If you’re excited it’s Friday and in the mood for one of my spicy rants, you’ve come to the right place.
What’d you do yesterday?
If you’re like most Americans you woke up, had some coffee, checked your iphone (on/off the toilet), mulled around a bit, and then either began your WFH job or started your commute.
Once at the office you probably dicked around for awhile, before settling into your mind numbing schedule, took orders from your boss, thought about what to get for lunch, did more mindless work in powerpoint, excel, salesforce, or called some clients, wrapped the day up and headed home.
If you’re disciplined you worked out, but most people likely rushed home or straight to a bar to drink, imbibe, juul, scroll social media, and numb their pain with any range of dopamine inducing activities, only to wake up and do it all over again.
Nothing wrong with making a living and throwing back a few fat bois but how often do you stop to think about where this is all going?
Where do you fit in the picture? Where is the US heading?
Don’t you have a bone to pick with the politicians, elite, and officials who grinf*ck us harder each day?
They’ve conveniently memory holed the entire pandemic, how politicians lied to us, misrepresented solutions, manipulated currencies and assets, locked us down, and then suddenly, it was all over because a foreign country named Ukraine, was being invaded by Russia.
Suddenly Covid was over and it was no longer that big a deal - supporting a country half way around the world (where extensive money laundering occurs) was all they could talk about and the absurd money printing shifted to massive amounts of ammunition, arms, and billions upon billions of dollars funneled while CIA assets, satellites, and proxy mechanisms worked to take the fight to the commies in a not so subtle way.
As a result of Putin’s rash actions food supply chains crumbled and energy markets are a complete mess that will get worse as we move into fall and winter. Europeans will likely die by the thousands from lack of proper heating, social unrest, and famine.
Back home in the US home heating costs are reaching highest level in more than 10 years - families will pay roughly 17% more than last season - according to the director of NEADA Mark Wolfe - this crisis in the US will put millions of lower income families at risk of not being able to pay their energy bills and will force them to choose between food, medicine, and housing costs) while they also anticipate a 42% jump in the cost of household electricity compared to last winter before the pandemic hit.
The Fed is annihilating people’s savings and 401Ks, the housing market is teetering, unemployment is going to rise, and a recession, if not here already, seems imminent this Winter as global supply and energy shortages persist and our enemies are making highly bold and strategic moves to capitalize on the chaos.
But at least there was a leak of the new Grand Theft Auto and a funny Adam Levine DM message!
Something highly sinister is brewing on the global stage that only the observant are picking up on.
Why are so many content going about their day to day with no consideration for the scale and potential ramifications of perceived all out war with Russia and China?
As Will Ferrell remarked in Eastbound and Down - I can feel it in my plums.
But there’s more to it than feel, there is also empirical evidence to suggest that a much larger conflict between Russia, NATO/ the West, and China is festering and is beginning to play out while nations start to see anarchic levels of unrest across the globe - Venezuela, Serbia, Germany, India, Iran, and the UK, to name a few though over 110 countries are currently experiencing protests.
Crypto and defi aside - a major theme that will continue for years to come is that of the individual vs. the institution and the growing lack of trust by the former for the latter.
We’ve covered the Ukraine conflict closely and it’s implications on the global energy markets through Arb Letter and Arbitrage Andy as it has developed - but we are making a new and bolder prediction on how things end up going from here and how the repercussions will ripple throughout the globe.
The conditions are ripe for a massive and potentially nuclear conflict to erupt on the European and global stage in the coming months that few people can comprehend.
It’s almost shocking to me how complacent and unassuming most people are given what’s going on, but the Western media coverage of Russia’s recent escalation as well as the propoganda, explains that to some extent.
We aren’t asking why we are truly in Ukraine.
Is that really what’s in the best interest of the world or us?
Genuine question.
Is it being handled properly?
In the US we’re fat and happy to drive around with Ukrainian flags with really no understanding of the implications of how our support is being perceived and how our involvement, however clandestine it is, is being interpreted by our enemies who aren’t focused on gender identification, partisan politics, or vaccine mandates. They are focused on winning long term against us.
“So powerful are such compulsions, at all times and in all places, that the absence of any rational motives for a war, or of any constructive purpose that could be served by one, is quite lost sight of behind them.
The assumption of the inevitability of a war is allowed to rest exclusively on the fact that “we” and “they” are both preparing so intensively for it. No other reason is needed for the acceptance of its necessity.”
-George Keenan - Fateful Alliance
In fact our enemies have been running thorough psychological operations against our country for some time now.
Do Americans really care? Or are they more concerned with the next seltzer flavor from the Nelk Boys and what Brett Favre is up to?
This isn’t fear porn, conspiracy, or shock content - it’s an objective diagnosis of how bad things are getting and how quickly they can now escalate.
Even Europeans on social media seem to be ignorant or in denial about how bad things are going to get as they move into the depths of winter with a desperate, hungry wolf at their doorstep.
There's been rumors of war and wars that have been
The meaning of life has been lost in the wind
And some people thinkin' that the end is close by
'Stead of learnin' to live they are learnin' to die-Bob Dylan
The world has strayed from reality
I wanted to take some time before we dive into our analysis to just make some general observations about the state of people and society, primarily in the United States.
This isn’t meant to be political - more just high level observations of sentiment, behavior, and characteristics.
No doubt amplified by the pandemic, inflation, work from home, stimulus, pop culture, and the years of prosperity and insulation our country enjoyed, people are now so far removed from reality you wonder how it is they’d fare if things suddenly went to shit.
Political divisiveness has evolved into pure hatred for the other side
People have lost much of their humanity and basic “cheer/love for life”
People are desensitized to violence, opting to take out their Iphones and film fights, crimes, assaults, car accidents, etc. instead of helping their fellow humans
Nobody wants to work anymore - workers attitudes everywhere are complete shit and blue collar jobs/essential companies can’t find help
White collar and corporate jobs are filled with ranks of woke - soft individuals and useless middle managers who waste money, play political games, and shirk any real responsibility or ownership
Younger generations are extremely entitled and ignorant of basic history, life skills, and social manners
Kids and super young people have severe ADHD, mental issues, addictions, and no boundaries. (Tik Tok, toxic Pop Culture, irresponsible parents, break down of the family unit, break down of communities, mass shootings, etc.)
Complete political incompetence from both parties (open borders, reckless spending, corruption, mass power grabs, lies, selling out to foreign powers)
Break down of healthy male female relationships, promotion of promiscuity, online dating, etc. (tons of unhappy women and even more frustrated men)
A severe break down in patriotism and healthy nationalism
About 75 percent of America's 17- to 24-year-olds were ineligible for military service due to lack of education, obesity, and other physical problems, or criminal history in 2009, according to a report issued by the Mission: Readiness group (Thought Co).
Sheesh. That’s quite the update Andy, why you have to be like that? Why does that even matter Andy!?
Let me watch my tentacle hentai and slurp bud lights in peace!
I’ll tell you why it matters.