lowbrow started to emerge on the West Coast, particularly in Los Angeles.
Problem was, there was little space for the kind of hot-wired, pop culture-drenched representational paintings he was creating in an art world dominated by abstract expressionism.
Some authors point out that Lowbrow movement has its roots in art movements from the beginning of the 20th century – movements such as Dadaism, Surrealism, and Fauvism; some say that even the development of Lowbrow is similar to the development of aforementioned movements, as were the reactions of traditional art critics on the appearance of these new forms of art, back then.
Williams found an outlet and acceptance in after-hours
galleries at punk rock clubs in L.A. and New York. His art work started
appearing on record sleeves and concert posters for bands that have
mostly vanished. But mainstream success remained elusive.
Since Lowbrow is connected to underground comix, tattoo, illustration and street art, among other things, many Lowbrow artists are not artists by their education – they are self-taught, far away from anything that could be considered and called fine art. These are the reasons why art critics, museums and art galleries have their doubts about the whole Lowbrow movement and Lowbrow art – it’s simply not their world and people that are creating Lowbrow art couldn’t be further away from the milieu of gallery curators and art schools.
Until 1987, that is. That’s when yet another then-unknown band came
knocking on his door after spotting what is today considered Williams’
most notorious painting.
A scruffy L.A. glam rock band called Guns N’ Roses wanted it for the
cover of its debut album. They also wanted to name the record after the
painting: “Appetite for Destruction.”
Formally speaking, Robert Williams, the American painter and cartoonist, took credit for the creation of the term Lowbrow art. About 10 years ago, in his famous magazine Juxtapoz, he said that, back in 1979, it was expected of him to give the title of a book that featured his paintings. He named it The Lowbrow Art of Robert Williams (as opposed to “highbrow”), and explained that “no authorized art institution would recognize his type of art”.
In the painting, which Williams created in the late 1970s, a pretty young woman in a short skirt is selling toy robots on the street. Her kiosk is knocked over. So is she. A menacing robot in a trench coat stands over her.
In its beginnings, Lowbrow art was completely underground, like we have seen. But, as did so many movements before, Lowbrow started to gain some popularity – that mentioned Juxtapoz magazine, as well as Hi Fructose magazine, popularized Lowbrow and helped it to be more visible. The result was that the number of individuals that are using Lowbrow style started to grow. However, the other result was that, with this enlargement of Lowbrow artists, some of them have started to go beyond Lowbrow style – raw, unpolished and simple – and to change it towards more sophisticated and refined one.
Williams told the band fine, use it. But he warned them the
cover would probably land them in trouble with religious and feminist
groups. It did. One organization famously referred to it as a
“glorification of rape.”
The band rallied to his defense, singer Axl Rose telling MTV that he thought people were overlooking Williams’ artistic genius.
A complete new sub-scene has showed up, consisted of classically and formally trained professionals that ruled the painting skills, but were still attached to Lowbrow’s inherent characteristics and motifs. In other words, we’ve got some creatives that were able to produce truly wonderful and beautiful paintings, with underground comix and punk rock motifs within. This style became known as Pop Surrealism, and some consider the artist Kenny Scharf to be the “godfather” of its name.
“I think since it was such an outrageous picture that the skill gets
overlooked,” said Rose, standing alongside Williams in an interview
shortly after the album’s release. “A lot more people, I think, are
turned on to Robert’s artwork (because of the album) than were before,
and I’m really glad to be a part of that.”
But the band ultimately caved and yanked the artwork.
A consequence of the creation of the movement was the acceptance by the world of so-called high art, or fine art. With the emergence of Pop Surrealism, the line between Lowbrow and Highbrow art was blurred and became indistinguishable. This new style helped Lowbrow achieve some validation and approval of the fine art world, and, at the same time, these new creatives have brought fine art closer to Lowbrow admirers – their style was so polished that it could have passed easily as something from the Old Masters tradition; however, their inspiration was drawn from counter-cultural icons: this way, Pop Surrealists brought both to high and low art something they’ve missed up until then. Pop Surrealism also had a warm reception and a big welcome from regular, average citizens – for those who were not interested, let alone educated, in high art and its history, or anything even remotely linked to it, but who were at the same time totally into pop culture and its icons.
The painting caused a stir again in 2012 when a reformed Guns N’
Roses used the image in a concert poster and companion DVD. Subsequent
copies of the DVD still employ the Williams painting, but in denuded
form. The girl is removed, the painting devoid of its original power.
The typical and a bit subversive characteristic of the movement and its artists was to use pop icons, such as Marilyn Monroe or Disney’s characters in order to pass their political or social messages, and at the same time, they’ve used painting style that referenced on Picasso or Van Gogh. One of the most popular artists, who has made the most successful across over between the high and the low art is Mark Ryden. Not only had he influenced many others, such as Ray Caesar and Jeff Soto, but he was also someone whose works have entered the world of the biggest auction houses on the planet and were able to fetch six-figure prices without a problem. Another good example is Yoshimoto Nara who sold seven of his artworks in the price range of $1-$5 million at auctions in 2015 alone.
The 1987 notoriety cemented Williams’ reputation as a major outsider
artist with an outsized influence on a new generation of artists — many
of whom are now regularly featured in the magazine he co-founded 20
years ago, Juxtapoz.
Presented for your enjoyment and horror.
Lowbrow art has gone a long way, from not being recognized as art at all, to a respectable and acclaimed style of Pop Surrealism. It had also changed over the years, transforming its style from rough, raw and uncultivated to polished and beautiful. As a true child of its time, it even followed transformation to the digital world of today. What a ride it was, from an unwanted and unloved infant to multi-million dollars sales in the biggest auction houses and galleries of the world!
Movies that Inspired Me
Here are some movies that I consider noteworthy and worth a view. Enjoy.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are
reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly
impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal
library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come
and enjoy a read or two as well.
My Poetry
Art that Moves Me
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
This is a lovely short story by Ray Bradbury. It's a fun, and easy quick read. The arrival in a small town of a stranger who calls himself 'Charles Dickens' makes a magical and lasting change in the lives of an imaginative 12-year-old boy and a loving young woman. It's a great read and fun escapist reading.
It is free to read and you do not have to jump through any hoops to register, apply to bore through a pay-wall, or give out any personal information. Free means free. Enjoy.
Imagine a summer that would never end.
Nineteen twenty-nine.
Imagine a boy who would never grow up.
Me.
Imagine a barber who was never young.
Mr. Wyneski.
Imagine a dog that would live forever.
Mine.
Imagine a small town, the kind that isn’t lived in anymore.
Ready?
Begin…
Green Town, Illinois … Late June.
Dog barking outside a one-chair barbershop.
Inside, Mr. Wyneski, circling his victim, a customer snoozing in the steambath drowse of noon.
Inside, me, Ralph Spaulding, a boy of some twelve years,
standing still as an iron Civil War statue, listening to the hot wind,
feeling all that hot summer dust out there, a bakery world where nobody
could be bad or good, boys just lay gummed to dogs, dogs used boys for
pillows under trees that lazed with leaves which whispered in despair:
Nothing Will Ever Happen Again.
The only motion anywhere was the cool water dripping from the huge coffin-sized ice block in the hardware store window.
The only cool person in miles was Miss Frostbite, the
traveling magician’s assistant, tucked into that lady-shaped long cavity
hollowed in the ice block displayed for three days now without they
said, her breathing, eating, or talking. That last, I thought, must have
been terrible hard on a woman.
Nothing moved in the street but the barbershop striped
pole which turned slowly to show its red, white, and then red again,
slid up out of nowhere to vanish nowhere, a motion between two
mysteries.
“…hey…”
I pricked my ears.
“…something’s coming…”
“Only the noon train, Ralph.” Mr. Wyneski snicked his
jackdaw scissors, peering in his customer’s ear. “Only the train that
comes at noon.”
“No…” I gasped, eyes shut, leaning. “Something’s really coming…”
I heard the far whistle wail, lonesome, sad. enough to pull your soul out of your body.
“You feel it, don’t you, Dog?”
Dog barked.
Mr. Wyneski sniffed. “What can a dog feel?”
“Big things. Important things. Circumstantial coincidences. Collisions you can’t escape. Dog says. I say. We say.”
“That makes four of you.
Some team.” Mr. Wyneski turned from the summer-dead man in the white
porcelain chair. “Now, Ralph, my problem is hair. Sweep.”
I swept a ton of hair. “Gosh, you’d think this stuff just grew up out of the floor.”
Mr. Wyneski watched my broom. “Right! I didn’t cut all
that. Darn stuff just grows, I swear, lying there. Leave it a week, come
back, and you need hip boots to trod a path.” He pointed with his
scissors. “Look. You ever see so many
shades, hues, and tints of forelocks and chin fuzz? There’s Mr.
Tompkins’s receding hairline. There’s Charlie Smith’s topknot. And here,
here’s all that’s left of Mr. Harry Joe Flynn.”
I stared at Mr. Wyneski as if he had just read from Revelations. “Gosh, Mr. Wyneski, I guess you know everything in the world!”
“Just about.”
“I—I’m going to grow up and be—a barber!”
Mr. Wyneski, to hide his pleasure, got busy.
“Then watch this hedgehog, Ralph, peel an eye. Elbows thus, wrists so! Make the scissors talk! Customers appreciate. Sound twice as busy as you are. Snickety-snick, boy, snickety-snick. Learned this from the French! Oh, yes, the French! They do prowl about the chair light on their toes, and the sharp scissors whispering and nibbling, Ralph, nibbling and whispering, you hear!”
“Boy!” I said, at his elbow, right in with the whispers
and nibbles, then stopped: for the wind blew a wail way off in summer
country, so sad, so strange.
“There it is again. The train. And something on the train…”
“Noon train don’t stop here.”
“But I got this feeling—”
“The hair’s going to grab me. Ralph…”
I swept hair.
After a long while I said, “I’m thinking of changing my name.”
Mr. Wyneski sighed. The summer-dead customer stayed dead.
“What’s wrong with you today, boy?”
“It’s not me. It’s the name is out of hand. Just listen. Ralph.” I grrred it. “Rrrralph.”
“Ain’t exactly harp music…”
“Sounds like a mad dog.” I caught myself.
“No offense, Dog.”
Mr. Wyneski glanced down. “He seems pretty calm about the whole subject.”
“Ralph’s dumb. Gonna change my name by tonight.”
Mr. Wyneski mused. “Julius for Caesar? Alexander for the Great?”
“Don’t care what. Help me, huh, Mr. Wyneski? Find me a name…”
Dog sat up. I dropped the broom.
For way down in the hot cinder railroad yards a train
furnaced itself in, all pomp, all fire-blast shout and tidal churn,
summer in its iron belly bigger than the summer outside.
“Here it comes!”
“There it goes,” said Mr. Wyneski.
“No, there it doesn’t go!”
It was Mr. Wyneski’s turn to almost drop his scissors.
“Goshen. Darn noon train’s putting on the brakes!”
We heard the train stop.
“How many people getting off the train, Dog?”
Dog barked once.
Mr. Wyneski shifted uneasily. “U.S. Mail bags—”
“No … a man! Walking light.
Not much luggage. Heading for our house. A new boarder at Grandma’s, I
bet. And he’ll take the empty room right next to you, Mr. Wyneski!
Right, Dog?”
Dog barked.
“That dog talks too much,” said Mr. Wyneski.
“I just gotta go see, Mr. Wyneski. Please?”
The far footsteps faded in the hot and silent streets.
Mr. Wyneski shivered.
“A goose just stepped on my grave.”
Then he added, almost sadly:
“Get along, Ralph.”
“Name ain’t Ralph.”
“Whatchamacallit … run see … come tell the worst.”
“Oh, thanks, Mr. Wyneski, thanks!”
I ran. Dog ran. Up a street, along an alley, around
back, we ducked in the ferns by my grandma’s house. “Down, boy.” I
whispered. “Here the Big Event comes, whatever it is!”
And down the street and up the walk and up the steps at a
brisk jaunt came this man who swung a cane and carried a carpetbag and
had long brown-gray hair and silken mustaches and a goatee, politeness
all about him like a flock of birds.
On the porch near the old rusty chain swing, among the potted geraniums, he surveyed Green Town.
Far away, maybe, he heard the insect hum from the
barbershop, where Mr. Wyneski, who would soon be his enemy, told
fortunes by the lumpy heads under his hands as he buzzed the electric
clippers. Far away, maybe, he could hear the empty library where the
golden dust slid down the raw sunlight and way in back someone scratched
and tapped and scratched forever with pen and ink, a quiet woman like a
great lonely mouse burrowed away. And she was to be part of this new
man’s life, too, but right now…
The stranger removed his tall moss-green hat, mopped his brow, and not looking at anything but the hot blind sky said:
“Hello, boy. Hello, dog.”
Dog and I rose up among the ferns.
“Heck. How’d you know where we were hiding?”
The stranger peered into his hat for the answer. “In
another incarnation, I was a boy. Time before that, if memory serves, I
was a more than usually happy dog. But…!” His cane rapped the cardboard
sign BOARD AND ROOM thumbtacked on the porch rail. “Does the sign say true, boy?”
“Best rooms on the block.”
“Beds?”
“Mattresses so deep you sink down and drown the third time, happy.”
“Boarders at table?”
“Talk just enough, not too much.”
“Food?”
“Hot biscuits every morning, peach pie noon, shortcake every supper!”
The stranger inhaled, exhaled those savors.
“I’ll sign my soul away!”
“I beg your pardon?!” Grandma was suddenly at the screen door, scowling out.
“A manner of speaking, ma’am.” The stranger turned. “Not meant to sound un-Christian.”
And he was inside, him talking, Grandma talking, him writing and flourishing the pen on the registry book, and me and Dog inside, breathless, watching, spelling:
“C.H.”
“Read upside down, do you, boy?” said the stranger, merrily, giving pause with the inky pen.
“Yes, sir!”
On he wrote. On I spelled:
“A.R.L.E.S. Charles!”
“Right.”
Grandma peered at the calligraphy. “Oh, what a fine hand.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” On the pen scurried. And on I chanted. “D.I.C.K.E.N.S.”
I faltered and stopped. The pen stopped. The stranger tilted his head and closed one eye, watchful of me.
“Yes?” He dared me, “What, what?”
“Dickens!” I cried.
“Good!”
“Charles Dickens, Grandma!”
“I can read, Ralph. A nice name…”
“Nice?” I said, agape. “It’s great! But … I thought you were—”
“Dead?” The stranger laughed. “No. Alive, in fine fettle, and glad to meet a recognizer, fan, and fellow reader here!”
And we were up the stairs, Grandma bringing fresh towels
and pillowcases and me carrying the carpetbag, gasping, and us meeting
Grandpa, a great ship of a man, sailing down the other way.
“Grandpa,” I said, watching his face for shock. “I want you to meet … Mr. Charles Dickens!”
Grandpa stopped for a long breath, looked at the new
boarder from top to bottom, then reached out, took hold of the man’s
hand, shook it firmly, and said:
“Any friend of Nicholas Nickleby’s is a friend of mine!”
Mr. Dickens fell back from the effusion, recovered,
bowed, said. “Thank you, sir,” and went on up the stairs, while Grandpa
winked, pinched my cheek, and left me standing there, stunned.
In the tower cupola room, with windows bright, open, and
running with cool creeks of wind in all directions, Mr. Dickens drew
off his horse-carriage coat and nodded at the carpetbag.
“Anywhere will do, Pip. Oh, you don’t mind I call you Pip, eh?”
“Pip?!” My cheeks burned, my face glowed with astonishing happiness. “Oh, boy. Oh, no, sir. Pip’s fine!”
Grandma cut between us. “Here are your clean linens, Mr…?”
“Dickens, ma’am.” Our boarder patted his pockets, each in turn. “Dear me, Pip, I seem to be fresh out of pads and pencils. Might it be possible—”
He saw one of my hands steal up to find something behind
my ear. “I’ll be darned,” I said, “a yellow Ticonderoga Number 2!” My
other hand slipped to my back pants pocket. “And hey, an Iron-Face
Indian Ring-Back Notepad Number 12!”
“Extraordinary!”
“Extraordinary!”
Mr. Dickens wheeled about, surveying the world from each
and every window, speaking now north, now north by east, now east, now
south:
“I’ve traveled two long weeks with an idea. Bastille Day. Do you know it?”
“The French Fourth of July?”
“Remarkable boy! By Bastille Day this book must be in
full flood. Will you help me breach the tide gates of the Revolution,
Pip?”
“With these?” I looked at the pad and pencil in my hands.
“Lick the pencil tip, boy!”
I licked.
“Top of the page: the title. Title.” Mr. Dickens mused,
head down, rubbing his chin whiskers. “Pip, what’s a rare fine title for
a novel that happens half in London, half in Paris?”
“A—” I ventured.
“Yes?”
“A Tale,” I went on.
“Yes?!”
“A Tale of … Two Cities?!”
“Madame!” Grandma looked up as he spoke. “This boy is a genius!”
“I read about this day in the Bible,” said Grandma. “Everything Ends by noon.”
“Put it down, Pip.” Mr. Dickens tapped my pad. “Quick. A Tale of Two Cities. Then, mid-page. Book the First. ‘Recalled to Life.’ Chapter 1. ‘The Period.’”
I scribbled. Grandma worked. Mr. Dickens squinted at the sky and at last intoned:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it
was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch
of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the Season of Light,
it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the
winter—”
“My,” said Grandma, “you speak fine.”
“Madame.” The author nodded, then, eyes shut, snapped his fingers to remember, on the air. “Where was I, Pip?”
“It was the winter,” I said, “of despair.”
Very late in the
afternoon I heard Grandma calling someone named Ralph, Ralph, down
below. I didn’t know who that was. I was writing hard.
A minute later, Grandpa called, “Pip!”
I jumped. “Yes, sir!”
“Dinnertime, Pip,” said Grandpa, up the stairwell.
I sat down at the table, hair wet, hands damp. I looked over at Grandpa. “How did you know … Pip?”
“Heard the name fall out the window an hour ago.”
“Pip?” said Mr. Wyneski, just come in, sitting down.
“Boy,” I said. “I been everywhere this afternoon. The
Dover Coach on the Dover Road. Paris! Traveled so much I got writer’s
cramp! I—”
“Pip” said Mr. Wyneski, again.
Grandpa came warm and easy to my rescue.
“When I was twelve, changed my name—on several
occasions.” He counted the tines on his fork. “Dick. That was Dead-Eye
Dick. And … John. That was for Long John Silver. Then: Hyde. That was
for the other half of Jekyll—”
“I never had any other name except Bernard Samuel Wyneski,” said Mr. Wyneski, his eyes still fixed to me.
“None?” cried Grandpa, startled.
“None.”
“Have you proof of childhood, then, sir?” asked Grandpa. “Or are you a natural phenomenon, like a ship becalmed at sea?”
“Eh?” said Mr. Wyneski.
Grandpa gave up and handed him his full plate.
“Fall to, Bernard Samuel, fall to.”
Mr. Wyneski let his plate lie. “Dover Coach…?”
“With Mr. Dickens, of course,” supplied Grandpa.
“Bernard Samuel, we have a new boarder, a novelist, who is starting a
new book and has chosen Pip there, Ralph, to work as his secretary—”
“Worked all afternoon,” I said. “Made a quarter!”
I slapped my hand to my mouth. A swift dark cloud had come over Mr. Wyneski’s face.
“A novelist? Named Dickens? Surely you don’t believe—”
“I believe what a man tells me until he tells me otherwise, then I believe that. Pass the butter,” said Grandpa.
The butter was passed in silence.
“…hell’s fires…” Mr. Wyneski muttered.
I slunk low in my chair.
Grandpa, slicing the chicken, heaping the plates, said,
“A man with a good demeanor has entered our house. He says his name is
Dickens. For all I know that is his name. He implies
he is writing a book. I pass his door, look in, and, yes, he is indeed
writing. Should I run tell him not to? It is obvious he needs to set the
book down—”
“A Tale of Two Cities!” I said.
“A Tale!” cried Mr. Wyneski, outraged, “of Two—”
“Hush,” said Grandma.
For down the stairs and now at the door of the dining
room there was the man with the long hair and the fine goatee and
mustaches, nodding, smiling, peering in at us doubtful and saying,
“Friends…?”
“Mr. Dickens,” I said, trying to save the day. “I want you to meet Mr. Wyneski, the greatest barber in the world—”
The two men looked at each other for a long moment.
“Mr. Dickens,” said Grandpa. “Will you lend us your talent, sir, for grace?”
We bowed our heads. Mr. Wyneski did not.
Mr. Dickens looked at him gently.
Muttering, the barber glanced at the floor.
Mr. Dickens prayed:
“O Lord of the bounteous table, O Lord who furnishes
forth an infinite harvest for your most respectful servants gathered
here in loving humiliation, O Lord who garnishes our feast with the
bright radish and the resplendent chicken, who sets before us the wine
of the summer season, lemonade, and maketh us humble before simple
potato pleasures, the lowborn onion and, in the finale, so my nostrils
tell me, the bread of vast experiments and fine success, the highborn
strawberry shortcake, most beautifully smothered and amiably drowned in
fruit from your own warm garden patch, for these, and this good company,
much thanks. Amen.”
“Amen,” said everyone but Mr. Wyneski.
We waited.
“Amen, I guess,” he said.
O what a summer that was!
None like it before in Green Town history.
I never got up so early so happy ever in my life! Out of
bed at five minutes to, in Paris by one minute after … six in the
morning the English Channel boat from Calais, the White Cliffs, sky a
blizzard of seagulls, Dover, then the London Coach and London Bridge by
noon! Lunch and lemonade out under the trees with Mr. Dickens, Dog
licking our cheeks to cool us, then back to Paris and tea at four and…
“Bring up the cannon, Pip!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Mob the Bastille!”
“Yes, sir!”
And the guns were fired and the mobs ran and there I
was, Mr. C. Dickens A-l First Class Green Town, Illinois, secretary, my
eyes bugging, my ears popping, my chest busting with joy, for I dreamt
of being a writer some day, too, and here I was unraveling a tale with
the very finest best.
“Madame Defarge, oh how she sat and knitted, knitted, sat—”
I looked up to find Grandma knitting in the window.
“Sidney Carton, what and who was he? A man of sensibility, a reading man of gentle thought and capable action…”
Grandpa strolled by mowing the grass.
Drums sounded beyond the hills with guns; a summer storm cracked and dropped unseen walls…
Mr. Wyneski?
Somehow I neglected his shop, somehow I forgot the
mysterious barber pole that came up from nothing and spiraled away to
nothing, and the fabulous hair that grew on his white tile floor…
So Mr. Wyneski then had to come home every night to find that writer with all the long hair in need of cutting, standing there at the same table thanking the Lord for this, that, and t’other, and Mr. Wyneski not thankful. For there I sat staring at Mr. Dickens like he was God until one night:
“Shall we say grace?” said Grandma.
“Mr. Wyneski is out brooding in the yard,” said Grandpa.
“Brooding?” I glanced guiltily from the window.
Grandpa tilted his chair back so he could see.
“Brooding’s the word. Saw him kick the rose bush, kick
the green ferns by the porch, decide against kicking the apple tree. God
made it too firm. There, he just jumped on a dandelion. Oh, oh. Here he
comes, Moses crossing a Black Sea of bile.”
The door slammed. Mr. Wyneski stood at the head of the table.
“I’ll say grace tonight!”
He glared at Mr. Dickens.
“Why, I mean,” said Grandma. “Yes. Please.”
Mr. Wyneski shut his eyes tight and began his prayer of destruction:
“O Lord, who delivered me a fine June and a less fine July, help me to get through August somehow.
“O Lord, deliver me from mobs and riots in the streets
of London and Paris which drum through my room night and morn, chief
members of said riot being one boy who walks in his sleep, a man with a
strange name and a Dog who barks after the ragtag and bobtail.
“Give me strength to resist the cries of Fraud, Thief, Fool, and Bunk Artists which rise in my mouth.
“Help me not to run shouting all the way to the Police
Chief to yell that in all probability the man who shares our simple
bread has a true name of Red Joe Pyke from Wilkesboro, wanted for
counterfeiting life, or Bull Hammer from Hornbill, Arkansas, much
desired for mean spitefulness and penny-pilfering in Oskaloosa.
“Lord, deliver the innocent boys of this world from the fell clutch of those who would tomfool their credibility.
“And Lord, help me to say, quietly, and with all
deference to the lady present, that if one Charles Dickens is not on the
noon train tomorrow bound for Potters Grave, Lands End, or Kankakee, I
shall like Delilah, with malice, shear the black lamb and fry his
mutton-chop whiskers for twilight dinners and late midnight snacks.
“I ask, Lord, not mercy for the mean, but simple justice for the malignant.
“All those agreed, say ‘Amen.’”
He sat down and stabbed a potato.
There was a long moment with everyone frozen.
And then Mr. Dickens, eyes shut said, moaning:
“Ohhhhhhhhhh…!”
It was a moan, a cry, a despair so long and deep it sounded like the train way off in the country the day this man had arrived.
“Mr. Dickens,” I said.
But I was too late.
He was on his feet, blind, wheeling, touching the
furniture, holding to the wall, clutching at the doorframe, blundering
into the hall, groping up the stairs.
“Ohhhhh…”
It was the long cry of a man gone over a cliff into Eternity.
It seemed we sat waiting to hear him hit bottom.
Far off in the hills in the upper part of the house, his door banged shut.
My soul turned over and died.
“Charlie.” I said. “Oh, Charlie.”
Late that night, Dog howled.
And the reason he howled was that sound, that similar, muffled cry from up in the tower cupola room.
“Holy Cow,” I said. “Call the plumber. Everything’s down the drain.”
Mr. Wyneski strode by on the sidewalk, walking nowhere, off and gone.
“That’s his fourth time around the block.” Grandpa struck a match and lit his pipe.
“Mr. Wyneski!” I called.
No answer. The footsteps went away.
“Boy oh boy, I feel like I lost a war,” I said.
“No, Ralph, beg pardon, Pip,” said Grandpa, sitting down
on the step with me. “You just changed generals in midstream is all.
And now one of the generals is so unhappy he’s turned mean.”
“Mr. Wyneski? I—I almost hate him!”
Grandpa puffed gently on his pipe. “I don’t think he
even knows why he is so unhappy and mean. He has had a tooth pulled
during the night by a mysterious dentist and now his tongue is aching
around the empty place where the tooth was.”
“We’re not in church, Grandpa.”
“Cut the Parables, huh? In simple words, Ralph, you used
to sweep the hair off that man’s shop floor. And he’s a man with no
wife, no family, just a job. A man with no family needs someone
somewhere in the world, whether he knows it or not.”
“I,” I said. “I’ll wash the barbershop windows tomorrow. I-I’ll oil the red-and-white striped pole so it spins like crazy.”
“I know you will, son.”
A train went by in the night.
Dog howled.
Mr. Dickens answered in a strange cry from his room.
I went to bed and heard the town clock strike one and then two and at last three.
Then it was I heard the soft crying. I went out in the hall to listen by our boarder’s door.
“Mr. Dickens?”
The soft sound stopped.
The door was unlocked. I dared open it.
“Mr. Dickens?”
And there he lay in the moonlight, tears streaming from his eyes, eyes wide open staring at the ceiling, motionless.
“Mr. Dickens?”
“Nobody by that name here,” said he. His head moved side to side. “Nobody by that name in this room in this bed in this world.”
“You,” I said. “You’re Charlie Dickens.”
“You ought to know better,” was the mourned reply. “Long after midnight, moving on toward morning.”
“All I know is,” I said, “I seen you writing every day. I heard you talking every night.”
“Right, right.”
“And you finish one book and start another, and write a fine calligraphy sort of hand.”
“I do that.” A nod. “Oh yes, by the demon possessions, I do.”
“So!” I circled the bed. “What call you got to feel sorry for yourself, a world-famous author?”
“You know and I know, I’m Mr. Nobody from Nowhere, on my way to Eternity with a dead flashlight and no candles.”
“Hells bells,” I said. I started for the door. I was mad
because he wasn’t holding up his end. He was ruining a grand summer.
“Good night!” I rattled the doorknob.
“Wait!”
It was such a terrible soft cry of need and almost pain, I dropped my hand, but I didn’t turn.
“Pip,” said the old man in the bed.
“Yeah?” I said, grouching.
“Let’s both be quiet. Sit down.”
I slowly sat on the spindly wooden chair by the night table.
“Talk to me, Pip.”
“Holy Cow, at three—”
“—in the morning, yes. Oh, it’s a fierce awful time of
night. A long way back to sunset, and ten thousand miles on to dawn. We
have need of friends then. Friend, Pip? Ask me things.”
“Like what?”
“I think you know.”
I brooded a moment and sighed. “Okay, okay. Who are you?”
He was very quiet for a moment lying there in his bed
and then traced the words on the ceiling with a long invisible tip of
his nose and said, “I’m a man who could never fit his dream.”
“What?”
“I mean, Pip, I never became what I wanted to be.”
I was quiet now, too. “What’d you want to be?”
“A writer.”
“Did you try?”
“Try!” he cried, and almost gagged on a strange wild
laugh. “Try,” he said, controlling himself. “Why Lord of Mercy, son, you
never saw so much spit, ink, and sweat fly. I wrote my way through an
ink factory, broke and busted a paper company, ruined and dilapidated
six dozen typewriters, devoured and scribbled to the bone ten thousand
Ticonderoga Soft Lead pencils.”
“Wow!”
“You may well say Wow.”
“What did you write?”
“What didn’t I write. The poem. The essay. The play tragique. The farce. The short story. The novel. A thousand words a day, boy, every day for thirty years, no day passed I did not scriven and assault the page. Millions of words passed from my fingers onto paper and it was all bad.”
“It couldn’t have been!”
“It was. Not mediocre, not
passing fair. Just plain outright mudbath bad. Friends knew it, editors
knew it, teachers knew it, publishers knew it, and one strange fine day
about four in the afternoon, when I was fifty, I knew it.”
“But you can’t write thirty years without—”
“Stumbling upon excellence? Striking a chord? Gaze long,
gaze hard, Pip, look upon a man of peculiar talent, outstanding
ability, the only man in history who put down five million words without
slapping to life one small base of a story that might rear up on its
frail legs and cry Eureka! we’ve done it!”
“You never sold one story!?”
“Not a two line joke. Not a throwaway newspaper sonnet.
Not a want ad or obit. Not a home-bottled autumn pickle recipe. Isn’t
that rare? To be so outstandingly dull, so ridiculously inept, that
nothing ever brought a chuckle, caused a tear, raised a temper, or
discharged a blow. And do you know what I did on the day I discovered I
would never be a writer? I killed myself.”
“Killed?!”
“Did away with, destroyed. How? I packed me up and took
me away on a long train ride and sat on the back smoking-car platform a
long time in the night and then one by one let the confetti of my
manuscripts fly like panicked birds away down the tracks. I scattered a
novel across Nebraska, my Homeric legends over North, my love sonnets
through South Dakota. I abandoned my familiar essays in the men’s room
at the Harvey House in Clear Springs, Idaho. The late summer wheatfields
knew my prose. Grand fertilizer, it probably jumped up bumper crops of
corn long after I passed. I rode two trunks of my soul on that long
summer’s journey, celebrating my badly served self. And one by one, slow
at first, and then faster, faster, over I chucked them, story after
story, out, out of my arms out of my head, out of my life, and down they
went, sunk drowning night rivers of prairie dust, in lost continents of
sand and lonely rock. And the train wallowed around a curve in a great
wail of darkness and release, and I opened my fingers and let the last
stillborn darlings fall….
“When I reached the far terminus of the line, the trunks
were empty. I had drunk much, eaten little, wept on occasion in my
private room, but had heaved away my anchors, deadweights, and dreams,
and came to the sliding soft chuffing end of my
journey, praise God, in a kind of noble peace and certainty. I felt
reborn. I said to myself, why, what’s this, what’s this? I’m—I’m a new
man.”
He saw it all on the ceiling, and I saw it, too, like a movie run up the wall in the moonlit night.
“I-I’m a new man I said, and when I got off the train at
the end of that long summer of disposal and sudden rebirth, I looked in
a fly-specked, rain-freckled gum-machine mirror at a lost depot in
Peachgum, Missouri, and my beard grown long in two months of travel and
my hair gone wild with wind that combed it this way sane, that way mad,
and I peered and stood back and exclaimed softly, ‘Why, Charlie Dickens,
is that you?!’
The man in the bed laughed softly.
“‘Why, Charlie,’ said I, ‘Mr. Dickens, there you are!’ And the reflection in the mirror cried out, ‘Dammit, sir, who else would it be!? Stand back. I’m off to a great lecture!’”
“Did you really say that, Mr. Dickens?”
“God’s pillars and temples of truth, Pip. And I got out
of his way! And I strode through a strange town and I knew who I was at
last and grew fevers thinking on what I might do in my lifetime now
reborn and all that grand fine work ahead! For, Pip, this thing must
have been growing. All those years of writing and snuffing up defeat,
my old subconscious must have been whispering, ‘Just you wait. Things
will be black midnight bad but then in the nick of time, I’ll save you!’
“And maybe the thing that saved me was the thing ruined
me in the first place: respect for my elders; the grand moguls and tall
muckymucks in the lush literary highlands and me in the dry river bottom
with my canoe.
“For, oh God, Pip, how I devoured Tolstoy, drank
Dostoevsky, feasted on De Maupassant, had wine and chicken picnics with
Flaubert and Molière. I gazed at gods too high. I read too much! So, when my work vanished, theirs stayed. Suddenly I found I could not forget their books, Pip!”
“Couldn’t?”
“I mean I could not forget any letter of any word of any
sentence or any paragraph of any book ever passed under these hungry
omnivorous eyes!”
“Photographic memory!”
“Bull’s-eye! All of Dickens, Hardy, Austen, Poe,
Hawthorne, trapped in this old box Brownie waiting to be printed off my
tongue, all those years, never knew, Pip, never guessed, I had did it
all away. Ask me to speak in tongues. Kipling is
one. Thackery another. Weigh flesh. I’m Shylock. Snuff out the light,
I’m Othello. All, all, Pip, all!”
“And then? And so?”
“Why then and so, Pip, I looked another time in that fly-specked mirror and said, ‘Mr. Dickens, all this being true, when do you write your first book?’
“‘Now!’ I cried. And bought fresh paper and ink and have
been delirious and joyful, lunatic and happy frantic ever since,
writing all the books of my own dear self, me, I, Charles Dickens, one
by one.
“I have traveled the continental vastness of the United
States of North America and settled me in to write and act, act and
write, lecturing here, pondering there, half in and then half out of my
mania, known and unknown, lingering here to finish Copperfield, loitering there for Dombey and Son,
turning up for tea with Marley’s Ghost on some pale Christmas noon.
Sometimes I lie whole snowbound winters in little whistle stops and no
one there guessing that Charlie Dickens bides hibernation there, then
pop forth like the ottermole of spring and so move on. Sometimes I stay
whole summers in one town before I’m driven off. Oh, yes, driven. For
such as your Mr. Wyneski cannot forgive the fantastic, Pip, no matter
how particularly practical that fantastic be.
“For he has no humor, boy.
He does not see that we all do what we must to survive, survive.
“Some laugh, some cry, some bang the world with fists, some run, but it all sums up the same: they make do.
“The world swarms with people, each one drowning, but each swimming a different stroke to the far shore.
“And Mr. Wyneski? He makes do with scissors and understands not my inky pen and littered papers on which I would flypaper-catch my borrowed English soul.”
Mr. Dickens put his feet out of bed and reached for his carpetbag.
“So I must pick up and go.”
I grabbed the bag first.
“No! You can’t leave! You haven’t finished the book!”
“Pip, dear boy, you haven’t been listening—”
“The world’s waiting! You can’t just quit in the middle of Two Cities!”
He took the bag quietly from me.
“Pip, Pip…”
“You can’t, Charlie!”
He looked into my face and it must have been so white hot he flinched away.
“I’m waiting,” I cried. “They’re waiting!”
“They…?”
“The mob at the Bastille. Paris! London. The Dover sea. The guillotine!”
I ran to throw all the windows even wider as if the
night wind and the moonlight might bring in sounds and shadows to crawl
on the rug and sneak in his eyes, and the curtains blew out in phantom
gestures and I swore I heard, Charlie heard, the crowds, the coach
wheels, the great slicing downfall of the cutting blades and the cabbage
heads falling and battle songs and all that on the wind…
“Oh, Pip, Pip…”
Tears welled from his eyes.
I had my pencil out and my pad.
“Well?” I said.
“Where were we, this afternoon, Pip?”
“Madame Defarge, knitting.”
He let the carpetbag fall. He sat on the edge of the bed
and his hands began to tumble, weave, knit, motion, tie and untie, and
he looked and saw his hands and spoke and I wrote and he spoke again,
stronger, and stronger, all through the rest of the night…
“Madame Defarge … yes … well. Take this, Pip. She—”
“Morning, Mr. Dickens!”
I flung myself into the dining-room chair. Mr. Dickens was already half through his stack of pancakes.
I took one bite and then saw the even greater stack of pages lying on the table between us.
“Mr. Dickens?” I said. “The Tale of Two Cities. It’s … finished?”
“Done.” Mr. Dickens ate, eyes down. “Got up at six. Been working steady. Done. Finished. Through.”
“Wow!” I said.
A train whistle blew. Charlie sat up, then rose
suddenly, to leave the rest of his breakfast and hurry out in the hall. I
heard the front door slam and tore out on the porch to see Mr. Dickens
half down the walk, carrying his carpetbag.
He was walking so fast I had to run to circle round and round him as he headed for the rail depot.
“Mr. Dickens, the book’s finished, yeah, but not published yet!”
“You be my executor, Pip.”
He fled. I pursued, gasping.
“What about David Copperfield?! Little Dorrit?!”
“Friends of yours, Pip?”
“Yours, Mr. Dickens, Charlie, oh, gosh, if you don’t write them, they’ll never live.”
“They’ll get on somehow.” He vanished around a corner. I jumped after.
“Charlie, wait. I’ll give you—a new title! Pickwick Papers, sure, Pickwick Papers!”
The train was pulling into the station.
Charlie ran fast.
“And after that, Bleak House, Charlie, and Hard Times and Great—Mr. Dickens, listen—Expectations! Oh, my gosh!”
For he was far ahead now and I could only yell after him:
“Oh, blast, go on! get off! get away! You know what I’m
going to do!? You don’t deserve reading! You don’t! So right now, and
from here on, see if I even bother to finish reading Tale of Two Cities! Not me! Not this one! No!”
The bell was tolling in the station. The steam was
rising. But, Mr. Dickens had slowed. He stood in the middle of the
sidewalk. I came up to stare at his back.
“Pip,” he said softly. “You mean what you just said?”
“You!” I cried. “You’re nothing but—” I searched in my
mind and seized a thought: “—a blot of mustard, some undigested bit of
raw potato—!”
“‘Bah, Humbug, Pip?’”
“Humbug! I don’t give a blast what happens to Sidney Carton!”
“Why, it’s a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done, Pip. You must read it.”
“Why!?”
He turned to look at me with great sad eyes.
“Because I wrote it for you.”
It took all my strength to half-yell back: “So—?”
“So,” said Mr. Dickens, “I have just missed my train. Forty minutes till the next one—”
“Then you got time,” I said.
“Time for what?”
“To meet someone. Meet them, Charlie, and I promise I’ll finish reading your book. In there. In there, Charlie.”
He pulled back.
“That place? The library?!”
“Ten minutes, Mr. Dickens, give me ten minutes, just ten, Charlie. Please.”
“Ten?”
And at last, like a blind man, he let me lead him up the library steps and half-fearful, sidle in.
The library was like a stone quarry where no rain had fallen in ten thousand years.
Way off in that direction: silence.
Way off in that direction: hush.
It was the time between things finished and things begun. Nobody died here.
Nobody was born. The library, and all its books, just were.
We waited, Mr. Dickens and I, on the edge of the silence.
Mr. Dickens trembled. And I suddenly remembered I had
never seen him here all summer. He was afraid I might take him near the
fiction shelves and see all his books, written, done, finished, printed,
stamped, bound, borrowed, read, repaired, and shelved.
But I wouldn’t be that dumb. Even so, he took my elbow and whispered:
“Pip, what are we doing here? Let’s go. There’s…”
“Listen!” I hissed.
And a long way off in the stacks somewhere, there was a sound like a moth turning over in its sleep.
“Bless me,” Mr. Dickens’s eyes widened. “I know that sound.”
“Sure!”
“It’s the sound,” he said, holding his breath, then nodding, “of someone writing.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Writing with a pen. And … and writing…”
“What?”
“Poetry,” gasped Mr. Dickens. “That’s it. Someone off
there in a room, how many fathoms deep, Pip, I swear, writing a poem.
There! Eh? Flourish, flourish, scratch, flourish on, on, on, that’s not
figures, Pip, not numerals, not dusty-dry facts, you feel it sweep, feel it scurry? A poem, by God, yes, sir, no doubt, a poem!”
“Ma’am,” I called.
The moth-sound ceased.
“Don’t stop her!” hissed Mr. Dickens. “Middle of inspiration. Let her go!”
The moth-scratch started again.
Flourish, flourish, scratch, on, on, stop. Flourish,
flourish. I bobbed my head. I moved my lips, as did Mr. Dickens, both of
us suspended, held, leant forward on the cool marble air listening to
the vaults and stacks and echoes in the subterrane.
Flourish, flourish, scratch, on, on.
Silence.
“There.” Mr. Dickens nudged me.
“Ma’am!” I called ever so urgently soft.
And something rustled in the corridors.
And there stood the librarian, a lady between years, not
young, not old; between colors, not dark, not pale; between heights,
not short, not tall, but rather frail, a woman you often heard talking
to herself off in the dark dust-stacks with a whisper like turned pages,
a woman who glided as if on hidden wheels.
She came carrying her soft lamp of face, lighting her way with her glance.
Her lips were moving, she was busy with words in the vast room behind her clouded gaze.
Charlie read her lips eagerly. He nodded. He waited for
her to halt and bring us to focus, which she did, suddenly. She gasped
and laughed at herself.
“Oh, Ralph, it’s you and—” A look of recognition warmed her face. “Why, you’re Ralph’s friend. Mr. Dickens, isn’t it?”
Charlie stared at her with a quiet and almost alarming devotion.
“Mr. Dickens,” I said. “I want you to meet—”
“‘Because I could not stop for Death—’” Charlie, eyes shut, quoted from memory.
The librarian blinked swiftly and her brow like a lamp turned high, took white color.
“Miss Emily,” he said.
“Her name is—” I said.
“Miss Emily.” He put out his hand to touch hers.
“Pleased,” she said. “But how did you—?”
“Know your name? Why, bless me, ma’am, I heard you scratching way off in there, runalong rush, only poets do that!”
“It’s nothing.”
“Head high, chin up,” he said, gently. “It’s something. ‘Because I could not stop for death’ is a fine A-1 first-class poem.”
“My own poems are so poor,” she said, nervously. “I copy hers out to learn.”
“Copy who?” I blurted.
“Excellent way to learn.”
“Is it, really?” She looked close at Charlie. “You’re not…?”
“Joking? No, not with Emily Dickinson, ma’am!”
“Emily Dickinson?” I said.
“That means much coming from you, Mr. Dickens,” she flushed. “I have read all your books.”
“All?” He backed off.
“All,” she added hastily, “that you have published so far, sir.”
“Just finished a new one.” I put in, “Sockdolager! A Tale of Two Cities.”
“And you, ma’am?” he asked, kindly.
She opened her small hands as if to let a bird go.
“Me? Why, I haven’t even sent a poem to our town newspaper.”
“You must!” he cried, with true passion and meaning. “Tomorrow. No, today!”
“But,” her voice faded. “I have no one to read them to, first.”
“Why,” said Chadie quietly. “You have Pip here, and,
accept my card, C. Dickens, Esquire. Who will, if allowed, stop by on
occasion, to see if all’s well in this Arcadian silo of books.”
She took his card. “I couldn’t—”
“Tut! You must. For I shall offer only warm sliced white
bread. Your words must be the marmalade and summer honey jam. I shall
read long and plain. You: short and rapturous of life and tempted by
that odd delicious Death you often lean upon. Enough.” He pointed.
“There. At the far end of the corridor, her lamp lit ready to guide your
hand … the Muse awaits. Keep and feed her well. Good-bye.”
“Good-bye?” she asked. “Doesn’t that mean ‘God be with you’?”
“So I have heard, dear lady, so I have heard.”
And suddenly we were back out in the sunlight, Mr. Dickens almost stumbling over his carpetbag waiting there.
In the middle of the lawn, Mr. Dickens stood very still and said, “The sky is blue, boy.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The grass is green.”
“Sure.” Then I stopped and really looked around. “I mean, heck, yeah!”
“And the wind … smell that sweet wind?”
We both smelled it. He said:
“And in this world are remarkable boys with vast imaginations who know the secrets of salvation…”
He patted my shoulder. Head down, I didn’t know what to do. And then I was saved by a whistle:
“Hey, the next train! Here it comes!”
We waited.
After a long while, Mr. Dickens said:
“There it goes…and let’s go home, boy.”
“Home!” I cried, joyfully, and then stopped. “But what about … Mr. Wyneski?”
“O, after all this, I have such confidence in you, Pip.
Every afternoon while I’m having tea and resting my wits, you must trot
down to the barbershop and—”
“Sweep hair!”
“Brave lad. It’s little enough. A loan of friendship from the Bank of England to the First National Bank of Green Town, Illinois. And now, Pip … pencil!”
I tried behind one ear, found gum; tried the other ear and found: “Pencil!”
“Paper?”
“Paper!”
We strode along under the soft green summer trees.
“Title, Pip—”
He reached up with his cane to write a mystery on the sky. I squinted at the invisible penmanship.
“The—”
He blocked out a second word on the air.
“Old,” I translated.
A third.
“C.U.” I spelled. “R.I….Curiosity!”
“How’s that for a title, Pip?”
I hesitated. “It … doesn’t seem, well, quite finished, sir.”
“What a Christian you are. There!”
He flourished a final word on the sun.
“S.H.O….Shop! The Old Curiosity Shop.”
“Take a novel, Pip!”
“Yes, sir,” I cried. “Chapter One!”
A blizzard of snow blew through the trees.
“What’s that?” I asked, and answered:
Why, summer gone. The calendar pages, all the hours and days, like in the movies, the way they just blow off over the hills. Charlie and I working together, finished, through. Many days at the library, over! Many nights reading aloud with Miss Emily done! Trains come and gone. Moons waxed and waned. New trains arriving and new lives teetering on the brink, and Miss Emily suddenly standing right there, and Charlie here with all their suitcases and handing me a paper sack.
“What’s this?”
“Rice. Pip, plain ordinary white rice, for the fertility
ritual. Throw it at us, boy. Drive us happily away. Hear those bells,
Pip? Here goes Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Dickens! Throw, boy, throw! Throw!”
I threw and ran, ran and threw, and them on the back
train platform waving out of sight and me yelling good-bye, Happy
marriage, Charlie! Happy times! Come back! Happy … Happy…
And by then I guess I was crying, and Dog chewing my
shoes, jealous, glad to have me alone again, and Mr. Wyneski waiting at
the barbershop to hand me my broom and make me his son once more.
And autumn came and lingered and at last a letter arrived from the married and traveling couple.
I kept the letter sealed all day and at dusk, while
Grandpa was raking leaves by the front porch I went out to sit and watch
and hold the letter and wait for him to look up and at last he did and I
opened the letter and read it out loud in the October twilight:
“Dear Pip,” I read, and had to stop for a moment seeing my old special name again, my eyes were so full.
“Dear Pip. We are in Aurora tonight and Felicity
tomorrow and Elgin the night after that. Charlie has six months of
lectures lined up and looking forward. Charlie and I are both working
steadily and are most happy…very happy … need I say?
“He calls me Emily.
“Pip, I don’t think you know who she was, but there was a
lady poet once, and I hope you’ll get her books out of the library
someday.
“Well, Charlie looks at me and says: ‘This is my Emily’ and I almost believe. No. I do believe.”
I stopped and swallowed hard and read on:
“We are crazy, Pip.
“People have said it. We know it. Yet we go on. But being crazy together is fine.
“It was being crazy alone I couldn’t stand any longer.
“Charlie sends his regards and wants you to know he has indeed started a fine new book, perhaps his best yet … one you suggested the title for, Bleak House.
“So we write and move, move and write, Pip. And some
year soon we may come back on the train which stops for water at your
town. And if you’re there and call our names as we know ourselves now,
we shall step off the train. But perhaps meanwhile you will get too old.
And if when the train stops, Pip, you’re not there, we shall
understand, and let the train move us on to another and another town.
“Signed, Emily Dickinson.
“P.S. Charlie says your grandfather is a dead ringer for Plato, but not to tell him.
“P.P.S. Charlie is my darling.”
“Charlie is my darling,” repeated Grandpa, sitting down and taking the letter to read it again. “Well, well…” he sighed. “Well, well…”
We sat there a long while, looking at the burning soft
October sky and the new stars. A mile off, a dog barked. Miles off, on
the horizon line, a train moved along, whistled, and tolled its bell,
once, twice, three times, gone.
“You know,” I said. “I don’t think they’re crazy.”
“Neither do I, Pip,” said Grandpa, lighting his pipe and blowing out the match. “Neither do I.”
The End
Fictional Story Related Index
This is an index of full text reprints of stories that I have
read that influenced me when I was young. They are rather difficult to
come by today, as where I live they are nearly impossible to find. Yes,
you can find them on the internet, behind paywalls. Ah, that’s why all
those software engineers in California make all that money. Well, here
they are FOR FREE. Enjoy reading them.
Movies that Inspired Me
Here are some movies that I consider noteworthy and worth a view. Enjoy.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are
reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly
impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal
library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come
and enjoy a read or two as well.
My Poetry
Art that Moves Me
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
From 2016 through 2019, the United States under the guidance and direction of Donald Trump was enmeshed in trade negotiations with China. For most of that time, the negotiations were rocky and a period of discord and confusion reigned. Things become worrisome, and as a result, the world economy went into a recession and things began to take on a very gloomy outlook.
Then, in October of 2019, it was announced that the trade talks were resolved and that Phase One of the trade negotiations would be implemented. Here we discuss these issues, trends and the related affairs that colored this sequence of events.
There is a lot to learn here, as it involves diplomacy, expectations, society, culture, manufacturing, the global environment, and industry. Rather than look at it from the simplistic black-and-white “cardboard cutout” of how it is presented in the American media, let’s look at it in detail. It’s a very interesting study of the affairs of men and nations.
We will start with a recap.
A Brief Historical Recap
The US-China trade dispute erupted publicly in March 2018.
Its origins, however, go back to August 2017, when the Office of US Trade Representative (USTR) issued a preliminary report charging that China’s ‘2025 Plan’ projected passing the US in next generation technology development (5G wireless, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity).
China’s plan represented a fundamental challenge to US global economic—and military—hegemony next decade, according to the USTR.
Made in China 2025 is a strategic plan of China issued by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his cabinet in May 2015. With it, China aims to move away from being the world’s “factory” and move to producing higher value products and services. It is in essence a blueprint to upgrade the manufacturing capabilities of Chinese industries.
That initial USTR report was followed by a second report released in March 2018. That report concluded and confirmed what the first report had raised. Both reports argued that China represented a threat in nextgen technology development that the US could not ignore.
Dr. Christopher Ashley Ford, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, gave a speech at the Multilateral Action on Sensitive Technologies (MAST) Conference, in which he explained that “countries that choose Huawei technology are opening the door to Chinese access to their domestic networks and local companies, as well as potential surveillance by Chinese officials, posing a potential threat to their national security and economic well-being.”
- State Department Highlights Chinese Technology Threats
The trade war with China only then commenced, with Trump imposing an initial $50 billion in tariffs on China imports.
An initial tentative agreement was reached between the main negotiators, the US team led at the time by US Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, in May 2018.
But you know, that tentative deal was quickly scuttled. The kibosh was put on it and it was shit-canned.
Neocons aborting the plan 1.
This is because US neocons, China hardliners, Pentagon, and the US Military Industrial Complex and friends in Congressional defense appropriations committees organized their forces and got Trump to nix the deal.
The scuttled deal included some serious concessions by China. That included [1] China agreeing to buy $1 trillion more in US farm goods over five years and [2] agreeing to allow US banks and financial institutions to have 51% ownership control of their operations in China.
These are really big deals.
But, the neocons would not have any of that. They wanted to rule the world and wouldn’t give an inch any way in any manner. Only America will be in charge. Only America can rule, tell other nations how to live and define the trade agreements. And if war is necessary to put other nations “in their place”, then so be it.
China reiterated their earlier (and substantial) concessions over the summer of 2018, but to no avail. The neocons would nave none of it.
The main issue was not the US trade deficit.
Nor IP guarantees.
Nor tech sharing of US companies in China.
Nor even majority ownership of US operations in China.
The main issue was the development of nextgen technologies—AI, 5G, and cyber. US Neocons aligned with the Pentagon-Military Industrial Complex, now led by Robert Lighthizer, the head of the USTR. These neocons did not want any nation to have any kind of technical superiority over America and they would fight it “tooth and nail” and economies, world trade, and prosperity be damned!
America MUST be number one, or nothing.
NOTHING!
Other notable neocons included Peter Navarro, special trade adviser to Trump.
Not to forget the largest neocon of them all, John Bolton, who demanded China slow, and even share its nextgen technology development with the US, or else no deal!
"We want your technology and you WILL give it to us.
If you don't well, we will put every pressure possible on you. And, oh by the way, don't think that we are not capable of planting swine flu to destroy all your pork products, launch revolutions and unrest in your cities, and maybe even sink a few ships if that's what it take to put you all in your place.America is the biggest, the best and the most powerful. Never forget that."
Seriously!
Negotiations stalled thereafter as Trump turned his focus to the NAFTA 2.0 negotiations and the 2020 midterm elections approached.
Six months burned away, and the trade negotiations, were dead in the water. The neocons convinced president Trump to “hold fast”, that China is still a third-rate nation and that the trade “wars” are sending China back twenty years.
But they were deluding themselves.
All the signs pointed to a reality that was at odds with American perceptions. Indeed, the Chinese had many “cards up their sleeves” and many of the assumptions that American advisors had on China were simply not true.
What’s worse, the American people started to notice this.
Negotiations were restarted in January 2019 after the midterm elections, and another five months of negotiations between the parties took place until another tentative deal was reached in May 2019.
Neocons aborting the plan 2.
That tentative deal once again was blown up at the last minute by the Lighthizer-Navarro neocon faction now in control of negotiations, with Mnuchin in tow as a co-chair.
That tentative deal once again was blown up at the last minute by the Lighthizer-Navarro neocon faction now in control of negotiations, with Mnuchin in tow as a co-chair.
As the China delegation prepared to come to the US to sign off in May 2019, the US raised new additional demands:
[1] China had to share its nextgen technology development with the US.
[2] China to cease subsidizing its state owned enterprises.
[3] China to provide assurances it would not devalue its currency to offset US tariffs (which now totaled $200 billion).
[4] The existing US tariffs would remain in effect even if an agreement were reached. They would not be removed.
These were the new terms, “Too bad” they said.
All these demands were publicly communicated in the week prior to the May 2019 meeting in Washington D.C. when the deal was scheduled to be signed off.
It seems like they were totally and wholly devoted to terminating the deal, rather than trying to find some common ground from which to negotiate to in good faith.
