White House Soap Operas Distract From Real Global Dangers

This report was originally published by Brandon Smith at Alt-Market.com

In the liberty movement, we often refer to the historical tactic of the Roman “bread and circuses” when describing the deliberate mass distraction of the public of today. In the era when Roman emperors supplanted the senate and dominated political and social life, it was deemed advantageous to create various forms of “entertainment,” often violent, in order to keep the citizenry preoccupied and thus less likely to physically act against the power structure as the empire suffered economic decline. The use of bread and circuses continues into our era, but the method has been refined and the manipulations have become in some ways more subtle.

For example, in ancient Rome the horrors of the Colosseum were meant to keep the public’s attention AWAY from the government. Today, the soap opera of government keeps people’s attention away from the true power brokers within global finance.

The White House itself has been molded into just another reality TV show, and mainstream media coverage has been relentless. With Donald Trump (no stranger to reality TV) at center stage, it is difficult for the citizenry to gauge what is politically legitimate and important. What we are bombarded with is an ever escalating drama between Trump, his staff, and the media, and instead of ignoring the theater many people are desperately seeking to interpret the meaning behind a show that is actually meaningless.

Every two weeks or so another episode develops in which Trump, playing the character of the brash and aggressive “populist,” fires one of his cabinet as if The Apprentice never ended, but was simply transferred to the Oval Office. Some people find this entertaining as it is Trump doing what he is most recently famous for doing. Those on the political left interpret this as reckless abandon and confirmation that their fears over Trump being ill suited to the presidency are justified. Still others in the liberty movement who originally supported Trump’s campaign are perhaps desperately looking for vindication. They wanted so badly to avoid the inevitable evils of a Clinton regime that they are now willing to give Trump a pass on almost anything, and they argue that the endless turnover in the Trump White House is Trump fulfilling his election promise of “draining the swamp.”

It is important to note that Trump is NOT draining the swamp of elitism in Washington D.C. The public is so focused on who Trump gives the boot they are forgetting to pay attention to the institutions that never leave. But what do I mean by this?

Let’s look at the some of the more widely publicized staff changes at the White House. Dina Powell, a Goldman Sachs alumni, was recently replaced as National Security Adviser, and so, the argument that Trump is “draining the swamp” persists. Yet, Powell was replaced by H.R. McMaster, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and hardly a stranger to elitist circles.

Gary Cohn, another Goldman Sachs agent, has left his post as Chief Economic Adviser and has been replaced by “conservative” Larry Kudlow, ostensibly as Trump is “cleaning house” and removing globalist influences in preparation for his war to balance the trade deficit. Yet, Kudlow is was a campaign coordinator who worked closely with the likes of Bill Clinton and John Podesta, as well as other major Democrat personalities. He began his career as a staff economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and oversaw the fall of Bear Stearns which was one of the sparks that launched the 2008 credit crisis. This guy is in no way a true conservative, nor is he some kind of anti-globalist replacement for Gary Cohn.

Rex Tillerson’s firing, one of the most recent dramas, has led to the position of Secretary of State being filled by CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Pompeo is often portrayed as a former “Tea Party congressmen”, yet he is a rabid supporter of mass surveillance of the American people by the NSA through FISA related programs, and has referred to Wikileaks as a “non-state hostile intelligence service.” First, this only proves further the “Tea Party” label has been so thoroughly co-opted by the establishment that it is laughable to refer to it in any relation to true conservatives and liberty champions. Second, it also shows that Trump has no intention of making any significant changes to the Beltway; only cosmetic changes are allowed.

And so it goes on and on. If one looks closely at the Trump administration, they will find that the people within the cabinet are changing constantly, but the elitist and globalist organizations and ideologies those people represent are always present within the White House. They never leave.

The swamp is not being “drained,” it is simply being shifted around so that the American people can’t keep up with the names of the swamp creatures and the positions they hold.

