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No Going Back

No Going Back

Authored by Vincent McCaffrey via AmGreatness.com,

The old normal isn’t coming back without some new thinking about what…

Published

11 months ago

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No Going Back

Authored by Vincent McCaffrey via AmGreatness.com,

The old normal isn’t coming back without some new thinking about what structures will reinvigorate our old principles...

Like most polls, Gallup polls are usually paid advertisements for whomever commissions them and therefore deserving of as little attention. However, the indefatigable Sharyl Attkisson recently reported on the results of one such survey and that did draw my attention. Evidently, 47 percent of Americans say life will never go back to pre-pandemic normal. I was somewhat stunned! How could 53 percent be thinking we could go back? 

This led me to darker thoughts on the collateral damage of our recent foolishness. At least 53 percent of Americans will be woefully unprepared for what is coming. Due to their own unwillingness to bear witness to the reality around them, much less recognize the consequences, the unprepared will be the first to panic, and their panic will result in more bad behavior at a time when strength of character will be needed. 

But there is worse yet: 33 percent of Americans say their lives are completely back to normal. I had no idea that 33 percent of Americans lived in caves! But then, my own ignorance never fails to astound me. What could be considered normal to these citizens? Even in peaceful and civilized New Hampshire, we can see the damage done. 

How could this be? Well, perhaps it is tied to the fact that more than half of all Americans are on some level of government welfare, from Social Security to child care assistance, and those payments have not been diminished. Nevertheless, the inflationary costs of food and fuel have dramatically risen in the last three years due to federal monetary policies as well as profligate spending, so that doesn’t explain everything. 

Anyone reasonably sentient must be aware of the problems caused by the COVID lockdown and the misdirection of tax revenues, allegedly to “soften” that blow, but actually and cynically proffered in order to gain votes. From drug use to family decomposition, the rise in crime and the disintegration of our physical infrastructure, there is a lot of visible devastation out there. Is this poll indicating 33 percent of Americans are comatose? 

It was even more discouraging to read that 50 percent of Republicans say their lives are back to normal. Granted, this may be a willful statement of their desire to return to normalcy, but it also might indicate why the Republican Party is so out of touch as to be okay with sending billions of dollars of taxpayer cash and military equipment to Ukraine while our own trains are derailing, bridges and roads are degrading, and air traffic is failing. 

In keeping with the old newspaper standing head, “women and children hardest hit,” 70 percent of women are likely to say things in general suck, while 51 percent say they are unsure of the future. Children were not polled—and, given our poor school systems—that might be an underlying long-term cause for our overall ignorance.

Confirming the previous doubts expressed about the veracity of the poll, only 38 percent of those who earn more than $90,000  per year say their lives are back to normal—that figure is composed of 50 percent who say they are Republican, 33 percent who say they are independent, and 24 percent who say they are Democrats. That is to say, most of those polled who are pretty well off are pessimistic, while 68 percent of those in an average income bracket ($36,000 to $90,000) are not happy now, and almost half do not expect things to return to “normal” in the future. 

But this negative point of reference is the larger issue. What do our fellow Americans expect and what are they likely to do about it? Remember, these are the same people who voted for the politicians who made this mess. Will they accept responsibility for their actions? 

Given the progressive indoctrination in public schools over two generations, bound as those institutions are to the deep state, and given the progressive harangue from mass media and the onslaught from the entertainment industry, what is the likelihood a majority of Americans today are prepared to turn against their handlers and accept an active role in their own welfare or bear witness to their past foolishness? 

But there is no going back. As a nation we cannot return to some better moment out of the 1990s or 1950s. The accepted norms of those generations are lost. And no force will bring them back minus their own deficiencies. We cannot unlearn the internet.

The course that a minority of the population (my guess is less than 33 percent) must now chart is not unlike to the path chosen by our founders and their generation. Given the general lack of knowledge today about history and the replacement of it by phony propaganda such as the “1619 Project,” the objectives must be tied to current circumstances to make them clear.

Highlighting graphic practicalities such as the rise of the multinational corporations in America with no allegiance to our own people, as they make arms and sell them to our enemies, can make a family with a son overseas more aware; tech companies that mine and sell our personal data and abuse our privacy make themselves obvious by their own actions; and the simple rising costs of living and doing business for a population which is otherwise occupied with the day to day struggle, cannot be ignored.

