Looking Back At 2023

It is that time of year again when I look back at all of the things I got wrong and promise to do better next year. Well, not all the things I did wrong, just the things I got wrong in last year’s prediction post. Everyone loves making predictions, because everyone forgets about them, but few take the time to revisit their predictions. An iron law of the universe is that you learn more from your mistakes than your successes, so it is a good time to take a look at those mistakes.

As far as the effects of the sanctions on Russia and what it will do to Europe, I was amazingly on target. Gasoline in Germany is about ten dollars per gallon and is expected to go higher in 2024. On the other hand, India and China are experiencing an unprecedented boom in cheap energy. On top of that, the Indians are reselling their refined crude to Europe at a premium. The European economy is in recession now and it is all due to waging war on its energy supplier.

As far as America, I was wrong about how inflation would play out. It seems we got a pause and now it is picking back up again, just as the Fed signals it is ready to start cutting rates in 2024. I still think we end up in the Arthur Burns trap, but the timing of it may be a bit different. I was wrong about interest rates, and I was wrong about the economy as a whole. At least on paper, we have not gone into recession, which seems to be due to relatively cheap energy.

I nailed the Trump story from the start. The lawfare against him has played out as I have been saying since 2021. The party did try to rally around the sacred black man, but he turned out to be too ridiculous even for the Republicans. Instead, they have gone all in on the brown woman. They are trying to fake poll her into contention or at least make her a credible looking loser. War Karen is at 25% in New Hampshire, so they can pretend she is the winner when Trump is gone.

On the Democratic side, I was all wrong. If you want proof we live in a simulation run by sadists, look no further than Joe Biden. The mere fact that this deranged simpleton is president is proof enough. The fact that the party has not removed him from office and found a better actor for the role suggests the simulation is broken. Unless something wild happens in early 2024, it looks like Joe Biden will be on the ballot. The robot historians will never be able to sort this one.

I got the Kanye West stuff mostly right. He is not in bankruptcy, but he must be running out of money as he is now groveling to the usual suspects in Hebrew. You just know that he will be seen in front of a pile of shoes soon. I was wrong about Cozy getting nuked, but they have no traffic now, so close enough. Ethan Ralph was the last guy on there with an audience and he is now on Rumble. Maybe my 2024 prediction will be Cozy shuts down for good.

I did not finish my book. I learned a good lesson on this front. Writing a book is like any other project in that you have to see it through to the end. If you take a break there is a good chance you will never come back from break. I got about three quarters through it and realized I wanted to revisit some of it. I thought maybe I was rushing things, so I took a break and before long other things filled that time slot. One thing I am doing now is setting aside time in the schedule to finish it in 2024.

My Ukraine predictions were a mixed bag. I was wrong about Ukraine pulling back to more defensible positions, even though that was the sensible thing. I was also wrong about NATO escalating by introducing “advisors” into Ukraine. Washington has sent a three-star general to take over planning and there are rumors of NATO people operating in country, but nothing has been confirmed. Putin mentioned Poland maybe taking parts of Western Ukraine, but the Poles have not mentioned it.

It is too soon to tell how all of this will play out in Europe, but the landscape looks bleak for the pro-America parties, so this is an incomplete. The West did try to regime change Serbia this month, so I can take a win on that one, but otherwise I was ahead of my skis on how this plays out politically. I will take the win on the failure of American weapons and what it does to the reputation of the MIC. Western wonder weapons were a colossal failure in Ukraine last summer.

I was joking about human sacrifice being the next social fad, but boy did I hit it out of the park on the Alex Jones stuff. The guy is now facing over a billion in fines for offending some degenerates in Connecticut. That case is a great example of how managerialism and mass media converge create an alternative reality. The mass media has ignored this case, so few people are aware of it, even though it is the most egregious corruption of the law this country has ever seen.

On a positive note, I nailed my escape from Lagos prediction. It was a close call as I closed in December, but it still counts as a win. I have a bunch of things to do before I can live in the house fulltime, but those are progressing. As is always the case, every small project turns out to be more involved than expected. Given that what comes next will be the 2024 predictions, I may write those up in the new place. If you are going to make predictions, do it from atop a mountain lair.

The lesson every year when I look at these predictions from the past year is that the safe bet is that current trends will continue. Something unexpected has to happen for a trend to stop or change direction. Those “black swan” events are rare, which is why we have the expression. Of course, it is all about perception. Many people saw the mortgage crisis coming, but the bankers did not and they were the driving force behind that trend so we got a crisis.

The things that are nearly impossible to predict are the stupid things that take on a life of their own, like the Ukraine war or Covid. The people responsible for these things passed dozens of warning signs and ignored the obvious choices in order to find the worst choice possible. It is not in our nature to think people can be this willfully stupid and destructive, so we cannot imagine such things. Yet, these are the people who rule over us, so they will determine what happens in 2024.


If you like my work and wish to kick in a few bucks, you can buy me a beer. You can sign up for a SubscribeStar subscription and get some extra content. You can donate via PayPal. My crypto addresses are here for those who prefer that option. You can send gold bars to: Z Media LLC P.O. Box 432 Cockeysville, MD 21030-0432. Thank you for your support!


Promotions: Good Svffer is an online retailer partnering with several prolific content creators on the Dissident Right, both designing and producing a variety of merchandise including shirts, posters, and books. If you are looking for a way to let the world know you are one of us without letting the world know you are one one is us, then you should but a shirt with the Lagos Trading Company logo.

The Pepper Cave produces exotic peppers, pepper seeds and plants, hot sauce and seasonings. Their spice infused salts are a great add to the chili head spice armory, so if you are a griller, take you spice business to one of our guys.

Above Time Coffee Roasters are a small, dissident friendly company that roasts its own coffee and ships all over the country. They actually roast the beans themselves based on their own secret coffee magic. If you like coffee, buy it from these folks as they are great people who deserve your support.

Havamal Soap Works is the maker of natural, handmade soap and bath products. If you are looking to reduce the volume of man-made chemicals in your life, all-natural personal products are a good start.

Minter & Richter Designs makes high-quality, hand-made by one guy in Boston, titanium wedding rings for men and women and they are now offering readers a fifteen percent discount on purchases if you use this link. If you are headed to Boston, they are also offering my readers 20% off their 5-star rated Airbnb.  Just email them directly to book at sa***@mi*********************.com.


203 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Vxxc
Vxxc
11 months ago

Happy New Year.
I will buy you a beer.

My prediction for 24 is the color revolution plays out Into chaos as it always does, I mean our American color revolution.

Millei: You really hate Libertarians lol.
I just despise them.

Moran ya Simba
Moran ya Simba
11 months ago

Happy New Year to all here! 2024 will dramatic. May it also be fruitful

Maniac
Maniac
11 months ago

Given the porous nature of our excuse for a southern border, I’m getting bad vibes about tonight’s celebrations.

cg2
cg2
Reply to  Maniac
11 months ago

Bad is good.
Just quoting Huey Lewis

Forever Templar
Forever Templar
Reply to  Maniac
11 months ago

Jesus, “porous” doesn’t approach describing the reality. It’s to the point of why even bother pretending having a border security service?

Thomas
Thomas
11 months ago

My brother married a girl originally from Lagos. They live in an apartment in a Left Coast whitopia, but they noticed that they can get a 3-story townhouse with wood floors in Lagos for the same price, so now of course she wants to move there. They are intentionally oblivious leftists–the only kind of people who would move there. Glad to hear Z man is getting out.

mmack
mmack
Reply to  Thomas
11 months ago

Sounds like the old joke “Did you hear that you can buy a house 🏡 in Detroit for $1?”

“Yeah? What’s the catch?”

“You have to live in Detroit.”

Sounds like your brother and sister in law have to learn the stove is hot by putting their hands on the lit burner. I hope you can talk some sense into them.

