On September 30, 2021 at 10:55 am, J. M. wrote:
Hi Mark,
I'm a millennial and new member.
I read your books in college and learned more about global economics and politics than from most of my overpaid professors.
In After America, you described the issues from the glut of over-supply of housing. At the time this seemed more reasonable because we were in a recession with too many homes and not enough buyers. Now there seems to be a shortage of housing. Mortgage rates are low, so everyone is getting multiple homes as well as private equity firms buying up whole neighborhoods. I believe a lot of my generation has now been priced out of buying a first time home. This will cause a long term ripple effect for future generations. Its hard to see a scenario of shifting back to too many homes and not enough buyers. How do you see this panning out?
On September 30, 2021 at 10:56 am, Brian from Minneapolis wrote:
Dear Mark,
Any comments regarding Lt. Col. Scheller being thrown into the brig for calling out his superior's "handling" of Afghanistan? After the utter disgraceful and dishonorable escape from Afghanitraz by abandoning our citizens and Afghan allies while saving themselves and leaving behind a $85 billion dollar gift package behind, the only ones who get punished are those who criticize it. In the end its alright for Milley to set up soldiers to be murdered in a terror attack in Kabul but its insubordination to question that order. Any thoughts on this Mark?
On September 30, 2021 at 10:57 am, Richard Malaby wrote:
Hi Mark - love the Club!
Truth be told, I am recycling my unanswered question here from the 9/16 Clubland Q&A - I just missed the cutoff! With the thrust of your argument the past few weeks, the Uniparty and failure of the Republican establishment, I thought it was still appropriate and relevant:
Like you and probably everyone here, I loathe the permanent election cycle. Right now, there are races all across the country where multiple people have already declared their candidacy for November 2022. In my House district of NH-1, I believe there are six GOP challengers already lined up to face the incumbent Democrat. My question: how are we ever going to move away from this, from politics as a profession, the constant media attention and fundraising machine? There may be excellent candidates out there, but if they do not have any money and only begin campaigning a month before the primary, aren't they dead on arrival?
All of your efforts are appreciated! Thank you!
On September 30, 2021 at 10:57 am, Eric Dale wrote:
Hey Mark and fellow Club members,
Is it me, or are the questions that matter are settled less and less by public debate and consensus, and no more or less ruled on by the very connected and privileged? Twenty or thirty years ago, a big issue was coupling our economy with China's. This was fresh off the Tiananmen Square massacre and the end of the cold War, so our elites were under no obligation to suck up to the chi-coms at that point. Nevertheless, after some kayfabe concerns over our domestic labor markets, our elites decided a billion plus Chinese population was too good a market to pass up, and now we don't even make our own drugs anymore.
Flash forward to today and we don't have a consensus regarding the vaccines for COVID, but the elites are going ahead and firing/making people unemployable who dissent from the Democrats' current talking points on vaccines. I say current, as the Democrats were more than happy to encourage and exploit vaccine hesitancy during the last election.
On September 30, 2021 at 11:07 am, Scott Barnhouse wrote:
Mark
I don't know how closely you are following the economic situation. I import industrial minerals from France into the USA, and it seems that the entire global supply chain is breaking down, and I fear this will have serious issues for us all.
Base level inflation is accelerating. Energy prices in Europe are through the roof and likewise increasing in the USA. Container rates for moving materials are double, triple, or more IF you can find space on the vessels. At the industrial level, it feels very much like 2008 before the crash. My company just implemented a significant energy surcharge (up to 30%) on all of our products due to the raising energy prices that we cannot absorb. I don't see this ending in a "soft landing" but more likely in a crash.
Governments have primed the pump, so to say, by implementing all of the Covid restrictions that most are simply accepting as they are for our own good. When the economy crashes on top of this, it will be an easy step to simply re-up the restrictions due to the economic crisis. This will be timed to ensure that the 2022 election results are as desired, and our situation never ends.
It is interesting that I am reading about older Australians, who would normally be "conservative" are very much in support of the government's COVID restrictions, because they are afraid for their own health. I don't know if this factor is translating to the USA, but it seems that authoritarianism is now accepted and will only become worse as the economic situation gives even more reasons for total government control.
Please tell me that I am just being unnecessarily concerned. Tell me it is going to be okay, because right now it doesn't feel like it is going to be.
Scott Barnhouse
Hudson Ohio
On September 30, 2021 at 11:07 am, John Barrett wrote:
Hi Mark,
Here's a change of pace question: Before all the English poets are banned, who's your favorite?
