• SO, WHAT NOW?  “Worn out by riot, arson, looting, plague, lockdown, recession and election fatigue, the country is now facing a number of existential crises that will only exacerbate in months ahead, the biggest being: (1) Still in a recession, massive federal budget deficit with likelihood of additional Trillions to be legislated by the new administration, on top of already unsustainable National Debt; (2) Progressive politicians seldom ‘letting a crisis go to waste,’ calling for complete weaponization of government agencies to ban if not prosecute opposition, in their perceived political self-interest; and (3) Trillion-dollar social media monopolies pushing for control of information through censorship and cancellation of ‘incorrect communications,’ with the U.S. becoming essentially a closed society – like China, the model of efficiency in the mind of Progressives… Consolidating the means of public communication & corporate culture, made easier by a Covid-stricken, quarantined, and financially strapped population, portends Mr. Toad’s wild scary ride for all of 2021.” [Victor Davis Hanson – AMERICAN GREATNESS – 1/10/21]
  • POST-PANDEMIC, “THE ADAGE ‘YOU CAN’T DOWNLOAD EXPERIENCE’ WILL BE ESPECIALLY APT, as release of pent-up demand, a hopeful sense of security from Vaccine, and because Content is now in the hands of streaming services with infinite cloud data and 24/7 programming to every demographic of unlimited users, each with equivalent market value.”  Entertainment for our ‘escapist fantasies’ and ‘feeling good’ will be very different from the last decade, principally since: (1) we used to cancel TV shows, not people or culture; (2) Content decision-making will now be by diverse and ‘woke’ Millennials & Gen Z kids, responding to powerful social movements; (3) Relevance of Prime Time and Star-Power of ‘A List’ celebrities will drastically diminish; and (4) Live entertainment, particularly Broadway shows & Concerts, will replace today’s “almost Amish existence of baking bread and playing board games, as we emerge like restless horses in the gate.” A new world. [TIME – 1/18/21] 
  • MEANWHILE, TWITTER – SERVING UP TO 25% OF U.S. ADULTS, OVER ¾ OF WHOM ARE AFFLUENT MILLENNIALS – is now essentially supporting a single cause: Corporate profit & Valuation, and effectively promoting the disintegration of American society.  As a private company, albeit a near-monopoly, Twitter can of course act in its own interest, even when that means reneging on representation in its published Prospectus: “a public platform where any user can create a tweet, and can follow other users without restrictions… In fact, they do allow Iran to tweet for Jews to be killed, and China to spread propaganda about rounding up Uyghur men & sterilizing women,” but purging Conservative voices, ‘permanently banning’ the President of the country from its platform, silencing ideas which dissent from company & Management interests – like arbitrary lockdowns in ‘blue’ states without regard to resulting suicides, overdoses, missed cancer screenings, causing poverty, omitting or lying about facts which materially impact elections – are within their Rights, but shameful. [FEDERALIST – 1/9/21]
  • IRRESPECTIVE OF PERSONAL BELIEFS ABOUT WHOSE OR WHICH propaganda were right or wrong or hypocritical or disgusting or shameful, or about policies for societal culture and/or security which half the country may distain, the critical importance of ‘getting past’ the anger & insult from media and “spinelessness of complacent politicians,” in order to protect Democracy in America – which we have all taken for granted – must now be a priority, lest we risk “dire consequences.” A  personal message of experience from Arnold Schwarzenegger is excellent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_P-0I6sAck
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:

     “Suspicion is a thing very few people can entertain without letting the hypothesis, in their minds turn into fact… and it’s far more difficult to change the mentality of people than it is to change a country’s political order… There is no group in America that can withstand the force of aroused public opinion, and a government can be no better than the public opinion which sustains it.”

     Along with pharma companies, the coronavirus pandemic minted some 50 new Billionaires in the healthcare sector – scientists, researchers & doctors – according to Forbes.