Ever since the days of Woodrow Wilson, a president purportedly controlled from within the White House by adviser Col. Mandel House (the founder of the Council On Foreign Relations), it has been common practice for globalists to use presidents as proxies. That is to say, the president is generally a mascot held up to the public as a target for political criticism or as a rallying tool to push the population in a particular direction. All the while, the true power brokers work from behind the curtain, dictating policy towards the paths of either globalization or disaster.

Trump is an interesting case as far as this 4^th generation warfare is concerned. Never in modern times has a president’s rhetoric been so openly hostile to the globalists, while at the same time harboring those very same globalists within his administration. Never before has a fabricated battle between the White House and globalization as an ideology been used as a distraction from globalism itself. This is something entirely new.

The issue is something I warned about consistently before Trump was even elected, and it is the reason I predicted that he would become president. Trump, in my view according to the evidence so far, is controlled opposition. He is a foil for the globalist battle against ideas of conservatism, sovereignty and nationalism. Instead of attacking these ideas outright (a losing battle), the elitists have presented a strawman in the form of Donald Trump. Trump’s actions seem to follow conservative guidelines but his policies are poorly executed, which sets the stage for future failures on an epic scale.

As I mentioned in my article Trump Trade Wars A Perfect Smokescreen For A Market Crash, the timing of Trump’s initiatives could not be more perfect…for international financiers and central banks, that is.

Currently, the Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world are embarking on a process of tightening stimulus measures that have been artificially propping up stock markets and bond markets since the 2008 crash. In particular, the Fed’s move to continue hiking interest rates and cut its balance sheet as negative economic data rolls in has set light to the fuse of a fiscal explosion. Market dependency on cheap debt is total. Corporate debt levels are at all time highs as companies sink further and further into the red in a desperate attempt to inflate their own stock prices through stock buybacks. The Fed has been facilitating this market manipulation for quite some time, but now the party is over.

With each new rate hike and balance sheet reduction markets become more volatile and unstable. The Fed under new chairman Jerome Powell is well aware of what it is doing, considering Powell warned of the consequences of this as far back as 2012. It is highly unlikely though that when the economy crashes central bankers will get the blame.

As March rolls into April, it is also important to note that the Fed’s balance sheet reductions are slated to expand to $30 billion per month or more. So far, the Fed has shown a habit of cutting far beyond their publicly stated goals.  With markets dropping by thousands of points every time there is a balance sheet reduction, the instability is only going to increase exponentially.

Also, is it just a coincidence that every new Trump tariff and trade war announcement seems to take place at the same time as the Fed’s rate hikes and balance sheet cuts?  This sure does make it appear as though Trump is the cause of the subsequent stock market declines rather than the central bank, doesn’t it?

Trump’s continued soap opera theater is building up the narrative of a slapdash presidency run by a bumbling novice. Trump’s initiation of a trade war without necessary preparations, such as giving corporations incentives to move manufacturing back to the U.S. and creating production independence, is an excellent smokescreen for a collapse of stock markets and a dumping of U.S. Treasury bonds by foreign creditors.

For those wondering why globalist elements would deliberately crash the American economy, I suggest they read my article The Economic Endgame Explained. To summarize, in order to reach their openly stated goals of a one world currency system, as well as total centralization of global economic administration, certain appendages of the current system must be sacrificed. One of those appendages is the American economy as it exists now, along with the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency.

Such an attack on our country and our society would not go without notice or possible retaliation. Therefore, the banking elitists need a scapegoat. I have said it before and I’ll say it again — there is no better scapegoat that the Trump White House. Why? Because the Trump White House has been painted since the election as a symbol of stalwart conservatism, even though it is not. The demonization of conservative principles such as limited government, true free markets, personal liberty, etc. becomes much easier when globalists can attach them to an international catastrophe such as a financial collapse.

And, since Trump has been set up as the strawman for conservative ideals, attaching catastrophe to Trump also vicariously attaches catastrophe to the rest of us.

The only way to undermine this 4^th generation warfare tactic is for conservatives to ignore the White House soap opera and to question Donald Trump’s policies publicly when they do not meet logical or practical standards. Blindly supporting Trump because of his rhetoric only harms our cause in the long run, and refusing to acknowledge the fact that he has surrounded himself with the very globalists he is supposedly at war with only sets us up for tragedy. If we remain skeptical and maintain our principles, however, it becomes much harder for the mainstream media or anyone else to implicate us in any great calamity that Trump is blamed for.

