ZeroHedge, the successful bad boy financial news reporting site, is shifting to a subscription model.
I might subscribe if ZeroHedge knew what the fuck was going on in the world, but they’re as much in denial about human overshoot as the mainstream news outlets.
Granted, ZeroHedge is at least willing to report on the daily insanities of our monetary and financial systems, which everyone else conveniently ignores, and I do value some of their observations, but they assume some evil cabal of elites is plotting to enrich themselves, rather than understanding that we’ve hit limits to growth caused by non-renewable energy depletion (and soon other non-negotiable constraints like climate change), and central banks are desperately printing money and using every slight of hand they can think of to extend and pretend a little longer our system that requires growth not to collapse.
Basically ZeroHedge doesn’t have a clue, and they make a living by feeding the conspiracy hungry crowd that congregates there. Not only do they not make the world a better place, they foment social unrest to make it a worse place.
So no, I won’t be subscribing.
Where can you go for intelligent apolitical reality based news?
It’s very hard to find.
Nobody important talks about what matters, and I guess they wouldn’t be important if they did, because most people don’t want to know the truth.
It’s 24/7 tribal fluff and denial everywhere.
And they’ll say no one saw it coming.
A pox on them all.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/introducing-zerohedge-premium
INTRODUCING ZEROHEDGE PREMIUM
BY TYLER DURDEN
THURSDAY, DEC 10, 2020 – 23:35
When this website launched 12 years ago, little did we know – or expect – that it would grow to become one of the most popular and trafficked financial blogs, let alone websites, in the world. Since then, ZeroHedge has expanded from being focused on purely esoteric concepts in finance and capital markets to covering geopolitics, social, political (and recently, healthcare) matters (if for no other reason than the central bank takeover of markets has made discussing centrally-planned “markets” borderline absurd and often painfully boring).
In those twelve years we have had the pleasure of sharing hundreds of thousands of notable news items, events and market absurdities with you, our readers, creating a magnificent support base of millions of fans who – for one reason or another – come to this site daily, sometimes dozens of times. In that period we have, of course, also spawned countless critics and haters, and that’s perfectly normal: that’s what free speech is all about – the ability to exchange opinions, often in a less than glorified manner, in order to reach a consensus or optimal conclusion. After all, that is one of the anchors that made America great.
Which is why what troubles us most, far more than the Fed’s vain and futile attempt to control the business cycle and plan markets (for the eventual outcome, see USSR), are the creeping attempts by various multinational entities and corporations to quash free speech, both elsewhere and here. It started with Facebook, which in May 2019 became the first “social network” to ban ZeroHedge, only to reverse shortly after (admitting it had made a mistake); this was followed a little over half a year later by Twitter, which “permanently” banned our account, only to admit 6 months later that it had “made a mistake” and reinstated us. But barely had the digital ink on these “mistaken” attempts to censor free speech dried, when the world’s biggest online advertising monopoly, Google, took the unprecedented step of demonetizing the website (following a similar step taken by PayPal). Why? Because it disapproved of the language in our comments (how or why it picked on this website’s comment section as opposed to millions of others, we will never know). To avoid a shutdown, and against our wishes, we were forced to implement comment moderation as the alternative was insolvency. Also, contrary to occasional laughable rumors, we don’t and have never had access to outside capital – be it political or financial – and have been reliant on the same advertising model we have used since inception.
Needless to say, whether due to “mistakes” or overt attempts to demonetize us, the writing on the wall was clear: while they may be entirely within their rights to do whatever they want as “private” companies, pardon monopolies, the ‘social’ and ad-based gatekeepers of online content – the twitters, the googles, the facebooks of the world – had launched an overt crusade to upend the uncensored internet, to snuff out independent thought, contrarian views, and inconvenient opinions and create one giant echo chamber of consent straight out of George Orwell. To do that they would use any and every tool they have access to, and unfortunately we had to comply with the whims of these monopolies which nobody in Congress has the guts to challenge directly and to strip them of their too-big-to-question powers.
Until now.
When Google suspended us in June we said that a standalone website was in the works, one which is funded not by advertising – and is thus beholden to the biased internet titans of the world – but by you, our readers.
We are launching that website today, call it ZeroHedge Premium for lack of a better word.
Here’s what will happen next.
We will maintain the traditional zerohedge.com website as is, without a paywall and with ads… but since it has ads, it will also maintain the comment moderation – that, as we explained in June, was a prerequisite demand by Google. But parallel with that we are launching a “premium” website, where subscribers will not only never again have to see one more ad but more importantly will have access to a fully unmoderated comment section.
Our hope is to eventually have enough subscribers so we can do away with advertising altogether – call it a real-time experiment in media for the censorship age. Because “mistakes” and events in the past several years have made it clear to us – and we hope to you – that there is no such thing as free speech any more; if you really want “free speech” you have to pay for it (in the case of ZeroHedge, the premium subscription will be $1/day – less than the proverbial cup of coffee). We also hope that enough people sign up allowing us to aggressively grow our team and expand our coverage, both thematically and geographically, so we can provide you with better content, better coverage, better everything.
un-Denial 
The sugar conspiracy
In 1972, a British scientist sounded the alarm that sugar – and not fat – was the greatest danger to our health. But his findings were ridiculed and his reputation ruined. How did the world’s top nutrition scientists get it so wrong for so long?
“For at least the last three decades, the dietary arch-villain has been saturated fat. When Yudkin was conducting his research into the effects of sugar, in the 1960s, a new nutritional orthodoxy was in the process of asserting itself. Its central tenet was that a healthy diet is a low-fat diet. Yudkin led a diminishing band of dissenters who believed that sugar, not fat, was the more likely cause of maladies such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes. But by the time he wrote his book, the commanding heights of the field had been seized by proponents of the fat hypothesis. Yudkin found himself fighting a rearguard action, and he was defeated.
Not just defeated, in fact, but buried.”
“Look at a graph of postwar obesity rates and it becomes clear that something changed after 1980. In the US, the line rises very gradually until, in the early 1980s, it takes off like an aeroplane. Just 12% of Americans were obese in 1950, 15% in 1980, 35% by 2000. In the UK, the line is flat for decades until the mid-1980s, at which point it also turns towards the sky. Only 6% of Britons were obese in 1980. In the next 20 years that figure more than trebled. Today, two thirds of Britons are either obese or overweight, making this the fattest country in the EU. Type 2 diabetes, closely related to obesity, has risen in tandem in both countries.
