In the US, freedom is closely associated with mobility. The history of the US reveals that immigration, another word for moving, is at the core of America’s identity that was generated over centuries by people seeking individual economic redemption.
America’s identity has been forged by settlers who left the Old Continent to escape religious persecution or serfdom. They fled to a land of opportunity and used their entrepreneurial spirit to set the foundation of property rights leading to the US’ development as an economic super-power.
A green entrepreneurial shift.
Past policies and endless wars have derailed the economy without proper implementation of a viable and affordable energy sources. Today’s high fuel prices are imposing a monetary limitation on mobility.
Questions arise about the legitimacy of authorities who are responsible for policies that were implemented by past green new deal agenda promoted by an anti-sovereignty of individuals and states by organizations like the World Economic Forum.
To what extent will these restrictions be perceived by the population as a threat to its core genetic makeup as sovereign individuals?
Higher gas prices will further erode the confidence in global organizations and governmental institutions among the people and potentially erode the rest of their authority and legitimacy they have left.
Will it fuel a reemergence of a grassroots entrepreneurial economy of We the People? Ignited by an exodus away from cities and states who are ruled by out of touch and corrupt politicians in charge of areas with high taxes, high crime and un-affordable dwelling. And move to communities that are more committed to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Come you masters of war
You that build the big guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
You that never done nothin’
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain
You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion’
As young people’s blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud
You’ve thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain’t worth the blood
That runs in your veins
How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I’m young
You might say I’m unlearned
But there’s one thing I know
Though I’m younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul
And I hope that you die
And your death’ll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I’ll watch while you’re lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I’ll stand over your grave
‘Til I’m sure that you’re dead
Advertising is based on unilateral push information like TV to be efficient and profitable. Today advertising no longer provides an effective control of the economy for the establishment. The same goes for propaganda promoted by political parties in power. The emergence of podcast and blogging media provides an alternative channel to spread information. This has changed the nature of mass communication. It transitioned into a format that promotes narratives that challenges and sidesteps corporate and government’s political agenda and its control of power. Many of these applications are interactive. Meaning they rely on feedback, comments, posts and re-post; basically promotion from grassroots users.
I don’t remember how many times I’ve read the first chapter of “Understanding Media” entitled “The Medium is the Message” in order to figure out what Marshall McLuhan meant by his catchphrase. After many years of thinkering this is my interpretation.
Marshall McLuhan
Before I get into the author’s key words, a definition of language will be helpful in staging the scope of meaning: Language is any form of communication, verbal and non-verbal, visual or non-visual, between two or multiple participants. It does not only refer to English, French or Spanish or any other spoken or written languages.
The meaning of language, albeit subliminal, evolved with the introduction of computers and the Internet. An updated meaning could be explained by the following example; a user typing letters on a keyboard that activates a software created with codes (another form of language in itself), projecting various commands on a screen to accomplish a task like communicating with oneself by writing, or communicate with another person via email or any other app.
This communication process also applies to “message”. Namely, any information or directive conveyed by words, spoken or written, or any signs or symbols between a sender and a receiver.
For instance, a stop sign sends a message informing a driver to make a stop at an intersection. The stop sign is a medium that reverts to a city’s public works department, and it, to another medium in terms of government bureaucrats, and it, to city council and to a mayor… so on and so forth. The content of a medium always refers to an ultimate agent of power and control. This fact, characteristic of all media, means that any medium is always backed by another medium until it reaches the ultimate source of financial backing; namely moneyed corporations.
Today the word medium is mostly used in its plural form of media. It represents a technological purveyor of content to the masses. Its essential role is to be an intermediary, a broker or a middleman between a provider (as in, owner/producer) and a recipient (as in, audience/consumer).
Mass-media like a movie, a video clip or news, reverts to a lineup of invisible mediums that transcend a TV screen, a monitor, a smart phone or any other device. These mediums hark back to a line-up of other mediums like a camera, sound equipment, a screenplay, actors, editors, etc, until we get to the executive producers and finally to varied global distribution companies which are owned by major global corporations.
Overtime corporate media developed its own language distinct from a human form of communication. This language is mostly in edited format of re-packaged information. It’s safe to say that whatever is mediated is not the real thing but a representation of a human being, a physical thing or a real event. It’s a facsimile. It’s a make believe of a real thing.
Since the introduction of mass-media, advertising has taken a bigger role in how language is used in culture, in politics and in the economy by being inserted in every story, news, message or content, blurring the boundaries between what is a real being/event/thing and what is the language of advertising. This is especially the case for editing.
