The Architecture of Words
“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” — George Orwell Over lunch with friends recently, I was reminded how profoundly words shape our reality. They don’t just describe what we think—they guide it, limit it, sometimes even replace it. Mid-conversation, someone casually used the phrase “conspiracy theory.”…
The Law of Reversal
“The way up and the way down are one and the same.” —Heraclitus Last week I went to see an orthopedic surgeon. A nagging shoulder–elbow issue I’m trying to sort out. That same evening, an ad popped up on Facebook: a Free Shoulder Rehab Masterclass. Like magic! Except it wasn’t…
Gain-of-Function Economics: The Fed’s Century of Engineered Fragility
“Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value: zero.” — Voltaire Last week, I read Scott Bessent’s paper, “The Fed’s ‘Gain of Function’ Monetary Policy,” which presents a striking critique of the Federal Reserve’s unconventional monetary strategies. Bessent argues that over the past decades—particularly following the 2008 financial crisis—the Fed has engaged…
Doublespeak: The Language of Control
“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of reality.” — George Orwell Last week, I tackled the grueling task of removing the popcorn ceiling from my bedroom—a relic of an era when builders sprayed textured coatings for ease of use and ability…
The Lie of Progress—and What It’s Costing
“Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.” —Aldous Huxley, Author of Brave New World If you are old enough to remember the rise of the digital age, you probably recall the split: when paper photographs became pixels, when handwritten letters turned into emails and…
The Secret Life of Booms and Busts
“There is no theory of the spark. Only of the combustible material.” — Charles Kindleberger In March 2023, Silicon Valley Bank insisted it was safe. By nightfall, depositors had withdrawn $42 billion—the fastest bank run in U.S. history. Another $100 billion was queued for the morning. The speed was new….
Is a Gold Revaluation Imminent?
“Gold is the only coin that never depreciates.” – Thomas Bailey Aldrich With U.S. public debt now approaching $37 trillion and the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet still near $7 trillion, policymakers face fiscal constraints unseen in decades. Interest payments now consume over one-fifth of federal revenues, narrowing the government’s fiscal…
The Illusion of Credit: Why the Fiat System is Crumbling
“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” —Henry Ford A New Monetary Era Begins: Born Into Fiat On this day, I was born 54 years ago—just…
After the Age of Complexity: On Simplicity, Love, and What Remains
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” — Leonardo da Vinci Some call this the Age of AI. Others, the Age of Technology. I call it the Age of Complexity—an era in which the scaffolding of life has grown so dense that even the smallest change sends tremors through the whole structure….
How Markets Became Belief Systems
On Tesla, Charisma, and the Illusion of Value in the Age of Narrative Capital “The more a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.” — George Orwell Something curious has happened to markets over the past two and a half decades: they’ve lost their…