Neocons aborting the plan 3.
Understandably, the China delegation came and returned home in a day.
The Neocons had scuttled a deal once again. Nextgen technology was the crux. Either China capitulated on nextgen tech or there was no deal, according to the Neocon-Pentagon position.
The Neocons had scuttled a deal once again. Nextgen technology was the crux. Either China capitulated on nextgen tech or there was no deal, according to the Neocon-Pentagon position.
Trump thereafter met China president, Xi, in Osaka Japan at the G20 meeting. They both agreed once again to restart negotiations. Both also agreed to keep a hold on the level of existing tariffs and not raise them further in the meantime.
But Trump broke the pledge in late July 2019.
On the advice of his neocon trade negotiators, he raised tariffs on the remaining $250 billion of China imports. The understanding with Xi not to raise more tariffs was thus shattered.
China raised tariffs of its own on US goods in response.
On the advice of his neocon trade negotiators, he raised tariffs on the remaining $250 billion of China imports. The understanding with Xi not to raise more tariffs was thus shattered. China raised tariffs of its own on US goods in response.
Trump threatened to raise existing tariffs by another 5%, to 25% and 30%, and levy more on all the remaining China imports in December 2019.
The trade war was intensifying.
China took steps to stabilize the situation. China stopped intervening briefly in global money markets to prevent its currency, the Yuan, from devaluing and allowed it to fall 5%-7%–a move that essentially negated Trump’s additional 5% tariff hike.
China stopped intervening briefly in global money markets to prevent its currency, the Yuan, from devaluing and allowed it to fall 5%-7%–a move that essentially negated Trump’s additional 5% tariff hike.
Stock and bond markets plummeted on the mere prospect of a trade war now morphing into a currency war. The trade war, based mostly on tariff hikes, was about to expand the economic conflict beyond mere tariff measures.
Uh oh!
It will be the USD (inflated with mountains of debt) against a rising currency the yuan (that represents the bulk of world wide manufacturing).
Tariffs were already slowing the global economy. A currency war would quickly spread beyond US and China and inject even more instability into the already slowing global economy.
Both China and Trump peered over the cliff of a pending broader economic war between the two economies—and then backed off.
Both China and Trump peered over the cliff of a pending broader economic war between the two economies—and then backed off.
This continued all Summer until September 2019.
Fast forward, the outcome by September 2019 was yet another resumption of negotiations between the two parties, followed by the announcement of a ‘Phase 1’ deal on trade.
So why did Trump ‘stand down’ and agree to a deal now, after escalating his threats and actions over the summer?
The reasons pointed to American problems as a result of the “trade dispute”. You see, America was not as robust as the government would like everyone to believe. Thus, clearly it had to do with [1] the US economy softening in the 3rd quarter combined with [2] a growing discontent in the farm sector. This discontent is over Trump’s handling of the trade dispute that was beginning to bite hard on US farm sector sales. You see, American farmers were heavily dependent on exports to China.
The reasons clearly have to do with [1] the US economy softening in the 3rd quarter combined with [2] a growing discontent in the farm sector. This discontent is over Trump’s handling of the trade dispute that was beginning to bite hard on US farm sector sales. You see, American farmers were heavily dependent on exports to China.
As the trade dispute between the countries had intensified over 2018-19, Trump had placated farm interests by providing an extra $28 billion in direct farm subsidies.
But it wasn’t enough.
According to some sources, no fewer than 12,000 farms went bankrupt in 2018 alone. The $28 billion was going mostly to agribusiness and not getting down to independent farmers who needed it most.
According to some sources, no fewer than 12,000 farms went bankrupt in 2018 alone. The $28 billion was going mostly to agribusiness and not getting down to independent farmers who needed it most.
Farm sector trade associations were demanding Trump settle the trade dispute and their voices grew louder after the August escalation between the US and China.
"This trade war of YOURS is killing US. Please stop it, resolve it, or do whatever it takes, and do it soon. You are killing us!"
So too were other notable business groups, like the US Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable, raising their complaints about the now rapid deterioration of the negotiations.
"I thought that we would come to a mutually fair and agreeable trade agreement. Not one that is contentious, where we are making all the demands, and forcing China into a corner in which they will never agree to. This is not only stupid in the short term, but unwise in the long term. STOP POKING THE PANDA BEAR!"
So too were other notable business groups, like the US Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable, raising their complaints about the now rapid deterioration of the negotiations.
The trade war was beginning to clearly impact general business investment and manufacturing in the Midwest US, and not only in the US but worldwide.
The entire global economy started to slow affecting everything and everyone.
US business investment on new plant and equipment turned negative in the 2nd quarter and promised to continue to slump, while business inventory investment was also being pared. If actions wouldn’t reverse, the entire “deck of cards” could go “belly up”.
On January 8 the World Bank released its report Global Economic Prospects, which confirmed what most people had suspected all along. The World Bank estimates global economic growth to decelerate by 0.1 percentage points in 2019, and the decline could continue well into 2020 as well.
Part of this could be attributed to the Donald Trump factor — free trade is being threatened like never before. However, it is also because the world has been awash in cash after 2008. Any attempt to bring back financial sobriety will mean a bit of belt-tightening, and hence an inevitable slowdown.
The trade war was beginning to impact beyond the farm sector.
By August the US manufacturing sector began to contract, joining what had now become a global manufacturing recession.
Moreover, at the end of August it was also beginning to appear that the manufacturing contraction in the US was potentially spilling over to the larger services sector.
While manufacturing PMIs were contracting in the US, the even larger Services sector PMI had begun to decelerate sharply in terms of growth rate.
Chase bank research was estimating that, with the new Trump tariffs on China consumer good imports set for September and December, consumer spending would be reduced on average by no less than $1,000 per household.
Of equal concern, the new round of Trump tariffs on consumer goods now threatened to slow US consumer spending—the only sector of the economy still holding up in terms of growth. If it does in fact impede growth, there could be disastrous consequences for America, Americans the reelection chances of Donald Trump.
"A key measure of consumer spending unexpectedly dropped for the first time in seven months in September, raising concerns about one of the brightest spots in the US economy.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday retail sales fell 0.3% last month, the first decline since February and compared with a 0.6% rise in August. Retail sales account for more than two-thirds of economic output.
Consumer activity, along with hiring, has propelled an economy that has been otherwise roiled by a trade dispute between the Trump administration and China."
Chase bank research was estimating that, with the new Trump tariffs on China consumer good imports set for September and December, consumer spending would be reduced on average by no less than $1,000 per household.
It was this growing economic slowdown in the US—combined with the growing political discontent in the farm sector and from other major non-farm business organizations—that pushed Trump to concede to the Phase 1 deal.
President Donald Trump’s trade war provided the kind of real-world experiment that practitioners of the dismal science so desperately crave, but the results weren’t all that different from what their econometric models predict. In a new paper, “The Impact of the 2018 Trade War on U.S. Prices and Welfare,” economists Mary Amiti of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Stephen J. Redding of Princeton University and David Weinstein of Columbia University document what economists have told us for decades: that tariffs are a tax on the consumer.
Trump may say, and believe, that “billions of dollars will soon be pouring into our Treasury from taxes that China is paying for us,” but China isn’t paying the taxes. U.S. consumers are. And as for the president’s belief that tariffs will “cure” the nation’s trade deficit, which he sees as a sign of weakness, today’s data suggest otherwise.
The study found that the waves of tariffs throughout 2018 resulted in “substantial increases” in the prices of intermediate and final goods, the cost of which was borne entirely by U.S. consumers. There was little improvement in the “terms of trade,” which means exporters didn’t lower their pre-tariff prices. And the higher price of imports enabled U.S. producers to raise their prices. What’s more, the tariffs introduced inefficiencies by disrupting supply-chain networks. And the customs duties were insufficient to offset the loss to consumers.
Trump’s 2020 election interests had become more paramount than the concerns of the neocons and militarists who were demanding China capitulate on the nextgen tech issue or no deal.
A rapid about face by Trump occurred by late August-early September and China was once again invited to resume talks in Washington in early October.
The content of the Phase 1 deal reached October 11, 2019 reveals that Trump abandoned his ‘big deal or no deal’ position. He retreated from the neocon ‘non negotiable’ demand, that was holding up a deal since May 2018. This demand was that China capitulate on the nextgen tech issue or no trade deal.
The content of the Phase 1 deal reached October 11, 2019 reveals that Trump abandoned his ‘big deal or no deal’ position. He retreated from the neocon ‘non negotiable’ demand, that was holding up a deal since May 2018. This demand was that China capitulate on the nextgen tech issue or no trade deal.
Placating his farm sector political base to get China to resume purchases, and taking China’s 51% ownership concession desperately wanted by US big banks (i.e. the primary demand of the Mnuchin faction on the US negotiating team), became Trump’s new priority demand in Phase 1.
Neocon John Bolton fired.
The nextgen technology issue so critical to the neocons was clearly demoted and removed from the bargaining table by the US.
In Phase 1 China got its ‘partial’ deal—and absent any concessions on the nextgen tech issue. That was left for a Phase 2 or even Phase 3, as Trump put it in his press conference the same day.
Trump’s advisers believe he wants to impose a 25 percent tariff on foreign autos, hoping to raise the cost on foreign competition and persuade U.S. consumers to buy American-made cars. But critics — which include many of his fellow Republicans and even some of his own advisers — caution it could raise costs for consumers and be a disaster for jobs.
Those critics also (unsuccessfully) urged Trump to not put tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, but this time the stakes are far higher.
So far, the president has tariffs on foreign washing machines, solar panels, steel, aluminum and some Chinese-made goods. In total, the tariffs cover about $85 billion worth of products. It sounds like a big number, but it is less than 4 percent of the United States’ total imports last year ($2.4 trillion)
Trump got what the China delegation had already offered way back in 2018: i.e. 51% ownership and resumption of big purchases of US farm products.
In short, Trump caved in and in effect “took the money and ran”. His 2020 re-election interests took precedence over the neocon-military concerns over China’s nextgen tech development. He announced to the world that the USA and China came to an agreement and trade deal.
In short, Trump caved in and in effect “took the money and ran”. His 2020 re-election interests took precedence over the neocon-military concerns over China’s nextgen tech development. He announced to the world that the USA and China came to an agreement and trade deal.
What’s In the Phase 1 Deal?
Important to note, the Phase 1 deal itself is not yet a signed agreement. It’s a verbal understanding between Trump and China’s vice-premier and chief negotiator, Liu He.
In his press conference announcing the deal on October 11, Trump admitted the parties were yet to sign off even on Phase 1 but hoped that it could be done within 5 weeks; that is by the time Trump and Xi meet again at the APEC conference in Chile in November.
Increased purchases of farm products by China.
Trump boasted repeatedly the Phase 1 deal included up to $40-$50 billion in new US farm purchases by China.
Over what period was not clear, however. Trump vacillated from saying current levels of China farm purchases were $8 billion, or maybe $16 billion, or was $17 billion at prior peaks.
He really didn’t know. Or maybe it was $20 billion, as one side comment was made in the press conference. It sounded like $40 billion was the target agreed to in principle and over the course of the next two years.
But that was the ceiling apparently.
Trump declared there’s “never been a deal of this magnitude for the American farmer”. Of course that wasn’t true. But the Trump hyperbole and spin was in.
Americans can have controlling interest in their companies on Chinese soil.
Another major agreement area in Phase 1, according to Trump, was China’s confirmation it would allow US companies to own 51% of their operations in China. As Trump put it, “banks will be very very happy”.
More US multinational corporations could now shift even more production to China.
A Suspension of an additional 5% tariff hike over the already applied 25% tariff hike.
On the important tariff front, in Phase 1 Trump agreed only to
suspend his threatened 5% tariff hike (raising rates from 25% to 30%)
due the following week of October.
What’s NOT In Phase 1
What’s not in Phase 1 reveals clearly that Trump clearly capitulated
on the nextgen tech issue in exchange for resumption of farm purchases
and the 51% US bank ownership in China offer.
No Intellectual Property protections.
What was agreed to in ‘IP, or intellectual property’ protections was
left vague in Phase 1. Trump admitted only some IP issues were included
in Phase 1 but didn’t say what. IP was mostly left to Phase 2, per
Trump.
No details on how China can control the value of the yuan.
Equally vague was the understanding in Phase 1 on how China might agree not to devalue the Yuan, its currency. That was key to the US since devaluation would offset Trump tariffs.
Trade representative, Lighthizer, provided some vague commentary during the Trump press conference about how China and the US would meet to work out some rules in that regard. But the devaluation issue itself was irrelevant.
China had consistently over the preceding 15 months of trade war intervened in money markets to keep its currency from devaluing, and did so even as the rising US dollar was the primary cause of the pressure on the Yuan to devalue, as it other currencies worldwide as well.
If anything was driving the devaluation it was the rising US dollar, not a policy action by China to enact a devaluation.
No action on nexgen technology.
Tech issues were in general put off.
As Trump declared, would be “largely done in Phase 2”, or maybe even a Phase 3. And Phase 2 would not begin until and if Phase 1 verbal understandings were ‘signed off’ in writing five weeks from now by Trump and Xi in Chile.
Further revealing no agreement on the strategic nextgen tech issue, Trump indicated the US would continue its policy attacking China’s 5G tech company, Huawei, as well as selectively ‘blacklist’ other Chinese AI companies in the US.
That was, he added, “a separate process”.
So the nextgen tech issue is now a separate track, in effect decoupled from the trade negotiations. It is very unlikely it will be reintroduced in Phase 2, should that subsequent round even occur, which is not likely in any substantive way before the 2020 US elections.
No reduction on existing tariffs.
Also left out of Phase 1 was any US reduction of existing tariffs on
China imports. That continuation of tariff levels included the $160
billion of China consumer goods exports to the US scheduled for December
15, 2019.
China can continue to subsidize it’s state-owned businesses.
The US also apparently failed to attain its demand that China reduce
its subsidies to its state owned enterprises—a strange proposal given
that the US just subsidized its business sector with trillions of
dollars with Trump’s 2018 tax cuts.
How and Why Trump Folded in the Trade War with China
As usual, Trump talked tough before his G20 meeting with Xi Jinping in Osaka, Japan.
“China will face 25% tariffs on the $300 billion of the remaining imports,”
It was frightening and terrifying, and the world shook. But lo and behold, he not only came up empty handed, but he also caved in numerous ways, including reversing his ban on Huawei.
What happened?
To summarize Trump’s astonishing loss at the negotiations with China:
He didn’t raise new tariffs (on the $300 billion of Chinese goods)
He reversed his ban on Huawei as well as eight other Chinese hi-tech companies, which were sentenced into the “entity list” just a month and half ago. (Now the whole “Huawei is a security threat” has been revealed as an utter hoax!)
He accepted more talks (though, without any deadline targets).
In exchange for all of this, all Trump got was China’s promise to buy more agricultural goods. Ah yes. Once again soybeans and farmers play an immense role in trade decisions.
Tech Bomb Neutralized
How did this happen?
First, China quickly neutralized Trump team’s “nuclear option”. With that option (or idea) being to shut down Huawei, at all levels, in the United States.
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. is a Chinese multinational technology company that provides telecommunications equipment and sells consumer electronics, including smartphones and is headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.
It’s not a bad play. As it has worked before.
The US was trying the same playbook that worked with Japan in the 1980s. That time, the US banned Toshiba to bully Japan into the infamous Plaza Accord. But, don’t you know, China isn’t Japan!
ThePlazaAccordorPlazaAgreementwasanagreementbetweenthegovernmentsof France, West Germany, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, todepreciatetheU.S. dollarinrelationtotheJapaneseyenandGermanDeutsche Markbyinterveningincurrencymarkets.
-Wikipedia
This time, however, was different.
Indeed, China and Huawei had a surprise for the US team. Huawei announced that it had been preparing for just this kind of an emergency for many many years.
They were ready.
This time, however, China and Huawei had a surprise for the US team: Huawei announced that it has been preparing for just this kind of an emergency for many many years. They were ready.
Huawei’s CEO (Ren Zhengfei) went on the offensive.
With the media hounding him for rebuttals and sound bites, he responded in a measured and methodical manner. In all, he laid out some pretty surprising comments and announcements. In which [1] he claimed that HiSilicon (a Huawei subsidiary) can make most of the semiconductor chips that Huawei uses, and [2] that Huawei has been working on a secret operating system (“Hong Meng” or “Ark OS”) that can replace both Android and Microsoft Windows!
Huawei did not need American semiconductor chips.
Huawei did not need American or Korean operating systems.
Some media outlets reported that this OS, referred to as "Hongmeng OS", could be released in China in either August or September 2019, with a worldwide release in the second quarter of 2020. On 24 May 2019, Huawei registered "Hongmeng OS" as a trademark in China.
- Harmony OS - Wikipedia
The reaction on the social media was unmistakable. Make no mistake. Anyone who was not an American was rooting for Huawei. Yes, the “underdog” which sold 200 million smartphones last year and half of them were outside China.
Hisilicon Technologies Co., Ltd. (海思半導體) is a Chinese fabless semiconductor company wholly owned subsidiary of Huawei. Founded in 1991 as ASIC Design Center of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., HiSilicon became an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of Huawei in 2004.
- HiSilicon - WikiChip
The reaction on the social media was unmistakable. Make no mistake. Anyone who was not an American was rooting for Huawei. Yes, the “underdog” which sold 200 million smartphones last year and half of them were outside China.
Americans had no idea. The Trump negotiation team were blindsided by this. American industry were stunned.
Now, Google and Microsoft were scared.
What if Huawei really launched a good decent OS that can take on Android and Windows? Worse, what if all the other Chinese smartphone companies switched to Hong Meng?
About 65% of worldwide Android users are using Chinese brands!
China is a major player when it comes to the production of smartphones. In addition to having a hand in many of the most recognizable tech brands, China has a number of its own brands that have become quite popular internationally. Are any smartphones not made in China? You can find a phone that’s not manufactured in the People’s Republic–if you’re willing to hunt.
While the US was trying to kill Huawei, it seemed like Huawei was about to kill Android.
The roles were reversed, and America wasn’t ready.
And the implications are far worse.
For the US would lose all its abilities to spy on the world, if both the hardware and the software are Chinese! Truth be told, this is the real reason why Google started lobbying the Trump administration to lift the ban on Huawei.
As for the US semiconductor companies, they also started seeing signs of Chinese independence in the chip-designing area.
China announced a new home-grown CPU that could compete with Intel and AMD. This would be the first time a non-American company would make its own CPU. And another Chinese company announced it will start mass production of memory chips (DRAM).
China announced a new home-grown CPU that could compete with Intel and AMD. This would be the first time a non-American company would make its own CPU. And another Chinese company announced it will start mass production of memory chips (DRAM).
To summarize: US plans for crushing Huawei fell flat and (depending on your point of view) even backfired.
US plans for crushing Huawei fell flat and backfired.
Chinese Economy
How about China’s economy? Are Trump’s tariffs crushing the Chinese economy? Was China on the verge of collapse due to starvation, famine and a rising tide demanding “democracy”?
Not really.
Of course, you wouldn’t be able to tell, with the American propaganda machine in full force, churning out bullshit…
"China’s economy grew at mere 6 per cent in the third quarter of 2019 compared with a year earlier, its slowest pace in about 30 years, delivering another blow to global growth and underlining many of the challenges facing President Xi Jinping.
The country’s trade war with the US, slowing income growth and cooling manufacturing investment took a toll on the world’s second-largest economy between July and September, according to the figures released by the (American) National Bureau of Statistics on Friday."
- The Worst Chinese Economy in 30 Years
Meanwhile, the American economy is roaring forward ever skyward…
"The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the United States expanded 2.30 percent in the second quarter of 2019 over the same quarter of the previous year. GDP Annual Growth Rate in the United States averaged 3.20 percent from 1948 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 13.40 percent in the fourth quarter of 1950 and a record low of -3.90 percent in the second quarter of 2009."
- United States GDP Annual Growth Rate | 2019
Um… I might not be the smartest fellow in the world, but I am pretty sure that 6.0% is a lot better than 2.3% growth. No matter how you look at it.
What’s going on?
During Jan-May 2019, China’s exports to the US fell about 5%, but China’s exports to the EU rose more than 14%. And, guess what, EU is China’s #1 trading partner (and ASEAN is the #2 trade partner), while the US is #3.
During Jan-May 2019, China’s exports to the US fell about 5%, but China’s exports to the EU rose more than 14%. And, guess what, EU is China’s #1 trading partner (and ASEAN is the #2 trade partner), while the US is #3.
So, China keeps growing at a healthy pace. In fact, the IMF predicts a healthy 6.2% real GDP growth for China this year!
But here’s the kicker.
While China’s exports to the US fell 4.8%, the reverse — US exports to China — fell by a whopping 24% (for the first five months of 2019).
The talking is over. Now we’re fighting a real trade war — and here on my farm in Iowa, I’m on the front line.
The dispute between the United States and China poses a direct threat to my livelihood. Because of the new and emerging tariffs on both sides, the things I grow will sell for less and the things I buy will cost me more.
This week the price of hogs dropped $12 for every pig I sell. This morning, soybeans are down 40 cents a bushel — a $1.7 billion loss to the value of U.S. soybeans. And if I want to make new capital purchases of machinery or grain bins — anything made with steel or aluminum — I’ll have to pay a higher amount.
For years, we’ve engaged in a war of words with China over trade. American officials have complained about everything from China’s currency manipulation and subsidized industries to a trade deficit that hit a record level in 2017. The difference between what Americans bought from China and what Chinese bought from the United States reached $375 billion last year. President Trump recently demanded that the United States reduce this gap by at least $100 billion.
Last month, Trump fired a salvo, announcing new tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum. China retaliated a few days ago with a long list of new tariffs, affecting about $50 billion of American-made products. Many fruits and nuts, for example, will face a 15 percent tax. So will a variety of stainless steel pipes.
China also slapped a 25-percent tax on pork products — a category that affects me directly because I raise hogs. We try to sell every part of these animals, from the meat to the offal. Even before the trade war erupted, pork prices weren’t very good. Now they have dropped to the lowest prices since 2003.
Now things are going from bad to worse.
The Trump administration responded on Tuesday by proposing more than 1,300 new tariffs on Chinese products, including televisions, chemicals and machinery. They’re also worth about $50 billion, in a tit-for-tat move that aims to match China’s latest round.
Now China has shot back. On Wednesday, it added tariffs to more than 100 U.S. products, including cars and planes. This round affects me, too. If the Chinese impose the announced tariff of 25 percent on soybeans, another major product on my farm, it will lower my price $2.50 a bushel.
China isn’t the only market for my pork and soybeans. Reducing our access to this important destination, however, has global repercussions. The bottom line is that what I produce is suddenly worth less money. My competitors in Argentina and Brazil must be celebrating their good luck.
What will tomorrow bring? Nobody knows. Today, however, is bad enough: My farm business is now under siege, held hostage by a trade war that my neighbors and I never wanted. Yet, U.S. Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer says we can’t worry about me, it is the big picture that is important. All I can say to him is that the financial bullets are real, and they hit with real impact on us in agriculture.
To be sure, Trump isn’t doing anything he said he wouldn’t do. He has talked tough on trade from the moment he announced his candidacy. I supported his election, but also harbored deep reservations about his trade agenda. Now my fears have come to fruition.
My hope is that the president will make good on the promise that he’s a master negotiator. Perhaps he’ll bargain his way out this mess. Many of the new tariffs have yet to take effect. They’ve already shaken markets and taken an economic toll, but they are threats rather than realities. Perhaps a round of productive bargaining will sweep them away.
- Impact of Chinese trade war: What American farmers produce is suddenly worth less money
So, US exporters and farmers are hurting real bad.
And Trump cannot win re-election without the support of those “great soybean/corn/pork farmers.”
As for the tariffs on the last $300 billion of imports from China, 600 major US corporations and influential trade groups — Walmart, Nike, Apple etc. — strongly lobbied against the tariffs and held a few days of hearing/testimony with the US Dept. of Commerce.
Behind the doors, corporate lobbyists were probably threatening US politicians — “If you don’t stop these tariffs, we will fund your opponent in the coming election and destroy you!”
Then, to really really rub it in, Apple announced one day before the G20 meeting that they were going to move manufacturing of high-end desktop computers (Mac Pro) from the US to China!!!
Yes, it is true, China can cripple the US economy in many ways. Rather than actually carrying out these threats, the Chinese government warned US corporations whose subsidiaries are making hundreds of billions of dollars every year in China — note that this is not reflected in the official trade surplus/deficit calculations.
Then China made these corporations lobby the Trump administration. This is much more effective.
At the same time, China has also been opening up certain sectors in the last month. For example, Morgan Stanley was allowed to become a majority holder in its joint venture; and US corporations would be free to compete
in oil/gas sectors in China. Such actions create allies who will put
the pressure on US politicians to not escalate the trade war.
As for manufacturing, China is moving ahead with artificial intelligence, robotics, 5G, IoT etc. The Chinese really don’t want to be stuck with low-end manufacturing. If some of these jobs move to Vietnam, Thailand etc., that’s fine.
China needs only four or five more years before it fully catches up with the US in major sectors such as semiconductor, biotechnology and civil aviation. While the Chinese government has officially stopped talking about “Made in 2025,” you can bet it has been accelerated to “Made in China 2023.”
Thus, the Chinese government’s plan is to just ride out America’s temper tantrum for a few more years.
The US needs a completely new paradigm for the 21st century. Unfortunately, Washington elites are totally clueless.
Washington elites are totally clueless.
Sun Tzu said, “strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory, but tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” The latter approach is more appealing to Trump, the real estate salesman and TV reality star.
Total capitulation? Art of the Deal? There are actually some very interesting global dynamics at play and lessons to learn. First, to summarize, Trump announced a ‘Phase 1’ of trade deal with China.
Moreover, to the dismay of many of his supporters who are virulently anti-China, he said the following: “There was a lot of friction between the US and China. Now it’s a love fest! That’s a good thing.”
Why Trump made the deal with Phase One
As I have written numerous times over the last 1.5 years, the trade war with China was a futile effort.
China is too strong.
The US is too dependent on China.
It is also impossible to move any meaningful amount of manufacturing out of China.
Moreover, Trump is facing re-election and now, to make things worse, possible impeachment by Democrats. He needs a win. The best solution is to get a partial deal and declare victory.
Winners and Losers
While the US didn’t get its biggest demand (structural changes to the Chinese system) Trump certainly won some decent concessions. These include
China opening up its financial sector to Wall Street
US companies operating in China without joint ventures or technology transfer
Currency deal (strengthening Yuan)
Chinese purchase of agricultural products
Winner #1: The people who run the US are the financial guys — Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Blackstone, Fidelity, Vanguard, Citigroup etc. These guys don’t give a damn about manufacturing,
which is a low-profit operation. The mega and easy profits are made in
stocks, bonds, mutual funds, insurance, derivatives etc.
The ultimate dream of these Wall Street types is to tap into the Chinese market, which has the world’s largest middle class with the fastest growing wealth. Starting next year, these financial guys will be able to set up fully foreign-owned firms that specialize in futures, securities and mutual funds.
Winner #2: China comes out as a winner, even though it has suffered and compromised quite a bit in the negotiations.
First, the US attack has forced Chinese companies to accelerate their plans for technology independence.
Second, the trade war has helped strengthen the Chinese communist party and has increased the sense of nationalism among the public. China has now proven to the world and itself that it can stand up to the US — it didn’t fold in the trade war; numerous countries have refused to ban Huawei or drop out of the Belt and Road Initiative in spite of a lot of American pressure; and US corporations like the NBA and Apple have bowed to China.
Third, the opening up of China will create competition and eventually improve Chinese companies.
Finally, fourthly this truce will stabilize China’s economy and stop America’s hybrid wars (non-war wars). Indeed, just watch how quickly the protests in Hong Kong fizzle out; and watch how the Uyghur “concentration camp” story gets forgotten by the US media.
Partial Winners: US corporations are partial winners, and US farmers will go back to where they were before.
US corps will be able to export more, when the Yuan becomes stronger.
Of course, it depends on how much and how fast Yuan rises. Also, Trump
says that China has agreed to buy $40 or $50 billion worth of US
agricultural products, but farming is not like a factory where you can
double the output easily. So, farmers will just go back to the status
quo before the trade war began.
Just like Bush didn’t break China, Trump won’t break China by forcing
another 20 or 25% rise in Yuan’s value. In fact, that will work just
fine for China, which wants to (1) move its economy more towards
consumption and (2) make Yuan an international currency.
Losers: First, all the rabid anti-China, anti-communist and anti-globalist conservatives are going to be deeply disappointed.
We are not decoupling with china and, worse, we are becoming more interconnected with China. There’s a big crowd on social media who spew insane things like China is our biggest enemy every day! Followers of Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro, Gordon Chang, Kyle Bass etc. will be going through the five stages of grief.
Also, the losers will be those who dreamed of manufacturing jobs
streaming back from China to the US. (They may come back 10-15 years
from now when industrial robots are much smarter).
Phase 1 Conclusion, and on to Phase 2
In his White House briefing, Trump also mentioned a couple of times that this deal is good for world peace. Whether he meant it or not, the sentiment is right. The concept of “Chimerica” may have a chance to live a little longer.
However, there is a catch: US elites may still be dreaming of the “Phase 2” of the deal.
What’s in Phase 2
This is the failed dream-plan to stop the rise of China. Many conservatives hope that this will be implemented to put China in it’s “rightful” place.
This includes “structural changes” to China’s economy — basically making China open up its entire economy to foreign banks/corporations and dismantle its socialist system. It is intended to dismantle the Chinese “Communist with Chinese characteristics” system and replace it with American-style democracy…
As if that is EVER going to happen!
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019. Also, we can expect more legislation. The legislation will hamper Chinese interests. Geng Shuang, China’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson, warned the US about consequences. He said that the legislation is the “wrong decision of the U.S.”
He also said, “Chinese side will have to enact effective countermeasures,” according to a CNBC report.
Shuang warned that if the Senate passes the bill, the bilateral relationship between the US and China could deteriorate. The deal will hamper US interests in China.
Notably, China is an important market for US stocks like Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA). Apple suppliers are located in China. Notably, car sales in China contribute significantly to Tesla’s revenues. However, the above events might give President Trump an extra edge during the trade talks. The legislation needs President Trump’s approval.
-Market Realist
Such changes will mean that there won’t be any state-owned enterprises or government-directed plans like “Made in China 2025.”
From the beginning, US elites were trying to break China like they did with Japan in the 1980s.
In the Plaza Accord, the US forced Japan to double the value of Yen, move car manufacturing plants from Japan to the US, accept crippling sanctions on Toshiba, and handover valuable semiconductor technology patents to the US. All these were possible because the US still occupied Japan. And the lead American negotiator who made it all possible was … Robert Lighthizer … who’s now been leading the charge against China for more than two years.
Unlike Toshiba … Huawei and other Chinese companies now under the “entity list” can survive without US technology or market. Unlike Japan … China is a fully independent country.
Head’s up…
Phase 2 will never happen.
It is highly unlike there will be a ‘Phase 2’ in anything but a token discussion level. And if there is, it is extremely unlikely it will include any meaningful concessions by China on next gen tech—i.e. AI, 5G, cybersecurity.
China has now clearly prevailed in blunting Trump and the neocon offensive in that regard.
For their part, Trump and US military-industrial-Pentagon interests will continue to pursue blocking China on the tech issue in ways decoupled from trade negotiations.
Various other measures will now be the focus, such as attacking and blacklisting China tech companies in the US and even elsewhere among US allies. Perhaps even delisting them from US stock exchanges, as a recent Washington ‘trial balloon’ proposed.
Trump did not go there on the eve of the recent negotiations.
It would certainly have ‘blown up’ the trade deal once again if he had. But that—blacklisting and delisting—remain as likely US tactics in the months to come. For the technology war—i.e. the real war behind the tariffs and trade war—has only just begun between the two countries.
And a broader economic war involving non-tariff measures is almost certain to erupt after the 2020 elections.
A ‘Phase 2’ follow up negotiations is tentatively set for after the Phase 1 sign off in November in Chile. Not much will come of it, however, so long as Trump insists on maintaining the current level of 25% tariffs on China imports to the US.
Trump likes the current level of tariffs and the revenue it brings in, which allows him a somewhat independent source of financing for his domestic programs independent of the US Congress passing legislation and authorization bills which he now won’t get.
On the other hand, Trump may temporarily suspend the planned tariff hikes on $160 billion of consumer goods due December 15, 2019 should the US economy continue to weaken in the 4th quarter, which is more likely than not.
But it will be a temporary suspension, not a dropping of the tariffs.
The 15 month long US-China so-called trade war is over.
There will be further discussions but no significant changes before the US 2020 election. What Trump got in Phase 1 is all he’s going to get.
He’s probably promised the neocons, who have lost out on this Phase 1 deal, even more aggressive action against China companies doing business in the US. That’s their ‘concession prize’.
Worst case, Phase 1 might not even be finalized, should the neocon-Pentagon-Military Industrial Complex faction regroup and try to scuttle the deal, once again for a third time. There’s always that possibility.
-Counterpunch
Meanwhile, China is putting the Neocons on warning… do NOT mess with us.
This is China's most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and it has an operational range of more than 14, 000 kilometers. The DF-41 is capable of carrying about 10 independently targetable nuclear warheads which can hit any target on earth. DF-41 is now the world's longest range missile ahead of US LGM-30 Minuteman which has a reported range of 13,000 kilometers.
- China unveils Dongfeng-41 missiles that ‘can strike US
…the US realized that gunboat diplomacy or nuclear diplomacy are off the table.
For decades, the United States has taken China’s ballistic missile capability for granted, assessing it as a low-capability force with limited regional impact and virtually no strategic value. But on October 1, during a massive military parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Beijing put the U.S., and the world, on notice that this assessment was no longer valid.
In one fell swoop, China may have nullified America’s strategic nuclear deterrent, the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and U.S. missile defense capability. Through its impressive display of new weapons systems, China has underscored the reality that while the United States has spent the last two decades squandering trillions of dollars fighting insurgents in the Middle East, Beijing was singularly focused on overcoming American military superiority in the Pacific. If the capabilities of these new weapons are taken at face value, China will have succeeded on this front.
The ghosts of Opium Wars and the Century of Humiliation made sure that China was prepared for this moment.
A Failed Trump Trade Policy
Trump’s trade war with China is clearly a net failure. Trump could have gotten the same deal back in 2018, more than a year ago. Instead, the dispute was allowed to escalate, with the effect of causing business uncertainty and slowing investment in the US and worldwide due to the 15 month trade war.
The trade war has clearly played a part in the global manufacturing recession now underway, which threatens now to spread to services and consumption and precipitate a general recession in the US economy and possibly even worldwide.
Trump has pushed the global economy to the brink of a worldwide
currency war in the process as well. He has drained $28 billion thus
far from business and consumer spending in order to collect tariff
revenues that he’s diverted in turn to the farm sector in subsidies that
otherwise might not have been necessary. Small business, household
consumers, and failing small farmers have paid the price and will
continue to do so in higher prices from continuing tariffs.
Despite 15 months of trade war with China—and a series of ‘softball’ trade deals with South Korea, Japan, and Mexico-Canada—the US trade deficit as of August 2019 has reached record deficit levels of $55 billion that month and an annual rate of nearly $700 billion a year. The trade wars have been totally ineffective in reducing the US trade deficit—if that was ever the goal.
If we look at the ratio of #exports to #GDP (currently 19.51%) and the #distribution by country (just about 20% to the #US), we realize that only about 3.9% of #China's GDP is coming from exports to the US.
That is less than the annual growth of GDP.
In other words, China's #economy grows by much more than all the exports to the US - every year.
This puts the potential pressure the #USA can put on China via protectionist policies in quite some perspective.
Of course, the actual exports have a multiplier, as suppliers to exporting companies would also suffer from a further closing down of the US economy.
But the main message remains: 80% of Chinese exports don't go to the US (and increasing as trade with #Africa grows), and overall the Chinese economy is less and less dependent of foreign #currency coming from exports. #TradeWar
-Harold Bachmann
Now some humorous Dilbert on this matter…
Links about China
Here are
some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader,
might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.
China and America Comparisons
As an
American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United
States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.
The Chinese Business KTV Experience
This is
the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the
British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal
press. This is the reality. Read or not.
Learning About China
Who
doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what
China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in
China.
Contemporaneous Chinese Music
This is a
series of posts that discuss contemporaneous popular music in China. It
is a wide ranging and broad spectrum of travel, and at that, all that I
am able to provide is the flimsiest of overviews. However, this series
of posts should serve as a great starting place for investigation and
enjoyment.
Parks in China
The parks
in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very
mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.
Really Strange China
Here are
some posts that discuss a number of things about China that might seem
odd, or strange to Westerners. Some of the things are everyday events,
while others are just representative of the differences in culture.
What is China like?
The
purpose of this post is to illustrate that the rest of the world,
outside of America, has moved on with their lives. That while they
might not be as great as America is, they are doing just fine thank
you.
And while
America has been squandering it’s money, decimating it’s resources,
and just being cavalier with it’s military, the rest of the world has
done the opposite. They have husbanded their day to day fortunes, and
you can see this in their day-to-day lives.
Summer in Asia
Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…
Some Fun Videos
Here’s a collection of some fun videos taken all over Asia. While
there are many videos taken in China, we also have some taken in
Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea and Japan as well. It’s all in fun.
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
I believe that it is time for all Americans to take a serious re-look at what America stands for; our “democracy”, and our way of life as it exists today. Is it really all that great?
Is America living up to the grand ideals set forth in the “Great Experiment of 1776”?
Or, it is just going to be yet another big mistake heading towards the “great collapse” of society?
I think that a serious reappraisal of [1] what America is, [2] what notions it is founded upon, and [3] how it is structured needs to be re-thought out. It is time to take a good long hard look at [4] what America has become, and [5] how we got here. And [6] what needs to change once [7] corrective measures have been put in place.
I ask this.
Really, is democracy; “rule by popularity” ideal for Americans?
A typical American, inappropriately dressed (obviously), shopping at Wal-Mart. Really, is democracy; “rule by popularity” ideal for Americans? Or should America be run by talented people who earned their role through merit rather than popularity? Think about it.
Can the Constitution be protected from “well meaning”, or “the greedy”, or “evil” such as President Wilson, or FDR, or Obama from rewriting and re-interpreting it to fit their various nefarious ends?
Well, can it?
Because if we cannot, using the current governmental structure, then we must change it into something different.
Indeed, simply hoping that our progeny will be “ever vigilant” is just wishful thinking, and history has proven, for certain, that it does not work. And at that, we must well understand that it will NEVER WORK in the future.
Can the Constitution be protected from “well meaning”, or “the greedy”, or “evil” such as President Wilson, or FDR, or Obama from rewriting and re-interpreting it to fit their various nefarious ends?
What’s going to stop another Wilson, another FDR, another Obama, another Bush from rewriting the Constitution, or reinterpreting it to fit their nefarious ends? What’s it going to take?
What is it going to take?
But my thoughts are this matter are perhaps a little too harsh to the general American public. No one wants to hear that a democracy is flawed, or rather so flawed that America will collapse upon itself within a decade. No one wants to hear this.
Americans have a Pavlovian response to the phrase “freedom and democracy,” and it’s no surprise that so many of them are rooting for the protesters in Hong Kong.
-World Affairs Blog
Well, others, better word-smiths than myself have some things to say about this subject. One of the best comes from Mr. Noonan in his article titled “A Clean Break“. He wrote this article on 29 September 2019, and I personally think that it is brilliant. He isn’t so prone to offending people as I am.
For I earnestly believe that America has neither "democracy" nor "freedom". We just parrot the words without talking a good look around us at what America has devolved into.
Here I present it for your viewing pleasure.
This article is copied as written without much editing aside from some paragraph formatting and the fonts used in this template.
I added some "pull away" text for highlighting and maybe interjected on or two personal comments along the way (though you will be able to easily see that they are from your's truly.)
I have added my own pictures to help illustrate some of his fine points.
After reading the article, I would suggest the reader go to his original article and read some of his other works. This fellow is brilliant and a word-smith.
All credit to the author Mr. Noonan writing in Blogs for Victory.
As the last few weeks have played out in politics, it has forced me to do a complete re-assessment of how I’ve looked at the world for my entire adult life.
To be sure, this reconsideration has been ongoing for about a decade, or maybe a little more, but it has really crystalized out recently. It is time for a complete, clean break with what went before and to chart a new path forward.
As the last few weeks have played out in politics, it has forced me to do a complete re-assessment of how I’ve looked at the world for my entire adult life. It is time for a complete, clean break with what went before and to chart a new path forward. Maybe the American Constitution is flawed in some very serious ways, and it is up to use to seek out those flaws and eliminate them completely.
What Hunter Biden did is nothing new; it isn’t in the least remarkable.
He was merely the recipient of what people in his position routinely receive: a special deal which allows him to be very rich for little or no effort.
Hunter Biden was merely the recipient of what people in his position routinely receive: a special deal which allows him to be very rich for little or no effort.
This way his life can be devoted to what really matters: hanging around with other rich people, attending conferences and galas and generally having a swell time.
And if he decided to follow in Daddy’s political footsteps, the way would be cleared for him in some safe (Congressional) seat.
If you start looking into it – as Matt and I did in our 2007 book, Caucus of Corruption – you just see that it is everywhere. In that book, for political reasons, we concentrated on the Democrat side of the aisle (given that our goal was to show the absurdity of the Democrats 2006 campaign against a so-called “GOP culture of corruption”), but we could easily have written it about politics, in general.
If you start looking into it – as Matt and I did in our 2007 book, Caucus of Corruption – you just see that it is everywhere. In that book, for political reasons, we concentrated on the Democrat side of the aisle (given that our goal was to show the absurdity of the Democrats 2006 campaign against a so-called “GOP culture of corruption”), but we could easily have written it about politics, in general.
Corruption is everywhere in the United States.
What it really shows is that people who go into politics – with a few very rare exceptions – are in it for themselves.
The advent of legalized corruption launched by the Supreme Court empowers the superrich to fund their own presidential and congressional campaigns as pet projects, to foster pet policies, and to represent pet political enclaves. You have a billion, or even several hundred million, then purchase a candidate from the endless reserve bench of minor politicians and make him or her a star, a mouthpiece for any cause or purpose however questionable, and that candidate will mouth your script in endless political debates and through as many television spots as you are willing to pay for. All legal now.To compound the political felony, much, if not most, campaign financing is now carried out in secret, so that everyday citizens have a decreasing ability to determine to whom their elected officials are beholden and to whom they must now give special access. As recently as the 2014 election, the facts documented this government of influence by secrecy: “More than half of the general election advertising aired by outside groups in the battle for control of Congress,” according to the New York Times, “has come from organizations that disclose little or nothing about their donors, a flood of secret money that is now at the center of a debate over the line between free speech and corruption.”Of this handful, the largest by far is WPP (originally called Wire and Plastic Products; is there a metaphor here?), which has its headquarters in London and more than 150,000 employees in 2,500 offices spread around 107 countries. It, together with one or two conglomerating competitors, represents a fourth branch of government, vacuuming up former senators and House members and their spouses and families, key committee staff, former senior administration officials of both parties and several administrations, and ambassadors, diplomats, and retired senior military officers.WPP has swallowed giant public relations, advertising, and lobbying outfits such as Hill & Knowlton and BursonMarsteller, along with dozens of smaller members of the highly lucrative special interest and influence-manipulation world. Close behind WPP is the Orwellian-named Omnicom Group and another converger vaguely called the Interpublic Group of Companies. According to Mr. Edsall, WPP had billings last year of $72.3 billion, larger than the budgets of quite a number of countries.
– From the Gary Hart article, Gary Hart: America’s Founding Principles Are in Danger of Corruption
Corruption is part of democracy.
They want power and money and attention and fame and praise and so they go into politics – and almost invariably, if they are even modestly successful at winning office, wind up richer than they did when they started.
And it has been going on for a long time, folks; throughout all the Western democracies.
When you study the motivations of those in politics, you discover what drives them. They want power and money and attention and fame and praise and so they go into politics – and almost invariably, if they are even modestly successful at winning office, wind up richer than they did when they started. And it has been going on for a long time, folks; throughout all the Western democracies.
There are, I believe, some who still deny that England is governed by an oligarchy.
It is quite enough for me to know that a man might have gone to sleep some thirty years ago over the day’s newspaper and woke up last week over the later newspaper, and fancied he was reading about the same people.
In one paper he would have found a Lord Robert Cecil, a Mr. Gladstone, a Mr. Lyttleton, a Churchill, a Chamberlain, a Trevelyan, an Acland.
In the other paper he would find a Lord Robert Cecil, a Mr. Gladstone, a Mr. Lyttleton, a Churchill, a Chamberlain, a Trevelyan, an Acland.
If this is not being governed by families I cannot imagine what it is. I suppose it is being governed by extraordinary democratic coincidences.
…extraordinary democratic coincidences.
Funny, huh? How people from the same family can keep winding up on top. Either they are families of geniuses, or someone is making things happen.
What are the odds that the son of an American Senator would be just the person an oil company needs to pay $50,000.00 a month to?
But, it just keeps happening and happening because, well, that’s just the way it is. And it wouldn’t be so bad if they were at least any good at being an oligarchy!
But they aren’t.
After you study this issue, you discover that it just keeps happening and happening. And the reason why, is because, well, that’s just the way it is. And it wouldn’t be so bad if they were at least any good at being an oligarchy!
Back in Chesterton’s day, there was the cold, hard reality that Winston Churchill was at least as talented as his father, Randolph. There was something there – there was, that is, a justification for Winston getting a leg up (and he did) to enter politics based on his father’s previous efforts.
These days, you get to benefit even if the previous person in line was a complete, rotten failure. And rotten failure is all we’ve gotten – and I’m getting very ecumenical in that, by the way. I’m not excusing anyone on partisan grounds any longer.
To be sure, the Republicans I voted for in the past were at least better than the Democrats I voted against (with the exception of McCain: knowing that I’m the co-author of Worst President, please understand that I believe McCain would have been even worse than Obama proved to be).
But they were only better in degree, not in kind.
Republicans are corrupt.
I mean, let’s face some cold, hard facts here: President Bush the Younger was re-elected with 51% of the vote in 2004 and came into his second term with high approval ratings and a Republican Congress.
With all this, he couldn’t even manage to de-fund Planned Parenthood or NPR!
I mean, let’s face some cold, hard facts here: President Bush the Younger was re-elected with 51% of the vote in 2004 and came into his second term with high approval ratings and a Republican Congress. With all this, he couldn’t even manage to de-fund Planned Parenthood or NPR! He did not care for the conservative cause(s), he only campaigned on them to hood-wink all of us for voting for him. He knew which levers to push, and which buttons to push.
It could have been done, easily, in a budget reconciliation between House and Senate and there would have been nothing the Democrats could have done about it.
On a more personal level, how can public service be promoted as an ideal to young people when this sewer corrupts our Republic? At this point in early twenty-first-century America, the greatest service our nation’s young people could provide is to lead an army of outraged young Americans armed with brooms on a crusade to sweep out the rascals and rid our capital of the money changers, rent seekers, revolving door dancers, and special interest deal makers and power brokers and send them back home to make an honest living, that is, if they still remember how to do so.Our ancestors did not depart Europe and elsewhere to seek freedom and self-government alone. They came to these shores to escape social and political systems that were corrosive and corrupt. Two and a quarter centuries later, we are returning to those European practices. We are in danger of becoming a different kind of nation, one our founders would not recognize and would deplore.In addition to the rise of the national security state, and the concentration of wealth and power in America, no development in modern times sets us apart more from the nation originally bequeathed to us than the rise of the special interest state.There is a Gresham’s law related to the republican ideal. Bad politics drives out good politics. Legalized corruption drives men and women of stature, honor, and dignity out of the halls of government. Self-respecting individuals cannot long tolerate a system of election and reelection so dependent on cultivating the favor of those known to expect access in return. Such a system is corrosive to the soul.
– From the Gary Hart article, Gary Hart: America’s Founding Principles Are in Danger of Corruption
This was “better” than a President Kerry who probably would have increased PP funding, but not really better in that the taxes of pro-life Americans were still going to fund something they consider abhorrent…and which Bush and the entire GOP campaigned on getting rid of.
I know some will say that this is just our GOP screwing it’s base and that the Democrats don’t do that. But, they do.
Both the republicans and the democrats are corrupt to the core. They only care about themselves and their little tribe of corrupt underlings. No one else.
Democrats are corrupt.
Obama was elected in 2008 with 53% of the vote and came into office with a Democrat Congress and a filibuster-proof Senate majority…and he couldn’t even get the single payer health system Democrats say they want.
It would have been easy.
The GOP could have done nothing to stop it. Enact a 10% payroll tax to fund it and just start passing out the cash to people who need health care.
A former senator from Colorado, Gary Hart, has written an extremely powerful and accurate critique of the unfathomably corrupt and crony state of the U.S. government in 2015. It covers several very important angles, including how appalled and disgusted our founders would be at the current state of affairs. How a once great republic has devolved into a thieving oligarchy in which the pursuit of money at power at the expense of the public good has been elevated into something that’s not just tolerated, but actually celebrated and encouraged amongst an ethics deprived status quo.
-Liberty Blitzkreig
That you and I know it would have been a disaster is neither here nor there – our side had lost the election and the Democrats won all the power they could possibly need to make all Democrat dreams come true…and they couldn’t do something like that.
Once you are in politics, it’s all on for party-on good times. You swindle and funnel money left and right and no one gives a damn about the American people. This includes both sides of the Congress, and all their cronies from the war-mongering generals to the intellectuals pushing climate change, and radical social change down our collective throats.
They instead wound up with the abomination known as Obamacare which even if it had worked as planned would still have left millions out in the cold and cost like the devil – but they couldn’t even write something that worked!
Meanwhile, not only did Obama not end the wars they campaigned against in 2008, he started new one’s…
droning the living sh** out of every poor, brown skinned person they could target (well, those they weren’t letting in as unvetted refugees, that is).
A public works bonanza that didn’t create any public works.
A slew of new spending which improved nothing.
This is what the Democrat voters get for investing their time and effort? Yep – in other words, nothing: but lots and lots for whomever is the crony. Democrat cronies made out like bandits. But your average purple-haired Democrat wanting more safe spaces? Not much.
This is what the Democrat voters get for investing their time and effort? Yep – in other words, nothing: but lots and lots for whomever is the crony. Democrat cronies made out like bandits. But your average purple-haired Democrat wanting more safe spaces? Not much.
By that standard, can anyone seriously doubt that our republic, our government, is corrupt? There have been Teapot Domes and financial scandals of one kind or another throughout our nation’s history. There has never been a time, however, when the government of the United States was so perversely and systematically dedicated to special interests, earmarks, side deals, log-rolling, vote-trading, and sweetheart deals of one kind or another.What brought us to this? A sinister system combining staggering campaign costs, political contributions, political action committees, special interest payments for access, and, most of all, the rise of the lobbying class.Worst of all, the army of lobbyists that started relatively small in the mid-twentieth century has now grown to big battalions of law firms and lobbying firms of the right, left, and an amalgam of both. And that gargantuan, if not reptilian, industry now takes on board former members of the House and the Senate and their personal and committee staffs. And they are all getting fabulously rich.Frustrated, irate discussions of this legalized corruption are met in the Washington media with a shrug. So what? Didn’t we just have dinner with that lobbyist for the banking industry, or the teachers’ union, or the airline industry at that well-known journalist’s house only two nights ago? Fine lady, and she used to be the chairman of one of those powerful committees. I gather she is using her Rolodex rather skillfully on behalf of her new clients. Illegal? Not at all. Just smart . . . and so charming.There is little wonder that Americans of the right and many in the middle are apoplectic at their government and absolutely, and rightly, convinced that the game of government is rigged in favor of the elite and the powerful. Occupiers see even more wealth rising to the top at the expense of the poor and the middle class. And Tea Partiers believe their tax dollars are going to well-organized welfare parasites and government bureaucrats.
– From the Gary Hart article, Gary Hart: America’s Founding Principles Are in Danger of Corruption
And as far as the social disintegration we’ve seen over the past 60 years – we’ve been blinded by the Democrats pushing the disintegration that we haven’t noticed the Republicans letting them do it.
And when they have power to roll it back, doing nothing of the sort.
And as far as the social disintegration we’ve seen over the past 60 years – we’ve been blinded by the Democrats pushing the disintegration that we haven’t noticed the Republicans letting them do it. And when they have power to roll it back, doing nothing of the sort. They just smile for the cameras, enjoy their high-priced meals in fancy restaurants, free hookers, and retire for their closed “boys clubs”.
The Administrative state and its regulators, a creation of previous congress’s, have grown into a bureaucracy so entrenched that worker’s can’t even be fired. They lurk in the darkness of their own regulations and use their powers to punish those who fail to comply. Regulators are great for making and executing rules and regulations, and taxing, but not so good at designing those regulations to advance unproven political theories, that most often come undone.
The unrealized dangers of delegating rules and regulations making, is that Congress removes itself from accountability. Legislators govern by theory, proposing ideas that are then delegated to an agency charged to “make” it work. To ensure their schemes work, Congress politicized the Federal judicial benches, including the Supreme Court, to support their legislative agenda regardless of the unconstitutionality, through judicial activism. Judges don’t make laws!
- Why Should We Accept Corrupt Government?
Their actions are disgusting.
And now we see in the Epstein case the reason why it might have all been allowed to happen: Lord only knows how many of the high and mighty are caught in that web…
…but what better way to get out from under that rock than by making the rock legal?
Hey, Paul Ryan, you’re the guy in charge of the House. You’re the Speaker of the House. [1] You had half a decade to figure out what to REPLACE Obamacare with and you came up with … bupkis? [2]. Hey, Paul Ryan, you had more than a hundred days to fashion a piece of legislation after you knew President Trump won — even with all the “budget resolution”, three tranche, inside baseball baloney and it came as a surprise that the Freedom Caucus wasn’t on board? [Pro tip: Check with your own caucus first. OK, that’s better.] Hello, America, Paul, babe — that was your job. We gave you one stinking job — to fashion a clean repeal and replacement of Obamacare — and you were surprised the Freedom Caucus wasn’t genuflecting and kissing your ring? A week out, you tell the President you “have the votes” and the day of the vote you come to the White House and say, “Uhhh, maybe not. Maybe not, Mr. President. Poorly played, Paulie. Very poorly played. [3]. Hey, Paul Ryan, this shit is on you not the President. You suck at your job.
By making you, a normal person, the bad guy if you point out some of the disgusting actions?
Illegal immigration to provide votes for Democrats and cheap labor for Republicans.
Wars which don’t end in victory or defeat.
Enforcing immorality against popular wishes.
Providing government sinecures to anyone who will toe the line – and who won’t be got rid of no matter how corrupt or stupid they prove.
Accepting money from foreign entities who want the United States destroyed.
Will you fucking Republicans stop criticizing President Trump for following through on his campaign promises?
He ran on them. He told you what they were. He won on them. He is delivering on them and you snowflakes act like you just discovered them.
Both sides, all the time – and on top of being this stupidly destructive, raking it in for themselves, their families and their friends. It is time to bring an end to all that. By peaceful means if possible but, ultimately, by any means necessary.
Our peaceful means are “President Trump”.
President Trump is the hero of the common man.
Trump isn’t part of the system, you see.
Dimwits look at his billions and go, “he must be one of them”. But, the bottom line is that he’s not.