John
On September 30, 2021 at 11:08 am, Bernadette Cahill wrote:
What has happened to the Writ of Habeas Corpus in current U.S. law with regard to the brutal detention by Biden of 600+ so-called "insurrectionists" (none of them charged with insurrection)? Imprisonment without trial, solitary confinement and beatings would surely qualify for attorneys to invoke the writ? It was used successfully in Wilson's equally brutal Democrat administration when women were imprisoned for peaceful picketing and protest outside the White House between 1917-1919 to win the right to vote. The Night of Terror, force-feeding (Alice Paul three times a day) keeping prisoners chained, blocking up prison windows and threatening mental asylums, constituted enough for attorneys to apply for Habeas Corpus back then. Has it been used now? If so, with what results? If not, what has happened to Habeas Corpus?
On September 30, 2021 at 11:13 am, Kozak wrote:
Mark,
Why is it that we are told America just cant manufacture anything anymore except for Wokeiness,
but Germany can continue to manufacture actual things?
On September 30, 2021 at 11:13 am, Al Man from CA wrote:
Hi Mark
We know how you feel about our broken "election" procedure here in the US, do you feel that term limits could help at all to slow down the thieving and self-enrichment and not have a 90% crook population in Congress? Do you think that property ownership should be a voting privilege requirement to possibly mitigate a percentage of the built-in illegal alien and fraud vote? Here in California I can't imagine Republicans or Independents ever being in control of the state.
Best regards.
p.s. I am currently re-reading 'The (Un) documented Mark Steyn' for my bedtime read, still a great and informative book.
On September 30, 2021 at 11:14 am, George Pereira wrote:
Mark,
Panama has said 60,000 illegals are headed to the US.
Marco Rubio, AKA the Bubble Boi, has said 120,000 illegals are on their way.
The D Day invasion forces numbered a bit less than 174,000 and that with a massive supply train behind it.
Everything else aside how can mobs of illegals with nothing to supply them result in anything but a catastrophe that makes Afghanistan look like a cake walk?
Is this the end game? I mean the complete collapse of the southern border states first followed by every other state.
Will any of the Governors mobilize against this? I know Charlie Baker won't. I doubt Abbot will stand for the people of Texas and push back against this as hard as needs be. I doubt Desantis has the resources to push back.
What happens when these hungry and thirsty invasion mobs move into the United States?
On September 30, 2021 at 11:17 am, Robert wrote:
Mark,
Just in the past few days the issue of "unaskable questions" came up in Canada, involving an item perceived as a boring kneejerk accusation of racism against Quebec society as a whole.
We need some attacking play here, with really "unaskable" questions, such as:
"If Robert E. Lee is to be banished from the public square for involvement in slavery, should not Muhammad, both a theoretician and practitioner thereof, also be banned?
Developing this idea, shouldn't the relationship between Islam and slavery be investigated?"
Other Club members could come up with some other ones.
And in debate format, direct some at any media present as well.
On September 30, 2021 at 11:17 am, Larry Durham wrote:
Good morning Mark
Not trying to get you cranky, but how disgusting is it to watch these mindless hearings with General all medals - no chest (and minions)? The senators/congressmen get to butch up for the camera - achieve their You Tube moment - and the end result is still situation normal all f——-d up. How discouraging.
On September 30, 2021 at 11:19 am, John N wrote:
Last week you predicted the Chicoms would pull the rug out from under the dollar as the world reserve currency in February 2022.
Could you expand on your thinking about why February 2022 and not, for example March 2022 or Febuary 2023 or whenever. Do you see an event coming? What auguries have you read to bring you to this conclusion?
I'm wondering how it is in China's benefit? Do it just because they can? Why would it be worth the bother to them?
On September 30, 2021 at 11:20 am, Michael Lindamood wrote:
Hey Mark,
The governor of New York is going to allow foreign non-citizens to take the healthcare jobs that are being lost because of the vaccine mandates. What is the end game? Is this the transformation that Obama talked about?
On September 30, 2021 at 11:21 am, Michael J. from Colorado wrote:
Hi Mark, Did you see where Barack Obama is critical of Biden's open borders? What a joke! I laughed when I saw the headline! Is this their version of "good cop, bad cop?" We all know that Obama despises America and would love nothing more than to see the country brought to its knees begging for mercy. Will anyone in the "disloyal opposition" call him out on this? I doubt it!! Watch for more examples of this. He tells Joe to do one thing, then plays critic at the same time.
On September 30, 2021 at 11:21 am, Kevin Clark wrote:
Would you care to comment on Ibram X Kendi receiving a McArthur Genius grant? To me it's like giving Dr Kevorkian a medical award, as Kendi's shtick seems to be injecting the poison of CRT into our cultural bloodstream. Why are our "elites" so hellbent on tearing us apart?
On September 30, 2021 at 11:22 am, J B McL wrote:
This is the first time I have managed to listen to the Q&A live. So do you think I can come up with a good question?
Would it be fair to say that when the American military bugged out of Afghanistan, they were being cowardly and leaving in disgrace, but then also, and even worse, they were using civilians as human shields. I might even compare it to the story a few years ago of some jihadists cornered in a mosque who, in order to escape, ran out surrounded by women.
On September 30, 2021 at 11:25 am, Robert Morell wrote:
Hi Mark,
I saw in the news that the Nobel awards banquet has been cancelled again due to covid panic. This reminded me of something I should have mentioned to you before: I have a Nobel prize. Perhaps I should explain. Most of the people at the banquets are guests of the Nobel awardees. At these banquets everyone, guests included, is presented with a chocolate replica of the Nobel Prize medallion wrapped in gold foil. It looks real! In fact, I wonder if that is reason why Michael Mann is confused about his Nobel -- Could he have attended the banquet as a guest of the IPCC and mistaken the chocolate one for the real thing? Might it have been an honest mistake? Well, no probably not.
I know about the chocolate Nobel because a friend was invited to attend the banquet when her former boss was awarded one of the real (non-chocolate) prizes, and this friend saved it for me as a souvenir. I've saved it for years. I still have it in the freezer downstairs, next to last year's Thanksgiving-leftover turkey soup I think. Anyway, it's yours if you want it. It might come in handy. You can flash it at Dr. Fraudpants at the very next legal maneuver dance.
(By the way, if you read this question aloud -- your first impulse is right. It's mor-ELL', just like the mushroom.)
On September 30, 2021 at 11:27 am, John N wrote:
In all the hoo-hah about vaccination and mask wearing, I haven't seen much in the way of discussion about how this is as much a lawyer issue as a medical issue.
That is, no business wants someone who comes down with COVID suing them because the business wasn't making it's employees wear masks, get vaccinated, wear a fried egg on their head or whatever is the fetish-du-jour.
Your thoughts?
On September 30, 2021 at 11:28 am, Julia V wrote:
Hi Mark, Given that democrats have perfected voter fraud with mail in ballots, extended voting, etc., and most republicans are spineless RINOs, do you think the GOP will ever win a major election again?
On September 30, 2021 at 11:31 am, Michael Trueblood wrote:
Mark, you must have a pretty nice record collection. What turntable and amp do you use?
On September 30, 2021 at 11:35 am, Michael Cavino wrote:
Hi Mark,
Really enjoy these weekly Clubland Q&A sessions! Can you please explain to me why Canadian PM Justin Trudeau is willing to protect his nation's sovereignty by enforcing its border but Joe Biden unwilling to do the same? Aren't they suppose to be on the same ideological page?
Thanks for all the content and guidance,
Michael
On September 30, 2021 at 11:37 am, Chris Hall wrote:
Many American pundits seem to view our present political mess through the historic lens of the late 1850s, with Red states seceding from a Blue America. But might it not be more appropriate to examine the situation based on the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870? Could a Sino-American conflict lead to the implosion of a viable Federal government, followed by the establishment of a "Second Republic"? Then you might see many of the isolated Blue urban areas that are surrounded by a sea of Red setting up their own governments? We'd have the New York Commune, the Atlanta Commune, etc. The current dysfunctional system seems to be heading for an urban versus rural showdown of some kind. One thing's certain: civil wars are never limited wars that nobody wants to actually win.
On September 30, 2021 at 11:44 am, Wanda Sherratt wrote:
Mark, can you make any sense of the Meng Wanzhou case? It was a big deal in 2018 when she was arrested in Canada for extradition to the US, and China immediately arrested 2 Canadians to hold as hostages. Suddenly last week, the whole case evaporated, Meng was released and skedaddled back to China, and the 2 Canadians came back to Canada. Was this another FBI frameup gone wrong? Or was it another case of the US lurching into action, dragging an ally into the mess, then abruptly abandoning the field?
On September 30, 2021 at 11:47 am, Toby Pilling wrote:
Regarding promoting conservative culture through storytelling - I was watching the Fellowship of the Ring movie recently and it struck me that if the Argonath existed in our world (the towering twin Kings of stone the Fellowship paddle past on the river Anduin), the wokesters would demand they be pulled down as symbols of an oppressive patriarchy. Truly, the woke are servants of the shadow.
On September 30, 2021 at 12:13 pm, Jody Helland wrote:
Mark I believe that the January 6th fiasco along with much of what else is going on is simply more proof that the Republican party must be killed off and buried. It is obviously a part of the liberal uniparty with the democrats and no real conservative can have anything to do with it. Just look at how there are absolutely no Republican leaders crying out about the injustice to those poor people sitting in jail. My question is when do you think Someone is going to take charge and form a new conservative party that can be used to hold politicians accountable? Until that happens nothing is going to change.