At best, we can conclude that the official guidelines did not achieve their objective; at worst, they led to a decades-long health catastrophe.”
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/apr/07/the-sugar-conspiracy-robert-lustig-john-yudkin
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Marcia Angell has been writing about the big pharma world for a long time. I’ve read her book, “The truth about the Drug Companies” and John Abramson’s book. “Overdosed America”. Both are gadflies when it comes to examining the state of medical health in the US. At least Canada has a national health service while we in the USA have the most expensive system in the world and compared to other countries the poorest outcomes. Go figure.
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Reminds me of the guys I worked with who were avid gun collectors and hunters. I would wonder why they would exclaim, “we need to cull the herd!” when the herd that needed culling was/is us.
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I am a gun owner (since 8 years old) & hunter (not for almost 20 years), but I’ve never been avid. I know the type.
The last few years, I’ve been hearing plenty from a certain breed of humans
crying “we need to cull the herd!” It’s code for – ‘someone kill them libtards, migrants & jews for me’
White supremacists, MAGA-tards, The Proudgirls, etc….. Avid talkers.
Since the election the threats & calls for violence have gone waaaay up, but the first shot of their great white revolution has yet to be fired. “Just you wait-N-see mister!!”
Whatever you say windbag poser.
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Speaking of Johnny Cash, I’d like to nominate this one to be on the official Endtimes© soundtrack.
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I like the tune but had no clue what the lyrics meant. There is something seriously broken in my brain. It doesn’t compute nuance. All poetry flies past me as an incomprehensible word salad.
I looked up an explanation of the lyrics:
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Proudgirls now that’s new to me.
“Progress and mass murder run in tandem. As the numbers killed by famine and plague have waned, so death by violence has increased. As science and technology have advanced, so has proficiency in killing. As the hope for a better world has grown, so has mass murder.” ~ John Gray Straw Dogs
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Your rant is way out of context, apneaman, you windbag poser, bombast. You virtue signaler.
If you really know the type, then you would know the meaning behind “cull the herd”. For example, the first article listed after googling “cull the herd” is from Salt Lake Tribune: “Culling is part of a larger attempt by land managers to keep populations stable in the park. There are currently 4,730 bison in the park, a slight decline from the estimated 4,900 bison counted last summer, officials said. More than 800 bison were culled last year.” https://www.sltrib.com/news/nation-world/2020/12/04/montana-officials-plan/
Need another? How about this one from National Geographic where you need only read the title to understand “cull the herd”: “Unique elk in California may be killed under controversial plan: The National Park Service’s proposed plan for Point Reyes National Seashore would preserve ranching and cull tule elk within the park’s boundaries.” https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/09/tule-elk-culled-under-point-reyes-proposal/
What a knee-jerk, circle jerk this blog is: “‘someone kill them libtards, migrants & jews for me’. Where did I say “jews”? I never have typed the word “jew,” EVER!
But from James and Rob it’s overwhelming…from James’ DNA to DNA:
“The Jews need some Kentucky tongues-speaking, snake charming “Proud Boys” to crash the party and really get things moving.” (James)
“It’s not that it’s only the Jews. But if someone doesn’t mention the Jews, they aren’t being complete. By the way, this simple thought qualifies me as being a rabid anti semite in today’s America. Just like the thought, I don’t want want to live in a crime infested black area, makes me a rabid racist. The three protected classes in America: the rich and powerful, the Jews, and the blacks.” (Dolph)
“I have a delightful new Israeli neighbour, the only man I’ve met who can talk my legs off! I enjoy the lively minds of the secular Jews.” (Cynic)
“I think the average IQ of Jews is higher than the rest of the globe. Nobel prizes per capita stats support this. As do my personal observations. There seems to have been some historic selection pressures for intelligence in Jewish communities, probably created by their persecution.” (Rob)
“Last time they came for the Jews. This time they come for the doctors. The immunologists and virologists are next. Better leave while you can. It is time for the Fourth Reich, I mean the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Heil Klaus. Heil Mein Fuhrer.” (James)
“I don’t know for sure either, but the wheels of some devious plan are in motion. I hope the banker Jews don’t get the regular Jews holocausted again.” (James)
I won’t even spend time taking down James’ suspect comment about Nixon.
When calling out someone as a racist or as a white supremacist, do you take the time to look in a mirror or actually understand what your blog-kin are saying?
“Culling the herd” in affluent societies such as the USA and Canada and Western Europe could actually mean not providing limited resources to
this 11 month old son just came off his ventilator this morning following a ruptured brain aneurysm 12 days ago
or to
this newborn who is allergic to breast milk and requires formula to survive
Reducing the population IS culling the herd and NOT only relegated to nazism or eco-fascism, nor solely eliminating the libtards, migrants or jews. And it is certainly NOT ONLY educating women. Paternity tests to determine the father and snipping that father after one child will be the best option in my opinion. But then again, I’m not part of this circle jerk fraternity.
Truthfully, I think you protest too much and want to keep your social media status with Ron and James and are virtue signaling with your unfounded accusations. I must have hit a nerve or is it denial or is it DNA/RNA?
Everybody’s got something to hide except for you and your monkey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fv_gCn1CUU
Let’s get this dissipation party started! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwtyn-L-2gQ
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As for this blog’s formatting it sucks.
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My rants are never out of context & that one is not about you unless you are a card carrying member of the loud & Proudgirls – all talk & no action except for back shooting unaware protesters now & then or running them over from behind with their car.
If you were my intended target, believe me, you’d know.
That voice in your head that said ‘it’s all about me’ after reading my comment, is wrong. I wouldn’t trust that voice.
As for virtue signalling James & the MC gang, ha ha, indeed you have not been paying attention to my comments toward Plandemic & Reset & Jew blamers & stupid fucking, lost their shit, Americans in general.
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She’s a couple months older than me.