He’ll hang out with them. Be friends with them. But he never was of them. He made his own way and got his pile of money…and then looked around and saw, from the 1980’s, what was happening to his country and started to wonder why, and if there were anything he could do about it?
He essentially first let Bill Clinton have his chance.
Then Bush the Younger.
Then even Obama.
But he found out something – it didn’t matter who was in charge, they were all in on it, together. That is, regardless of stated political philosophy, the primary goal of nearly everyone in politics was personal enrichment and making sure no outsider pushed his or her way in.
Trump found out something – it didn’t matter who was in charge, they were all in on it, together. That is, regardless of stated political philosophy, the primary goal of nearly everyone in politics was personal enrichment and making sure no outsider pushed his or her way in.
Trump decided to push his way in.
And now he’s there – and outside of a precious few (Cruz, Paul…and, oddly, McConnell), he’s nearly alone fighting for one thing: us.
The United States of America.
We, the people.
And everyone inside is furious and terrified and so are lashing back as much as they can hoping that something, anything will turn up to get rid of Trump.
And, make no mistake about it, they are already planning on punishing us for electing Trump. They don’t propose to allow this sort of thing to happen again.
And, make no mistake about it, they are already planning on punishing us for electing Trump. They don’t propose to allow this sort of thing to happen again.
And everyone inside is furious and terrified and so are lashing back as much as they can hoping that something, anything will turn up to get rid of Trump. And, make no mistake about it, they are already planning on punishing us for electing Trump. They don’t propose to allow this sort of thing to happen again.
The “big con game” is up.
I’ve mostly stopped arguing with liberals these days – first off, it is pointless but, secondly, I’m starting to pity them; nearly as much as I pity that shrinking number on the right who still stand aloof from Trump: they simply can’t shake free from the line they’ve been fed.
And none of us can get high and mighty about that: to one degree or another, all of us were suckered at one time or another.
No other government is as corrupt as the United States government.
All of us believed in some aspect of the con being used to keep us confused, frightened and divided while the Ruling Class stays fat and happy.
All of us. Including myself.
But for those of us who have awakened from the con, it is time for a clean break – a refusal to accept that anything over the past 60 years was any good…a desire, that is, to move forward in an entirely new way, unshackled to whatever we might have said or done in the past.
We have learned all about the great con game, and we are fed up. We know know what is going on and we are pissed, and desire real, substantive change. Now, for those of us who have awakened from the con, it is time for a clean break – a refusal to accept that anything over the past 60 years was any good…a desire, that is, to move forward in an entirely new way, unshackled to whatever we might have said or done in the past.
We can see what happened; we can see what needs to be done – we can’t trip ourselves up (nor allow our opponents to slow us down) by fussing over what views we might have expressed previously.
Our desire is a Constitutional Republic of free people – our means of getting there must be “whatever works”, not adherence to a dogma which might, upon review, only have been a means whereby the con artists kept us in line in the past.
I, for one, will only defend what I find defensible and will attack whatever I see as wrong.
Republicans Are Terrified Because Their Candidates Are So Fucking Lazy. As a number of Democrats win high-profile special election victories in deep red districts, fewer and fewer safe Republican strongholds seem to be off limits.
We still have a magnificent window to win this thing and fix our nation – naturally, the first requirement is protecting President Trump.
We need a complete review of EVERYTHING and ask “is it good”
But the next step is just as important: a complete review of everything and asking the question, “Is this good?”.
We’ve already learned that so-called “Free Trade” wasn’t what many of us thought it was – take that as your template and ask yourself, “is this thing I’ve adhered to really in the interests of a free people? Or is it something which only serves the well-connected?”.
As Lincoln once said, it is time to think anew and act anew: not to create something different (nothing can be more magnificent than the United States, as far as human effort allows), but to recreate what we had, but even better than before.
It is time to think anew and act anew: not to create something different, but to recreate what we had, but even better than before.
And if that mission requires us to knock a few off their pedestals, then that’s just what will have to happen.
The problems of government are systemic. The reason for government should be a primary concern of anyone wanting a better government but this cannot be accomplished with people of socialist persuasion who scream, yell and interrupt other speakers in an effort to kill free speech.
Trump has thrown a wrench into the gears of socialisms advancement. Socialists are reeling in confusion but don’t count on them staying there. A revolution is coming. The question is, who’s going to lead it, them or us?
- Why Should We Accept Corrupt Government?
SHTF Related Index
This is a collection of my posts related to prepping, SHTF (Shit Hit The Fan), CWII (American Civil War 2), Fourth Turning (Strauss–Howe generational theory)
and other posts related to the very sad and sorry tatters that America
is today. Actually, I am a little stunned that I have written so much
about these matters. But America today is very ill and there are things
that really should be said.
Here are the posts.
SHTF and Related Index
Some prepper humor…
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
This article suggests that of the numerous forces tearing America apart, one such force is an out-of-control legal system. No, we are not talking about the US Prison system that incarcerates a full 25% of the inmates on the planet. Though, yes it is a problem. We are instead going to talk about laws and regulations in the United States and the damage to liberty that they have forged. This article argues that when the laws and regulations have become so numerous and complex, that the entire system devolved into lawlessness.
Now, of course, there are numerous forces that are tearing the United States apart, and eventually (sure as shit) it will crumble and die, and a New America will rise up from the ashes. What it will look like, no one knows.
Though, I have painted some pretty dark and gloomy pictures of what could happen in other posts. Don’t you know.
These forces are numerous and include such things as…
The socialists Marxist movement started 100 years ago by President Wilson.
The greedy oligarchy that is gobbling up everything that they can lay their hands on.
The upper middle class which is following the (winning) strategy of the oligarchy.
A collapsing culture and morals.
A decaying infrastructure.
A collapsed educational system churning out imbecile serfs ready to work on “the plantation”.
And, many more.
Here is an article that was written by Alec Orrell . I think that is is really very good. He mapped out how we devolved into orderly lawlessness. His article is titled Legitocracy in America, and it is worth the time to read.
This article is copied as written without much editing aside from some paragraph formatting and the fonts used in this template.
I added some "pull away" text for highlighting and maybe interjected on or two personal comments along the way (though you will be able to easily see that they are from your's truly.)
I have added my own pictures to help illustrate some of his fine points, but there are a couple of decorative "splash" pictures on his originally posted venue.
After reading the article, I would suggest the reader go to his original article and read some of his other works. This fellow is brilliant and a word-smith. (Though he tends to write on a university level, where I tend to be far more plebeian.)
All credit to the author Alec Orrell writing in Human Events.
The commentariat across the political spectrum have recently reveled
in predicting imminent authoritarianism and the “literal death of
democracy” unless sundry bugbears are stopped.
As Murray sees it, the United States’ hyper-complicated and outrageously voluminous law is much the same as no law at all for the ordinary citizen.
The catastrophizing is quaint.
Perhaps they are too terrified, distracted, or dissembling to utter the truth obvious under closer examination: the United States ceased to operate as a constitutional democratic republic at least 100 years ago. Democracy isn’t “in peril”—it’s dead and buried.
The United States ceased to operate as a constitutional democratic republic at least 100 years ago. Democracy isn’t “in peril”—it’s dead and buried.
How did we get here?
How did we get here? Social scientist Charles Murray (The Bell Curve) penned a fascinating but little-remarked book titled By The People in 2015. There, Murray argued the United States has become, in effect, a lawless society.
His assertion may strike some as odd, because lawless usually calls to mind a breakdown in order, like in Afghanistan or Somalia.
But countries maintain order without righteous law all the time.
Dictators the world over regularly keep the peace using suppression and intimidation. There’s no shooting in the streets, but there’s no sense of justice or predictability, either.
Dictators the world over regularly keep the peace using suppression and intimidation. There’s no shooting in the streets, but there’s no sense of justice or predictability, either.
LAWS, LAWS, AND MORE LAWS
As Murray sees it, the United States’ hyper-complicated and outrageously voluminous law is much the same as no law at all for the ordinary citizen. The oppressor isn’t a dictator but an incomprehensible and unpredictable justice system passed from one set of leaders’ hands to another, from one political party to another.
Murray writes:
[L]et’s talk about the legal system not as it looks from thirty thousand feet to law professors, where everything can be fit together and rationalized, but how it looks at ground level to ordinary law-abiding citizens …
I am reminded of science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke’s famous observation that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
From ground level, our encounters with today’s legal system as it actually functions are often indistinguishable from lawlessness.
Consider that, between federal, state, city, county, and judge-made
law—along with truckloads of regulations and codes by state and federal
agencies which carry the full force of law—an American today lives under something like 100 times as much law as his or her great-great-grandfather. That’s a chilling comparison.
An American today lives under something like 100 times as much law as his or her great-great-grandfather.
Further, consider that the average American thoroughly understands few or none of the laws governing him.
Sure, he possesses a vague sense of the basics and some traffic law, but that’s all.
Should the internal functions of the miraculous device go awry, the average citizen is helpless. He usually cannot afford skillful lawyers to interpret the laws or to defend him when he is forced to confront the legal system. A lawsuit or a criminal prosecution ruins him, regardless of his culpability.
Washington, D.C.; April 29, 2019: A study released today shows that the vast majority of Department of Health and Human Services regulations issued over a recent 17-year period are unconstitutional. The first-of-its-kind study reviewed 2,952 rules issued by HHS and found that 71% of final rules from 2001 through 2017 were issued by low-level officials and career employees who lack constitutional authority to do so.
Such rules are unconstitutional. The Constitution requires that significant government decisions must be made solely by “principal officers” appointed by the president after Senate confirmation. Issuing a regulation with the force of law is one of those actions that only principal officers can perform.
The majority of unconstitutional rules were issued by the Food and Drug Administration. Just 2% of FDA rules were issued by principal officers, while 1,860 rules were finalized and issued by career employees.
“In a democracy, those who make the rules need to be accountable to the people,” report co-author Thomas Berry, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, explained. “That’s why the Framers included the Appointments Clause in the Constitution. Only properly-appointed officers in the executive branch may issue regulations that are binding on the public. This preserves democratic accountability for significant executive branch actions.”
One such rule is the controversial “Deeming Rule,” which classifies tobacco-free vaping products as tobacco products. The rule prohibits Steve Green, a California vape shop owner, from telling his customers his story about using vaping to stop smoking and recover from early signs of emphysema. PLF filed three lawsuits challenging the rule last year.
“Among the hundreds of illegal FDA rules, 25 rules were classified as significant because they had an impact on the American economy of at least $100 million or had other significant economic impacts,” said Angela Erickson, PLF’s strategic research director and co-author of the report. “Congress and the White House should ensure that this practice ends and agencies comply with the law.”
The full report is available at pacificlegal.org/HHSreport.
He usually cannot afford skillful lawyers to interpret the laws or to defend him when he is forced to confront the legal system. A lawsuit or a criminal prosecution ruins him, regardless of his culpability.
The law is like an iPhone: a miraculous device at which he glances all the time and uses for simple tasks without knowing the first thing about how the internal functions perform their magic.
Should the internal functions of the miraculous device go awry, the average citizen is helpless.
He usually cannot afford skillful lawyers to interpret the laws or to defend him when he is forced to confront the legal system. A lawsuit or a criminal prosecution ruins him, regardless of his culpability.
In the United States, Federal drug defendants who won’t plead guilty pay dearly, according to our new report, “An Offer You Can’t Refuse.” Prosecutors use their ability to vary the charges to seek longer mandatory sentences for people who turn down plea bargains. Defendants who go to trial receive sentences that, on average, are three times as long. Not surprisingly, 97 percent of drug defendants are convicted by pleas, not trial.
The wrongfully accused regularly plea bargain to avoid being crushed by the legal process.
The vast majority of criminal cases in the United States end not in courtroom trials but in negotiated agreements between prosecutors and defense lawyers. Plea bargaining dates to the 1800s and has often been controversial. Law-and-order advocates say the practice lets criminals get lower sentences, while some defense lawyers and civil libertarians say it coerces defendants to give up their legal rights. Most prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges, however, say the practice helps produce justice while reducing strains on the court system. Defense lawyers last year cheered a court ruling that would have barred prosecutors from offering leniency in exchange for a defendant’s testimony against accomplices. But prosecutors celebrated last month when the ruling was overturned.
The citizen is told that ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it, but he cannot correct his ignorance himself nor pay to have others supplement it.
It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is to-day, can guess what it will be to-morrow.
Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?
Madison’s sketch of run-amok law bears an uncanny resemblance to the United States today.
He highlights a fundamental truth Americans have forgotten amidst the partisan bickering over which byzantine laws to pass:
Representative lawmaking does not produce democracy when demos (“the people”) cannot grasp the laws, either to express their disagreement with them or to follow them.
In Madison’s view, such edicts aren’t real law, just dressed-up tyranny divorced from the ethos of a constitutional republic.
Taxation of Social Security benefits. The complicated formula and the 20 step worksheet used to determine the percentage of benefits (up to 85%) subject to tax aren’t new, but they are affecting more Americans as the number receiving Social Security grows. Here is the equation as i stood in 1997.
Were Madison alive to witness the present debacle, he might opine:
The United States possesses no authentic law, only enforced order.
A tyrant who inflicts his will with rifles and a legal priesthood who inflict their will with occult laws are functionally equivalent. In both cases, citizens lose all confidence in a coherent moral order of their own design underlying their day-to-day existence.
The United States possesses no authentic law, only enforced order.
RULE BY LAWYERS
The United States today might be better called a legitocracy—a government by the legal priesthood for the legal priesthood.
Judges, lawyers, prosecutors, regulators, law schools, bar associations, and legal-activism conglomerates like the ACLU and GLAAD use their specialized knowledge to function as gatekeepers of society’s rules, politics, and culture.
Nothing is accomplished without the involvement of the legal priesthood.
Judges, lawyers, prosecutors, regulators, law schools, bar associations, and legal-activism conglomerates like the ACLU and GLAAD use their specialized knowledge to function as gatekeepers of society’s rules, politics, and culture. Nothing is accomplished without the involvement of the legal priesthood.
Armies of lawyers draft the bills for elected lawmakers, who enact their recommendations with only a vague understanding of their mandates.
Then lawmakers turn the laws backover to prosecutors, regulators, and jurists for implementation and enforcement. More often than not, lawmakers come from the ranks of the law-schooled themselves.
Representative lawmaking does not produce democracy when demos (“the people”) cannot grasp the laws, either to express their disagreement with them or to follow them.
Thus the legal priesthood operates in a closed system, disconnected from the populace and unaccountable in practice to anyone but themselves.
Thus the legal priesthood operates in a closed system, disconnected from the populace and unaccountable in practice to anyone but themselves.
To be sure, the priesthood declaims with great eloquence about “democracy,” a “nation of laws,” and “the people”; but they amount to an insular social class—the card carriers in a one-party state.
The rest of us are merely along for the ride.
One is reminded of the famous maxim:
“Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.” In this case, one might say: “Those who enact the laws and vote for lawmakers decide nothing. Those who interpret and enforce the laws decide everything.”
Much like the aristocracies and theocracies of bygone days, the chieftains of the legitocratic class have fallen into warlording over which of them gets to make the rules that control the society and the state.
They bicker over bizarre ideologies and disrupt elected government at every turn with nuisance lawsuits and politically-motivated prosecutions. They divert political and cultural issues from legislatures and elections into courtrooms.
They divert issues away from legislatures and elections and into the courtrooms instead.
For example, Americans recently were treated to the groaning spectacle of a federal judge deciding how the President may operate his personal Twitter account, and whether biological men must be allowed in women’s locker rooms when they identify as women.
As in all warlordism, the resulting instability destroys the average citizen’s peace, predictability, and trust.
He may not be able to articulate the government’s devolution into feuding legitocracy; nevertheless, he senses that he lives in a failed state.
He sees no sacred or impartial justice emerging from the legal system anymore. Virtue and common sense have no place and no reward. All he sees are wizards in tailored suits hurling thunderbolts at one another and terrorizing his day-to-day existence with their staggering litigiousness and self-righteous culture crusades.
He senses that he lives in a failed state.
He sees no sacred or impartial justice emerging from the legal system anymore.
Virtue and common sense have no place and no reward.
All he sees are wizards in tailored suits hurling thunderbolts at one another and terrorizing his day-to-day existence with their staggering litigiousness and self-righteous culture crusades.
The average citizen hesitates to publicly speak his mind, defend his person, establish a business, worship openly, or seek redress for real injuries.
Should anyone bother to ask him, the citizen will declare that the words chiseled on the Supreme Court building (“Equal Justice Under Law”) have turned to bitter irony.
He watches with ballooning cynicism as the legal priesthood deploys word games to exonerate one another’s heinous manipulations, then turn and damn ordinary citizens like him to years of legal hell for standing up to their diktats.
He watches with ballooning cynicism as the legal priesthood deploys word games to exonerate one another’s heinous manipulations, then turn and damn ordinary citizens like him to years of legal hell for standing up to their diktats.
Justice is no longer a sacred right grounded in fear of God and His mystery. It is something you hire or receive as a reward for loyalty.
Justice is no longer a sacred right.
The legitocratic class has changed the motto of the United States from “In God, We Trust” to “There Is No God—Trust Us.”
Thus, the average citizen hesitates to publicly speak his mind, defend his person, establish a business, worship openly, or seek redress for real injuries.
He fears to resist the legal system’s incessant cultural bullying, lest he gets sucked into the vortex and land in Oz for years pursued by flying monkey lawyers.
Thus, the average citizen hesitates to publicly speak his mind, defend his person, establish a business, worship openly, or seek redress for real injuries. He fears to resist the legal system’s incessant cultural bullying, lest he gets sucked into the vortex and land in Oz for years pursued by flying monkey lawyers.
He can’t say how it happened, but the citizen knows he dwells at the bottom of a multi-tiered, politically corrupt, unchecked cabal of a legal system that cares nothing for his well-being.
Will the legal priesthood reform themselves?
Will activist judges voluntarily give up their arrogated and unconscionable power of nationwide injunction?
Will the Supreme Court allow voters and lawmakers to address questions of culture and politics through elections and legislation once again, rather than dictating both from the bench?
Will law schools cease to operate as seminaries of progressive social engineering, imperious elitism, state-enforced credentialism, relativism, nihilism, identity politics, and other ever-shifting philosophies?
Will the legal priesthood stop terrorizing the unanointed and favoring their own, demanding with one voice that the law revert to a form comprehensible and accessible to the average citizen?
Of course they will, right after unicorns fly out of Chief Justice John Roberts’ robes.
He can’t say how it happened, but the citizen knows he dwells at the bottom of a multi-tiered, politically corrupt, unchecked cabal of a legal system that cares nothing for his well-being. Happiness has been replaced by trinkets and freedom by tax rebates, and liberty… well, it just doesn’t exist.
Americans live in denial of their rationalized, systemic oppression.
Over the last five or so generations, legalistic authoritarianism has progressively choked the average citizen’s pursuit of happiness, like a slow garroting in a collar of recondite laws.
Americans live in denial of their rationalized, systemic oppression. Over the last five or so generations, legalistic authoritarianism has progressively choked the average citizen’s pursuit of happiness, like a slow garroting in a collar of recondite laws.
If one doubts this, it’s only because he hasn’t experienced the extremities of the legal system’s insanity himself yet—the Kafkaesque horror of an endless, politically motivated IRS audit, or a court telling a father he must call his 6-year-old son a girl. The law and government do not serve the will of the people; it’s the other way around now.
The law and government do not serve the will of the people; it’s the other way around now.
Where does that leave the citizen?
He is reduced to hoping the orderly lawlessness of the legal system remains confined to the courts and the government, that disorderly lawlessness does not erupt in public.
He is right to be concerned.
Americans are quarreling with one another in frustration. A growing number of individuals and groups misidentify the root of the tyranny and endanger public order, blaming vague and simplistic concepts like “white supremacy,” “fascism,” “the patriarchy,” “capitalism,” etc. for the oppression they sense.
Americans are quarreling with one another in frustration. A growing number of individuals and groups misidentify the root of the tyranny and endanger public order, blaming vague and simplistic concepts like “white supremacy,” “fascism,” “the patriarchy,” “capitalism,” etc. for the oppression they sense.
Meanwhile, disturbed young male shooters at the end of their tether scapegoat women and minority groups for the proliferation of politically correct rules under which they feel smothered.
Tracing their anxieties back reveals a common source: alienation from the rules that govern them.
Tracing their anxieties back reveals a common source: alienation from the rules that govern them.
Unsurprisingly, the legal priesthood plays both sides to lengthen their reach and tighten their grasp: The root problem is not that the people toil under mountains of legal minutiae and can’t even breathe without violating at least five laws.
No, according to them the problem is always too much freedom requiring (you guessed it!) more laws.
Laws restricting firearms.
Laws restricting hurtful speech.
Laws restricting plastic straws.
Laws, laws, laws.
A violent response.
Rooftop Koreans taking matters into their own hands when the government failed them.
A militia-like civil defense response from ordinary citizens akin to the Roof Koreans of the L.A. riots seems well within the realm of possibility these days.
Scene from the television series “The Walking Dead”. Americans are getting ready for the conflict that lies ahead. They are “prepping” and make no mistake, it will happen unless drastic action takes place immediately.
American citizens must be brought to understand that the struggle gripping the country does not fundamentally pit liberals against conservatives or Democrats against Republicans.
The struggle pits average citizens who want to live under clear, predictable, and widely understood laws against the legal priesthood’s empire of complication and confusion.
American citizens must be brought to understand that the struggle gripping the country does not fundamentally pit liberals against conservatives or Democrats against Republicans. The struggle pits average citizens who want to live under clear, predictable, and widely understood laws against the legal priesthood’s empire of complication and confusion.
And that is the way it is.
One of the first things that you notice when you move to another nation is just how simple it is.
If there is a tax, it's only one singular tax. There are no regulations, and the things that you can do, from driving without a seat-belt, to having your five year old buying a beer for you is astounding.
Here in communist China, I am afforded so many, many MANY freedoms that Americans haven't a clue to what they have lost. That's a fact Jack. Deal with it.
If the public can grasp that their system of government has slowly
changed without their consent, the legal priesthood’s magical powers
will evaporate and the U.S. legal system will be seen for what it is: a
recondite abomination propped up by platitudes. At that time, rescuing
the democratic republic back from the pit of legitocracy stands a
chance.
Until that time, the wizards will continue to rule, and may God help us all.
SHTF Related Index
This is a collection of my posts related to prepping, SHTF (Shit Hit The Fan), CWII (American Civil War 2), Fourth Turning (Strauss–Howe generational theory)
and other posts related to the very sad and sorry tatters that America
is today. Actually, I am a little stunned that I have written so much
about these matters. But America today is very ill and there are things
that really should be said.
Here are the posts.
SHTF and Related Index
Some prepper humor…
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
This article looks at the political term “Gaslighting” and what it means. It is used in context in reference to the elected officials and their cronies in Washington D.C. with examples. This this case, we use a most excellent, and caustic biting article, by Kurt Schlichter.
It can also be applied to inner-personal relationships;
It’s important to distinguish between regular lying and gaslighting. A lie is just a falsehood and it can be told for many reasons.
Gaslighting are lies told with the specific intent to make the other person question their sanity/reality.
It is a form of manipulation to make the other person doubt themselves so much that they no longer trust their perception of events. If you no longer trust yourself, then you begin to think you are the problem and the other person is then off the hook.
-What is gaslighting
The article is presented as published, and all credit to the author. I personally like Kirts writing style, and I would recommend that reader go visit his presence on the internet on townhall.com once you all finish reading this article.
Bad Gaslighting Epidemic Sweeps The Elite
There are three questions that our terrible, terrible ruling class raises whenever it opens its collective kale-hole to lecture us: 1) Does the elite think we are really, really stupid, or 2) Is the elite really, really stupid, or 3) Is the elite all of the above?
The last week has been eventful, even by Age O’ Trump standards, and the one enduring takeaway is just how bad these people are at gaslighting us with inept lies that demand we disbelieve what’s happening right in front of us.
But it should come as no surprise that our alleged betters are no good at gaslighting because they have proven themselves to be no good at anything.
Here’s a fun test: can you name something – anything – major in the last two decades that our best and brightest have not screwed up?
I’ll wait.
Gaslighting is their default move because gaslighting is all these losers have. It’s not like they can sit back and let you read their CV of achievements. Iraq, Obamacare, their annoying millennial kids…all disasters. The members of America’s current ruling class are King Midases of failure.
Everything they touch turns to suck.
So, because they have no other way to deal with the damning evidence of their utter incompetence, our elite instead tries to convince us that we are crazy for noticing just how lame they are.
What Gaslighting is.
That’s called “gaslighting,” the straight-faced denial of what’s happening right in front of you that tries to leverage your politeness and deference to convince you that it’s not the elite that’s rotten. You’re just crazy for noticing, you crazed crazy person of craziness.
Gaslighting is lying “straight to your face” when there is obvious physical evidence in front of everyone that you are telling a lie.
An example of gaslighting.
Take the Northern Syrian crisis – please. I generally side with the non-commie Kurds over the Turks, but facts are facts and facts mean something.
We keep hearing how we “betrayed our allies,” but who promised the Kurds that we would fight Turkey on their behalf?
It’s a big jump from “Let’s both fight ISIS” to “Take that, NATO ally.” But our garbage media, and our garbage politicians, sort of hand wave away the fact that you can’t “betray” someone by not doing what you never promised to do, especially when no reasonable person could ever expect you to do it.
A second example of gaslighting.
And then there’s the Kurdish monolith issue – all Kurds are not created equal.
There are different Kurd factions and different Kurd groups, and some Kurds are communists. In fact, we’ve designated the very Kurds Turkey says it’s going after (the PKK) as terrorists based on their actual terrorism.
Certainly, at the start of the story you probably couldn’t have expected our reporters and our politicians to tell Kurd X from Kurd Y without a program (in a better world, though, we’d expect them to zip it until they could), but when we’re a week-plus into what is allegedly the greatest atrocity ever was (because they think they can pin it on Trump) and they are still pretending that all Kurds are sweet n’ cuddly, they are lying to you.
A Washington DC example of gaslighting.
How about the response on Capitol Hill? We’ve got a bunch of politicians posing and posturing and prancing about over this border incursion half-way around the world and we’re sitting here wishing they would devote some of that wailing and teeth-gnashing to the incursions over our border.
But once again, they act like we can’t see the truth sitting right there.
As for the Democrats, well, how long would their support have lasted if Trump had used force against…our NATO ally?
“You’re helping Putin!” they would shriek. Of course, they are currently shrieking, “You’re helping Putin!” when Trump doesn’t use force against Turkey.
And then there are the Republicans who holler and cry, raging over this terrible situation as if there wasn’t some way for our pols to influence events by, oh, I dunno, offering a resolution declaring war.
That’s a thing in the Constitution, I hear.
But taking votes means taking stands, and virtue signaling is no fun if that signal is, “I
want you to send your sons and daughters to maybe die to sort out this
latest 2000-year-old brawl between this latest bunch of strangers,” and the voters you signal it to are sick of stupid wars that never seem to end.
Gaslighting by Hillary Clinton.
An example of phony outrage gaslighting.
And then there’s the phony outrage over some silly meme where fake Donald Trump fights fake logos of the fake news.
They insist that this year-old YouTube clip is going to spark terrifying violence against…I guess, CNN and MSNBC logos. Of course, these trademarks have remained unassaulted since this silly, fakey vid was created, but never mind that – this is the worst thing ever!
Also, you must ignore the fact that the original movie scene the meme was based upon featured the hero massacring a church full of conservative Christians in Kentucky.
Weird how that realistic cinematic bloodletting matched the seething hatred of traditional Americans we’ve come to expect from our poisonous popular culture, but the Blue Check Mafia has an explanation about why the Christian slaughter was A-OK.
See, in the movie, Beanie and Cecil had a magic crystal and the mind control lasers made it so Zippy and Zoopy were actually good guys and shooting a bunch of Jesus people actually means we love Christians and stuff and don’t you see that when they shoot a church full of Christians it doesn’t mean they are shooting Christians, and that if you think it does you are craaaaaazzzzzyyyyyyy?
Just don’t pay attention to the real violence outside Trump’s Minneapolis rally.
Gaslighting Summary
It’s bad enough that they lie to us, directly and by omission, all the time. But what makes it worse is how their lies are such glaringly obvious fabrications and/or dissimulations that the deepest insult is that they think we might believe them.
The article is presented as published, and all credit to the author. I personally like Kirts writing style, and I would recommend that reader go visit his presence on the internet on townhall.com once you all finish reading this article.
A good example of gaslighting is when your husband comes home late from work for the 10th time in a row. You ask him why he keeps coming home late. “What?” He says, in shock. “I haven’t been coming home late! Are you sure you aren’t just losing track of time?”
And you doubt yourself.
The next day it happens again, but you checked the time. “You’re late!” And he said “what? No I’m not. I always come home at this time.”
And you try to argue that it’s only been the last ten or even times he shows up at this time, he insists that you must have been confused, maybe in the past he got off work early once but he definitely always just comes home at this time.
You wonder if you’re really that unobservant. Honestly, that is so like you to be kinda airheaded. You’re not too smart, or you’d know for sure what time he gets home. The fact that you doubt it is not a good sign, he seems pretty sure that he always got home at this time. You shrug.
You move on.
He goes on screwing the secretary. Some day you find a pair of underwear in your laundry and it’s not yours. You ask him about it. He says he got you those two years ago for your anniversary, what the fuck, why don’t you remember? You apologize because you feel bad for being inconsiderate, forgetting something that mattered to him. You wear the women’s underwear to dinner as a make-up surprise.
It’s beyond simple lying, it’s lying that makes you doubt your reality and makes you docile, easy to control because you no longer trust which way is up, you have to depend on them to tell you which way is up.
-What is gaslighting
SHTF Related Index
This is a collection of my posts related to prepping, SHTF (Shit Hit The Fan), CWII (American Civil War 2), Fourth Turning (Strauss–Howe generational theory)
and other posts related to the very sad and sorry tatters that America
is today. Actually, I am a little stunned that I have written so much
about these matters. But America today is very ill and there are things
that really should be said.
Here are the posts.
SHTF and Related Index
Some prepper humor…
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
Here is a fantastic article that I discovered. It is written by Victor Davis Hanson, and he asks the most basic question. Why are we no longer able to build things like we used to? And he is absolutely right. America no longer has the ability to build, create, construct, reason or operate in any way like a normal functioning government.
This article discusses how America (and by extension, Americans) hold on to the title and respect that they inherited from their forefathers. America inherited being the world’s leader militarily, socially, economically, culturally, and spiritually.
However, those that took over, during the last 60 years, squandered what they were given. In many cases destroyed what was built up, created, and established. And replaced it with something else. (If you don’t know what I am talking about, look up “culture wars”.) As America crumbles, people naturally try to hold on to what is no longer healthy and viable. That is what we are witnessing today.
Thus this article.
His article is placed as written, and I added my own photographs for emphasis. As well as some links to related articles that I have written. These other articles open up in a separate tab for you viewing pleasure.
Many
of the stories about the gods and heroes of Greek mythology were
compiled during Greek Dark Ages. Impoverished tribes passed down oral
traditions that originated after the fall of the lost palatial
civilizations of the Mycenaean Greeks.
Dark Age Greeks tried to make sense of the massive ruins of their forgotten forbearers’ monumental palaces that were still standing around. As illiterates, they were curious about occasional clay tablets they plowed up in their fields with incomprehensible ancient Linear B inscriptions. Today, many of us find ourselves in the same situation.
Dark
Age Greeks tried to make sense of the massive ruins of their forgotten
forbearers’ monumental palaces that were still standing around. As
illiterates, they were curious about occasional clay tablets they plowed
up in their fields with incomprehensible ancient Linear B inscriptions.
We
of the 21st century are beginning to look back at our own lost epic
times and wonder about these now-nameless giants who left behind
monuments that we cannot replicate, but instead merely use or even mock.
We of the 21st century are beginning to look back at our own lost epic times and wonder about these now-nameless giants who left behind monuments that we cannot replicate, but instead merely use or even mock.
Does anyone believe that contemporary Americans could build another transcontinental railroad in six years?
Californians
tried to build a high-speed rail line. But after more than a decade of
government incompetence, lawsuits, cost overruns and constant
bureaucratic squabbling, they have all but given up. The result is a
half-built overpass over the skyline of Fresno — and not yet a foot of
track laid.
Californians tried to build a high-speed rail line. But after more than a decade of government incompetence, lawsuits, cost overruns and constant bureaucratic squabbling, they have all but given up. The result is a half-built overpass over the skyline of Fresno — and not yet a foot of track laid. Who were these people who built such magnificent structures, and gave them to us to husband? And why have we squandered their gift to us?
Who were those giants of the 1960s responsible for building our interstate highway system?
California’s
roads now are mostly the same as we inherited them, although the state
population has tripled. We have added little to our freeway network,
either because we forgot how to build good roads or would prefer to
spend the money on redistributive entitlements.
California’s roads now are mostly the same as we inherited them, although the state population has tripled. We have added little to our freeway network, either because we forgot how to build good roads or would prefer to spend the money on redistributive entitlements.
When California had to replace a quarter section of the earthquake-damaged San Francisco Bay Bridge, it turned into a near-disaster, with 11 years of acrimony, fighting, cost overruns — and a commentary on our decline into Dark Ages primitivism.
Yet 82 years ago, our ancestors built four times the length of our singe replacement span in less than four years. It took them just two years to design the entire Bay Bridge and award the contracts.
Yet 82 years ago, our ancestors built four times the length of our singe replacement span in less than four years. It took them just two years to design the entire Bay Bridge and award the contracts. Yet we are unable to do even a smidgen of effort on a similar modern structure, using the most modern technology and machinery at our fingertips. What went wrong?
Our
generation required five years just to plan to replace a single section.
In inflation-adjusted dollars, we spent six times the money on one
quarter of the length of the bridge and required 13 agencies to grant
approval. In 1936, just one agency oversaw the entire bridge project.
California has not
built a major dam in 40 years. Instead, officials squabble over the
water stored and distributed by our ancestors, who designed the
California State Water Project and Central Valley Project.
Contemporary
Californians would have little food or water without these massive
transfers, and yet they often ignore or damn the generation that built
the very system that saves us.
Contemporary Californians would have little food or water without these massive transfers, and yet they often ignore or damn the generation that built the very system that saves us.
America went to the moon in 1969 with supposedly primitive computers and backward engineering. Does anyone believe we could launch a similar moonshot today?
No American has set foot on the moon in the last 47 years, and it may not happen in the next 50 years.
America went to the moon in 1969 with supposedly primitive computers and backward engineering. Does anyone believe we could launch a similar moonshot today? Of course not. Our “advanced” spaceship; “The Orion”, is a near clone (carbon copy) of the Apollo crew module designed back in 1965. The only difference is that it now has LED screens instead of dials.
Hollywood
once gave us blockbuster epics, brilliant Westerns, great film noirs,
and classic comedies. Now it endlessly turns out comic-book superhero
films or pathetic remakes of prior classics.
Our writers, directors and actors have lost the skills of their ancestors.
But they are also cowardly, and in regimented fashion they simply parrot boring race, class and gender bromides that are neither interesting nor funny.
Does anyone believe that the Oscar ceremonies are more engaging and dignified than in the past?
Yes. America at one time was a place of greatness, where any thing could happen and a poor boy could become wealthy through hard labors. Not so today. We have squandered the legacy of our forefathers, and trampled upon it. Now, with the ignorance of a three year old, we trample and stomp on their precious presents as if we are deserving of that right to destroy.
We
have been fighting in Afghanistan without result for 18 years. Our
forefathers helped to win World War II and defeat the Axis Powers in
four years.
In terms of learning, does anyone believe that a college graduate in 2020 will know half the information of a 1950 graduate?
In
the 1940s, young people read William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald,
Pearl Buck and John Steinbeck. Are our current novelists turning out
anything comparable? Could today’s high-school graduate even finish “The
Good Earth” or “The Grapes of Wrath”?
We have lost our most important gift; the ability to build, to create and to enhance our life towards that of happiness. These buildings and structures were more than just functional. They were lovely and added to the atmosphere and the culture of the city. Instead, we wasted them, we destroyed them and replace them with bland parking lots.
True,
social media is impressive. The internet gives us instant access to
global knowledge. We are a more tolerant society, at least in theory.
But Facebook is not the Hoover Dam, and Twitter is not the Panama Canal.
Our
ancestors were builders and pioneers and mostly fearless. We are
regulators, auditors, bureaucrats, adjudicators, censors, critics,
plaintiffs, defendants, social media junkies and thin-skinned scolds. A
distant generation created; we mostly delay, idle and gripe.
Penn Station. Today all these railroad stations were town down and replaced with “progressive”, modern boxes that more resemble a all-night laundromat than any kind of public transit station. Not only that, but poor management, greed, and lack of maintenance has resulted in them all appearing to be decaying, run down and decrepit.
As we walk amid the refuse, needles and excrement of the sidewalks of our fetid cities; as we sit motionless on our jammed ancient freeways; and as we pout on Twitter and electronically whine in the porticos of our Ivy League campuses, will we ask: “Who were these people who left these strange monuments that we use but can neither emulate nor understand?“
In comparison to us, they now seem like gods.
All credit to the the author;
Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the author of "The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won," from Basic Books. You can reach him by e-mailing authorvdh@gmail.com.(C) 2019 TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.
SHTF and Related Index
Some prepper humor…
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
America is no longer a nation. It might still be the remains of a once great empire, sort of like Rome was after the Vandals sacked it, but as a functioning nation, it is no longer.
When you cannot enforce a border, enforce laws, and prosecute criminals, you no longer have a nation.
History doesn’t like vacuums anymore than nature does, and what we’re facing is a vacuum of authority that the USA has never experienced before. That’s the final consequence of a society in which anything goes and nothing matters.
Better check what you believe and who you believe in the days ahead, and recalibrate accordingly. This ain’t no foolin’ around.
-Kunsler
Here is an article written by Gordon Wysong titled “Will we ever prosecute?”. He makes the point that if the worst criminals can walk free, then (regardless of all the lesser crimes that are prosecuted) the nation does not enforce laws. And if laws are not enforced, there is no nation. For a nation without laws is pure anarchy.
It is presented as written, with little editing aside from the blogger-template on word-press. Any photos and commentary are set apart so that the reader can realize that it is not part of the article but rather designed to supplement it.
Links to other related articles are embedded in the text. You can click on them and they will open up in a new tab. That way you will not need to interrupt your reading of this article.
Enjoy.
Imagine that the local cops know that a gang member, named William, broke into the pawn shop and stole guns, jewelry, and money.
William’s fingerprints, film image, and DNA add to the hard evidence log. The owner knows it; the prosecutor knows it; William’s gang associates know it. But he is not arrested.
Nearby shopkeepers and neighborhood mothers are asking why he is walking the street. No one explains it; mum’s the word.
Could it be there is a grand plan to take out the gang’s leaders? No one knows; mum’s the word.
Shopkeepers and residents are about to give up and start moving away from the area, and no one asks them to stay the course.
Fast forward to today.
Fast-forward to today’s still vocal Obama gang. Why no indictments? Mum’s the word. Can anyone hold to the faith in American justice? Those who support the rule of law feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick a football.
It’s coming — oh, wait, it’s coming…oh, wait…
Without doubt, a criminal cabal is an extraordinarily complex organization, and understanding who did what, why, when, and how is a challenge to the mental faculties of anyone. But, what happens if the full scope of activities is never clear?
Does everyone get off? Does complexity confer immunity?
Is our government that incompetent?
In engineering, there is no perfect answer to anything, so changes are made incrementally, addressing the problems as they are recognized. Each step brings a clearer view of remaining problems, which are then addressed, each in its turn.
The completed project is still flawed, but the solution is practical and productive.
So it should be with a grandiose scheme like the Russia Hoax. The ringleaders don’t have to be handled with kid gloves. They don’t even have to be handled at all. Just start with the low-hanging fruit, and get as far (up the tree) as possible.
Those
old enough to remember My Lai, Vietnam, know that Lt. Calley and Cpt.
Medina were not alone in their actions. However, their prosecution
forever changed the game of passing the buck on war crimes.
So, too, can rabid prosecution of bit players in the Russian Hoax forever change the landscape in plots involving treason.
Those who would participate at the lower levels must know they are subject to prosecution, so they remain circumspect in such a re-enactment of the coup attempt. This would be the Achilles heel of another cabal — those who are intimidated by the prospect of prison. Those who realize they don’t have sufficient rank to escape punishment will be loath to participate in such a scheme. Without them, there will be no operational viability to an unlawful coup.
Admittedly,
there are always problems in pursuing a criminal case. It must be so
under our Constitution, but it cannot be impossible!
Prosecution should not be impossible.
Prosecutors don’t get all the information, but at a certain point, for each criminal, evidence accumulates that there is a real and provable crime.
It may not include every transgression of that person, nor is it the magic revelation, untangling the Gordian knot of the conspirators. It is a simple criminal act.
It is what it appears, and it need not be put in the context of the big picture — it is as plain as the nose on your face.
That stage is the stimulus for a prosecutor. It is the time to move. If the DOJ acts, many of the sins can never be prosecuted, because the prosecution of their lesser crimes may foreclose pursuit of other crimes under double jeopardy protection.
However, failure to move puts evidence and witnesses at risk of being lost. This point has passed for so many of the coup conspirators that it seems there will be no justice for many of them, like Lois Lerner.
Why?
Why no action yet?
A full recounting of all that is already known would be tedious, and to expound on the criminal conduct yet again seems shrill. It is not necessary to understand the intertwining of all the crimes before simply bringing the charges that are facially obvious.
But the deferral of prosecution, for whatever reason it is done, allows many of the cabal to walk free when they shouldn’t.
In fact, the indication is that they are continuing the very conduct for which they should be prosecuted.
Why
has McCabe not been charged with lying to the FBI, lying under
oath? Nothing more is needed to start the dominos falling. Who will
step forward to exonerate him? No one can, and no one will. That
omission — of a vigorously supported defense — will send a message to
the others in the coup conspiracy.
Why
has Samantha Power not been indicted for violating national security
requirements in unmasking or transferring her unmasking authority to
others? It doesn’t pass the smell test that she is too important to be
prosecuted.
Why
is Huma Abedin strolling around, free as a bird? She forwarded
classified emails to Anthony Weiner’s laptop. What else is needed to
demonstrate a crime?
Did Strzok do anything? Did Page? Which one lied to Congress? Their contradictory accounts mean at least one is a perjurer. Sure, there is more “there” there, but it isn’t necessary to keelhaul them; just send them to jail, and send others a message.
Listing all the cabal members, who are quite obviously criminal, is not easy — in fact, it is not doable.
It need not be the aim. A public that finds this whole thing partisan or tedious will not be easily impressed if a 2,000-count indictment naming 43 people is suddenly dropped. Bringing along the public is certainly part of sending the message for future conspirators.
It probably is better done gradually.
Suggested Action
Removing the context and simply prosecuting crimes is the method to educate both today’s and tomorrow’s citizens.
Selecting
single actors, and naming obvious crimes, will have a chance to
convince even skeptical partisans that something is wrong. The lack of
support from other participants will indeed remove most doubt.
The
full scope of what has gone on will never be known, but the lessons for
future participants in such a scheme is essential. The next time, the
prosecution will be more severe, more certain, and more
expedient. Protecting the Constitution is more important than perfect
justice. Some miscreants will escape, but they will never sleep well
again. The lesson must be taught.
A
DOJ that fails to move loses its credibility and its honor. The
foundation of the Republic is placed at risk. Without the rule of law,
what do we have?
At some point, deferral of prosecution is dereliction or abetting. Has it reached that point?
I argue that it has.
Watergate prosecuted Nixon within months. The prosecution of the assassination of Lincoln, and Reagan took months.
It's almost four years and there are ZERO prosecutions. ZERO.
Therefore, I argue that the United States is no longer a nation. Forget about being a nation that follows the Constitution. Rather, I argue that it is not longer a nation in the crudest, simplest, and most primitive terms. What it is is up for debate. But, a nation... no it is not.
Comment by John Paul Roberts
Trump is so far over his head in Washington waters that he is incapable of realizing that the criminal George W. Bush and Obama regimes put powers in the hands of the president that enable him to destroy the plotters of the coup against him. Instead, Trump “distances himself from Giuliani.”
In other words, his enemies have Trump on the run. Has it ever occurred to Trump that every real whistle-blower, people protected by statutory federal law, was completely destroyed by the executive branch, and no one said a word? Yet, here is Trump twisting in the wind on the basis of an unknown CIA agent who orchestrated the whistleblower complaint with Democrat House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff. In US law there is no such thing as an unknown whistleblower, much less one that has more power than the president of the United States.
We are going to lose a president, who intended to mend America and restore peace, and our country along with him, because American peace and prosperity does not comply with the agendas of the elite who rule us.
The American people are so stupid, having demonstrated their unlimited capability for utter and total stupidity by buying in to the Gulf of Tonkin, 9/11, Saddam Hussein’s “weapons of mass destruction,” “Assad’s use of chemical weapons,” “Iranian nukes,” “Russian invasions,” “Russiagate,” ad infinitum, that the Deep State and their media whores take for granted that the dumbshit Americans will equally accept the latest lie.
America is already in the trash bin of history. Most other countries will say, “good riddance.”
- Trump Is History and So Is the USA
This is a collection of my posts related to prepping, SHTF (Shit Hit The Fan), CWII (American Civil War 2), Fourth Turning (Strauss–Howe generational theory)
and other posts related to the very sad and sorry tatters that America
is today. Actually, I am a little stunned that I have written so much
about these matters. But America today is very ill and there are things
that really should be said.
Here are the posts.
SHTF and Related Index
Some prepper humor…
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
This is a pretty decent article that I found on the Sign Of The Times network. It pretty much enunciates what I have been observing for some time. It’s well written and as such.
I am reprinting this directly as published. All credit to the author, and I would suggest that the reader click on the link and honor all their effort in writing this article.
It’s got a terrible title, but (shrug) what can you do?
This article discusses how America (and by extension, Americans) hold on to the title and respect that they inherited from their forefathers. America inherited being the world’s leader militarily, socially, economically, culturally, and spiritually.
However, those that took over, during the last 60 years, squandered what they were given. In many cases destroyed what was built up, created, and established. And replaced it with something else. (If you don’t know what I am talking about, look up “culture wars”.)
As America crumbles, people naturally try to hold on to what is no longer healthy and viable. That is what we are witnessing today. With China being the rising competitor.
Thus this article.
Technical note: When the author refers to typical American / UK statements (well known to all us expats), the background is set as light grey. My comments are in raw format.
In the 1980s, American elites feared the rise of economic powerhouse Japan, but managed to contain its competitor because Japan was at root a vassal state occupied by the US military.
Fair enough.
However, China’s rise today is a different story altogether. With 1.4 billion people, the largest economy in the world (by GDP at purchasing power parity – PPP), and an independent foreign policy, China’s rise heralds the beginning of a multi-polar world.
Obvious to most of the world, if not Americans.
The ‘American Century’ is over, but Americans cannot accept the fact that they – 5% of the world’s population – cannot rule the other 95% forever. American entitlement and hubris are causing many to lash out and embark on a path that is perilous both to themselves and the world.
Yes. It's the "Fourth Turning" baby, and it's gonna get nasty.
Incongruent Fear and Loathing
Let’s take a look at some illogical American talking points used in the smear campaign against China:
“China is going to collapse soon!”
If Americans really believed this, they would sit back, smile and ignore China.
“China is going to take over the world!”
This paranoid warning usually follows the delusional, “China will collapse” claim. Make up your mind!
“Our free market is the best and China is communist!”
Americans conveniently forget that the US government subsidizes farmers, Big Pharma and the military-industrial-complex with hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Also, when developing nations subsidize Western corporations, it’s applauded as smart business; but when developing nations help their domestic firms, it’s vilified as socialism or communism.
What’s even more interesting is that China now has more publicly traded companies than the US!
There’s more competition in “communist” China than in the “capitalist” US. For example, the US has only one smartphone company (Apple), while China has Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, ZTE, OnePlus, Transsion, etc.
Finally, comparing the economic growth of the US and China over the last four decades, no one can reasonably say that the US is superior to the China model:
Comparing the economic growth of the US and China over the last four decades, no one can reasonably say that the US is superior to the China model.
“China isn’t open! It discriminates against US corporations!”
This is often accompanied by, “We should decouple from China!” This ‘logic’ hurts the brain.
Also, while demanding that China treat American companies just like Chinese companies, the US has placed 140 Chinese companies under the “entity list,” meaning they can’t do business with US corporations or the government.
“China censors Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc.”
This is followed by, “OMG! There are Chinese bots and trolls flooding our social media. Ban them, please!”
“China steals everything”
China has been #1 in both scientific publications and patents for the last few years. Why?
Chinese companies like Huawei, Alibaba and SenseTime are leapfrogging over the US in AI software, AI chips, database software, 5G etc.
And young Chinese people have the “9-9-6” work ethic – they work 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week.
Well, it’s like sports where partisan supporters are certain that the other team won only by cheating.
“China forced US corporations into technology transfer”
In exchange for technology, China offered generous subsidies and tax cuts that allowed US corporations to make trillions of dollars over the last 40 years.
To put it succinctly: China bought the technology from American, European, Japanese and Korean companies. Americans didn’t mind the technology transfer, because they never thought that China could compete – after all, China merely employs slave labor to make crappy products, right?
“China is a totalitarian government! We are so amazing because we have Democracy!”
Democracy in America is a joke.
As Joseph Stiglitz, former Chief Economist of the World Bank said, “America is of the 1%, by the 1% and for the 1%.”
The Chinese government is based on meritocracy and has a 90% approval rate. While it’s not perfect, it has done a remarkable job in the last 40 years by lifting 800 million people out of poverty and creating the world’s largest middle class.
Also, note that the US never tries to spread democracy in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, etc.
‘Freedom and democracy’ propaganda is a selective tool, not anchored to any consistent values or principles worthy of being called such.
Atrocity Propaganda
Like “Saddam threw babies out of incubators” or “Assad uses chemical weapons,” the US started the “1 million Chinese Muslims in concentration camps” narrative in early 2018.
While hundreds of diplomats and journalists from all over the world have visited these re-education camps in Xinjiang, the US establishment sticks to its pathetic atrocity propaganda.
It’s not even remotely true. Not in the least.
When that desperate narrative fizzled out, whoever is responsible for conducting psy-ops in Washington DC restarted the “organ-harvesting” fake news with the help of Falun Gong and the World Uyghur Congress, both of which are funded by the US.
No matter how absurd or sensationalist, it’s never a “conspiracy theory” when it’s about China, Russia, Iran or any other geopolitical competitor.
Racism and Yellow Peril
Behind all this anti-China propaganda is deep-seated racism in Americans that cannot accept the Chinese as equals.
If confronted about racism, Americans would say, “I only hate the Chinese government, not the people.”
However, this is clearly disproved by how Americans behave on social media, where any article that’s negative about China instantly goes viral; and positive news about China gets ignored or even down-voted.
‘Yellow Peril syndrome’ is deeper among those in the US establishment.
The right-wing is more blatant and sensational:
"The Chinese aren't smarter. They CHEAT," tweeted Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. A US State Department official said, "It's the first time that we will have a great power competitor that is not Caucasian." The FBI Director upped the ante and called China a "whole-of-society threat."
Like George Orwell’s ‘Two Minutes Hate‘, the US media and social media influencers — Kyle Bass, Gordon Chang, Charlie Kirk, General Rob Spalding etc. — spew insane anti-Chinese hatred every day to rile up the mob.
Censorship
As Rania Khalek pointed out, corporate media is filled with spooks and US government officials acting as “analysts.”
Sadly, social media giants are also acting as state propaganda outlets. Google, Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, Medium etc. are all actively purging pro-China voices, while tolerating what amounts to hate speech.
Nathan Rich – an American living in China – illustrated how YouTube actively worked against him.
For example, his subscriber numbers would go down substantially, people could only dislike his videos but could not like them, his videos wouldn't show up in searches, etc. Twitter also purges pro-China people, but if there's a huge outcry - like when they deleted Carl Zha's account - the thought police would quietly reinstate a handful of the victims.
Anyone who’s remotely pro-China on social media is vilified as a Chinese bot or a “Wumao” – a person who supposedly works for 50 cents/hour to spread Chinese propaganda.
This is where the "fifty-center" meme came from.
On Reddit, there’s a sub-group called “r/China” with 120,000 members. But you won’t find anything positive or neutral about China in that group — it’s a sewer of racism and hatred. And people who post positive news about China also get banned or attacked by online mobs.
As an aside, I (Metallicman) was banned on Free Republic in October 2019 because I posted a positive article reporting on Hong Kong events. That is amazing as I was a long time member (20+ years!) to Free Republic with over 8,000+ posted articles. No warning. No email. No excuse or reasons given. Just erased me and my my history. Zilch!
That is what Jim Robinson has become. Just another Software mogul in the United States.Snubbing his nose at us "little guys" that made FR popular.
From corporate media to social media, only one-sided sensational claims are allowed.
The concept of ‘freedom of speech and expression’ in the US is a farce.
Conclusion
The USA is exhibiting all the symptoms of late-stage capitalism or a dying empire — deep internal divisions, extreme wealth inequality, exploding debt, brainwashed masses, overextended military, and paranoia about geopolitical competition.
Meanwhile, China has a lot of room to grow, since its GDP-per-capita is still only $10,000 overall and $20,000 in big cities. China’s strategy is to keep calm, maintain growth, expand trade, and become technologically independent by 2025 — especially in semiconductors. By 2030, China’s nominal GDP will be larger than that of the US; and Asia will account for 40% of global GDP.
If China can successfully navigate all the proxy and hybrid wars waged by a belligerent America in the next decade, then China and Eurasia will be the shining stars of this century.
Links about China
Here are
some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader,
might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.
China and America Comparisons
As an
American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United
States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.
The Chinese Business KTV Experience
This is
the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the
British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal
press. This is the reality. Read or not.
Learning About China
Who
doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what
China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in
China.
Contemporaneous Chinese Music
This is a
series of posts that discuss contemporaneous popular music in China. It
is a wide ranging and broad spectrum of travel, and at that, all that I
am able to provide is the flimsiest of overviews. However, this series
of posts should serve as a great starting place for investigation and
enjoyment.
Parks in China
The parks
in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very
mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.
Really Strange China
Here are
some posts that discuss a number of things about China that might seem
odd, or strange to Westerners. Some of the things are everyday events,
while others are just representative of the differences in culture.
What is China like?
The
purpose of this post is to illustrate that the rest of the world,
outside of America, has moved on with their lives. That while they
might not be as great as America is, they are doing just fine thank
you.
And while
America has been squandering it’s money, decimating it’s resources,
and just being cavalier with it’s military, the rest of the world has
done the opposite. They have husbanded their day to day fortunes, and
you can see this in their day-to-day lives.
Summer in Asia
Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…
Some Fun Videos
Here’s a collection of some fun videos taken all over Asia. While
there are many videos taken in China, we also have some taken in
Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea and Japan as well. It’s all in fun.
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
This is sarcasm. It comes from The Babylon Bee, and when I first came across the article I almost "shit my pants" it was so funny. If you are unaware of where the humor is in this, I would suggest you watch the movie "Aliens". It will put this meme in better context than I ever can explain.
All credit to the original posters.