If you would like to support the publishing of articles like the one you have just read, visit our donations page here. We greatly appreciate your patronage.

You can contact Brandon Smith at: brandon@alt-market.com

With global tensions spiking, thousands of Americans are moving their IRA or 401(k) into an IRA backed by physical gold. Now, thanks to a little-known IRS Tax Law, you can too. Learn how with a free info kit on gold from Birch Gold Group. It reveals how physical precious metals can protect your savings, and how to open a Gold IRA. Click here to get your free Info Kit on Gold.

Of Bread And Circuses

Originally authored by Admiral Ben Moreell on January 1st, 1956; via The Burning Platform blog,

A twentieth-century repetition of the mistakes of ancient Rome would be inexcusable. Rome was eight and a half centuries old when the poet, Juvenal, penned his famous tirade against his degenerate countrymen. About 100 A.D. he wrote: “Now that no one buys our votes, the public has long since cast off its cares; the people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions and all else, now meddles no more and longs eagerly for just two things, bread and circuses.” (Carcopino, Daily Life in Roman Times [New Haven, Yale University Press, 1940], p. 202.) Forty years later, the Roman historian, Fronto, echoed the charge in more prosaic language: “The Roman people is absorbed by two things above all others, its food supplies and its shows.” (Ibid.)

Here was a once-proud people, whose government had been their servant, who had finally succumbed to the blandishments of clever political adventurers. They had gradually relinquished their sovereignty to government administrators to whom they had granted absolute powers, in return for food and entertainment. And the surprising thing about this insidious progression is that, at the time, few realized that they were witnessing the slow destruction of a people by a corruption that would eventually transmute a nation of self-reliant, courageous, sovereign individuals into a mob, dependent upon their government for the means of sustaining life.

There are no precise records that describe the feelings of those for whom the poet, Juvenal, felt such scorn. But using the clues we have, and judging by our own experience, we can make a good guess as to what the prevailing sentiments of the Roman populace were. If we were able to take a poll of public opinion of first and second century Rome, the overwhelming response would probably have been—“We never had it so good.” Those who lived on “public assistance” and in subsidized rent-free or low-rent dwellings would certainly have assured us that now, at last, they had “security.” Those in the rapidly expanding bureaucracy—one of the most efficient civil services the world has ever seen—would have told us that now government had a “conscience” and was using its vast resources to guarantee the “welfare” of all of its citizens; that the civil service gave them job security and retirement benefits; and that the best job was a government job! Progressive members of the business community would have said that business had never been so good, that the government was their largest customer, which assured them a dependable market, and that the government was inflating currency at about 2 per cent a year, which instilled confidence and gave everyone a sense of well-being and prosperity.

And no doubt the farmers were well pleased too. They supplied the grain, the pork and the olive oil, at or above parity prices, for the government’s doles.

The government had a continuous program of large-scale public works which were said to stimulate the economy, provide jobs and promote the general welfare, and which appealed to the national pride.

The high tax rates required by the subsidies discouraged the entrepreneur with risk capital which, in turn, favored the well-established, complacently prosperous businessman. It appears that there was no serious objection to this by any of the groups affected. An economic historian, writing of business conditions at this period, says, “The chief object of economic activity was to assure the individual, or his family, a placid and inactive life on a safe, if moderate, income . . . . There were no technical improvements in industry after the early part of the second century.” There was no incentive to venture. Inventions began to dry up because no one could reasonably expect to make a profit out of them.

Rome was sacked by Alaric and his Goths in 410 A.D. But long before the barbarian invasions, Rome was a hollow shell of the once noble Republic. Its real grandeur was gone and its people were demoralized. Most of the old forms and institutions remained. But a people whose horizons were limited by bread and circuses had destroyed the spirit while paying lip service to the letter of their once hallowed traditions.

