Category: Social Issues
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Hacking Wall Street to Close the Wealth Gap / Politics / Social Issues
By: John_Mauldin
By Dawn Pennington : Just like the legend of a bow-and-arrow toting, Sherwood Forest-dwelling vigilante, Menlo Park, Calif.-based Robinhood set out to bring that sentiment to the retail investing set with a brokerage app.The company was founded in April 2013 by Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, who had previously built high-frequency trading platforms for financial institutions. Their goal was to provide everyone with access to the financial markets, not just the wealthy… just like the Merry Men would do with unsuspecting victims traveling through Sherwood Forest.
The idea was a hit. No one had ever offered stock trades with zero commissions. This made investing affordable for people of any age and income. Today, the app has over 13 million users with an average age of 31.
The company has no storefront branches and operates entirely online without fees… and, as customers found out last week, no customer service.
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
The Road To Perdition Is Paved With Evil Intentions / Politics / Social Issues
By: James_Quinn
“Suckers think that you cure greed with money, addiction with substances, expert problems with experts, banking with bankers, economics with economists, and debt crises with debt spending” ― Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms
“Globalization has created this interlocking fragility. At no time in the history of the universe has the cancellation of a Christmas order in New York meant layoffs in China.” – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
As we continue our national lockdown suicide cult to hell, I find myself getting angrier and angrier at the pathetic leadership displayed by politicians, government bureaucrats, so called medical “experts”, and intellectual yet idiot academics displaying their ignorance of facts, reality, history, and humanity. My nature is to be skeptical of everything I read or am told.
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Monday, April 13, 2020
The Society will Strike Back, or are the Swedish too Dumb? / Politics / Social Issues
By: Submissions
I first wrote about a contact tracing surveillance app on mobile phones on 6th April 2020. Six days later, on the 12th April Apple and Google announce their cooperation to develop such app. Apart from the fact the authorities will never let a tech company to store such sensitive information the fundamental problem with Google and Apple plan is the fact that a government will not accept a disease carrier individual to freely and anonymously pass a disease to others in society. It is against the fundamental responsibility of each sovereign state to keep health and well being of society. It is highly naive if Apple or Google thinks that the state will not get involved and will have a closed eye on the control of such sensitive information. As I stated before we will move eventually more to a full implementation of a state contact tracing (surveillance) plan.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Some Positives in a Virus Wracked World / Politics / Social Issues
By: John_Mauldin
It should be pretty obvious that we need to rethink how our supply chains are constructed. The U.S. is running out of something as simple as mouth-testing swabs. It seems the entire world supply is made by two companies.
When asked where I thought those were, I replied “China.” It is worse. They are both in Milan, Italy.
Milan is currently under siege in total lockdown, and the swabs are stranded on the docks in their own kind of quarantine. The link in that supply chain has snapped.
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Thursday, January 16, 2020
America 2020 – YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY (PART TWO) / Politics / Social Issues
By: James_Quinn
In Part One of this article I detailed my inability to predict the timing of events during this Fourth Turning, while maintaining the catalysts of debt, civic decay, and global disorder continue to drive the world towards a cliff.
“Every schoolchild will know what happened next, from the Oh-Ohs to the 2020s, as the Fourth Turning unfolded—but academics will surely debate how and why it came to pass. In his history, this great-great-grandson of today’s baby girl will reflect on what the Fourth Turning came to mean for his own time and generation. His history is not yet written. What will it be?” – Strauss & Howe
The Trump team is now poised to go on the offensive as this Constitutional crisis intensifies and hurtles towards a violent conclusion. Barr and Durham are busy building a case against the Obama administration and their illegal activities before and after the election. As the election approaches and Durham concludes his investigation, indictments handed down on Clapper, Brennan, Comey or any of the other conspirators would lead to turmoil not seen since the Civil War. No matter the result of the upcoming election, neither side will accept the outcome.
This country is irretrievably broken and there will be no compromise or negotiated agreements. With Virginia Governor “Blackface” Northam attempting to overturn the 2nd Amendment and forcefully confiscate lawfully owned firearms from his citizens a modern-day Harper’s Ferry confrontation could be in the offing. There are no viable political solutions to our current dilemmas. It’s just a matter of when and where the conflict goes hot and blood is spilled.
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Sunday, December 29, 2019
Americans Are Not “Free to Choose” Anymore / Politics / Social Issues
By: John_Mauldin
When you write for a wide audience, no matter what you say, or how carefully you say it, some people will misunderstand. Sometimes it’s amusing. Reading through my feedback (and I do read all of it), I get called both heartless capitalist and bleeding-heart socialist in reaction to the same article.