Those who have the security of ample property and income will not be on hand until their own ox is gored. The recent Dutch farmer revolt might be encouraging, if not for the important fact that the Canadian truckers who similarly risked everything had their countrymen simply turn away. 

People caught in an endless cycle of debt by major corporations (i.e, wage slaves) as the whole of America is turned into an enormous company town, will not be interested. Their homes are mortgaged, and their savings have already dwindled. They are afraid of retribution and losing what little they have left, even as their college loans are still outstanding. And those people (and it is a large number) who work for the bureaucracies, federal, state, and local, will be largely unavailable if not already organized against anyone who threatens their sinecures. They think they will be the survivors. But they haven’t a clue.

Democrats as a group will mainly be out to lunch—at least until the empirical evidence that they are dealing with thugs is smashed in their faces like a grapefruit (à la James Cagney and Mae Clarke), and then they might have a political awakening. But they are just as likely to proclaim their victimhood and look for another benefactor. 

Feminists will be the enemy of the good until they realize they were used and discarded by the Marxist agenda—but not enough of them are young athletes bewildered by having to compete against men who identify as women. With politics as their new religion, most are just as likely to blame the result on men, which will be true this time, to a point.

Independents—the nonaligned—are most often pawns to their insecurities. They are looking for the best deal at any one moment and will always be treated accordingly with verbal promises not worth the paper they’re printed on. They bargain over principle. The long-term game is beyond their comprehension. 

With so little help, and a task so large, the difficulties may appear insurmountable. But I would suggest that it could not have seemed any less impossible to the members of our first ad hoc Congress as they faced the most powerful nation on earth armed with an idea which had never been tried before.

China, Russia, Iran, and their allies will happily take advantage of any weakness. They are doing that right now. It is up to us to still elect leaders who will meet that challenge. But the current system of government is too flawed to survive much longer. It promotes corruption and dishonesty. Every election cycle enlarges our debt and weakens our fiber. Even if we manage to elect a good government, we must then live with an inevitable swing of the pendulum as the bad guys work to undermine any progress.

But any long-term objective must be in keeping with the best principles of our founders. Those tenets are tested and true, and they are already familiar to the greatest number of citizens. In the short term, the anachronistic structure set in place 200 years ago to give those truths a chance to flourish must now be examined for termites as well as for strength, and replaced, from pillar to post. The structure is important only so far as it protects and furthers those principles. 

It is the truth that matters, not the structure—just as my Free Will Baptist grandmother said, when I foolishly mentioned the peccadillos of some preacher of the time, “It’s the Lord I pray to, not the pastor.” 

My own thoughts return to that first Continental Congress. As we go forward and continue trying to elect better people to a job now thoroughly corrupted, we should act separately to elect a “shadow” government, similar to that of Westminster, but in the full light of day, with the peaceful purpose of proposing better ways and means. It must be constructed in public view and its purposes made clear. A short conversation with an average person will tell you that neither politicians nor our system are trusted. Given some time to show what might be done, with a consistent emphasis on principle and ways to make those ideas manifest, a larger public following should develop.

There is no Frodo among us who might faithfully handle the ring of power without succumbing to its poison. We cannot hope for a savior to make this happen. And the Lord will only help those who help themselves.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/31/2023 - 16:20

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International

United Airlines adds new flights to faraway destinations

The airline said that it has been working hard to "find hidden gem destinations."

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2 hours ago

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March 8, 2024

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Since countries started opening up after the pandemic in 2021 and 2022, airlines have been seeing demand soar not just for major global cities and popular routes but also for farther-away destinations.

Numerous reports, including a recent TripAdvisor survey of trending destinations, showed that there has been a rise in U.S. traveler interest in Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and Vietnam as well as growing tourism traction in off-the-beaten-path European countries such as Slovenia, Estonia and Montenegro.

Related: 'No more flying for you': Travel agency sounds alarm over risk of 'carbon passports'

As a result, airlines have been looking at their networks to include more faraway destinations as well as smaller cities that are growing increasingly popular with tourists and may not be served by their competitors.

The Philippines has been popular among tourists in recent years.