The fall of Rome affords a pertinent illustration of the observation by the late President Lowell of Harvard University that “no society is ever murdered—it commits suicide.”

I do not imply that bread and circuses are evil things in themselves. Man needs material sustenance and he needs recreation. These needs are so basic that they come within the purview of every religion. In every religion there is a harvest festival of thanksgiving for good crops. And as for recreation, we need only recall that our word “holiday” was originally “holy day,” a day of religious observance. In fact, the circuses and games of old Rome were religious in origin. The evil was not in bread and circuses, per se, but in the willingness of the people to sell their rights as free men for full bellies and the excitement of the games which would serve to distract them from the other human hungers which bread and circuses can never appease. The moral decay of the people was not caused by the doles and the games. These merely provided a measure of their degradation. Things that were originally good had become perverted and, as Shakespeare reminds us, “Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.”

More than fifty years ago, the great historian of Rome, Theodore Mommsen, came to our country on a visit. At a reception in his honor, someone asked him, “Mr. Mommsen, what do you think of our country?” The great scholar replied, “With two thousand years of European experience before your eyes, you have repeated every one of Europe’s mistakes. I have no further interest in you.”

One wonders what Mommsen would say today in the light of the increasingly rapid destruction of our traditional values during the past 25 years.

Many of our people have been converted to the idea that liberty has been tried and found wanting, just as many believe that Christianity has been tried and found wanting. They do not know that what has been found wanting is not the true values of liberty and religion but only perversions, worthless counterfeits. So when we urge upon them those true values, they shy away. They have been fooled before, so they want to try something which they think is “new.”

How far have we departed from our traditional values? There is no mystery here. It is well known that the basic policies of the two major political parties with respect to the intrusion of the State into the economic and social lives of the people differ only in degree and method. There is no discernible difference in fundamental principle. Prominent political figures of both parties pay lip service to the letter of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution, while they violate the spirit.

The proponents of an all-powerful centralized government have erected a bureaucratic colossus which imposes upon our people controls, regimentation, punitive taxation and subsidies to pressure groups, thus paralleling the “organized mendicancy, subvention, bureaucracy and centralization” which played so great a part in the downfall of Rome!

We are demoralized by an indecent competition. Each one denounces government handouts and privileges for the other fellow—but maintains that his special privilege is for the “general welfare.” The slogan of many of us seems to be, “Beat the other fellow to the draw”—i.e., “draw out of the public treasury more than you put in, before someone else gets it.”

I am no prophet of inevitable doom. On the contrary, I am sounding an alarm that disaster lies ahead unless present danger signals are heeded.

What specific steps should we take? I believe that neither I nor anyone else, no matter how exalted his position, can determine for 165 million people their day-to-day economic and social decisions concerning such matters as wages, prices, production, associations and others. So I propose that these decisions, and the problems connected therewith, be returned to the people themselves. This could be done in four steps, as follows:

First—Let us stop this headlong rush toward collectivism. Let there be no more special privileges for employers, employees, farmers, businessmen or any other groups. This is the easiest step of all. We need only refrain from passing more socialistic laws.

Second— Let us undertake at once an orderly demobilization of many of the existing powers of government by the progressive repeal of those socialistic laws which we already have. This will be a very difficult step because every pressure group in the nation will fight to retain its subsidies, monopoly privileges and protection. But if freedom is to live, all special privileges must go.

Third—Of the powers that remain in government, let us return as many as possible to the states. For on the local level, the people will be able to apply more critical scrutiny to the acts of their government agents.

Fourth—Above all, let us resolve that never again will we yield to the seduction of the government panderer who comes among us offering “bread and circuses,” paid for with our own money, in return for our sovereign rights!

*  *  *

Admiral Ben Moreell (1892 – 1978) was the chief of the U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Yards and Docks and of the Civil Engineer Corps. Best known to the American public as the Father of the Navy’s Seabees, Moreell’s life spanned eight decades, two world wars, a great depression and the evolution of the United States as a superpower. He was a distinguished Naval Officer, a brilliant engineer, an industrial giant and articulate national spokesman.