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Ivermectin Dose Calculations
standard tube of horse dewormer paste contains 6.08g of 1.87% Ivermectin
https://www.drugs.com/vet/eqvalan-paste-1-87.html
1 tube contains 6.08g * 0.0187 = 113.7mg Ivermectin
FLCCC Covid-19 protocol is 0.2mg Ivermectin per Kg body weight on day 1 and day 3, repeat on day 6 and day 8 if still sick, 4 doses max
https://covid19criticalcare.com/i-mask-prophylaxis-treatment-protocol/i-mask-protocol-translations/
https://covid19criticalcare.com/math-hospital-treatment/pdf-translations/
It is reassuring to note that the vet recommended horse dose per Kg is the same as the FLCCC recommended human dose per Kg.
1 tube will dose 113.7mg/0.2mg/kg = 568.5Kg of human
1 tube provides 568.5Kg/90Kg = 6.3 doses for 90Kg person
therefore buy 1 tube per person (available over the counter from feed stores)
important note: some horse dewormer contains Praziquantel in addition to Ivermectin – you do not want this unless you have equine tapeworms in addition to Covid-19 🙂
get paste with Ivermectin only
P.S. I learned later that the strange numbers above result from tubes being sold as grams. If you buy a tube sold as mL then the numbers are clean (15ml tube, 10mg Ivermectin per mL, 150 mg total per tube).
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Great breakdown, Rob. Thank you very much! If I use it I’ll post my experience of it here.
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Lots of Ivermectin at my feed store with prices ranging from CAD$15 to $22 per tube.
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It’s a wonder British Columbia didn’t enforce isolation and quarantine early on for its islands. That’s what Tasmania did and we haven’t had a serious outbreak for months.
Many of the indigenous communities on the mainland were very quick in prohibiting access and Western Australia is still closed off from some of the other states suffering (limited) outbreaks.
You’ll have to let us all know how you go with the horse drench if your unlucky enough to have to use it 🙂. I just discovered my wife uses equimec for her horses and has a couple of unused doses. Not that we have a need for in this part of the world yet but might put them aside just in case.
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I watched China bulldoze Wuhan streets to stop their citizens from travelling back in January and wondered why my government didn’t immediately close the airport. Idiots.
I live on Vancouver Island and we are doing quite a bit better than the rest of the province. Hopefully I won’t need the Ivermectin but I’d rather be safe than sorry. If things turn bad and the hospitals get really busy I’d rather stay home and self medicate.
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Ahh. . . picked up from The Automatic Earth blog (sometimes ok). https://off-guardian.org/2020/12/18/who-finally-admits-pcr-tests-create-false-positives/
Seems like we don’t need Ivermectin as we have vaccines now and the PCR test will show a low amount of cases (cynical comment). So, the BS that PCR tests were the gold standard was just that by the sickcare/big pharma/gov controllers.
AJ
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This is an interesting video but pretty much sums up what the current line of thinking is for most people in the world. Almost everyone believes that this is the future.
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For most people, fossil energy is indistinguishable from magic.
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Steve Keen today explains how a debt jubilee could work.
I’m skeptical. If you extinguish debt, which is a promise to create and return real wealth in the future, with printed money, how can you not cause inflation?
http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2020/12/19/discussing-a-modern-debt-jubilee-on-macroncheese
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Watkins cries that we should extend and pretend, so we can buy time to “develop a steady-state economy”.
But we didn’t try in the last decade, why would we try in the next decade?
And how can you have a steady-state economy when energy is declining? You can’t.
Total wealth will decline as energy declines, therefore if you want to retain a reasonable standard of living, population must decline at about the same rate.
Watkins, like everyone else, never discusses the only thing that will help.
https://consciousnessofsheep.co.uk/2020/12/19/its-the-third-wave-that-sinks-you/
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heads up- Albert Bates over at The Great Change features Varki’s MORT theory in his latest “pause” entry (After covering Catton ).
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This statement is categorically false and unfortunately undermines his entire piece about Catton:
“Nor is it unprecedented for a sitting US President to marry his own daughter, by the way. Frances Clara Folsom Cleveland became the youngest First Lady at age 21 when she married President Grover Cleveland in the White House. Catton’s point, and his life’s work, was that insanity runs not merely in individuals or families, but in whole societies.”
From wiki:
Frank [Frances] Clara Folsom was born in Buffalo, New York to Emma (née Harmon) and her husband, Oscar Folsom, a lawyer who was a descendant of the earliest European settlers of Exeter, New Hampshire.[1]
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Thanks Steve. Varki doesn’t get mentioned very often. I think Bates may be the only overshoot writer that thinks MORT has some relevance. I of course think MORT explains pretty much everything that demands an explanation.
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Sean Carroll: A Case Study in Denial
Sean Carroll is a brilliant physicist who has written several popular science books and who hosts a podcast where he regularly proves his intellectual width and depth. Earlier this month he did an Ask Me Anything (AMA) 3 1/2 hour episode in which he answered about a hundred mostly difficult, mostly physics questions.
I found all of his answers to be uniformly intelligent with great care taken to distinguish between generally agreed facts and personal opinions.
Except one question. Care to guess the topic?
Yep, you got it: overshoot.
Notice his brain doing backflips trying not to actually address the intent of the question. Notice the total blanking on thermodynamics which he understands inside out. Notice his inability to scale feasible energy types to the nearest order of magnitude.
Go ahead and listen to the other questions and answers. They are like night and day compared to this one question his brain did not want to think about.
What you see here is genetic denial of unpleasant realities, as explained by Varki’s MORT theory, fully engaged and blocking his brain from thinking rationally.
I checked, Carroll’s already on my list of famous polymaths in denial.
https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2020/12/09/ama-december-2020/
Here is Tom Murphy discussing the overshoot issue Carroll did not want to think about.
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Do the Math was one of my favorites. Too bad he stopped posting.
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Jesus!! He almost sounds like a semiliterate just trying to come up with something and puking incoherent word salad. Its so embarrassing that a part of me believes that you made a mistake while posting his comments on this page.
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Denial?
Don’t discount option #2 which is probably even more ubiquitous than denial – lying.
Sean Carroll’s career is even more brilliant than his brain. Telling unpleasant truths never won anyone a popularity contest & doing it is pretty much career & social suicide. Any politician will tell you that & they know best since elections are just popularity contests.
