Hughesair (Inflection Point)

Entitlement caused the thing. --- Back in 2012, before the Cliff, entitlement was only a campaign whipping boy of the Reds. The trouble was that entitlement was also the state of mind among the wealthy; it was almost a uniform belief among the rich that they must hoard their hard-earned wealth at all cost – even at the cost of the Republic. When we went over the Cliff, austerity measures came into effect dumping the middle class into a depression worse than the first one. Unemployment shot up to 85%. Banks foreclosed on homes. People were living on the street. Starvation was the norm everywhere except in farm areas. China sold off its investments in America, flooding the market with near worthless government bonds driving interest rates sky high. Businesses folded right and left. Rioting led quickly to disaster. At first, the military supported the failing government attempting to enforce the foreclosures and maintain order. The government was soon useless and remained in g...

I’m recording this on the run. Some five or six dark suits with ties broke into my house this morning. They look out of place in Alaska. When I saw the guns, I climbed out a window and fled into the woods. They yelled and fired a short burst, but I was into the trees down a steep hill, and it’s still dark. I’m betting they won’t be able to follow me with their street shoes through the rain, the thick spruce and the moose marsh – certainly not through Bidarki Creek without boots. Everyone here on the coast wears rubber boots this time of year. There is no way I could escape by car. They would easily overtake me or block the single road north. I don’t dare use my ear-phone. They will surely watch the airport, but I know most of the pilots on Beluga Lake. I can’t count on the local police; they would be overwhelmed, and besides I don’ know who these guys are. I saw two of them with Uzis, whatever that means. I’ve got the only two working models in my pocket. Thank God they are small. Fort...

Once upon a time in Iraq a Bagdad banker and a goat trader traveled a great distance to a small desert village. They drank tea with village chiefs and made themselves known as benefactors to the village: The goat trader offered to buy goats and the banker offered to lend money. The goat trader first offered to buy goats at $10 a goat. The price was good and the villagers sold him a few goats. After a number of days, the trader offered $20. No one paid much attention to the rumor, “Enchala.” One cleaver fellow, however, bought a goat from his neighbor for $12, betting that the rumor might be true, and indeed made $8 dollars on the trade a couple of days later. Sure enough in a few days the goat trader was buying goats for $20, and the word got around. The villagers bought goats from the Bedouins and sold them in the city. A new rumor soon spread, whispering $30. Conventional wisdom now confirmed that goat prices were going up. Villagers begin buying and selling goats among themselves in...