Pozymandias
Reply to  Thomas
11 months ago

She’s *from* there and wants to move back!?! Wow, I can sometimes forgive Portland shitlibs who move to Baltimore or Detroit when they hear about the fabulous bargains on houses there. Sometimes they do this even knowing that those cities are basically 100% black. Portland Whites, though, never meet actual, real blacks. The only blacks they know are the ones on TV who are all neurosurgeons and stockbrokers. I suppose it’s possible that your sister-in-law is one of those people I used to know who would say they were from Baltimore but actually lived way out in Harford or Carroll… Read more »

Greg Nikolic
11 months ago

I enjoyed ZMan’s post, but I beg to differ on his assessment of Trump’s chances. I don’t think the Donald will be “gone.” He’ll weasel his way out of any conundrum (no disrespect intended by the use of weasel-word). He’s like a rubber ball in squash: whack him as hard as you like against the wall, he only bounces back harder. The thing about Trump is THE POLLS SHOW HIM BEATING BIDEN IN A GENERAL ELECTION. Even a year out, polls are pretty accurate indicators of what’s going to happen. It’s been that way since 2008, when Obama defied the… Read more »

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
Reply to  Greg Nikolic
11 months ago

Around Jan or Feb 2020 a second Orange term was looking pretty likely also

Apex Predator
Apex Predator
Reply to  Greg Nikolic
11 months ago

And how, pray tell, does one win an election when their NAME is not on the ballot?

The utter farcical illusion of ‘democracy’ is being torn down now in multiple states where leftists are just tossing his name off the ballot.

You are living in an alternate reality. The only ‘Republican’ that may ever get elected again will be a bone throw RINO just to give the kabuki theater that is our fake & gay government some passing semblance of credibility. See: Nimrata Randhawa Haley

BigJimSportCamper
BigJimSportCamper
Reply to  Apex Predator
11 months ago

Very pleased to see you use her REAL name, not that camouflage one. Would that every dissident did the same.

george 1
george 1
Reply to  Apex Predator
11 months ago

Yes. The GOP thought all of the following were great candidates:

John McCain
Jeb Bush
Mitt Romney
Ron DeSantis (turned out too ridiculous even for the GOP)
Nimarata

Compsci
Compsci
Reply to  Greg Nikolic
11 months ago

“ Even a year out, polls are pretty accurate indicators of what’s going to happen” Not really. Lot can happen in a year—even if you believe in polls. Polls are not necessarily accurate and are subject to great mischief. Let me remind everyone that the “polls” had Clinton ahead of Trump up until the week before the election. One poll had Clinton a 10-12 point favorite! That poll then began to alter their prediction everyday until the weekend before the election. Those statisticians/pollsters in the know said that this was basically impossible and described this organization as trying to “get… Read more »

LineInTheSand
LineInTheSand
11 months ago

Often topic, but important, I think. Jared believes that the blacks and the chosen are waking up to his ideas. He says many times, with some relief, “better late than never.” https://www.amren.com/podcasts/2023/12/blacks-for-trump/ This is an important moment because it’s rare when anyone makes a testable prediction in politics. Are the blacks and chosen going to take up Jared’s viewpoint to the degree that political changes are made? Or is Jared just making the same mistake that conservatives have been making for the last 50 years? My guess is that he is mistaken, but if he turns out to be correct,… Read more »

Compsci
Compsci
Reply to  LineInTheSand
11 months ago

Am not following Jared as closely as I once did. However, the *test* of his hypothesis proves what—that the “talented tenth” might pull away from their “knee-jerk” ethnocentrism?

85% of the Black population in America is below average IQ. They can never obtain/earn a status equivalent to the population in the upper 50% of the curve. (This goes for other races as well.) Therefore, they have no choice but to band together to obtain power, handouts/welfare, and status unearned through dint of merit.

Jared should know, this can never end peacefully as Blacks have too much to lose.

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
11 months ago

A year’s end reply to Mr. House, below, re Left Coast Inmate’s urging to use what we have, where we’re at: “Me, I’m just broke and in debt. Got 5 family situations in several states I’m dealing with here, what do I do, just tell them to eff off? Captain of the Titanic, I know. But I was raised on Depression stories. They never quit, though by God they wanted to.” All that debt and brokeness is because I invested in other Dirt class like myself. I took on hard problems, intractable ones; personal stuff, problems and aspirations that have… Read more »

TomA
TomA
Reply to  Alzaebo
11 months ago

Am I the only one who thinks there is potentially a magnificent novel to be written based upon the travails described in this post. True wisdom is born of hard knocks and telling that story in all its inglorious detail can be a lesson to us all. That is your homework assignment. Chapter 1 is due by February.

LineInTheSand
LineInTheSand
Reply to  TomA
11 months ago

I look forward to your contribution, since you once shared some of your early life. Your writing emphasizes the inescapable truth that life is existential struggle and we forget this at our peril.

As you wrote, “Chapter 1 is due by February.”

WCiv911
WCiv911
Reply to  LineInTheSand
11 months ago

Yes.

Life is a struggle. Once you understand that it will go easier for you.

Compsci
Compsci
Reply to  LineInTheSand
11 months ago

My greatest understanding as I reflect in old age is that my life has *not* simply been a product of my own doing. No, I accept “full* responsibility for my actions and resulting (negative) outcomes. However, there are so many points in my life where outcomes have been so fruitful, beneficial, positive (In hindsight) that it is beyond even my human arrogance to attribute such to myself. For those of you who are non-believers, you can call it “luck”. My wife and I can only attribute these things to Divine Providence, or Grace—and no one can claim they deserve such.… Read more »

LineInTheSand
LineInTheSand
Reply to  Compsci
11 months ago

Nice, Compsci. I’m not a believer, but I think that I understand and respect what you’re saying.

The world is complex and there are many different plausible interpretations for our experiences. It’s hard to adjudicate which one best explains the data.

On a philosophical note, as much as I am inclined towards determinism and the minimization of free will and nurture, it sure does seem that trying hard sometimes yields results that are surprising. If that feels like Providence or God to you, well, you may be right.

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  Compsci
11 months ago

Compsci: Beautifully said. I, too, have been the unwarranted beneficiary of so much divine grace. Another important understanding that has come with age is an appreciation of just how much I’ve benefited from what others built before me. Sure, I was born with a certain IQ potential and worked for and earned my academic credentials, but none of that would have been possible without the founders and funders of those institutions (universally White Christians). Not to mention the wisdom of the ages written and printed and passed down and shared. So we are all a product and beneficiary of both… Read more »

TomA
TomA
Reply to  Alzaebo
11 months ago

As a side note, I love the term “dive bar” as a descriptor of this website. It’s a safe place where “locals” can bare their souls without inhibition or facade. Cheap beer and good company is the reward of a real life well-lived.

Compsci
Compsci
Reply to  TomA
11 months ago

Yes, we are a meeting place of sorts. A “Cheers” writ live. However, the level of thought, insight, discussion, life experience, intellect, is really something special. Where else can a respectful/peaceful discussion be had between people of such divergent belief systems such as Christianity and atheism be found?

As I’ve said before, I come here half for Z-man and half for his comment section—which has expanded notably in the last couple of years. Some of the postings here are noting short of lectures I remember in my student days—yes, they are on that level.

Brandon Laskow
Brandon Laskow
11 months ago

I’ve never heard of Cozy or Ethan Ralph.

Owlman
Owlman
Reply to  Brandon Laskow
11 months ago

Or Google. A search engine.

Diversity Heretic
Member
11 months ago

I refueled my car yesterday at a Shell station in Freiburg-im-Breisgau, Germany and paid about 1.75€ per liter. There are 3.875 liters in a gallon (6.62€ per gallon). One euro is worth about a dollar ten. So I paid about $7.31 per gallon, not $10.00 per gallon. Gasoline prices are higher here in France, especially along the autoroute (2€ per liter). In 2020, the price of a liter of gasoline was about 1.25€ per liter.

BigJimSportCamper
BigJimSportCamper
Reply to  Diversity Heretic
11 months ago

I just paid $2.82 per US gallon at the Tonawanda Indian Reservation. All I gotta say for Euros and Canucks is…ouch.

Ostei Kozelskii
Member
Reply to  BigJimSportCamper
11 months ago

In West Texas it’s running around $2.40.

BigJimSportCamper
BigJimSportCamper
Reply to  Ostei Kozelskii
11 months ago

Well the rez IS in NY so there’s that.

steve w
steve w
Reply to  BigJimSportCamper
11 months ago

Same here. I paid 2.76 at the res outside of Pembroke NY. Local store is at 3.65. A fill-up of my Silverado saves me about $20, stocking up on smokes, another $80-100. My wife really wants me to quit smoking, and of course she is quite right. Yet, part of the fun of buying – and smoking – cigarettes bought at the res is in calculating the money I did not pay to the pirates in Albany. My monthly sojourn to the res is a pleasant drive too, as I use only back roads, not the Thruway with its Orwellian… Read more »

Carrie
Carrie
Reply to  Diversity Heretic
11 months ago

I’d really really like to know which moron it was who started putting the Euro symbol AFTER the number amount.