The truth about lying
‘We’re lied to 10 to 200 times a day, and tell a lie ourselves an average of 1 to 2 times in the same period. These talks will help you understand why — and will make you better at sussing out the truth.’
https://www.ted.com/playlists/222/5_talks_on_the_truth_about_lyi
I expect to be lied to & more times than not my expectations are met.
..
Guy McPherson is none to popular – hated by many & don’t sell many books. Why? McPherson is a very intelligent scientist & understands the living planet more thoroughly than all but others with his expertise. Sure McPherson has misinterpreted some of the physics & his prediction is kinda early, but he’s not THAT! wrong.
“Shooting the messenger” is a real condition, explain scientists
Harvard psychologists discover why we dislike the people who deliver bad news.
” A new study looked at why people tend to “shoot the messenger”.
It’s a fact that people don’t like those who deliver them bad news.
The effect stems from our inherent need to make sense of bad or unpredictable situations.
Have you ever felt like you really didn’t like the person who gave you some particularly bad news? Maybe it wasn’t even their fault – all they did is tell you about it, but had nothing to do with the news themselves. Still, you couldn’t help but hate them for it, even if you logically knew it wasn’t right. Well, it turns out you are not alone in this feeling – wanting to “shoot the messenger” is a widespread psychological reality for many humans. It’s just how we are wired, says a new paper published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.”
https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/why-shooting-the-messenger-is-a-real-condition-explain-scientists
There is no upside to being a Cassandra.
Forget about the endtimes, just pointing out the worst hypocrisy & bullshit of your society can be costly.
It’s best to do it like George Carlin, lest you end up like Socrates.
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Did you listen to the nuance of the audio? It didn’t sound like a lie to me. It sounded like his denial circuit was scrambling his logic circuit. I see it everyday in interactions with people. It can be harder to pinpoint denial with less educated people because you’re never sure if what you’re observing is ignorance. In Carroll’s case we know for sure it’s not ignorance.
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I know that scientists and politicians have to project optimism or else risk serious damage to their careers. It is also the reason why despite climate change accelerating at an alarming pace and various feedback loops kicking in, the IPCC is still not ready to revise their conservative projections about the temperature rise. I understand this phenomenon perfectly.
What surprised me about Carroll’s response is that he could not even lie in a coherent manner. Its as if he has never given this topic any serious thought and was caught completely off guard and just said whatever he could think of at that particular moment.
A good example for someone who peddles insane fantasies is Michio Kaku. According to him -and this is for real- In the next few years we would be like the ancient Greek gods.
What he means by that is that we will conquer disease and aging, colonize mars, upload our minds to a server and create a “soul library” among other things. This is just a sample of the elaborate BS that Kaku is selling the people who attend his talks.
My point is Kaku is precise and articulate and probably knows this is all fantasy where as Carroll seems like he just has never meditated on this topic.
I don’t know which is worse!!
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Back in the 80s, I used to listen to Michio Kaku on WBAI in NYC. He seemed like a reasonable scientist back then. He’s become a perfect example of a scientist who is selling wishful thinking to a gullible public. Does he know it’s all fantasy? You have to take what he has written at face value. His particular take on the future probably sells more books because as everyone on this website says people like happy outcomes. It’s like the old Mad Magazine caption, “What me worry!” Contrary to what Rob says, I don’t think that if people really did acknowledge that they all lived in denial that it would really change anything. The internal momentum of our society pulls (MPP?) everyone along.
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Couldn’t have said it better!! We apes have good detectors against being lied to. It’s why watching/reading the MSM makes me want to scream (which I do on occasion much to my wife’s consternation).
Oh, we are all going to end up like Socrates (we’re drinking the hemlock now).
Thanks,
AJ
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Lying and denying are probably related. A good preacher does not lie that heaven exists. He believes that heaven exists because he evolved to deny death. He’s successful because our lie detectors tell us he’s not lying, and because he tells us what our denial genes want to hear.
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You can’t make this shit up.
George Mobus, a long time observer of overshoot, in one of his rare posts today, summarizes all of the problems our civilization faces, and then he concludes:
https://questioneverything.typepad.com/question_everything/2020/12/merry-winter-solstice-2020.html
The virus seems to have made everyone crazy.
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“We need to have a future population of sapients to carry on!”
Why? To carry on destroying our (one and only Earthly) habitats, non-human organisms and ourselves? Mobus is writing as though humans are going to suddenly change their evolved behaviors and instantly become caring servants to ourselves, other beings and the Earth. Optimism is a turd wrapped in gold foil.
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“It is curious that while good people go to great lengths to spare their children from suffering, few of them seem to notice that the one (and only) guaranteed way to prevent all the suffering of their children is not to bring those children into existence in the first place.”
― David Benatar , Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence
To be perfectly honest, I don’t give two fucks about the humans or any other species here on planet meat grinder except the one’s I eat.
Extinction is the ultimate mercy.
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I still haven’t read that book by Benatar, nor his most recent. AFAIK, Benatar doesn’t address human denial of reality but nonetheless many of his premises and arguments which I have read from interviews of him ring true to me. Here’s a 2017 New Yorker article on him which I recommend:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/the-case-for-not-being-born
Also, the first season of “True Detective” was probably the most outstanding television series (of any genre) I’ve seen, except for the last 10-ish minutes of the final episode in which the writer(s) and/or producer(s) copped-out of reality in favor of religious delusion.
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“Truly sapient” is about 10,000 people, so it would take a while to fcuk everything up again 😉
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Here is un-Denial optimism:
Starting tomorrow, our days will be brighter.
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Speaking of everyone going crazy, Kunstler today turns up conspiracy to 11.
https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/yuletide-visitations/
Do mammals go insane when they sense an imminent overshoot crash?
Or is the virus similar to the one that makes mice love the smell of cat urine?
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I think it was Apneaman who recently mentioned a pattern of previously great thinkers (prominently among them J. Kunstler and D. Cohen) rapidly descending into conspiracy theory and other irrational madness. It’d be nice to fully comprehend the sequence of psychodynamic regression involved in this pattern. Or maybe it’s not regression but simply a progressive irrationality and conspiratorial mindset that eventually takes over as a new and primary worldview.