Shutterstock

United brings back more routes, says it is committed to 'finding hidden gems'

This week, United Airlines  (UAL)  announced that it will be launching a new route from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Morocco's Marrakesh. While it is only the country's fourth-largest city, Marrakesh is a particularly popular place for tourists to seek out the sights and experiences that many associate with the country — colorful souks, gardens with ornate architecture and mosques from the Moorish period.

More Travel:

"We have consistently been ahead of the curve in finding hidden gem destinations for our customers to explore and remain committed to providing the most unique slate of travel options for their adventures abroad," United's SVP of Global Network Planning Patrick Quayle, said in a press statement.

The new route will launch on Oct. 24 and take place three times a week on a Boeing 767-300ER  (BA)  plane that is equipped with 46 Polaris business class and 22 Premium Plus seats. The plane choice was a way to reach a luxury customer customer looking to start their holiday in Marrakesh in the plane.

Along with the new Morocco route, United is also launching a flight between Houston (IAH) and Colombia's Medellín on Oct. 27 as well as a route between Tokyo and Cebu in the Philippines on July 31 — the latter is known as a "fifth freedom" flight in which the airline flies to the larger hub from the mainland U.S. and then goes on to smaller Asian city popular with tourists after some travelers get off (and others get on) in Tokyo.

United's network expansion includes new 'fifth freedom' flight

In the fall of 2023, United became the first U.S. airline to fly to the Philippines with a new Manila-San Francisco flight. It has expanded its service to Asia from different U.S. cities earlier last year. Cebu has been on its radar amid growing tourist interest in the region known for marine parks, rainforests and Spanish-style architecture.

With the summer coming up, United also announced that it plans to run its current flights to Hong Kong, Seoul, and Portugal's Porto more frequently at different points of the week and reach four weekly flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai by August 29.

"This is your normal, exciting network planning team back in action," Quayle told travel website The Points Guy of the airline's plans for the new routes.

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International

Walmart launches clever answer to Target’s new membership program

The retail superstore is adding a new feature to its Walmart+ plan — and customers will be happy.

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2 hours ago

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March 8, 2024

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It's just been a few days since Target  (TGT)  launched its new Target Circle 360 paid membership plan. 

The plan offers free and fast shipping on many products to customers, initially for $49 a year and then $99 after the initial promotional signup period. It promises to be a success, since many Target customers are loyal to the brand and will go out of their way to shop at one instead of at its two larger peers, Walmart and Amazon.

Related: Walmart makes a major price cut that will delight customers

And stop us if this sounds familiar: Target will rely on its more than 2,000 stores to act as fulfillment hubs. 

This model is a proven winner; Walmart also uses its more than 4,600 stores as fulfillment and shipping locations to get orders to customers as soon as possible.

Sometimes, this means shipping goods from the nearest warehouse. But if a desired product is in-store and closer to a customer, it reduces miles on the road and delivery time. It's a kind of logistical magic that makes any efficiency lover's (or retail nerd's) heart go pitter patter. 

Walmart rolls out answer to Target's new membership tier

Walmart has certainly had more time than Target to develop and work out the kinks in Walmart+. It first launched the paid membership in 2020 during the height of the pandemic, when many shoppers sheltered at home but still required many staples they might ordinarily pick up at a Walmart, like cleaning supplies, personal-care products, pantry goods and, of course, toilet paper. 

It also undercut Amazon  (AMZN)  Prime, which costs customers $139 a year for free and fast shipping (plus several other benefits including access to its streaming service, Amazon Prime Video). 

Walmart+ costs $98 a year, which also gets you free and speedy delivery, plus access to a Paramount+ streaming subscription, fuel savings, and more. 

An employee at a Merida, Mexico, Walmart. (Photo by Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images

If that's not enough to tempt you, however, Walmart+ just added a new benefit to its membership program, ostensibly to compete directly with something Target now has: ultrafast delivery. 

Target Circle 360 particularly attracts customers with free same-day delivery for select orders over $35 and as little as one-hour delivery on select items. Target executes this through its Shipt subsidiary.

We've seen this lightning-fast delivery speed only in snippets from Amazon, the king of delivery efficiency. Who better to take on Target, though, than Walmart, which is using a similar store-as-fulfillment-center model? 

"Walmart is stepping up to save our customers even more time with our latest delivery offering: Express On-Demand Early Morning Delivery," Walmart said in a statement, just a day after Target Circle 360 launched. "Starting at 6 a.m., earlier than ever before, customers can enjoy the convenience of On-Demand delivery."