I have seen it go from “not at all” several years ago, to “everywhere”, in every Western European country on the continent, that uses the Euro.

Good cripes, I thought the average Americans were dumb….

Colbert
Colbert
11 months ago

Greg the Gay Johnson let appears on his boring blog some stuff against covidist madness.

I guess he let appears only if no one of his writers refers to Greg himself as mad covidist…

And OF COURSE, Greg himself carefully avoid to talk about that, between two scripts about random dead gay nazi.

hokkoda
Member
11 months ago

The key to understanding Ukraine is Iraq. Same propaganda. Same chest-thumping bravado. And it will meet the same end: a client state of its next-door neighbor. We just decided to throw 500,000 Ukrainian men into the meat grinder instead of our own, having learned the one important lesson of Iraq which is to get other people to do your fighting for you. Once the public catches onto the scam (which they now have), you’re better off if they aren’t seeing body bags flying home in support of that scam. Expect Ukraine to devolve into something akin to the low-intensity insurgency… Read more »

Mike
Mike
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

Biden deteriorating by the day, his face has the look of a near-death dementia patient and has since before 2020. It loks like a wax figure being exposed to increasing heat and gradually beginning to smooth out and melt and run.

It speaks poorly of him and his family that they would put him through all this. They, with good reason, hate his guts and are using him for all they can.

Ploppy
Ploppy
Reply to  Mike
11 months ago

Yeah I was talking to my dad about this the other day, that while evil people do seem to get ahead in life they usually end up in old age with their entire family hating them and are miserable and alone.

Biden certainly spent most of his life forcing his family and friends to kiss his asshole because they needed access to his influence. Now that he’s senile and they can just push him around they have no memories of him acting like a human being and justifiably no reason to treat him with any care or respect.

hokkoda
Member
Reply to  Ploppy
11 months ago

@Ploppy…they’ve living out their revenge fantasies.

hokkoda
Member
Reply to  Mike
11 months ago

I was calling it elder abuse long before anybody started using that description…

The entire Biden family is a bunch of whores and perverts who have made a living selling Daddy for cash. They will ride that gravy train to the bitter end. Because without it, they have nothing. If Joe croaked this week, Hunter would be found dead in a ditch within 2 years.

Nick Nolte's Mugshot
Nick Nolte's Mugshot
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

Hunter Biden is one of the World’s greatest living artists easily making $500k per painting although I am curious what the resale market is for Hunter Biden originals.

Pozymandias
Reply to  Nick Nolte's Mugshot
11 months ago

Yes, I call this one “Still Life with Hooker and Crack Pipe”. The title is a bit of an inside joke but I think she was actually still alive when I started the painting.

BigJimSportCamper
BigJimSportCamper
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

From your lips to God’s ears.

Ostei Kozelskii
Member
Reply to  Mike
11 months ago

Been looking that way since 2020, eh? Not very near death, then.

Rando
Rando
Reply to  Ostei Kozelskii
11 months ago

They have a group of necromancers working tirelessly to animate Joe Biden’s corpse.

BigJimSportCamper
BigJimSportCamper
Reply to  Rando
11 months ago

The ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ presidency.

Hun
Hun
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

“We just decided”

Who is “we” and why do Ukrainians have to die for them?

Tired Citizen
Tired Citizen
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

Hookoda –

excellent post. While the talk of revenge is fine, I don’t see any of it really materializing. For me? Wake me up when 1m+ white people are descending on DC and open fire…

Semi-Hemi
Semi-Hemi
Reply to  Tired Citizen
11 months ago

It’s nice to think about but if it actually happened then what? I haven’t a clue what would happen short and long term.

Tired Citizen
Tired Citizen
Reply to  Semi-Hemi
11 months ago

Who cares? As far as I’m concerned reform is a lost cause. My only wish is for a slow, painful end to the left and ruling class. Woodchippers for all.

Bourbon
Bourbon
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

I hate to be the naysayer on such a magnificent subthread here chez Z, but the following story is surely the moast important in all of 2023 [and moving forward thereafter into the new year]: Republican Governor of Ohio Vetoes Ban On Sex Changes For Minors At The 11th Hour 2023-12-29 https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4206606/posts Ever since the (((Enemy))) began infiltrating our nation in the second half of the 19th Century, White Christian Amurrikkkunz have had an existential blindspot in their surveyance of the purview of the sociological landscape. Culture >>>>>>> {Law, Finance, Military, Energy, Health Care, Environment, Wealth, and everything else put… Read more »

Paintersforms
Paintersforms
Reply to  Bourbon
11 months ago

“White Christian Amurrikkkunz have had an existential blindspot in their surveyance of the purview of the sociological landscape.” JQ: are we Jews? EMJ mentioned it recently, certain Anglicans taking up the idea they’re one of the tribes of Israel. Someone mentioned on here a little while back Germanic types are natural spergs iirc. Sounds right to me. I can picture people thinking through the logic of Christianity and coming to the contradiction— Gentiles worshipping a Hebrew god. Which, to the sperg mind, might leave two possibilities: apostasy, or we must be Hebrews! Ugh, the sperg out. How about Jesus fulfilled… Read more »

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

If Trump just “went away,” I don’t think the “right” would lift a finger. This seems to me like the “3rd way” out of the corner the regime has painted itself into, where it either has to burn it all down to prevent another Trump term, or burn it all down after he becomes president again.

But they could have something else entirely planned. As I keep saying, who could have predicted the plandemic?

Steve
Steve
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

“Trump, OTOH, will be excited to debate Biden…”

That could work. Trump could give his answers, then step a few feet to another podium and give his impression of Biden giving his answers. That would be funny as heck. Could probably even put it on Pay Per View.

He’d have to focus on Biden’s stupidity, though, probably refrain from mocking his disability. Which might be tough for Trump.

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

The bigger picture re Ukraine and the Mideast is that the movers and shakers are prepping not one, but two key gateway states in the New Silk Road.

Tollhouses, if you will. In other words, they expect the future to continue.

Carrie
Carrie
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

Hokkoda
You received 33 (at time of posting) likes.
But man: please consider writing an actual paper book that I can pay for.
A wall of text, even with considerate paragraph breaks, is too much for this reader; and others, I’d imagine too.

Hokkoda
Member
Reply to  Carrie
11 months ago

I write for me.

Winter
Winter
Reply to  Carrie
11 months ago

Long, insightful comments are one of many reasons this blog provides so much value. If a long comment isn’t insightful, it can be skimmed or skipped. If it’s a rambling incoherent mess or disagreeable in some way, it can be downvoted.

It’s really not that hard.

The fact that hokkoda’s “wall of text” comment now has 44 likes is strong evidence that it provided value. In contrast, your odd complaint about its length has zero upvotes and five downvotes.

These numbers speak for themselves.

JerseyJeffersonian
JerseyJeffersonian
Reply to  Winter
11 months ago

Yeah, the “wall of text” is surmountable with little effort, compared say to Finnigan’s Wake or something.

steve w
steve w
Reply to  JerseyJeffersonian
11 months ago

Or an op-ed by George Will, if he’s still alive (haven’t checked).

steve w
steve w
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

No matter what outcome, the election in 2024 will be a Black Swan. A year from now our country will not be the same. There will be clarity as to the actually-existing battle lines, there will be no more Normies, there will be no more piffle as to “Our Democracy”. My own prediction is that Biden will win, and win handily, quite possibly unanimously, as the GOP may not even have the vigor to field a realistic candidate. The motto of the ruling Party will be, in effect, “What are you going to do about it?” Hard swimming ahead, folks.… Read more »

Zulu Juliet
Zulu Juliet
11 months ago

“the safe bet is that current trends will continue”. Words to live by.

By definition you can’t plan for something you can’t predict. I stopped investing in my 401k and was hoarding bullets, toilet paper and whiskey, until my sister and brother in-law set me straight. The best bet is tomorrow will be pretty much like today. Invest your time and resources accordingly.

(How are all you preppers doing? After fifteen years, isn’t the hobby getting a bit boring?)