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I think, on a subconscious level, folks are tribing up & closing ranks & the conspiracy memes are a form of tribal loyalty signalling. Signalling that makes one look stupid is actually more valuable than any calm rational promise.
How bad do you want to be seen as a loyal (and protected) member of our tribe?
Anyone can claim they are loyal, but like they say in Missouri ‘Show Me!’
Costly signaling theory in evolutionary psychology
“Costly signaling theory in evolutionary psychology refers to uses of costly signaling theory and adaptationism in explanations for psychological traits and states. Often informed by the closely related fields of human behavioral ecology and cultural evolution, such explanations are predominantly focused on humans and emphasize the benefits of altering the perceptions of others and the need to do so in ways that are difficult to fake due to the widespread existence of adaptations which demand reliable information to avoid manipulation through dishonest signals.[1] ”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costly_signaling_theory_in_evolutionary_psychology
Now we have American, white, educated long time doomers who are frothing at the mouth spewing jew hating plandemic conspiracies that entail a level of complexity, sophistication & cooperation that would put ‘The Borg’ to shame.
So how come we never heard all this jew hating, Trump luving, conspiracy & blaming from them prior to Covid? Because talking that shit was too costly for their status & self-image as the educated class , but now that they are full of fear, now that collapse is no longer just an abstract academic hobby, their subconscious survival computer has recalculated and it’s told them it’s too costly not to jump on the conspiracy blame wagon. IOW, they have better survival odds down in the gutter with those they once mocked. Now they just deplorables with degrees looking for protection & the James Gang is showing the typical zealousness seen in all new converts. New guy must signal louder to prove loyalty. Sometimes the signalling it’s referred to as virtue signalling & in the case of the scared shitless neo deplorable converts, it’s a virtue of necessity or at least that’s what their amygdala is telling them (with a social media shove).
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Fellow British Columbian Baba Brinkman on a different type of costly signaling…
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Yes, it looks like tribal urges are heightening, and dawdlers are making their choices, picking their “team”.
E.O. Wilson lays out the genetic and evolutionary basis for our tribal nature. I recently finished his “The Social Conquest of Earth”. It explains a lot, and I recommend reading it. Our dual nature is a genetic battle between individual success and group success forged on the African veldt. Signaling is all part of establishing and defining tribal affiliation. At one time it helped ensure mutual aid and survival. Now, in the self inflicted predicament we’ve caused, not so much.
We’ve expanded so quickly into the rest of the ecosystem, we aren’t co-evolving with the rest of nature like ants did, so are like a cancer that will most likely burn out and take a lot with us.
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Heinberg, in a very long essay today, is also thinking about why everyone is going crazy.
I disagree with him. I think the cause of craziness is simple and related to denial.
It’s clear from every angle that you care to view it from that we are in serious trouble. And yet, not a single one of our political, intellectual, business, or pop media leaders speaks honestly about what’s going on (overshoot), nor what we should do about it (population reduction), because they all deny reality.
And so everyone makes shit up and forms into tribes.
Heinberg contributes to the problem by once again failing to discuss the need for rapid population reduction policies.
https://richardheinberg.com/museletter-334-2020-the-year-consensus-reality-fractured
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Charles C. Mann
State of the Species
Does success spell doom for Homo sapiens?
(This essay was a finalist for a 2013 National Magazine Award in the Essay category.
https://orionmagazine.org/article/state-of-the-species/
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Mann’s conclusion:
So many words and so little value. I observe that bacteria cannot write such an essay. I also observe that Mann never once mentioned the need for rapid population reduction policies despite having the intelligence, and an audience and platform to do so. Denial dominates once again.
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https://srsroccoreport.com/the-collapse-of-u-s-shale-oil-production-has-now-begun/
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Tverberg today…
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Big news today for documentary collectors.
MVGroup released a 1080p x265 blu-ray rip of the famous 1980 series Cosmos by Carl Sagan.
I already had the best available rip released in 2014 but this new rip is much better.
You can get it from MVGroup directly if you have an account, otherwise it should be up on other public trackers soon.
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China is experiencing electricity shortages, because of coal shortages, because it stopped importing Australian coal, because Australia called for an investigation into the virus source.
Does this smell true, or is something else going on?
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/China-Restricts-Electricity-Use-Amid-Coal-Shortage.html
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Whats-Driving-The-Energy-Feud-Between-China-And-Australia.html
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I was just going to post this link but looks like you best me to it. Interesting. I’m not quite sure what to make of it.
It’s been doing the rounds for a while that ships laden with Australia coal weren’t being allowed entry into China’s ports. However this is the first article I’ve read on developing electricity shortages.
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Don’t know if it’s true but I’ve heard saving face is pretty high on the list of Chinese cultural priorities.
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The Arctic is in a death spiral. How much longer will it exist?
“At the end of July, 40% of the 4,000-year-old Milne Ice Shelf, located on the north-western edge of Ellesmere Island, calved into the sea. Canada’s last fully intact ice shelf was no more.
On the other side of the island, the most northerly in Canada, the St Patrick’s Bay ice caps completely disappeared.
Two weeks later, scientists concluded that the Greenland Ice Sheet may have already passed the point of no return. Annual snowfall is no longer enough to replenish the snow and ice loss during summer melting of the territory’s 234 glaciers. Last year, the ice sheet lost a record amount of ice, equivalent to 1 million metric tons every minute.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2020/oct/13/arctic-ice-melting-climate-change-global-warming
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I like Baba Brinkman.
If you’re sick of hearing me say rapid population reduction is the only thing that will help, here is Baba with a “happier” solution.
I don’t think Baba’s aware of overshoot and the effect scarcity will have on our good nature, but he does present a fresh idea.
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I remember some people predicting that the new regulations requiring ships to use low sulfur fuel might cause shortages and disruptions to global shipping. It seems a different serious problem has emerged due to insufficient testing and quality control of the new fuel.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/12/21/shipping-gate-why-toxic-vlsfo-fuel-is-such-a-danger-for-global-shipping/?sh=2d677aa878fd
h/t Panopticon
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Hmm- a made up fuel, inadequately tested and rushed through. I’m sure that reminds me of something. Shouldn’t that percentage have given the ships herd immunity?