Several years ago I gave a radio interview. The host asked me what was my interpretation of McLuhan’s saying? I replied: “who owns the medium owns the message”. My answer sparked a dead silence on the part of the host. Then and there it dawned on me that you don’t bite the advertising hand that feeds you. Somehow I kissed goodbye to my popularity rank.
The content of a medium always reverts to an ultimate agent of power and control.
Over the decades, global corporations with the help of mass-media, have consolidated their power over culture, politics and the economy. McLuhan explains.
The fact merely underlines the point that “the medium is the message” because it is the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action.
For-profit and non-profit corporations all have a similar legal definition. They all use the same accounting practices. Whereas moneyed corporations have charter that defines its ultimate purpose to be profitable to its shareholders.
Because trans-national corporations share the same accounting practices, goal and doctrine, their common structure favored an implicit alliance. In time corporations morphed into ONE subliminal global body like World Economic Forum (WEF). An example is the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) whose purpose is to set up a court system where corporations can sue countries for discriminatory practices. Through the years the global body remained inconspicuous and hidden from public view, because like Michel Foucault pointed out, power is the most efficient when it’s invisible. Today we have a transnational body like WEF who no longer hides its goals and purpose.
The language of advertising has over time spread Global-Inc’s subliminal message in varied areas of culture, the economy and politics. Global-Inc’s power and reach has grown to such an extent that it is now challenging the sovereignty of nations-states of the world, including the United States of America. This is evidenced by directives issued by non-elected officials in the global arena that favors Global Big Tech’s take over of market share previously in the hands of players in the local economy; namely, mom and pop shops, small and medium size businesses, local bars and the gig economy, small and large music concert venues, minor and major league sports events and the tourist industries.
For instance, Big Tech’s imposing their own gag rules on citizens by implementing denial of service that undermines free speech while simultaneously encroaching on the First Amendment of the United States’ Constitution.
The subversion of States’ sovereignty and of individuals has permeated into varied national security branches of governments. Today the Federal government hires private corporations to violate the Constitution. This is still an implicit and complicit violation of the Constitution. And some branches of government are contemplating making any dissent or protest against a perceived violation the US Constitution a crime and potentially prosecute a citizen as a “domestic terrorist”.
St. Thomas lists a number of these sins, which he calls the “daughters of greed.” They are: fraud, lying, perjury, restlessness, violence, and viciousness.
Like all the seven deadly or capital sins, greed sees many other sins that flow from it.
The unraveling loss of confidence in our political leaders around the world is the result of a stealth buyout by global corporations of government’s agencies. The takeover has unleashed a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde psychosis in the political body. Creating a divided self whereby the moneyed corporation, as an amoral organism, has misplaced the political representation of We The People.
A cancer does not know it’s a cancer. It fools itself by being the most powerful and destructive organism in a body, unaware it will eventually kill the body in which it grows. The growth of this artificial/corporate organism is made possible by the unlimited amount of tax payers’ money that enables the cancer grow while remaining undetected. Only when detected, will the mystical body of We the People rise again.
Five years after President Grover Cleveland delivered his warning about the danger of letting moneyed corporation control politics, the US suffered a stock market crash and a nationwide depression. In 1893 the President was forced to turn to J. P. Morgan to bail out the government.
In economic terms, there is nothing more speculative than war. The costs are always guaranteed no matter the outcome, while the benefits are only secured by the victor. Moneyed elites benefit the most regardless of the outcome. While the working class is sacrificed at the altar of the spoils of war.
Military intervention abroad is the inevitable result of domestic financial excesses. Paid for by the misallocation of taxpayers money and the accumulation of government debt. Both are major contributors to inflation which lowers the buying power of the poorer sector of the population.
For the majority of people, buying a home is the biggest investment they will ever make. It’s referred to as an investment because of the long term commitment made to amortize a sizable loan secured by real estate. And once the debt is paid off, the investment will provide the owner with enough equity to secure a good portion of his retirement.
Whereas speculation is defined as making a short term monetary gamble with the expectation that it will pay big. As it happens, close to zero interest rates policy made real estate a speculative asset. And war, is also a short term gamble that a party will win and take over the economic resources of the conquered nation to finance domestic financial mismanagement. It goes without saying that a military conflict is utterly destructive and results in the dissolution of the defeated State.
Central Bankers driving interests rates close to ~0% was meant to be a short term gamble to kick start an economy that was stuck in a deflationary mode in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008. The low interest rates resulted in an unsustainable growth of government and consumer debt. As a side effect, the low rates drove the price of single family homes out of reach for an emerging working force.
The ~0% interest rate era is over and so are the speculative excesses it spawned. It will cost more to finance consumer and government debt as a result. Higher rates of debt will unavoidably lead to higher taxes. Measures that will be a deterrent to economic growth.
