Preparing For The Full Force Of Reality

The real economy is suffering and getting worse by the day. The imbalances created by giant finance will not go away, regardless of intervention.  There is an odd phenomenon at work. Society is now fully accustomed to the disbelieving the gap.

Yesterday, things were going well. The market went up in spite of itself. Tomorrow ought to be the same.  Everything must be fine.

The invisible hand is something that cannot be understood.  It's like quantum physics; if you think you understand you obviously don't.  But at the base of it all - simple principles are constantly at work.

I live near the ocean. By a beach with notoriously strong currents and cold water.  Of course, my kids don't seem to feel it. Perhaps they don't have enough emotional associations with what it means to be cold.

Occasionally, I take them to the beach with me. Despite many years surfing, I am ‘emotionally’ tied to the comfort of wearing a wetsuit.

To the horror of my wife, I let them play near the edge, up to their knees. I am their personal lifeguard. They only venture out to my comfort level. They stay close. They are perfect ages, old enough to listen and young enough for very simple pleasures. 

I watch the oncoming sets of waves breaking on the shore. If the swell is strong enough, and the tide just right, every once in a while a rogue wave will come in….

Just before the most recent jobs report came out like it always does on the last Friday of the month, I expected the same.  To my surprise, courtesy of Zerohedge.com, we got the following. What’s fascinating about this is that it represents a trend we are beginning to see where officials are coming around to a list of unmentionable realities over the course of the last financial crisis.

"53 Million Temps: All You Need To Know About The "Jobs Recovery"

After years of ignoring the obvious, the Federal Reserve has been finally forced to admit that the labor force participation rate matters and, in fact, has started to point it out as a clear negative when it comes to Yellen's "dashboard" of thresholds.

These thresholds will allow the Fed to raise rates (for the obvious reason that the Fed is desperate to delay ZIRP as long as possible and is now highlighting all that is wrong with the economy, contrary to Obama who is still focusing on all the rigged greatness of the US recovery).

Think of all these people out of work, dependent on handouts, and hope.  Forced to ignore reality and more open to propaganda.

They face a constant state of uncertainty. Under the surface is a trembling panic which looms larger each day. Damaging, growing in parallel with the fantastic peril perpetuated by finance and easy money. Unsound money that predisposes society to social unrest. A discontent that will incite the coming collapse.

Nothing can be done, though they will try.

Remember the last financial crisis? It is well known (and bipartisan) that no one in any major position of power was prosecuted for the obvious frauds committed. Frauds committed years before they manifested in the financial markets.

Taken as a premise, there is no reason for anyone of influence (a tiny, ever so concentrated elite) to consider the risk of a repeat. Therefore, we get more of the same from Congress up to the Treasury and over to the Federal Reserve - a revolving door club in between.

I read an old familiar comment the other day that captures how ignorance and fear go hand in hand: "People who advocate precious metals are advocating a period of chaos and confusion".

This statement conveys all that has gone so horribly wrong with the socio-cultural frame of reference about money and wealth.

Sadly, the only thing that can be done about it is to let it happen and, therefore, prepare.

It's not about hoping for some worst case scenario. It’s always about preparing - especially when the writing is on the wall and we are far past the point where further intervention can bring us back.

On this particular day, the kids were having fun, innocently frolicking in the shore break. I watched it all unfold. I've seen it maybe a million times.

A solid wave arrives like a little tsunami; a surge preceded by a mesmerizing drop in the surface level as the incoming wave causes the water to recede.

It swept both kids into the water. Their feet and legs vacuumed out from under so fast it almost seemed like it was choreographed.  Of course, they were fine. I was right there to see the priceless (harmless) looks of panicked surprise.

But I’ll never forget how unassuming that rush of water was - how it came from nowhere like that. Yet I knew it was coming eventually.

The point is that the familiar desensitizes to logical dangers.  These financial times are only complex in terms of the manifestation of financial abuse, not the basic economic principles.

The basic principles are principles for a reason - they don't change. You can live by them.

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