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Reading the article now seems I shouldn’t have been so flippant-good article. I don’t remember who said it but “when politics meets science it becomes politics”. Here’s another quote-
” It was accelerated based on a politically-driven, artificially tight timeline, without proper safety testing. The intention was to give the impression that global shipping was a clean industry, ahead of important climate talks planned for 2020. That was before COVID-19 hit.”
So politics and PR.
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He had seven children. Of course, the Earth was relatively empty back then.
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Thanks, I didn’t know that. In fact I know nothing about Watts. Just thought there were a few truths here.
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Andrew Glikson today discussed the severity of our climate situation. He thinks we should shift military funding to climate mitigation, and he chastised his climate science colleagues for having less courage than school children.
http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2020/12/an-orwellian-climate-while-rome-burns.html
Notice that Glikson did not have the courage to call for rapid population reduction policies, despite the fact that nothing else will help.
Or perhaps he has courage but doesn’t have a clue.
Or perhaps he denies reality like everyone else.
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Rob, I will never, ever, ever tire of you prioritizing overshoot (particularly massive human overpopulation) here at un-Denial. Nothing causes me more distress and existential anguish than this problem [I wish I could just let it go, as it’s futile, but I’m not wired that way]. I know of no other space (online or off) where it’s (overpopulation) prioritized as consistently as it is here. It’s importance cannot be overstated, nor emphasized too many times. Not possible. Thanks for your persistence.
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Thanks kindly.
Of late it’s become much clearer to me that only population reduction will help. It’s a no lose solution because even if it’s mostly too late, a smaller population means less suffering, and a better chance of a decent life for some of the people and other species that remain.
What’s the big deal? We manage the breeding of our pets and many people love their pets as much as their family. We need to get over it and grow up. The alternative is much worse.
I’m much less tolerant now of people that have not given up and advocate we do something, but never mention the only thing that might help. I’m going to call them out every chance I get.
Many (most?) doomers have given up and are resigned to accept whatever comes. I don’t agree with them but I respect and understand their position. Perhaps some day I’ll join them.
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Rob, I understand your emphasis on overpopulation and the need to drastically reduce it but it is interpreted in many circles as a form of colonial mindset coming from a citizen of the first world. After all an average American consumes as much as 50 times the amount of resources as an average Indian which means America as a whole is consuming resources as much as 15 Indias!! So the immediate focus becomes overconsumption and not overpopulation although I believe both are equally important.
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I understand. I think Canada should implement population reduction policies first, and increase it’s interest rate to drive down consumption. We should then shame the rest of the world to follow us.
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I think it should be the other way around. The consumption must go down before population does. Let me elaborate-
At present Canada is probably consuming as much resources as about a billion Indians. Even if you somehow reduce the population by 25% in the next 25 years (which is highly unlikely) they would still consume as much as about 750 million Indians. Reduction in consumption by even 50% would bring consumption levels to about 500 million Indians. Also this is achievable much more quickly the population reduction.
Then there is the moral aspect of this problem. If you have people in one part of the planet consuming 50 times as much as people on the other side then the people on the other side will aspire to become part of the people on the more privileged side. That is human psychology.
Therefore consumption must be reduced before population can be reduced.
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You make a good point but I think the focus should be on population reduction because energy depletion and our debt bubble will cause consumption to fall soon without us having to do anything.
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Reducing population even by a small amount in a manner that is acceptable to vast majority of population will take decades at the very least, where as reducing consumption by a signifcant amount is possible in just a few years.
Also people will be more amenable to consumption reduction compared to population reduction.
And as I mentioned earlier there is the issue of optics. Someone living in developing world will not care about reduction of population in a developed country when the developed country in question is consuming 50 times resources per capita compared to a developing country. Reduction in consumption is more visible.
So it is clear that reduction in consumption is a higher priority.
Also if as you say energy depletion and debt bubble will lead to a crash in a few decades any way then we might as well not do anything since any meaningful reduction in population will take far longer than that.
If you can please post our exchange at the top of the blog as I am very interested to see what others on this site think about what is a higher priority. Reduction is consumption or Reduction in population?
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Not to be a complete cynic (yeah!!). But wouldn’t MPP kinda suggest that even if we denizens of the West lowered our consumption dramatically the other inhabitants of this pale blue dot would say “Fools, MORE for me”. Lowering consumption could lead to dramatic immediate benefits and but without a simultaneously lowering of the population it would seem to be futile. Mostly I think the decreasing fossil fuel availability will pop the bubble of “growth” and the question will then become, does the biosphere survive the collapse of civilization? (probably not due to the 400+ nukes melting down?).
AJ
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I don’t think it will take a few decades for our consumption to be forced down. The decline started this year and will probably accelerate quickly over the coming months and few years at most.
I agree with AJ’s point. I also don’t think consumption reduction would be favored over population reduction. We know that the birth rate falls when the cost of raising a child increases, so many people appear to give priority to consumption. If the Canadian government said to its citizens there will not be sufficient food to feed our population in 10 years, I think a lot of people would support population reduction policies.
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My point of view was that of people in developing countries. Of course the developed countries are free to choose any path they want consumption or population reduction.
But they WILL NOT have the moral authority to ask poorer countries to reduce population until their per capita consumption is near or just a few times more than that of poorer countries instead of the present 50 times.
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Chuckling at the latest monkeyshines south of the border, and wondering about pins and bubbles…
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Works for me.
Accurately described Terror Management Theory in lay-monkey terms.
Cancer Monkeys
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Excellent, added to the Gallery.
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A quick check-in on the monkeyshines and yep, they’re still monkeyshining.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/shutdown-looms-democrat-bid-2000-relief-checks-fails-house-heres-what-happens-next
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I remember watching this video 10 years ago. I thought it was brilliant back then and would agree today. Only wish we would have the mentioned 6 billion people instead of the > 8 billion today.
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Yes, it’s amazing how fast the billions have ticked up.
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Hossenfelder made me smile today.
She’s great and not yet on my list of famous polymaths in denial.
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Tverberg today describes our economy as citizens walking up a downward escalator.
The escalator I think is an analogy for the depreciation factor in Tim Garrett’s thermodynamic model of the economy in which energy consumed is proportional to the total capital of the system.
https://un-denial.com/?s=Garrett%3A
A good example of this is that annual maintenance costs and property taxes increase with the size and complexity of a home. If you don’t have the money (aka energy) to maintain the home its capital value will fall. It takes energy to have wealth, and even more energy to grow wealth.
