One of the more irritating aspects of living in a land run by a religious cult is that reality is forced into the official narrative. That which cannot fit is not just ignored, it is rejected and often ferociously. Prior to the 2012 election, as an example, the media refused to cover the erosion of the American middle class. If anyone mentioned anything about the stagnant economy they were greeted by a press wielding pitchforks and torches chanting “burn the witch!” The fact that it persists after the hero has been re-elected is more troubling.

It suggests these nuts really believe their own bullshit.

Here’s an example. China’s economy is slowing and very well may be in recession. The official number for there are always inflated or plain wrong so assuming the worst case is wise. Nitwits like Thomas Friedman will have to explain why their preferred brand of authoritarianism is suddenly not working. More important, the world will have to find a new champion to save this Potemkin world economy. Most important, we will now have to start wondering what happens to the ChiComs when their Ponzi scheme unravels. A billion pissed off Chinamen can make a helluva mess.

Then we have the on-going saga of Europe. Portugal is in trouble. We’ve seen this film and know how it ends. The main political parties suddenly join together to force through unpopular polices. They put on a show for a while, but in the end, they are simply the faces of the ruling elite. They will close ranks to defend their privileges. They force through the cuts and taxes to get the bailout. The policy fails and the people suffer. Eventually, the fringe parties start looking less fringe and the economic crisis moves to a political crisis.

In Greece, they are afraid to hold another election for fear of the communists. In Italy they fear the populists. Reality is that thing that does not go away when you stop believing in it and the reality looming over everything right now is the inherent defects of credit money and the economy built on it. Our leaders have built this amazing house of cards out of credit money. It is just a matter of time before it begins to collapse.