When Guilt Goes Pagan

Welcome to This Week’s Leyendecker View

Receive life as a gift, and release it as a present.
– Artist Akiane Kramarik

A BIG THINK

When Guilt Goes Pagan

The current consensus seems to be that all bad weather events and/or changes in any of the earth’s climates and ecosystems are all caused by humans. Scientists have proven this. It’s all over the internet, you know.

Human beings are guilty of destroying the planet.

Is this true, or is it an arrogant and possibly even naive perspective? Are there other climate influences we have not discovered, explored or cared to consider?

Maybe the destroying-the-earth narrative is more about governments seeking to increase their power over private industry and populations. There is certainly a long and expansive history of governments trying to manipulate and control the common man.

One thing is for certain: Climate hysteria is certainly leading to mental health challenges for our youth.

You know what? The earth could care less about mankind. The earth was around for billions of years before us. It will likely be around for billions of years after us.

The climate may be changing, or it may be an aberration, like what happened in the 1930s. Now, why does the 1930s heat wave get almost no media attention?

What has surely changed recently is the Western world’s connection to spirituality, God and religion. The decline of religion and its associated spirituality has been rapid.

We should not forget that Judeo-Christian values built the Western world. What were the basic Judeo-Christian tenets that drove these religious societies to great economic achievement?

Guilt—and the other side of the same coin, a desire to be better—may be at the foundation to all Judeo-Christian values.

Guilt drives our desire to improve. We didn’t do well enough. We didn’t solve the problem. We didn’t treat someone right. We failed at one or more of the Ten Commandments.

Without guilt, what compels us to make changes and take actions that will enable us to be a better version of ourselves?

And since the Western, Judeo-Christian world is leading the messaging about humanity’s sins against the environment, maybe we should ponder—has the emotion of guilt been transferred from its spiritual foundation to the physical world?

Many pagan religions were rooted in worship of nature. So what we may have today is a new religion that has transitioned our natural human proclivity for guilt and improvement from the spiritual to the physical world. And in the process, certain people may be losing their sense of self, their souls and their spiritual connection to the universe. Maybe this is one reason the country seems so disenfranchised, confused and depressed.

A final thought: When guilt pertains to how we as individuals act in the world, then the solutions are internal. They are an inside job. We work on ourselves, we make changes to prevent more guilt in the future, we improve. What does it mean for an individual’s ability to grow when that person transfers his natural guilt onto things far, far beyond his locus of control? And what does it mean when he does so with a religious fervor?

THE ECONOMIC VIEW

There’s no rush to cut interest rates
Says a top Fed official.

Stretched US consumer is pulling back
Just ask retailers.
BofA CEO says consumers are burning out

Restaurants consider surge pricing
You think customers will like it?
Restaurants are becoming too expensive
Fast food chain files chapter 11
Has the restaurant correction started?

INFLATION, DEFLATION OR BOTH?

That Baltimore bridge that went down
Will it increase inflation risk?

Hospitals are padding our bills
Greedflation in healthcare?

China’s strategy to rebuild growth.
Could bring deflation in goods production

THE LABOR VIEW

To get around in-office mandates
Workers are “coffee badging”

We’re working less than we used to
And that’s a-okay!

Want to get a big salary bump?
Then take a full in-the-office job.

MEANWHILE IN EUROPE

Europe’s green goals at risk
EU voters are not happy.

German growth prospects slashed
Retail sales fall more than expected
The engine of Europe is sputtering.

“We have achieved a soft landing”
Be careful claiming victory too soon.

THE GLOBAL GAME

South Korea needs children.
Companies float $75K incentive to have them

Haiti is in total chaos
What lessons will we learn?
At least 1,500 dead so far

China’s got a homegrown airliner
Uh, oh!
Japan wants to build airliners
How fast can they ramp up?

THE UKRAINE FIRE

Russia blames Ukraine and the West
For what ISIS did.
To ISIS, everyone is an enemy

Sanctions squeeze Russian oil.
But North Korea keeps buying
What’s keeping Russian oil pumping?
A Western oilfield services group is

The West can defeat Russia in Ukraine.
By outspending them
That’s what Ronald Reagan did

THE GAZA FIRE

Arab nations won’t fund UN Palestinian agency
Huh? What? Aren’t they Muslim?

The UN demands immediate cease-fire
The US abstained in the vote
So Israel canceled a Washington meeting.
Israel and Hamas keep fighting
Israel reschedules US meeting

Red Sea risks escalate
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is now involved.
US aircraft carrier plays offense
Allies struggle to control Red Sea

THE SLIPPERY SLOPE

A ticking time bomb in Syria
Is another war about to break out?

US and South Korea want to block
North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs

Russia spreads disinformation.
About the Princess of Wales
And US views on Ukraine

FINANCE

Home Depot makes giant acquisition
A couple PE investors are very happy!
Blockbuster M&A deals are back

Bullish on the stock market?
Don’t read what JPMorgan thinks

If inflation sticks around
Own some commodities
Commodity traders grow huge war chest
Are hard assets the next big asset class?

Hey, folks, we’ve got another crisis.
We need more $$$ to fund retirement programs

REAL ESTATE

The office market is in turmoil.
Yet rents are still expensive
Older buildings are left stranded

The new rules
On buying and selling a home

Could exploding insurance rates
Kill the homebuilding and sales markets?

TECHNOLOGY

The DOJ sets sights on Apple
The EU increases regulatory scrutiny
Will big tech be broken up one day?

Self-driving cars have mostly failed.
Is a smart highway in Texas the answer?