Which is why to improve your resiliency you should simplify your life.
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Nice find by Dave Lysak @ http://megacancer.com.
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I’m gonna LMFAO when the grid goes down
I’m gonna LMFAO when the grid goes down
I’m gonna LMFAO when the grid goes down
And I’ll never use LMFAO, WTF?, OMG!, LOL or 😦 🙂 again 😉
I love these fucking halfwits plan to take down the very thing that powers their greatest recruiting tool ever.
FBI Says White Supremacists Plotted Attack on U.S. Power Grid
“The Ohio teen, who was 17 at the time, also shared plans with a smaller group about a plot to create a power outage by shooting rifle rounds into power stations in the southeastern U.S. The teen called the plot “Light’s Out” and there were plans to carry it out in the summer of 2021, the affidavit states.
One group member, a Texas native who was a Purdue University student at the time, allegedly sent the informant a text saying “leaving the power off would wake people up to the harsh reality of life by wreaking havoc across the nation.”
“Some group members also indicated that they were prepared to die for their beliefs. ”
“He then outlined a “radicalization” process to instill a “revolutionary mindset” which ended with recruits proving they are more than just talk. He allegedly wrote that if it seemed too tough, “I recommend leaving now, we are extremely serious about our goals and ambitions.”
“This investigation apparently began after a fourth man, from Canada, was stopped while trying to enter the U.S. The man told border agents that he was going to visit the Ohio teen, whom he had recently met over an encrypted app, according to the affidavit. Agents found Nazi and white supremacist images on his phone.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-22/fbi-white-supremacists-plotted-attack-on-us-power-grid?sref=qTppeEL3
No word yet on how they plan to communicate with each other after they take down the internet.
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Russ Roberts is an economics professor on my list of famous polymaths in denial, who hosts the EconTalk podcast, which I monitor, because every once in a while, when he doesn’t discuss how the economy works, he produces an episode that is intelligent and interesting, like this week when he interviewed Jay Bhattacharya, the author of the Great Barrington Declaration.
https://www.econtalk.org/jay-bhattacharya-on-the-pandemic/
Two side observations. First, the discipline of economics is a disgrace in that the only time you should listen to its experts is when they don’t discuss how the thing they specialize in works. Second, even people deeply in denial occasionally say something worth listening to.
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The two great weaknesses of the Great Barrington Declaration is that it doesn’t address the exceptional importance of everyone wearing masks when near to one another (particularly indoors) and maintaining a good six feet of distance from one another (admittedly, this distance is sometimes impossible to initiate/maintain, as I’ve learned firsthand in my work, but the mask wearing is a piece of cake). Another weakness, if maybe lesser than the previous two, is that is considers humans knowledgeable, responsible and sapient enough to gauge their own level of COVID risk, which is dubious AT VERY BEST and the consequences of which might very well include rendering hospitals and health care workers even more severely overwhelmed than at present.
My position on the best societal approach to SARS-2/COVID has been, since at least May, that everyone (literally, unless physically impossible) wears a mask at all times indoors and wears one outdoors only if within close proximity to others. Otherwise, no need to wear one outdoors nor when one is by oneself in certain interior spaces (e.g., one’s automobile). Unfortunately, this approach still leaves restaurants and bars in a terrible position. It’s completely reasonable to me to have government stimulus keep them viable until patrons can return to support them. Much better government spending than the first stimulus (and likely the second, based upon what I’ve read about it) giving more billions to those already billionaires.
To me, this approach is a “win-win”. Lockdowns can be avoided (allowing societies to function almost normally) AND humans can greatly minimize their risk of receiving or transmitting SARS-2.
Am I missing something here? Please let me know the flaws you see in this approach [unless you feel that mask wearing is worthless, unconstitutional/authoritarian, virtue signaling, or other perfect bullshit; if so, PISS OFF YOU TERRIFIC MORON]. If there’s a better one, I’d be glad to acknowledge and promote it.
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I haven’t read the Great Barrington Declaration but in the podcast masks were only discussed in the context of them being the best example of American societal breakdown because they are sadly used as a political tribe allegiance signal.
I think I was close to being the first person in my community to wear a mask. I remember people looking at me with some derision. Now everyone wears a mask.
I haven’t read the science behind mask effectiveness but for me it is common sense reinforced by Nassim Taleb’s explanation that even if they only block 50% of the virus you get a 1-(0.5*0.5)= 75% reduction when interacting with another person who is also wearing a mask.
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Oh geez, I just realized that this comment could be taken as me replying directly to you, Rob. I was writing to all people who visit un-Denial to elicit their feedback to the approach I’m advocating for SARS-2/COVID. I wasn’t calling you a terrific moron, LOL. I just wanted to clarify this to avoid misinterpretation.
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Thanks. I was feeling pretty depressed yesterday that 1 of the 3 people that read this blog think I’m a moron. 🙂
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Here’s an entertaining rant by a couple of short selling experts on what it takes to make money in the stock market today. Basically you check your brain at the door, forget about rational valuations, profits, and possible fraud, and buy whatever your family members like because the Fed’s got your back.
It seems the only thing you need to get rich are the denial genes most people are born with.
What could go wrong?
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I thought it might be the pop of a bubble. Maybe going out with a different bang?
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It don’t take much to dupe most/enough of the American public. Especially when it comes to bombing brown people – any ole pretext will do.
Going to war on Iran would be a great distraction & economic stimulus plan.
U.S. military is the largest employer in the world
“Travel on Uncle Sam’s dime and have taxpayers pay for your education—these are some of the perks offered by the U.S. military, and it appears its recruiting strategy is effective.
The U.S. Department of Defense has been named the largest employer in the world with 3.2 million employees on its payroll, according to the World Economic Forum. ”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-military-is-the-largest-employer-in-the-world-2015-06-17
For over 100 years, the American aerospace and defense (A&D) industry has moved, connected, and secured the modern world. And in 2018, the industry continued to pave the way to what’s next, providing world-class products to partners and allies around the globe and developing new, cutting-edge technologies that will shape life for generations to come.
Our “2019 Facts & Figures: U.S. Aerospace & Defense” analysis highlights an eight-year trend of sustained growth, culminating in 2018 sales exceeding $929 billion and a trade surplus of nearly $90 billion. This success was underpinned by innovative manufacturing and was felt across the supply chain, which grew to $459 billion in output – a four percent increase over the previous year. And none of this would have been possible without the more than 2.5 million people who make up the talented A&D workforce.
Explore our 2019 Facts & Figures report for more on A&D’s contributions to America’s economy, national security and innovation.
https://www.aia-aerospace.org/2019-facts-and-figures/
Don’t forget to include the secondary businesses the Dept of War & death manufactures hire that employ many people too.
If global peace broke out the US would go broke overnight.
Raining hell from above is ‘good fer da Conomy’.
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Witty comment by erwalt at https://ourfiniteworld.com.
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David Collum, since 2009, has written a year in review essay that is published around Christmas on Chris Martenson’s site.
I always read it although I frequently don’t agree with Collum’s world view, nor his lack of awareness and integration of overshoot and denial forces, but he does a fantastic job of summarizing many of the important and easy to forget (because there’s so many) crazy events of the year.
Click to access 2020+Year+in+Review+Full+Final.pdf
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Kunstler speaks with him frequently. It is a bit of a mystery why a “world made by hand” guy spends so much time talking with believers in infinite growth on a finite planet. It is not as if they discuss those ideological differences.
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Yes it is very strange. Collum’s an excellent candidate for another case study in denial. I think if you go back to his first essays you will see an awareness of overshoot issues like energy depletion. That is after all why he is associated with Chris Martenson. Today somehow his brain has blocked all those unpleasant thoughts and he worries about someone stealing his stash.
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Sorry Rob,
I am familiar with Collum from previous years rants. . .
BUT he has what I consider a problem. Correct me if I am wrong.
I am a firm believer in Science and the scientific method for determining what little we know of reality. Science as a way of approaching reality (as apposed to religion, and other methods?) is nominally self correcting. Institutional science as practiced in academia and especially as practiced in the corporate world is “corruptible”, IMHO.
However, as someone who attempts to practice scientific thought (testable, falsifiable, logical), one can never be an expert in every field (except physicists who think they are certifiable geniuses who can expound scientific opinions is all fields – see Richard Feynman (joke)). Hence, one must occasionally and tentatively rely on scientists in other fields as having expert opinions that are correct.
Collum has concluded that global warming/climate change is wrong.
Another polymath who is in denial??
AJ
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Yes for sure Collum is in denial on climate change, and also energy and all things overshoot.
I finished reading his long essay. He clearly sees the madness but is no longer able to connect the dots on the underlying cause. I remember interviews with him 10 years ago when he did connect the dots. It seems denial has pushed that awareness out of his brain.
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Working my way through it. Gotta give Collum credit.
No matter how crazy you think you know the world is, Collum shows you are low by an order of magnitude.
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I liked this analogy by Jason at OFW comparing bacteria in a petri dish and civilization.
I think it’s a different way of explaining Tim Garrett’s thermodynamic model of the economy.
The key take-away: buckle up.
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Harry McGibbs is a pseudonym for a friend who was one of two people that encouraged me to start https://un-denial.com. Ironically, I began writing with a pseudonym but Harry criticized me for not writing with my real name, so I came out of the closet. Harry, on the other hand, for personal reasons, went in the opposite direction and now has two pseudonyms, the other being Panopticon at https://climateandeconomy.com, where he publishes a daily roundup of climate and economic news.
Harry has a lot of interesting things to say but rarely says them, preferring to let the news speak for itself. Today he wrote a rare brief essay at OFW discussing David Korowicz’s seminal 2012 essay Trade-Off.
Click to access Trade_Off_Korowicz.pdf
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Hey kids! Yes it’s that special time of year again. The birthday of our lord Mammon.
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Youtube/Google cares about the children & will spare no effort to protect them from humanity’s worst evils, like swearing. Executions, combat video & police shooting unarmed civilians is fine. Watch away kids….just don’t swear.
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Don’t call Eric a humbug. He writes happy hopey tunes too 🙂
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The Pythons are one of the few remaining deep pleasures, too. If I’m super duper down, I’ll watch one of their bits/skits or films and get a brief respite from the terror of reality. Thanks Pythons.
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COVID KILLS
California man ‘kills fellow Covid patient with oxygen tank’
“Jesse Martinez became upset when the 82-year-old man sharing his hospital room started praying, according to Los Angeles police.
Mr Martinez then allegedly grabbed an oxygen tank and bludgeoned the elderly patient.
The victim died the following day.
The pair, who police say did not know each other, were receiving treatment for coronavirus in a two-person room in Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster in southern California.
“The suspect became upset when the victim started to pray. He then struck the victim with an oxygen tank,” a statement from Los Angeles police said.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55408492
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A little plug for a YouTube channel you might not know about. FortNine targets motorcycle enthusiasts that might buy something from its parent site, and stars and is written by fellow British Columbian Ryan Kluftinger with his brilliant cinematographer Aneesh Shivanekar.
Even if you have zero interest in motorcycles you will probably enjoy the intelligent humor and jaw dropping video quality. It’s one of the best channels on YouTube. Here’s todays video:
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ATV’s – population control the fun way.
I can see motorcycles possibly becoming more popular as employment & income declines & fuel prices rise and/or supplies get erratic. Fuel rationing would make some 4 to 2 wheel converts as well.
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I agree. When I want insight into life here in the not too distant future I look at the Asian countries where motorcycles are very popular and people use them for transporting everything you can imagine.
Earlier this year I traded in my Yamaha Majesty scooter which I rode for 7 years and upgraded to a Honda CB500X which burns 3L per 100km and has a 500 km range on one tank.
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For anyone considering an electric motorcycle…
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Just spent a good hour or two viewing some of his productions. The kid has a great voice and creative vision. I most appreciate that he prioritizes efficient function, practicality and durability. His loving attempt (and failure) to destroy the KLR650 was my favorite so far. Thanks Rob!
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More on the electricity\coal shortages in China.
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If Korowicz doesn’t understand, I sure as hell don’t.
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https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0237672
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