This Carbon Based Life

By David Glenn Cox

So, here we all are sitting on a powder keg. Lighting our cigars with an open flame. As the Iranians deal fairly and negotiate earnestly with the King. Their shipment of rocket fuel arriving from China just exploded in port. But that setback didn’t stop the People’s Republic of stuff which breaks quickly from invading an island off the coast of Vietnam hoisting their flag and calling it New China.

India and Pakistan gear up for a real donnybrook in Kashmir. Israel wants to attack Iran. Turkey wants to invade Syria. North Korea has officially joined Russia as a combatant in Ukraine. The US vacillates between wanting to bomb Iran and pretending it doesn’t. Their restraint comes from the Pentagon. Iran is bigger than Texas more remote and equally poorly educated. Bombing a shit hole country like Yemen for 90 days without result, ought to teach you something.

It’s writing a check that might undo everything. If The US gets bogged down in Iran, China will most likely invade Taiwan. If Trump weren’t the King, it would never happen. Because back in the bad old days of détente, the US used a carrot and stick approach. Under the King’s approach, no carrots, only sticks. Crazy tariffs, threats and landing fees. Why should the Chinese try to please the King when it is obvious the King has it in for them?

The King’s team of competent fools negotiate in bad faith with others who also negotiate in bad faith. The US and Iran held a five-hour meeting the other day only to announce, they are getting nowhere. Russia/Ukraine negotiations, getting nowhere. The King announces two hundred new trade deals but can’t name any of them specifically. Most likely, it’s because there aren’t any and the clock is ticking towards imposing tariffs on the world’s economy. Why should the world take Trump seriously?

An oaf who shows up to a state funeral in a rumbled blue suit and blue tie. I gotta tell you, I’m far from prosperous myself; but even I could rustle up a black collared shirt and dress slacks. Why would the King do that? It looks like, what’s the word I’m looking for here? The King is either a boob or an inconsiderate lout? Of all the world leaders attending the Pope’s funeral, only one, showed up in a rumbled blue suit. Is he just dumb or just arrogant?

The feeling begins to seep in that our King is a paper tiger and is as steadfast as a roll of wet toilet paper. The other day, Marko Polio said, The US was getting tired of negotiating with Russia and Ukraine. Telling them, “We’ll quit! We’ll just throw up our hands and walk away!” I bet that threat really scared them. It’s only about the fifth time the US has threatened to do that. “If you kids don’t behave, I’ll turn this car around and we can just go straight home!”

The world is creeping closer to the abyss. India and Pakistan are gearing up for a real war, not just a border skirmish. China says, they support Pakistan, throwing down the gauntlet to our King. By the King’s weakness, the world falls apart. If you voted for Donald Trump the world is telling you in so many words, you’ve made a mistake. The world’s leaders have no respect for Trump and mock him behind his back. Who shows up to a state funeral wearing a rumbled blue suit? Reminiscent of that time our King visiting Queen Elisabeth showed up in an ill-fitting rental tuxedo.

For years, Republicans have lamented America’s role as the world’s policeman. Now we begin to see what happens to the world when the world’s policeman clocks out. In just three months, the world has been destabilized and moves gingerly towards World War III. All that is required now is a spark.

Even Pollyanna optimists will tell you we are headed for a recession. Do you know the difference between a recession and a depression? A recession is a politically expedient term for a depression. The stock market could fall down to eight and the media would still call it a recession. 2008 was a small Depression not the “Great Recession.”

The King has so enchanted our trading partners with his spell, they have slowed purchasing our treasury bonds and interest rates have begun to rise. The investor class preferring to put their money in Crypto currency. Unregulated and accountable to no one. The First National Bank of International Drug Dealers and Money Laundering. When the economic shit starts to hit the fan, Crypto will disappear faster than the South Seas Trading company. It’s only viable if there is money coming in. Once the money stops coming in, it signals the top has been reached. The smart boys and girls will be gone in a flash. The rest will just shake their heads wondering what just happened.

Like Microsoft, the King issues decrees. Then after the ramifications of those follies become apparent issues, a patch trying to correct it. 145% tariffs except on the really expensive stuff. It teaches our trading partners to NOT negotiate with the King and he will quickly give in. The right hand doesn’t know what the other right hand is doing. It’s a fucking disaster! And if they ever told the American public the truth about the King, he would soon be removed from office.

And NBC poll finds 45% of Americans APPROVE of our King’s behavior and policies. In a word, Bullshit! Americans are inherently frightened by the proverbial bull in a China shop. (No pun intended) But other polls show the King’s popularity as the lowest in eighty years. Listen out for that eighty years remark because it’s important! This is the way they tell Americans something terrible, without upsetting them. Eighty years, huh? Gee, what President could they be speaking of? Millard Fillmore or Rutherford B. Hayes? No, try Herbert Hoover. They didn’t want to tell you that. They’d rather say eighty years and trust you can’t do the math yourself. Gee, Mr. Wizard, what happened eighty years ago?

The major US banks are preparing for super 2008 plus. If Congressional Republicans get their way and their budget, a recession/depression is a lead pipe cinch. Tax cuts for the rich and huge deficits based on smoke and mirror projections will knock the bottom out of the boat. It isn’t sustainable. And Wall Street will tell them so, in the worst way possible.

Start stocking up on water and canned goods. And clear out a safe space to live in, in the basement. Maybe blow the dust off of some of those old Civil Defense pamphlets. And put some new batteries in the Geiger counter.

“The belly is an ungrateful wretch, it never remembers past favors, it always wants more tomorrow.” ― Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn