I saw Lawrence Kudlow speak in New York a few months ago. He talked about the dollar and why it is falling in value. It was a very interesting take on gold and the dollar and the state of reality. His basic conclusion was that the dollar really has no value, but only has value because people believe that it does. Therefore the fall in the dollar was based on the government’s and press’s inability to educate the populace about the dollars’ true value.

As I was listening to this guy I began to realize that he really believes that the dollar is falling because we don’t have good enough propaganda in this country. It was a thought system based in the belief that nothing really has any worth except that people believe in it, therefore if people could be made to believe in the dollar, the dollar would again have value.

To someone who is no respector of history, this would seem to make sense, also to someone who is very arrogant and unwilling to see himself as a small piece in a much larger picture rather than a big piece in everything that is. For those of you who have read what I have written about the Arrogance Cycle, keep in mind, while the Mexican mining industry may be near the bottom, the average TV-watching American Citizen is right at the very top. It makes sense that someone like this Kudlow man would be popular, because he tells people that they are great and nothing can stop them, that the dollar will be worth more if we believe in it and that gold means nothing if we will it to be that way.

Mankind’s desire to will his personal wishes into reality is nothing new. Neither is his ability to fail to see or understand or even try to understand the limits of what his efforts can bring. A candle brings light to the darkness, but does not replace the day. Fire brings heat to the home in winter, but does not replace the summer sun. A stent does not fix the heart, and a dialysis machine does not fix the kidney. The power that man in his weakest state of ignorance desires but cannot attain because it constantly eludes him cannot be “willed” into existence.

Nietzsche wrote of the “will to power” and “God being dead.” I once saw a great sign in one of my philosophy professor’s classrooms. It said, “God is dead.--- Nietzsche, Nietzsche is dead ---God.” Substitute god for gold and Nietzsche for Kudlow and you will see my point. We undersand as human beings that there are certain immutable laws that we dare not transgress. Yet we create philosophies to attempt to convince ourselves that that we really can, that our social mores are based on nothing more substantial than the will of the mass of people. That belief systems are random. But they are not.

Be humble, my friends, so that you may understand humilty and see what is ahead more clearly. Be patient. Be quiet and watch. For those of you who have reason to celebrate, have a good 4th of July. Bull