2020年9月30日星期三

Boomer elite faces day of reckoning

Bill Bonner’s Diary

Boomer Elite Faces Day of Reckoning

By Bill Bonner

Wednesday, September 30, 2020 – Week 29 of the Quarantine

This was a spiteful, chaotic, abusive, often out-of-control brawling encounter, with both candidates revealing their contempt for each other.

– Paul Kelly, Editor-at-Large, The Australian

Bill Bonner

SAN MARTIN, ARGENTINA – What is amazing, at least to us, is that two grown men – with decades of public speaking experience, months to prepare, and millions of people watching – could not do a better job.

Not that we expected Marcus Tullius Cicero or even Sam Irvin. But Donald Trump and Joe Biden took the presidential debate down to a new level.

Many commentators said it was an “embarrassment” to the nation, that America’s prestige fell in foreign eyes.

But, always the optimists, we doubt there was much room left on the downside.

After 20 years of Bush the Younger, Obama, and Trump, the foreigners knew what to expect. Last night, like the third sequel to a bad movie, they got it.

No Real Threat

Yesterday, colleague Dan Denning called to record an interview on the eve of the debate. “Would the presidential debate… or the upcoming election… make any real difference?” he asked.

[Lifetime Bonner-Denning Letter subscribers can catch the recording in full on Friday… If you’re not yet a subscriber, you can sign up here.]

The pitch was wide. But we reached for it.

The answer was: No.

Because none of the bugaboos and hobgoblins that the candidates promise to protect us from are much of a real threat.

“Unfair” trade – whatever that is – is no danger to the republic. Viruses come and go. Neither Antifa nor the Proud Boys are likely to lead a revolution.

China will not invade California. Russia will not change the election results. And nothing the president does is likely to have any effect on the planet.

On the other hand, the thing that will almost certainly cause misery to millions of Americans… and over which the president has more control than any other human being… was not even mentioned last night. Nor will either candidate ever bring it up.

Why? Because the two old, white men running for president are both champions of the same worn-out, degenerate scam. Neither will admit that it doesn’t work. Neither will propose to change it.

A Revolutionary New Force Set to Create 818,236 New Millionaires Over the Next Three Years…

Real Danger

But let us back up a moment and introduce three intertwined themes.

First, the Baby Boomer elites, who control American business and government, are getting old and fearful.

Second, they have set up a political/economic system which is fundamentally unsustainable… corrupt… and counterproductive.

And third, they are now desperate to keep the jig up.

The real danger is not abroad. It’s at home. It speaks English. It is college educated. It lives in a nice house… wears a suit and tie… and may even go to church on Sunday.

It is over 60 and looking forward to a rich, comfortable retirement… perhaps in one of the new Zoom Towns, where it can protect itself from the disintegration of the American economy.

This elite is neither good nor bad. It just is what it is. It is, well, us.

Look around you. Have you ever seen so many fearful people? People who have lost courage… lost faith… and lost their minds.

They are willing to be frisked every time they get on an airplane… as protection against the almost negligible chance that someone will want to blow it up.

Even young, healthy people are willing to submit to house arrest… rather than face the risk of getting sick.

They are afraid that the “planet is angry” and that it will be consumed by the fires of Hell unless we stop using fossil fuels.

Ahead of the Game

Do civilized adults need the government to tell them how to protect themselves from a virus? The New York Times reluctantly admits that they don’t:

Vilified Early Over Lax Virus Strategy, Sweden Seems to Have Scourge Controlled

Sweden let people decide for themselves. Those who were afraid of the virus could stay at home. Those who were not could go about their business.

The U.S., meanwhile, panicked, shutting down large parts of the economy (U.S. second-quarter GDP fell 31%!).

But the death rate for both countries was about the same. And now, Sweden appears to be way ahead of the game, with very few new cases.

Looking for the next tech cash cow? This is it.

Cost of Protection

Aging Americans see a future full of bogeymen. And they want the government to protect them.

But the protection comes at a cost. The cost of their “war against terror,” according to Brown University, totes to more than $6 trillion… 800,000 dead… and 37 million displaced.

Their heavy-handed attempts to hold off the virus crippled the economy… and resulted in collateral damage – depression, suicide, stunted careers, etc. – which will be tallied later.

