Faux Democracy
Much like the Communist Party of the old now-defunct Soviet Union, the insiders share power... depending on who’s most persuasive or most cunning... and they prefer an ‘empty suit’ in the top seat.
Thursday, July 25, 2024
Bill Bonner, writing today from Poitou, France
What a week!
We’ve had a hard time keeping up. Bloomberg:
$1 Trillion Rout Hits Nasdaq 100 Over AI Jitters in Worst Day Since 2022
Investors soured on the promise of artificial intelligence Wednesday, sparking a $1 trillion rout in the Nasdaq 100 Index as questions swirled over just how long it will take for the substantial investments in the technology to pay off.
The Nasdaq indexes tumbled more than 3% for the worst days since October 2022. The list of laggards was a who’s-who of AI technology darlings, led by semiconductor companies such as Nvidia Corp., Broadcom Inc. and Arm Holdings Plc.
Tom says he’s “getting a whiff of mood change” in the markets. He highlighted the drop in the Nasdaq in his update yesterday:
Over the past two weeks, the Russell 2000 is up 8% while the Nasdaq 100 is down by 7%. Notables Nvidia fell 15%, AMD fell 30%, ASML fell 26%, Taiwan Semiconductor fell 16% and Micron Technology fell 19%.
It reminds us of late 1999. Then it was ‘dot.com’ stocks that were headed ‘to the moon.’ And by early the next year, 2000, they got there. The Nasdaq doubled in a single year. Tech stocks were at their peaks... and beginning to wobble. Then, a year later, they had been cut in half.
Will the same thing happen to today’s leading techs? Maybe.
And we’re getting a similar whiff in the political world... and the world of ideas. Where once it was taboo to oppose the war in the Ukraine... or the massacre in Gaza... question marks are beginning to appear. Wouldn’t it make sense to negotiate with Putin rather than waste more money and more lives? Isn’t the war a lost cause?
As for Gaza... Congress listened to Netanyahu yesterday. For decades, American money has supported dictators, fascists and murderers. But as far as we know this was the first time US politicians rose to their feet, en masse, to salute someone widely and plausibly regarded as a ‘war criminal.’
But the lobbyists have done their work well. Most Americans may oppose killing Palestinians, but most people don’t depend on pro-Israel money for their re-election campaigns.
Joe Goes
No one has gotten more money from the Israelis than Joe Biden. But poor Joe gave up the race for the White House... by tweet. It wasn’t on the official letterhead... so rumors began flying around. Did he really do it? Who did it for him? Last night, he spoke to the nation... and yes, he’s alive! And yes, he announced his retirement from public life. Pity he didn’t do it sooner – 52 years ago.
And now that we know his brain isn’t working as it should, people wonder: if he wasn’t running the country, who was?
The answer is obvious... the insiders, the elites, the honchos of the Democratic Party. This has little to do with democracy. But it shows how America’s faux democracy actually works.
Much like the Communist Party of the old now-defunct Soviet Union, the insiders share power... depending on who’s most persuasive or most cunning... and they prefer an ‘empty suit’ in the top seat. The controlling group has a variety of scams, policies and hobby horses. It wants a ‘front man’ (or woman) not to lead, but to follow their program and sell it to the public.
And since the peoples’ representatives in the House and the Senate are mostly muttonheads... well, thank God, they’re not leading either.
Meanwhile, there was a lot of activity here at home, too.
It has been more than a quarter of a century since we bought the house here in France and fixed it up. This year, we decided it was time for a major tune-up. The shutters needed to be painted. New windows were installed and needed a coat of paint too. One gate had fallen off its hinges. Others needed to be scraped and painted.
It’s a big house. And we are deep in the French countryside. Where would we get the manpower to do the job?
Virginia!
Stay tuned.
Regards,
Bill Bonner
So far, a good week here Mr Bonner. Like a nice roadtrip on a narrow serpentine road with lots of turnout vista points to enjoy. Thank you. Back to basics this week and talk about democracy.
Both collective and individual lies have been made towards the goal of transforming into democracy.
The idea of Democracy is universal equality. Whereas the idea of a constitutional republic is individual liberty.
What is happening is subverting the goal of republic by transforming it into a democracy.
Liberty emphasizes the importance of individual rights and the limitations of government power, while freedom is more focused on the ability of individuals. Liberty is something that comes from within while freedom comes from outside.
I choose liberty,
Regards,
Mark
Absolutely love Bill's views of Israel and the genocide in Gaza. It is spot-on. And, of course, the zionists are up in arms. How DARE Bill suggest it isn't the Israelist with the white hats. Hearsay! String him up by the neck. No anti-Jewish thoughts or worse writings. The Zionists come from God and are the truth and the light of the World. Just makes me chuckle how far down the rabbithole some go. As to the U.S. - the top ten (10) appointees by Biden are all Jews. Anybody give that a thought?