Yeah. The United States is really, really messed up now. The government cannot function. Corporate big-wigs are pushing radical Marxism and a progressive socialist ideal that makes Pol-Pot look like a teeny-bopper, and hard core criminals are immune from justice. It’s all a massive cluster-fuck. Experts Now Recommend Nuking Everything From Orbit.
Experts Now Recommend Nuking Everything From Orbit – July 23rd, 2019
WORLD—In
the wake of a string of increasingly bizarre antics from a rapidly
declining western civilization, experts recommended nuking everything
from orbit.
Should world leaders approve the plan, the nukes will be launched sometime in the next week, weather permitting.
“Our new strategy for eradicating the potential for more of the absolute insanity as we have seen over the past weeks and months is to just wipe the whole thing out,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper declared in a press conference at the Pentagon.
“We explored plans ranging from releasing biological weapons into public areas around the world to just sinking everyone into the sea. But based on computer simulations, a barrage of orbital nukes from our defense satellites is the most effective plan for just wiping everything out in order to let someone else have a shot.”
Esper
went on to state the first barrage of nukes would include some 325
different ICBMs targeted at the world’s most densely populated areas,
while a second salvo would target more rural areas to wipe out any
survivors.
“It’s the only way to be sure.”
SHTF Related Index
This is a collection of my posts related to prepping, SHTF (Shit Hit The Fan), CWII (American Civil War 2), Fourth Turning (Strauss–Howe generational theory)
and other posts related to the very sad and sorry tatters that America
is today. Actually, I am a little stunned that I have written so much
about these matters. But America today is very ill and there are things
that really should be said.
Here are the posts.
SHTF and Related Index
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
Mars has life. It has both indigenous life, and non-indigenous life. The vast majority of the planet has naturally evolved microbial life that has survived in the harsh Martian environment. This fact was discovered by NASA in the 1970s and the administration intentionally suppressed this knowledge and discovery. The thing is, life evolves naturally and easily in this universe. Here we discuss this issue.
Ah. It's not just Mars even.There are more than a few places in our solar system that harbors life. Nothing that looks like us, mind you, but life never the less.
Yup, back in the 70’s, life outside the Earth was considered life-shattering, and religion-ending. So it was suppressed. Done so by mediocre people with the best of intentions in positions of power where they did not belong.
Now, things are changing, and people are speaking out.
Like the scientists and researchers who thumbed their noses at the FDA for banning BT-141, to the outrage that "experts" were permitted to change the tomato into a cardboard box. People are striking back at all these numbskulls in power.
This article is presented directed as published. All links and text are provided without alteration. I added headings to make it easier to follow and read. I also reduced all the bold formatting to make it easier to read. After all, high-lighting an entire text book turns the pages yellow, but fails to point out the significant passage summaries.
I urge all readers to click on the link as a kind acknowledgement to the fine folks at Scientific American for publishing this piece.
On July 30, 1976, the LR returned its initial results from Mars.
Amazingly, they were positive. As the experiment progressed, a total of four positive results, supported by five varied controls, streamed down from the twin Viking spacecraft landed some 4,000 miles apart. The data curves signaled the detection of microbial respiration on the Red Planet. The curves from Mars were similar to those produced by LR tests of soils on Earth. It seemed we had answered that ultimate question.
When the Viking Molecular Analysis Experiment failed to detect organic matter, the essence of life, however, NASA concluded that the LR had found a substance mimicking life, but not life. Inexplicably, over the 43 years since Viking, none of NASA’s subsequent Mars landers has carried a life detection instrument to follow up on these exciting results. Instead the agency launched a series of missions to Mars to determine whether there was ever a habitat suitable for life and, if so, eventually to bring samples to Earth for biological examination.
Background & Testing Methodology
NASA maintains the search for alien life among its highest priorities. On February 13, 2019, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said we might find microbial life on Mars. Our nation has now committed to sending astronauts to Mars. Any life there might threaten them, and us upon their return. Thus, the issue of life on Mars is now front and center.
Life on Mars seemed a long shot. On the other hand, it would take a near miracle for Mars to be sterile. NASA scientist Chris McKay once said that Mars and Earth have been “swapping spit” for billions of years, meaning that, when either planet is hit by comets or large meteorites, some ejecta shoot into space. A tiny fraction of this material eventually lands on the other planet, perhaps infecting it with microbiological hitch-hikers. That some Earth microbial species could survive the Martian environment has been demonstrated in many laboratories. There are even reports of the survival of microorganisms exposed to naked space outside the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA’s reservation against a direct search for microorganisms ignores the simplicity of the task accomplished by Louis Pasteur in 1864. He allowed microbes to contaminate a hay-infusion broth, after which bubbles of their expired gas appeared. Prior to containing living microorganisms, no bubbles appeared. (Pasteur had earlier determined that heating, or pasteurizing, such a substance would kill the microbes.) This elegantly simple test, updated to substitute modern microbial nutrients with the hay-infusion products in Pasteur’s, is in daily use by health authorities around the world to examine potable water. Billions of people are thus protected against microbial pathogens.
This standard test, in essence, was the LR test on Mars, modified by the addition of several nutrients thought to broaden the prospects for success with alien organisms, and the tagging of the nutrients with radioactive carbon. These enhancements made the LR sensitive to the very low microbial populations postulated for Mars, should any be there, and reduced the time for detection of terrestrial microorganisms to about one hour. But on Mars, each LR experiment continued for seven days. A heat control, similar to Pasteur’s, was added to determine whether any response obtained was biological or chemical.
The Viking LR sought to detect and monitor ongoing metabolism, a very simple and fail-proof indicator of living microorganisms. Several thousand runs were made, both before and after Viking, with terrestrial soils and microbial cultures, both in the laboratory and in extreme natural environments. No false positive or false negative result was ever obtained. This strongly supports the reliability of the LR Mars data, even though their interpretation is debated.
In her recent book To Mars with Love, my LR co-experimenter Patricia Ann Straat provides much of the scientific detail of the Viking LR at lay level. Scientific papers published about the LR are available on my Web site.
Evidence
In addition to the direct evidence for life on Mars obtained by the Viking LR, evidence supportive of, or consistent with, extant microbial life on Mars has been obtained by Viking, subsequent missions to Mars, and discoveries on Earth:
Surface water sufficient to sustain microorganisms was found on Mars by Viking, Pathfinder, Phoenix and Curiosity;
Ultraviolet (UV) activation of the Martian surface material did not, as initially proposed, cause the LR reaction: a sample taken from under a UV-shielding rock was as LR-active as surface samples;
Complex organics, have been reported on Mars by Curiosity’s scientists, possibly including kerogen, which could be of biological origin;
Phoenix and Curiosity found evidence that the ancient Martian environment may have been habitable.
The excess of carbon-13 over carbon-12 in the Martian atmosphere is indicative of biological activity, which prefers ingesting the latter;
The Martian atmosphere is in disequilibrium: its CO2 should long ago have been converted to CO by the sun’s UV light; thus the CO2 is being regenerated, possibly by microorganisms as on Earth;
Terrestrial microorganisms have survived in outer space outside the ISS;
Ejecta containing viable microbes have likely been arriving on Mars from Earth;
Methane has been measured in the Martian atmosphere; microbial methanogens could be the source;
The rapid disappearance of methane from the Martian atmosphere requires a sink, possibly supplied by methanotrophs that could co-exist with methanogens on the Martian surface;
Ghost-like moving lights, resembling will-O’-the-wisps on Earth that are formed by spontaneous ignition of methane, have been video-recorded on the Martian surface;
Formaldehyde and ammonia, each possibly indicative of biology, are claimed to be in the Martian atmosphere;
An independent complexity analysis of the positive LR signal identified it as biological;
Six-channel spectral analyses by Viking’s imaging system found terrestrial lichen and green patches on Mars rocks to have the identical color, saturation, hue and intensity;
A wormlike feature was in an image taken by Curiosity;
Large structures resembling terrestrial stromatolites (formed by microorganisms) were found by Curiosity; a statistical analysis of their complex features showed less than a 0.04 percent probability that the similarity was caused by chance alone;
No factor inimical to life has been found on Mars.
Summary
In summary, we have: positive results from a widely-used microbiological test; supportive responses from strong and varied controls; duplication of the LR results at each of the two Viking sites; replication of the experiment at the two sites; and the failure over 43 years of any experiment or theory to provide a definitive nonbiological explanation of the Viking LR results.
What is the evidence against the possibility of life on Mars? The astonishing fact is that there is none. Furthermore, laboratory studies have shown that some terrestrial microorganisms could survive and grow on Mars.
Continued Suppression, and Workarounds
NASA has already announced that its 2020 Mars lander will not contain a life-detection test. In keeping with well-established scientific protocol, I believe an effort should be made to put life detection experiments on the next Mars mission possible. I and my co-experimenter have formally and informally proposed that the LR experiment, amended with an ability to detect chiral metabolism, be sent to Mars to confirm the existence of life: non-biological chemical reactions do not distinguish between “left-handed” and “right-handed” organic molecules, but all living things do.
Moreover, the Chiral LR (CLR) could confirm and extend the Viking LR findings. It could determine whether any life detected were similar to ours, or whether there was a separate genesis. This would be a fundamental scientific discovery in its own right. A small, lightweight CLR has already been designed and its principle verified by tests. It could readily be turned into a flight instrument.
Meanwhile a panel of expert scientists should review all pertinent data of the Viking LR together with other and more recent evidence concerning life on Mars. Such an objective jury might conclude, as I did, that the Viking LR did find life. In any event, the study would likely produce important guidance for NASA’s pursuit of its holy grail.
Gilbert V. Levin is an engineer and inventor; he was the principal investigator Labeled Release experiment on NASA Viking missions to Mars in the 1970s.
Other Links with the same conclusion
First, from National Geographic…
Apr 15, 2012 · A fresh look at NASA data suggests that a robotic mission uncovered microbial life on Mars —more than 30 years ago. In 1976 NASA sent two space probes, Vikings 1 and 2, to Mars to determine whether...
- Life on Mars Found by NASA's Viking Mission?
Life is common throughout the universe. In fact there is life on numerous bodies within our very own solar system. This should not be so shocking, but it is because it serves the interests in power to maintain the narrative that humans are alone and “special” on the earth.
It is not my interest if you, the reader, believes in life outside of the earth. It exists. Deal with it. If you have a difficult time coming to grips with this realization then I suggest that YOU SHOULD STOP PUTTING LIMITS ON GOD.
Give it up.
What mysteries and OOPARTS are…
Mysteries and OOPARTS are things that defy the commonly accepted view of the world. It’s really that simple.
If you believe that the Earth is flat, then you would have a
very difficult time grappling with pictures of the Earth as a globe.
If
you believe that all men are “pigs” and “enslave” women, and that
traditionally run households are horrible for women, then you will have a
difficult time with the way Attila the Hun treated women.
If
you believe that the American Civil War was over slavery, then you would
have a difficult time understanding the behavior of the Confederados.
If
you believe that humans are the only intelligent life in the universe,
then you will have a difficult time understanding a million year old
computer.
Here are some mysteries and OOPARTS explained. In all cases the
discussions are based on what I was exposed to. Most of which is
considered to be fringe and “tin hat” stuff. Whatever. Enjoy.
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
This is the story of the Lady Juliana. This was a special ship designed to convey female convicts from England to Australia. The idea was that a boat load of female convicts would happily link up with a colony of convicts in Australia. Thus making everyone very, very happy, and reform the colony in New South Wales.
They were right.
And this motley crew of British women ultimately had a lasting impact on the history of Australia.
A little background information.
Great Britain began colonizing Australia in 1787 with the departure of the so-called “First Fleet” of ships. Aboard these ships were male and female prisoners, as well as officials whose goal was to establish a penal colony around modern-day Sydney. The Lady Juliana was part of the Second Fleet of ships meant to bring another round of convicts along with food and supplies for the young colony.
Seventeen years after Cook discovered Botany Bay, on May 13th, 1787, a fleet of eleven ships left England – the First Fleet which would begin the colonization of Australia. Under the command of Commodore Arthur Phillip, these ships carried 1530 people – 736 of whom were convicts.
The British government specifically commissioned the Lady Juliana to transport a group of no fewer than 200 female convicts to Australia.
Pulled from British prisons, these convicts were torn from their families and communities to undertake a lengthy sea voyage to the other side of the world. Though conditions aboard the Lady Juliana were better than they were on most male-convict ships, it was still a long, hard journey – the ship left England in July 1789 and didn’t reach its final destination until June 1790. That’s almost an entire year.
As the first exclusively female convict transport to Australia, the voyage of Lady Juliana is of great historical significance. Lady Juliana was also the first convict transport to arrive in Australia after the First Fleet and the only transport of the Second Fleet not to have been chartered by slave traders Camden, Calvert & King.
About the convicts…
Though they were prisoners being transported against their will, many of the women of the Lady Juliana ultimately made the most of their circumstances. This was both during and after the voyage. They were quite busy with side hustles in ports of call and their romantic bartering aboard the ship. Indeed, their journey has gone down in history books as one of the most legendary.
Some Of The Passengers Sold Themselves At Ports En Route To Australia. This was a common enough activity, and enabled the sailors to be happy and productive throughout the long year-long trip. During ports of call, the convicts were also permitted to perform some side-activity to enable them to come up with some side money.
The voyage to Australia lasted about 10 months, as the Lady Juliana voyaged from port to port in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The ship’s stays in places like Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town could last several weeks. The convicts made the most of their global tour by selling their services in these ports.
As John Nicol, the ship’s steward, euphemistically remembered, “We did not restrain the people on shore from coming on board through the day. The captains and seamen, who were in port at the time, paid us many visits.” The women were very busy being in high demand at the ports of call.
British Home Under-Secretary Evan Nepean. Nepean decided that, in order for the new colony to prosper, it would need more than just increased provisions and supplies — it would need the stability created by more women, children, and families. To this end, Nepean ordered a shipment of female convicts to immediately be sent to Sydney Cove and “upon landing, promote a matrimonial connection to improve morals and secure settlement.”
The ladies kept at least part of their earnings. Some of the ship’s officers and sailors allegedly even got in on the business, and their involvement raises serious questions about the degree to which these captive women were coerced into their activities.
One, a Scottish girl, broke her heart and died in the river; she was buried at Dartford. Four were pardoned on account of his Majesty's recovery. The poor young Scottish girl I have never yet got out of my mind; she was young and beautiful, even in the convict dress, but pale as death, and her eyes red with weeping. She never spoke to any of the other women or came on deck. She was constantly seen sitting in the same corner from morning to night; even the time of meals roused her not. My heart bled for her, - she was a countrywoman in misfortune. I offered her consolation, but her hopes and heart had sunk. When I spoke she heeded me not, or only answered with sighs and tears; if I spoke of Scotland she would ring her hands an sob, until I thought her heart would burst. I endeavoured to get her sad story from her lips, but she was silent as the grave to which she hastened. I lent her my bible to comfort her, but she read it not; she laid it on her lap after kissing it, and only bedewed it with her tears. At length she sunk into the grave, of no disease, but a broken heart. After her death we had only two Scottish women on board, one of them a Shetlander.
-John Nicol
In response to Nepean’s command, 225 female thieves, prostitutes, con artists, and some five infants were rounded up from prisons in London and the English countryside to be shipped off to the failing Sydney Cove colony aboard the Lady Juliana. For the English government, the female convicts were to serve two purposes: to prevent the starving and isolated male colonists from engaging in “gross irregularities” and to act as a breeding stock for the troubled settlement.
Many Of The Ship’s Sailors Took The Convict Women As ‘Wives’.
Whether out of love, lust, coercion, or necessity, many of the women on board the ship became the “wives” of the ship’s officers and crew members. As the ship’s steward John Nicol recalled in his memoir of the voyage: “When we were fairly out at sea, every man on board took a wife from among the convicts, they nothing loath.”
'I went every day to the town to buy fresh provisions and other necessaries for them. As their friends were allowed to come on board to see them, they brought money, and numbers had it of their own, particularly a Mrs. Barnsley, a noted sharper and shoplifter. She herself told me her family for one hundred years back, had been swindlers and highwaymen. She had a brother a highwayman, who often came to see her, as well dressed and genteel in his appearance as any gentleman.
'Those from the country came all on board in irons; and I was paid half a crown a head by the country jailors, in many cases, for striking them off upon my anvil, as they were not locked but rivetted. There was a Mrs. Davis a noted swindler, who had obtained great quantities of goods under false names and other equally base means. We had one Mary Williams transported for receiving stolen goods. She and another eight had been a long time in Newgate where Lord George Gordon had supported them. I went once a week to him and got their allowance from his own hand all the time we lay in the river.
-John Nicol
While these marriages were not legal, they nonetheless served a practical purpose: taking a lover onboard the ship often meant better sleeping arrangements for the women.
The women slept in the orlop deck, just above the ship’s bilge, which contained the ship’s holding water, human waste, and remnants of food. Despite such hardships, the ship’s conditions may have seemed preferable to many of the women compared with those they had left behind in London’s prisons. For some of these women, the journey to Sydney Cove itself offered an opportunity for them to better their positions. Women who became “wives” of crewmembers aboard the ship could get access to better provisions and sleeping arrangements.
But at least one partnership was rooted in genuine feeling: Nicol seemed to have fallen in love with prisoner Sarah Whitlam. Though he intended to marry her once her term ended, the two never wed. Nicol had to go back to Britain, leaving Whitlam and their child behind in Australia. He attempted to reunite with her, but they never saw each other again.
We had on board a girl pretty well behaved, who was called, by her acquaintances a daughter of Pitt. She herself never contradicted it. She bore a most striking likeness to him in every feature, and could scarce be known from him as to looks. We left her at Port Jackson. Some of our convicts I have heard even to boast of the crimes and murders committed by them and their accomplices; but the far greater number were harmless unfortunate creatures, the victims of the basest seduction.
When we were fairly out at sea, every man on board took a wife from among the convicts, they nothing loath. The girl with whom I lived, for I was as bad in this point as the others, was named Sarah Whitelam. She was a native of Lincoln, a girl of modest reserved turn, as kind and true a creature as ever lived. I courted her for a week and upwards, and would have married her upon the spot, had there been a clergy man on board. She had been banished for a mantle she had borrowed from an acquaintance. Her friend prosecuted her for stealing it, and she was transported for seven years. I had fixed my fancy upon her from the moment I knocked the rivet out of her irons upon my anvil, and as firmly resolved to bring her back to England, when her time was out, my lawful wife, as ever I did intend anything in my life. She bore me a son in our voyage out. What is become of her, whether she is dead or alive, I know not. That I do not, is no fault of mine, as my narrative will show.
- Excerpt from The Life and Adventures of John Nicol, Mariner printed in the Spirit of the English Magazines
Not all partnerships were as affectionate as Nicol and Whitlam’s appears to have been. The lack of privacy for prisoners on convict ships meant that crew members had access to them, and their relations and interactions could be coercive. The age of consent in 18th-century Britain was 10 years old, so some crew members took teenage wives during the voyage.
Some women, like Elizabeth Barnsley — a wealthy and successful shoplifter convicted of theft — used their money and influence to procure better lodging and even to create business opportunities on the ship. Prostitution was not unusual in Georgian England or within the shipping industry, and the Lady Juliana soon became something of a “floating brothel.” Crewmembers and, possibly, some of the ship’s female cargo profited from the sex trade in various ports of call, and money earned from prostitution could in turn be used to gain influence on the ship or upon arrival at Sydney Cove.
Historian Pamela Horn identified 14-year-old Jane Forbes as one such young wife – she had a baby before reaching Australia.
Colonial Officials Wanted The Women To Prevent Men From Sleeping With Each Other.
Mary Wade and Jane Whiting were transported on the Lady Juliana......This day the sessions at the Old Bailey, which began on Wednesday last, ended, when 18 convicts received sentence of death......... Of all the criminals who received lenience, those most to be regretted were two young girls, the eldest only fourteen, the youngest eleven, in whom the seeds of wickedness had taken such deep root, as to have rendered them callous to all sense of shame or feeling. These two artful hussies, Jane Whiting, and Mary Wade, seeing a child between six and seven years old in the street alone, easily decoyed it into a privy, under the Treasury wall, where they stripped and then left it to perish, with cold. Fortunately its cries attracted the notice of people nearby by, who humanely conducted the child to its friends..
(Gentleman's Magazine)
There
was not an even distribution of men and women among the
convict-colonists in early British Australia. Of the 759 convicts sent
to Australia aboard the First Fleet, 568 were men while only 191 were women. As a result, officials worried about how all those men would find partners – some were concerned that they would turn to one another.
For their part, many of the women convicts experienced a newfound sense of freedom at Sydney Cove. Freed from the strictures of traditional society and class, these women saw their new home as a chance to create a new life for themselves — a life filled with unprecedented opportunities.
To correct what 18th-century Britain perceived to be “gross irregularities” in romantic partnerships in Australia, officials begged for more women. The Female Prisoners Were Expected To Civilize The Colony
The women of the Lady Juliana had a particular purpose: Colonial officials hoped that a shipload of women would help civilize the budding convict colony. According to one British official, the increased presence of women would “promote a matrimonial connection to improve morals and secure settlement.”
Mary Talbot was one of the women who was embarked on the Lady Juliana. Mary, with other female prisoners, managed with assistance of their families, to escape from the Lady Juliana while still in port. Mary Talbot was re-captured and eventually transported on the Mary Ann. Another of the escapees Mary Burgess managed to remain at large for 3 years. She had been found guilty of stealing in a dwelling house in October 1787 and received a sentence of death which was afterwards through the Royal mercy pardoned on condition of being transported for 7 years. She was put on board the Lady Juliana and after escaping was spotted by a police runner and apprehended at Christ Church. In her defense she claimed to have been very ill, fell over board, and was taken up by a fisherman. She was recommended to mercy because of her good conduct since and because no wilful escape was proved.
They were to marry male colonists, which would supposedly create and maintain respectable family life in the new colony. The women’s prison sentences aimed to transform them into moral vessels that would enable the re-creation of the British family unit abroad.
Most Of The Women Onboard The Ship Had Committed Petty Offenses
The women being transported to New South Wales on the Lady Juliana were
prisoners, but their lives were upended for infractions that appear
minor in the 21st century. Though some of the women aboard the Lady Juliana might have been ladies of the night, that’s not why they were sent to Australia – harlotry was not a transportable offense. Most of the women on the ship had been arrested and sentenced for various degrees of theft.
Their offenses ranged from highway robbery to shoplifting and pickpocketing. Mary Hook,
for example, was around 20 years old when the British court commuted
her punishment for stealing her employer’s money and goods from capital
punishment to a seven-year sentence in New South Wales.
On the ships to Australia, the prettiest were rumored to have been shared amongst the military officers. Upon arrival in Australia, the women were lined up like cattle to be selected as servants or wives. If they were not selected, a life of prostitution was their only real hope for survival.
As the ship prepared to depart, a small group managed to escape. Being sent to the other side of the world may have been preferable to more severe penalties, but it was nonetheless a terrifying experience for many women; some left England with heavy hearts as they were ripped away from friends and family. They worried about their uncertain future on a new continent.
Elizabeth Barnsley Became An Enterprising Madam Aboard The Ship
One of the most notable convicts on the ship was Elizabeth Barnsley. Her offense: stealing some cloth. She quickly became a leader during the voyage. As John Nicol, steward of the Lady Juliana, recalled, “She was very kind to her fellow convicts, who were poor. They were all anxious to serve her. She was as a queen among them.”
Female convicts were a varied bunch. They ranged in age from children to women in old age, but most were in their twenties or thirties. Many were single, but some were married and some were widowed. A small proportion brought children with them on their journey of transportation. Most left family behind in their homeland. Some were transported with family members, or family members had come before them, or came after them.
Barnsley made the most of her circumstances and turned her position into profits – she was instrumental in overseeing her fellow convicts’ economic activities at every port along the way.
Some Of The Women Might Have Been Sex Workers In England
Though they were not being transported to New South Wales for prostitution, many of the women aboard the Lady Juliana may have been ladies of the night.
A robust harlotry economy existed in 18th-century Britain, so it’s
reasonable to assume that some of the 200-plus convicts took part.
Many of the crimes for which they were transported are considered minor offenses by today’s standards. The most common crime was stealing—food, clothing, money, household items—nothing worth more than £5. Relatively few of the women were transported for a first offense. A few of the women even courted transportation—deliberately committing crimes such as arson in order to be transported. Perhaps a few were wrongly accused, but the majority, according to the laws of the day, deserved to be transported to the other side of the world, away from kith and kin.
Moreover, many of the passengers’ stories fell into the “fallen woman”
trope that had become popular in novels and plays. John Nicol believed
many of the women had been seduced at some point in their lives. He
wrote about how Sarah Dorset, for example, had “fallen” into a life of alleged folly and sin:
She had not been protected by the villain that ruined her above six weeks; then she was forced by want upon the streets, and taken up as a disorderly girl; then sent onboard to be transported.
The Lady Juliana Provided Better Living Conditions Than Other Convict Ships And British Prisons.
The women aboard the Lady Juliana came
from British prisons. Though a prison reform movement began to grow in
the late 18th century, the prison conditions they escaped were
deplorable. Prisons were overcrowded, and diseases spread swiftly.
It was still a prison ship, and most of the passenger-convicts slept
just above the ship’s garbage and sewage deck. But the women of the Lady Juliana had something that their land-imprisoned counterparts didn’t: consistent access to medical care. The ship had a surgeon and was kept relatively clean.
The meagre number of convict women brought with the First Fleet were ravaged by the men on their first night on land, Aboriginal women were sexually assaulted and soon one of the youngest colonists, an eight year old girl was raped by a marine. To save it from moral collapse, the settlement was in dire need of rescue.
Help would come from the most unlikely quarter. Welcome to the startling, shocking and stinking world of Georgian London! Meet some of the motley collection of street-girls, bagsnatchers and con-women who are plying their trade and turning their tricks… Rachel Hoddy is a mischievous prostitute who drags men back to her home not just to relieve them of their money …but also their clothes. Little Mary Wade, an eleven-year-old street urchin, is hardly the picture of innocence either. Ann Mash has been convicted for stealing just a bushel of wheat. And finally, there’s the doyenne of the London crime scene, Mrs. Elizabeth Barnsley.
Also, the women weren’t chained up like prisoners on other convict ships, and they could barter for improved conditions through various favors. John Nicol credited the ship’s captain with being “a humane man” who “did all in his power to make the convicts as comfortable as their circumstances would allow.”
Part of the reason the passengers on the Lady Juliana enjoyed better conditions was because the British government oversaw it, unlike the other ships in the Second Fleet. All the other vessels were operated by Camden, Calvert, and King, a notorious and prolific slave trading company. Only five women perished aboard the Lady Juliana, compared to the 267 deaths reported by the other ships.
About 1 In 5 Of The Passengers Was A Teenager
The vast majority of the women who embarked on the Lady Juliana were in their 20s and 30s. But no fewer than 51 of them
– or around 22% – were teenagers. Mary Wade was one of these. Though
scholars debate her exact age – recent research says she was 13, while
earlier records show she was only 11 – she was the youngest convict
on the ship.
Incarcerated for their ‘crimes’ and reprieved from death sentences these women are swept up in a government plot to rescue the starving colony at Sydney Cove. But these women will never be at the mercy of the bigwigs of the British Empire.
Aboard The Lady Juliana, they criss-cross the oceans and at each port of call the women show they have quite a head for enterprise. Turning the boardwalks into catwalks they convert the ship into a floating brothel, the sure means to feeding themselves and staying alive. These women are survivors and doing business is in their blood. Sydney Cove will get more than it bargained for when this lot arrive.
This is the rip-roaring tale of a boat-load of women who sailed to the ends of the earth to breath life into a dying colony. But together they would give Sydney and the nation of Australia something much more – a future.
As their descendents discover the story by unearthing diaries, court records and documents they begin to draw parallels with their own twenty-first century lives, and discover they have inherited more than just their genes – but also the incredible entrepreneurial spirit of their forebears.
Like many of her shipmates, Wade ultimately married and had a large number of children in Australia.
Drunkenness Was The Biggest Disciplinary Problem On The Ship
Though it took the Lady Juliana nearly
11 months to reach Australia, there were relatively few disciplinary
problems among the convicts on the ship. One notable issue did arise involving drunkenness leading to disorderly behavior.
To curb her so-called “rowdiness,” crew members made passenger Nance Ferrel wear a repurposed wooden barrel “jacket.” When that didn’t work, they resorted to flogging her 12 times.
On arrival, female convicts were sent directly to the Female Factory. Many only remained a day or so before they were assigned to settlers to work as domestic servants, and many were married soon after arrival. Any man wanting to marry one of the women could apply to the authorities for permission to do so. The women were then lined up at the Factory and the man would drop a scarf or handkerchief at the feet of the woman of his choice. If she picked it up, the marriage was virtually immediate.
Many Colonists Were Annoyed When The Ship Arrived Carrying Women Instead Of Provisions
The First Fleet of convict-colonists arrived in 1788. So by the time the Lady Juliana sailed
into Sydney in June 1790, the people already there were desperate to
replenish their severely dwindled supplies. Many of them were
disappointed to learn the Lady Juliana was a ship carrying people, not goods. One government official grumbled that the Lady Juliana carried “a cargo so unnecessary and so unprofitable as 222 females, instead of a cargo of provisions.”
Although some convict women were classed as depraved and prostitutes, others had been in domestic service in England and were transported for stealing from their employers or shops. After arrival, though, many had to take up prostitution to survive; and the system of selection of servants often meant that the gentry and officers would choose the young and the pretty amongst the women convicts.
Though the ship didn’t bring much in the way of food and goods, it did bring long-awaited news from home, such as dispatches that first alerted the colonists in Australia to the French Revolution that had erupted in 1789.
The Women On The Ship Had To Wear Convict Dresses
As prisoners, the women going to Australia on the Lady Juliana were expected to wear convict dresses. At least one fashionable prisoner protested this. According to the ship’s steward,
Elizabeth Barnsley actually “petitioned the government agent and
captain to be allowed to wear her own clothes” while the ship prepared
to sail. Her request was denied, but the crew allowed her to wear
whatever she wanted once the boat went to sea.
“Whore” and “prostitute”, in England during the Georgian era, were bandied about to serve the moral views of middle-class ideology. However, in the lower classes neither the male nor the female convicts thought it disgraceful, or even wrong, to live together out of wedlock. The sexism of English society was brought to Australia and then amplified by penal conditions. A convict woman needed unusual strength of character not to be crushed by its assumptions. Language itself confirmed her degradation, and some sense of this may be gleaned from the slang and cant words applied to women in those times—a brusque, stinging argot of appropriation and dismissal.
Since the convicts all wore issued dresses, the ship’s captain had the right to dispose of all the passengers’ clothing – but he didn’t, and instead held it for them. He reasoned that the garments “would be of use to the poor creatures when they arrived at Port Jackson.
Some Of The Women Brought Their Children, And Others Gave Birth On The Way
Some of the women aboard the Lady Juliana were already mothers before the ship departed England, and so they brought their children with them. Many of the convict-passengers became pregnant and even gave birth during the long voyage.
A woman was a bat, a crack, a buntel, a case for cattle, a mort, a burick, or a convenient. If she had a regular man, she was his natural or peculiar. If married, she was an autem mott; if blonde, a bleached mott; if a very young prostitute, almost a child, a kinchin mott; if beautiful, a rum blowen, a ewe, a flash piece of mutton. If she had gonorrhea, she was a queer mott. This language was the lower millstone; the upper was the pompous moral phraseology of the establishment, the good flogging Christians. The double-bind to which they were condemned was piercingly illustrated by the remark of one Scottish settler, Peter Murdoch—who had more than 6,000 acres in Van Diemen’s Land and had helped set up the penal station on Maria Island—to the 1838 Select Committee in London: “They are generally so bad,” he said, “that the settlers have no heart to treat them well.”
Historians generally believe five to seven babies were born on the ship, but steward John Nicol suggested no less than 20 had been born while the ship was in port at Rio. They were prepared for the births – the ship had received a small donation of baby linens before leaving England.
Life In Australia Brought New Freedoms And Opportunities For Some Of The Passengers
Unlike other convicts on prison ships, the women aboard the Lady Juliana were not chained together. They were even allowed to move freely around the boat.
And once they arrived in New South Wales, they quickly discovered they could enjoy new freedoms there that they couldn’t in England, even though they were prisoners with few rights who were put in difficult and often dangerous positions.
Instead of iron gangs, troublesome and hardened female prisoners were retained at the female factory. The first such factory was built at Parramatta in 1804 and initially consisted of a single long room with a fireplace at one end for the women to cook. Women and girls made rope and spun and carded wool. At night they slept on the piles of unspun wool.
Women arriving in Australia were free from certain British moral
codes, even while colonial officials expected them to be vessels of
morality. English laws that marked children of unwed mothers as
illegitimate, for example, were not enforced.
The rituals of courtship on Norfolk Island were, to put it mildly, brusque. We see the "bright intelligent" Kimberley pursuing a married convict woman named Mary Ginders with an axe, shouting that "if she did not come and live with him he would report her to the Major and have her placed in the cells." Major Foveaux got the woman of his choice, Ann Sherwin, away from one of his subordinate officers by throwing him in jail on a trumped-up charge "so that," claimed the Irish rebel leader Joseph Holt, a Norfolk prisoner at the time, "the poor fellow, seeing the danger he was in, thought it better to save his life, and lose his wife, than to lose both". At least their union lasted: Foveaux married Ann Sherwin in England in 1815.
In such a moral environment, although male convicts had some rights, however attenuated, the women had none except the right to be fed; they had to fend for themselves against both guards and male prisoners. "England for white slaves, why were they sent here," Jones scribbled in one of his outbursts of delayed guilt, while reflecting on the fate of three women sent to Norfolk Island for the "crime" of abortion, for crimes that required pity more than punishment. "Heaven forbid England if that is her way of populating her hellholes. What would our noble persons think of our virgin settlements and their white slaves. In every case the women treated as slaves, good stock to trade with and a convict having the good chance to possess one did not want much encouragement to do so."
-Convict Women
The women of the Lady Juliana were also
fortunate in that they avoided the fate that awaited future generations
of convict women bound for Australia – the notoriously brutal Parramatta Female Factory didn’t open until 1821, well after their sentences ended.
Life was quite difficult for convict women. Most were sentenced in England for minor crimes such as pickpocketing or theft. As punishment, not only were they exported from their country, many were forced to endure of a life of sexual exploitation. On the ships to Australia, the prettiest were rumoured to have been shared amongst the military officers. Upon arrival in Australia, the women were lined up like cattle to be selected as servants or wives. If they were not selected, a life of prostitution was their only real hope for survival.
Though being transported to a new colony to get married and propagate British family life was no doubt daunting, many women made the most of their circumstances in Australia.
Because the women carried a very negative stigma, morals crusaders often tried to educate them regarding the folly of their ways. Women who simply stood in an "immoral pose" risked having their heads shaved and being forced to wear a collar around their neck as a mark of disgrace. The most difficult women were sent to female factories, which were essentially forced labour camps. Here they continued to be educated about the virtues of morality.
At the Cascades Female Factory in 1838, the moralising became too much for the women and they decided to make a point. The governor of Van Diemen's Land visited the factory and attended a service in the chapel. Entertaining the governor was the Reverend William Bedford, a morals campaigner whose hypocrisy had elicited the ladies' scorn. Keen to impress the governor with a fine speech, Bedford addressed the women from an elevated dais and then: "The three hundred women turned right around and at one impulse pulled up their clothes showing their naked posteriors which they simultaneously smacked with their hands making a loud and not very musical noise. This was the work of a moment, and although constables, warders etc. were there in plenty, yet 300 women could not well be all arrested and tried for such an offence and when all did the same act the ringleaders could not be picked out."
This cheeky behaviour "horrified and astounded" the governor and the male members of the party. As for the ladies in the governor's party, it was said, in a rare moment of collusion with the convict women, "could not control their laughter".
-Convict Women
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Australian colonies were societies on the rise – and they created new opportunities. Some Lady Juliana passengers became upwardly mobile once their prison terms ended.
The Lady Juliana was the first convict ship to carry women. It had been “opened” on the ports on the way to Australia and had thus become known as “the floating brothel.” It arrived in Port Jackson in 1790. As the women were disembarked, a drunken orgy broke out. Sailors and convicts were in and around the women’s tents, some queuing for sex, others making love with women they had forged attachments with on the voyage. Perhaps the women were willing parties in the orgy, but if they weren’t, they probably didn’t have much choice other than to go along. Either way, the convict women became regarded as depraved and immoral. One witness to the orgy wrote, “The women, cooped up on the voyage and for another 10 hot and intolerable days outside Sydney Cove, had not too many chaste figures among them.”
While some returned to England, others remained in Australia to make their fortune. Ann Marsh, for one, found success after being abandoned by her ship husband. She started and ran a variety of businesses, including a liquor shop and a ferry company. These women had a lasting impact on the land, becoming the so-called “founding mothers of Australia.”
On another occasion, Reverend Bedford was crossing the courtyard of the Female House of Correction, when "some dozen or twenty women seized upon him, took off his trousers and deliberately endeavoured to deprive him of his manhood. They were, however, unable to effect their purpose in consequence of the opportune arrival of a few constables who seized the fair ladies and placed them in durance vile."
The brutalization of women in the colony had gone on so long that it was virtually a social reflex by the end of the 1830s. The first full account of it was given by Robert Jones, Major Foveaux's chief jailer on Norfolk Island in the early 1800's, who thought the lot of the women prisoners there "must surely have been greater than the male convicts.... Several have not recovered yet from their treatment at the hands of the Major." Passages in Jones's memoir show how absolute the chattel status of women was. "Ted Kimberley chief constable considered the convicts of Norfolk Island no better than heathens unfit to grace the earth. Women were in his estimation born for the convenience of men. He was a bright intelligent Irishman." Jones's sentiments are echoed in a fragmentary letter from a free settler on Norfolk Island, an ex-missionary turned trader named James Mitchell. "Surely no common mortal could demand treatment so brutal," he wrote around 1815. "Heaven give their weary footsteps their aching hearts to a better place of rest for here there is none. During governorship of Major Foveaux convicts both male and female were held as slaves. Poor female convicts were treated shamefully. Governor King being mainly responsible."
-Convict Women
A new start
The hardships endured by the women appeared to build a strong sense of female solidarity. The women sang songs, which were often labelled “very disgusting”. When matrons tried to separate agitators from the group, the entire group would sometimes chant “we are all alike, we are all alike.”
Not only did the actions protect individual women, they also made convict life a bit more bearable.
The True Colonist reported in 1837 that while the “horrors of the crime class” had shocked the inhabitants of Van Diemen’s Land, what was more disagreeable to evangelical moral sensibilities was the fact that many women prefer this class to the others, because it is more lively!
There is more fun there than in the others; and we have been informed, that some of the most sprightly of the ladies divert their companions by acting plays!”
As is often the case, out of something bad came something good.
The hardships endured by the convict women seemed to build an ethic to alleviate the hardships in others. Successful convict women such as Molly Morgan never forgot their own hardships earlier in life, and donated freely to establish schools, hospitals and even churches.
Free immigrants like Caroline Chisholm also decided to do something about the suffering they saw around them. She took some women into her house and traveled the colony to find employment for others.
Within two years she had found employment and accommodation for over a thousand women and girls. She then went on to found the Family Colonization Loan Society to help break the cycle of dependence and poverty.
Chisolm’s compassion always came with strings attached.
In her hostels, she employed a tough love approach in which she made it clear that guests should never get too comfortable because they should be out looking for a job.
Mother Mary McKillop was another whose compassion probably flowed from seeing the horrors of the day. Mary took a vow of personal poverty and always shared the hardships of the people she was trying to help.
She was able to personally survive largely because people helped her as well. A society that started off as one in which everyone looked out for themselves, evolved into one in which people started looking out for others.
A society that started off as one in which everyone looked out for themselves, evolved into one in which people started looking out for others.
America, take note.
Posts Regarding Life and Contentment
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in America. Often, I like to compare my life in America with the society
within communist China. As there are some really stark differences
between the two.
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broken apart some other posts. They can best be classified about ones
actions as they contribute to happiness and life. They are a little
different, in subtle ways.
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Be the Rufus – Tales of Everyday Heroism.
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According to the “Fourth Turning”, the year of 2025 will be the point in time where a major “turning point” or crisis will occur. Historically that means a serious war on American soil.
As 100% of the previous fourth turnings were [1] deadly serious wars that [2] occurred on American soil. They also [3] used the most lethal technology, and military forces of the time.
This article embraces this historical fact and extrapolates possible scenarios out from it.
These are ugly, ugly scenarios and I personally hope that none of them come true.
A crisis event on American soil.
Deadly serious event that costs the lives of Americans and wrecks the economy.
Uses the most lethal technology of the time.
The ruling class has gone too far in accumulating the wealth of the nation through the capture of regulatory, political, financial, and communication structures. They know what is coming. They are not pretending that all is fine. They have their very own safe houses all set up far, far away from the strife that is barrelling down towards them.
As a review, for those of you who are oblivious what this is all about, the “Fourth Turning” is a theory that predicts social turmoil upon an 80 year cycle.
Social turmoil.
The possibility of social upheaval.
The possibility of a major HOT war during the crisis period.
The work was written around 1995, and EVERYTHING that was predicted has come to pass. This prediction also predicts for a major crisis event to take place in the 2025 time period +/- 2 years.
The article is about the “peak” of the Fourth Turning – A crisis period.
This article discusses a very specific event that takes place in the midst of the Fourth Turning. It is the “peak” or most dangerous time. It is known as the “crisis”.
If you want to read about the social upheavals and changes leading up to this crisis, you can read about it in another post. It opens up into a separate tab for your reading pleasure.
A nuclear nightmare.
Here, we talk about the “crisis” that will be the “big event” of this “Fourth Turning”. As such, and I am sorry to say, that there is a very strong likelihood that it will result in large-scale nuclear weapon detonations on American soil.
Yes.
You read that correctly.
There is a strong likelihood that large-scale nuclear weapon(s) will be detonated on American soil around the Fourth Turning crisis event.
There are numerous reasons why I hold this belief. But the biggest, I suppose, is the pro-war faction in the United States government.
You see, the United States now believes that we should improve our nuclear warfare fighting capability so that we can use it.
After all, with all those proxy wars the United States is fighting now, (eight in total as of 2019) that we should be able to field and use nuclear weapons freely without worry of retaliation. (After all, what’s all this nonsense about going to battle against Turkey and “our allies” the Kurds?)
John Bolton, openly advocates a first-strike policy against nuclear-armed enemies, and the Pentagon, after decades of careful disarmament, wants to spend $1.2 trillion to upgrade its nuclear arsenal.
If you’ve felt a new shiver of nuclear fear over the past year, you’re not alone: The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved its “Doomsday Clock” to within two minutes of midnight — closer than it has been since the height of the Cold War.
- This Is What a Nuclear Bomb Looks Like
You see, according to the military and political planned deep within the bowels of Washington, America can use “low yield” tactical nuclear weapons on a sovereign foreign nation, and aside from some “political squawk”, nothing bad will come of it.
No one ever fights back. Right?
In December 2016, the US Defense Science Board – a semi-independent group that advises the Secretary of Defense – warned that “the nuclear threshold may be decreasing owing to the stated doctrines and weapons developments of some states.”
Therefore, the DSB recommended DOD should “provide many more options in stemming proliferation or escalation; and a more flexible nuclear enterprise that could produce, if needed, a rapid, tailored nuclear option for limited use should existing non-nuclear or nuclear options prove insufficient.” This would involve “lower yield, primary only options” for strategic warheads on long-range ballistic missiles.
- The Terrifying Nuclear War Game the US Shouldn't Play
Now along with this attitude, is the strong belief that if America fields “low yield” nuclear devices that it will NOT result in devastating nuclear retaliatory strikes. That is considered inconceivable, as “everyone knows” that the United States is the strongest and most powerful nation in the world.
There wouldn’t ever be any repercussions.
It’s inconceivable.
In the United States today is the strong belief that if America fields “low yield” nuclear devices that it will NOT result in devastating nuclear retaliatory strikes. That is considered inconceivable, as “everyone knows” that the United States is the strongest and most powerful nation in the world. No one would dare strike back.
America still thinks that it is the only dog in the barn-yard. But, you know, the rest of the farm animals are getting mightily tired of the dog bullying everyone around. Especially as the dog is getting old, has arthritis, and other problems. One day, another animal might just say that enough is enough.
America spent millions of dollars on NED, which actively went into China, into Hong Kong, on Chinese soil. They taught and trained the anti-government forces there. They taught them how to perform "soft violence" to provoke the mainland Chinese. They paid protestors, and gave them the skills to build bombs, and target maps and a strategy.
All of which was caught on video. With Trumps advisors caught on film (with a clear audio track) in the HK Marriot hotel explaining how to conduct the riots and how to destroy the subway stations. The Chinese have videos of the teaching and training classes for the insurgents, and the NED even has the gall to have their members on LinkedIN boasting about their involvement in HK.
China did nothing.
Though, if the roles were reversed, it would be a different story. If China sent advisors to train the BLM and Antifa on how to bomb bus stations, trains, airports and destroy all public transportation. And they were caught on film and broadcast on all the Conservative networks, with Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity talking about it 24-7. It would be a catastrophic error in judgement. Don't you agree?
But China did nothing.
So America believes that it can go about launching all sorts of military, quasi and semi-para military operations all over the globe and no one will ever raise a finger to stop the empire expansionism.
(Limited Yield) Snow ball strike from the movie “A Christmas Story”.
It can be Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan, the Ukraine. It can be anywhere from Venezuela to Turkey. No one will or can stop us. Right?
China will do nothing. Right?
Russia will do nothing. Right?
No one will fight back. Russia and China won’t ever work together against the USA. Right?
Right?
Ralph fights back against the schoolyard bully. The scene is from the 1980’s movie “A Christmas Story”.
The belief is that the US can launch a few “low yield” nuclear weapons and no nation would dare strike back. The USA can deploy Marines in Hong Kong or Taiwan, and China won’t do anything.
It’s inconceivable. Don’t you know.
I am not the only person that believes this. Read John Paul Roberts excellent article on the pre-nuclear holocaust preparations that America is currently engaged in.
Are You Ready To Die?
And since it would be inconceivable, the military and the United States government officials are today, far more likely and prone to using “safe”, “tactical” nuclear weapons to further their agendas.
And these are dangerous agendas.
These are agendas that are BLIND to the idea that the rest of the world might put it’s collective foot down and say “ENOUGH!”. And launch a retaliatory strike in full force, not only against the military forces on their territory, but rather at the American homeland, the American cities, and the American people who allowed these morons to get anywhere near nuclear launch codes.
This map should scare the living Dejesus out of you. It shows how Washington DC and the political establishment views the use of low-yield nuclear weapons against Asia in the assumption that no one would strike back.
I argue that if the United States, for what ever reason, launches and detonates any kind of nuclear weapon (low-yield, small backpack, tactical strike, or strategic nuclear), that there will be a FULL SCALE retaliatory response aimed at the Untied States.
Any use of nuclear weapons in Asia will result in the complete destruction of the United States.
This, I argue is the 2025 crisis what we should prepare for.
...
The second reality we have failed to understand is what a nuclear detonation and its aftermath would actually look like. In our imaginations, fueled by apocalyptic fictions like The Road and The Day After, the scale and speed of nuclear annihilation seem too vast and horrific to contemplate.
If nuclear war is considered “unthinkable,” that is in no small part because of our refusal to think about it with any clarity or specificity.
In the long run, the best deterrent to nuclear war may be to understand what a single nuclear bomb is capable of doing to, say, a city like New York — and to accept that the reality would be even worse than our fears.
- This Is What a Nuclear Bomb Looks Like
Most articles on the internet today, when discussing nuclear conflict on American soil, do so under the assumption that it would be a small “terrorist nuke”. A small nuclear weapon, roughly the size of the atomic bomb used against Japan in World War II.
I disagree, and this post does not cover that scenario.
And when American military planners contemplate the use of nuclear weapons it is along the lines of tailored tactical responses for set specific objectives. It’s always with “surgical” precision and “contained” destruction. Never taking into account the strong possibility of “unleashing the dogs of war” against us.
They never take into account that the rest of the world thinks of America as a big loud-mouth bully that one day will get it's comeuppance.
Here we consider a “slap back” response up to an all-out MAD-level (Mutually Assured Destruction) response to the United States. It assumes that we initiate the actions though our military use of “low yield” nuclear weapons in Asia. As such, we look at a large super-power unleashing modern large-capacity nuclear munitions, using hyper-glide technology against an unsuspecting America.
Though, at that, many basement computer nerds think that a nuclear war is winnable and not all that bad...
"Anukeisabigbomb, butnotthatbig. Mostof DC wouldsurvive, alotofradiationpoisoningthough, andasyoucanseefromtheoccasionalfloorshot, mostofourcongressisoutofthebuildingatleastandmostofthetime... "
We consider them releasing this onslaught within minutes after the USA detonates a”low yield” device in Asia. Which means, that nuclear detonations over coastal cities by SLBM MIRVs will detonate within minutes of launch.
Minutes.
Two minutes after the SLBM launches off the USA coast, the red lights will light up at NORAD and they will scramble to contact the American leadership. Five minutes later Washington will be erased from the surface of the globe.
Thus obliterating the leadership of America in one fell swoop.
These scenarios assume that the leadership in both Russia and China are not idiots. That they have anticipated the use by America of a tactical "low yield" nuclear weapon, and have positioned submarines and other systems for an immediate kill-level response that would detonate on American soil within minutes.
Perhaps, you the reader disagree. Maybe you think that the rest of the world are idiots, and only Americans are smart. Good for you. Then.
A quick reminder.
While the United States has been very busy funding conventional military operations around the globe, strategic nuclear missile forces have taken a back seat to the realities of global proxy wars without nuclear strike-back.
Once a missile launch is detected, I am comfortable knowing that it will be detected via satellite and the knowledge relayed to SAC HQ. That is…
…unless the Chinese and the Russian hunter-killer satellites don’t take them out.
Missile Combat Crew Commander, Capt. Kenny Gibaldo, (left) and 2nd Lt. John Butler, Deputy Crew Commander of the 320th Missile Squadron, simulate the launch of a Minuteman III using the REACT console in a Launch Control Capsule at Missile Alert Facility Hotel-1.
People!
People!
Five minutes is not enough time to react to nuclear destruction. Whether or not the United States strategic forces are aware of a launch means nothing when hyper-speed technology and delivery weapons are used.
Fundamentals
According to the “Fourth Turning”, we can expect a major critical event to take place around 2025. As shown in the following illustration…
Here are the next few years before the Fourth Turning is expected to reach a crisis point. The astute reader should realize that the event is scheduled immediately after the 2024 election. Historically, this will mean that a progressive democrat will take over the Presidency. In that event, we can expect a full -on gun confiscation effort that would be the result of a mass-shooting event. Democrat presidents always have mass-shooting events in the first six months of their presidency. Then they unleash the anti-gun narrative to a fever pitch. The event that was supposed to really work this last time was the 2016 Los Vegas shooter, but of course it wasn’t Hillary Clinton at the Helm it was Donald Trump..
We should note that it immediately follows an election. An election that historically will follow the following features…
Typically a democrat is elected after an eight-year Republican presidency.
Democrats historically tend to get America into proxy wars or full scale wars as need be.
It is well known that Democrats love to drag America into wars.
On October 12, 2016 longtime Putin ally Vladimir Zhirinovsky openly threatened nuclear war if Hillary Clinton is elected, saying:
Americans voting for a president on Nov. 8 must realize that they are voting for peace on Planet Earth if they vote for Trump. But if they vote for Hillary it’s war. It will be a short movie. There will be Hiroshimas and Nagasakis everywhere.
…and…
I’m forced to remind myself that these are the same people who think that “inclusion” means shutting down free speech, who believe that the US should not have borders, who promote transsexual reading hours in the grammar schools, and who fiercely desire to start a war with Russia.
-Kunstler
…and…
Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria is about as relevant to the life of the average American as Late Bronze Age incursions into Syria by the Hittite king Suppiuliuma I. But for days now, President Trump has been called a coward and a traitor—not only to his own country, but to the valiant Kurds, who as far as the left is concerned, might as well have fought with Washington at Yorktown.
Putin Bad: The Democrats Embrace Neoconservatism
Only the depleted discourse of an utterly bankrupt ruling class could construe support for endless war, expressed in the puddle-deep sentimentality of “muh Kurds,” as courageous, while opposition to the military-industrial complex and its misadventures is craven and worthy of the worst names that posterity can find.
The meltdown over the Syria crisis and the simultaneous Tulsi-Clinton dispute, have driven home the strange truth that the Democrats have become neocons.
While the Republican party remains split between a dissident, non-interventionist base and an increasingly illegitimate, out-of-touch neoconservative Old Guard, which after three years is still scrambling to defend its prestige in a “revolt” against Trump, the Democratic party is almost totally in the interventionist camp.
-American Greatness
Modern warfare is quite advanced, and involves all sorts of high-technology.
The world is evolving, and former isolated smaller nations are now aligning with strong super-power nations.
Every crisis, of the previous three “Fourth Turning” crisis’s has involved full-scale warfare on American soil.
With that in mind, I have taken the liberty to make some assumptions regarding the next crisis which is due to occur in 2025. These are my opinions, and please let it be well understood, that I do not wish any of this to occur.
There is no escape from the Fourth Turning.
The assumptions
The following assumptions have been made, even though there are a significant number of variables in play.
The 2024 election will result with a Democrat president. (A historical norm.)
The new president will implement all sorts of progressive initiatives. Many of which will result in higher taxes, more rules and regulations and gun confiscation. (Well. Duh!)
Unlike President Trump who wants to disengage the USA from foreign wars, proxy wars, and empire policing efforts, the democrat President will do the exact opposite and will resemble Presidents Obama and Bush Jr in that regard.
The Neocon donors to the democrats will demand further involvement in additional proxy wars. The democrats in power will oblige. (It’s the price you pay for all that cold-hard cash.)
American forays towards the next proxy war will not be an isolated event limited to a singular nations, but will involve an alliance with a major global super-power. (Surprise! and this fact alone will spell doom for many of the cherished beliefs that Americans hold so dearly.)
The super-powers involved might include either Russia, China, both and a consortium of numerous other interests.
The normal NED / CIA operations against a sovereign nation will be considered an act of war. (Or at the minimum a serious contributor.)
Nuclear weapons will be unleashed upon the United States.
Putin and Xi are essentially dictators who have no fear of elections. They are serious men in possession of nuclear missiles, capable of destroying the world. They are both serious, serious people. They are in their positions of power through merit. Not though mob rule. They will tolerate the CIA / NED interference with Hong Kong, and the Muslims only so far. There are however, absolutes that they will not tolerate. One of which is the use of “small” nuclear tactical weapons detonated on Asian soil. If the United States decides to push too hard, they WILL strike back… at American cities. IN FULL FUCKING FORCE.
There are various reasons why nuclear weapons would be used against America. But we will limit the reasons to the following;
To destroy the civilian population centers of America rendering it neutered to the effect so that internal civil strife can “eat it alive” unfettered by federal and state governments.
To provide a “double tap” to smash all and any technological, research and industry might that might oppose efforts elsewhere in the world.
To send the United States “back to the middle ages” to a point that it would not be able to recover as a viable nation for at least fifty years.
Welcome to 2025. It’s a truly scary scenario.
Nuclear War is no picnic
For those of you younger than 50 years old, here is a quick review about the dangers of a nuclear bomb. It is a nasty device, and if the blast and the light/heat doesn’t kill you, the poisonous radiation will.