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  Zulu Juliet
11 months ago

Zulu Juliet: Why not both (bullets/beans/bandaids + investing)? As far as trusting that they won’t nationalize/take your 401k, as they’ve been discussing for years, a lot depends on how the vote fortification goes and how restless some natives get over 2024 economic circumstances. I’d rather have a paid -off mortgage/car than numbers on a screen. Yes, even after they take their damned tax share – we’re past the penalty age but they still ream you on taxes because by now we’re supposed to be living minimally on social security. Too bad we don’t follow their script.

Tired Citizen
Tired Citizen
Reply to  3g4me
11 months ago

Amen @3g – Since I started my career I tried to do everything right. I’ve grown my salary, worked hard, I’ve saved/invested the max for retirement. In addition I stocked up on thousands of rounds of ammunition, stayed clear of any doubt outside my mortgage and put as much additional money away as possible in the hopes that my wife and I can retire comfortable in a rural setting where I can be rid of diversity and spend my time fishing, playing music and meddling in the software projects I enjoy. The hoarding of the ammunition was for when they… Read more »

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  Tired Citizen
11 months ago

Tired Citizen: Just keep an eye on your savings and investments. I know that plenty of people do extremely well in the stock market, and my husband bemoans times that he should have done this or that and we’d have an extra ‘x’ amount of money now, but . . . I don’t trust either the market or the banks. Even when it comes to cash, I’m of the belief that if you don’t hold it, you don’t own it. Between the end of Glass-Steagal and bank bail-ins, plus the past three years’ inflation, you’re better off with tangible goods… Read more »

The Wild Geese Howard
The Wild Geese Howard
Reply to  3g4me
11 months ago

3g4me-

According to this chart, all we had to do 20 years ago is put every last cent into Apple:

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/monster-ous-returns-these-are-top-sp-500-stocks-over-past-20-years

Compsci
Compsci
Reply to  3g4me
11 months ago

Look, I was offered Bitcoin at a dollar a coin. Hindsight is an amazing thing. Was relating that story over the holiday and then it was matched by another Bitcoin story from a nerd who during the day remembered a posting of an early adopter who managed to turn (trade) his 29 Bitcoins into a pizza and was quite happy to do something with his worthless/useless Bitcoins. 😉

Zulu Juliet
Zulu Juliet
Reply to  Tired Citizen
11 months ago

Sounds like we are in the same situation. Buying extra bullets got tiresome. If 5,000 rounds of .223 isn’t enough, another 1,000 rounds won’t solve whatever problems I will be facing.

PS: All the down votes from you preppers made me smile. Who da seen that coming?

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Zulu Juliet
11 months ago

indeed, when you can’t decide tween one or the other, go 50/50.

steve w
steve w
Reply to  Zulu Juliet
11 months ago

Knowing the skill sets of my neighbors and contemporaries, I have accumulated 6,000 butane lighters. They’ll be worth their weight in gold when things turn to shit. Sure, it’s a gamble; after all you can’t eat them. But in a post-industrial free-for-all, barter will emerge naturally, and the ability to make fire will be a “hard asset” exchangeable for other basic requirements. On the same principle I have begun stocking cases of decent (though by no means superior) bourbon. People are going to want disinfectants, and getting seriously lit from time to time. Highly exchangeable, value-dense commodities answering basic needs… Read more »

Moran ya Simba
Moran ya Simba
Reply to  Zulu Juliet
11 months ago

Have you learned nothing from the last five years? Since then government, federal, state or local, can shut any business down, lock everyone in their house, your neighborhood can be burned down with police standing by drinking coffee. Gov can demand to see your permit to walk the street, food can get twice as expensive in a few months, civilian ammo production can be shut down. Medicines run out. And there are currently at least two wars with the potential to go boom! Better to have extra food and fuel and not need it than to need it and not… Read more »

Vinnyvette
Vinnyvette
Reply to  Moran ya Simba
11 months ago

Why would you wish this fool good luck? Especially after insulting you? He’s gonna get what he deserves.

Valley Lurker
Valley Lurker
Reply to  Vinnyvette
11 months ago

Hey man they listened to their sister and brother-in-law, so you can’t argue with that sort of condescension.

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
Reply to  Zulu Juliet
11 months ago

Everybody should prep “some.” The mistake is thinking you can prep for the end of the world, and predict when and how that happens (unless you really want to live that way). Probably the best prepping is not having any debt.

Unless you’re a billionaire and can afford your own self sustaining compound on some south seas island. In which case you’re probably not reading this blog.

Marko
Marko
Reply to  Zulu Juliet
11 months ago

All preppers are is a target for the local warlord. If you join a church and learn a stone age skill you’re better prepared than organizing cans and bullets.

Moran ya Simba
Moran ya Simba
Reply to  Marko
11 months ago

Defending yourself with kitchen knives will be a lot harder than with bullets. The local war lord won’t last long if he picks all the houses with bullets wrapped in guns. His successor will pick the “guns are evil” houses

hokkoda
Member
Reply to  Marko
11 months ago

Unless you’re the warlord, that is.

Vinnyvette
Vinnyvette
Reply to  Marko
11 months ago

And you’re not a target for the zombies if you don’t prep? Another genius!

Bartleby the Scrivner
Bartleby the Scrivner
Reply to  Marko
11 months ago

After reading the comments on prepping, my only advice is, don’t tell anyone what you are doing.

BigJimSportCamper
BigJimSportCamper
Reply to  Bartleby the Scrivner
11 months ago

‘Loose lips sink ships’.

Hokkoda
Member
Reply to  Bartleby the Scrivner
11 months ago

Good OPSEC is critical. Look as normal an unassuming as possible.

ProZNoV
ProZNoV
Reply to  Zulu Juliet
11 months ago

100%. Prepping is just stupid.

The Communist takeover of Russia and the ensuing Soviet domination of the surrounding area went on for almost 100 years.

You can’t hide in a cave for 4 generations.

The better bet, if you truly believe the end is nigh is to use your US Passport and go somewhere else. You choose where.

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
Reply to  ProZNoV
11 months ago

2020 really narrowed down the expat options. Pretty well eliminated the “west” and the Pacific Rim entirely. The country that came through that with its sanity most intact just happened to be right next door. Mexico. If they don’t become part of the Greater North American Co Prosperity Sphere in the ensuing years, which I think is a danger. But you can’t plan for everything.

Diversity Heretic
Member
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
11 months ago

If I were a young white man in the United States today, I would seriously think about emigrating to Uruguay. It’s a relatively stable country and Spanish isn’t a particularly difficult language to learn.

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
Reply to  Diversity Heretic
11 months ago

Even they had a jab mandate (Mexico never did). But I guess you could do worse.

Ploppy
Ploppy
Reply to  ProZNoV
11 months ago

Actually some people did go hide in the woods from the Soviets for 4 generations. They got really good at chopping wood.

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  ProZNoV
11 months ago

ProZNoV: You’re better than this ‘all or nothing’ fallacy. I’m not hiding in a cave, but I have moved far away from the city and I love it. Yes, I am safer and more private but I am no hundred-year hermit. I don’t have 10 years’ of food put aside, but I do have extras so I don’t have to drive into town all the time other than for fresh produce or extra meat. I have no emergency medical training but I do have a variety of OTC meds. There is prepping and then there is prepping. We lived through… Read more »

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  3g4me
11 months ago

Edit: failure to plan etc . . . is planning to fail.