Walmart  (WMT)  clearly sees consumers' desire for near-instant delivery, which obviously saves time and trips to the store. Rather than waiting a day for your order to show up, it might be on your doorstep when you wake up. 

Consumers also tend to spend more money when they shop online, and they remain stickier as paying annual members. So, to a growing number of retail giants, almost instant gratification like this seems like something worth striving for.

Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024

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Government

President Biden Delivers The “Darkest, Most Un-American Speech Given By A President”

President Biden Delivers The "Darkest, Most Un-American Speech Given By A President"

Having successfully raged, ranted, lied, and yelled through…

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4 hours ago

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March 8, 2024

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President Biden Delivers The "Darkest, Most Un-American Speech Given By A President"

Having successfully raged, ranted, lied, and yelled through the State of The Union, President Biden can go back to his crypt now.

Whatever 'they' gave Biden, every American man, woman, and the other should be allowed to take it - though it seems the cocktail brings out 'dark Brandon'?

Tl;dw: Biden's Speech tonight ...

  • Fund Ukraine.

  • Trump is threat to democracy and America itself.

  • Abortion is good.

  • American Economy is stronger than ever.

  • Inflation wasn't Biden's fault.

  • Illegals are Americans too.

  • Republicans are responsible for the border crisis.

  • Trump is bad.

  • Biden stands with trans-children.

  • J6 was the worst insurrection since the Civil War.

(h/t @TCDMS99)

Tucker Carlson's response sums it all up perfectly:

"that was possibly the darkest, most un-American speech given by an American president. It wasn't a speech, it was a rant..."

Carlson continued: "The true measure of a nation's greatness lies within its capacity to control borders, yet Bid refuses to do it."

"In a fair election, Joe Biden cannot win"

And concluded:

“There was not a meaningful word for the entire duration about the things that actually matter to people who live here.”

Victor Davis Hanson added some excellent color, but this was probably the best line on Biden:

"he doesn't care... he lives in an alternative reality."

*  *  *

Watch SOTU Live here...

*   *   *

Mises' Connor O'Keeffe, warns: "Be on the Lookout for These Lies in Biden's State of the Union Address." 

On Thursday evening, President Joe Biden is set to give his third State of the Union address. The political press has been buzzing with speculation over what the president will say. That speculation, however, is focused more on how Biden will perform, and which issues he will prioritize. Much of the speech is expected to be familiar.

The story Biden will tell about what he has done as president and where the country finds itself as a result will be the same dishonest story he's been telling since at least the summer.

He'll cite government statistics to say the economy is growing, unemployment is low, and inflation is down.

Something that has been frustrating Biden, his team, and his allies in the media is that the American people do not feel as economically well off as the official data says they are. Despite what the White House and establishment-friendly journalists say, the problem lies with the data, not the American people's ability to perceive their own well-being.

As I wrote back in January, the reason for the discrepancy is the lack of distinction made between private economic activity and government spending in the most frequently cited economic indicators. There is an important difference between the two:

  • Government, unlike any other entity in the economy, can simply take money and resources from others to spend on things and hire people. Whether or not the spending brings people value is irrelevant

  • It's the private sector that's responsible for producing goods and services that actually meet people's needs and wants. So, the private components of the economy have the most significant effect on people's economic well-being.

Recently, government spending and hiring has accounted for a larger than normal share of both economic activity and employment. This means the government is propping up these traditional measures, making the economy appear better than it actually is. Also, many of the jobs Biden and his allies take credit for creating will quickly go away once it becomes clear that consumers don't actually want whatever the government encouraged these companies to produce.

On top of all that, the administration is dealing with the consequences of their chosen inflation rhetoric.

Since its peak in the summer of 2022, the president's team has talked about inflation "coming back down," which can easily give the impression that it's prices that will eventually come back down.

But that's not what that phrase means. It would be more honest to say that price increases are slowing down.

Americans are finally waking up to the fact that the cost of living will not return to prepandemic levels, and they're not happy about it.

The president has made some clumsy attempts at damage control, such as a Super Bowl Sunday video attacking food companies for "shrinkflation"—selling smaller portions at the same price instead of simply raising prices.

