Column #283Xi Jinping 2019

This column differs from most. Yet it still covers topics that may eventually strike close to home. Our small meat business depends on clients staying not only physically healthy, but financially healthy as well. Without customers our employees lose, our suppliers lose, as business owners we lose, and the community loses. So we are all in this together in more ways than one.

Communities consist of a wide variety of people with differences of opinion about nearly everything. Americans do not march lockstep together wearing the same clothes, driving the same cars, liking the same entertainment, worshiping the same, eating the same, vacationing the same, etc. But in some countries diversity is cancelled, news is propaganda, and everyone shops at the company store. So . . .

Have you heard about “The Great Reset?”

“The Great Reset” is the focus for this year’s World Economic Forum’s (WEF) meeting being held this week in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. The WEF describes itself as “the foremost creative force for engaging the world’s top leaders in collaborative activities to shape the global, regional and industry agendas at the beginning of each year.” This year’s virtual meeting wraps up today, January 29, 2021.1 2

Being virtual, because of the pandemic, is not stopping its 3,000 participants from around the world giving a “concrete meaning to ‘stakeholder capitalism,’ assist governments and international institutions in tracking progress toward the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, and facilitate discussions on technology and trade governance.” That means the WEF’s posturing is supposed to be a “new social design” for overcoming the pandemic.

The lead off speaker was Xi Jinping, China’s president. Actually, he’s the ruler of China as long as he wants to hold power which sounds like a dictator to me. The emphasis on China is pretty interesting in light of what’s been happening in our country. According to the “Wall Street Journal” (WSJ) China is the world’s “top destination” for foreign direct investment (FDI). FDI includes things like foreign companies building infrastructure and making acquisitions of local companies. The shift came as a result of the pandemic amplifying “an eastward shift in the center of gravity of the global economy.”3 4

New investments by overseas businesses into the U.S. fell 49% in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. But China saw its direct investments rise 4% over the same period of time. The difference is being attributed to how China “supposedly” handled the pandemic better than the U.S. The FDI numbers, heavily influenced by the global pandemic, “underline China’s move toward the center of a global economy long dominated by the U.S.,” the WSJ wrote.

With economies hurting all around the world because of socially- and financially-destructive pandemic-motivated-shutdowns, the intellectuals at the WEF say they have crafted the Great Reset for the world’s movers and shakers to seek “a better form of capitalism” — whatever that is.

In time I think the COVID-19 pandemic will prove to have been only slightly worse than the annual influenza outbreak the world has experienced for decades. Therefore it will go down in history as a politicized crisis made worse by bureaucrats dictating masking, distancing, and shutdowns all driven by unrelenting MSM scaremongering. Bureaucrats, and folks like the WEF crowd, are using the exaggerated COVID-19 death tolls and the economic fallout caused by their dictated shutdowns as reasons for why a reset is required. As the WEF intellectuals are now claiming, “We must use it (the pandemic) to secure the Great Reset that we so badly need. That will require stronger and more effective governments, though this does not imply an ideological push for bigger ones. And it will demand private-sector engagement every step of the way.”

WEF’s other goals include such comments as, “To achieve a better outcome, the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions. Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed. In short, we need a ‘Great Reset’ of capitalism.”

From my perspective this high sounding drivel sounds somewhat like George H.W. Bush’s aspirations for the One World Order. That idea was for America (and the world) to defend common vital interests and at the same time the world must follow the rule of law. Bush gave his famous speech on 911 in 1990. It all sounded so nice, but everyone still wonders who’s law everyone would be forced to follow? Who will be in charge? Who will pay for it? GHWB never really answered those questions.5

Many American businesses already sell goods and services in every country in the world. They are globalists such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Microsoft. But there are others such as Starbucks and McDonalds, automobile manufacturers, and the list goes on. Most of these large companies are controlled by billionaire elites. Some of the lessor controlling elites are only worth hundreds of millions. But the real movers and shakers, the ones who control governments, are worth many tens of billions of dollars.

Doing business across borders is fine. But when businesses get too large, their leaders become oligarchs who desire more control of their markets and then they want to control the people. Free markets only exist when there are many small players. So, when huge companies start teaming up with dictators, not only do free markets disappear but human rights do too. As an American who is used to living in a nation with a Constitution and Bill of Rights that protects citizen rights and minority rights, possible changes in these rights are rather disturbing. To me, it’s like one side of a contractual agreement being unilaterally changed by the other party.

This past year Americans witnessed many strange events. Now the WEF wants a speedy Great Reset because it’s so badly needed. It says we can’t waste any time. To me that’s scary. Our country just had a very controversial election. There were numerous complaints of improper conduct. But there doesn’t seem to be a proper venue to investigate the evidence. President Biden has no interest in getting to the bottom of it to assure all Americans it was on the up and up. That becomes the official denial which is highly suspicious. Obviously there’s a strong movement to quickly cancel any and all election fraud discussions.

