“Nobody gives you power, boy. You take it.”
~ Jock Ewing’s advice to his son Bobby in Dallas

Shortly after our 1st Quarter Wrap Up: The Clash of Civilizations was published, the Trump administration underwent a radical transformation, reversing positions on numerous core issues, promoting false intelligence reports, and increasing military intervention in both the Middle East and Asia.

The screams from the Washington establishment have diminished as cash flows began turning back towards the unproductive among us.

These dramatic reversals are reminders that lasting change must come from the grassroots – from a profound shift in consciousness and from a change in the manner in which millions of people allocate our time and money.

The events of the last two weeks also increase the chances that the Trump administration’s policies will favor the war economy. This will mean higher rates of “piratization” and inflation as the squeeze on the middle class accelerates. Unfortunately, it is also likely that the intelligence agencies will continue to destroy privacy. The telecommunications and Internet companies will continue to engage in surveillance capitalism.  Entrainment technologies will continue to create profitable addictions and market “fake news.”

These reversals beg the question, “What is really going on inside the United States and in the global financial and political machinery?” We will be discussing this question in our Money & Markets coverage during the 2nd Quarter. As always, we will “follow the money,” particularly the first budget submission in May.

To read Dr. Joseph Farrell’s description of his deep disappointment, see “Trump and Syria: A Rant” at gizadeathstar.com.

While I expect the grades on the Trump report card to be lower at the end of the 2nd Quarter, I am far less disappointed as my expectations are lower. Washington will only change when the constituencies at work within the country can achieve an 80% or better consensus regarding economically feasible change.  My perpetual frustration lies in watching fellow citizens invest enormous amounts of time in presidential elections or in corporate media when their time could be used to create personal health, wealth, and real change.  We must shift the manner in which we invest and interact with the financial and political machine, versus with the presidential prisoner at the top.

My focus will continue to be publishing intelligence that will enable our subscribers to succeed in all scenarios and to contribute to real, lasting change in support of a human civilization.  This will include a continuous flow of information which will encourage our financial and political leaders to do the right thing.

Changing the financial and economic model of the entire planet is no small or brief process. We are in the “invention room” together and – given our collective state of denial – it appears that we will be in the invention room for quite awhile.

Real change is a long distance run.