In his speech Thursday, Biden is expected to play up his desire to crack down on the "corporate greed" he's blaming for high prices.

In the name of "bringing down costs for Americans," the administration wants to implement targeted price ceilings - something anyone who has taken even a single economics class could tell you does more harm than good. Biden would never place the blame for the dramatic price increases we've experienced during his term where it actually belongs—on all the government spending that he and President Donald Trump oversaw during the pandemic, funded by the creation of $6 trillion out of thin air - because that kind of spending is precisely what he hopes to kick back up in a second term.

If reelected, the president wants to "revive" parts of his so-called Build Back Better agenda, which he tried and failed to pass in his first year. That would bring a significant expansion of domestic spending. And Biden remains committed to the idea that Americans must be forced to continue funding the war in Ukraine. That's another topic Biden is expected to highlight in the State of the Union, likely accompanied by the lie that Ukraine spending is good for the American economy. It isn't.

It's not possible to predict all the ways President Biden will exaggerate, mislead, and outright lie in his speech on Thursday. But we can be sure of two things. The "state of the Union" is not as strong as Biden will say it is. And his policy ambitions risk making it much worse.

*  *  *

The American people will be tuning in on their smartphones, laptops, and televisions on Thursday evening to see if 'sloppy joe' 81-year-old President Joe Biden can coherently put together more than two sentences (even with a teleprompter) as he gives his third State of the Union in front of a divided Congress. 

President Biden will speak on various topics to convince voters why he shouldn't be sent to a retirement home.

According to CNN sources, here are some of the topics Biden will discuss tonight:

  • Economic issues: Biden and his team have been drafting a speech heavy on economic populism, aides said, with calls for higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy – an attempt to draw a sharp contrast with Republicans and their likely presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

  • Health care expenses: Biden will also push for lowering health care costs and discuss his efforts to go after drug manufacturers to lower the cost of prescription medications — all issues his advisers believe can help buoy what have been sagging economic approval ratings.

  • Israel's war with Hamas: Also looming large over Biden's primetime address is the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which has consumed much of the president's time and attention over the past few months. The president's top national security advisers have been working around the clock to try to finalize a ceasefire-hostages release deal by Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that begins next week.

  • An argument for reelection: Aides view Thursday's speech as a critical opportunity for the president to tout his accomplishments in office and lay out his plans for another four years in the nation's top job. Even though viewership has declined over the years, the yearly speech reliably draws tens of millions of households.

Sources provided more color on Biden's SOTU address: 

The speech is expected to be heavy on economic populism. The president will talk about raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy. He'll highlight efforts to cut costs for the American people, including pushing Congress to help make prescription drugs more affordable.

Biden will talk about the need to preserve democracy and freedom, a cornerstone of his re-election bid. That includes protecting and bolstering reproductive rights, an issue Democrats believe will energize voters in November. Biden is also expected to promote his unity agenda, a key feature of each of his addresses to Congress while in office.

Biden is also expected to give remarks on border security while the invasion of illegals has become one of the most heated topics among American voters. A majority of voters are frustrated with radical progressives in the White House facilitating the illegal migrant invasion. 

It is probable that the president will attribute the failure of the Senate border bill to the Republicans, a claim many voters view as unfounded. This is because the White House has the option to issue an executive order to restore border security, yet opts not to do so

Maybe this is why? 

While Biden addresses the nation, the Biden administration will be armed with a social media team to pump propaganda to at least 100 million Americans. 

"The White House hosted about 70 creators, digital publishers, and influencers across three separate events" on Wednesday and Thursday, a White House official told CNN. 

Not a very capable social media team... 

The administration's move to ramp up social media operations comes as users on X are mostly free from government censorship with Elon Musk at the helm. This infuriates Democrats, who can no longer censor their political enemies on X. 

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers tell Axios that the president's SOTU performance will be critical as he tries to dispel voter concerns about his elderly age. The address reached as many as 27 million people in 2023. 

"We are all nervous," said one House Democrat, citing concerns about the president's "ability to speak without blowing things."

The SOTU address comes as Biden's polling data is in the dumps. 

BetOnline has created several money-making opportunities for gamblers tonight, such as betting on what word Biden mentions the most. 

As well as...

We will update you when Tucker Carlson's live feed of SOTU is published. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/08/2024 - 07:44

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