Don't Fall Asleep

The biggest story going is that the New Normal is here. Since few seem to have noticed, and certainly no one has said anything about it, I thought I would.

To write DOTE I have to be on top of what's going on. What are people talking about?

• all things Greek — will they default?
• it's a good time to buy gold
• there's another Republican presidential candidate
• political squabbling over raising the debt ceiling — will they? or won't they?
• the deficit is bad and getting worse
• what kind of "correction" can we expect to see in the stock market?
• more quantitative easing — will Ben pull the trigger?
• what are Obama's poll numbers?

Here's what they're not talking about—

• the fate of the long-term unemployed
• the recent, substantial rise in new unemployment claims
• the economic slowdown, which is shown by almost every indicator
• the ongoing destruction of the Middle Class
• anything bad

Obviously, the list of what people are not talking about could go on forever, so I used the catch-all anything bad. But do you see the pattern? Everybody is talking about financial or political subjects. Only those with money to invest (or lose) OR those vested in our failed politics could possibly be interested in today's "popular" topics.

In short, America's elites are still running the show. As George Carlin said in describing the owners of this country, "it's a big club and you're not in it." Got it? You're not in it.

You might wish this little news item had received more attention—

Change To Inflation Measurement On Table As Part Of Budget Talks -Aides

By Corey Boles and Janet Hook

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones) Lawmakers are considering changing how the Consumer Price Index is calculated, a move that could save perhaps $220 billion and represent significant progress in the ongoing federal debt ceiling and deficit reduction talks.

According to congressional aides familiar with the discussions, the proposal would shift how the Consumer Price Index is calculated to reflect how people tend to change spending patterns when prices increase. For example, consumers tend to drive less when gas prices increase dramatically.

Such a move is widely seen by economists as resulting in a slower rise in inflation. That would impact an array of federal programs that are linked to CPI including the Social Security program and income tax brackets set by the federal government.

The proposal could lower federal spending by around $220 billion over the next decade, based on calculations by last year's White House deficit commission, which recommended the change as part of its final report...

If you are incredulous, and I wouldn't blame you if you were, read it again. Yes, it says what you think it says. I hope you caught this mistake—

Such a move is widely seen by economists as resulting in a slower rise in inflation...

No, sorry. Inflation will be whatever it is. The official reporting of inflation will systematically underestimate it in order to fuck the elderly (among others). Only zerohedge and au contrarian (among sources I might look at) covered the story. If you are interested in how this deft maneuver works, read either article.

So welcome to the New Normal, which is lot like the Old Normal except for the fact that an ongoing socioeconomic catastrophe must now be kept out of sight. "Anything bad" has now been relegated to Carl Jung's shadow.

Unfortunately there can be no doubt that man is, on the whole, less good than he imagines himself or wants to be. Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. If an inferiority is conscious, one always has a chance to correct it. Furthermore, it is constantly in contact with other interests, so that it is continually subjected to modifications. But if it is repressed and isolated from consciousness, it never gets corrected.

What goes on in the unconscious minds of people also occurs in societies as a whole. I shall wrap this post up with this quote from Jung.

When we must deal with problems, we instinctively resist trying the way that leads through obscurity and darkness. We wish to hear only of unequivocal results, and completely forget that these results can only be brought about when we have ventured into and emerged again from the darkness. But to penetrate the darkness we must summon all the powers of enlightenment that consciousness can offer.

Don't fall asleep. Don't get used to this crap. If you do, the owners of this country win. They may have all the money, power & influence, they may "own you" in Carlin's sense, but they don't own your soul. That's yours to keep, but you've got to claim it. You must summon all the powers of enlightenment that consciousness can offer.

Here's George.

 

Comments

[sharonsj]

My main income is Social Security, about $11,000 a year (which is one thousand below average). Imagine trying to live on that while every expense keeps going up--you can't.

And for the last two years the gov't has said "inflation is low, no cost of living raise for you." Of course they lie because they base that on not including the cost of food and energy in their calculations. And when they do, they just substitute--for example, if you can't afford steak, they assume you will buy hamburger. Or, in my case, if I can't afford hamburger, I buy cream cheese.

Meanwhile, 400 hedge fund managers earn as much as the bottom 50 million workers. If a class war isn't going on, then what else would you call it?