In front of me is a strange amalgamation of '60s-era flip switches and modern digital display screens. It's the control console for launching an intercontinental ballistic missile or ICBM.
On an archaic display screen in the center of the console, three large letters blink in rapid succession. "EAM inbound," says my deputy commander and the second member of the launch crew. An emergency-action message is on its way, maybe from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, maybe from the Commander of U.S. Strategic Command, maybe even from the president. We both mechanically pull down our code books, thick binders swollen with pages of alpha-numeric sequences, and swiftly decipher the message.
After nearly four years of pulling ICBM-alert duty, this process is instinctive. I deliberately recite the encrypted characters to ensure my deputy is on the same page, literally and figuratively, as six short characters can effectively communicate a wealth of information through the use of special decoding binders. "Charlie, Echo, Seven, Quebec, Golf, Bravo, six characters ending in Bravo." My partner concurs, scribbling in his code book.
-Death Wears a Snuggie
Here’s an article talking about a very tiny-tiny suitcase nuke that a terrorist might create and detonate in the center of New York City. (It is difficult to find MAD scenarios on the internet.)
Near the center of the blast, the suffering and devastation most closely conform to the fictional apocalypse of our imaginations. This is what it would look like within a half-mile of Times Square: Few buildings would remain standing. Mountains of rubble would soar as high as 30 feet. As fires raged, smoke and ash would loft into the air. The New York Public Library’s stone guardians would be reduced to pebble and dust. Rockefeller Center would be an unrecognizable snarl of steel and concrete, its titanic statue of Prometheus — eight tons of bronze and plaster clad in gold — completely incinerated.
Within a half-mile radius of the blast, there would be few survivors. Those closest to the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki have described the horrors they witnessed: People with ripped sheets of skin hanging from their bodies; people whose brains were visible through their shattered skulls; people with holes for eyes. Sakue Shimohira watched her mother’s charred body crumble into ash as she tried to wake her. Shigeko Sasamori’s father cut off the blackened husk of skin all over her face, revealing pools of pus beneath.
As the fireball travels outward from the blast, people, buildings, and trees within a one-mile radius would be severely burned or charred. Metal, fabric, plastic, and clay would ignite, melt, or blister. The intense heat would set gas lines, fuel tanks, and power lines on fire, and an electromagnetic pulse created by the explosion would knock out most computers, cell phones, and communication towers within several miles.
Traveling much farther than the fireball, a colossal pressure wave would hurtle forth faster than the speed of sound, generating winds up to 500 miles per hour. The shock wave would demolish the flimsiest buildings and strip the walls and roofs off stronger structures, leaving only their naked and warped scaffolding. It would snap utility poles like toothpicks and rip through trees, fling people through the air, and turn brick, glass, wood, and metal into deadly projectiles. A blast in Times Square, combined with the fireball, would carve a crater 50 feet deep at the center of the explosion. The shock wave would reach a diameter of nearly 3.2 miles, shattering windows as far as Gramercy Park and the American Museum of Natural History.
All this would happen within a few seconds.
- This Is What a Nuclear Bomb Looks Like
Modern Nuclear Weapons
But we are not talking about small ultra-tiny portable nuclear weapons. We are also not talking about the same kinds of bombs that were dropped on Japan in 1945.
We are talking about something quite different.
We are talking about massive city-reduction weapons using high-technology and specifically designed ultra-lethal nuclear weapons. But not just “city reduction” weapons. These are massive weapons that will turn an entire State into a glassed-over desert.
Oct 26, 2016 · Russia unveils massive Satan 2 ICBM capable of destroying France or Texas in a single hit. Russia has moved to update its nuclear arsenal with an extreme-range, massive payload ICBM designed specifically to defeat anti-missile systems. Capable of traversing the planet's poles and blowing up Texas in one hit, meet the RS-28 Sarmat, or Satan 2.
- Cold war redux? Russia unveils massive Satan 2 ICBM
Yes, you read that right.
The Soviets have fielded full MIRV equipped ICBM’s armed with high-capability nuclear weapons capable of wiping out Texas in a single strike.
The damage of a single MIRV hype-glide RS-28 ‘Satan 2’ Russian nuclear weapon aimed at the center of Texas. The image is to scale. This is but one warhead in a missile that contains fifteen (x15) warheads.
People, this is serious business.
This is not MOAB, or “suitcase nuke”. This is a lance forged in Hell and would totally redefine the geography (not to mention the social, cultural, and physical) makeup of the United States.
Russia unveiled its new super-heavy, MIRV-equipped ICBM this week. The ‘Satan-2’ (that’s its NATO codename), has a reported throw-weight of 10,000kg, and can carry up to 15 separate warheads.
MIRV is an acronym that stands for Multiple Independently targeted Reentry Vehicles. MIRV-equipped missiles can deliver multiple nuclear weapons to a single target area, or blanket a large area with separate detonations.
Historically, MIRVs have been seen as potentially destabilizing because they give a decisive advantage to the country that can strike first and eliminate its opponent’s land-based missile silos.
The stats on the RS-28 demonstrate this is a missile that means business, and media outlets controlled by the Russian government have stated that a single missile is large enough to destroy Texas or France.
We could quibble with the definition of “destroy,” but we won’t — any time a government drops 50MT of nuclear weapons on you, you’re going to have a really bad day.
- Russia unveils its new class of RS-28 ‘Satan 2’ nuclear missiles
Russia would launch it’s ICBM that has the technology to avoid ABM technology. Then it would launch individual warheads, each aimed at a specific city. To the people on the ground it would look like this with lines of fire streaking from the sky towards the cities nearby.
Lead ups
Now, back to the Fourth Turning.
Keep in mind that the United States will be in the midst of a great “unraveling”. It will seem like it is teetering and tottering out of control. And well, it will be.
For ten years leading up to the 2025 event, the United States will be in the middle of social and political upheaval.
2015 through to 2025
As crazy as everything seems under a Donald Trump presidency in 2019, now imagine that same level of craziness, except that a radical progressive Marxist democrat is in office, with full support of the mainstream press, the judicial branch, the agencies, and the military. The domestic scene in the United States will be unbearable for most of the nation.
Again, this scenario predicts a democrat president in 2024. Thus, prior to any international activity, the United States would be quite busy involved in converting America into a progressive democrat Marxist “utopia”.
Something along the lines of maybe…
Cambodia under Pol Pot.
China under Mr. Mao.
The Soviet Union under Stalin.
Cuba under Fidel Castro.
You know, socialist utopias following the traditional model. Though, not everyone will be on board with this vision, and thus civil strife will start to manifest. America, already a police state, would become a very contentious place to live.
Hard line gun disarmament will be under-weigh as well as other progressive initiatives (which were well planned, just “waiting in the wings” since 2014.)
After every high-profile shooting in America, Leftists immediately, and predictably, begin their calls for gun control. With the measured constraint and careful consideration of Bill Clinton in the Champagne Room at Fuzzy Holes Gentlemen’s Club in Little Rock, they self-righteously and repeatedly demand that we “do something!”
You can probably list some of the meaningless blather they shout at us reflexively, such as “If not now, when?,” “The NRA has blood on its hands!,” “Nobody needs an assault rifle to shoot a deer!,” and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Despite all their hysterical nonsense, they usually have enough presence of mind to also say, because they have been trained to so do, that “nobody wants to confiscate your guns,” or “no one is talking about banning guns.” If you’re really lucky you’ll hear one of these would-be authoritarians say the following (and this is my personal favorite): “I support the Second Amendment, BUT…”
The disruptions would tend to get ugly, and when domestic squabbles get too clamorous, a democrat presidential solution is always to bring America into another war.
He’s making a point here. Ten years ago we were told that these 50 troops would be there for 30 days, and we’re still there. And you know what is amazing is that you have the American left, which ostensibly opposes all use of the military. They actually don’t.
Democrat leaders don’t. They’re in on this game like everybody else. Just like they are the original segregationists but have gotten away with not being seen that way.
They are huge warmongers.
They profit incredibly from it.
Their public position is anti-war. Their public position is anti-military. But look at all the political donations they get from — they supposedly hate Wall Street. They supposedly hate the big banks because the big banks screw the average little guy, American consumer.
Yet look where all their donations come from. The big banks, Wall Street, military industrial contractors and so forth. A gigantic scam.
-Rush Limbaugh
At some point in time, I predict early on in the first year of the 2024 democrat president, the following events will transpire…
A mass-shooting event (within the first six months) followed by massive gun disarming efforts. There will be zero efforts to maintain any legal constitutionality in this matter.
This is as predictable as the Epstein death in prison. Everyone knew that he was going to be killed, and that any "investigation" would go nowhere.
A rapid mainstream press war stance against a super-power or an ally of a superpower. This will be in the first year.
One or two “international incidents” which will serve as an excuse to deploy troops.
The rush into yet another proxy war is hard to predict. However it is likely that no time will be wasted in this effort.
“Hours after the bombs go off in cities, these fires continue to build up and they create firestorms that feed on themselves. They get so hot that everything in the city becomes fuel for its own destruction. The energy released becomes much greater than the weapon itself,” Dr. Mills explained, drawing parallels to the way fire consumed the city of Dresden during the World War II.
From each of these 100 detonations, massive firestorms would engulf whole cities and churn five million tons of black carbon into the stratosphere.
Oh and make no mistake, the democrats greatly want another proxy war, and they are not getting it under Trump. But once he’s out of the picture, it will be business as usual.
…They think.
"In leading Australia China Business Council for a decade, I saw first hand China's primary and dominant focus is internal - on the welfare of its people, on the betterment of their lives, not on global conquest - as cold war apologists would have us believe. And it has delivered in spades, bringing 850 million of its people out of poverty at the same time as fueling global growth.
It is the United States that has 800 overseas military posts when China has just 1. It is the United States that is threatening to "totally destroy and obliterate" Turkey. It is the United States that is funding disruption in HK. It is the United States that created the fiction of weapons of mass destruction.
Australians need to see beyond the US strategies to extend its global hegemony at any cost and focus on the reality of Chinese history and engagement."
-Duncan Calder
This post describes the scenarios when the aligned super-powers decide to snap-back at the United States.
For, the rest of the world is "de-coupling" from the United States and forging strong relationships with Asian nations instead.
The mainstream American media is not reporting on this trend, and Americans are now oblivious at how badly they are perceived, and how out of touch with the rest of the world they are becoming.
There are four scenarios.
Limited Strike. A “warning shot”. A do not mess with us, warning in bright flash technicolor. This situation is one in which America might still be able to retain a kind of national sovereignty.
A controlled, and yet limited nuclear strike. A “friendly” slap in the face warning to stop all war-like action or face obliteration. All major cities will be crippled beyond repair. Local authorities would take over and the Federal government would be hardly functional at all. Most of America will revert to a time before the Internet, and would consider themselves lucky to have clean water, and electricity that works once or twice a week.
A nuclear response. This is a “slap back” nuclear response on American soil, if America decides to unleash nuclear weapons in any proxy nation. This is the best-scenario version or the most probable outcome. If America is lucky, it might resemble a radioactive North Korea with a Democrat President declaring himself Marxist utopia ruler for life.
The Fuck-you Response. This is the “double tap” nuclear response that is intended to send America back to the dark ages. It is designed to allow for the indigenous peoples outside of the cities to balkanize America into smaller, easier to manage third-world “shit holes”. An America after this strike would look like Somalia on a bad day. If America is lucky and fortunate, America would fracture into tiny “third world” nations with would require 75 years to even begin to negotiate on the global table.
Knowing what I know, I would say that the probability of response to be around 80% the “Fuck You” response, and about a 10% chance for the “Nuclear response” and the “Limited Strike” responses respectively.
I argue this based on what i know about democrat presidents. They make decisions based on emotion, not reason. The other nations realize this.
On October 12, 2016 longtime Putin ally Vladimir Zhirinovsky openly threatened nuclear war if Hillary Clinton is elected, saying:
Americans voting for a president on Nov. 8 must realize that they are voting for peace on Planet Earth if they vote for Trump. But if they vote for Hillary it’s war. It will be a short movie. There will be Hiroshimas and Nagasakis everywhere.
Why Russia?
While China or other nations might be the target of American proxy wars towards distraction. There are two elements here that are coming to the forefront. It’s all very simple really.
The election of 2024 will be a Democrat President. (This is a historical norm.)
Since 2016, the Democrat narrative has been “Russia! Russia! Russia!
Democrats tend to start large wars, historically speaking.
While it is obvious to everyone that it’s all a concocted narrative aimed at defeating Donald trump and the conservatives, there is no evidence that this narrative is dissipating. Thus, we can expect that the narrative will “take on legs of it’s own” and start to “walk”. This would be dangerous with the rabid ultra-progressive wing demanding that the USA “do something” about Russia.
And what is the government going to do?
Sanctions?
More likely than not a movement of military forces, and subversive NED / NID activity internally. This alone will be enough to trigger a nuclear conflagration.
I argue, and it seems more likely to me, that the Russians are already seeing this scenario in their future, and the moment a military event (troop movement, weapons detonation, or nuclear launch) on their territory, you can expect a Russian response. And, I dare say, Russia will not wait and then react. They will have a plan in place and actions to take.
Automatic full-scale nuclear detonations the very second that the USA tries anything. There will not be a gradual phase-in and tit-for-tat activities. I’m telling you, the Russian reaction will be the pincer event for the rest of the world – a world absolutely fatigued of American arrogance and bellicosity.
Russia will strike first, and will do so in a way that the entire American leadership will be taken out within minutes.
Some notes on the nuclear detonations
This study does not assume one nuclear warhead per city.
Here, the assumption is city devastation by clusters of 1 MT to 5 MT nuclear payloads. These payloads are delivered in clusters of targeted strikes. The clusters are to spread the glassed-over devastation over a wider area, and render nearby areas uninhabitable for centuries.
It assumes groups of three or more nuclear warheads (1 MT) targeted to obliterate specific urban areas completely. The idea is to eviscerate entire swaths of infrastructure and render the population poisoned and unable to recover. Which is the expected norm with both Russia and China.
Los Angles under the effects of a trio of three high-density, high-magnitude one megaton nuclear hydrogen bombs detonated in such a way as to render the entire real-estate worthless for centuries to come. Black represents completely flattened area with glassed surfaces. The grey area represents complete radioactive and reduced rubble and debris that resembles the moons surface. All other areas will be poisoned by radiation, knocked flat by the impact of the wind, burned to a crisp by the raging fires, and completely uninhabitable.
Now, you can easily see on the map above that the use of one megaton nuclear weapon, in a cluster of three such warheads, would devastate a large city like Los Angles. The thing is, that most of the weapons used by superpowers are not that small. They are, instead, much larger.
The SLBM R-29RM carries six smaller 500 kilaton nuclear warheads (1/2 a megaton).
In the following scenarios, we will assume small SLBM launched by submarines. Each target shown would be a cluster of three 500KT to 1MT nuclear detonation.
These scenarios are based on Typhoon "boomer" submarines (Project 941 Akula) launching SLBM R-29RM SLBM armed with six 500 kiloton nuclear munitions aimed at two cities per missile (three warheads per city).
For example, one Typhoon "boomer" would launch 20 R-39 (NATO: SS-N-20) ballistic missiles. Each missile could target two cities, with three nuclear warheads each. Thus one sub could totally and completely destroy 40 cities; launching 120 nuclear 500KT nuclear weapons.
Let’s look into these responses in detail.
[1] Limited Strike.
Here we have a limited strike.
Note, for purposes of simplicity, I refer to a “single warhead” as a single target of three smaller low-yield nuclear weapon detonations. The maps can be used to assume a single warhead in the 10 megaton range, if you would prefer.
Comparative weapons sizes and footprints. The images in read are the tiny nuclear weapons the the United States used to end the war with Japan. The large weapon on the right is the size that is fielded by the Russians in their RS-28 Satan 2 MIRV ICBMs.
This is the scenario that most Americans assume would be the worst possible scenario that America might need to confront.
Of course, most neocons believe that this will never happen, but if you ask them in private, they would grudgingly admit that a nuclear “strike back” option is possible. But that the damage and causalities could be contained, and at most less than a few million Americans dead.
“Just” a few hundred million dead. It’s a “win – win”.
It’s a win – win!
I personally consider this scenario to be the least likely scenario. Though it is considered to be the most realistic worst-case nuclear scenario by the military “experts” in the Washington “think tanks”.
Limited Strike. A “warning shot”. A do not mess with us, warning in bright flash technicolor. This situation is one in which America might still be able to retain a kind of national sovereignty. This is the result from one Russian “boomer” only firing half of it’s payload. You know, to control the situation and prevent escalation.
This scenario would devastate the American industry, the stock exchange, the value of the USA dollar, and rock the government to it’s core. It will also result in a full mobilization of the United State military for a global war footing. No one wants this.
Well, almost no one.
This scenario allows the United States to be able to launch a counter strike. Thus, it is very unlikely that any nation would want the Untied States to be able to retaliate from a nuclear strike.
The thing about this scenario is that it is recoverable. Within five to ten years the United States could recover and continue with “business as usual”.
Personally I found the creepiest parts to be the ones in the aftermath where the struggling survivors have to contend with a government that pathetically and menacingly still sees itself as ruling something — particularly the bit where soldiers gun down a farmer who resists their “taxing” his meager crops.
- Umbriel from The Day After traumatized a generation with the horrors of nuclear war
The problems that I have with this scenario is that…
America is able to recover from it and continue “business as usual”.
America would still be able to launch a nuclear counter-strike.
[2] A controlled, and yet limited nuclear strike.
This scenario is a larger response to the previous scenario.
It describes a nuclear exchange that has the intention of reducing the United States to a third world nation.
This is the the kind of scenario that has been portrayed in fictional Hollywood movies like "In dawns early light". It's a fictional scenario. Do not ever think that Hollywood represents reality. It doesn't.
We still live in a world where there are thousands of nukes here in the US and thousands more overseas. And all it takes is one of those falling into the wrong hands to ruin everyone’s day. We should never assume that a small tactical nuke would not initiate full-scale MAD-level destruction of the United States.
This nuclear exchange renders all government and social programs neutral.
It zeros all government outlays, and thus risks severe public out-lash from the urban folk that live off the government handouts. It also renders the stock market, financial markets, and industrial base into squashed pablum.
A controlled, and yet limited nuclear strike. A “friendly” slap in the face warning to stop all war-like action or face obliteration. Most of America will revert to a time before the Internet, and would consider themselves lucky to have clean water, and electricity that works once or twice a week.
An America that survives this attack would still have a very difficult time fighting any kind of global war. Many troops would need to be recalled as their support network of supplies would be rendered inert.
Any overseas military operations would be terribly exposed and subject to capture and destruction.
This scenario would cause America to retract it’s global empire building efforts and concentrate on repairing the American infrastructure. This scenario will result in a 25 year long retardation in the global world stage.
This scenario would cause America to retract it’s global empire building efforts and concentrate on repairing the American infrastructure. This scenario will result in a 25 year long retardation in the global world stage.
For this reason alone, this scenario is attractive to the rest of the world.
[3] A nuclear response.
This scenario is what might possibly happen when American armed military forces are employed in attacking a nation strongly in line with one of the global super-powers. This is a very ugly and nasty scenario.
This scenario is what would happen if the United States were to employ or dispatch American troops onto the soil of either Russia or China. It would be the result if American troops were to set foot on Taiwan. It would be what would happen if a “low yield” nuclear weapon were detonated anywhere in Asia.
This scenario is what would happen if the United States were to employ or dispatch American troops onto the soil of either Russia or China. It would be the result if American troops were to set foot on Taiwan. It would be what would happen if a "low yield" nuclear weapon were detonated anywhere in Asia.
It is what would happen if the United States launches a "low yield" nuclear weapon in Iran.
This response is a truly nasty response.
After the strike, or more likely, the numerous strikes the United States will no longer be functional. Any government that exists will hardly be functional. Only the state governments will exist, and they will enact strong levels of independence from the Federal government.
The entire East and West coast turns to desolate glass covered wasteland. The uneducated migrant folk from the South American nations then march up into the United States and start claiming territory as their own.
The American government is rendered inert.
A nuclear response. This is a “slap back” nuclear response on American soil, if America decides to unleash nuclear weapons in any proxy nation. If America is lucky, it might resemble North Korea with a Democrat President declaring himself Marxist utopia ruler for life.
After the strike, or more likely, the numerous strikes the United States will no longer be functional. Any government that exists will hardly be functional. Only the state governments will exist, and they will enact strong levels of independence from the Federal government.
After the strike, or more likely, the numerous strikes the United States will no longer be functional. Any government that exists will hardly be functional. Only the state governments will exist, and they will enact strong levels of independence from the Federal government.
If a federal government were still to exist, it would probably operate out of the Courthouses of West Virginia. And have little to no authority.
[4a] The Fuck-you Response.
This is a “lite” version of the “Fuck You” response. For, I personally believe that if we piss off the wrong nation, that they will come for America and flush it right down into the sewer. They don’t FUCKING CARE.
This is a “lite” version of the “Fuck You” response. For, I personally believe that if we piss off the wrong nation, that they will come for America and flush it right down into the sewer. They don’t FUCKING CARE.
Wake the Fuck up!
Now for the last fifty years America has been pushing “democracy” as the reason for the imperial expansion. But it’s all a lie, and while many Americans might believe in it, the rest of the world does not.
They do not like it.
They just bide their time, and when the opportunity comes, they will bitch slap American in a most violent method.
But let me warn the reader about this. Of all the scenarios, including this one, there is a strong possibility that the nuclear exchange could be much, much worse. It could be global and turn all of the earth into a real cesspool. It could look a lot like this.
America can only keep fighting all those proxy wars so long before there is some serious kick-back.
Yes. And when it comes to a nuclear equipped nation, they will not have the same kind of political restraints that Americans might not accept. DO NOT ASSUME THAT THE REST OF THE WORLD THINKS LIKE AMERICANS.
They do not.
The Fuck-you Response. This is the “double tap” nuclear response that is intended to send America back to the dark ages. It is designed to allow for the indigenous peoples outside of the cities to balkanize America into smaller, easier to manage third-world “shit holes”. An America after this strike would look like Somalia on a bad day.
This is a very bad scenario.
And would in fact, be what I would assume would happen within minutes of the United States entry into Asia of either physical troops, or a nuclear weapon of any size.
This scenario, as awful as it is, is only the first part of a full devastating strike. This scenario consists of three parts.
Knock out of all military satellites.
SLBM launch, five minutes to target and complete devastation of American coastal cities, and much of America’s nuclear deterrent capability. Followed by…
ICBM launch. (No more than) Thirty minutes to target and complete obliteration of all America.
So, that image; that map shown above is only the first “punch” of a two-part KO punch. Now, we discuss the second part…
[4b] The second part of the Fuck-You response.
Now, if this scenario were to manifest, I dare say that the RS-28 Satan 2 ICBM’s and MIRVs would be called into service. As a result, it is quite possible that the United States might look something like this “love tap” scenario.
Russia has fielded a “super-nuke” nuclear ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) called the RS-28 Sarmat Satan 2 AND a nuclear-capable hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) called “object 4202“. Satan 2 can reportedly destroy and area the size of France or Texas in one strike. Wow. The Russian HGV is designed specifically to be able to evade European and U.S. strategic missile defense systems, and up to three HGV’s can be carries inside the same Russian RS-28 Sarmat ICBM that does double duty as Satan 2.
Here, we have the [4] Fuck You scenario broken down into two parts. The first is SLBM launches within five minutes of USA detonation of low yield nuclear weapons in Asia. Followed up with this punishing scenario.
But let me warn the reader about this. Of all the scenarios, including this one, there is a strong possibility that the nuclear exchange could be much, much worse. It could be global and turn all of the earth into a real cesspool. It could look a lot like this.
The Day After becomes a genuine horror film as its characters begin to succumb to radiation poisoning, their hair and teeth falling out as they shamble through scorched fields strewn with bloated animal corpses and dead family dogs, swarming with flies.
Befitting the deathly pallor, Meyer imbues these scenes with classically gothic imagery: a bell struck by an unseen hand wielding a brick summons survivors from the crypts of their shelters; a lighthearted conversation between Robards and Williams is interrupted by a bandaged woman sitting up into frame and shrieking; a preacher gives a sermon inside the crater of a church, a burned crucifix dangling behind him; a young woman sitting in the pews begins suddenly bleeding from between her legs into her white dress.
A bit heavy-handed, maybe—but then, there’s nothing subtle about apocalypse. And as the end title card reminds us, even this grisly depiction is still “in all likelihood, less severe than the destruction that would actually occur,”.
- The Day After traumatized a generation with the horrors of nuclear war
In this most horrible scenario, you would be lucky to die in the first few strikes. No one would want to live in the United States after this exchange.
And it would truly be horrible.
“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
-Einstein (Paraphrased.)
Just look at this map, and this map (I must add) is not nearly as bad as what a pissed-off Russian would do.
The is the Hell Scenario using a combination of Satan ICBM and MIRV’s targeting American cities, social, infrastructure, and society, after a crippling blow sequence via SLBM nuclear weapons.
Yes. This is our possible future, post 2025.
Like the scene where Cullum’s farmer is given the laughable, FEMA-sourced advice to just “scrape off” his irradiated topsoil, it’s in moments like these that The Day After’s actual—and again, sadly relevant—message makes itself known: Should we be hit with nuclear missiles, no one will really know what to do about it. Hell, if it happens sooner rather than later, we won’t even have the cold comfort of a president who can offer up some eloquently empty words.
That’s why, watching it today, the most chilling aspect of The Day After isn’t the bombs, or their grisly aftermath. It’s all the scenes leading up to it, as people go about their lives with snatches of news broadcasts overheard—and ignored—in the background reporting on some tense, but relatively minute skirmish in Berlin. Even Lithgow’s politically informed, astutely cynical intellectual laughs off the idea of escalation, saying he has symphony tickets. The soldiers stationed around Lawrence’s missile silo joke about nuclear war infringing on their weekend fishing plans. Robards’ wife sees an alarmist special bulletin, moans, and says she just wants to go to bed. Even as the world teeters on the edge, Robards pauses to ask, to no one in particular, “Do you understand any of this?” Throughout, the threat of cataclysmic war remains a distant, inscrutable, headache-inducing hum, something to be switched off as soon as it becomes too complicated to follow. If it were made today, you could easily cut in shots of people paging listlessly through Twitter.
- The Day After traumatized a generation with the horrors of nuclear war
I know that the reader cannot control the ideas, and the passions of the oligarchy that is aligned with the Marxist democrats in power, However, the reader should be aware that after 2025 +/- 2 years, the entire globe could completely change. With America reverting to a radioactive bronze-age existence.
It is with this sad, sad warning that I leave the reader.
The moment a nuclear bomb detonates, several forms of nuclear radiation instantly permeate the environment. As this pulse of radiation surges through the bodies of everyone who is outside, or in weakly insulated buildings, it wreaks biological havoc at the molecular level. By altering the structure of key cellular machinery and injuring DNA, the radiation impairs the ability of cells to replicate and repair themselves. A ground detonation of a ten-kiloton bomb in Times Square would subject everyone between Murray Hill and Hell’s Kitchen, and from 32nd Street to the bottom of Central Park, to a potentially lethal dose of radiation.
Within minutes to hours, most people exposed in these areas would begin to show signs of acute radiation syndrome: nausea, headache, dizziness, and vomiting. After several days to two weeks, new symptoms would emerge: diarrhea, hair loss, fever, seizures, and bleeding in the mouth and under the skin, which sometimes creates purple blotches on the body. In the most severe cases, people would become emaciated, delirious, and incapacitated. Most people with radiation sickness will die for one of two reasons: because they no longer have enough immune cells to fight off microbial infections, or because their digestive system is too damaged to function properly.
The radiation released instantaneously by an explosion is only a prelude to a much more insidious and long-lived threat. Immediately after the blast, a huge fireball would rise swiftly through the air and begin to condense into a mushroom cloud, tinted red at first, then white. A strong updraft and inflowing winds would suck soil and debris, already bonded with radioactive particles released by the explosion, into the cloud. Within 15 minutes, a portion of this radioactive dust — mostly grains the size of salt or sand — would begin to fall directly on the city. Within a day, some survivors exposed to the dust would begin to experience itching and burning sensations; within two to three weeks, lesions would begin to appear. Fallout that is inhaled or swallowed, or that enters the body through a wound, would be even more dangerous: It exposes internal organs to a continuous source of nuclear radiation, damaging tissue in the same way as the initial pulse of radiation from the explosion itself.
- This Is What a Nuclear Bomb Looks Like
Nuclear notes & Conclusion
Nuclear war will devastate America for centuries.
If America is lucky, yes if it is lucky, America might revert to horse and buggy carriages as the primary means of conveyance. Medical treatments can revert as well. Leaving other nations first world status while America is marked on the map as “Keep Out – Dangerous”.
We do not know what the future holds, but here I try to look at what might manifest, given the historical norms with American politics. Given the historical norms, nuclear war is highly likely no matter what the politicians might pontificate.
I pray that this does not happen, but as time moves forward, it is becoming more and more likely each and every day. Most of the oligarchy that exists today has no idea of just how dark and black things can get.
They have raised the stakes of human existence sky-high, and when things tumble, they will crash with a thunderous roar.
“We need to fight for democracy around the world, and use force as necessary to spread the joys of freedom!”
They are oblivious and do not care. And at that, we can guarantee that nuclear Armageddon will most certainly destroy America.
They are oblivious and do not care. And at that, we can guarantee that nuclear Armageddon will most certainly destroy America.
Not Convinced?
For decades, the United States has taken China’s ballistic missile capability for granted, assessing it as a low-capability force with limited regional impact and virtually no strategic value. But on October 1, 2019 during a massive military parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Beijing put the U.S., and the world, on notice that this assessment was no longer valid.
One of the nations keenly observing the impact of the American RMA in the Persian Gulf was China. Chinese military theorists studied how Marshall adapted Ogarkov’s theories into an American version of RMA, and responded with a Chinese adaptation, developing weapons specifically intended to overcome American superiority in critical areas.
In one fell swoop, China may have nullified America’s strategic nuclear deterrent, the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and U.S. missile defense capability. Through its impressive display of new weapons systems, China has underscored the reality that while the United States has spent the last two decades squandering trillions of dollars fighting insurgents in the Middle East, Beijing was singularly focused on overcoming American military superiority in the Pacific. If the capabilities of these new weapons are taken at face value, China will have succeeded on this front…
One of the nations keenly observing the impact of the American RMA in the Persian Gulf was China. Chinese military theorists studied how Marshall adapted Ogarkov’s theories into an American version of RMA, and responded with a Chinese adaptation, developing weapons specifically intended to overcome American superiority in critical areas.
These weapons became known as “shashoujian,” or “the Assassin’s Mac,” derived from the traditional Chinese way of describing a weapon of surprising power. “A shashoujian,” a contemporary Chinese military journal notes, “is a weapon that has an enormous terrifying effect on the enemy and that can produce an enormous destructive assault.” More importantly, the modern Chinese concept of shashoujian envisions not a single weapon, but rather a system of weapons that combine to produce the desired effect.
There’s more…
Enter the DF-41, China’s ultimate shashoujian weapon. A three-stage, road-mobile ICBM equipped with between six and 10 multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) warheads, the DF-41 provides China with a nuclear deterrent capable of surviving an American nuclear first strike and delivering a nation-killing blow to the United States in retaliation. The DF-41 is a strategic game changer, allowing China to embrace the mutual assured destruction (MAD) nuclear deterrence posture previously the sole purview of the United States and Russia.
In doing so, China has gained the strategic advantage over the U.S. when it comes to competing power projection in the Pacific. Possessing a virtually unstoppable A2/AD capability, Beijing is well positioned to push back aggressively against U.S. maritime power projection in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Straits.
For decades, the United States has taken China’s ballistic missile capability for granted, assessing it as a low-capability force with limited regional impact and virtually no strategic value. But on October 1, during a massive military parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Beijing put the U.S., and the world, on notice that this assessment was no longer valid.
Words from a time traveler
There’s a fellow by the name of John Titor that claimed to be from a future where scenario 4a & 4b took place. What he had to say was very interesting. Believe it or not. But it’s an interesting read.
This is a collection of my posts related to prepping, SHTF (Shit Hit The Fan), CWII (American Civil War 2), Fourth Turning (Strauss–Howe generational theory)
and other posts related to the very sad and sorry tatters that America
is today. Actually, I am a little stunned that I have written so much
about these matters. But America today is very ill and there are things
that really should be said.
Here are the posts.
SHTF and Related Index
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
It’s true, and boy does it make me feel old. When I joined the Navy, this was the latest thing. The talk was that it would replace the F-14 Tomcat and the E-6 Intruders. Never did happen, though.
The single-seat F/A-18 Hornet is the nation's first strike-fighter. It was designed for traditional strike applications such as interdiction and close air support without compromising its fighter capabilities.
- The US Navy -- Fact File: F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter
I well remembering seeing my first Hornet up front and close. It as at NAS, NASC Pensacola , Florida. It was a typical Florida day with blue skies and cumulus clouds at just under 1000 meters. Hot and sunny. We were wearing service khaki’s with garrison caps.
An aviator was practicing on a Boeing CH-47 Chinook nearby. Turn to port, then turn to starboard. Over and over. It was making a racket but we didn’t mind. The huge awesomeness of the F/A-18 Hornet lay there in front of us in all of it’s glory.
For me, this retirement of the F/A-18 Hornet is the end of a historical milestone. Here is a nice video, and it is my tribute to this great aircraft.
I never had the opportunity to fly this wonderful beast. My future lay elsewhere, but others in my class did. Today, the latest incarnation of this monster is the “Super Hornet”, and by all accounts, it’s quite an aircraft.
My “hats are off” to anyone who has had the opportunity to fly this wonderful machine.
“Overall, the Hornet was my first love. I’ll always look back fondly on flying the F/A-18C and often times I miss it. However, there is no doubt the Rhino is the jet I want to fly off the boat into combat. Great question, keep them coming!” – Former Naval Aviator G.M.
Posts Regarding Life and Contentment
Here are
some other similar posts on this venue. If you enjoyed this post, you
might like these posts as well. These posts tend to discuss growing up
in America. Often, I like to compare my life in America with the society
within communist China. As there are some really stark differences
between the two.
More Posts about Life
I have
broken apart some other posts. They can best be classified about ones
actions as they contribute to happiness and life. They are a little
different, in subtle ways.
Funny Pictures
Be the Rufus – Tales of Everyday Heroism.
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
This post describes some stories of personal heroism. Included are some micro-videos that depict some acts of heroism. I personally believe that inside all us, we all can be a hero. We just need to take on the mantle when needed and go forth and do what is necessary.
Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.
Emergency in route to the hospital.
Sometimes it’s part of our job. Like when you are a hospital worker like a doctor or a nurse. Sometimes it isn’t. You are just an innocent bystander minding your own business. But when you are called, what are you going to do?
Neighbors
Sometimes it’s just you and a neighbor down the street is in crisis. You need to go out and forth and help them out. Ar you up for it? Can you lend a hand to the best of your ability. Or will you try to cover your face so you can ignore the problem like a coward.
You get friends and you all work together. You help. You do what ever is necessary. Be a man!
You alone
Sometimes you are alone. No one is there to help you out. You are on your own. What are you going to do? Seconds matter. Are you going to wait on the sidelines. What would you do?
Notice the others, totally oblivious to what is transpiring next to them.
Rescue a person in distress
You are at a train station, or a stop. You check you phone and are waiting for the train to pull in, when you see someone crawl onto the tracks to kill themselves. What are you going to do? Let them die? Or are you going to risk your own life to save theirs? Be the Rufus.
Notice the others. Too little. Too late.
Baby fallen into the icy cold water
What will you do if you see a baby in icy cold water in January? Would you pull out your phone and call the police, or dive right on it and save the kid? A hero would stop thinking and risk his own life to save the baby.
Notice the others milling around with their hands in their pockets. Useless.
Posts Regarding Life and Contentment
Here are
some other similar posts on this venue. If you enjoyed this post, you
might like these posts as well. These posts tend to discuss growing up
in America. Often, I like to compare my life in America with the society
within communist China. As there are some really stark differences
between the two.
More Posts about Life
I have
broken apart some other posts. They can best be classified about ones
actions as they contribute to happiness and life. They are a little
different, in subtle ways.
Funny Pictures
Be the Rufus – Tales of Everyday Heroism.
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
One of the most common questions that are asked of me, as an “expert” on China, is about being HIV+. Funny, eh? I don’t have this illness, by the grace of God, but it is the most popular thing asked of me, Seriously.
The question usually goes something like this;
“I am HIV+, I think, and I want to work in China, can I get a job?”
Or, “I was accepted for a position in China, and I took the physical and they discovered that I am HIV+, now what do I do?”
And, “I am employed in China, and just waiting for the test results from my physical. I fear that I am HIV+, what will happen?”
Well, after many years of answering this question in all it’s many forms, here is my article that I hope will address these answers and address the issues, your fears, and maybe give you all a better understanding on this matter.
Whether you know you are HIV+, suspect that you are, or know
that you have a “light” version of HIV that usually cannot be detected, this
article is for you.
The Procedure
To work in China, you need to possess something that is called a “Z-visa”.
Once you go forth job-hunting, and obtain an offer from a company, and sign the employment agreement with the company, you will get a “Z-Visa”.
Work arounds include setting up your own company in China known as a WOFE, marrying a local and having a family business, and working for a non-Chinese company outside of China and working inside of China on assignment.
A “Z-visa” is important. It is the only way that you can legally work as an employee inside of China.
A “Z-visa” will be connected to your employment contract. It will only last as long as you are employed. Once your contract expires, the “Cinderella clause” manifests, and you will have two weeks to skedaddle and leave China, or find employment elsewhere.
Step 1 – Procedure to work in China. This is the first step that is required to obtain work in China.
The potential employer will do all the “heavy lifting” in processing this document. All you will need to do as follow their instructions. Yes. So relax, let your new employer do all the work.
They will ask you to submit documents, and for you to get a Criminal Background check in your home nation.
All of these requirements are new. Ten years ago it was so very easy to work in China. You show up, interview, and land a job. Everything else is processed quickly. Not so today.
You see, various bad actors, felt that they could come to China and live their free-wheeling crazy illegal lifestyle in exotic China. As result, drug use started to become rampant, sex offenders started to molest children, and scams by foreigners on local Chinese sky-rocketed. Not to mention a few relatives of high-ranking Chinese officials ended up contacting HIV from some foreigners…
So the Chinese government put their foot down.
Your involvement
Actually all the paperwork is just that. Paperwork.
Most of the paperwork is relatively painless. You take some photos at the photo store, you make some color copies. You collect and gather some money to pay the various fees. You authenticate or notarize documents as requested. Pretty easy stuff, if a bit of a run a round.
The big hassle is the police report. As you must get it in your home country, and it is time sensitive. It’s a real hassle for Americas and you need to go through your local state police and apply for the FBI records. But once that is all done, it’s pretty easy.
You won’t need to do much except submit your passport, copies of your diplomas, copies of your police reports, and that’s about it. At some point in time, you will be asked to go to the local “immigration hospital” for a physical.
The hospital check is one of the last steps in the documentation collection effort prior to being offered a Z-visa.
About the hospital.
This is not an ordinary hospital. This hospital serves but one purpose. That is to perform physical on all the foreigners that work in China.
So, to answer one of the questions regarding this; no, you cannot take a physical at a hospital in your home country. You must take it at a Chinese immigration hospital inside China. As far as I know, there are no exceptions.
Though, you need not worry.
I think that you can be half-blind, in a wheelchair, with scabies, and they would probably pass you. What they look for are MAJOR HEALTH RISKS that might pose a problem to the Chinese population in general. That includes the Bubonic plague, Leprosy, and HIV.
They will examine you and then they will release you. About two weeks later they will provide your employer with a report. It will be in the form of a little book. All things in China are in the form of a little book, for some reason. It will look like a passport sized book with your photo inside and a bunch of medical results.
This report will then go into a binder and sent off to the Customs group in immigration. They then will take this information and issue a Z-visa based on their decision to approve or disapprove.
If you have HIV+ or some other STD
If you have HIV, they will discover it. Forget what ever notions you might have of China being a third world nation. They are first tier and growing rapidly. They will discover whatever illness you have.
As such if you have HIV, suspect you have HIV, or are worried what will happen, rest assured that they will check for this illness in all of it’s many strains. The report that they will issue to the immigration agents will reflect their findings and advisement’s.
Now, some words of understanding…
The hospital’s sole responsibility is to check on your health.
As such, they will make a recommendation to the immigration office on whether or not to issue you a z-visa.
It is the immigration office that will decide whether or not to issue you the z-visa.
When the medical report is completed
When the medical report is completed, the hospital will send a copy of it to your employer and also to the immigration office that is processing your binder.
If you have any kind of medical issue, they will advise you of it. So if they discover that you have a brain tumor, for instance, they will be obligated on informing you of it. The same is true of any discoveries. So, if you are discovered to have HIV+ or something similar they will [1] contact you, and [2] your employer and [3] your immigration officials with their findings and their advisement’s on how to handle your application.
Please take note…
The immigration officials may or may not accept the advice of the hospital.
However, for the most part, they do follow their advice.
Hospital recommendations on your application.
Their advice will follow one of the following formats. It is pretty much this format for 99% of all the applicants.
Approved.
Approved Conditionally.
Disapproved.
It has been my experience that those people with HIV+ are either disapproved, or approved conditionally. I would say that about 60% are approved conditionally, while a smaller number is disapproved. So you can expect a 40% chance of being disapproved if you have HIV.
Keep in mind that China is partitioned into regions. Each region is different. Some regions have a far greater incidence on approving applications conditionally, while others flat out disapprove all HIV candidates. No, I am sorry to say, I do not know which regions are better and which ones are worse.
Conditional approval.
Well, if the hospital suggests that you can work in China with conditional approval, then that is good news. However you WILL need to follow their advisement’s TO THE LETTER.
It will read something like this…
Approved. You will need to visit XXXXXX hospital, and follow the directions of YYYYYY. This may include visits to ZZZZZZ and medication as advised to QQQQQQQ.
More or less.
Typically, under conditional approval, a second step is inserted in the application process. You will need to go to the hospital that they indicate, and meet with the doctor that they specify. That doctor will then examine you (a second time), and prescribe some “treatment”, which may or may not include medicine, and subsequent hospital visits. They will also write up a form that they will provide to the immigration authority. This doctor’s recommendation will determine whether or not you will be issued a z-visa or not.
Of course, the immigration authorities might agree or disagree with his findings. Though in general you can expect that they will follow his advice.
And that is about it.
Conclusion
Having this illness is not the end of the world. If you just found out about it, I am sure that you will be in shock. Relax, drink a few beers, and relax. It’s a new direction your life has taken on. It has added complexity to your life, but it hasn’t ended it.
Don’t make the mistake that everything MUST be as you want. If you want China, but the doors to China are closed to you, do not fret. There are all sorts of alternatives for you. Many of which you may have not considered at all.
Like I said, have a beer. Relax.
Other opportunities can be…
Move to SE Asia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Burma or other nations that will not require a physical for you to obtain employment.
Marry a local. Obtain a Q1 or Q2 visa. Work in the family business, or set up your own internet business.
Set up a company in China, known as a WOFE.
Set up a company in Hong Kong, also a WOFE. Then work inside China under a work visa as opposed to a z-visa.
What ever happens, please know that you have options and things aren’t really as bad as you fear. Things will work out fine, just take your time. Relax and be open to new alternatives. Best Regards.
Links about China
Here are
some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader,
might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.
China and America Comparisons
As an
American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United
States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.
The Chinese Business KTV Experience
This is
the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the
British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal
press. This is the reality. Read or not.
Learning About China
Who
doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what
China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in
China.
Contemporaneous Chinese Music
This is a
series of posts that discuss contemporaneous popular music in China. It
is a wide ranging and broad spectrum of travel, and at that, all that I
am able to provide is the flimsiest of overviews. However, this series
of posts should serve as a great starting place for investigation and
enjoyment.
Parks in China
The parks
in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very
mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.
Really Strange China
Here are
some posts that discuss a number of things about China that might seem
odd, or strange to Westerners. Some of the things are everyday events,
while others are just representative of the differences in culture.
What is China like?
The
purpose of this post is to illustrate that the rest of the world,
outside of America, has moved on with their lives. That while they
might not be as great as America is, they are doing just fine thank
you.
And while
America has been squandering it’s money, decimating it’s resources,
and just being cavalier with it’s military, the rest of the world has
done the opposite. They have husbanded their day to day fortunes, and
you can see this in their day-to-day lives.
Summer in Asia
Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…
Some Fun Videos
Here’s a collection of some fun videos taken all over Asia. While
there are many videos taken in China, we also have some taken in
Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea and Japan as well. It’s all in fun.
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
World War II began September 1st, 1939, and lasted until September 2nd 1945. It lasted six long years. In total, 80 million people died in that war.
Since then, we have been living in the sweet calm of peace that dwells between the periodic madness that is the GREAT RESET. This period of calm quiet lasts for around 80 years. Then it all starts all over again.
We have been living in the sweet calm of peace that dwells between the periodic madness that is the GREAT RESET.
The quiet and calm lasts for 80 years.
1945 plus 80 years equals = 2025.
Today, I have a short warning from the great book The Fourth Turning by Howe and Strauss. For they, using the theory of generational cycles (or turnings), predict the same RESET to reoccur in our near future.
We know the climax of this Fourth Turning is slated for around 2025. This infers a high likelihood of a major war involving the U.S. in the foreseeable future.
We know the climax of this Fourth Turning is slated for around 2025. This infers a high likelihood of a major war involving the U.S. in the foreseeable future.
-The Daily Coin
What Should Have Happened after 2016
Strauss and Howe prophesied an election that changed everything sometime during the Crisis era. This era began with a start, with the colossal fall of Lehman Brothers.
And they were right. They were smack-dab absolutely correct.
The filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008 remains the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history, with Lehman holding over US$600 billion in assets. The bank and financial services firm had become so deeply involved in mortgage origination that it had effectively become a real estate hedge fund disguised as an investment bank. At the height of the subprime mortgage crisis, it was exceptionally vulnerable to any downturn in real estate values.
If the government were better managed, perhaps things might have turned out differently than they had. But it isn’t, and thus things turned out in such as way as what you see today.
The predictions called for a “change in governmental direction” that would have been triggered by this “event”.
The winners (in the election) will now have the power to pursue the more potent, less incrementalist agenda about which they had long dreamed and against which their adversaries had darkly warned.
This new regime will enthrone itself for the duration of the Crisis.
Regardless of its ideology, that new leadership will assert public authority and demand private sacrifice. Where leaders had once been inclined to alleviate societal pressures, they will now aggravate them to command the nation’s attention.
The regeneracy will be solidly under way.
Sides were formed. People migrated towards those sides. Many people, surprisingly diverse, chose the Republican leader; Donald Trump. Though, the prediction still held true whether the winner was Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
The Fourth Turning predicted an equal likelihood of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump being President. Then they predicted that whomever won the election would define the direction the Country would take during the Fourth Turning.
We got the realigning election with Donald Trump. He did what H. Ross Perot could not. He united conservatives and blue-collar patriots to win the presidency.
But…
What did not happen.
But, Republicans in Congress did not advance Trump’s agenda.
The predictions assumed that the winner of the Presidency would be in full possession of the levers of power. That did not happen. The “Deep State Swamp” took over the leadership of the nation.
Donald Trump was considered an "outsider". One one of the elite. Not one of the blessed. Not part of the "club", or the "inner circle".
Republican Congressional leaders were either too timid to push, or they were political saboteurs (looking at you, Paul Ryan). Either way, Congress undermined the Presidential agenda, the mandate, that the people gave them. Then they tried to push him out with al kinds of claims related to Russia and sex. Finally, they just threw up their hands and tried to impeach him.
This is what the deep state does to outsiders Middle America sends to Washington to challenge or dispossess it.
- From Pat Buchanan
Oh, and about the impeachment…
When asked about the impeachment of President Trump, 100% of him answered, "If they convict it'll be like when the Germans dropped the A-bomb on Pearl Harbor and caused the fall of the Roman Empire."
-Woodpile Report #598
They did not permit President Trump to really implement much of his agenda. Congress, and the entire “deep state” (the unelected bureaucracy) opposed him in every way possible.
Congress and the deep state blocked President Trump from implementing any of his agenda. This was unheard of, and raised it’s ugly head fro the first time during the Trump Presidency. Since then, hundreds of blocking efforts were undertaken to thwart the Republican President’s agenda. They did not permit President Trump to really implement much of his agenda. Congress, and the entire “deep state” (the unelected bureaucracy) opposed him in every way possible.
While he was able to appoint some judges, and conduct some staffing realignments within the enormous Washington bureaucracy, he has been mostly ineffective.
President Donald Trump has been completely blocked by embeds inside the “deep state”. Thus he has been severely handicapped in running the nations and is incapable of many actions and activities that other presidents were able to get away with.
Like a wack-a-mole, judges stop implementation of any of his EO’s, hidden masked and nameless bureaucrats thwart every policy he makes. Meanwhile his most close advisors (such as John Bolton) undermine his foreign policy efforts.
Neocons hold a mid-1850s mindset. They think in terms of nations, wars, and geographical conquest. They do so at the expense of understanding the Earth as a living (kind of) organism that we all inhabit.
As a result, the House of Representatives, and their “troops” the supporting bureaucracy, are now firmly in the hands of the opposition. Which is essentially, the Bolsheviks. While a true Gray Champion of the Republic holds down the White House in a figurehead role.
A figurehead role, while his supporters have been targeted for assault…
The Left Has Declared War On You
There’s no need to worry about finding yourself in the center of a riot until a faction of society decides it’s okay to intimidate or kill people they don’t agree with you. So maybe it’s time to start worrying.
You probably saw the news of the riots in Berkeley, California. Social Justice Warriors shut down a conservative speaker’s presentation, set fires, looted, destroyed buildings, maced some conservatives and beat others mercilessly. The police stood by and watched. The mayor blamed the victims.
In Austin, Texas, a gay conservative was beaten unconscious for lighting his cigarette with a Donald Trump lighter. His assailant is at large. Don’t expect the Austin police to put in any overtime hunting him down.
Magazines openly call for Donald Trump’s assassination.
Feminists assault anyone who disagrees with them, even shoving bloody maxi-pads into pro-lifers’ mouths.
The Secret Service is investigating over 12,000 direct threats to assassinate the President.
And these are just a few of one day’s examples of leftist violence against anyone who disagrees with their worldview.
Meanwhile, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, MSNBC, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Time Magazine, and everything else you would consider “responsible” journalism openly condones violence against Trump supporters. Academics and Democrat leaders justify violence and encourage leftists to attack their political opponents.
Having lost at the ballot box, having lost in the court of public opinion, the left has decided to intimidate or kill its adversaries. Just like the Nazis. Just like the Leninists. Just like the Maoists.
-Hennessysview
So what will happen now?
A Fourth Turning Prophecy
Chapter 10 of The Fourth Turning is a prophecy written in 1996 and published a year later. In every way it appears to be a complete reflection of the events unfolding all around us today.
Keep in mind that this work was published a full five years before the events of 9-11. It was written a long time ago, at a time when Bill Clinton was President of the United States. And yet, as long ago as that, the things that it has predicted and the trends that are manifesting are all… spot on target.
Movies of the year 1995.
And, I am sad to say, that this prophecy is getting to be quite frightening.
Even if the nation stays together, its geography could be fundamentally changed, its party structure altered, its Constitution and Bill of Rights amended beyond recognition.
History offers even more sobering warnings: Armed confrontation usually occurs around the climax of Crisis.
If there is confrontation,it is likely to lead to war.
This could be any kind of war—class war, sectional war, war against global anarchists or terrorists, or superpower war.
If there is war, it is likely to culminate in total war, fought until the losing side has been rendered nil—its will broken, territory taken, and leaders captured.
And if there is total war, it is likely that the most destructive weapons available will be deployed.
That total war could also be a combination or series of several types of war. Several.
Several… all at once.
Several things could implode all at once. Indeed, this is the likeliest scenario. As there are all sorts of trends and events just about to run “off the rails”, and all sort of “the opportunistic others” who have plans to take advantage of government collapse.
It could be a meltdown of government…
Congressional leftists are exploring the nuts 'n bolts of arresting and confining those insufficiently cooperative with the coup d'etat. And how many times have I said DC is well and truly imploding when they start arresting each other?
We're reenacting Sulla's Social War. Lists of the proscribed are being circulated, the walls have networked eyes and ears, and neighbors are exhorted to turn each other in. After years of hanging out in academia and the lower courts, the ghost of Roland Freisler now hears every appeal.
The elites saw this coming, consolidated their winnings and quietly decamped to more inaccessible redoubts. Bereft of expert supervision, the next tier down is looting the public weal with clumsy abandon. The tier below, even less sophisticated, will strip the fixtures and wiring from government buildings. Officialdom will demand we applaud their righteous resourcefulness. Because equality.
-Woodpile Report
It could be a violent readjustment of society…
All the usual “good people” assure us that violent revolution is not on the table. This means, simply, that it is.
- From Brett Stevens at Amerika
It could be everything and anything. It could be social upheaval in alignment with the Nazi takeover of Germany in the 1930’s, coupled with the genocide of the Cambodians under Pol Pot. It could be a mixture of George Orwell, and the worst elements of THX1138. It could be every nightmare that you could possibly dream of.
‘THX 1138’ is a chilling look at a 25th-century totalitarian state where mankind is stripped of any individuality. People are numbered drones, and a government-enforced program of sedating drugs controls the populace. The story’s title character, THX, is a factory worker whose life is irrevocably changed when he stops taking his mind-numbing drugs.
It could be domestic guerrilla warfare…
When the violence comes—and it will come—the military and militarized police forces will face domestic insurgents who are better armed, trained, supplied, coordinated, and technologically proficient than the foreign insurgents the military has heretofore been unable to defeat.
- From Robert Gore at Straight Line Logic
It could be a polarization of society…
Breitbart - Calif. Police Chief Cancels Event to Honor Fallen Officer Because Republicans Were Invited ... "this is not Trump country, we don’t want Republicans here"
Indeed, all this anti-white propaganda is geared towards genocide. It is not geared to any objective regarding healing. It is an out of control manipulation by the oligarchy to pit Americans against each other.
You cannot purify white people through the healing magic of diversity if they are not actually part of diversity.
-Z Man
Let’s just clear out all the nonsense and get to the basics…
When Progressives talk about diversity, they mean blacks.
We can put the upper bound on diversity as 20%. Any more than that and white crime victimization and awareness of it begins to soar. This sets off white flight.
Baltimore is a great example. Once its black population crossed the 25% level, it began a rapid decline into chaos.
As Rhodesia, Baltimore and now South Africa show, there is some minimum number of whites required to keep the lights on, so everyone can enjoy the wonderfulness of diversity.
In the case of Rhodesia, the number fell below the minimum and it became Zimbabwe. In Baltimore, they have hovered along the critical number for decades. South Africa staggers on, but they too are approaching the inflection point.
-Z Man
Someone, or some group, is organizing a campaign leading towards the genocide of “white people”. This will absolutely manifest during the crisis period. Look, just because the mainstream media isn’t covering the obvious does not mean that that it doesn’t exist.
Fighting Is Under Way
And leftist blood-lust is not limited to a fringe. A very intelligent and gentle acquaintance of mine, someone with whom I once enjoyed a cordial and friendly long-running debate, believes that Trump sent federal troops into Berkeley the other night to conduct mass arrests of protesters, trigging the riots. It’s completely untrue and she had no idea where she heard it, but she believes it as much as she believes in gravity. And her false belief, what psychologists would call a hallucination (h/t Scott Adams), allows her to justify anything the rioters did, up to and including murder.
Here’s the thing. You’ve probably heard the word “privilege” so much you could puke when you hear it. The idea of white privilege is central to the leftist hallucination. And the idea of a privileged race led Germany to the Final Solution.
Adolf Hitler wrote in 1919:
"But an anti-Semitism based on reason must lead to a systematic legal elimination of the privileges of the Jews. The ultimate objective of such legislation must, however, be the irrevocable removal of the Jews from civil and cultural influence."
In fact, the Nazi propagandists worked overtime to defame Jews for their privilege. Hitler claimed Jews avoided physical labor of any kind, preferring work in finance, mercantile, and the arts. He lamented that Jews wrote and produced 90 percent of German movies despite being only one percent of the population. His propaganda depicted Jewish women as fat and lazy, yet wealthy, feeding off the labor of the German people.
Substitute “working class whites” for “Jews,” and Nazi propaganda sounds a lot like CNN commentators and UC Berkeley professors. Even so-called conservative Bill Kristol says it’s time to replace America’s white working class with immigrants.
It’s pretty clear that the left uses the same rhetoric and scapegoating against conservatives as the Nazi used against Jews. So we have to ask if these leftists use the propaganda techniques to the same end.
The Nazis wanted to vilify and dehumanize Jews so the German people would be conditioned for the Final Solution: extermination.
When you hear the speeches of campus protesters, you have to conclude that the left has a final solution in mind for people like you and me. You don’t have to take my word for it. Here are the words of a school teacher in Seattle protesting against Trump and his supporters:
"And we need to start killing people. First off, we need to start killing the White House. The White House must die. The White House, your fucking White House, your fucking Presidents, they must go! Fuck the White House.
Pay the fuck up, pay the fuck up. It ain’t just your fucking time, it’s your fucking money, and now your fucking life is devoted to social change."
Democrats, establishment Republicans, and the supposedly “responsible” media ignored this story. They ignored it because they are afraid of attracting the mob’s attention. Like Germans in the 1930s, some people value their own survival too much to stop bloodshed and brutality.
-Hennessysview
It could be an exodus of the wealthy from the urban centers…
All those pricey urban meccas could become crime-ridden ghost towns. How could such a reversal occur? Everyone who lives outside protected enclaves will reach a point where the "urban lifestyle" is no longer worth the sacrifices and costs. Once enough of the top 10% leave, the food/beverage service industry implodes.
Service employees are renters, paying sky-high rents that unemployment can't cover. Vacant apartments pile up. As the exodus gathers momentum, all the reasons people clung so rabidly to urban meccas decay. Local government jacks up fees, tickets, permits and taxes, accelerating the exodus.
That's how pricey urban meccas turn into ghost towns inhabited by those who can't leave and those living on public services.
-Of Two Minds Blog
It could be another mindless war…
Those in power could start beating the war drums again. You know, to unify the nation, and distract us from the problems at home. It worked during both Iraq wars.
But right now the United States is mired in eight simultaneous wars. Can you name them all? I can’t. I have to look them up.
Now, luckily Donald Trump has pledged not to get us involved in more wars. This has cost him some political capital. Notable fatalities are General (Mad Dog) Mattis, John McCain (deceased and good riddance), and John Bolton (Neocon on steroids).
Donald Trump came into office promising to not start any new wars and to get us out of the old ones our feckless elite had dragged us into, and now that he’s doing it in Syria the usual suspects are outraged. How dare he actually deliver on his promise not to have anymore of our precious warriors shipped home in boxes after getting killed on battlefields we can’t even pronounce, while refereeing conflicts that began long before America was a thing, in campaigns without any kind of coherent objective?
- Critics Aghast As Trump Keeps Word About No More Wars
Yet, his successor might not be so careful about husbanding our military might. This could have dire consequences. As the world is getting to be technologically advanced, and nuclear weapons are getting increasingly easy to make.
It could be World War III…
And what would happen if a civil war, a CWII or SHTF event were to occur? America would be in chaos. Everything would be a mess, and the central governments from the Federal to the State, and Local levels would be very busy trying to maintain order.
Would other nations sit by and watch from afar? Would they decide to help and roll in the UN to restore order? Or would they just be content to watch America burn?
Thus, if a civil war broke out in the United States, would China, Russia, and Iran not jump in to finally render America helpless? To take advantage of the situation, to cripple the United States to a point where it could never ever, ever EVER fully recover?
Why NOT do a “double tap” and castrate America back into oblivion from which it would take a full 100 years to recover from?
Nuclear war, one initiated by America in order to control the American mobs, could easily reverse America’s fortunes in a nanosecond. The idea that a war out here, or over there, would be created and have no consequences is a very dangerous belief. The world is not the 1960’s, and not every nation is a third world tiny splat of land. Major nations are now getting involved in the global scene, and they do not take kindly to Americans throwing their weight around.
If America has gotten fat, plump and comfortable, being the bully on the global stage, throwing “regime changing” wrenches (via the CIA, NED, and NID) to everyone from Venezuela, Syria, the Ukraine, Hong Kong and China, won’t other nations resent it?
And, if an opportunity presents itself, would not another nation take advantage of that opportunity. An opportunity to “de-fang” the United States, and “neuter” it’s ability to project global influence (read; power) in the world?
I would say yes.
“Hours after the bombs go off in cities, these fires continue to build up and they create firestorms that feed on themselves. They get so hot that everything in the city becomes fuel for its own destruction. The energy released becomes much greater than the weapon itself,” Dr. Mills explained, drawing parallels to the way fire consumed the city of Dresden during the World War II.
From each of these 100 detonations, massive firestorms would engulf whole cities and churn five million tons of black carbon into the stratosphere.
By nuking the major American cities, all industry would grind to a halt. Banking and savings would be non-existent. Everything would collapse and the survivors would flee the cities into the countryside.
Americans should never be under the impression that the rest of the world views us with favor. In fact, it is quite the opposite.
America is viewed as an out of control bully by the rest of the world.
Today is not the 1960’s. It’s no longer “just” a small world after all. It’s a complex and complicated stew of various interests all colliding together for personal advantage.
In the midst of this backdrop the United States is viewed as an out of control empire, a bully, and now (seemingly) with Mr. Donald Trump at the helm, run by an apparent “mad man”.
Right or wrong, perceptions are everything.
Any civil strife in the United States will open the door for other, more powerful nations, to perform the “kill strike”, the “double tap”, on the American nation.
The next turning could have the worst elements of everything known to man. This could be nuclear war, chemical, biological and germ warfare high technology spying and swarm drone weapons. All of which could happen simultaneously while the USA government might to enact genocide against its citizenry.
Oh, and by the way, a fellow by the name of John Titor claimed to be from the future. Yes, he claimed to be a time traveler from the future. He described just this exact scenario, where there was a rather long period of civil unrest and then Russia nuked all the cities. Whether you believe him or not is immaterial. He has some interesting things to ponder.
The link below opens up into a new tab for your reading pleasure.
From the post…
' The blogger suggests this because he questions what actually occurred did not match all the conflicts that John Titor predicted. Perhaps the events he mentions will actually still occur, only they will actually occur 10 years later.
Maybe, instead of a civil war in 2013, there is one in 2023? Nuclear war in 2025, instead of 2015. '
Remember those two dates; 2023 – Civil War, and 2025 – Nuclear War.
With or without war, American society will be transformed into something different.
The emergent society may be something better, a nation that sustains its Framers’ visions with a robust new pride.
Or it may be something unspeakably worse.
The Fourth Turning will be a time of glory or ruin.
It will be a turning point. It will be a point of inversion, a point of change. A point where things go one way or the other, and everyone in the middle is killed.
Glory or Ruin.
It will be the us vs them. The patriots vs the Red Coats. The grey vs the blue. The yanks against the Nazi’s.
So what will happen?
Consider the Millennials, how they were raised (Power Rangers, Captain Planet, Animal Planet, school uniforms, and conformity against human nature). To them, conformity, and control via electronic media is as natural as breathing air. To them, it is normal to demand conformity, conformity in everything, even in thought and speech.
Consider the Millennial’s, how they were raised (Power Rangers, Captain Planet, Animal Planet, school uniforms, and conformity against human nature). To them, conformity, and control via electronic media is as natural as breathing air. To them, it is normal to demand conformity, conformity in everything, even in thought and speech.
This youthful hunger for social discipline and centralized authority could lead Millennial youth brigades to lend mass to dangerous demagogues.
The risk of class warfare will be especially grave if the 20 percent of Millennials who were poor as children (50 percent in inner cities) come of age seeing their peer-bonded paths to generational progress blocked by elder inertia.
Unraveling-era adults who are today chilled by school uniforms will be truly frightened by the Millennials’ Crisis-era collectivism.
It’s exactly these millennials, and their behaviors, that have created the NPC meme.
“Unraveling-era adults who are today chilled by school uniforms will be truly frightened by the Millennials’ Crisis-era collectivism.”
An opportunity came and passed.
So with all these issues, all of them coming to maturity at the same time, we have a situation where a real leader should take the helm of the American government. Then cultivate the civilian population, and provide rules, and outlets to blow off some steam.
But this was not permitted to occur.
Instead, we have the situation we see today. A president that is unable to do much of anything. An entrenched bureaucracy that operates in direct opposition to his policies, and an opposition that is chomping at the bit to install radical Pol Pot style Marxism.
Meanwhile the “fox is running the hen-house” and blatantly behaving like they are untouchable, because they actually are. President Nixon was impeached within months. The people who assassinated Lincoln were arrested and hung within weeks. Yet, Hillary Clinton has been running around freely for over three years and nothing is being done. Let’s never forget Lois Learner, and the rest of the cabal.
Hillary Clinton’s guilt is so obvious and spectacular that it is considered a joke.
It’s true.
An opportunity came and passed. The Presidential mandate of the American people was not implemented. Indeed, the only way for the President to communicate is via twitter. The news media is a complete train wreck.
It seems America is seriously out of alignment.
And, like a car badly out of tune, the vehicle shutters, rocks, starts and stops. It sputters, gasping for air or gas, then collapses.
Hillary Clinton meme. Nobody has 56 dead friends.
Republicans failed to fulfill their mandate with the House and Senate. And then what happened… Well, the people turned, instead, to the other side. The Bolsheviks now run the House. And people, this is not good. Not at all. Not in the least.
And this is who’s running the House:
These four women, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, are 4 of the most radical, hardcore Socialists you will ever meet. On top of that, they all advocate for open borders, they all advocate for illegal immigrants, they all advocate for the Palestinians, and 3 of them are anti-semitic and against Israel. Now you know a little bit more than you did about ‘The Squad’ of these four freshman congresswoman who are, by their own actions, dominating the news cycle at this moment. No one that I know has any problem at all with women in the Congress, or women of color in the Congress, but have a huge problem with radical activists like these who are pushing to collapse the system.
Look at them. They would arrest you, strip you, hang you by a hook and gut you before you could utter your Bill of Rights protections. They do not run on reason. They are incapable of it. They operate on emotion. And right now, it is unbridled rage.
Think of it as a small “toe hold”, a small start, for something much larger on the horizon.
And people, these individuals HATE YOU. They hate you with a passion and they do want to see you, your families, and everything that you stand for killed, eviscerated, and the ground you walk upon salted for centuries to come.
And if given the opportunity, they will transform your world into something very, very awful.
And people, these individuals HATE YOU. They hate you with a passion and they do want to see you, your families, and everything that you stand for killed, eviscerated, and the ground you walk upon salted for centuries to come.
It Gets Worse
It needs to be clear that 2025 is the date of the climax, not the end, of the 4T.
The end of the 2020s is the date at which the 4T will end.
We have much more to go through first, and it will take a few years. It cannot end during the current regime, and correcting it will take some years in addition. The current situation in which the hard right dominates our country cannot continue; it must be displaced.
That might require violent confrontation, not to achieve a leftist takeover, but to curtail a hard right rebellion that might break out against the policies of a soft-left regime that needs to replace today's hard-right regime.
-Generational Theory Forum Comment written by an obvious leftist.
If the Crisis catalyst comes on schedule, around the year 2005, then the climax will be due around 2020, the resolution around 2026.
What will America be like as it exits the Fourth Turning?
History offers no guarantees. Obviously, things could go horribly wrong—the possibilities ranging from a nuclear exchange to incurable plagues, from terrorist anarchy to high-tech dictatorship.
We should not assume that Providence will always exempt our nation from the irreversible tragedies that have overtaken so many others: not just temporary hardship, but debasement and total ruin.
Since Vietnam, many Americans suppose they know what it means to lose a war.
Losing in the next Fourth Turning, however, could mean something incomparably worse.
It could mean a lasting defeat from which our national innocence—and perhaps even our nation—might never recover. As many Americans know from their own ancestral backgrounds, history provides numerous examples of societies that have been wiped off the map, ground into submission, or beaten so badly they revert to barbarism.
This is not a new observation.
Leading up to the major crisis in the Fourth Turning, the police will find themselves becoming more and more militarized. It will reach a point that it will be difficult to tell the difference between a police officer and a soldier.
Do you think that I am perhaps exaggerating a little? Well, I am not.
Having lost at the ballot box, having lost in the court of public opinion, the left has decided to intimidate or kill its adversaries. Just like the Nazis. Just like the Leninists. Just like the Maoists.
-These People Want You Dead
Of course it is. The United States doesn’t resemble anything like what it was intended to be. Instead, greedy, and selfish men rewrote it to be “progressive”. Which means “subject to change”.
And they changed it.
And changed it.
And changed it.
Now, today, it is a complete and absolute nightmare.
Well, let’s get back to the Fourth Turning. Of course, they cannot predict the future specifically. They can only predict trends.
These predictions are based on previous turnings and the historical record.
“An impasse over the federal budget reaches a stalemate. The president and Congress both refuse to back down, triggering a near-total government shutdown. The president declares emergency powers. Congress rescinds his authority. Dollar and bond prices plummet. The president threatens to stop Social Security checks. Congress refuses to raise the debt ceiling. Default looms. Wall Street panics.” – The Fourth Turning – Strauss & Howe
Strauss and Howe wrote their book in 1996. They were not trying to be prophets of doom. Instead they were observers of history able to connect events through human life cycles of 80 or so years. Well how close were they? Look at the headlines today on Drudge…
Drudge Report splash 9OCT19.
We have gotten so accustomed to this new “normal” that we forget how obscene it is. Functional governments do not act like this. Dysfunctional ones do.
"The president and Congress both refuse to back down, triggering a near-total government shutdown."
Using critical thinking skills and identifying the most likely triggers for crisis: debt, civic decay, and global disorder, they were able to anticipate scenarios. Scenarios which could drive the next crisis. And which they warned would arrive in the mid-2000 decade.
A polarization of the community.
Elements of civil strife, followed by physical strife.
The possibility of war and conflict.
The scenario described above is fairly close to the current situation, driven by the showdown between Trump and the Democrats regarding everything from the border wall to the endless stream of impeachment level attacks.
As we enter the twelfth year of this Fourth Turning, the fourth Crisis period in U.S. history, the mood of U.S. citizens and citizens around the globe continues to darken.
As we enter the twelfth year of this Fourth Turning, the fourth Crisis period in U.S. history, the mood of U.S. citizens and citizens around the globe continues to darken.
Fourth Turnings are driven by generational configuration and the emotional reaction to events by the Prophet generation leaders, Nomad generation spearheads, and Hero generation cannon fodder.
What’s going on now…
Do I need to list all the discomfort?
Discomfort is what happens as the population waltzes towards disaster. It happens each and every time. Consider the years leading up to the first American Civil War…
William J. Cooper has written a magnificently researched account of the political atmosphere that prevailed in the United States immediately after the election of Abraham Lincoln and through the first shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter. What individual elements made up the call to arms on both sides of the Mason Dixon line? Which persons were conciliatory and which were belligerent? What contribution did the nuances of the several political parties play in the mood of the population? Was the Civil War inevitable no matter what action was taken by Lincoln?
Many eminent American Civil War historians tend to move quickly throughout the three year period preceding the onset of the War, as they move on the War itself, however Wm. Cooper's work has has been devoted entirely to a study of this critical era, and provides significant insight as to the period's ultimate result-- namely, the War itself.
Cooper has devoted much effort to a study of the era's significant and influential caste of characters, including an newspaper editor, abolitionists, radical Republicans,, members of both houses of Congress,and each of the Presidents---both sitting and newly -elected..
-Amazon reviews of "We Have the War Upon Us: The Onset of the Civil War, November 1860-April 1861" by Cooper, William J. (2012) Hardcover
Examining the three prior Fourth Turnings may give us a window into where we stand and what may happen in the coming year.
We are in the eleventh year of this Crisis. (The eleven-year anniversary was in September 2019.) Here we look at the three previous events.
The American Revolution Crisis
The Civil War Crisis
The Great Depression/World War II Crisis
A comparison of the last three “Fourth Turnings” in the United States. Full-scale war is shown in black.
The American Revolution Crisis
The American Revolution Crisis was catalyzed in 1773. This was when the Boston Tea Party forever changed the colonial mood towards revolution.
After eight years of struggle and desperate measures, the climax was reached with the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781.
The American Revolution Crisis was catalyzed in 1773. This was when the Boston Tea Party forever changed the colonial mood towards revolution. After eight years of struggle and desperate measures, the climax was reached with the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781.
But there was still thirteen more years of crisis as the new states forged a Constitution, elected Washington its first president, and he withstood the Jacobins, put down the Whiskey Rebellion and finalized a treaty with England.
In year ten of the crisis, two years past the climax, the Treaty of Paris was signed, British troops left the continent, and Washington resigned as commander of American troops. The Articles of Confederation had been ratified in 1781 and remained in place until succeeded by the U.S. Constitution in 1789.
In year ten of the crisis, two years past the climax, the Treaty of Paris was signed, British troops left the continent, and Washington resigned as commander of American troops. The Articles of Confederation had been ratified in 1781 and remained in place until succeeded by the U.S. Constitution in 1789.
The Civil War Crisis
There was no tenth or eleventh year of the Civil War Crisis. Lincoln’s election with only 40% of the popular vote, prompting the attack on Fort Sumpter.
Lincoln’s election with only 40% of the popular vote, prompting the attack on Fort Sumpter. As well as the subsequent secession of Southern states. It triggered the bloodiest conflict in world history. It was a fiasco, with 8% of all white men aged 13 to 43 killed in the war, including 6% in the North and 18% in the South.
Lincoln’s election with only 40% of the popular vote, prompting the attack on Fort Sumpter. As well as the subsequent secession of Southern states. It triggered the bloodiest conflict in world history. It was a fiasco, with 8% of all white men aged 13 to 43 killed in the war, including 6% in the North and 18% in the South.
More death and decay. Two per cent of the United States population was wiped out because of the war.
The acceleration of this Fourth Turning into a five-year window from 1860 to 1865 was not a positive development.
The extreme intensity of the conflict resulted in 700,000 tragic deaths. The catalyst occurred five years too soon and the resolution a generation too soon.
Perhaps, a more extended crisis may have allowed tempers to moderate and the conflict to end in a more constructive manner. Instead, with the surrender at Appomattox and assassination of Lincoln, the resolution felt more like a defeat than a victory.
Turmoil continued for at least a decade after the resolution.
The Great Depression/World War II Crisis
The Great Depression/World War II Crisis saw its tenth and eleventh years as the most ominous, dangerous and destructive for Great Britain, as they bore the brunt of the German onslaught.
World War II will always be known for the mass genocide of Jews, the use of atomic weapons to destroy complete cities, and the wholesale slaughter of innocent people. When the people who started this entire fiasco started to lose, the followers of Hitler and the Nazi’s, they killed themselves with cyanide rather than face their crimes against humanity.
1939 saw the Nazi invasion of Poland and the official start of World War II.
A year and a half after the invasion of Poland by the Germans, the Nazis evacuated the Jews from my home town, Krakow, and resettled us in very cramped quarters in the most dilapidated part of the city. On March 13, 1941, my family of six people was forced to relocate from our comfortable 3-bedroom home at Retjana # 5 to a cramped one bedroom apartment at Targowa # 1, which we shared with several other families.
Life was difficult in the ghetto. Jews were routinely abused, assaulted, and even murdered by the Nazis, who patrolled the streets with pistols, rifles, and whips. We were prisoners at the hands of an abusive force that had prompted a world war, but we were totally unprepared for the obscene horrors and large-scale genocide that our captors were about to execute on us.
The date was October 28, 1942. The Nazis were about to implement their second deportation of Jews from the Krakow ghetto to the extermination camps. We were told that the ghetto would be liquidated, that we all were to be transported to labor camps, and that everybody had to go to Plac Zgody square with their most important belongings.
Fear could be seen on the faces of every Jew in the ghetto. Everyone felt that something horrible was about to happen. On my way to our family’s apartment, I met my parents, my sister Greta, and my brother Leszek inside the corridor of their building. My parents had come out of the bunker where they were hiding, and I wanted to warn them to stay inside.
They didn’t have any working papers (Arbeits-bescheinigungen), so I thought that their lives could be in danger. But, it was too late to tell them to go back into hiding. From all sides, the SS Gestapo appeared before us and pushed us into the street.
Leszek and I had working papers indicating that he was a toolmaker and I was an auto mechanic for the German SS. We thought that these papers would save us and our family from the deportation. We presented the papers to SS Obersturmfuhrer Martin Fellenz, {1} a Gestapo
officer who was in charge of the deportation.
On Mr. Lewis’ return to Krakow 43 years after the second liquidation of the ghetto, Plac Zgody was eerily quiet. Fellenz ripped up our papers, began to beat us with his club, and ordered us to go with all of the other prisoners to Plac Zgody. At Plac Zgody, I noticed many familiar faces, including my girlfriend Regina’s mother, Ida, and her two sisters, Tosia and Gienia.
I wanted to talk to them but I was not permitted to do so. I had to sit on the ground and remain still. The Germans ordered us not to move an inch. To prove their point, they began to kill anyone who got up or moved around. At that point I decided that I had to escape, no matter what might be the consequences.
I told Leszek my plans, and he said he would try to escape, too. I told my parents and sister what I intended to do, and they told me to go ahead and run. Soon, we were ordered to line up, four in a row.
I told my family not to look for me if I tried to escape. Passing Wieliczka Street, I tried to run into a house, but I was unsuccessful. I was stopped by an SS guard and forced back onto the line. I was lucky that guard did not kill me right then and there for trying to escape.
- The Story of Victor Lewis
In May of 1940 Germany launched its blitzkrieg offensive through Holland and Belgium, defeating the French and British forces in a matter of weeks. Chamberlain resigned as Prime Minister, replaced by Churchill, as France surrendered in late June.
The Battle of Britain raged from July through October as Hitler relentlessly bombed England, trying to force their surrender.
Germany, Italy and Japan signed the Tripartite pact in September, setting the stage for the U.S. eventual participation in the war. Einstein informed FDR of the potential for an atomic bomb during 1939 and the Manhattan Project was born. The climax of the crisis occurred with the successful D-Day invasion. The dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan and successful demobilization of military forces marked the end of the crisis.
Smoldering ruins of Nagasaki, about 700 meters from the hypocenter. The United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, with the consent of the United Kingdom, as required by the Quebec Agreement. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians.
Learning from History
History may not repeat, but human nature never changes, so the 80-year cycles of man-made crisis will repeat. The length of time from the American Revolution climax in 1781 until the Civil War climax in 1863 was 82 years.
The next climax in 1944 was 81 years after the Civil War climax.
History may not repeat, but human nature never changes, so the 80-year cycles of man-made crisis will repeat. The length of time from the American Revolution climax in 1781 until the Civil War climax in 1863 was 82 years.
Therefore, we can expect a climax to this current Crisis sometime in the 2025 range. The question is what events will transpire between today (the tail end of 2019) and 2025 before a climax is reached.
80 years = 2025
81 years = 2026
82 years = 2027
A study of the years ahead…
There’s a few precious years ahead before these fateful target dates. However, you the reader should please take note, the event and the turning can occur earlier or later than the historical norm. It is just an average target date obtained through extrapolation.
Here are the next few years before the Fourth Turning is expected to reach a crisis point. The astute reader should realize that the event is scheduled immediately after the 2024 election. Historically, this will mean that a progressive democrat will take over the Presidency. In that event, we can expect a full-on gun confiscation effort that would be the result of a mass-shooting event. Democrat presidents always have mass-shooting events in the first six months of their presidency. Then they unleash the anti-gun narrative to a fever pitch. The event that was supposed to really work this last time was the 2016 Los Vegas shooter, but of course it wasn’t Hillary Clinton at the Helm it was Donald Trump..
My guess, for what ever reason, is that Donald Trump will win the 2020 election. The nation would continue to go bat-shit crazy and the opposition forces, with the oligarchy-controlled “deep state” will have all sorts of options on the table for the 2024 election.
I anticipate that there will be numerous things that will occur after the 2024 election. One of which would be a progressive democrat become president with the support with the brain-dead youth vote.
This president, predictably, will [1] unleash full scale gun confiscation efforts, [2] new military expansionism all over the globe, [3] higher taxes along with [4] instituted (pro-black, anti-white) institutionally supported racism leading towards [5] deplorable genocide.
It's what "Democrats" always do. Name one democrat that hasn't raised taxes, banned guns or used the military as a global police force.
Thus, it is my guess that there will be a push-back.
Some “heavy hitter” nations might slam-dunk the USA military and cities. They would “hit back” using overt state of the art WMD weapons.
Rural “deplorables” might resist federal gun collection efforts.
The already dysfunctional government would become a true and real “train wreck”. With more corruption, more inefficiency and expanded theft.
What we can expect…
We can expect…
There will be an increase in “False Flag” events, and paid protestors, and actors crying, screeching and pandering to a well positioned media. This will be broadcast over all the media outlets, seemingly providing justification for the government to take radical action.
Here’s American NED “regime change” (color revolution) efforts in Hong Kong, China…
HK chop on a paid protestor. There will be an increase in “False Flag” events, and paid protestors, and actors crying, screeching and pandering to a well positioned media. This will be broadcast over all the media outlets, seemingly providing justification for the government to take radical action.
Aside from paid protestors, there will be talented actors and actresses that will cry and sob for the cameras. Here’s a typical child actor sobbing for media promotion…
Aside from paid protestors, there will be talented actors and actresses that will cry and sob for the cameras.
Institutions that we historically rely upon to be corrupted beyond usefulness. This will mean everything from the FBI, to the IRS, to the FDA, the FCC, and the military.
This is our “improved” military…
The promotion of diversity makes the American military strong because that is something that the armies of China and Russia do not have.
There will be a retreat in technological, educational, and manufacturing leadership. The attempts by Donald Trump to thwart the global strategic trade supply chain has not been successful, and only aggravates an already dire situation.
There will be a retreat in technological, educational, and manufacturing leadership. The attempts by Donald Trump to thwart the global strategic trade supply chain has not been successful, and only aggravates an already dire situation.
It will not be peaceful. Based upon history, the resolution will not be based on compromise, civility, reason, or peaceful means. The opposition forces who follow “progressive thought” will not longer need to follow the Constitution. They will write their own rules as they go along.
It will not be peaceful. Based upon history, the resolution will not be based on compromise, civility, reason, or peaceful means.
It will be a dark and dangerous time. The combustible combination of unpayable debt, civic anarchy, and global chaos are set to detonate, creating an era of maximum darkness, death, destruction, and decisions.
People will die, and the police and the government will be complicit.
It will be a dark and dangerous time. The combustible combination of unpayable debt, civic anarchy, and global chaos are set to detonate, creating an era of maximum darkness, death, destruction, and decisions. People will die, and the police and the government will be complicit.
Read this it’s a six-part series. I suggest you read all the parts, as each one says something unique. It opens up into another tab.
We will have to be strong. Making America Great Again will require personal sacrifice, dreadful choices, survival skills, intelligent decisions, and the courage to win at all costs. We will have to accept that there are people who want to disarm us, then herd us into cattle cars and gas us wholesale.
We will have to be strong. Making America Great Again will require personal sacrifice, dreadful choices, survival skills, intelligent decisions, and the courage to win at all costs. We will have to accept that there are people who want to disarm us, then herd us into cattle cars and gas us wholesale.
Check out the link below. It opens up in a separate tab.
We are leaving the “quiet” period of simmering unrest. The first ten years of this Crisis were the early Winter solstice period when public order began to pass its nadir.
Things will go from “rumblings in the distance” to whole-scale Shit Hit The Fan!
Normally peaceful and quiet people will start to fight back. Those people who have never had to deal with “push back” will be unprepared. Initially it will be glorious…
Normally peaceful and quiet people will start to fight back. Those people who have never had to deal with “push back” will be unprepared. Initially it will be glorious…
…but it will be short lived.
Then…
All Hell will break loose.
Factory
workers, with their company name badges, in the parking lot of their
employer. Two dead and one dying with his legs shot off. He and his
co-workers had no idea that “world war III” would break out while they
were trying to clock in at work. When one group of people identify
another group, and target them with hate, and violence, it only
escalates. It gets worse. Eventually there is whole-scale blood shed. Do
not be under the illusion that it will never happen in America. There
are enormous groups of people just chomping at the bit to attack
conservatives and traditionalists. All in the name of a progressive
utopia.
America could be unrecognizable afterwards. These events always change the social, political, and personal landscape.
Zimbabwe, the former Rhodesia, was modern, prosperous and a net exporter of food.
In the end, Africa won.
Basic services have collapsed, tyranny and privation are their new rulers, apparently by preference.
-The Woodpile Report
The changes can be really good, and long overdue. Or, they could be just absolutely awful. It will be all or nothing, and everything will be affected.
Everything will be affected.
Everything.
The changes can be really good, and long overdue. Or, they could be just absolutely awful. It will be all or nothing, and everything will be affected. Everything will be affected. Everything.
The Storm Approaches. The coldest days of Winter beckon with the harshest years of the Crisis ahead. Many melancholy days lie ahead, as bitter winter winds and blizzard like conditions sweep the bleak landscape, testing the mettle of even the bravest souls.
The catalyst for the Crisis was the Wall Street created global financial meltdown in 2008.
The election of Trump marked the beginning of the regeneracy, with Trump as the Gray Champion.
The last four years have certainly marked a new more volatile phase of this Crisis, setting the stage for the fireworks to come.
The catalyst will unfold according to a basic Crisis dynamic that
underlies all of these scenarios: An initial spark will trigger a chain
reaction of unyielding responses and further emergencies.
The core elements of these scenarios (debt, civic decay, global
disorder) will matter more than the details, which the catalyst will
juxtapose and connect in some unknowable way.
The regeneracy is less like FDR’s New Deal initiated unification of the country. Instead it is more like the Lincoln regeneracy after the First Battle of Bull Run. This was when he ordered the enlistment of a half million men to fight against a like number of fellow American men.
Both American factions were unified in their cause.
The chain reaction of emergencies and unyielding responses will continue unabated until a final resolution is achieved.
“In retrospect, the spark might seem as ominous as a financial
crash, as ordinary as a national election, or as trivial as a Tea Party[1].
The catalyst will unfold according to a basic Crisis dynamic that
underlies all of these scenarios: An initial spark will trigger a chain
reaction of unyielding responses and further emergencies. The core elements of these scenarios (debt, civic decay, global
disorder) will matter more than the details, which the catalyst will
juxtapose and connect in some unknowable way. If foreign societies are also entering a Fourth Turning, this could accelerate the chain reaction. At home and abroad, these events will reflect the tearing of the civic fabric at points of extreme vulnerability – problem areas where America will have neglected, denied, or delayed needed action.” – The Fourth Turning– Strauss & Howe
[1] Written over ten years before the Conservative Tea Party came into existence.
About these predictions…
Strauss and Howe foresaw the core elements which would surely propel the next Fourth Turning.
Life was quite different before the American Civil War.
They, of course, weren’t the only ones. But they were able to formulate a hypothesis based on their observations that others could apply in their own individual cases. All of these observations were plain to see for people who chose to see the world with eyes wide open.
Debt, civic decay and global disorder are on center stage as we enter the fateful next decade of 2020.
Syria before and after the Syrian civil war. America will also look like this as well. Stay out of the urban areas. Prepare yourself and your family.
A madness seems to be gripping the nation, a melancholy realization all is not right.
Everything has a chaotic feel, as financial markets are falling, politicians threaten and attack each other. The government dysfunction is laid bare for all to see. Meanwhile the Deep State snakes slither behind the scenes trying to bring down Trump. Yes, and racial tensions grow as they are being inflamed by agitators. And the CIA / NED instigate changes where foreign governments topple. Meanwhile, both Russia and China challenge U.S. hegemony, and the global debt Ponzi scheme is entering its collapse phase.
It’s all collapsing like a house of cards.
America is polarized
There are no moderates, only pro-Trump and anti-Trump factions.
Compromise and workable solutions to our deep-seated problems are off the table. The mood of the populace ranges from frustrated and angry to depressed and stressed. The aroma of conflict wafts through the air as battle lines are being drawn.
The initial spark of a global financial meltdown created by greedy
Wall Street banks, the feckless Fed, and corrupt government officials
was driven by bad debt, outright control fraud by the financial
industry, captured rating agencies, easy money provided by the Wall
Street owned Fed, and utter contempt for properly regulating the Wall
Street cabal by the Fed and SEC.
This emergency was met by an unyielding response from the
establishment, with the easiest money policies in world history, bailing
out criminal bankers with taxpayer funds, increasing global debt by $80
trillion to $250 trillion (318% of global GDP), running fiscal deficits
exceeding $1 trillion per year, and pretending all that debt will be
repaid. Pretend and extend has been the solution.
The Deep State has taken extraordinary measures to try and retain their stranglehold on the wealth of the nation and control of the political, financial, social and media levers of society.
They have utilized a combination of propaganda disguised as news, social media distractions, technological surveillance, misinformation campaigns, welfare to keep the poor sedated, and the continued issuance of debt to keep the masses satiated with consumer goods as their wealth dissipates.
But the teetering edifice of debt, delusion and deception is poised to topple sometime in the next decade starting in 2020.
Can you feel it?
It’s like vibrations that you feel in your car as you drive past a very loud rock concert. It’s a gathering storm, an increasing in pressure, a cooling of temperature, and a raising of pressure…
As we enter 2020, year twelve of this ongoing Crisis, you can sense the panic and distress permeating from the pores of the establishment figures. As well as their rich shadowy benefactors trying to maintain their unseen presence behind the curtain as they pull the strings. As they continue operating as the invisible government running the show for their own benefit.
It seems the unanticipated election of Trump has thrown a monkey wrench into their well- oiled pillage machine. It is forcing them to reveal themselves as they attempt a not so subtle coup against a sitting president.
Fourth Turnings always sweep away the existing social order in a torrent of violent upheaval and the blood of young men.
But that doesn’t mean the existing establishment will give up their wealth, power and control without a fight. And the fight is underway. The volcano has erupted and the molten lava could flow in numerous pathways over the next six or so years.
“Imagine some national (and probably global) volcanic eruption, initially flowing along channels of distress that were created during the Unraveling era and further widened by the catalyst. Trying to foresee where the eruption will go once it bursts free of the channels is like trying to predict the exact fault line of an earthquake.
All you know in advance is something about the molten ingredients of the climax, which could include the following:
Economic distress, with public debt in default, entitlement trust funds in bankruptcy, mounting poverty and unemployment, trade wars, collapsing financial markets, and hyperinflation (or deflation)
Social distress, with violence fueled by class, race, nativism, or religion and abetted by armed gangs, underground militias, and mercenaries hired by walled communities
Political distress, with institutional collapse, open tax revolts, one-party hegemony, major constitutional change, secessionism, authoritarianism, and altered national borders
Military distress, with war against terrorists or foreign regimes equipped with weapons of mass destruction” – The Fourth Turning– Strauss & Howe
The ingredients of distress in the next phase of this Crisis could include any or all of those pondered by Strauss and Howe twenty-two years ago.
I thus can make the case for multiple levels of distress breaking free from their channels, making 2020 as historic a year as 1939 or 1940.
My prognosis for the decade starting in 2020 follows:
Economic Distress
Economic distress is mounting, as the machinations of the Fed, Wall Street and the U.S. government prove to be nothing more than debt financed illusions.
Once the easy money spigot is turned off and the tide of zero interest debt for Wall Street and mega-corporations recedes, you realize everyone was swimming naked.
The national debt grew by $1.4 trillion in 2018 during “the best economy ever”, according to Trump.
We added $12 trillion to the national debt and have generated a historically weak recovery, especially for the working class.
We’ve gone nine years without recession and the longest period in U.S. history between recessions was ten years. Without the tax cut stimulus, interest rates higher, corporate profits flagging, global trade waning, and central bankers withdrawing liquidity, recession is likely ahead of us. When it happens it could end up driving deficits towards $2 trillion.
The number of zombie companies (GE, Sears, JC Penney, Chesapeake, all fracking companies) propped up by cheap junk bond debt is astronomical.
National debt default is still a ways off, but a tsunami of corporate debt defaults will inundate the economy once the recession knocks the legs out from beneath this faux recovery.
Corporations and consumers have never been more indebted. Stock valuations have never been higher.
An economy that begins to self destruct when interest rates approach 3% proves the “solutions” implemented by those in power did nothing for the average American, while further enriching the parasitical class pulling the strings.
At this point, a specific triggering event is unnecessary to provoke the economic conflagration.
The unbearable weight of unpayable debt is going to cause the structure to collapse at free fall speed, like the Twin Towers pancaking everyone in the floors below.
Collapse of the South Tower on 9-11.
With a recession inevitable in the future, we know the stock market declines 30% to 40% during recessions, on average. When a stock market is this overvalued, based solely on Fed easy money and corporate buybacks (Apple has lost $9 billion on their buybacks this year), the withdrawal of liquidity combined with recession and declining profits will knock 50% to 60% off current prices. I wonder how many middle-class 401k contributors expect this to happen. Well this will be the third time in 18 years, so you would think they’d learn by now.
Recession means job losses, consumer debt defaults, less tax revenue for the government, more wasteful spending by politicians pretending to care, soaring deficits, currency gyrations, and the potential for rising interest rates as no one will be willing or able to buy the newly issued debt.
Will we have massive deflation or hyperinflation? Anything is possible in a collapse scenario.
What is certain will be millions of angry Americans looking for someone to blame and politicians seeking to distract them with some foreign “threat” to their safety and security.
People! This is when trade wars morph into real wars.
Social Distress
The social distress sweeping the country gets the majority of attention on the left-wing corporate media propaganda machines as they purposely fan the flames of divisiveness.
Keeping the sheeple angry at each other keeps them distracted from the continued pillaging of the national wealth by the Deep State scum operating in plain sight. As they loot and pillage, and then leave for greener pastures. Leaving their underlings to clumsily fight for the remaining scraps.
Before and after views of Syria after the Syrian civil war.
The daily war against the normals has reached new heights of hypocrisy and idiocy.
It’s all building up towards a major catastrophe.
The unceasing mantra of diversity, trying to normalize the lifestyles of the mentally ill…
Glorifying socialism as Venezuela implodes due to socialism…
Promoting the climate change agenda to abscond with more taxes…
Trying to force left wing agendas down the throats of white traditional family-oriented people….
All of this is on the verge of starting civil violence. It’s so close that you can taste it.
This is what a civil war did to Syria. Not a pretty sight.
The ruling class has gone too far in accumulating the wealth of the nation through the capture of regulatory, political, financial, and communication structures.
They know what is coming. They are not pretending that all is fine. They have their very own safe houses all set up far, far away from the strife that is barrelling down towards them.
Wealth inequality arisen through fraud, deception and corruption will lead to class warfare – highly likely after the next financial collapse.
The ruling class has gone too far in accumulating the wealth of the nation through the capture of regulatory, political, financial, and communication structures. They know what is coming. They are not pretending that all is fine. They have their very own safe houses all set up far, far away from the strife that is barrelling down towards them.
The current government shutdown over funding for a border wall is essentially a showdown over the racial makeup of the country. It goes forward allowing unfettered access to welfare benefits to illegal invaders. And who are allowed to come so that they will loyally illegally vote for their Democrat benefactors for eternity.
Come in – get your free stuff – now move into the ghetto.
Ah yes …Racial politics is what has kept blacks enslaved on the welfare plantation in decaying urban ghettos run by Democrat politician plantation owners.
A black uprising led by Kanye West has struck fear into the hearts of Democrats, giving them further incentive to keeping the southern border open to new Democrat voters.
With gun grabbing liberal politicians attempting to disarm the deplorables in flyover country. Meanwhile supporting antifa and black lives matter terrorists, and thwarting efforts to keep criminals and terrorists from illegally entering the country,
People! a violent showdown is inevitable.
America is messed up way past the point of redemption. For many Americans, they would be just happy to watch the cities burn and let the survivors fend for themselves.
Political Distress
The political distress since the 2016 election has reached levels not seen since the Civil War Crisis period.
The Deep State controllers’ next hand-picked figurehead president – Hillary Clinton – inexplicably lost the election to a NYC reality star real estate mogul (who boasted about grabbing pussies and had a weakness for strippers and Playboy bunnies no less).
Clinton’s arrogance and hubris were her downfall as the deplorables she ridiculed and a majority of white women in the country gave Trump a slim victory. This, of course, drove millions of pussy-hat wearing feminazis into a blind furious rage.
We’ve all heard of the “end-of-days” scenarios where the government finally passes through enough “gun control” laws and mounts a full-scale attack on democracy, running through houses with gun sniffing dogs to confiscate guns, running concealed carry permits, etc. The general fear held by most anti-gun confiscation groups (which should probably include any and all gun owners) is the idea of the US government announcing martial law during an “emergency” and seizing all firearms to “maintain peace”.
They are still living that rage.
College students across the land sobbed in their safe spaces and missed their Queer Theory or Pick your Gender classes.
But not only were snowflakes across the land melting, but the surveillance state spooks who attempted to rig the election in Clinton’s favor went into a frenzy of fear. It is understandable as fear of their traitorous machinations being revealed forced them to begin a coup attempt against Trump.
The Mueller, Comey, Clapper, Brennan, Obama, Clinton reactive coup attempt is ongoing and will never be permitted to come to a head. It will just fester. Like an infected scab that poisons the host to a point where an arm or two needs to be amputated.
America today is a seriously sick nation that is more akin to having a festering sore getting worse and worse until amputation becomes an absolutely necessary.
The outcome of this epic struggle between the Deep State and the non-approved upstart president could create civil war like conditions.
How will Trump supporters react if they believe their leader is removed through impeachment, based on false charges?
Will they take to the streets in armed insurrection?
Will the police and military fire on their fellow citizens?
What if Trump refuses to step down, creating a Constitutional crisis?
What if he is assassinated?
Do you know how to take down a tank, an APC, or a technical armed by roving groups of armed urban youth? You should. Do not think that you can ride out the Fourth Turning unscathed. It will affect everyone, and you need to be prepared for the worst.
On the other hand, what if Trump’s allies within the DOJ and Military present evidence of collusion against the Obama administration, Clinton and top officials in the FBI, DOJ and CIA?
How would the left wingers react to military tribunals with their beloved leaders in the docket?
Even if these earth-shattering events don’t come to fruition, a Democrat controlled House will thwart everything Trump attempts to accomplish as they position themselves for the 2020 presidential election. The anger and disillusionment of the masses will deepen.
Military Distress
The potential for catastrophe on the military front hasn’t been higher in decades.
Putin and Xi are essentially dictators who have no fear of elections every two years. They are serious men in possession of nuclear missiles, capable of destroying the world. They are both serious, serious people. They are in their positions of power through merit. Not though mob rule. They will tolerate the CIA / NED interference with Hong Kong, and the Muslims only so far. If the United States decides to push too hard, they WILL strike back… at American cities. IN FULL FUCKING FORCE.
The linear thinking lemmings dismiss the possibility of a global conflict because they are just as obtuse as “experts” before them throughout history.
Since World War II we have only experienced proxy wars where the outcomes would not change the course of world history.
There have been no “total wars”, where the loser is utterly shattered and complete victory is attained. As we continue on our path of just another righteous war, be advised that the rest of the world is getting awfully tired of this war-mongering.
They want it to STOP.
As we continue on our path of just another righteous war, be advised that the rest of the world is getting awfully tired of this war-mongering. They want it to STOP.
Those who practice revisionist history act as if the previous two Fourth Turning total wars were completely predictable before they began. They weren’t.
In 1858 no one believed a Civil War taking the lives of 700,000 Americans was just over the horizon.
Exactly 80 years later in 1938, few believed a global conflict which would kill 65 million people in six years was imminent.
Here we are exactly 80 years later and anyone predicting a global conflagration killing millions is declared a loon.
Every previous Fourth Turning has ended in total war with victory of the “good guys” always in doubt. Every total war has ratcheted up the level of death and destruction, as technological “advancements” enhance our war making abilities.
Every previous Fourth Turning has ended in total war.
This means nuclear World War III…
Human nature DOES NOT change.
We are not smarter, less war-like, more humanitarian, or less arrogant than our predecessors throughout history. Hubris, power, and miscalculation by egomaniacal leaders leads to war.
We know the climax of this Fourth Turning is slated for around 2025.
“[W]e should ban possession of military-style semiautomatic assault weapons, we should buy back such weapons from all who choose to abide by the law, and we should criminally prosecute any who choose to defy it by keeping their weapons,” Rep. Eric Swalwell wrote, adding that law enforcement agencies and shooting clubs should be exempted.
This infers a high likelihood of a major war involving the U.S. in the foreseeable future.
Will it ignite in 2020? All the combustible elements are present. The onset of a global depression, trade wars, China & Russia feeling pushed into a corner and the volatile political situation in the U.S. and EU provide a potential pathway to global conflict.
It will, contrary to what everyone expects, absolutely affect America. It will be a war that will “come home”. It will somehow (in ways that we do not know) become entangled with the American citizenry. Be frosty. Be alert. Any foreign war will manifest as trouble on the “home front”.
It will, contrary to what everyone expects, absolutely affect America. It will be a war that will “come home”. It will somehow (in ways that we do not know) become entangled with the American citizenry. Be frosty. Be alert. Any foreign war will manifest as trouble on the “home front”.
Immigration chaos in Europe, Brexit, Ukrainian nazis provoking Russia, South China Sea territorial disputes, the Syria, Turkey, Iran, Israel ticking time bomb, Saudi anarchy, socialist South American regimes imploding, and U.S. political pandemonium have created a perfect storm of domestic and international disasters.
QUESTION: What do low-life politicians do when faced with terrible domestic issues?
ANSWER: They seek to distract their citizens with a foreign threat. See “Blame Russia for Everything” as an example of this tried and true propaganda technique.
Desperate politicians do desperate things to retain power.
After every high-profile shooting in America, Leftists immediately, and predictably, begin their calls for gun control. With the measured constraint and careful consideration of Bill Clinton in the Champagne Room at Fuzzy Holes Gentlemen’s Club in Little Rock, they self-righteously and repeatedly demand that we “do something!” You can probably list some of the meaningless blather they shout at us reflexively, such as “If not now, when?,” “The NRA has blood on its hands!,” “Nobody needs an assault rifle to shoot a deer!,” and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Despite all their hysterical nonsense, they usually have enough presence of mind to also say, because they have been trained to so do, that “nobody wants to confiscate your guns,” or “no one is talking about banning guns.” If you’re really lucky you’ll hear one of these would-be authoritarians say the following (and this is my personal favorite): “I support the Second Amendment, BUT…”
Desperate Deep State actors care not one wit for their fellow countrymen.
They are willing and able to sacrifice the youth of their nation to fight wars which will further enrich themselves and their fellow traitorous benefactors.
They do not care about us. For they follow the Marxist model; we are cattle to be used as they see fit.
We are nothing but cannon fodder to this psychopathic scum.
Putin and Xi are essentially dictators who have no fear of elections every two years. They are serious men in possession of nuclear missiles, capable of destroying the world.
They are both serious, serious people.
They are in their positions of power through merit. Not though mob rule. They will tolerate the CIA / NED interference with Hong Kong, the Ukraine, and the Muslims only so far. If the United States decides to push too hard, they WILL strike back… at American cities.
IN FULL FUCKING FORCE.
Putin and Xi are essentially dictators who have no fear of elections every two years. They are serious men in possession of nuclear missiles, capable of destroying the world. They are both serious, serious people. They are in their positions of power through merit. Not though mob rule. They will tolerate the CIA / NED interference with Hong Kong, and the Muslims only so far. If the United States decides to push too hard, they WILL strike back… at American cities. IN FULL FUCKING FORCE.
Blaming others for all the ills in your own country is a fool hardy tactic. And do not fall for the non-stop mainstream media narrative that they are evil and a war is needed to put them in their place. It’s all propaganda aimed at YOU.
Blaming others for all the ills in your own country is a fool hardy tactic. And do not fall for the non-stop mainstream media narrative that they are evil and a war is needed to put them in their place. It’s all propaganda aimed at YOU.
The ever- increasing American saber rattling, whether in the Ukraine, Syria, South China Sea, or during antagonistic trade negotiations can easily lead to unintended consequences. All leaders have enormous egos and are prone to over-confidence and miscalculation regarding how their opponent will react.
Listen to me. Someone, somewhere, somehow is going to do something stupid and then all hell is going to break loose.
American military in Taiwan = Radioactive California.
NED coaching in China = Glassed over Washington, DC
American ships launching missiles in the black sea = Texas sized crater.
The danger is REAL.
To Bolton, the support of allies is proof of US military weakness, not diplomatic strength and he is yet to meet an arms control agreement he likes. The latest casualty amidst their wreckage of the pillars of the US-crafted global order is the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
There is No Escape
“The risk of catastrophe will be very high.The nation could erupt into insurrection or civil violence, crack up geographically, or succumb to authoritarian rule. If there is a war, it is likely to be one of maximum risk and effort – in other words, a total war.Every Fourth Turning has registered an upward ratchet in the technology of
destruction, and in mankind’s willingness to use it.History offers no guarantees.Obviously, things could go horribly wrong – the possibilities ranging from a nuclear exchange to incurable plagues, from terrorist anarchy to high-tech dictatorship.We should not assume that Providence will always exempt our nation from the irreversible tragedies that have overtaken so many others: not just temporary hardship, but debasement and total ruin.Losing in the next Fourth Turning could mean something incomparably worse. It could mean a lasting defeat from which our national innocence – perhaps even our nation – might never recover.” – Strauss & Howe –The Fourth Turning
There is no escape from the Fourth Turning.
There is no escape from the Fourth Turning.
We are midway through this crisis and the existing social order retains tenuous control over the levers of finance, government and the legacy media.
History tells us our society will be reshaped and transformed before this crisis resolves itself sometime between now and 2029.
That’s ten LONG years.
It would be the utmost of arrogance to believe our nation will be protected from destruction by an all-powerful God.
Face it.
Face the hard slap of reality.
We’ve made bad choices, deferred hard decisions, squandered our financial resources, allowed our educational system to be corrupted and valued all the wrong things.
Face it. Face the hard slap of reality. We’ve made bad choices, deferred hard decisions, squandered our financial resources, allowed our educational system to be corrupted and valued all the wrong things. The United States is in a complete mess and the Marxist progressives are just about ready to take over and convert the entire nation to a Marxist version of Detroit. When in all actuality everything should be nuked from orbit and it should be rebuilt from the ground up.
A just God would allow us to learn through suffering.
This is your life – Buckle up!
There will be consequences.
The overt last- ditch financial debt schemes concocted by the entrenched establishment, to prolong their power and control, are unraveling. This will result in a death and rebirth of the social order through a chaotic cleansing. It is all in the offing.
I believe the real fireworks will begin during the up coming decade starting in 2020.
It’s gonna be nasty.
What ever you do, do not panic. Plan. Keep your wits about you. Be steady. Be prepared. Be flexible. Be adaptable. Be safe. Do not trust anyone, and what ever you do.
What ever you do, do not panic. Plan. Keep your wits about you. Be steady. Be prepared. Be flexible. Be adaptable. Be safe. Do not trust anyone, and what ever you do.
Avoid crowds.
Do NOT turn in your guns.
Do NOT allow yourself to be collected and relocated to “safe” areas.
Do NOT advertise your beliefs. Lie low.
I don’t eagerly await the terrible storms headed our way.
What ever you do, do not panic. Plan. Keep your wits about you. Be steady. Be prepared. Be flexible. Be adaptable. Be safe. Do not trust anyone, and what ever you do.
The Bolsheviks are younger, angrier, and more ruthless than the patriots. Something far worse than Venezuela or Cuba is probably the future for America.
Sorry.
Millennial leftists don’t want to win elections; they want to exterminate people who disagree with them. Like Stalin. Like Mao.
Like Pol Pot.
Millennials who are active in politics tend to be radicals and atheist. They have no moral restraints. Anything goes.
Anything goes.
When Marxists come to power, they often arm children and youth. For they are the easiest to control ideologically. They teach them how to shoot weapons and let them loose on the countryside. This is a picture from Cambodia under Pol Pot, who curiously enough believed in the same sort of Marxist utopia that is in favor in places like San Francisco, Detroit and Baltimore today.
I wish we didn’t have to withstand the brutal gales of this coming winter, but we have no choice.
You have to survive Winter to experience the blossoming Spring.
The coming decade will try our souls and force everyone to make choices that will make a difference. The specific events are unknowable, but how we react and who we support during the events will be the decisive factor in whether this Fourth Turning is resolved in a positive way.
Having it resolved in negative way could be an unimaginable tragedy.
When Pol Pot and his merry band of Marxists came to power in Cambodia, they disarmed the military, the police, the agencies and all the civilians. Then they collected them. Often still wearing their uniforms. Like this poor soldier. They interviewed them to list their crimes against social Marxism, took their pictures and then executed them on the spot. This is what is coming to America. It is coming. Look into his eyes. He knew that he had minutes to live. What do you think was going through his mind? Was it how he wished that he didn’t listen to his leader when he was told to hand in his weapon? Do you think it was regret for turning around and having his hands handcuffed? Was it when he was told to climb onto the truck?
Patrick Henry made his famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech during the first American Fourth Turning. His words ring true today.
We are already at war.
Sides have been drawn.
You are on one, whether you like it or not.
We are going to have to fight whether we like it or not. Our only other choice is chains and slavery. The other side(s) are armed, well equipped financially secure and operating on a level far, far above us “normals”.
We are going to have to fight whether we like it or not. Our only other choice is chains and slavery. The other side(s) are armed, well equipped financially secure and operating on a level far, far above us “normals”.
Follow the money trail. There you will find the instigators and the crooks that are playing the role of the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain. They transfer huge amounts of money through “art” and “book deals”, like how “someone” gave former president Obama a $60 million dollar advance on a book that would at most make $25,000.
Who was the one who coughed up all that money? And why?
Follow the money trail. There you will find the instigators and the crooks that are playing the role of the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain. They transfer huge amounts of money through “art” and “book deals”, like how “someone” gave former president Obama a $60 million dollar advance on a book that would at most make $25,000.
The time to choose has arrived. Welcome to 2020.
“The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
– Patrick Henry – 1775
Millennial activists hate science. They have been fed scientism since
birth and lack the intellectual training to discern the difference.