In fact, I’m neither. I am a capitalist, and proudly so. I believe free markets are the best way to bring maximum prosperity and peace for everyone. But I’m not heartless, nor do I think markets are perfect. Even the best medicines can have serious side effects. That is doubly so when you aren’t taking the medicine correctly.
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
America See You On The Dark Side Of The Moon - Part2 / Politics / Social Issues
By: James_Quinn
In Part 1 of this article I tried to link the greed and depravity of those pulling the strings behind the curtain of the Deep State with perpetual warfare being waged by the military industrial complex and the purposeful dumbing down of the populace so propaganda spewed by the Deep State’s media mouthpieces finds fertile ground. Pink Floyd’s lyrics from their existential album – Dark Side of the Moon – continue to resonate today, even more than they did in 1973.
Breathe
Breathe, breathe in the air Don’t be afraid to care Leave, don’t leave me Look around, choose your own ground
Long you live and high you fly Smiles you’ll give and tears you’ll cry And all you touch and all you see Is all your life will ever be
I knew Part 1 of this article would be easier to write than Part 2 because I’m more comfortable writing about financial issues and expounding upon the political and economic degradation of our empire of debt. Pondering my life and choices I’ve made or haven’t made is something I’d rather not think about. But, as I was driving home from getting blood work done last Saturday morning, the haunting chords of Breathe emanated from my car radio, urging me to tackle the rest of my article. Breathe is a very short instrumental piece of less than 3 minutes.
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Monday, December 02, 2019
See You On The Dark Side Of The Moon / Politics / Social Issues
By: James_Quinn
And if the cloud bursts thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear
And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes
I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon
Brain Damage, Pink Floyd
And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon
Brain Damage, Pink Floyd
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Tuesday, September 03, 2019
Americans DEMORALIZED, DEPRESSED, DETACHED & DEFIANT / Politics / Social Issues
By: James_Quinn
I’ve now been running The Burning Platform blog for over ten years. It’s been over eleven years since I wrote my first article – Why We Need Ron Paul – in May 2008 during the Republican primaries. I really thought I could change enough minds through my writing to influence voters and help wake up people to the truth about our deteriorating financial situation. I would send op-eds to my local paper, and they would publish them. My articles on Seeking Alpha in 2008/2009 were the most read and commented on their site.
My assessment of the Wall Street banks, coming financial crisis and recession were accurate enough that I was being sought out by Glenn Beck on CNN, Neal Cavuto on Fox, and Maria Bartiromo on CNBC to be interviewed on their shows. I didn’t want that kind of attention, since it would likely have negatively impacted my day job – which actually supported my family.
I had already experienced negative blowback when I predicted the bankruptcy of General Growth Properties in one of my articles. It seems the CFO was a Wharton grad and large donor to the real estate department. He called the Dept. head, who called the Deputy Dean, who called my boss, the CFO. It was at this point where any mention of Wharton was forbidden on my part, or I risked being terminated.
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Tuesday, July 16, 2019
This Economy Left Millions of Americans Behind / Politics / Social Issues
By: Patrick_Watson
Remember “No Child Left Behind,” George W. Bush’s education reform plan? Congress passed it in 2001.Whether that law actually helped is subject to debate, but Bush picked a good name for it. Humans are social creatures. Our instincts tell us to make sure no one in our tribe gets “left behind,” economically or otherwise.
That instinct breaks down sometimes. Or we disagree about who belongs in our tribe. It’s a big problem in either case.
Hence, when people say even the poorest Americans live better than their grandparents did, or better than those in other countries, they miss the point.
Past generations and people overseas are the wrong comparison. We get angry when our own group leaves us behind.
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Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Racial Reparations Another Version of Slavery / Politics / Social Issues
By: BATR
Racial neutrality was becoming an entrenched aspect in the populist general culture. Yet, the faction of continuing tribal dissention, once again, raised its Identity discontent to keep and widen the gap among varied sub groups. Slavery has never been limited to people of African descent. But to suffer through the repetitive diatribe that Blacks deserve sole recompense for their distress because of the color of their skin is offensive to any advocate of sincere social justice. By any objective standard the last half century since the racial riots that burned urban centers of rebellion; the advancement of Afro-Americans improved in most aspects. Those who assimilated into the mainstream culture usually shared the benefits of unification. However, the lingering resentment that eats away at achieving civil co-existence is brought up whenever it is politically opportune for the power hungry race baiters.
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Monday, April 29, 2019
The World's Saddest And Happiest Countries - Hanke's Annual Misery Index 2018 / Politics / Social Issues
By: Steve_H_Hanke
The human condition inhabits a vast continuum between "miserable" and "happy." In the sphere of economics, misery tends to flow from high inflation, steep borrowing costs and unemployment. The most surefire way to mitigate that misery is economic growth. All else equal, happiness tends to blossom when growth is strong, inflation and interest rates are low, and jobs are plentiful.