Real Risk

But what concerns us here at the Diary is the cost of protecting against the financial future. That is where the real risk lies.

Having bent and distorted the economy for its own benefit, the Baby Boomer elite now faces a reckoning.

In an effort to protect itself from the risks of old age, it has promised itself health and pension benefits, unfunded, worth over $200 trillion. It would be impossible to keep up with those obligations, even with a healthy economy.

Trump and Biden may trade moronic calumnies, but they represent the same group, with the same desperate goal – to keep the show on the road.

What will they do? Will they sell their souls? Or sell out their children?

Let’s look at it tomorrow…

Regards,

signature

Bill


Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to feedback@rogueeconomics.com.


FEATURED READS

A Recap of the First 2020 U.S. Presidential Debate
The first U.S. presidential debate of 2020 riled up the candidates and American viewers alike. If you missed it – or want to revisit the most important moments – catch up here

Doug Casey: George Orwell’s Worst Nightmare Is Coming True
Fake news… censorship… and politically correct culture are getting out of hand. But that’s no surprise for those familiar with author George Orwell’s book, 1984. Hear more about these ideas from Bill’s longtime friend and colleague Doug Casey…

MAILBAG

Dear readers are opinionated today about President Trump’s tax returns… and the idea that The Donald is a “national security risk”…

You disagreed with Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s calling Trump a national security risk. I would say that he was a national security risk prior to learning about his tax evasion and tax fraud schemes, but this makes it much worse. As anyone who has filled out an SF-86 (for a security clearance) will know, our government considers all foreign money transactions as potentially risky. The thought is that if someone pays you, or you are investing overseas, you have an inherent conflict of interest with the United States.

I personally was grilled by the Secret Service for holding a Japanese CD in my IRA account. So, for someone to owe over $420 million to un-named persons certainly provides those persons with leverage on the person of Mr. Trump, and opens the door that decisions made will facilitate their interests over those of the United States.

– Ann H.

“Nancy Pelosi even imagined that a man in the White House with so much personal debt posed a ‘national security threat.’ As to the latter claim, the House Speaker is surely exaggerating. The president’s $400 million in personally guaranteed debt may pose a threat to himself, but not to the nation.”

Really? It didn’t occur to you that if “Putin” or some other lender might hold sway over the Moron-in-Chief, that he wouldn’t sell the U.S. out in a heartbeat? Trump sure seems to be a cheat, a thief, and a liar to me, in my honest opinion. Get real. Wake up!

– Jeff S.

Your assertion that Trump’s debt is none of our business and that it’s not a national threat is misguided at best. Every rank-and-file financial employee – and most elected officials – have to pass a financial fitness test. I had to fire a very qualified assistant once because she had debts in excess of assets and was considered a risk to my financial planning business. Banks, as well, follow these rules. As did my husband when he worked for the state attorney general. We had to file a 707 every year, disclosing every stock and bond owned, so as to comply with conflict of interest regulations.

Trump refused to put his assets in a blind trust, or to divest himself of any potential conflicts of interest. He bragged about selling a home to a Russian oligarch for five times its value, knowing it was very likely Putin’s kleptocracy money, stolen from the Russian people. We don’t know who he owes, yet Don Jr. bragged that they didn’t need money from U.S. banks; they had Russian money backing their ventures. Is that not a security threat?

Everyone is puzzled at how Trump shows disdain for poor countries and our allies, while expressing inordinate praise and admiration for murderous dictators. Is the need to know who he owes money to not a possible answer? He lies with impunity. It’s time we got answers, and full disclosure is warranted.

– Judy S.

What are your thoughts on the first 2020 U.S. presidential debate? Is full disclosure of Trump’s finances warranted, as Judy believes? Write us at feedback@rogueeconomics.com.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

You're Living in the 'WTF Economy'

After a decade-long bull market, stocks melted down.

Then staged a historic bounce-back rally.

We’ve seen 51 million Americans lose jobs… Then $1,200 checks magically appear in mailboxes across the United States…

Followed by stocks posting their best quarter in 20 years…

All whispers of a second ‘lockdown.’

If you’re wondering: “What’s coming next?”

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