Therefore, the advances humanity has made thanks to science will quickly
reverse as cures for things like global warming turn out to be distress
for man and beast.
If the Bolsheviks don’t turn America into a giant, barbaric, communist prison camp, the divisions in our country will leave us vulnerable to military attack.
Iran, Russia, China, even the European Union could feel emboldened and attack. While we might be able to repel the attack, society would further disintegrate. The will to fight a protracted war just isn’t there. We would move quickly to the most lethal weapons in our arsenal.
If these dire prophecies come to pass, my impulse will be to fight. To choose a side and fight to the death. To the death. Yes, that death. That cold darkness that you never wake up from. It’s that rock-cold serious.
We are rapidly approaching that climax.
It’s soon. One to four years away. Buckle up.
The Prophesy
In The Fourth Turning, Howe and Strauss warned us that these Crisis eras end in a climax. That means the worst is yet to come.
The Crisis climax is human history’s equivalent to nature’s raging typhoon, the kind that sucks all surrounding matter into a single swirl of ferocious energy.
Anything not lashed down goes flying; anything standing in the way gets flattened. Normally occurring late in the Fourth Turning, the climax gathers energy from an accumulation of unmet needs, unpaid bills, and unresolved problems. It then spends that energy on an upheaval whose direction and dimension were beyond comprehension during the prior Unraveling era.
The climax shakes a society to its roots, transforms its institutions, redirects its purposes, and marks its people (and its generations) for life.
The climax can end in triumph, or tragedy, or some combination of both. Whatever the event and whatever the outcome, a society passes through a great gate of history, fundamentally altering the course of civilization.
Yet one generation—Generation X2, aka, “13ers”—holds the key to surviving the climax:
The 13ers’ gravest Fourth Turning duty will be their society’s most important preseasonal task: to ensure that there can indeed be a new High, a new golden age of hope and prosperity.
For the Crisis to end well, 13ers must keep Boomers from wreaking needless destruction and Millennials from marching too mindlessly under their elders’ banner.
They will not find it easy to restrain an older generation that will consider itself far wiser than they, and a younger one that will consider itself more deserving.
For this, 13ers will require a keen eye, a deft touch, and a rejection of the wild risk taking associated with their youth.
Warning us in 1997, Howe and Strauss said:
From now through the end of the Fourth Turning, 13ers will constantly rise in power.
From 1998 until around the Crisis climax, they will be America’s largest potential generational voting bloc. As the years pass, their civic contributions will become increasingly essential to their nation’s survival.
They will have to vote more and participate more, if they want to contain the Boomers’ zealotry. They will have that chance.
Their own elected officials will surge into Congress as the Crisis catalyzes, eclipse Boomers around its climax, and totally dominate them by the time it resolves.
As they go one-on-one with history, 13ers should remember that history is counting on them to do whatever hard jobs may be necessary.
If 13ers play their script weakly, old Boomers could wreak a horrible apocalypse, and 13er demagogues could impose a mind-numbing authoritarianism— or both.
If 13ers play their script cleverly but safely, however, a new golden age will be their hard-won reward.
As they age, 13ers should remember Hemingway’s words: “Old men do not grow wise. They grow careful.”
Even luckier, Generation X is already hardened. We grew up with hard
rock and hard drugs and hard breakups and hard attitudes. We were eager
fans who made Nirvana and Pearl Jam possible. And it’s an honor. History
has handed us the keys to survival.
Those haters in Berkeley are largely Millennials. They’re following
the bad examples of destructive, reckless Boomers. If America is to
survive the coming climax, history will note that the Slackers, the McFlys, the generation nobody watched overcame our recklessness to rescue civilization itself.
But Generation X cannot win the battle for America’s survival alone.
We need to attract soldiers from the Millennial generation. And we need
to follow the lead of the Gray Champion, about whom more in future
posts.
It’s Going to Be Okay
In the meantime, cut out carbs, eat more healthy fat,
practice dry fire drills, stock up on ammo, and be ready for the
inevitable climax. You, my friends, are the first and last line of
defense in our battle for self-government. We won’t go down without the
fight of the millennium.
For your planning purposes
Taking note of “The Fourth Turning” and the Strauss and Howe generational theory of predictive behavior in America, we note that their dates are close but seem to be off by a few years. In our case, the “Crisis catalyst” did not occur in 2005 as predicted. It occurred in 2008 with the Wall Street “too big to fail” debacle. That is three years later.
Adjusting the Strauss and Howe dates to account for the delay in the catalyst, messes things up a bit. They predicted…
If the Crisis catalyst comes on schedule, around the year 2005, then the climax will be due around 2020, the resolution around 2026. What will America be like as it exits the Fourth Turning? History offers no guarantees. Obviously, things could go horribly wrong—the possibilities ranging from a nuclear exchange to incurable plagues, from terrorist anarchy to high-tech dictatorship. We should not assume that Providence will always exempt our nation from the irreversible tragedies that have overtaken so many others: not just temporary hardship, but debasement and total ruin. Since Vietnam, many Americans suppose they know what it means to lose a war. Losing in the next Fourth Turning, however, could mean something incomparably worse. It could mean a lasting defeat from which our national innocence—and perhaps even our nation—might never recover. As many Americans know from their own ancestral backgrounds, history provides numerous examples of societies that have been wiped off the map, ground into submission, or beaten so badly they revert to barbarism.
There is a nice graphic that I composed for your purposes of planning out the next few years. I hope that it is helpful. Adding three years, gives us…
“Crisis catalyst” in 2008.
Climax in 2023.
Resolution in 2029.
.
Of course, you could argue the 2020 was the “climax” simply because it was one Hell of a shitty year. But you all know, it was a shitty year for everyone on the globe. Not just Americans. I argue that it was just foreplay for bigger stuff to come.
Summary
I know that I tend to be a little long in the tooth. Yes, my articles are long. I try to cram a lot in them, and sometimes it can get confusing. Here’s a quick summary.
The Fourth Turning is proceeding on schedule.
The major tripping point is scheduled for 2023 +/- 2 years.
It will involve all manner of conflict.
Oligarch-instituted cultural changes, and genocides will be initiated.
A total clamp down on freedoms via electronic means will take place.
Total gun bans, one way or the other, will take place.
The USA will get involved in some sort of war. The idea is that it will be just another distraction.
One or two, or even three super-powers, will side with the attacked nation.
A strong possibility exists for nuclear weapons to be detonated on United States cities.
My suggestions.
For what ever it is worth, here are some suggestions. You have three years. Start now. Start today. (If you do nothing else, try to do the points in bold. It will give you advantage.)
Leave the cities. Move. Buy property in a small town, a rural area, or some other place about a three days walk from a major city.
Start now. Do not put it off.
Have firearms. Use the rule of three. [1] One or two in the open for ready use. [2] Some hidden, and you can tell your wife (but not your children the location). [3] Hidden and known only to you.
Have multiple lethal knives. Do not be afraid to use them.
Take a class in basic first aid and know how to stop bleeding, provide basic health care, mend a broken bone, and perform emergency surgery. If not the YMCA, then via the internet. Start NOW.
Learn on how to make improvised explosives. Especially those that can be used to take down a bridge, disable an ATV, and create a minefield.
Stock up on prepper literature in the form of books.
Stock up on basic medical supplies including antibiotics.
Stock up on all manner of food supplies, and hide large quantities of them from random seizure by roaming groups of people..
Start going “x-ray” and do not advertise your plans, or anything about your life to anyone.
Have some sort of vehicle that does not require gasoline or electricity to operate. (Bicycle or horse.)
Make friends in your new location. Friendships are worth gold. Identify these friends on a scale of trust.
Start cutting down on the use of your cell-phone. Start leaving it at home when you go out.
Buy a Geiger counter, and iodine pills.
Set up a rain water collection system at your house.
Start a garden. Learn to grow potatoes.
Leave America. If you cannot, then live in a predominantly “red” state. The redder the county the better.
Move to a deep red colored area. Absolutely avoid cities and bright blue areas. Any area that has a shade of blue is to be avoided. Consider Alaska over Hawaii. Avoid Indian reservations. Avoid the border with Mexico. Avoid urban black enclaves.
SHTF Related Index
This is a collection of my posts related to prepping, SHTF (Shit Hit The Fan), CWII (American Civil War 2), Fourth Turning (Strauss–Howe generational theory)
and other posts related to the very sad and sorry tatters that America
is today. Actually, I am a little stunned that I have written so much
about these matters. But America today is very ill and there are things
that really should be said.
Here are the posts.
SHTF and Related Index
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
America is full of mysteries. Most of which were plowed under, misidentified, or buried in local Indian lore. As a young boy, my friends and I would explore the local library, and talk to the old timers in our town and learn the lore of our region. Yes. Stuff that you wouldn’t be able to find in any school history books.
Let’s look at one of these interesting mysteries of America.
Whilst it was generally believed that Columbus was the first European to discover America in 1492, it is now well known that Viking explorers reached parts of the east coast of Canada around 1100 and that Icelandic Leif Erikson’s Vinland may have been an area that is now part of the United States.
What is less well known is that a Welshman may have followed in Erikson’s footsteps, this time bringing settlers with him to Mobile Bay in modern day Alabama.
According to Welsh legend, that man was Prince Madog (Madoc) ab Owain Gwynedd.
There are apparently two Madocs. One left for America around 600 AD and the other left for America around 1100 AD. This article discusses the second Merdoc, the one that left around 1100 AD.
A Poem gives us a hint.
A Welsh poem of the 15th century tells how Prince Madoc sailed away in 10 ships and discovered America.
The account of the discovery of America by a Welsh prince, whether truth or myth, was apparently used by Queen Elizabeth I as evidence to the British claim to America during its territorial struggles with Spain.
Wales relative to England. It is all part of the United Kingdom.
So, we have to ask ourselves, just who was this Welsh Prince and did he really discover America before Columbus?
My Discovery
It’s an average day. Maybe a little overcast. A little warmer than I would like. Same old, dame old. So I get up and make a brunch.
A delicious chicken salad sandwich.
So, I’m minding my own business eating a chicken salad sandwich on wheat bread and drinking (room temperature) flower tea (not beer), when I come across this on the internet…
History and legend have it that MADOC, a son of King Owain of Gwynedd, is claimed not only to have discovered America in 1170, but also to have formed a tribe on the upper Missouri.
This tribe fuelled tales of fair-haired Indians, living in round huts and using round coracle-like boats, both of which were common in Wales, but unheard of in America at the time. They were also said to speak a language similar to Welsh.
Owain Gwynedd, ruler of North Wales in the twelfth century, had nineteen children, six of whom were legitimate. MADOC, one of the bastard sons, was born in a castle at Dolwyddelan, a village at the head of the Lledr valley between Betws-y-Coed and Blaenau Ffestiniog.
On the death of Owain Gwynedd in December 1169, the brothers fought
amongst themselves for the right to rule Gwynedd. MADOC, although being brave and adventurous, was a man of peace. He and his brother, Riryd, left the quay on the Afon (River) Ganol at Aber-Kerrik-Gwynan, on the North Wales Coast (now Rhos-on-Sea) in two ships, the Gorn Gwynant and the Pedr Sant. They sailed west, leaving the coast of Ireland 'farre north' and landed in Mobile Bay, in what we now know as Alabama in the United States of America.
They liked the country so much that one of the ships returned to Wales to collect more adventurers, and in 1170AD, ten small ships assembled off Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel, which flows between South Wales and Southern England.
On arrival in America, they sailed from Mobile Bay up the great river systems, settling initially in the Georgia//Tennessee/Kentucky area where they built stone forts. They warred with the local Indian tribe, the Cheyenne. When they decided to return down river in some time after 1186, they built big boats but they were ambushed trying to negotiate the falls on the Ohio River (where Louisville, Kentucky now stands). A fierce battle took place lasting several days. A truce was eventually called and, after an exchange of prisoners, it was agreed that MADOC and his followers would depart the area never to return.
They sailed down river to the Mississippi, which they sailed up until the junction with the Missouri, which they then followed upstream. They settled and integrated with a powerful tribe living on the banks of the Missouri called Mandans.
In 1781-82, the white man's gift, smallpox, reduced the Mandans, a tribe of 40,000 people, down to 2,000 survivors. They partially recovered, increasing their numbers to some 12,000 by 1837, when a similar epidemic almost wiped the tribe out completely. It is recorded that there were only 39 survivors but the Mandan-Hidatsa claim it was about 200. These bewildered survivors of a once mighty tribe were taken in by the Hidatsa who had also been affected by the disease but to a much lesser extent.
It is this background which over the centuries has fueled
tales of a tribe of fair-haired Indians, living in round huts and using round, coracle-like boats - both of which were common in Wales but unheard of in America at the time. The tribe were also said to speak in a language similar to Welsh.
As we know many people including the Phonicians, St Brendan and the
Vikings discovered North America before the Spanish in the 15th century.
This story is fascinating and there is a lot of evidence to back it up.
‘Mint’, a Mandan Indian girl, 1832
by George Catlin
First explorations…
Well, after reading that piece, it seems that some crazy things happened out in the Americas around 1100 AD.
A Welsh expedition of ten ships (perhaps, the number varies from two ships to two hundred ships) sailed to America from Wales, England.
Some reports state that they landed in Middle America first, before moving up the gulf to Alabama.
They reached what is now known as Mobile, Alabama. They stayed a short spell, and then moved up river.
Dauphin Island is a narrow strip of land extending from the southernmost point of Mobile County. On a modern map, it has the shape of a fish. The island is 15 miles long and is located 30 miles from Mobile. It is connected to the mainland by a concrete and steel bridge, which was built after the original bridge constructed in 1955 was heavily damaged in Hurricane Frederic in 1979.
Dauphin Island was first known as Massacre Island to the French explorers because they found large piles of human bones there.
-Dauphin Island History
The traveled up the rivers there and formed colonies deep inside of America.
The created colonies that merged with the local Indians there.
They left a legacy of Welsh-Indian language, fair skinned, beautiful women, round Welsh-style houses, and Welsh-style boats.
They settled (initially) in the Georgia/Tennessee/Kentucky area.
They settled there. Established a main colony.
They then constructed enormous stone forts there.
The Welsh of the Madoc expedition traveled inland up from Alabama, and the Mobile area. They settled initially in the Georgia//Tennessee/Kentucky area where they built stone forts. They warred with the local Indian tribe, the Cheyenne.
The Forts
One of the “forts” said to have been built by Prince Madoc and his followers is located at Fort Mountain State Park in Georgia.
Madoc was disheartened by this family fighting, and that he and Rhirid set sail from Llandrillo (Rhos-on-Sea) in the cantref of Rhos to explore the western ocean with a number of ships. They discovered a distant and abundant land in 1170 where about one hundred men, women and children disembarked to form a colony.
This fort is located in the Chattahoochee National Forest close to the Cohutta Wilderness area, in North Georgia. It is a most beautiful area, let me tell you.
Great hiking. Wonderful weather. Lot’s of history. You all should check it out.
Approaching the fort wall from the South.
This wall is well over 800 feet long. It is 7 feet in high and 12 feet wide in many places. It seems to be generally agreed upon that the wall was originally much higher.
Some authorities feel certain this wall was built Prince Madoc and his followers as a defensive structure. I mean, just look at all the stone used in the creation of this edifice. For goodness sakes.
Though, others (you know, the feeble minded, or those that never had to lift and carry a 300 pound rock in their life) argue with that the wall was built by native North American Indians for ascetic reasons.
Ah, what ever you say…
Sure whatever you say.
Maybe for superstitious or religious and/or astronomical purposes. Not that they know anything about the religion of the builders, but they do like to sound important and intelligent by adding some “ah’s”, and other “sounds and statements attributed by the learned Ivory-tower types”.
Unfortunately, no artifacts have been found. For further details, please visit Georgia’s Fort Mountain.
Remnants of the forts still stand, however. One of the forts is almost perfectly identical, in terms of setting, layout, and construction, to Madoc’s birthplace, Dolwyddelan Castle in Gwynedd, Wales. Fort Mountain, Georgia, in the Chattahoochee National Forest boasts 800 linear feet of 800-year-old wall in ruins guarding the southern approach to a forbidding crag. And there are actually several of these fort-like structures scattered here and there. Did the Welsh really build them? Was Madoc really the first European to see Gulf shores and the virgin interior of the American South?
-Porter Briggs
Looking along the fort wall in an westerly direction.
Many of the stones appear to have been knocked over and some areas behind the wall have filled in with earth washed toward the rock wall.The wall has many semi-circular structures as shown here.
These “pits” as they are referred to by the state authorities appear to have a defensive purpose. This view is from the south side of the wall; i.e., the side an enemy would see when approaching the fort.
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, tales appeared to the effect that various aboriginal tribes of North America spoke a form of ancient Welsh, had pale complexions and blue eyes, cherished ancient relics including Bibles printed in Welsh, built little wicker-framed, hide-covered boats similar to Welsh coracles and Irish curraghs, and so on.
West end of the fort wall.
Access becomes very difficult at this point thereby suggesting that this may have been a defensive structure.
At various times, the Shawnee, Delaware, Conestoga, Comanche, along with least nine more actual tribes and eight imaginary ones were said to have been blue-eyed Welsh-speaking Indians. Eventually, the Mandan of North Dakota became the most favored tribe, possibly because their dwellings, and to an extent their social structure, differed from those of their more nomadic neighbors.
North West View
Jimmie Lee Robbins wrote:
“. . . looking out from the North West side of the Mountain. This is typical of the land around the summit except for the side that has the Stone Wall.
“The South side is the only place that would need protection.”
But they were chased away…
They warred with the local Indian tribe, the Cheyenne.
The war lasted many days and took place where Louisville, Kentucky now stands.
They lost, and after an exchange of prisoners left the area. Abandoning their colonies and forts there.
They went up the Mississippi river, took the Missouri river and settled on it’s banks.
They sailed down river to the Mississippi, which they sailed up until the junction with the Missouri, which they then followed upstream. They settled and integrated with a powerful tribe living on the banks of the Missouri called Mandans.
The Mandan Indians were a large and powerful group that provided them protection and trade.
The shaded area on this map shows the territories occupied by various Plains Indian tribes.
The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara lived in what are today North and South Dakota.
For around 500 years the Welsh-Indian descendants lived in relative peace.
Around 1781 smallpox devastated the Indian nations all over the Americas.
The survivors moved and settled with another Indian tribe further North near the Canadian border; the Hidatsa.
Smallpox, reduced the Mandans, a tribe of 40,000 people, down to 2,000 survivors. They partially recovered, increasing their numbers to some 12,000 by 1837, when a similar epidemic almost wiped the tribe out completely. It is recorded that there were only 39 survivors but the Mandan-Hidatsa claim it was about 200. These bewildered survivors of a once mighty tribe were taken in by the Hidatsa who had also been affected by the disease but to a much lesser extent.
Other reports
Other reports seemingly confirm this narrative.
In 1666 the Rev Morgan Jones, a Welsh missionary in North America, was captured by an Indian tribe with fair features and was about to be killed. But he prayed loudly to God in Welsh for deliverance, and was suddenly spared, treated as an honored guest and found he was able to converse freely in Welsh with the natives.
In 1739, a Frenchman, La Verendrye, encountered a tribe of Indians on the Upper Missouri 'Whose Fortifications are not characteristic of the Indians... Most of the women do not have Indian features... The tribe is mixed white and black. The women are fairly good looking, especially the light colored ones; many have blonde or fair hair.' He called them Mantannes.
There were many other visitors to the so-called Welsh tribe; one of
interest was a Maurice Griffith who was taken prisoner by the Shawnee Indians in 1764. The Indians eventually befriended him and took him on a hunting expedition to seek the source of the Missouri. High in the mountains they came across 'three white men in Indian dress' with whom they traveled for several days until they arrived at a village where there were others of the same tribe, all having the same European complexion.
A council of this white Indian tribe decided to put the strangers to death and Griffith decided it was time to speak. He addressed them in the Welsh language explaining that they had no hostile intentions but merely sought the source of the Missouri and that they would return to their own lands satisfied with their discoveries. The Chief of the Tribe greeted them in Welsh and they were thereafter treated as guests, staying with the nation some eight months. Griffiths eventually returned to Virginia but his story aroused little interest.
In October 1792, a French fur trader, Jacques d’Eglise, who had set off up the Missouri in August 1790, arrived back in St Louis. He had traveled over 800 leagues from St Louis up the river and had found a mighty and wealthy tribe of Indians, the Mandans.
There had been earlier rumors of this remarkable tribe, but no one had ever reached them from St Louis. He said that they were 5,000 strong, living in eight, great fortified villages; they had the finest furs; they lived in sight of a volcano and alongside the Missouri, which at that point flowed from the west or north-west and could take the largest boats.
d’Eglise reported that their fortified villages were like cities compared with other native settlements, they were much more civilized than other Indians and the final marvel, these Mandans 'are white like Europeans'.
Here at last was confirmation of all those stories of civilized white Indians, which had been filtering back along the Missouri for years.
John Sevier, Governor of Tennessee, wrote to a Major Stoddard of the U.S. Army about a discussion he had had with the Major Chief of the Cherokee, Oconostota, in 1792. The venerable old chief informed him that, according to his forefathers, the white people who had formerly inhabited the country had made ancient fortifications on the Highwassee River now called Carolina. A battle took place between the Whites and the Cherokees at the Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River. After a truce and exchange of prisoners, the Whites agreed to leave the area, never to return, eventually settling 'a great distance' up the Missouri.
The Chief's ancestors claimed 'they were a people called Welsh and they had crossed the Great Water'. Governor Sevier also claimed to have been in the company of a Frenchman who informed him that he had been high up the Missouri and 'he had traded with the Welsh tribe; that they certainly spoke much of the Welsh dialect, and though their customs were savage and wild, yet many of them, particularly the females, were very fair and white.'
I truly believe, like the Spanish themselves, that they were not the first white men to set foot on north American soil and with evidence like this it is easy to see why.
In 1739, a Frenchman, La Verendrye, encountered a tribe of Indians on the Upper Missouri ‘Whose Fortifications are not characteristic of the Indians… Most of the women do not have Indian features… The tribe is mixed white and black. The women are fairly good looking, especially the light colored ones; many have blonde or fair hair.’ He called them Mantannes.
Looking for answers
Preeminent Welsh historians, Alan Wilson and Baram Blackett, have studied this issue in depth. They have amassed a large amount of evidence that supports the long-suppressed idea that the ancient Welsh people traveled to America. Not only that but they explored the North American continent long before the Vikings and Columbus ever set foot on it.
Welsh characterized “Coelbren stones” as well as other credible testimony and evidence have also been found in North America. These items, objects and evidence gives strength to the hypothesis that the ancient Welsh were in America long before Columbus.
Observer after observer commented on the ‘whiteness’ of these Indians. It was this above all, which made them into a people of Myth. Many of them were, without doubt, fair of skin and hair. Their hair was often brown, sometimes red; it turned grey. The men had beards. Their eyes were sometimes blue. The neighbouring tribes, the Hidatsa, the Crows and the Arikara showed similar characteristics, but far less frequently.
History has presented some difficulties in verifying the legend. Although all important events in Welsh life were recorded in the monasteries and abbeys of Wales, most of the records would have been destroyed when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries between 1537 and 1540 after falling out with the Church in Rome.
The other issue affecting the lack of evidence is that the Mandan Indians, like most such tribes, only have a verbal tradition of their history and that different families are keepers of different parts of the story. With the two smallpox epidemics wiping out large sections of the community with such extreme rapidity, much of their history has been lost.
With regard to the frequency of white physical characteristics, it must be remembered that the Welsh would have only numbered a few hundred amongst a tribe of tens of thousands. Supposedly about 300 men and women left Wales for the New World and if we assume that 200 survived the crossing and the various battles with the Indians, and they were absorbed into a tribe of some 40,000 Mandans, then the best guess is about 5% whites. Even if there were twice as many whites as previously suggested, then they would only number some 10% of the tribe. These would not have been spread evenly throughout the tribe but would have been concentrated in various families and villages.
It seems unlikely that the Mandans were ever a tribe of white Indians, although they had a small percentage of members showing certain European characteristics. The reality of a tribe of white Indians as encountered by the Cherokees probably applied to a group of no more than a few hundred people and is unlikely to have lasted more than a few decades.
Nevertheless, there does appear to be compelling evidence that a group of Welsh people went to America seeking peace, over three hundred years before Columbus, and they were eventually assimilated into a tribe of Indians on the Upper Missouri.
The Mandans, and some of their neighbors, certainly lived in round, earth lodges not dissimilar to those found in Wales. They also used boats similar to the Welsh coracle, a peculiar little craft propelled in an even more peculiar fashion.
If we add to this the undoubted infusion of some Northern European blood resulting in some tribal members having fair skins, fair or red hair and blue, grey or green eyes, then the probability of there being an element of truth in the story must be enormous.
There are also the stories of some Mandans being able to understand the Welsh language and the various tales of the great battles on the falls on the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers. There is the evidence of the stone hill forts in Georgia and Tennessee and the finds of coins, armour and helmets in the region as well as numerous skeletons of non-indigenous peoples
All of this points towards a strong degree of truth to the story of madog.
The lost expedition.
Several centuries before Columbus sailed to the Americas, a Welsh prince named Madoc departed Wales to explore the oceans. He departed with ten ships and went West with a dream of discovering a new land.
Several centuries before Columbus sailed to the Americas, a Welsh prince named Madoc departed Wales with ten ships and a dream of discovering a new land. It is believed that he landed in Alabama, and traveled up the water inland.
Madoc the explorer.
Madoc was the son of King Owain Gwynedd.
Now, King Owain, being a king, fathered many children. Being a king in those days was sort of like being the cross between a Rock Star, and Bill Gates. So he could have just about any lady that he fancied, and so he took advantage of this “perk of the office”.
Owain Gwynedd, king of Gwynedd in the 12th century, had nineteen children, only six of whom were legitimate.
Madog (Madoc), one of the many, many illegitimate sons, was born at Dolwyddelan Castle in the Lledr valley between Betws-y-Coed and Blaenau Ffestiniog.
On the death of the king in December 1169, the brothers fought amongst themselves for the right to rule Gwynedd. Madog, although brave and adventurous, was also a man of peace. In 1170 he and his brother, Riryd, sailed from Aber-Kerrik-Gwynan on the North Wales Coast (now Rhos-on-Sea) in two ships, the Gorn Gwynant and the Pedr Sant. They sailed west and are said to have landed in what is now Alabama in the USA.
Prince Madog then returned to Wales with great tales of his
adventures and persuaded others to return to America with him. They
sailed from Lundy Island in 1171, but were never heard of again.
They are believed to have landed at Mobile Bay, Alabama and then travelled up the Alabama River along which there are several stone forts, said by the local Cherokee tribes to have been constructed by “White People”. These structures have been dated to several hundred years before the arrival of Columbus and are said to be of a similar design to Dolwyddelan Castle in North Wales.
Early explorers and pioneers found evidence of possible Welsh influence among the native tribes of America along the Tennessee and Missouri Rivers. In the 18th century one local tribe was discovered that seemed different to all the others that had been encountered before.
Called the Mandans this tribe were described as white men with forts, towns and permanent villages laid out in streets and squares. They claimed ancestry with the Welsh and spoke a language remarkably similar to it.
Instead of canoes, Mandans fished from coracles, an ancient type of boat still found in Wales today. It was also observed that unlike members of other tribes, these people grew white-haired with age.
Collecting proof.
Wilson and Blackett (English historians) have spent much time in the USA with American historians, collecting considerable evidence and visiting sites of interest.
Evidence of Welsh speaking native Americans is numerous and far more common than what we have perhaps been led to believe, with books and historical records suggesting that this hypothesis cannot now be disregarded.
King Arthur II, claims Wilson, was killed in a battle with Native American tribes in what is today known as Kentucky and his body sent home to Britain.
In 1824, Thomas S Hinde, of the prominent Hinde family, wrote to John S. Williams, editor of The American Pioneer, regarding the Madog tradition. In the letter (pages 373-376) Hinde claimed to have gathered testimony from numerous sources that stated that in 1799, six soldiers had been dug up near Jeffersonville, Indiana, on the Ohio river with breastplates that contained Welsh coat-of-arms. He also gives several references to Welsh and Welsh-speaking Indians. The present-day location of the breast plates are unknown.
Reuben T. Durrett’s book ‘Traditions of the Earliest Visits of Foreigners to North America’ published in 1908 has an incredible amount of references to the Welsh Indians.
As does ‘The Rev Morgan Jones and the Welsh Indians of Virginia‘ published in 1898, and ‘The biography of Francis Lewis and Rev Morgan Jones’ written by Lewis’ granddaughter Julia Delafield and published in 1877.
Suppression of History
The establishment historians have done a very good job suppressing the true history of North America. And at the same time promoting the fake history that we are all taught in school.
You know the one. That tired and nonsensical narrative that no one knew how to make boats. Thus the ONLY way for humans to populate the various continents was through walking on foot, and over ice.
Yup.
Instead, the “Native American Indians” first crossed the Bering Sea from Asia into Alaska, then migrated down into North and South America. Then (out of the blue) the White man showed up around 1500 and “discovered” America. As such they claimed it for themselves and stole the land from the “natives” and killed the ones who resisted the theft.
To me, it sounds like just another Marxist fairy tale of exploitation written by the usual suspects.
Some people believe Madoc and his men landed in the vicinity of what is now Mobile, Alabama. In particular, stone forts along the Alabama River have drawn attention since they were built before Columbus’s arrival, but some Cherokee tribes say they were built by “White People.”
Images of the Lost Welsh Colony
George Catlin, a 19th century painter who spent eight years living among various native American tribes including the Mandans, declared that he had uncovered the descendants of Prince Madog’s expedition.
Mandan Bull Boats and Lodges: George Catlin
He speculated that the Welshmen had lived among the Mandans for generations, intermarrying until their two cultures became virtually indistinguishable. Some later investigators supported his theory, noting that the Welsh and Mandan languages were so similar that the Mandans easily responded when spoken to in Welsh.
Mandan Village: George Catlin
All that remains.
All that remains is a plaque. A plaque was placed alongside Mobile Bay in 1953 by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
“In memory of Prince Madog,” the inscription reads, “a Welsh explorer who landed on the shores of Mobile Bay in 1170 and left behind, with the Indians, the Welsh language.”
“In memory of Prince Madog,” the inscription reads, “a Welsh explorer who landed on the shores of Mobile Bay in 1170 and left behind, with the Indians, the Welsh language.”
But then it was removed…
Storm over missing Madoc plaque
Alabama: The Alabama Welsh Society is petitioning Mobile's mayor to return a monument to Prince Madoc that was removed 20 years ago.
Prince Madoc is believed to have landed at Mobile Bay in 1170 after he and his brother sailed from Wales following the death of their father, Owain Gwynedd. While there is much speculation about Madoc, his legacy is still strong in America where he and his group are believed to have settled among a Native American tribe.
The plaque in question was placed near Fort Morgan in 1953 by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
It read: "Prince Madoc, a Welsh explorer, who landed on the shores of Mobile Bay in 1170 and left behind, with the Indians, the Welsh language."
According to Blanton Blankenship, site manager at Fort Morgan. the plaque was removed and placed in storage because Fort Morgan "focuses on the United States military presence. "
Alabama Welsh Society: www.alabamawelsh.com
Origins of The Mandan
Engineer and Rhos-on-Sea native Howard Kimberly grew up with the
plaque and the legend. Founder of the Madoc International Research
Association, Kimberly collaborates with others devoted to the story,
whether in America or the British Isles or wherever. His search led him
into talks with Ken Lonewolf, a Shawnee “wisdom-keeper” who lives in
Pennsylvania.
Lonewolf, whose DNA indicates Welsh ancestry, believes he is
descended from the original Madoc-led Welsh settlers. He notes
government records of the sale of his ancestral village at the turn of
the nineteenth century. The signature on the legal document is that of
the last chief of the Shawnee: “Chief White Madoc.” Apparently the name
and the legend meant something to the Shawnee as well.
Origins of The Mandan
By: Madoc
As a direct lineal descendantof Madoc ab Gwynedd, Princeof Wales and alleged founder of the Mandan tribe, I'd like to shove my two cent's worth in...
Madoc (or Madog) was born about 1150, one of four sons of the King of Wales. He and his brothers did not get along at all, and after the King died, Wales was divided 4 ways among his children. Madoc chose not to rule his domain directly, having developed the wanderlust that consumes so many Celts. He was a well-regarded sailor, such that his sea-faring exploits were recorded less than 100 years later by a French historian, and again by Dr. John Dee in the 1500's.
Madoc is said to have left Wales with 5 ships, and to have arrived in the New World about 1172 or '73. He landed twice, once in Central America, where he is alleged to have been the "God" that the locals later mistook Cortez for. He then backtracked through the Gulf of Mexico and landed around New Orleans. He packed his men and equipment up the Mississippi, finally stopping due to sickness in his men. He and his able-bodied crew floated back downriver and returned to Wales.
Madoc left Wales again around 1176, and returned to the Mississippi river. He supposedly found that his surviving original crew had intermarried with the local Native American populations, and most chose not to return to Wales.
Madoc himself may have stayed, as there is no record of his returning to Wales again.
Years later, Lewis and Clark heard fantastic tales of "white Indians" who supposedly built forts, spoke Welsh, and fished from "coracles," which are leather boats totally unlike canoes. They were unable to substantiate those claims, although they found many "light-skinned" Native Americans, some of whom had blue eyes and blond or blondish hair and spoke a mish-mash of Souix and something that resembled Welsh in some aspects. These people claimed, unlike their compatriots, that they were descended of a "race of giants" who built their tipis of logs and came from "across the sea" (a sea which they had never seen, by the way) and whose leader (Madoc?) had promised to return for them one day. The local Native Americans whom they lived with supported their claims.
The Mandan as a tribe still exist. They speak Souix and live mostly on reservation land in Wisconsin and up into Canada. They traditionally build log cabins and fish from leather coracles. The Mandan claim that they were separated as an independent tribe because of disease and wars with settlers. They have largely become Souix, and the US government lists the Mandan as Souix.
My family traces its roots directly to Madoc through Ireland, where his offspring settled after being evicted from Wales by the British. As the King of England said at the time, "They can go to Hell or go to Connaught." My father is the direct lineal descendant of the Crown, and I am his first-born (and only) son. My father is the legitimate Prince of Wales, and Charles is a Pretender.
Conclusion
This story is typical and should be an example of how colorful the human experience is. People! Life doesn’t fit into nice compartmentalized boxes, it is complex and tied together with so many other aspects of the human experience and our universe.
If there is one thing that I would advise, it would be for you, the reader, to visit your local historical society and explore and poke around a little. Meet the people there, and talk to them. Listen to their stories, and learn a little bit more about the place where you and your family live. It will give you understanding and perspective. As well as being entertaining.
These historical societies are everywhere and can be found in the smallest of towns, like in Erie, or in Kittanning. You all should go and take a visit to them. You will not be disappointed.
The Hagen History Center on West 6th Street in downtown Erie, PA is the headquarters of the Erie County Historical Society. Housed in the historic Watson-Curtze Mansion, the History Center includes a regional history museum, research library, archives, and gift shop. The building was built in 1891 and is listed on the National Historic Register. It has been a museum since 1941. The museum features a permanent collection of Victorian era home decor, as well as temporary exhibits on local and regional history.
Our world is colorful. Do not fall for the progressive narrative where everything fits into nice orderly boxes, and all our problems will be resolved if we give all of our money to the “experts” to solve those problems.
It’s all a big money-making sham.
“Attractions at the Armstrong County Historical Society and Genealogical Museum”
Reviewed April 9, 2015
The house was built in 1842 and houses many rooms. The second floor has theme rooms of Military and Native American and also displays a sewing room and master and child room. The main floor boasts a parlor, dining, kitchen, pantry and McConnell Hall where the displays change yearly. A tour guide walks with you and relates the history of the magnificent home.
Next door is what was once the Carriage House where the local genealogical library is now housed with many books of local history and local family history. The helpers are fantastic and do research while you are there or you can contact them via mail.
Comments
Hi, and thanks to the Blind King of Bohemia for posting the interesting story of Prince Madoc and the finding of America. I'm an archaeological scientist with both North American and European experience, and a long interest in history. I've read about Madoc before and, based on what little I've been able to fathom, the story has not been shown (at least yet) to be false.
In recent years, much has been delved into on the notion of the Eurpoean exploration/finding of America, and some scholars have even suggested that prehistoric eskimos or their like had manage to navigate coastal waters of an ice-locked shoreline that may have developed in the North Atlantic during the last Ice Age.
They even go as far as to suggest that some or many eastern American Indian tribes were descended from these prehistoric explorers, rather than coming solely from Asia, as the standard model gives it.
This would explain some unusual European-like stone age artifacts and (disputed) dating that (at around 14000yrs) would be too awkwardly early for people to have crossed from the west (roughly 13000yrs ago). This may explain some of the European-like traits seen in eastern American Indian tribes by some 17th-18th century explorers, rather than being due to Madoc. But all these notions are, though possible, unproven.
However, up until recently, the Vikings' Vinland Sagas (wherein they related their wonderful tale of going to North America - please read it!) were thought, like the story of Madoc, to be the stuff of fairy tales, but we now have physical evidence of at least one Viking settlement in Canada, at L'Anse aux Meadows, as well as, of course, three towns and 450 farms in Western Greenland (yes, Western - the side closest to Canada), which was settled in the 11th Century.
This is important, because the viking sagas also mention that they encountered Welsh or Irish monks on their travels, which serves no purpose to embelishing the sagas (such as boldy going where no man went before etc), nor does it help in claiming new territories. We know that there were seafaring monks in the North Atlantic by this time, and that at least the Irish were recognised as excellent boat builders by the vikings. Indeed, the sagas suggest that when they set off west for Vinland, as previously with Iceland, that they'd already been told of these places by those same monks.
And we know that by the 14th Century, long before Columbus, the North Atlantic was already a busy place, with long-established shipping and fishing routes between Scandinavia, the British Isles, Iceland and Greenland (and yes, at least one village in Canada!), before the 300yr-old Greenland community collapsed, succumbing to worsening climatic conditions.
All the history of which leads us to consider that Madoc's earlier journey now at least seems less fantastical, even if we still have no proof, and certainly, America itself (at least, that is, the east coast of Canada) was no secret to the later North Atlantic wayfarers of the 11th-14th centuries.
After the "Little Ice Age" finished off the Greenland community, and generally worsened conditions for any northern trans-atlantic travel, "the knowledge" was not entirely lost, and by the 1470s at the latest, there are records of Bristol fishing ships traveling back to those old haunts and their known rich cod-fishing grounds off of what we now call Cape Cod.
In 1496, John Cabot (Giovanni Cabotti, a Genoese merchant sailor who settled in Bristol, England), sailed from Bristol to find, circumnavigate, map and name Newfoundland. He was therefore yet another man to officially reach the North American mainland before Columbus (remember, in 1492, Columbus actually found Cuba, and even then, and for year afterwards, was convinced it was an outlying island of India - hence the term the West Indies).
Anyway, Cabot's journey is important for another reason. He sailed from Bristol, the fishing community of which, along with a few shipping communities from Ireland, had long retained their old commercial "secret" of the abundant fishing grounds off of Cape Cod (in Massachussetts) and safe-harbours visited to the north.
Clearly, these sailors had retained the knowledge of their earlier generations' explorations. Cabot soon got wind of this and applied to the Sheriff of Bristol, Richard Americk, for funds to explore, map and name these lands for the British crown and get Bristol officially established there first. Yes, Americk, twice Sheriff of Bristol, is the man whose surname gives us the name America.
Unfortunately, nobody in America cares to learn about him, and the "mystery" as to the origin of the name "America" goes on.
Americk, by the way, is a rare name, and came about because he was Welsh, born as Rhys ap Meyrick, in Monmouth, but Anglicised his name to Richard Americk when he moved to Bristol. Americk funded Cabot's journeys. To Americk, Prince Madoc may have been a proud historical Welsh fact rather than a modern fantasy. And Cabot's Bristol-born son, Sebastian Cabot, continued the work. Between 1500 and 1507 Sebastian Cabot was the first to navigate and accurately chart the entire coastline of Brazil.
So there you go, the North Atlantic was a pretty busy place before Columbus.
By the way, Brutus, the notion about Quetzalcoatl bringing farming and housing to Mexico is misplaced. Growing crops in Mexico was established at least a thousand years before his time, as was housing etc.
However, I do have one last interesting point to raise, regarding traces of the Welsh in America. An archaeologist friend of mine was working with a Blackfoot group in Canada, a couple of decades ago (long before she or I had ever heard of Madoc), cataloging and restoring tribal relics at the Glenbow Museum.
She was told by an elder, in response to some quandary over conflicting ancestor descriptions given in transcriptions of taped oral histories, that traditionally, the founding father of their particular tribe was described, in the tradition passed down to him, as a white-faced man, but that during the conflicts with white settlers in the 19th century, this had become a problematic issue.
And he said that certainly, by the mid twentieth century, this description had become disputed within the tribe or at least politically incorrect for many younger tribal members keen to assert their rights as first nation Americans. And that nowadays, this father spirit is depicted as an American-Indian looking man.
-Streety
I just completed a book about Madoc et al, entitled Graves of the Golden Bear; Ancient Monuments and Fortresses of the Ohio Valley.
It will be on Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords by October 15th.
One hint: The 1170 date is a different Madoc /Madog/Maddaug than the one in America. He was much earlier.
Streety, if you're still around, have you ever read Alan Wilson's take on the chronicles?
- RickOsmon
Other mysteries
Here are some OOPARTS explained through my eyes while I was
associated within MAJestic. In all cases the discussions are based on
what I was exposed to. Most of which is considered to be fringe and “tin
hat” stuff. Whatever. Enjoy.
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
As I write this, the “Trump trade war with China” in on it’s third year. It has been one heck of a roller-coaster ride, and today I can definitely say that, contrary to what the mainstream American media reports, China is just happy as can be waiting the “trade war” out.
China is not starving, ready to collapse towards famine.
There aren’t layoffs of millions of people
Huawei hasn’t collapsed, and sitting by waiting for America to develop 5G technology
Here, we review the current state of affairs between the USA and China in the building “cold economic war”, and then investigate options that can move the trade war as a positive win for America. Because right now, it is just floundering. And the only ones really getting “dinged” by it are the Americans that have to pay higher prices for their manufactured products.
This article is all about making America #1.
But first, we need to see things as they actually are. Not as how we want them to be. In many cases that means that we must erase some preconceived notions that we might hold dearly.
To help a person that has collapsed in the street, you need to know WHY he collapsed. Was it heat stroke? A heart attack? A gun shot wound? Or, was he just sleepy. You need to know the TRUE situation in order to provide the proper assistance.
Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.
The Lose-Lose scenario
At the start of the Donald Trump presidency, myself and others sincerely believed that the trade disagreements between the USA and China could be resolved. We believed in a win-win scenario. One in which both side so the table came back with something resembling success. A win-win for everyone.
But, unfortunately, that did not happen.
Instead, what developed was a policy of “lose – lose”. That is to say, that both sides would lose. However, the idea was for Chinese to lose much more than America would. Thus it would be a positive gain for America, and thus provide the USA with a greater amount of bargaining power.
The USA would lose a little bit, but recover quickly.
The Chinese would lose a lot, and maybe not recover for decades.
Personally, there is no doubt in my mind that this lose-lose strategy is a NeoCon strategy.
Because it is complete and utter nonsense, and has no bearing what so ever on reality.
As such, it is no surprise that it would be enforced, embraced and cultivated by Neocons within the trump administration. For every time it looked like the trade issues would be resolved, there would be some kind of problem. And each and every problem resolved around a Neocon-related issue.
I like to point my fingers at war-monger extraordinaire John Bolton, but I could be wrong.
To Bolton, the support of allies is proof of US military weakness, not diplomatic strength and he is yet to meet an arms control agreement he likes. The latest casualty amidst their wreckage of the pillars of the US-crafted global order is the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
How and Why
Why in the heck would anyone really want a lose-lose situation? Really, it’s crazy right? I mean, why go to a restaurant that has discount week-old meals for a cheap price when you know that you are going to get sick afterwards? Why do it?
Maybe on the HOPE that there is a CHANCE that you won’t get sick.
The understanding on how anyone would possibly want a lose-lose trade agreement is clear once you see the distortions of reality that neocons live under.
China is forever a third-world nation.
America is a long-term first-world nation.
China is dependent on the United States for labor, food, and status.
America doesn’t need China, and we can reopen all our factories again easily.
Each and everyone of these assumptions parrot the American mainstream press. And, as such, each and everyone is completely and absolutely wrong. It’s what Americans WANT to believe, not what is really going on.
China is not what the American mainstream press says it is. Instead it is something else. The mainstream American press produces “news” and “reports” that appeal to American emotions. Not to provide them facts and information. Remember, the only way that America can operate efficiently is with a just and well-informed populace.
People!
A healthy America requires an educated and well-informed populace. Otherwise, America is doomed to suffer through the mistakes of the mass-mob, as well as the manipulations by those that control them.
Changing things around.
Right now, the trade situation is at a standstill.
China is waiting everything out. They will let events play out. For they play “the long game’.
America is willing to suffer though events as they transpire. They believe that China is feeling the same kinds of pressures that Americana feel. For Americans believe that the Chinese, just like Americans, play the “short game”.
The only thing is… China just isn’t experiencing any kind of serious pressures.
In reality, for the Chinese owned businesses, it’s all just a slight down-tick in trade and a very slight increase in prices on imported goods. The ones that are hurting are the American businesses that operate within China. They are feeling the vast brunt of the trade-wars, as well as their support networks. Most of which are HK based.
"The Trump administration made a very serious miscalculation in launching the ‘trade war’ with China. It believed that either, or both, the leadership of China would submit to the Trump administrations threats or the Chinese population would not be prepared for a serious struggle with the US. Both calculations have proved entirely wrong. China’s leadership did not surrender to but hit back against the US attacks. Furthermore anyone who follows China’s domestic discussion, on what is now by far the world’s largest internet community, knows that this line was strongly supported by the Chinese population."
- China prepares for economic ‘prolonged war’ with Trump
The big issue in China today, and I can tell you this personally, is that there is a global slowdown going on. This slowdown was triggered by the Trump Tariff wars, but was not caused by them. The global slowdown was forecast for years, and China has long prepared for it.
The Chinese play the "long game" and plan in terms of centuries. American play the "short game" and plan on quarterly results (once ever three months).
Thus, as far as the tariff situation is concerned, they are just content to let things play out and allow America to eat itself alive…
China is playing the “long game”. America is playing the “short game” (quarter by quarter). In this situation, the “long game” favors China. The “short game” harms America.
One of the reasons why these authoritarian regimes like China are much more popular in the eyes of millennials around the world than among older generations, is that the younger people feel at least China focuses on the future, invests a huge part of their economic product into the future, and have a plan.
Look at the United States. Look at these countries today. They’re unable to focus on anything beyond next month. They can’t even formulate a budget. They can’t get anything through Congress. And all they’re doing is embarrassing themselves.
-McAlvanay
In the long run, the United States can be harmed immensely unless this situation does not turn around.
The very first thing that needs to happen is to do a deep purge of the neocons in the White-house.
President Trump's agenda is at odds at the neocon agenda. In many ways they are direct opposites.
These people do not want any kinds of win-win trade situation. Instead, their world view is one of “us vs. them”. They believe that there can only be two types of people in the world; The “hammers” and the “anvils”.
Neocons hold a mid-1850s mindset. They think in terms of nations, wars, and geographical conquest. They do so at the expense of understanding the Earth as a living (kind of) organism that we all inhabit.
Here’s my narrative on one of these neocons. Open it up, as it will open up in a new tab. Read it. All neocons are the same. They do not love America, American conservatism or tradition. They love power and empire building.
They believe that there can only be one leader in the world, and that is the United States. They believe this because we have “democracy!” (whatever the heck that is supposed to mean). The rest of the world is to live under our subjugation.
No other relationship is possible.
Now, Donald Trump did actually purge neocon John Bolton from his staff, and then immediately contacted Xi Peng in China wanting to resume trade talks.
The American media of course does not associate the firing of Bolton with China. To them, it's all just a coincidence. Bolton was fired for other reasons, like Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and Syria.
According to the mainstream American press, calling China and Bolton’s firing within minutes of each other was just a coincidence. Nothing more.
What China is
The way that Donald Trump tells it, China’s manufacturing sector is close to collapse, fatally wounded by Washington’s tariffs on Chinese imports.
Last month the American president was celebrating how China’s supply chain was “breaking up like a toy because companies are moving out”. A few days later he talked again about how Beijing was desperate to call a halt to the trade row. “You know why they want to make a deal?” he crowed. “Because they’re losing their jobs, because their supply chain is going to hell and companies are moving out of China and they’re moving to lots of other places, including the United States.”
But if Trump’s tariffs really are designed to torpedo China’s manufacturing base, he may have to think again.
Washington will have announced levies on about $550 billion of Chinese goods, when the full tariff quotas come into effect at the end of this year. That could affect up to 5% of China’s manufacturing capacity, according to calculations from Qu Hongbin and Jingyang Chen, two economists at HSBC.
But the impact of the tariffs isn’t going to be the same across the manufacturing sector at large. Much depends on the type of goods being made. Lower-end, more labour intensive industries such as furniture and textile production are taking the biggest hit, with companies shifting their factory lines to countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangladesh.
-Week in China
China is many things. One thing it is not is what the neocons think. China has leap-frogged the USA in so many areas that it’s just too tiring to elaborate upon. Maybe one or two videos might help add some perspective in this matter.
Some facts. (Opens up in a separate tab.)
But maybe we can ignore the charts, tables and figures. Not everyone can follow them. (Given the really poor state of education in the United States today.)
Rather than the charts of facts and figures that I have in other posts, some informal quick peeks into what is going on in China might be refreshing. Here are things that are EVERYDAY sights in China, but that you will not see in the United States.
For starters…
One of the first things that people are beginning to see when they cross into China and go through Chinese customs is a robotic customs officer. They will instruct you to input your biometics into the Chinese data base.
The robots, named Xiao Hai, have state-of-the-art perception technology and are able to listen, speak, learn, see and walk. Ten robots have started working as customs officers at three ports in China’s Guangdong province, authorities said. They were the first batch of intelligent robots, to be used by Chinese customs at the ports of Gongbei, Hengqin and Zhongshan, Xinhua news agency reported.
The robots, named Xiao Hai, have state-of-the-art perception technology and are able to listen, speak, learn, see and walk. Based on a specialized customs database, the robots can answer questions in 28 languages and dialects, including Cantonese, Mandarin, English and Japanese.
There are some particular problems they cannot solve, and customs officials said they will link the robots to their customer service hotline in the future. With face recognition technology, the robots can detect suspicious people and raise an alarm, according to Zhao Min, director of Gongbei customs.
Then, once you leave customs, you walk out into the bright daylight and confront traffic. China has traffic galore as they are a very populous nation.
Check out this MICRO VIDEO of the amazing traffic technology being implemented in Chinese cities this year…
Chinese traffic lights. As 3D holographic laser light presentations. Meanwhile the USA is still using 1960’s technology in traffic control.
It’s not even funny how much the Chinese have pushed ahead of American technology. While American industry has been hiring “Diversity officers” to hire employees based on minority “disadvantage”, China doubled down and only hires and promotes on merit.
The Chinese are a serious people. They do not play around.
Their products are excellent. For instance, when President Trump shut off all the Huawei 5G products and development in the United States, China said fine. You see most of the Apple, Motorola, and LG products are all designed in China. (Aside from some leadership positions.) Not in the United States.
There will be a retreat in technological, educational, and manufacturing leadership. The attempts by Donald Trump to thwart the global strategic trade supply chain has not been successful, and only aggravates an already dire situation.
So all the Chinese workers, the engineers, the developers and the designers, they are all inside China. They live in China. They are Chinese, and are paid Chinese wages and salaries. So when the United States government started to crack down on this outsourcing, they politely bowed, and left. They left the American owned companies. They walked across the street. And then they joined the Chinese owned companies. No problem.
With this influx of American-trained talent, China just took off.
They sprinted ahead and are now galloping forward at a healthy clip. The American companies are now in a kind of funky planning stage on how to react to the disruptions in their supply chains.
Check out this MICRO VIDEO of the latest wrap-around visual technology in the new Huawei phones. Pretty darn impressive.
Almost all communication products are designed in China. So if American companies cannot hire the Chinese engineers to make the products, the Chinese companies would instead,
And of course, there is there growing drone and robotics industries. Both of which has dwarfed anything in the United States.
For instance, today all public fireworks displays in China come along with these lighted drone formations. These make an enormous three dimensional visual canvas. This is, I must admit, quite visually stunning. When I first saw this in 2014 I was stunned. And today, it is so very commonplace that no one seems to give it a second thought.
Check out the impressive swarm drones in this MICRO VIDEO below…
Chinese swarm drones.
It’s like those super modern high-speed trains everywhere. “Oh that thing? What you’ve never ridden in one before?”
High speed rail is fast, cheap, clean, economically and ecologically friendly. It is accessible, and a great way for getting from one point to another. There are no long TSA lines. The seats are big, roomy, and the ride is comfortable and smooth. And the cost. Well, the cost is about 1/6 the cost of an airline ticket.
Read more (opens in a separate tab) here…
People! Seriously, China got started about four decades ago, and kept on running. They are moving forward, and perhaps (from their point of view) it’s a good thing that people are oblivious just how quickly and far that they are advancing.
So you know they are advancing in robotics, and in synthetic memory and minds. How about sex toys? Are you aware of the quality and scope of the Chinese sex toy industry? It’s taking the world by storm, I’ll tell you what.
Off the shelf standard sex doll. This one is warm to the touch, can talk and converse (in multiple languages) and has some limited mobility circuits.
Here’s another sex doll.
They come in a wide range of styles, shapes, weights and performance. Personally, if you are desirous of purchasing a sex robot, I would advise getting the premium model. They come with additional features that help mitigate the price tag amount.
This sex doll has limited functionality, being more a doll rather than a robot. However, it is totally and completely customizable. You can select anything from eye color, skin tone, body softness, height, check size, and many other attributes.
The point here is that everything from custom genetic designed pets, electric vehicles, to yes, even sex dolls are made in China and they are made well in China.
No one in America is apparently aware of this.
Go ahead, ask an American “China expert” on [1] the gongbei robotic customs officers, the [2] holographic traffic gates at cross-walks, the [3] 5G integration of Shenzhen, or [4] to name all the different makes and models of electric cars debuting out of China this year. He can’t.
And thus… he’s no “expert”.
Just an actor, pretending. He found a nitch a few years back and has been milking it over the years. But, you know, China is not America it’s rate of change is about 20x that of America’s. You need to really pay attention to keep up with all the changes.
Or else you will just be regurgitating “sound box” echo chamber narratives from like-minded individuals.
One of the many, many new housing subdivisions in China.
John Bolton actually stated in late September 2019 that (I am paraphrasing) “… the tariff wars has sent China back twenty years…”.
Twenty years, eh?
Ah, the ignorance is great in this one. Either that, or he has a tumor in his head. It’s a typical characteristic of neocons, don’t you know.
Most of the companies in the US–China Business Council (an organisation of about 200 American firms that trade with China) think that investment will continue to flow. A full 97% of the council’s members say their operations in China are profitable, and 87% report that they have no plans to relocate any of their activities to other countries.