Many countries measure and report these economic metrics on a regular basis. Comparing them, nation by nation, can tell us a lot about where in the world people are sad or happy.
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Wednesday, March 20, 2019
A Tide In The Affairs Of Men / Politics / Social Issues
By: Raul_I_Meijer
Sometimes we find ourselves merely pondering, not so much solving big problems. Is there playing out, in the world at large, or at least the world of men, something akin to the Kondratieff cycle in economics, a larger cycle, a force, a tide, an energy, that we mostly ignore, but which drives our ‘affairs’? Dr. D. thinks there may well be. But if so, what happens to free will?
Dr. D.:
Dr. D.: I seem to have taken a dark and grumpy turn lately. Probably the winter, but as I get older, I find the present state of the world more and more frustrating.
I fear with the present madness it’s just de rigor to 1) label people as something they’re not, even the OPPOSITE of what they are, 2) furiously fight that strawman and 3) not care. I have no explanation for it, but there are times and tides in the affairs of men (as Shakespeare would say) which flood you out and cost a fortune. …Or something like that.
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Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Collapse of Society Almost Complete / Politics / Social Issues
By: BATR
The experiences from South America provide lessons totally applicable to the United States. If you think that the bread lines in Venezuela cannot come to our country, take a look at what is happening in the rest of Latin America. While economic failures contribute to the slide in prosperity and government expansion adds to greater indebtedness, the complicity of their citizens provides the environment for even bigger demands. Daniel J. Mitchell is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute writes in Brazil, Big Government and Mitchell’s Theorem of Societal Collapse. His summary is accurate and precise.
Tuesday, March 05, 2019
America's 30 Blocks of Holes / Politics / Social Issues
By: James_Quinn
“If you have been voting for politicians who promise to give you goodies at someone else’s expense, then you have no right to complain when they take your money and give it to someone else, including themselves.” ― Thomas Sowell
“The fact that so many successful politicians are such shameless liars is not only a reflection on them, it is also a reflection on us. When the people want the impossible, only liars can satisfy.” ― Thomas Sowell
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Monday, February 25, 2019
Winter Of Our Discontent Meets Fyre Festival / Politics / Social Issues
By: James_Quinn
“When a condition or a problem becomes too great, humans have the protection of not thinking about it. But it goes inward and minces up with a lot of other things already there and what comes out is discontent and uneasiness, guilt and a compulsion to get something–anything–before it is all gone.” ― John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent
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Wednesday, December 19, 2018
2018 Chaos, 2019 Mayhem / Politics / Social Issues
By: Raul_I_Meijer
It took me a while to decide which word(s) best define the past year and the next one, but I think this is pretty much it. 2018 was chaotic more than anything else, and that chaos will give rise to mayhem in 2019.
What I think is striking is that this is true across the board, in all walks of life so to speak. In finance, in politics, in energy markets, in ecological matters, and perhaps most of all in the ways all these topics are being covered by what once were trusted media.
I’m going to have to come back to all these topics separately, so it’s promising to be a very busy holiday season, but it’s also good to try and put them together in one place, if only to show how interconnected everything is. And how futile it is to look at the economy without seeing its connection to energy flows and ecosystems. And vice versa.
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Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Politics and Economics in Times of Crisis / Politics / Social Issues
By: Raul_I_Meijer
The news still isn’t the news, and I’m getting afraid it never will be again, because not the news just simply sells so much better than plain old real events. Maria Butina suddenly popped back into the public eye, because she was either charged with something or confessed to it. And I’m thinking, excuse me, but that poor girl has been kept in isolation for how long now? And for what reason exactly?
I vividly remember thinking that when she first became ‘news’ for ‘infiltrating’ the NRA, for which there were plenty cute pictures taken, I remember thinking she would have been 22 or 23 years old when as a super- devious Russian redhead she allegedly penetrated the trillion dollar NRA, and the trillion dollar Republican Party, and the Trump campaign, which according to some people is now worth negative $1 trillion.
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Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Deep State Mad World / Politics / Social Issues
By: James_Quinn
And I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take When people run in circles it’s a very very Mad world, mad world
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Thursday, August 30, 2018
4 Societal Trends in the UK / Politics / Social Issues
By: Dylan_Moran
Every year we sit down and take a look at the trends in society; how the world is changing and what is causing that change. Technology remains a major factor of course, thanks to automation and digitisation, but there are several trends that have little to do with tech. Here’s a closer look at 4 societal trends in the UK.
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