I have this theory that I’ve been noodling on for a long time. I need to clear up my thoughts on this a bit and maybe you could help me out here, fellow kiwis:
I think “irrational exuberance” in economies is both a cause and effect of Clown World. The corollary is that recessions represent a return to Holy Basedness.
Think about it this way: we all have a deep sense of karmic justice. We believe those who act prudently shall be rewarded and those who act like degenerates shall be divinely smote. In an insane economic environment, you save money and work hard, only to watch your savings be debased, get laid off, and be unable to afford groceries and a house. Meanwhile, your IQ 85 childhood neighbor makes $1MM selling used monkey JPEGs.
This creates a deep discontent: a feeling that this is all unfair and gambling anyway, no one deserves their good fortune. It is in fact, only luck. This sentiment leads to socialism because if the “hard workin bootstrapper” narrative is bullshit, why not redistribute the money?
Soon, efforts are divorced from their fruits entirely. The sacred foundation of civilized society is destroyed. There is neither desire nor incentive to act morally — why bother avoiding sin if we are all going to hell anyway?
In order for us to return to a world where people both want and need to work for a living, where people produce and treasure children, and where everything returns to some level of sanity, we are going to need to see some shit. I kinda hope we can just rip this bandaid off.