ProZNoV
ProZNoV
Reply to  3g4me
11 months ago

3g4me: I respect your opinion. +1., all comments, always. Prepping for a disruption (natural disaster like a hurricane, grid overload, flood, or tornado) is common sense. Personally, I’m good for a year, minimum. MAYBE for an EMP event (weeks, or months). But “prepping” for a totalitarian cycle like a civil war or communist takeover isn’t rational. It’s insane. Absent a “mannerbund” (non-existent, in the USA), the only rational response is to leave. Even then, some fights can’t be won. Before it’s too late. Our forefathers had the courage to come here from their troubled countries. Those who survived the 6+… Read more »

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  ProZNoV
11 months ago

ProZNoV: I equally respect and value your comments and opinions. Now that you have clarified your comment, I can agree that ‘prepping’ with a view to somehow surviving or waiting out “x” decades of an actively hostile regime is not rational or feasible. And I take your point that various people leaving their European nations for America over the past few centuries was a rational and ultimately good decision. But it was also a large gamble. They had no guarantee the US was going to continue to be hospitable and succcessful, but given their era and worldview it was a… Read more »

Hokkoda
Member
Reply to  ProZNoV
11 months ago

I used to tease my wife about how she would buy a case of TP every time we went to Sam’s Club. She had been doing that for years, and we had probably 4 cases (5 packages per case, 9 rolls per package)…maybe 180 rolls squirreled around the house. Then COVID hit and she would laugh at me and pointed at what was probably a 3-year supply of TP. She also had bought an extra 25lb bag of jasmine rice which got hard to find for a few months. Suddenly, her mild bit of prepping didn’t seem so dumb. We… Read more »

p
p
Reply to  Hokkoda
11 months ago

Do you have any idea how completely dark it gets when there is no ambient light, like car headlights, streetlights, lights from buildings etc. I’m talking so dark that you could walk off the road into a ditch if you didn’t have a flashlight. To that end I have bought, and regularly test, hand crank lanterns with solar cells on the tops, 1 minute of cranking provides 15 minutes of light similar to a 40 watt bulb. So far it’s really working out, one is enough to see what’s on your dinner plate, milk the goats in midwinter, do homework,… Read more »

hokkoda
Member
Reply to  p
11 months ago

We live outside the edge an urban area in Colorado and even there if I turn off the lights around my porch it’s a squint-and-step to the mailbox after dark.

I had a set of those hand crank flashlights as a kid. Squeeze it 10-15 times and get enough just to power the bulb for 30-40 seconds. I imagine with LED technology you can get a lot more time these days.

We have a lot of solar-powered lights. If you don’t leave them out in the weather, the batteries last a decade or more.

Ploppy
Ploppy
Reply to  Zulu Juliet
11 months ago

Prepping is only really expensive if you’re using it as an excuse to have a giant gun collection. And the boomers doing that aren’t going to be ruling the world with their AR-15s, the marauders will simply wait to move in until the rascal tips over and Rambo is left helplessly flailing his diabetic limbs like a flipped turtle.

Beans and mylar bags are cheap, and setting up your home with stuff like water collectors just takes time and effort not much money.

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  Ploppy
11 months ago

Ploppy: Or if you want a fairly extensive solar power backup system. I cannot imagine exposing my private life to public view by having a video blog, but I will admit envying all the free solar batteries/generators/inverters vloggers get in exchange for promotional and how-to videos.

Steve
Steve
Reply to  3g4me
11 months ago

Household solar isn’t that pricy if you just stop using your major electrical appliances, which, unfortunately, includes your coffee pot. I have two chest freezers that I’ve covered with several layers of cheap extruded foam board, and it’s a negligible draw.

But unless you live somewhere far enough away that the drones won’t catch the reflection off the panels, you are not likely to be able to keep them if it really does go SHTF.

BigJimSportCamper
BigJimSportCamper
Reply to  Ploppy
11 months ago

Good Lord top pissing on the boomers, that’s just what theTribe wants you to do.

Ploppy
Ploppy
Reply to  BigJimSportCamper
11 months ago

I’m just calling them as I sees them, and when I go to a gun store I see a lot of gray hair and dudes that seriously need to trade just one of their guns in to go buy a gym membership. The AR-15 is essentially a giant pacifier so we Americans can stay fat and weak convincing ourselves that we’re strong and secure.

Ben the Layabout
Ben the Layabout
Reply to  Zulu Juliet
11 months ago

I think it was investment guru Jim Dines, back in the 1970s who famously observed that a trend, once in motion, tends to continue until it ends. 🙂

I didn’t go to quite the lengths Dad did (in the 1970s “prepper” was called “survivalist”). But I do have a collection of tinned food ca. 2020 most of which is past sell date and is slowly being eaten.

Left Coast Inmate
Left Coast Inmate
11 months ago

I’m expecting housing prices to go up at least 5.4% due to expected Federal Reserve rate cuts and the stock market ETFs like VTI to return at least 10%.

Looking at housing, I don’t understand how the US isn’t on a path toward favelization, particularly with the massive inflows of third world poor just walking across the border. Concurrently with this, there’s comparatively little new housing for either purchase or rent being constructed.

Zulu Juliet
Zulu Juliet
Reply to  Left Coast Inmate
11 months ago

The swarthy hordes don’t need much new housing; They are packed into hotels at government expense, or living thirty-five to a McMansion (twelve to a double-wide).

Bourbon
Bourbon
Reply to  Zulu Juliet
11 months ago

Zulu Juliet: “living thirty-five to a McMansion (twelve to a double-wide)” At some point in muh adolescence, it dawned on moi that necessarily pioneers in dirt-floored one-room log-cabins must have all slept in the same room [on account of there having been only one room, in the first place, to possibly have slept in]. Then almost immediately thereafter, muh adolescent pea-brain started wondering, “Well then how do the youngsters get made, if everyone is in the same room?” And pretty quickly muh adolescent pea-brain realized that the older children just had to lie there on the dirt floor, pretending to… Read more »

Arshad Ali
Arshad Ali
11 months ago

Crystal ball gazing is an inherently difficult affair and one of the hazards is extrapolating on the basis of past trends. So don’t be too hard on yourself if some odd prediction comes out not quite right. Meanwhile — and I know you don’t like him — here is Jim Kunstler’s prognosis for the new year:

https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/do-you-dare-even-look-forecast-2024/

It’s bleak but plausible. I need my daily bad news to slake the needs of my pessimistic personality and this delivers it in spades.

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  Arshad Ali
11 months ago

Arshad Ali: Kunstler is very much a “sky is falling” type, but still interesting to read/skim. His personal rabbithole is ‘peak oil,’ which I think is a distant ‘x’ to many other threats and concerns. I don’t make specific predictions (too many areas I’m ignorant of plus I don’t think the way most other people do) but enjoy reading others’. Plus ‘doomporn’ has its own black appeal.

Arshad Ali
Arshad Ali
Reply to  3g4me
11 months ago

Fair enough. I’ve mostly stopped reading him myself because of the sheer repetition. Not that I don’t agree with him, but you can’t keep saying the same thing over and over again.

Tars Tarkas
Tars Tarkas
Reply to  Arshad Ali
11 months ago

The problem with Kunstler is he is pessimistic for all the wrong reasons. He’s a “limits to growth” type guy. While there is probably some truth in limits to growth, we really don’t know where they are or where we could become steady state. The only thing we know for sure is we cannot extrapolate the last 100 years very far in the future without cooking ourselves. Not by global warming, but by the waste heat of our heat engines. Whatever happens, I don’t think any of us will ever see anything like what he proposes in his fiction books,… Read more »

Bourbon
Bourbon
Reply to  Tars Tarkas
11 months ago

Why is this subject not being treated as, (((Kunstler)))?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Howard_Kunstler#Background

Reading (((insert any y!d’s name here))) is simply inviting the Mind Virus into your brain.

Unless you’re reading it for purposes of reverse-engineering it [either to understand history or to prepare for future (((psy-ops)))].

PS: The concept you’re encountering here is known as, “(((Demoralization Pr0n)))”.

steve w
steve w
Reply to  Tars Tarkas
11 months ago

JHK is a master of invective, and if he’s repetitive, well, so is Z man for that matter. Guys who crank out free hardcore dissident text several times a week, while also living their lives and earning their daily bread, are to be respected if not admired. Kunstler doesn’t get lost in lucubrations about the “death of conservatism”, the “failure of libertarianism”, the travails of internet wannabe “influencers” like Nick Fuentes et al, who in the real world no one has ever heard of. No. He doesn’t waste his or our time searching for sources of our crisis in the… Read more »

Bourbon
Bourbon
Reply to  steve w
11 months ago

What’s the “w” for?

Weinstein?

Paintersforms
Paintersforms
Reply to  Arshad Ali
11 months ago

I think we’re a nation of trust fund brats. Can’t figure otherwise. I mean, people work at home and speculate (gamble), and I’m supposed to believe that creates wealth? Yet the consumption goes on. It has to be seed corn being eaten. The idea that wealth can be conjured by fiat makes no sense. To my mind, that’s an infinite debt that can only lead to slavery, and I imagine that’s why I look around and see these people farming operations everywhere. Milk cows probably think they have it good and never realize what McDonald’s hamburgers are made of. How… Read more »

Jeffrey Zoar
Jeffrey Zoar
11 months ago

I think the regime’s focus for 2024 will be on maintaining the appearance of “normalcy.” It’s an election year after all, and not one in which the orange man is the incumbent (for which the opposite was required in 2020). This should hold true whether or not Biden is replaced on the ballot. If he is replaced, it will be sold as normal, with a lot of LBJ comparisons. Their ability to maintain the normalcy facade will be a great test of how powerful they still are. Any big plans they have for shaking things up will wait ’til 2025.… Read more »

Hun
Hun
Reply to  Jeffrey Zoar
11 months ago

Since you are mentioning WW2, did you know that official excess deaths (non-Covid) are now far exceeding WW2 deaths in the UK and in the US? And yet, it’s not not considered important enough to be in the news.