Big tech has a new obsession.
Finding enough energy

THE CHAT ON AI

Big money pours into AI company
What does Anthropic do?

You shouldn’t trust AI search engines
So says MIT.

Can AI create a one-person unicorn?
Sam Altman thinks so.

Open AI’s video tool, Sora
Could really change “reality”

OUR GOOD FRIEND, FAILURE

Gambling was made widely legal.
And it’s bringing out the worst in us
Check out gambling’s explosive growth

Berkeley, CA banned new gas stoves
Now they must repeal that law.

ESG investing looks gone forever
The meme world keeps retreating.
UBS can’t give up hydrocarbon lending

THE NEXT NORMAL

Twilight of the wonks
The era of the “best credentialed” is in decline.
Harvard applications drop
While annual tuition hits $90K for some

Medicare to pay for weight loss drug
For those with heart conditions.
But are makers price gouging?

Florida tries to save kids’ minds
Will their new bill hold up in court?

THE WAR ON CARBON

Oil giants pledge to bury carbon.
They have the fields to do so

Canada’s hydropower plans on hold
Drought reduces water supply.
Hydropower generation falling in US, too
With less hydropower, emissions hit record high

New technology fuels US oil boom
Producers getting bigger bang on investment
What happens when US O&G tech goes global?
Bolivia wants in on the game

THE ENERGY TRANSITION

Kazakhstan, the world’s largest uranium producer
Works to increase exports to the US

Green steel may be coming
Bill Gates has bet on it.

To achieve Europe’s 2050 climate goals
Taxpayers will have to pony up.

THE EV DREAM

Tesla gears up for $25K EV
Is that price point cheap enough?

EV maker, Fisker, may be done
One of many casualties coming?

Biden EPA’s new rules
Will force you to buy an EV one day

THE CHINA SYNDROME

American business stalls in China
iPhone sales fall 33%
US CEOs visit China
Xi tells them to invest in China
China’s industrial profits grow again
US worries about China creating deflation
Chinese banks stumble with property crisis

THE WASHING-TONE

We finally got a funding agreement
But now we need more

Has China been gaming the steel market?
US steel unions claim they have

Biden wants to expand climate training.
Seeks $8B more for American Climate Corps

THE ELECTION DISTRACTION

Biden gains momentum
Polls, polls, polls and more polls.

The outsider legal genius
Who may rescue Trump.

If China makes EVs in Mexico
Trump will enact 100% tariffs

MAKING A BETTER YOU

For better sleep, get regular exercise
Just do it!

To live past 100
Eat less

Our mental health foundation
Might just be in our gut

HOW ABOUT A BREAK

World Nature Photography awards
Are pretty darn special.

The annual cafe race in Paris returns
Don’t spill that water glass!

The most-hated buildings in the world
Chosen by seven leading architects.

MUSIC FROM THE WORLD

London African Gospel choir
Singing Paul Simon’s “Graceland.”

SONG OF THE WEEK

Beyoncé goes country.
“Texas Hold ‘Em”

CASTING AROUND THE PODS

Think Fast with Daniel Kahneman
The Nobel Prize winner passed away this week.
The audio version of his best seller.
Thinking Fast, and Slow

VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

Off-the-scales figure skating
America has a new teenage dynamo.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice trailer
The Juice is loose once again.

Desert Drifter uncovers new cliff dwellings
“Regular dude” makes a great discovery.

FROM THE HEADHUNTER’S KITCHEN

Are you ready for this?
He’s 6’4”, 315 lbs, a Patriot lineman and vegan

Get your vegan game on…

Cauliflower hash browns
Butternut squash risotto with leeks and spinach
Bombay burritos
Coconut rice bowls
Crispy BBQ tofu sandwich
Whole roasted cauliflower with tahini sauce
Chipotle portobello tacos
Vegan shepherd’s pie
Vegan alfredo
Vegan farmers market fried rice
Plenty more yum yums here!
The secret to roasting vegetables

THE RANDOMS

Inflation hit home this week when our health insurance provider increased our premium 9% over last year. Inflation is coming down, right?

Economic Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman died this week. He was a pioneer in behavioral economics. A behaviorist would likely suggest that perception is reality. And since the stock market keeps booming, our economy must be booming too, right?

Everyone knows that interest rates are set to decline this year, but I keep wondering if the recent rising cost of oil isn’t going to soon slip into the Consumer Price Index. And with natural gas prices at recent lows, how soon until they rise again and then drive up electricity costs?

Houston, the energy capital of the world, may become the Silicon Valley of energy, says Bill Gates.

Imagine if Biden or Trump could pick who they run against in the presidential election. Well, that’s what Venezuela’s Maduro just did. Democracy at its finest, eh? Didn’t Biden lift sanctions on them recently?

Nvidia CEO says we’ll have AI general intelligence in five years. Have you bought your prepper property yet?

The US just fell from the top 20 World Happiness rankings. Gen Z and Millennials are not all right. “It’s hard to stress too much over work, as we can see the world crumbling in front of us,” Ayem Kpenkaan, a Gen Z content creator, told Fortune in 2023. “Emails or even TikTok numbers seem pretty small compared to all the climate news we receive on a daily basis.”

In June 1981, the federal funds rate was 19.1%. In December 2021, it was 0.08%. You think it will be easy for consumers and businesses to shake a 40-year addiction to ever cheaper money?

What makes each of us authentic?

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The Future of Lazy
March 22, 2024

Economic Homeostasis
March 15, 2024