Some of the difficulties of ‘reshoring’ manufacturing jobs back to the US were brilliantly revealed by the recent Netflix documentary American Factory too (see WiC464).
In the meantime there is little sign that the Chinese supply chain is being eroded, because of the tariff pressure from Washington.
“Trump’s claim that an exodus of foreign firms will force China to capitulate to US demands to settle the trade war is wishful thinking at best,” Lardy concludes.
-Week in China
Knowing the trade situation as it is, what can be done to salvage it?
That’s what this article is all about.
It’s about us taking a pragmatic, realistic look at the way things are, not at how we wish them to be, and planning on implementation of changes for our own personal benefit.
Let’s look at each issue and figure out how we can reduce or ameliorate the situation successfully. In so doing, let’s tackle the American mainstream (conservative & liberal) narratives. Let’s do it one, by one, and see how we can migrate things into “our” favor.
It sure beats sitting in a dark closet and trying to shoot darts at a target that we cannot see. Eh? Or, to put it another way. We don’t want to go around to tree after tree, pissing indiscriminately.
American mainstream media reporting on the trade wars.
Here’s some Mainstream media issues, and what the “informed” American populace thinks about China. Let’s take each one, dissect it, and see what we can do about it. OK.
$500 B trade deficit.
Global Supply Chain.
Made in China is bad.
China is ripping the USA off!
Chinese are unable to buy American products.
Chinese products are poor quality, simple and break down.
Chinese workers are slaves that labor for nothing.
Fair Trade
Dumping products
Stealing IP
They are dirty Commies!
Tariffs will bring back jobs.
For starters let’s tackle the A-#1 reason why the trump Tariff Wars exist in the first place. It is because America is losing $500 billion dollars every year to China, and we (pretty much) need to reduce that amount in order for America to be vibrant, healthy and prosperous.
[Issue 1] We are losing $500 billion every year to China
This is based on the fact that we have a trade deficit in goods for about $500B. This is a fact, Jack.
But, what is the composition of that deficit? Where within that composition can we move things to our advantage, and what parts should we ignore as hopeless?
Well, when we study the deficit we note that it is only based on products. It doesn’t include services. And in this area we have a surplus with China. We export those services to China. There are things that they cannot do, but we can. It’s our strength.
I propose that we increase our strength in this area. Work on our strengths, not play to our weaknesses. No matter how good it sounds politically. Give and take.
We provide services. They give us products.
Why not put a tax on the services that we supply to China? That tax can then be used to offset the tariffs that Americans must pay in imported products.
Play on our strengths. It’s a win-win for Americans.
[Issue 2] The Global Supply chain.
Then there’s the global supply chain.
Today we have a global business environment, and no wishing for the “good old days” is going to put that “Genie back into the lamp”. That “train has left the station”.
China imports a lot of natural resources and components from other countries to manufacture and assemble the finished goods. China buys chromium from Africa, and that goes into the metal alloys in cell-phones, drone motors and automobile electronic chip-sets.
Now, China does import other raw materials.
And yes, they do import a lot of raw materials out of the United States. And, no, I’m not talking about wheat, rice, and barley. I’m talking about uranium, and other precious metals that we have. Not to mention coal. China wants our coal. China wants our natural gas. Why not give it to them?
…at a price, don’t you know.
Again, that little bit of extra cost to buy from Americans can be used to offset the imbalance in tariffs. It would be a win-win for the American consumer.
Continue our exports to China, only raise the prices on them. Not prohibitively high, but gradually over time. Another win – win for Americans. Be smart. Think long term.
[Issue 3] Made in China.
Not every product made in China is Chinese.
It’s not. Many Japanese, British, German, French, and yes… American products are made in China. Actually 40% of “Chinese” exports are actually products of foreign (multi-national) corporations based in China. Many of which are American owned.
You’d never hear that in the American mainstream media.
Like Apple and their iphone. Like all those hobby drones that you can buy in the stores. Like the automobile electronics found in all the Fords, General Motors and other American cars. They are all American, but manufactured in China.
They are all American products, manufactured, designed and built in China.
Check out this graph…
Chart of the Chinese exports of goods, broken down by resource type, over the last ten years.
Thus, all these “Chinese” goods, aren’t really Chinese at all. They may be American, Japanese, South Korean, German etc.
You see, it’s easy to consider trade as products from one nation to another. But the fact is that the way business, and manufacturing is conducted today does not resemble in any way the old “made here, stays here” formula.
We need to take that into account.
We could by law, force American companies to make their products in America. That is, forbidding them to manufacture parts and components outside of America. It would be a law specifically targeting “supply chain management” outside of the USA.
American products should be made in America. We can still buy from China, but those products that are made by American companies need to be made in America.
No tariffs that Americans need to pay. More jobs for Americans. Yet another win-win.
[Issue 4] China is ripping us off!
This is pretty much the narrative. It doesn’t matter if you are an American Conservative, a liberal, or a member of the American mainstream media, this is the mantra.
Cheap junk in Walmart – China’s fault!
High prices for iPhones – China’s fault!
Power tool breaks – China’s fault!
US oligarchs and corporations decided to move American jobs abroad not China.
China smiled and took the business. But, seriously, their attitude was "Meh, whatever!". You see, everyone was coming to China to manufacture their products. America had to stand in line.
They raked in the profits, and gave the American consumers some benefit in being able to purchase inexpensive goods.
They came to China with bucket loads of cash. They promised the Chinese the world and gave them blueprints, technical specifications and trained them how to make their products. Then they sat back, drank their chardonnay while the money poured in.
US oligarchs and corporations decided to move American jobs abroad not China. They raked in the profits, and gave the American consumers some benefit in being able to purchase inexpensive goods.
Yes.
Never forget, US consumers and businesses benefit from inexpensive Chinese goods and labor. So, let’s not blame China for the lost manufacturing jobs. If you want to do something about it instead of eternally complaining then…
…ONLY BUY AMERICAN.
What’s so darn hard about that?
So stop your moaning and groaning. Start today. Stop buying anything that even resembles something imported. Period. You cannot change the world, but you can change your little part of it. Begin now. Begin today.
[Issue 5] They don’t buy our products!
This is another outright lie that is somehow broadcast in the United States. The actual reality is quite different. The Chinese place a high value on American products. In fact, in terms of personal value, to a Chinese person, owning a Buick is about equal to owning a Lamborghini. Yes!
It’s one of those jaw-dropping things that boggles the mind of most Americans. For in America, a Buick is considered a robust typical family car. While in China, it is considered the height of luxury, good taste, while at the same time being fiercely loyal to one’s family.
In China, the Mary Kay company gives her top saleswomen pink Buicks.
Perhaps that’s all part of the reason why GM sells more cars in China than in the US.
Not to mention that Apple sells more iPhones in China than in the US.
For United States semiconductor giant, Qualcomm, 65% of their revenues come from China.
Boeing sold 1000 planes to China in the last five years.
In fact, most major US corporations consider China as their #1 or #2 market.
So, yes, China has a very open market and it buys a lot of American services and goods, but a lot of them happen to be made in China. Similarly, corporations such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, KFC etc. profit enormously from their thousands of branches in China.
Starbucks continues to open thousands of new stores each year, mainly outside of the North American market. The company has a five-year plan with several goals to continue driving growth. Starbucks wants to be the employer of choice and invest in those employees who continue to deliver superior customer service. Starbucks has always been on the forefront of valuing employees, especially its part-time staff. The company has stated it will grow to 30,000 locations globally and work on creating new reasons for customers to visit its stores throughout the day.
The Chinese love, just love American products. If you really want to offset the trade imbalance between the two nations, then sell more products to China. This means a retail presence inside of China and far greater social and industrial brands than what is presently established.
The Chinese end up buying more American products (especially if they are made in America) and the Americans take home more money. The Chinese are willing to PAY MORE money for an American product just by virtue of it’s reputation. Don’t squander this advantage.
Sell more products to China, they will be happy, and the Americans will be raking in the money. It’s a win – win for America.
[Issue 6] Chinese products are crap
If Chinese products are crap, why do Americans keep spending $500 billion a year on buying crappy things?
Are Americans stupid, or powerless to change things? Is it that the deplorable Americans are just uneducated simpletons. Not hip to the wily ways of the Chinese?
Is that the narrative?
This narrative makes no sense. Not really. Everyone seems to think that all China makes is the cheapest toys in Walmart, but it’s only Americans that makes the computers, iphones and drones that fly in the sky.
Wrong! The roles are actually the reverse.
Don’t forget that BMW manufactures most of their cars in China.
BMW debuted its Vision Future Interaction Concept, a Mirrorless i8 Concept and its Internet of Things concept. It’s a very large suite of new technologies and it’s all extremely impressive. However, BMW wants to make it disappear into the background and make it invisible to customers.
Also, iPhones, Nike shoes and Prada bags are all made in China.
And Chinese brands like Huawei and OnePlus are actually beating Apple. So it’s not as if Chinese can’t make high-end, high-quality products.
They can, and they do.
We need to recognize the true and real state of things. That way we can best be able to decide on courses of action that actually work.
Instead of the progressive liberal Marxist "feel good" legislation.
That said, if you pay someone $1 an hour, don’t expect amazing products that will last for a lifetime. You get what you pay for.
You can only pick two.
Also, Chinese corporations are working their way up the value chain. Chinese high-end smartphones (Xiaomi and OnePlus) are already #1 in large consumer markets such as India; and, within five years, Chinese electric cars will be globally popular as well.
Chinese electric vehicles dominate. More Chinese electric vehicles are made in China than in the rest of the world combined.
To understand how to take advantage of the global situation, you must first understand it as it exists. We need to see things as they are. Not as we want them to be. That way, we can leverage the situation towards our very own benefit. It will be a win-win for Americans.
A win-win for Americans.
LeEco announced its investment in a joint venture between Aston Martin and Faraday Future, a direct competitor of Tesla, further signalling its intentions in the space. The front of the car features an LED loop that can be lit in different spots such as indicators or fog lights. The rear passenger doors, known as ‘suicide doors’ open from a hinge at the rear, as opposed to the front. They’ve also waived a previous law that protected home-grown companies from being gutted by foreign competition, as long as they invest in electric technology.
That’s led to a boom in EV startups such as NextEV and CH-Auto who, along with LeEco, could turn the car industry on its head. Especially given the size of China’s domestic market has now surged past America’s to become the largest economy in the world. Chinese EV companies have also been poaching talent from the likes of BMW to help make China the electric car center of the world.
[Issue 7] Everything in China is made by slave labor
It’s not.
The Chinese have a much stronger work-ethic than Americans have. We might not want to hear it, but it is true.
There is nothing good or bad about it. It has do do with society. The higher percentage that Americans have for leisure transmits in more time to attend church, more time for personal education, and more time to spend with the family and making the best of the life that one has. Let the Chinese work themselves to the bone. Americans don’t need to as we have what is known as work-life-balance. It’s a good thing… for us.
Let others live their lives as they want. If they want to work 12 hour days and on Saturdays, let them. Live and let live.
They also have different laws, different customs, and different culture. Thus comparing labor in China to that of the USA is like comparing apples to oranges.
Here is a brief comparison between three factories. One is an American non-union factory. One is a union American factory. One is a Chinese factory. One of the first things that the astute reader will notice that, aside from the pay, there is little else of value that the union provides the employees.
The second thing that you will notice is that the Chinese employee is granted all kinds of things that an American would never, ever be provided with. Like free housing (as in a personal apartment), free internet, three free meals a day, and many other things unheard of in the United States.
This is a quick generalized comparison between factories in the United States compared to factories in China. It is a gross simplification on many levels. However there are some things that need to be taken into account. firstly, the Chinese make far less money than their American counterparts. On the other hand, they get many perks and things that Americans can only dream about.
If you want to buy a product at Walmart, and you like it’s price, then go for it.
Sears tried to compete against Walmart, and lost. They offered better quality, warranties, and (for a spell) better working conditions in the factories that supplied the products to them.
It didn’t work.
When I buy something made in Wisconsin, I do not know about the working conditions that the product was created under. What I do know is that I liked the product and so I bought it.
China’s electric vehicle start-up Nio launched its first mass-produced model over the weekend, in a home market marked by competition with companies such as Tesla. The ES8, which starts at 448,000 Chinese yuan ($67,765) is half the starting price of Tesla’s 836,000 yuan ($126,470) Model X in China.
Complaining about situations beyond your control, outside of your understanding, and trying to moan and groan about it is fruitless. If you think that the Chinese labor like slaves, then DON’T BUY CHINESE PRODUCTS, and shut the heck up.
It’s a win win.
[Issue 8] We want Fair Trade and China must lower their tariffs
It’s not as if the only thing that stands in the way of US progress is China’s tariffs. Consider that we imported 8 million cars last year.
We imported Eight Million cars.
Eight / Million / Cars.
Maybe we should buy American goods, before we demand that others buy American products. Eh?
Imported vehicles to the United States. Most of the vehicle imports to the USA come from Canada and Mexico. While China is certainly the leader in automotive manufacture by volume, type, and differentiation, it hardly exports any vehicles to the United States.
Also, even if China eliminates their tariffs on our exports, US corporations will find that it’s still cheaper to manufacture goods in China, rather than making them here and shipping them over.
It’s not about nations. It’s about the oligarchy and the companies that they control.
Let’s not forget that the US already has a lot of protectionist tariffs, quotas, barriers and subsidies for various products and business sectors. Every government in the world has to cater to its people and special interest groups.
Finally, since WWII, the US has enjoyed an extraordinary privilege of being able to easily print the global reserve currency and wantonly borrow from the rest of the world.
Be careful what you wish for.
For a true “level playing field,” all currencies must be equal, which Americans won’t easily accept. Yeah. Can you just imagine if China could sanction western countries and arrest western CEOs for violating Chinese sanctions! Like the USA does.
Be careful what you wish for.
Most Americans, American companies, and the company stockholders would be most unhappy if China began to play to the same rules that the United States have implemented over the last four decades.
I would advise that we get on the good side of China. With China as a friend we can merge with shared benefit. Treating them as an enemy does the opposite. Work together for the betterment of all. It’s a win – win for everyone.
[Issue 9] They operate at losses and dump products
It is true. There are some state-operated Chinese entities that keep operating while losing money and simply rolling over their debt. China allows that to create employment for its people and also, sometimes, to capture the global market.
However, US corporations such as Amazon, Uber, Netflix and others do the same as well.
Moneys flow toward utility. The Chinese fund factories. The USA funds institutions.
China is a nation that values work, labor and production. America is a nation that values medicine, social reconstruction and government, As such, China will make the products that Americans will use under regulation.
It’s just the way things are.
China is a nation that values work, labor and production. America is a nation that values medicine, social reconstruction and government. You can easily see where all the money is going in America. Just look at the top three items. As such, China will make the products that Americans will use under regulation.
Truthfully, the only difference being that the US corporations are subsidized by commercial banks and the Federal Reserve Bank. While the Chinese factories are subsidized by the Bank of China.
We need to recognize that within the framework of utility. When we do, and grasp the true nature of things, it becomes easier to accept the truth. China makes the things that Americans use. Embrace that reality. It will be a win – win for Americans.
[Issue 10] They steal our IP
IP = Intellectual Property.
Most of these accusations are unwarranted.
It makes for great arguments, and a pretty decent media platform from which to espouse upon, but really, it’s just nonsensical. No one is sneaking around “stealing things”.
The Chinese company just buys an American company fair and square. Then , since they own the patents and the equipment and the intellectual property, they can do with it as they wish.
Carpetbaggers
In general, the term “carpetbagger” refers to a traveler who arrives in a new region with only a satchel (or carpetbag) of possessions, and who attempts to profit from or gain control over his new surroundings, often against the will or consent of the original inhabitants. After 1865, a number of northerners moved to the South to purchase land, lease plantations or partner with down-and-out planters in the hopes of making money from cotton. At first they were welcomed, as southerners saw the need for northern capital and investment to get the devastated region back on its feet. They later became an object of much scorn, as many southerners saw them as low-class and opportunistic newcomers seeking to get rich on their misfortune.
If China is stealing our IP, how come Tesla just opened a new plant in Shanghai and Boeing just announced a new factory in China?
If China is a thief, how come Intel Corp. has funded Horizon Robotics, a Chinese startup?
If China is a threat, why does Warren Buffet own 10% of BYD, China’s biggest electric car manufacturer?
Every western hi-tech firm — Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Dell etc. — has branches in China and they wouldn’t do it if China is just stealing their IP. They are not stupid. Are they?
Yes, China required transfer of technology in many industries, but it was a voluntary, consensual business transaction. Driven by greed to conquer the Chinese consumer market, western corporations obliged. Also, arrogance made the West assume that Chinese copycats will never be good enough.
Fast-food giant McDonald’s is selling a controlling stake in its China business to a group of investors led by state-owned Chinese conglomerate Citic in a deal worth up to $2.1 billion, the companies said Monday. The transaction is part of a global business overhaul being carried out by the American company to keep up with changing tastes that have resulted in declining sales. Under the terms of the deal, Citic Ltd. and its investment management unit Citic Capital will acquire 52 percent of the business while another partner, Washington-based private equity firm The Carlyle Group, will own 28 percent.
There are definitely problems with Chinese espionage and those must be opposed and stopped. However, most people confuse blatant theft of intellectual property with it being given away. And for the last couple of decades, the American companies did just that. They gave the technology away so that the American company owner can make enormous profits in the transaction.
America lost it’s technical edge, so that a hand-full of individuals could profit from it. These Americans sold out America so that they could become filthy, filthy, rich.
For America to become great again, we need to arrest and imprison those that gave away our strengths, our knowledge, our technologies, our resources for their own personal profit. They should be in jail instead of drinking chardonnay in one of their many mansions. It’ll be a win – win for Americans.
[Issue 11] But they’re commies!
In spite of China’s “communist” party, CCP, what they have is a unique mix of socialism, capitalism and Confucianism. Don’t treat them as a cardboard cutout, a cartoon of something evil. They are not, and you should be ashamed to fall for the 1930’s-era propaganda template.
Chinese communism is NOT the same kind of communism that we Americans have come to think of. It is something all together different.
The private sector is vibrant — [1] 90% of new jobs are created by private enterprises, [2] venture capitalists are investing more in Chinese startups than in American counterparts, [3] the upper middle class is growing rapidly (200 million), [4] there are 3.5 million millionaires and [5] two new billionaires were created every week last year.
Two new millionaires every week!
China is not your textbook “communist” country.
While the Chinese government is certainly authoritarian, relative to western democracies, it has accomplished an economic miracle over the last four decades that’s unprecedented in human history.
800 million people were lifted out of poverty and the GDP grew 40-fold in 40 years.
That’s why 84% of Chinese trust their government and 68% say that the government is the best institution to lead the country to a better future.
To understand how we can “beat the other team”, we need to understand who they really are, what their tactics are, how they call their plays, and their strengths and weaknesses. It will be a win – win for Americans.
[Issue 12] Tariffs will bring back jobs
Tariffs can only bring back jobs if there are American alternatives to the Chinese products. That way the tariffs will price the Chinese products at a disadvantage to American products. And the consumers will want to buy American products.
But…
The vast majority of products under the Trump tariff schedule has no comparative American-made alternative.
Thus it will be the American consumer that will be paying the tariffs, as they will have no other alternatives.
This is a real big problem, and perhaps the real heart of the problem with the “trade wars” today. We need to realize how legislative actions produce unintended consequences…
In the 1990's Bill Clinton and his Democrat controlled Congress, single-handedly devastated the American ship-building industry. You see, they laid a "wealth tax" on boats. As they (incorrectly as it turned out) that only wealthy people could afford yachts, and small boats.
What happened, is that everyone stopped buying boats. As a result the entire ship-building industry collapsed. It took decades to recover, and even today it is just limping along.
You see, most of the products that Americans buy comes from China, and that there are zero alternatives. This is a problem. This is a really big problem.
Factories do not grow on trees.
You cannot snap your fingers and immediately start making televisions sets, drones, robots, kitchen appliances and shoes from nothing. You need talent, knowledge, machinery and a skilled and talented work force.
But, you do know, that most of the American work force does not have this background. Their background is in the service industries.
Thus creating a factory, or even moving it from China to the USA is a very difficult thing to do. Check out this link (opens up in another tab).
You see, Trump’s 10% or 25% tariff on Chinese goods won’t create enough incentive for most manufacturers to start building products in the US. At the most, US companies will simply move the manufacturing to other developing nations such as Vietnam, Thaliand etc. Moreover, Chinese Yuan has already fallen 10%, thus largely neutralizing the first round of tariffs.
Considering that every major business/lobbying group, corporation and economist is against tariffs and trade wars, it’s highly unlikely that jobs are going return from Asia, Mexico and elsewhere.
Tariffs and retaliatory tariffs can also lead to a big loss of jobs or even a recession. There have already been endless stream of stories about layoffs and lost sales.
While it’s true that some Japanese and German automakers who want to avoid confrontations may build new assembly plants in the US, others may be forced to relocate some existing factories from the US to Europe and China to avoid the cross-border tariffs.
Make a favorable environment for other nations to put their factories in America.
Reduce regulations so that the factories will want to move to America.
Limit the taxes on employers, and on workers so that the American factory worker has a chance to compete.
It will be a win-win for Americans.
Conclusion
There won’t be any winner in the trade war. China in 2019 isn’t China in 1990. We should stop treating it as such. That is crazy.
At the same time, the West should be mindful of history — the Opium Wars and the following Century of Humiliation are etched in the Chinese national psyche. China has worked very hard and sacrificed a lot in the last forty years; and they’re not going to give up their dreams. They are a nation of achievers.
The Chinese are a serious nation and do not play around. If this trade situation is not handled carefully, things can turn really bad for America. It’s not going to be anything like Americans expect.
(Aside from the total collapse of America at every level...) I think there are two other options.
One would be a crisis and defeat. That is something we have not experienced in America. What that would look like we can only speculate by looking at other examples of defeated nations, what has happened to them, and how they have adjusted to their post-defeat role.
You might look at the defeated Axis powers after World War II as an interesting test case, and we have written a little bit about that. One thing that might even be most disturbing of all, is that no real crisis ever ultimately expresses itself, which actually, oddly enough, may be the worst outcome of all.
That is to say, everything we see about our world today, the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer, democracy sort of ebbing away, people feeling powerless over their political lives, people feeling less and less a sense of civic participation or belonging, and we have kind of turned that up.
There is an interesting book by Tyler Cohen. He is a very popular writer now, he wrote Average is Over and The Great Stagnation. He wrote a recent book called The Complacent Class. If you want to read a book about America’s future in the absence of a fourth turning, read that book.
The real rate of return gets lower and lower, we kind of approach the stationary state, productivity growth kind of ebbs to nothing, we become a kind of nominal market society, but one in which all the markets are dominated by a few very large companies with enormous market power and concentration.
In that kind of society, highly stratified, not feeling at all like what we think of as being America, is, I think, the scariest one, one in which global problems, problems of global order are not rectified. And it is one that disturbs me the most.
-McAlvany
So, let’s get rid of the zero-sum mentality, drop the aggressive posture, come up with tangible goals, and negotiate with respect and a smile.
The tariffs have slowed China’s economy, which grew 6.6 percent in 2018, its slowest rate in almost three decades. Meanwhile the United States grew an amazing 1.7 percent. The most astounding growth in decades.
For goodness sakes. Everyone can win. We just need to stop playing the neocon war – war -war game. It’s going to really… REALLY harm the United States. And I do mean BIGLY.
So, let’s think smart. Address things as they really are, and work for a win-win for everyone. Now is the time to do it.
12OCT19 Update
Trump said the U.S. and China have "agreed in principle" on a preliminary trade agreement. Trump acknowledged that differences remain on major issues on which the two countries are divided, but the White House still decided not to push ahead with a planned increased to tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods next week.
The move would have raised those tariffs to 30% from 25%.
"There's too many factors at play for him to just issue threats to governments, China's or anybody else's, to just follow along with what he says," said Wang, referring to the U.S. president's previous threats to slap additional penalties on Chinese goods.
-USA Today; Senior China adviser: Trump to blame for delays in securing final trade deal, says China has been 'accommodating'
Links about China
Here are some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader, might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.
China and America Comparisons
As an American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.
The Chinese Business KTV Experience
This is the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal press. This is the reality. Read or not.
Learning About China
Who doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in China.
Contemporaneous Chinese Music
This is a series of posts that discuss contemporaneous popular music in China. It is a wide ranging and broad spectrum of travel, and at that, all that I am able to provide is the flimsiest of overviews. However, this series of posts should serve as a great starting place for investigation and enjoyment.
Parks in China
The parks in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.
Really Strange China
Here are some posts that discuss a number of things about China that might seem odd, or strange to Westerners. Some of the things are everyday events, while others are just representative of the differences in culture.
What is China like?
The purpose of this post is to illustrate that the rest of the world, outside of America, has moved on with their lives. That while they might not be as great as America is, they are doing just fine thank you.
And while America has been squandering it’s money, decimating it’s resources, and just being cavalier with it’s military, the rest of the world has done the opposite. They have husbanded their day to day fortunes, and you can see this in their day-to-day lives.
Summer in Asia
Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…
Some Fun Videos
Here’s a collection of some fun videos taken all over Asia. While there are many videos taken in China, we also have some taken in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea and Japan as well. It’s all in fun.
Articles & Links
You’ll not find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you because I just don’t care to.
You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
This is a full text version in HTML for the short story by Edgar Allan Poe titled “The Cask of Amontillado”. I consider it one of his best stories.
The story is set in a nameless Italian city in an unspecified year and is about the narrator’s deadly revenge on a friend whom he believes has insulted him. Like several of Poe’s stories, and in keeping with the 19th-century fascination with the subject, the narrative revolves around a person being buried alive-in this case, by immurement.
What is Immurement? Immurement (from Latin im- “in” and murus “wall”; literally “walling in”) is a form of imprisonment, usually for life, in which a person is locked within an enclosed space and all possible exits turned into impassable walls. When used as a means of execution, the prisoner is simply left to die from starvation or dehydration. This is different from being buried alive, in which the victim typically dies of asphyxiation.
Please enjoy.
The Cask of Amontillado
The thousand injuries of Fortunato I
had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed
revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose,
however, that I gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be
avenged; this was a point definitely settled – but the very
definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I
must not only punish but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed
when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when
the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the
wrong.
It must be understood that neither by word nor
deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as
was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile
now was at the thought of his immolation.
He had a
weak point – this Fortunato – although in other regards he was a man to
be respected and even feared. He prided himself on his connoisseurship
in wine. Few Italians have the true virtuoso spirit. For the most part
their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the time and opportunity, to
practise imposture upon the British and Austrian millionaires. In
painting and gemmary, Fortunato, like his countrymen, was a quack, but
in the matter of old wines he was sincere. In this respect I did not
differ from him materially; – I was skilful in the Italian vintages
myself, and bought largely whenever I could.
It was
about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival
season, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me with excessive
warmth, for he had been drinking much. The man wore motley. He had on a
tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted by the
conical cap and bells. I was so pleased to see him that I thought I
should never have done wringing his hand.
I said to him – ‘My dear Fortunato, you are luckily met. How remarkably well you are looking today. But I have received a pipe of what passes for Amontillado, and I have my doubts.’
‘How?’ said he. ‘Amontillado? A pipe? Impossible! And in the middle of the carnival!’
‘I have my doubts,’ I replied; ‘and I was silly enough to pay
the full Amontillado price without consulting you in the matter. You
were not to be found, and I was fearful of losing a bargain.’
‘Amontillado!’
‘I have my doubts.’
‘Amontillado!’
‘And I must satisfy them.’
‘Amontillado!’
‘As you are engaged, I am on my way to Luchresi. If any one has a critical turn it is he. He will tell me -‘
‘Luchresi cannot tell Amontillado from Sherry.’
‘And yet some fools will have it that his taste is a match for your own.’
‘Come, let us go.’
‘Whither?’
‘To your vaults.’
‘My friend, no; I will not impose upon your good nature. I perceive you have an engagement. Luchresi -‘
‘I have no engagement; – come.’
‘My friend, no. It is not the engagement, but the severe cold
with which I perceive you are afflicted. The vaults are insufferably
damp. They are encrusted with nitre.’
‘Let us go,
nevertheless. The cold is merely nothing. Amontillado! You have been
imposed upon. And as for Luchresi, he cannot distinguish Sherry from
Amontillado.’
Thus speaking, Fortunato possessed
himself of my arm; and putting on a mask of black silk and drawing a
roquelaire closely about my person, I suffered him to hurry me to my
palazzo.
There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry in hour of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the morning, and had given them explicitly orders not to stir from the house. These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned.
I took from their sconces two
flambeaux, and giving one to Fortunato, bowed him through several suites
of rooms to the archway that led into the vaults. I passed down a long
and winding staircase, requesting him to be cautious as he followed. We
came at length to the foot of the descent, and stood together upon the
damp ground of the catacombs of the Montresors.
The gait of my friend was unsteady, and the bells upon his cap jingled as he strode.
‘The pipe,’ he said.
‘It is farther on,’ said I; ‘but observe the white web-work which gleams from these cavern walls.’
He turned towards me, and looked onto my eyes with two filmy orbs that distilled the rheum of intoxication.
‘Nitre?’ he asked, at length.
‘Nitre,’ I replied. ‘How long have you had that cough?’
‘My poor friend found it impossible to reply for many minutes.
‘It is nothing,’ he said, at last.
‘Come,’ I said, with decision, ‘we will go back; your health is
precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as
once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will
go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is
Luchresi -‘
‘Enough,’ he said; ‘the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.’
‘True – true,’ I replied; ‘and, indeed, I had no intention of
alarming you unnecessarily – but you should use all proper caution. A
draught of this Medoc will defend us from the damps.’
Here I knocked off the neck of a bottle which I drew from a long row of its fellows that lay upon the mould.
‘Drink,’ I said, presenting him the wine.
‘He raised it to his lips with a leer. He paused and nodded to me familiarly, while his bells jingled.
‘I drink,’ he said, ‘to the buried that repose around us.’
‘And I to your long life’
He again took my arm, and we proceeded.
‘These vaults,’ he said, ‘are extensive.’
‘The Montresors,’ I replied, ‘were a great and numerous family.’
‘I forget your arms.’
‘A huge human foot d’or, in a field azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are imbedded in the heel.’
‘And the motto?’
‘Nemo me impune lacessit.’
‘Good!’ he said.
‘The wine sparkled in his eyes and the bells jingled. My own
fancy grew warm with the Medoc. We had passed through long walls of
piled skeletons, with casks and puncheons intermingling, into the inmost
recesses of the catacombs. I paused again, and this time I made bold to
seize Fortunato by an arm above the elbow.
‘The
nitre!’ I said; ‘see, it increases. It hangs like moss upon the vaults.
We are below the river’s bed. The drops of moisture trickle among the
bones. Come, we will go back ere it is too late. Your cough -‘
‘It is nothing,’ he said; ‘let us go on. But first, another draught of the Medoc.’
I broke and reached him a flagon of De Grave. He emptied it at a
breath. His eyes flashed with a fierce light. He laughed and threw the
bottle upwards with a gesticulation I did not understand.
I looked at him in surprise. He repeated the movement – a grotesque one.
‘You do not comprehend?’ he said.
‘Not I,’ I replied.
‘Then you are not of the brotherhood.’
‘How?’
‘You are not of the masons.’
‘Yes, yes,’ I said; ‘yes, yes.’
‘You? Impossible! A mason?’
‘A mason,’ I replied.
‘A sign,’ he said, ‘a sign’
‘It is this,’ I answered, producing from beneath the folds of my roquelaire a trowel.
‘You jest,’ he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces. ‘But let us proceed to the Amontillado.’
‘Be it so,’ I said, replacing the tool beneath the cloak and
again offering him my arm. He leaned upon it heavily. We continued our
route in search of the Amontillado. We passed through a range of low
arches, descended, passed on, and descending again, arrived at a deep
crypt, in which the foulness of the air caused our flambeaux rather to
glow than flame.
At the most remote end of the crypt
there appeared another less spacious. Its walls had been lined with
human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion of the great
catacombs of Paris. Three sides of this interior crypt were still
ornamented in this manner. From the fourth side the bones had been
thrown down, and lay promiscuously upon the earth, forming at one point a
mound of some size. Within the wall thus exposed by the displacing of
the bones, we perceived a still interior crypt or recess, in depth about
four feet, in width three, in height six or seven. It seemed to have
been constructed for no especial use within itself, but formed merely
the interval between two of the colossal supports of the roof of the
catacombs, and was backed by one of their circumscribing walls of solid
granite.
It was in vain that Fortunato, uplifting his full torch, endeavoured to pry into the depth of the recess. Its termination the feeble light did not enable us to see.
‘Proceed,’ I said; ‘herin is the Amontillado. As for Luchresi -‘
‘He is an ignoramus,’ interrupted my friend, as he stepped
unsteadily forward, while I followed immediately at his heels. In an
instant he had reached the extremity of the niche, and finding his
progress arrested by the rock, stood stupidly bewildered. A moment more
and I had fettered him to the granite. In its surface were two iron
staples, distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. From one
of these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock. Throwing the
links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure
it. He was too much astounded to resist. Withdrawing the key I stepped
back from the recess.
‘Pass your hand,’ I said, ‘over
the wall; you cannot help feeling the nitre. Indeed, it is very damp.
Once more let me implore you to return. No? Then I must positively leave
you. But I must first render you all the little attentions in my
power.’
‘The Amontillado!’ ejaculated my friend, not yet recovered from his astonishment.
‘True,’ I replied; ‘the Amontillado.’
As I said these words I busied myself among the pile of bones of
which I have before spoken. Throwing them aside, I soon uncovered a
quantity of building stone and mortar. With these materials and with the
aid of my trowel, I began vigorously to wall up the entrance of the
niche.
I had scarcely laid the first tier of the masonry when I discovered that the intoxication of Fortunato had in a great measure worn off. The earliest indication I had of this was a low moaning cry from the depth of the recess. It was not the cry of a drunken man. There was then a long and obstinate silence. I laid the second tier, and the third, and the fourth; and then I heard the furious vibrations of the chain. The nose lasted for several minutes, during which, that I might hearken to it with the more satisfaction, I ceased my labours and sat down upon the bones. When at last the clanking subsided, I resumed the trowel, and finished without interruption the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh tier. The wall was now nearly upon a level with my breast. I again paused, and holding the flambeaux over the mason-work, threw a few feeble rays upon the figure within.
A succession of loud and
shrill screams, bursting suddenly from the throat of the chained form,
seemed to thrust me violently back. For a brief moment I hesitated, I
trembled. Unsheathing my rapier, I began to grope with it about the
recess; but the thought of an instant reassured me. I placed my hand
upon the solid fabric of the catacombs, and felt satisfied. I
re-approached the wall; I replied to the yells of him who clamoured. I
re-echoed, I aided, I surpassed them in volume and in strength. I did
this, and the clamourer grew still.
It was now
midnight, and my task was drawing to a close. I had completed the
eighth, the ninth and the tenth tier. I had finished a portion of the
last and the eleventh; there remained but a single stone to be fitted
and plastered in. I struggled with its weight; I paced it partially in
its destined position. But now there came from out the niche a low laugh
that erected the hairs upon my head. It was succeeded by a sad voice,
which I had difficulty in recognising as that of the noble Fortunato.
The voice said –
‘Ha! ha! ha! – he! he! he! – a very
good joke, indeed – and excellent jest. We will have many a rich laugh
about it at the palazzo – he! he! he! – over our wine – he! he! he!’
‘The Amontillado!’ I said.
‘He! he! he! – he! he! he! – yes, the Amontillado. But is it not
getting late? Will not they be awaiting us at the palazzo, the Lady
Fortunato and the rest? Let us be gone.’
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘let us be gone.’
‘For the love of God, Montresor!’
But to these words I hearkened in vain for a reply. I grew inpatient. I called aloud –
‘Fortunato!’
No answer. I called again
‘Fortunato!’
No answer still. I thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and let it fall within. There came forth in return only jingling of the bells. My heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so. I hastened to make an end of my labour. I forced the last stone into its position; I plastered it up. Against the new masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones. Of the half of a century no mortal had disturbed them. In pace requiescat!
The End
Movies that Inspired Me
Here are some movies that I consider noteworthy and worth a view. Enjoy.
Stories that Inspired Me
Here are
reprints in full text of stories that inspired me, but that are nearly
impossible to find in China. I place them here as sort of a personal
library that I can use for inspiration. The reader is welcome to come
and enjoy a read or two as well.
My Poetry
Art that Moves Me
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
There are many articles about the Trade War between the United States (Donald Trump) and China. Many are written from the perspective of an American consumer sitting in America, and desirous of a return to the “golden days” of industrial might. Others are written from the point of view of a progressive “enlightened” globalist who wants a one-singular world order. This article is different. It is written from the point of view of someone who has a vested interest in both “camps of thought”.
A fresh slap of reality.
In terms of the trade war, there are some facts that do not support any of the assumptions held and promoted by the “talking heads” in the mainstream media.
None of these facts agree with the promoted narratives. This is true whether you are politically liberal or conservative.
On the conservative side...
I’m seeing a type of artificial patriotic fervor. It's an organized attempt using memes and propaganda to convince conservatives that the trade war requires mindless fealty to the anti-China message.
Americans don’t like dictators, and many don’t like China. However, conservatives are being duped into thinking the trade war against China some type of an ideological crusade. It’s one that somehow will lead to a better America or a better world.
People! Wake up. This is not what the trade war is intended to do.
Let’s start with the assumptions surrounding the trade war and then look at the evidence that debunks them. Remember people…
The American government requires an alert and well-informed citizenry to function properly.
Fallacy #1: China needs America
The idea here is that the entire nation of China, all 1.4 billion of them, needs Americans (325 million) buying their products.
Seriously?
I’m not sure where this idea comes from specifically, but it’s not based on anything tangible. I sometimes wonder if the notion that the world depends on the American consumer (for its bread and butter) is perhaps a kind of appeal to American’s narcissism? Thus making the average American feel superior, or feel special. You know, by simply by telling them that their steady American way of life (one of debt-based consumption) keeps the engine of the global economy running.
Pretty outrageous.
In the case of China, here are the facts:
The US only comprises around 18% of Chinese exports. While this is a nice piece of the pie, it’s hardly enough leverage to bring down China’s economy. China would suffer profit losses in certain sectors as well as a possible recession, but not the kind of crisis that some in the alternative media are predicting.
There will not be riots in the streets, famine, or civil upheavals. Don’t be silly.
In 2018, China shipped 18% of its exports to the United States. That contributed to a $419 billion trade deficit. China's trade with Hong Kong, at 14%, was almost as much. Its trade with Japan, which was at 6%, and South Korea, at 4.5%, was much less.
-The Balance
You need to know that China is NOT structured like the United States and does not operate under rule by popular opinion. They are a serious, serious nation. Their leadership got where they are through merit. (Have you ever attended school with a Chinese / Asian student? They work hard, study hard, and make informed, calculated decisions.)
For the last decade or so, China has been busy changing its economic model. They have moved from an export-based system to a far more self-reliant domestic-based system.
I covered this subject in another post. You can click on the link below. It will open up in a separate tab so that your reading here will not be interrupted.
Maybe they knew something that the Bush and Obama administrations didn’t. It appears that they have been preparing for a possible economic war with the US.
For the last decade, indeed since 2010, China’s domestic market has grown dramatically. This should indicate to the more alert in the audience that China has no intention of relying on the US consumer as an economic pillar.
They are a self-sufficient nation.
Meanwhile, the US consumer is almost tapped out. It’s hard to see because retail sales in certain areas remain steady. Not to mention that the mainstream media (and the Fed) has been using this to promote the idea that the economy is still “going strong”. It’s not really the true and real situation.
The reality is that US consumption is driven by historic levels of debt. Household debt is now FAR above levels last seen after the last financial crisis, with total debt at $1.2 trillion higher today than its last peak in 2008.
The downturn in retail is more obvious in the steady closings of thousands of outlets in 2019 alone. This year has seen a 29% increase in store closings compared to 2018, even though 2018 saw a considerable spike in store shutdowns. Around 12,000 stores are slated to close this year.
OK, so the actual situation is quite different from the mainstream media narrative.
China is a self-sufficient nation.
America is completely engulfed in a debt hole.
So the question is, with the US consumer stretched thin by debt and US retail on the verge of a recessionary plunge, why would China feel threatened by the loss of the American consumer market?
They are losing it already by attrition.
The truth is they aren’t threatened. Which is whythe trade war continues unabated. This is the situation despite the fact that so many people have argued that China would “quickly fold” to Trump’s demands.
I realize this is not what many people want to hear, but it is foolish to get caught up in a farcical mob mentality and ignore the fundamentals in the trade war. If you think that the US is going to “win” based on leverage, you are sorely mistaken.
America has NO leverage. The US is in no better shape economically than China; in many ways, we are much worse off.
“Trump’s claim that an exodus of foreign firms will force China to capitulate to US demands to settle the trade war is wishful thinking at best,”
-Week In China
Fallacy #2: Manufacturing Will Return
This is perhaps the most persistent and fraudulent “carrot” that has been held out to the American people. It’s the idea that those “golden days” of American Manufacturing will return, and all will be back to “normal”.
It’s a lie.
It’s not going to happen.
I am sorry to break this new to you all, but factories, industrial might, scientific ability and skills are not “light switches” that you can turn on and off at will. You cannot just snap your fingers and start up a fully automated factory, producing high quality products with a skilled work force overnight.
It doesn’t work that way.
I covered this subject elsewhere. You can click on the link and it will open up in a separate tab.
First, as it stands now manufacturing in the US makes up only 11% of total economic output. I don’t think that many people understand the consequences of this.
We have a 70% retail and service-based economy.
This means that the majority of US citizens in the job market have no experience whatsoever in the manufacturing sector.
Thus, by extension, the average US company has no guidelines for how to establish a manufacturing base using the existing American labor pool.
Second, American labor expects a certain level of wage compensation. Not to mention an expectation of union organization. Combined, this makes manufacturing far more expensive here than in just about anywhere else in the world.
The average factory worker in China makes around $3.60 per hour. So tell me, just how exactly would the American market ever be able to compete with this?
Tariff’s alone are not enough to force corporations to spend the billions necessary to rebuild factories in the US and hire American workers at $15+ an hour (let alone the $45+ an hour at union wages). It’s just not going to happen.
There's a movie called "American Factory" that might be worth your time to watch. It's a documentary that was released in August 2019.
The documentary tells an increasingly American story. In 2015, seven years after a General Motors plant closed in Dayton, Ohio, a Chinese company that manufactures glass for trucks and automobiles reinvests in the factory.
The former GM workers are are ecstatic. Some went into foreclosure and were evicted from their homes after GM pulled out — one woman, a forklift operator named Jill Lamantia, is living in her sister’s basement. They’re happy to have another factory job. Never mind that the GM plant was fully unionized and paid more than $20 an hour, and Fuyao, a non-union shop, has a starting pay of $14 an hour, it’s a job.
Cao has a bold vision: Pair U.S. workers with Chinese workers, who are brought to Ohio to train and work alongside their American counterparts. The idea is that the Chinese and the Americans can learn from each other, taking the best working methods from each culture to increase production. Although Cao visits regularly from China, the onsite boss is an American, and management is from both cultures.
But the results don’t meet that utopian ideal. The culture divide seems insurmountable. To start with, the Chinese workers have no problem working long hours and overtime, while the Americans are used to eight-hour shifts...
Download the Movie Torrent HERE.
Read reviews about it HERE.
Third, there are many, many places besides China to build a manufacturing base. No company is going to bring its factories to the US when they can build in Vietnam, or Taiwan, etc. In many cases, it is cheaper to ship raw materials and products to these countries, have them finished by cheap and motivated workers in Asia, and then have the items shipped back, than it is to build the product from start to finish in the US.
Fourth, we can talk all day about patriotism, but in the end, the average American is not going to buy “Made in the USA” for most goods out of a sense of patriotic duty if the price is twice as much or much more. Walmart and Amazon dominate the retail market for a reason – they sell things cheaply.
$19.95 Toaster – Made in China.
$79.95 Toaster – Made in the USA.
Fifth, raising tariffs on foreign exporters would only work to encourage consumption of domestically manufactured goods. If the foreign made products cost too much, then you would buy American. Right?
Why buy an Mercedes, when you can buy fifteen (x15) Kia Rio Sedans for the same amount of money?
2019 Mercedes-Benz S-Class – $253,550
Kia Rio LX, 4-Door Sedan. – $16,195
This only holds true if the US already had a large manufacturing base and produced all the items other nations produce. But it doesn’t. Many of the things that are under the tariff schedule are wholly made overseas.
Televisions – 100% made in China.
iPhones – 100% made in China.
Sneakers – 100% made in China.
Clothes Washers – 100% made in China.
Automobile Tires – 100% made in China.
The American consumer doesn’t have a choice. He can only buy imported items. Thus, it is the American consumer that ends up paying the tariff.
Entering into a trade war without a resilient manufacturing sector is backward. You don’t fight a trade war to get manufacturing to come back, you fight a trade war to promote the goods you already manufacture.
Seriously, if Trump had really intended to bring factories back to the US, he should have done things differently. For instance, he could have given corporations tax break incentives in exchange for creating manufacturing jobs on US soil.
If you do “A”, I’ll give you “B”.
Instead, he didn’t do this. He just gave American corporations tax breaks for nothing.
Fallacy #3: China Will Starve Without American Food
Uh, no. China will not experience famines, riots, or starvation. It’s all pretty darn silly.
This is a very weird argument. It’s as if some people assume that the US is China’s only potential source for food. Where do Americans get such really “off the wall” ideas? Seriously!
China buys agricultural products from all over the world and has alternative sources for foods like soybeans and pork, including Brazil, Mexico, and Russia. Not to mention that they grow, and raise their own food. It’s part of the conservative belief in self-sufficiency. Don’t you know.
I covered this subject elsewhere. The link below will open up in a new tab. It’s pretty damming and will open up a few eyes. China is not a nation to be trifled with.
Prices will rise in China, sure, but nowhere near the point of
collapse. Again, the Chinese are not reliant on the US for anything, so,
the idea that the US has overt leverage in the trade war is simply not
true.
Fallacy #4: The World Will Side With The US Over China
This is a prime question – if they had to choose sides, would a given nation choose the USA, or choose China?
On one hand you have the debt-ridden oligarchy-ruled military state with a large consumer base or communist China’s cheap export market. What would they choose if they had to pick only one?
The US consumer is nearly tapped out.
China has the largest import/export market in the world.
The vast bulk of manufacturing is in China.
The US has little manufacturing to speak of.
I also question the validity of the idea that Europe or most other nations have loyalty to American markets. Think about it; do they really?
Do they see America as indispensable?
Or is the rest of the world being sent on a path towards globalism? Meanwhile the US is being made to look like a barbaric and archaic throwback. Like some kind of Neanderthal man that is desperately clinging to power. And one that is willing to drag everyone else down with him if he doesn’t get his way?
Why do people cling on to the power they hold, and you have to wait until they die before you can have some “new blood” and some changes done? Why won’t they just let go and accept change.
Many in the “liberty movement” understand that this is not the case.
We know that the globalists have sabotaged this country from within. We also know that they are using Trump as controlled opposition and a useful puppet in this task.
Ah yes, but the majority of the rest of the world does NOT understand this.
If there is an economic crash which sends shock-waves through multiple economies, the trade war will most likely be blamed along with Trump and his “populist” supporters.
The rest of the world will see us as the villains, because they do not understand the nature of 4th Generation Warfare, nor do they understand the globalists’ strategy of “order out of chaos”.
The narrative that has been pushed in the global mainstream media is quite different than what you would see on FOX.
China is the victim of US aggression.
The trade war and the economic crisis are purely a product of Trump’s madness.
Who do you honestly think the world will eventually side with?
We’ve been hearing this for almost three years now. Trade wars are “easy to win”, right?
Every couple of months the trade war deal hype is recycled and every couple of months the markets are hit with renewed disappointment. The latest trade talks are set for October and if they happen at all, it is unlikely they will result in anything of significance.
At most, they will be heralded as the “start of a great deal” and both sides will claim “progress was made”, and then, once again, nothing will happen and the conflict will accelerate.
You would think people would have figured it out by now, but the investment world learns very slowly and functions solely on blind hope. At the very least, economic analysts are starting to realize that no deal is coming and that the situation is only going to get tenser.
In fact, it is designed to get more tense.
Fallacy #6: The US Dollar Is Untouchable
This claim revolves mainly around the idea that because the US dollar is the world reserve currency, the US has the upper hand in all trade negotiations. Therefore, the rest of the world will follow the currency leader because there “is no other option”.
I disagree.
As Bank of England governor Mark Carney has openly admitted, the plan is to replace the dollar as the world reserve currency anyway. How? Well with a global cryptocurrency, of course.
They need a massive crash event, and they need the US dollar to go the way of the dodo.
It seems rather convenient to me that China has been preparing for just such an event. While many analysts point out that China has generated intense amounts of debt over the past decade, they seem to forget that this was a requirement in order for China to attach the Yuan to the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights basket. This is, of course, the foundation for a global currency mechanism.
Chinese economic officials and the globalists both argue that the current monetary system, based on a single national currency (the dollar) as the world reserve is inherently unstable.
Their solution? A basket of currencies monitored by the IMF, followed by a single digital currency mechanism.
I would note that China and the globalists have consistently hinted that a major economic crisis event will act as a catalyst for this “reset” in the world monetary order and that the dollar must be replaced in the process.
China has also been stockpiling large amounts of gold for
the past decade. This would indicate they are expecting a monetary
devaluation event, most specifically in the dollar. It’s as if they
know something the rest of us only suspect.
The trade war is the perfect cover for the collapse of the US dollar that the globalists desire. While some people suggest that China’s dumping of US treasuries is the “nuclear option” in the trade war, this is not exactly true.
The REAL nuclear option is for China to dump the US dollar as the reserve trade mechanism and go to a basket of currencies, which the IMF will happily aid them with.
As the largest exporter/importer in the world, China can drop the dollar and most of their trading partners will follow their lead. The US economy would crumble in response, as the dollar is the only thread holding our system together.
This is a FACT, Jack.
This is the ugly truth behind the trade war. It is nothing more than a farce, a smoke and mirrors distraction leading up the dismantling of the US dollar and paving the way for the globalist one-world digital currency system.
Whether or not the plan succeeds relies on ample resistance from people who see the danger ahead. However, make no mistake, the globalists are not afraid of an economic crash or the decline of the dollar. In truth, they WANT these things to happen so they can establish even more centralized control.
Updates
Hot off the presses! We surveyed our members on how they are adapting to the US-China Trade War and have some surprising comparative data here from a previous survey in January 2019.
Long story short: European companies have resigned themselves to the long-term nature of the trade war, and many have made significant shifts in strategy to mitigate its effects. That means changing suppliers, rejigging product flows through corporate global operations, and avoiding the US-China trade 'border' like the plague.
Interestingly, roughly the same number of companies that are moving relevant production out of China (8%) are increasing investment in China (6%) as companies decide to move out affected production or further onshore supply chains respectively to avoid the tariff bite.
However, the effects of the uncertainty coming from the trade war are increasingly significant. In January, 6% of members said they were delaying investment/expansion decisions in reaction to the conflict. That number climbed to 15% in September.
-European Survey
Conclusion
The “Trump Trade War” is a natural progression of events that were bound to occur sooner or later. It will eventually precipitate numerous events. One of which will be a global currency. Another will be a strong ascendancy of China in the global stage. As well as some serious internal economic readjustments (collapse, maybe?) in America.
We will sit by and see what happens.
Personally, I hope that any changes that occur to be a painless as possible. To endure the changes, you might need to turn off the mainstream American media which will be shrieking, wailing, gnashing it’s teeth and flaying it’s arms all about in wild, crazed abandon.
12OCT19 Update
Trump said the U.S. and China have "agreed in principle" on a preliminary trade agreement. Trump acknowledged that differences remain on major issues on which the two countries are divided, but the White House still decided not to push ahead with a planned increased to tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods next week.
The move would have raised those tariffs to 30% from 25%.
"There's too many factors at play for him to just issue threats to governments, China's or anybody else's, to just follow along with what he says," said Wang, referring to the U.S. president's previous threats to slap additional penalties on Chinese goods.
-USA Today; Senior China adviser: Trump to blame for delays in securing final trade deal, says China has been 'accommodating'
Take a break
I know all this is very serious stuff, and a tad alarming. I would suggest that you might want to check out some of my lighter articles. Here’s four stories for starters. All open up in a separate tab for your viewing pleasure. Pick one and relax.
Links about China
Here are
some links about my observations on China. I think that you, the reader,
might find them to be of interest. Please kindly enjoy.
China and America Comparisons
As an
American, I cannot help but compare what my life was in the United
States with what it is like living in China. Here we discuss that.
The Chinese Business KTV Experience
This is
the real deal. Forget about all that nonsense that you find in the
British tabloids and an occasional write up in the American liberal
press. This is the reality. Read or not.
Learning About China
Who
doesn’t like to look at pretty girls? Ugly girls? Here we discuss what
China is like by looking at videos of pretty girls doing things in
China.
Contemporaneous Chinese Music
This is a
series of posts that discuss contemporaneous popular music in China. It
is a wide ranging and broad spectrum of travel, and at that, all that I
am able to provide is the flimsiest of overviews. However, this series
of posts should serve as a great starting place for investigation and
enjoyment.
Parks in China
The parks
in China are very unique. They are enormous and tend to be very
mountainous. Here we take a look at this most interesting of subjects.
Really Strange China
Here are
some posts that discuss a number of things about China that might seem
odd, or strange to Westerners. Some of the things are everyday events,
while others are just representative of the differences in culture.
What is China like?
The
purpose of this post is to illustrate that the rest of the world,
outside of America, has moved on with their lives. That while they
might not be as great as America is, they are doing just fine thank
you.
And while
America has been squandering it’s money, decimating it’s resources,
and just being cavalier with it’s military, the rest of the world has
done the opposite. They have husbanded their day to day fortunes, and
you can see this in their day-to-day lives.
Summer in Asia
Let’s take a moment to explore Asia. That includes China, but also includes such places as Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and others…
Some Fun Videos
Here’s a collection of some fun videos taken all over Asia. While
there are many videos taken in China, we also have some taken in
Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea and Japan as well. It’s all in fun.
Articles & Links
You’ll not
find any big banners or popups here talking about cookies and privacy
notices. There are no ads on this site (aside from the hosting ads – a
necessary evil). Functionally and fundamentally, I just don’t make money
off of this blog. It is NOT monetized. Finally, I don’t track you
because I just don’t care to.
You can start reading the articles sequentially by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE to find out how to go about this.
![The reasons clearly have to do with [1] the US economy softening in the 3rd quarter combined with [2] a growing discontent in the farm sector. This discontent is over Trump’s handling of the trade dispute that was beginning to bite hard on US farm sector sales. You see, American farmers were heavily dependent on exports to China.](https://metallicman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/5107_Fig5-1024x718.png)
![“[W]e should ban possession of military-style semiautomatic assault weapons, we should buy back such weapons from all who choose to abide by the law, and we should criminally prosecute any who choose to defy it by keeping their weapons,” Rep. Eric Swalwell wrote, adding that law enforcement agencies and shooting clubs should be exempted.](https://metallicman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/10-reasons-to-oppose-gun-confiscation-SWATing-aka-red-flag-gun-laws.jpg)
