Good points. But rage directed at whom? One of the aspects of the current system is to divide the general population into so many warring sub units, each focused on themselves and those "oppressing" them, that when the rage eventually explodes, its directed away from those actually responsible, and at those more accessible. Given the incentives involved, with trillions at stake, this is only to be expected. I can see Mel Brooks mugging for the camera "Its good to be the king!" Until it isn't. But its even better to own the king. That way, when the peasants eventually come for the king, those who own the king (and call most of the shots) slink back into the shadows and wait for the next king to arise, and then buy them, Rinse and repeat through out all of history.
"The irony here is when money has no cost, it’s squandered on excess consumption or speculation. The incentive to borrow and spend / invest wisely is that borrowing money has a high cost. Reduce the cost to boost borrowing / consumption / speculation and you create credit-asset bubbles and households, enterprises and governments one mis-step from insolvency." - Charles Hugh Smith - 2026
From Gresham’s Law to Thiers’ Law:
What makes this latest inflation cycle historically different - is that the monetary expansion of 2020–2022 collided in 2026 with real-world thermodynamic constraints: energy systems, semiconductor capacity, supply-chain fragmentation, grid limitations, and now the AI/cloud/robotics capex supercycle. This is no longer merely “too much money chasing too few goods.” It is sovereign debt saturation colliding with the largest infrastructure buildout since WWII. The deeper risk is that US Treasury markets themselves begin losing efficiency as “the world’s frictionless collateral layer” just as machine civilization demands trillions in fresh energy and compute investment. Central banks buying gold are not irrational — they are quietly hedging against a transition toward managed monetary multipolarity.
Obviously the Trump Administration is silent to the fact; the global monetary system is approaching an historic transition comparable to the collapse of the Bretton Woods gold-exchange framework in 1971.
Unfortunately, in 2026 it is no longer understood. How is it that educated people believe their own propaganda? They have been telling us it for so long, that they have forgotten that it is not true.
It has been suggested by some, that working people because they deal in real stuff are less susceptible to propaganda. If you are building a wall, no amount of saying the wall is strong will help you when the wall falls down.
This is where we are today. Our leaders keep telling us that the wall is strong, but we know it is not. With the result that we stop trusting them, because they are telling us things that are not true.
Glen Diesen had and interesting conversation with Mattias Desmet about this.
Good points. But rage directed at whom? One of the aspects of the current system is to divide the general population into so many warring sub units, each focused on themselves and those "oppressing" them, that when the rage eventually explodes, its directed away from those actually responsible, and at those more accessible. Given the incentives involved, with trillions at stake, this is only to be expected. I can see Mel Brooks mugging for the camera "Its good to be the king!" Until it isn't. But its even better to own the king. That way, when the peasants eventually come for the king, those who own the king (and call most of the shots) slink back into the shadows and wait for the next king to arise, and then buy them, Rinse and repeat through out all of history.
"The irony here is when money has no cost, it’s squandered on excess consumption or speculation. The incentive to borrow and spend / invest wisely is that borrowing money has a high cost. Reduce the cost to boost borrowing / consumption / speculation and you create credit-asset bubbles and households, enterprises and governments one mis-step from insolvency." - Charles Hugh Smith - 2026
From Gresham’s Law to Thiers’ Law:
What makes this latest inflation cycle historically different - is that the monetary expansion of 2020–2022 collided in 2026 with real-world thermodynamic constraints: energy systems, semiconductor capacity, supply-chain fragmentation, grid limitations, and now the AI/cloud/robotics capex supercycle. This is no longer merely “too much money chasing too few goods.” It is sovereign debt saturation colliding with the largest infrastructure buildout since WWII. The deeper risk is that US Treasury markets themselves begin losing efficiency as “the world’s frictionless collateral layer” just as machine civilization demands trillions in fresh energy and compute investment. Central banks buying gold are not irrational — they are quietly hedging against a transition toward managed monetary multipolarity.
Obviously the Trump Administration is silent to the fact; the global monetary system is approaching an historic transition comparable to the collapse of the Bretton Woods gold-exchange framework in 1971.
Trust is the foundation of society.
Basic concept, long understood.
Unfortunately, in 2026 it is no longer understood. How is it that educated people believe their own propaganda? They have been telling us it for so long, that they have forgotten that it is not true.
It has been suggested by some, that working people because they deal in real stuff are less susceptible to propaganda. If you are building a wall, no amount of saying the wall is strong will help you when the wall falls down.
This is where we are today. Our leaders keep telling us that the wall is strong, but we know it is not. With the result that we stop trusting them, because they are telling us things that are not true.
Glen Diesen had and interesting conversation with Mattias Desmet about this.
https://glenndiesen.substack.com/p/mattias-desmet-the-wests-descent