The U.S. federal government’s on an unsustainable fiscal path. And that just means that the debt is growing faster that the economy. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
Single family home values reached a peak in 2024 and are currently adjusting to higher interest rates. Until recently, property values were lifted by speculative buying as a result of historically low interest rates. For the most part, this was generated by investors buying homes as rental properties.
Investors who bought homes for rental revenue will evaporate in a rising interest rate environment. Profit seekers now have a choice of investing their money in low-risk short term T-bills at ~5% as opposed to about ~1% a few years ago. Or put their money in a relatively safe money market account that exceeds current returns on a rental property. A declining number of real estate investors will inevitably contribute to a downward pressure on home prices.
The value of real estate investment trusts (REITs) like Equity Residential (EQR) peaked in 2022 at $92 per share. As of this writing, EQR is selling ~30% lower. During a real estate correction, REITs typically come under pressure to sell part of their investment to meet investors’ redemption. The sale puts further stress on the value of the stock and home values.
Commercial real estate (CRE) is having a notable correction in the aftermath the lockdowns. It is exemplified by the recent transfer of a 26 story Manhattan office tower located at 1740 Broadway, New York City. It was purchased by Blackstone in 2014 for $605 million. The company defaulted on its loan in 2022. And it sold recently for ~$200 million. Going forward, distressed sales like these determine the value of comparable commercial properties in the market place.
Big corporate landlords like American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) have been buying whole development known as built-to-rent gated rental projects. The new business model is undertaken to cut the administrative costs of owning homes that are scattered in various locations. To implement built-to-rent properties, these big landlords sold ~3,000 homes in different neighborhoods so far. Companies like AMH will no longer bid prices higher in the market and are adding inventory of homes for sale.
Currently, banks hold a limited number of mortgages on their books. Since the 2008 financial crisis, loans have been sold off to Government-Sponsored Enterprise (GSE), like Fanny Mae, who in turn sell Mortgage Baked Securities (MBS) to investors. As a result, the Fed is no longer overly concerned about banking mortgage defaults triggered by lower property values. It can now concentrate on the domestic economy and the credibility of the US dollar. And keep inflation in check with high interest rates to curb a troubling rise in residential rents that have been a contributing factor to higher cost of living.
What made the USA an economic powerhouse was the mobility of its people. First, by settlers who moved away from economic discrimination and subjugation. Then, by immigrants who fled to a land of freedom, better economic opportunity and easy access to property rights. Similarly, cities marred by government mismanagement, high home prices, high taxes and high crime will push people to move elsewhere, seeking affordable homes and a safer environment. Whereas, counties unsatisfied with State rulers will be secede. Potentially creating a financial implosion in big cities and States burdened with out of control debt.
The exodus will leave mismanaged cities with an oversupply of homes for sale and lower real estate values. The exodus will generate a devolution of power away from big cities in favor of smaller community living. The transition will benefit small towns and mid-sized cities ruled by governments that are in touch with their residents.
The real estate market generates a great portion of economic activity throughout the country. If a sizable real estate correction unfolds, it will alter the feel good prospects for the economy. This will modify owners’ tolerance for incompetence in government and their institutions and generate a disintegration of established centers of power.
I’m an Italian-born US citizen. I currently live in southern California. I’m the only member of my family living in America. All of my relatives live in Italy. There is a rivalry that defines Italy. Northern Italians look down on southern inhabitants. With little effect, as southern Italians don’t look up to their northern compatriots. Even more culturally detached from the Italian peninsula are the Sicilians who don’t consider themselves Italian.
Prior to becoming a US citizen I lived in Montreal, Canada, where I immigrated when I was five years old. Later, in my mid-thirties, I moved to Los Angeles where I found a similar attitude: Northern Californians look down on southern dwellers, especially citizens of Los Angeles.
When I was living in Montreal I noticed a similar characteristic about Canadians: They felt superior to Americans. This feeling was mostly shared among colonizing English-speaking Canadians, due in part to their hereditary loyalty to the British Crown. Until recently, Americans considered Canadians as well-mannered Liberals to the north. Attitudes have changed due to concerns that Ottawa is lax in controlling the flow of undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border and alleged traffic of fentanyl.
In the US, there is a historical resonance about north~south rivalry dating back to the Civil War. Today this rivalry could be described as the axis of San Francisco~Sacramento, Chicago and New York city looking down to south central America.
The word superior literally means to be situated above other things or beings. Feelings of superiority among people living in northern countries seem to confirm the definition of the word.