Back in October Biden said the following: “I have this strange notion. We are a democracy.  Some of my Republican friends, and some of my Democratic friends occasionally say ‘well if you can’t get the votes, by executive order you’re going to do something.’” Then Biden declared, “You can’t do it by executive order, unless you’re a dictator. We’re a democracy, we need consensus.”

In his first week Biden signed 37 executive orders, more than any other president in history. Why is there such a big hurry? We know the MSM oligarchs are behind Biden. What aren’t we being told? Normally a president steps into the limelight and personally explains his executive orders.

Why are there armed troops surrounding the Capitol in Washington, D.C. while border wall construction is stopped and immigration laws relaxed? If we have too many unemployed workers and the economy is hurting, why rush to abruptly shut down pipeline construction, stop oil exploration on federal land, increase government regulations on businesses, and seemingly invite in more illegal immigrants? Why raise the minimum wage on government contracts when unemployment is high and the government is hemorrhaging red ink? Why talk about rasing the federal minimum wage when tariffs are being lowered and borders opened? Wouldn’t it be better to move gradually and get the economy humming before making some of these drastic changes?

Businesses usually make plans that take years to bring to fruition. A government should respect their long-term interests and not force rapid changes upon them.

Amazingly, right after Biden’s inauguration the number of daily new COVID-19 cases started plunging. Shutdown states started pushing to reopen. The CDC came out and stated flat out that kids should get back in school, although it still pushes mask wearing and other fear inducing protocols in what is proven to be the least dangerous setting for spread and deaths. Why is that? The tension caused by fearmongering is far worse than the virus.6

In light of the better COVID-19 numbers and easing lockdowns in certain states that deliberately crippled their economies, why does the MSM still attack the governors in the states that didn’t lock down? Florida is a good example. Even the Florida-based newspapers (most owned by conglomerates) are attacking Ron DeSantis for not locking down. This week it was revealed the state had received a “White House Coronavirus Task Force Report” demanding that unless masks aren’t worn 100% of the time in bars, indoor dining, gyms, and other indoor spaces — Florida must shut them down. What???

Dictatorial orders like that are still coming out while scientists all around the world are screaming about how shutdowns are far worse than the disease. Florida, a large, diverse, highly populated state, is one of only two states with more than 20% of its citizens more than 65 years of age. It widely opened schools and businesses months ago, discarded most mobility restrictions, and ended mandates. Florida did not eliminate COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, or deaths, but it outperformed many states during the recent surge, including those with warm climates, like California, that crushed it citizens and many businesses. Why is that not a subject of open discussion and praise by the MSM? What is the objective for attacking the nation’s best governors?7

MSM propaganda has become totally absurd and very divisive. In many cases liberal ideas may have a valid point, but without allowing counterpoints, our entire country is being gaslighted into a corner to face we know not what. If you haven’t read the books “1984" and “Animal Farm,” I suggest you get them and read them. I read “1984" in 1962 as a school assignment. I couldn’t see the benefit of the book because to me it read like a horror story that just kept getting worse as each page was turned. But in light of what’s been happening in the past 20 plus years I’m glad that I read it. “Animal Farm” is also a best read for these times.8

This reminds me of a good quote. Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

Another matter that I’m concerns me are the financial markets. Everyone is talking inflation, but the flip side is deflation. Debts can become top heavy. If citizens grow cautious and stop their consumptive borrowing, the debt structure will start to shrink. When that occurs debts can implode like the World Trade Center buildings collapsed on 911. If that were to happen, it’s the currency the debts are denominated in that grow scarce. In other words, with most of the world’s debt denominated in dollars, it’s the dollar that all debtors require. Of course that won’t last long because dollars are pieces of paper, but that’s why monetary cycles can whipsaw nations into oblivion. As I’ve said before, we’re living in interesting times.

If you tend to think that bureaucrats and politicians are capable of taking care of you and your family, for your sake I hope you are right. But my perspective, forged from decades of experience, is the same as another famous Ronald Reagan quote explains. “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.”

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don’t miss these links for additional reading:

1. Now Is the Time for a ‘Great Reset’ from World Economic Forum

2. The Great Reset from Time Magazine

3. Xi Jinping from Wikipedia

4. Full Text of Xi Jinping keynote at the World Economic Forum from China Global Television Network

5. The Other 9/11: George H.W. Bush’s 1990 New World Order Speech from Dallas Morning News

6. Schools and Child Care Programs? from CDC

7. Florida COVID Stats from WorldOMeters

8. “1984" and “Animal Farm” at Amazon.com