Compsci
Compsci
Reply to  Hun
11 months ago

It’s important enough, but the news is controlled wrt these things. Eventually it will get out, but look for the argument that this excess death rate is directly responsible *by* Covid—not the vaccine—and further that those not adhering to the “program” were responsible for the spread and subsequent “after effect” of Covid infection. Never however, will the government authorities accept any responsibility. The US system is too corrupt for this “truth and reconciliation” process. Look to Europe for a more reasoned “after action” analysis.

Hun
Hun
Reply to  Compsci
11 months ago

“Never however, will the government authorities accept any responsibility.”

The surest prediction for 2024.
I doubt Europe will do much better. We may hear some noise, but no consequences for the people responsible.

Compsci
Compsci
Reply to  Hun
11 months ago

No consequences? Yes, no consequences here and over there most likely. However, there seems to be some hope for a more truthful examination of the Covid scamdemic and aftermath IMHO coming from Europe. At least I see some hope there.

Jack Charlton
11 months ago

Tough year for many of our folk. The loss of Jeff Winston is a definite blow. We could use more men like him creating those on-ramps for dissident/pro-white topics and ideas as Zman has mentioned in the past. As it is an election year, there will be more general interest about social and political ideas dissident creators champion. It’s a good time for us all to get more involved. Not just in discussions about matters outside of our control, but doing things meaningful and uplifting for the people in our community. If anyone reading has some useful links to dissident… Read more »

Mr. House
Mr. House
11 months ago

With regards to my comments yesterday, here is something to ponder:

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/when-will-fed-pivot

I think the gentleman is being optimistic, we won’t make it to august.

Hun
Hun
Reply to  Mr. House
11 months ago

The Fed will pivot when they finally break the stock market, because that is what is most visible to the masses.

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  Hun
11 months ago

Perhaps, but they pivoted before then in 2019. Remember, the market started to collapse in December of 2018. Fed started cutting rates from the ever so high of 2.5 in the spring of 2019. By the fall of 2019 another banking crisis had begun, the did some QE but didn’t announce it. They needed something big to really open the floodgates. We all remember what came next.

Hun
Hun
Reply to  Mr. House
11 months ago

Good point. But they are much higher now. TBH, I am very surprised the stock market has not collapsed yet.

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  Hun
11 months ago

I only think they were able to go higher this time because they had injected somewhere around 5 to 6 trillion in a few months in 2020. QE from 08 ended around 2015, the fed began raising very slowly in 2017. Yellen did a .25 raise in 2015 i think, and the market thru a fit, so she quit. The Fed also resumed limited QE in march of this year when those banks failed. Its only a matter of time before they destroy the currency one way or another. QE is like a drug, each next hit has a lesser… Read more »

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  Hun
11 months ago

I’m more surprised housing hasn’t collapsed, but then again people are locked in a super low rates, so they ain’t moving. And i think alot of .govs 2 trillion yearly deficits and the QE from the FED in 2020-2021 is keeping alot of corporates from laying off. Its all politics now, fundamentals are dead and gone.

Ron West
Ron West
Reply to  Hun
11 months ago

I believe we have quite a way to go yet, Dont buy the magnificent 7 though.

KGB
KGB
Reply to  Mr. House
11 months ago

What explains the insane market run up in Q4? Is it pre-loading the gains that the expected rate drops will bring or can we expect even more gains when the inevitable rate drop is announced?

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  KGB
11 months ago

“What explains the insane market run up in Q4?” From what the FED has said, i’d say it was because they stated at the beginning of december they weren’t planning on any rate cuts in 2024 and then about twelve days later they said they did see rate cuts in 2024. Usually the market drops with rates being cut. The biggest difference between now and 2008 i would argue, is that the rest of world might be sick and tired of us and europe setting prices. I think that was what 2020 was about. In my opinion 2020 was the… Read more »

Hun
Hun
11 months ago

Gasoline in Germany is $6.60 per gallon. Not $10. Prices topped under $10 only for a few months.

Hun
Hun
Reply to  thezman
11 months ago

That must have been an extremely expensive area. Sometimes they put a high premium on gasoline along the highways. Same in Austria or Slovenia.
Normal price is around €1.60. Was even lower earlier this year.

Hun
Hun
Reply to  thezman
11 months ago

Not sure why my response was not allowed.

Anyway, the real prices are almost a whole euro lower and have been for several months. Your experience was a freak outlier. Sometimes, they add a large premium next to highways, so maybe you paid there?

Ploppy
Ploppy
Reply to  thezman
11 months ago

My brain briefly went on tilt at that exchange rate until I realized it was a communist volume measurement.

Hun
Hun
Reply to  Hun
11 months ago

Why can’t I respond to Z’s comment?

george 1
george 1
11 months ago

Sundance at Conservative Treehouse has a theory about the sanctions on Russia. He says the sanctions were not for the purpose of punishing Russia, TPTB knew that would not work. Instead the sanctions are part of a plan to isolate us in order to invoke their digital currency scheme. The cabal is fencing us in not keeping Russia out.

The sanctions are designed to keep us in the system. The scam will be complete when the digital currency is enacted. TPTB will have near complete control.

Forever Templar
Forever Templar
Reply to  george 1
11 months ago

Sundance had been staring at the sun too much. TPTB’s modus operandi is “submit or die (if eventually)” expansionism, not fencing in and drawing borders.

george 1
george 1
Reply to  Forever Templar
11 months ago

Well the fencing in part is for us. Not for the GAE.

george 1
george 1
Reply to  Forever Templar
11 months ago

Oh, and the Borders are financial and investment in nature only. TPTB have no intention of stopping the invaders coming in.

Jack Dodson
Jack Dodson
Reply to  george 1
11 months ago

The sanctions were clearly targeted at Europe and designed to keep it within the empire. CBDC also may be a goal, but the main one it would seem was to make the Western satrapies even more dependent. This portends to be a dreadful year, and watch Germany. The industrialists there are pissed at what has been done to them.

george 1
george 1
Reply to  Jack Dodson
11 months ago

As well as the NS pipeline destruction.

The Wild Geese Howard
The Wild Geese Howard
Reply to  Jack Dodson
11 months ago

At this point I’d think that the big German industrialist families are beginning to contemplate finding another painter with a funny mustache….

Mike
Mike
Reply to  The Wild Geese Howard
11 months ago

But he needs to be from Austria.

Tars Tarkas
Tars Tarkas
Reply to  george 1
11 months ago

It seems to me that CBDC is a plan-b and not really a goal. Whatever problems the Dollar has, it is a major source of their power. Severing connections with the USD severs them from that power. Tying the USD to the CBDC just brings all of the problems of the Dollar onto the CBDC. It wouldn’t give them a clean new start. I’m pretty ignorant of finance, so there may be aspects totally invisible to me. But at best, it seems like internal control would be the only real benefit.

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  Tars Tarkas
11 months ago

They would have to announce some jubilee, which would also destroy their control. Debt is the modern form of slavery when not used for productive purposes. Or perhaps remove all supports that have been keeping things on life support, let people starve, and beg for a CBDC? If people lost their jobs for a year or two, how many wouldn’t have to beg for something? They think their 401k is a savings account………

The Wild Geese Howard
The Wild Geese Howard
Reply to  Tars Tarkas
11 months ago

I think TPTB want CBDC, but I don’t think they have fully grasped the infrastructure and human capital required to implement, operate, and maintain such a system.

The X-factor is – do those resources still exist in the GAE?

For various reasons, I don’t believe they do.

That said, TPTB are going to do immense amounts of damage as they fail to fulfill their digital currency wish.