People who have lived any number of years in Europe might have noticed a similar rivalry and to some extent, animosity, between northern and southern countries: Northern Europeans look down at the southern, mostly Latin countries like France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. It’s somewhat of a consolation to realize that Latin people don’t look up to the northern inhabitants.
Northern countries are mostly Protestant whereas southern nations are mostly Catholic. Northern territories have colder weather and have a greater percentage of their economy based on heavy industry whereas southern areas have a warmer climate and typically have a greater percentage of their economy that relies on small family business, agriculture and tourism. Nordic climate is favorable for beer production and drinking whereas southern weather is better for wine making and drinking.
The war in Ukraine has damaged the cohesion of the European Union (EU). It also exposed an alarming dictatorial disposition coming from the leaders of the EU, with a growing warmongering coming mostly from the Nordic countries. An attitude that may increase the risk for a potential dissolution of their political union.
The current head of the EU commission is held by Ursula von der Leyen, a German. She was not elected to her position by the people of Europe. It remains a mystery, and should be a concern, who appointed her President of political power of Europe.
The current chief diplomat of the EU is Kaja Kallas. Her statements reveal that she is a vocal Russia-phobic. Not a good disposition for a diplomat. The fact that she has little access to powerful diplomatic circles will not be helpful to promote the standing of the EU in the world. Case in point, she is shunned by USA and China diplomatic delegations.
Ursula von der Leyen is German and Kaja Kallas is a citizen of Estonia. A northern country bordering Russia with a small population of ~1.4 million. These two political officials reveal a dominant political power of northern countries at the expense of the southern nations. A situation set to increase the tension between north and south.
Brussels, the capital of Belgium, is a showcase of the historical European political division. In many respects, the city is a dividing line between northern and southern Europe. The EU Parliament and NATO’s headquarters are both located in Brussels. A Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde so to speak of the concentration of political and military power. Members of each institution know each other and mingle, generating a big interconnected bureaucratic fortress.
Belgium has a contentious past. The country is made up of two ethnic groups; a majority of Germanic-speaking Flemish to the north and of French-speaking Walloon to the south. Northern Belgium is mostly Protestant and the southern regions are mostly Catholic. During the 1970s and 1980s during a resurgence of linguistic, religious and economic tensions almost culminated in a civil war. That makes Brussels the likely center of a political devolution of the EU.
The plan to expand the EU’s membership and the expansion of NATO alliance to the north may prove to be fatally misguided. The EU’s elusive goal of toppling the Kremlin in order to take over Russia’s vast resources will likely turn out to be a big strategic mistake. And the potential collapse of Ukraine’s military will put added pressure on Europe’s Union.
In order to salvage a European cohesion, northern political leaders have proposed policies that include reducing the welfare state in order to replace it with a warfare state. These goals will only add a tax burden on a population and inevitably increase a resentment against their political leaders.
I will conclude with an exception to the rule. Argentina is located at the very bottom of South America. It nonetheless considers itself superior to most of the Spanish speaking countries located to the north.
Debbie W., Richmond, CA
Extremely Interesting Read. Deeply researched account of the symbols om the US dollar.
I’ve always been curious about the symbols on the one dollar bill and the little book explains them well. Highly recommend this read.
Peter O., Santa Fe, NM
Good and entertaining… This book is full of historical facts about the symbols on the dollar. You won’t be bored reading it. The author keeps delivering relevant info till the end. And once you’re done reading the book, you’ll never look at the dollar the same way again.
L. K. M., Seattle, WA
Great read! Extremely well researched writing of the history, symbols and makeup of the US currency.
After reading the book you will love the tender you exchange everyday. Highly recommend.
R. S., Santa Monica, CA
Well researched book on the symbols of our currency. Very interesting and revealing aspects behind the history of our currency.
Joanne A., Novato, CA
Everything you ever wanted to know about the one dollar bill. This book explains all the symbols on the one dollar. Who knew it was so detailed? Very interesting!
M.J.B., San Diego, CA
Great Read! Well researched, packed with interesting facts about the US dollar. Quick read.
Highly recommend.
Carl L., San Francisco, CA
If you’re curious as to how the symbols found on the US dollar came to be, look no further than
Michael Rizzotti’s well researched book. In addition to providing the reader with the history and context, the author expands on related subjects such as the Federal Reserve and the dollar’ s evolution to becoming the reserve currency of the world. All in all, a good, well written read.
Ricky I., Palm Desert, CA
Interesting and Detailed. A unique and well researched explanation and interpretation of the symbols we have all seen on ou US dollar. Mr. Rizzotti vividly introduces us to the history of the symbols; and quite interesting interpretations on how and or why these symbols were included on the dollar.
