‘If we run out of food this winter, we’ve always got each other.’
Hannibal Lector
We have a plethora of new readers. Many have practical questions.
But there are other issues: Who are we? What are we doing?
Some accuse us of being silly ‘liberals’. Or even ‘left wingers’. Others are sure we’re gun totin’, MAGA hat wearin’, Trumpistas. One reader (perhaps relying on our poorly worded prose) levelled the most incendiary charge of all; he accused us of having voted for Joe Biden.
Some readers think they see a hint of nihilism…some suspect us of antinomianism. And some are just puzzled by what must seem a sour temper, with a ready contempt for every ‘ism’ on offer.
Who are we? What are we? What noxious creed lurks between our words?
A remark by French President Emmanuel Macron set our mind to a-thinkin’ about it.
‘The best energy’, said he, ‘is the energy you don’t use’.
Really?
We use energy to heat our houses, to run our factories, and to move us from point A to point B. Would it be better not to?
The best meal is the one you never eat?
The best kiss is the one you never get?
And that lucky break you’ve been waiting for? The best one is the one that never comes?
A dear reader, Bill T, sent us this real photo, taken in Northern California:
|
|
| Source: Bill T |
The road not taken
The Tesla is now relying on old-fashioned, planet-destroying gasoline in order to do what it couldn’t do on its own. So, as of this photo, the trip was still one of the best ones the driver never took.
The best of our daily columns is, of course, the one we never write. And our best opinions are the ones we don’t have.
But the only way to makes sense of Macron’s head scratcher is to apply it where its author did not — to something you shouldn’t do anyway, i.e.: The best murder you ever commit is the one where no one is harmed.
Which leads us effortlessly to our political affiliation: we have the best one; that is, none at all. How could we see the action on the field clearly if we were rooting for one team or the other? How could we observe the great mob if we were in the middle of it?
And how could you expect to get anything of value from us if we only confirmed your own prejudices?
Oh…dear, dear reader…here is a ‘trigger warning’. This is no ‘safe space’. This is meant to be a ‘dangerous space’, where you come face to face with ideas you may not like. We might not like them either; we only bring them up because they might be right.
That which governs least
Yes, dear reader…we are innocent of all charges. We didn’t vote for Biden. Or for Trump. Neither, we figured, was worthy.
But who is? After all, the best politician is the one who never ran for office, who never cast a vote…never mouthed a slogan…never took a bribe (oops…did we say ‘bribe’? We mean ‘campaign contribution’)…and never attempted to tell anyone other than himself what to do.
That is, the best politician is the one who is not a politician at all. Which accounts for why those who are politicians are very far from the best. Not even second best. They are almost all sleazy grifters…ready to say anything or do anything to hold onto power.
Power corrupts. And at this late, degenerate Fin de Bubble stage, the US empire is the most powerful that ever existed. The best power is, of course, the power you don’t have. And those who do have it are…surprise!…corrupted by it.
Our job here is not to join a party…a cause…or a movement…not to push an ideology…wave a flag or find a solution…nor to cast blame or stones…
…but merely to watch. And if we pay attention, and are really lucky, we might see some vague shadow, perhaps reflected in a dirty windowpane for a second or two, of what is really going on.
More to come…including, tomorrow, a look at the US’s best political party: the one that no longer exists.
Regards,
 |
Bill Bonner,
For The Daily Reckoning Australia