KGB
KGB
Reply to  The Wild Geese Howard
11 months ago

They’ll likely wait to see how China manages to do it, make some half-hearted noises about it being an impingement on human rights, and then implement it anyway at the first available moment. However, it will have none of the efficiency of China’s digital currency.

The Wild Geese Howard
The Wild Geese Howard
Reply to  KGB
11 months ago

IIRC, Beijing ran a high-profile digital currency pilot program during the 2022 Winter Olympics.

I don’t think that pilot went all that well.

I know they have had ongoing pilot programs since then, but I haven’t seen much reliable information on them.

Vinnyvette
Vinnyvette
Reply to  Tars Tarkas
11 months ago

The CBDC will be in “U.S. dollars.” It will not eliminate the dollar.

ProZNoV
ProZNoV
11 months ago

Fun walk down memory lane; good on you for a review. In re: Alex Jones verdict. Rudy Giuliani fined nearly $150 MILLION for “defaming” two randos in another state. Absolute madness and a taste of where the winds are blowing. SBF is actually in trouble. Apparently rich, powerful people don’t like to get publicly screwed. The money power beats the political power, for now. — Requests for next years predictions: 1. Southern Border woes. Infinite immigration? 2. “America’s Greatest Ally”: Does the world figure out just bypass the US for help and just go direct to AGA and ask them… Read more »

pyrrhus
pyrrhus
Reply to  ProZNoV
11 months ago

Looks like the swamping of the US is one of their main objectives, so millions of illegals will continue to come until we meet them with force…
Covid was no accident..Japanese scientists have established that all variants were made in a lab….The deathvax continues to kill, as many obits confirm, though the cause is always listed as something else..
No one foresaw the incredibly effective Houthi blockade which is changing the ME…

fakeemail
fakeemail
11 months ago

Prediction? PAIN.

Gauss
Gauss
11 months ago

Bitcoin is, surprisingly, above $40k. Maybe it will collapse in 2024.

Hemid
Hemid
Reply to  Gauss
11 months ago

So far crypto is behaving like “collectibles,” specifically trading cards, with prices moving almost meaninglessly, almost all products suddenly falling entirely out of the market, etc. Bitcoin is the big name, the Magic The Gathering of the genre. There *will be* a last guy who pays $70,000 for a Black Lotus, and soon thereafter nobody will regard it as anything but ugly old cardboard. The “market” is don’t be him. It’s been an interesting test run for our future social-credit currencies. Bitcoin *is* surveillance; it has no other plausible claim to value. Who buys it? Reliably regime-obedient demographics who consider… Read more »

Ploppy
Ploppy
Reply to  Hemid
11 months ago

My recommendation is to sell Magic/Pokemon Cards and Super Nintendos when the bulk of the Millennials hit their midlife crises. Although maybe they already had that happen in their 30s instead of the typical 40s/50s.

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  Gauss
11 months ago

I don’t understand how anyone even thinks bitcoin is an investment…… you may as well just buy a pet rock. Lets see, randomly came out of nowhere in 2008 or 09. Nobody knows who created, the Feds had just injected at shit ton of money into the markets (for the time) and it doesn’t occur to anyone it just may have been an inflation escape valve? Something you can’t hold physically and requires electricity and the internet to access. Yeah that sounds like a great way to buck the system!

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  Mr. House
11 months ago

at least you can take your pet rock to parties to show your friends!

mmack
mmack
11 months ago

As Yogi Berra was supposedly quoted, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”

Congratulations on the new abode and good luck fixing it up to your liking Z.

Whatever happens in 2024, it’ll be dumber than we could ever imagine.

Moran ya Simba
Moran ya Simba
Reply to  mmack
11 months ago

The next big thing; “why didn’t I think of that??” Because you’re not insane or satanic so you don’t stand a chance in this game

Moran ya Simba
Moran ya Simba
11 months ago

Pretty solid predictions. Globohomo didn’t get the Serbian regime change they wanted. But instead they got one in Poland. And their first move was to crack down on independent media. So now Poland can be properly enriched

I agree with the comments that the “no recession” is probably fake. They lie about everything and the economy is one of the easiest things for them to lie about.

mikeski
Member
11 months ago

The party did try to rally around the sacred black man, but he turned out to be too ridiculous even for the Republicans.

The firehose flow of…stuff…is such that I read this and had to think for a few seconds before remembering Tim Scott.

My Comment
My Comment
11 months ago

The future is always going to be different than we think it will be. Things will happen and be invented we aren’t expecting. So Z had a good hit rate for this year. The problem with predictions now is more than normal reality plays no important role in the worldview of the elite and managerial class. In any organization, the easiest way to get ahead now is by jumping on any bandwagon cheered by the top people. Yes, a tranny will help us sell working class beer. Yes, we can defeat Russia since it is only a gas station with… Read more »

Moran ya Simba
Moran ya Simba
Reply to  My Comment
11 months ago

My prediction is Trump will not be the GOP candidate. He will be on the ballot in a few red states but that’s it. Playing in the system is like playing chess with someone who can change the rules as he pleases

hokkoda
Member
Reply to  Moran ya Simba
11 months ago

Well, the RNC seems resigned to Trump as the nominee. They’ve canceled the remaining debates – because it’s pointless. There is no electoral way to stop Trump. The usual suspects put out some puff polls for Nikki Romney, but nobody believes those. Trump will easily secure a majority of delegates by Super Tuesday in March. He will win by margins 10% or higher than his current polling. For base voters, this is about inflicting a political vendetta, revenge, on the Government Party. Recent feeble efforts to keep him off the ballot will not succeed because their assertion of “insurrection” is… Read more »

Moran ya Simba
Moran ya Simba
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

I hope you’re right. But they’re trying all the lawfare tricks and they’re talking about smoking him, in the Washington Post no less. I think they’d do anything to stop him. We’ll see

DLS
DLS
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

My only issue with your analysis is thinking Trump can get elected. The only question is how many fake ballots in PA/GA/AZ/NV/MI would be so many that the media could not spin election fraud as a conspiracy theory. He would probably have to win by 10% nationally, where several hundred thousand fake ballots in each swing state is not enough.

David Wright
Member
11 months ago

I predict a Ruby Ridge type event somewhere in West Virginia next year. Hopefully thwarted.

Zulu Juliet
Zulu Juliet
Reply to  David Wright
11 months ago

Good god, that comment is pure black humor. (or would be better to say “noir” humor at this point)?

Moran ya Simba
Moran ya Simba
Reply to  David Wright
11 months ago

Maybe not West Virginia but somewhere, good chances of that

Marko
Marko
Reply to  David Wright
11 months ago

Maybe not Ruby Ridge, but if Trump gains traction and energy despite the regime’s best efforts, expect a MAGA killing. Trump will disavow and then step in every regime trap laid for him.

hokkoda
Member
Reply to  Marko
11 months ago

That would make sense if he had stepped into every trap laid for him so far. They’ve literally had to invent crimes in order to find a way to charge him. Government: Here are your documents Trump: Thanks, deliver them to MAL Government: OK, here you go. Government: did you put a lock on the door? Trump: No, but we have one now. Government: Give the documents back. Trump: Why? Government: They’re classified Trump: But you have copies of everything, and I declassified them. Government: No, they’re called “National Security information” now. Trump: You made that up. Prove it. Government:… Read more »

DLS
DLS
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

I hope you’re right. I fear there are no where near enough executioners to pull it off.

Hokkoda
Member
Reply to  DLS
11 months ago

Me too. I call it operation:decapitation. Fire as many as you can and do it all at once.

Ploppy
Ploppy
Reply to  David Wright
11 months ago

The first line of self defense in a rural environment is instead of paying someone to pump your septic tank you dig it out yourself and put the stuff in strategically placed holes with a very thin layer of dirt on top to hide it.

hokkoda
Member
Reply to  Ploppy
11 months ago

What if I save myself the effort and buy a high-pressure water pump, connect it to the tank, and hook it up to a motion detector with a manual override option?

That would be glorious.

Ploppy
Ploppy
Reply to  hokkoda
11 months ago

Ever driven past a dairy farm? Sure the pasture is nice and lush but that smell….

hokkoda
Member
Reply to  Ploppy
11 months ago

Back in the late 1980’s the local meat processing plant that employed most of the town decided to turn the unused cattle parts into a sludge and spread it on their corn fields. It was like living next to an open-air cemetery during the plague. We didn’t have A/C back then, so you had to sleep with your windows open at night in June and it was just awful. A few years later everyone figured out that mad cow disease was being caused by inserting the nervous systems of dead cows back into the food chain, so the practice was… Read more »

Vinnyvette
Vinnyvette
Reply to  David Wright
11 months ago

West Virginia? That’s Tim Pool compound territory. Surprised he hadn’t been Ruby Riged yet.

