MAD World
Notable events occurring in the previous week. From jaw dropping news to what we saw coming.
First, we had China test launch hypersonic missiles that left the US intelligence services aghast. The same bumbling institution that didn’t know there weren’t weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, lied about Russiagate, and didn’t anticipate the fall of Kabul days before US officially withdrew with its tail between its legs. It would be a disservice not to mention that:
“1) This tech, FOBS (Fractional Orbital Bombardment System), is not new – the Soviet Union was playing around with it in the 1960s;
2) All existing ICBMs (International Continental Ballistic Missiles) are already hypersonic;
3) It is a first-strike weapon capable of delivering a nuclear warhead incredibly quickly from any direction, including the south where, Maginot Line-style, US anti-missile shields do not operate; and, tellingly,
4) This is clearly related to escalating geopolitical tensions.”
This is one of those we we saw coming unlike the US intelligence or is it? It might have been a deliberate leak from the Chinese side, or the US trying to force the White House to respond, or for calls to increase defense spending. Only the Pentagon can clarify.
Continuing with things we saw coming, is this rising geopolitical tension with China and the East as it forces unnecessary posturing by the White House. As they mull over a equal or higher response which only escalates the situation. Read The New York Times article on whether this is a Cold War 2.0. I would opine we had already been there since Obama presidency with his pivot to Asia strategy. Read more on this by the late Prof. Stephen Cohen.
Moving on to the economy, we see the US Treasury scrambling to spin a positive message on Inflation as more public figures start to mention the out of control environment we exist in. As Jack Dorsey pointed out;
“Hyperinflation is going to change everything. It’s happening,” Dorsey wrote on Twitter, later continuing to say:
“It will happen in the U.S. soon, and so the world.”
No shit, Sherlock! Aren’t we all excited when billionaires tell the rest of us how we are screwed by the system while they make bank? As reports note they have increased their wealth significantly in 2020.
Lastly, we heard of former President Trump starting his own social media company called TRUTH. One cannot make this up. He sure knows how to make liberals go bonkers. The truth is that it will definitely drive many people crazy and hysterical that he’s making waves. Maybe angling for another 2024 run. We definitely need Big tech’s powers to be curtailed and broken up but I don’t know if a Trump social media is the best solution for a deeply divided populace but who am I to opine on this.
A Truth we will have to contend with is that we live in a world where tensions are rocket high (sorry for the pun), and we face the prospect of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) once again.
Even President Putin opines on the rising geopolitical tensions in his annual speech at the Valdai Club in Sochi, where he lays down the law in favor of conservatism and mentions that the West is in decline..(more on this in a future entry later this week)
Yes, we are definitely in a MAD world!
See you tomorrow!
- Ope