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  David Wright
11 months ago

First nuclear strike, they have to be sure

Outlaw graffiti, 2026: “Zman lives!”

Maxda
Maxda
11 months ago

I thought 2023 was just going to be a crappy year and was right. The stolen-election administration doing it’s best to destroy and replace any opposition. Every foreign policy move is the opposite of our national interests. The economy limps along. How bad this is gets more obvious to anyone paying attention.

2024 looks really ugly. Bad enough that I’m stocking up on ammo, seeds, and dried food. Hope I’m wrong.

Moran ya Simba
Moran ya Simba
Reply to  Maxda
11 months ago

Good things to stock up on. There’s no saying what nutty thing happens next. I’d include gold and silver (physical possession) if you can afford it and you probably have a plan for water already

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  Maxda
11 months ago

Maxda: I don’t want to go down the rabbit hole, and everyone has his specific theory, but between the push to eat bugs and the increasing cost of everything, not to mention last year’s drought impacting price/availability of hay so lots of culling of cattle, I believe one ought to stock forms of animal protein. You can easily ‘put aside’ various grains, rice, beans etc. at what is an increased but still modest cost. But protein and fat – specifically olive oil and beef – have skyrocketed. Fwiw – I first saw mention of these a few years ago at… Read more »

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  3g4me
11 months ago

Also, chest freezers are cheap (small/medium ones) and use minimal electricity. Just bought one for a friend for Christmasl.

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  3g4me
11 months ago

Wow, Prepper meats, top o’ the list.
Super thanks, 3g,

Seeds
Water tanks- use 55 gal plastic trash cans (I do)
Water filter straws
Fire, lighters, candles
Peroxide & alcohol

Layabout: “The future, my friend, is one word: Gerbils!”

DLS
DLS
Reply to  Maxda
11 months ago

The Fed can pump out enough funny money to keep it going until November. Then it all comes crashing down.

Tank
Tank
11 months ago

Maybe we are not technically in a recession because we borrowed another two trillion dollars and inserted it into the economy?

How many years in a row can a country borrow two trillion dollars before something really bad happens?

Maxda
Maxda
Reply to  Tank
11 months ago

This. They delayed a recession by setting the stage for a depression and collapse.

Left Coast Inmate
Left Coast Inmate
Reply to  Tank
11 months ago

You will never have a technical depression with fiat currency. The establishment will always print to infinity and real, useful assets like housing will continue increasing in price.

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  Tank
11 months ago

The second leg down of the 2008 depression began in 2020. Change my mind.

Left Coast Inmate
Left Coast Inmate
Reply to  Mr. House
11 months ago

Depressions don’t have massively inflating equity prices, housing prices, and a blue collar labor shortage.

Even from 2010 through 2019, the economy was generally improving and asset prices greatly increased.

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  Left Coast Inmate
11 months ago

You never heard of weimar germany?

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  Left Coast Inmate
11 months ago

It was only “improving” if you played their game. That game was to rob anyone who didn’t want to gamble in the stock market of their return on savings. Think about it, 2008 was a liquidity crisis. What goes up in value when money is short? If everyone is going bust and you have cash, do you lend it for 0% or do you lend it for 20%? All the industries we’ve touted the last 40 years, healthcare, higher education, do not create wealth. They just transfer it from one person to another. Not to mention both of those industries… Read more »

Left Coast Inmates
Left Coast Inmates
Reply to  Mr. House
11 months ago

You must play the game based on the expectations of what the other players are going to do. Just because you are unhappy with the establishment doesn’t mean you should play sub-optimally. Stocking up on gold and silver to use because you want a total collapse of the current system is not a good investment, they’re fantasy investments. ‘Safe’ investments will never match the true inflation rate of important goods and services such as housing. Yes, people will be forced to invest in the stock market and yes, I would encourage that over becoming impoverished via fixed rate investments because… Read more »

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  Mr. House
11 months ago

@leftcoastinmate

So why do you even come here to comment if you’re just gonna play the game? Why are any of us here?

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  Mr. House
11 months ago

People like yourself who rationalize cheating and evil are why we are where we are. Hope you and yours make it thru to the otherside with all your material possessions! Theft is ok as long as i play the game! Murder is ok as long as i play the game!

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Mr. House
11 months ago

Because, House, it’s the only game in town.

You gotta do what you can with what you have, where you’re at.

If it allows me to buy time, or beans & bullets, or prep land- then I’ll use a tool to better my people’s chances.

Least harm, greatest good. It’ all a tradeoff.

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  Mr. House
11 months ago

The only thing you do by doing what “they” want you to do, is provide them with more fuel. More power. Do the opposite. Stop supporting those you dislike and disagree with.

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  Left Coast Inmate
11 months ago

Look where that game has gotten us now? Was it worth it? Serious question.

3g4me
3g4me
Reply to  Left Coast Inmate
11 months ago

There is no labor shortage; the term you’re looking for is competency crisis.

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  3g4me
11 months ago

You’ll only get competency if you allow failure. So again, stems from the bailouts in 2008 and 2020. Printing money isn’t meant to make your life better, its meant to keep those in power in power.

SirLawrence
SirLawrence
Reply to  Tank
11 months ago

It all resembles Boiler Room and the scene about ‘nigger rich.’ “Greg Weinstein : [to Seth, while driving in his Ferrari] You’ve got to realize half the kids you and I grew up with, remember in Hebrew school shoving match was a big deal? Worst case scenario somebody got their Yarmulke knocked off it’s true these guys are no joke they get all tanked up, throw a quick fist some of them actually enjoy it, like Richie what the fuck is that? Probably thought I was being tough back there with that guy, I was shitting my pants, fucking Guineas,… Read more »

Mr. House
Mr. House
Reply to  SirLawrence
11 months ago

Some of us have principles and look down on corporate welfare 😉

If things keep going the way they’re going though, we’ll all be corporate welfare soon.

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Mr. House
11 months ago

Me, I’m just broke and in debt.
Got 5 family situations in several states I’m dealing with here, what do I do, just tell them to eff off?

Captain of the Titanic, I know. But I was raised on Depression stories. They never quit, though by God they wanted to.

Vince
Vince
11 months ago

“I did not finish my book.”

An interviewer once asked Michener how he found the time to write those expansive novels. His reply was “Four pages a day.” A 1,000 page book in less than a year.

Sounds easy until you’re staring at a blank page on a typewriter (or screen on a computer in this modern age) but it sounds as though you have the discipline for it. Put me down for a copy when it’s for sale and Happy New Year with blessings for your new abode.

Forever Templar
Forever Templar
Reply to  Vince
11 months ago

Talent is far less important than discipline as well as output. Michener left that part out. I really am a firm believer that applied discipline leads to revealed talent. The lack of instant gratification in that, though, is enough to put off most people.

DLS
DLS
Reply to  Forever Templar
11 months ago

Hemingway had that mentality. Wrote all morning and played with the kids all afternoon. Like it was an office job.

Ron West
Ron West
Reply to  Forever Templar
11 months ago

From chatgpt James Michener, the renowned American author known for his epic historical novels, was known for his meticulous research and attention to detail. While Michener did not have a “research staff” in the way modern media or corporate structures might envision, he did employ a team of researchers, editors, and assistants to help him gather information, fact-check details, and assist with various aspects of the writing process. Michener often traveled extensively to the locations he wrote about, spending time immersing himself in the culture, history, and geography of each place. Additionally, he consulted numerous primary and secondary sources, conducted… Read more »

Vegetius
Vegetius
11 months ago

Reposting three from me. The rest are best forgotten. >Iran and Saudi Arabia hold direct talks brokered by Erdogan. Brokered by the Chinese not the Turks. They are now talking, but the Borg is engaging in reality avoidance about this, because it upends almost half a century of US policy. Sort of proud of this call. >The Daily Shoah ends after episode 1088. TDS lives, but is gasping for air (despite the wooden doors). NJP not so much. >The ADL reports a troubling upswing in whites engaging in blatant anti-defamation. This was supposed to be a gimmie. Like predicting the… Read more »