Pound, Yen Swing In Furious, Erratic Moves In Zero-Liquidity Market
“Merry Christmas, you’ve been stopped out of your FX trades.”
That’s the message stop-out Santa sent to currency traders this morning following a session of wild, rollercoaster moves in cable and yen which saw the British and Japanese currencies swing erratically as a handful of algos traded with each other while human were largely away from their desks.
According to Bloomberg, which notes that “the currency market has faced bouts of extreme volatility amid thinned liquidity during holidays in recent times”, the pound was quoted by ICAP as falling as much as 1% to 1.282 before recovering to 1.296, while Bloomberg’s own FX feed saw GBPUSD tumble as low as 1.2360 and spike as high as 1.3253.
… while the USDJPY plunged as low as 106.50 before rebounding to its Tuesday close.
The handful of traders who were by their machines had no idea what to make of the wild swings: “There’s almost no activity and there is no news trigger,” Resona Bank client manager Ryuta Taketomi told Bloomberg, adding that “nobody is trading now” even though clearly someone was.
Similar violent holiday trade moves have been observed previously in semi-lit markets, most notably back in 2014 when moments after the official close of trading for Memorial Day, the future contract exploded higher…
Guggenheim’s Minerd Warns Of A Nearing ‘Minsky Moment’ That Could “Reset” Asset Prices
Guggenheim Partners’ Scott Minerd warned in a new market outlook titled “From the Desk of the Global CIO: Risk and Reward of Successful ‘Mid-Cycle’ Rate Cuts” that recent 75bps rate cuts by the Jerome Powell–run Federal Reserve had created a similar environment today to 1998 when central banks created a “liquidity-driven rally that caused the Nasdaq index to double within a year before the bubble finally burst.”
The 1998-scenario has already been playing out through 2019, as shown in the chart below, with global central banks plowing liquidity into financial markets.
Minerd suggests that a Minsky moment could be nearing as a period of financial distortions will eventually be unwound in a very violent fashion.
Minerd wasn’t entirely clear how long the Fed’s bubble-blowing could last but said today’s environment will eventually “lead to a significant widening of credits.”
Minerd said he’d already taken pre-emptive action to “preserve capital” for the inevitable correction in risk assets: “Thus, while the Fed has prolonged the expansion, the reality is that it is also the start of silly season in risk assets. By heeding the lessons of the past we continue to position defensively so that we can preserve capital and be prepared to take advantage of opportunities when asset prices inevitably reset.”
He said cracks have already started to surface in the corporate debt markets. In particular, the spread between the high-yield debt and government debt, indicate tighter spreads have pushed investors extremely far out on the risk curve at a time where they need to be more defensive.
He said the best strategy to navigate markets today is “capital preservation in a market where the risk/reward trade-off looks unattractive in many credit sectors.”
And maybe Minerd’s Minksy moment is coming a lot sooner than the market believes, considering repo operations via the Fed could be wound down in the coming weeks.
With the possibility of a less accommodative Fed into the near term and declining stock market fundamentals — does this set up the case for a blowoff top in the making?
Christmas is here again. We went through all this just a year ago, but this time it’s different. For millions of Americans, Dec. 25, 2019, will be their last chance to have a truly merry Christmas for many years. Why? Because the millions in question are leftists, and 2020 promises so many bitter disappointments that, by the time next year’s holiday season rolls around, they will be so crushed, so bereft of hope, so numb with pain that not even a free Prius and a year’s supply of abortion coupons will lift their spirits.
The first hit coming their way was the awful realization that Donald J. Trump is still president. Following two party-line votes in the House of Representatives, impeaching the president for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, a mob of lefties took to Twitter to gloat and celebrate. The problem is – and perhaps this can be attributed to Common Core – these geniuses celebrated because Trump was no longer president, or so they believed.
OMG! Trump Is Still President?
Conservative website PJ Media published just a few of the gleeful tweets posted by people who probably think the three branches of government are federal, state, and local.
“So Trump is no longer our president anymore haha am I hearing this correctly,” one person wrote. Other than the obvious, there are so many things wrong with this tweet that one immediately despairs for the very future of civilization.
“Thank you America… Donald Trump is no longer the president. Good decision,” wrote someone who appears to believe that impeachment is something that happens at the ballot box or, perhaps, by calling a hotline or something.
“Me waking up knowing trump is no longer president as of today!! We won the fascists lose!!!” tweeted another, who posted a photo (presumably a “selfie”) of a skinny, pink-haired, androgynous individual who looked remarkably glum, considering the triumphant tone of the tweet.
Then again, these lefties – particularly the young ones – are so humorless and self-absorbed, that was probably a joyful grin.
There were plenty more examples of this stunning ignorance (the fact that such people might vote should terrify any rational person), but the point is, these numbskulls will, sometime soon, find out that Trump is, in fact, still the president. Imagine, then, how they will react when the Senate takes up articles of impeachment and acquits Trump. The depth of despair and confusion to which they are likely to sink is nothing short of freakin’ hysterical.
Sometime around the late spring or early summer of 2020, John Durham, the federal prosecutor leading the investigation into the attempted coup of 2016-2017, will reveal his findings. It is not unlikely that Durham by that time will have amassed a collection of unsavory and nefarious activities about which Trump-haters will not want to hear. In the event that indictments are handed down, everyone who scoffs at the idea of a deep state conspiracy against the president is going to be squirming uncomfortably – though, perhaps, that is the only way to squirm. Does anyone squirm comfortably?
In July 2020, the Democratic Party is going to select a candidate to lose to Trump in November. Whoever the nominee, a sizable section of the party’s voting base is going to be disappointed. Then comes the November election and the wailing and gnashing of teeth that will inevitably follow. Before they know it, the lefties will be waking up on Christmas morning 2020 and realizing that this is the first of five more Christmases with Trump in the White House.
So, lefties, make the most of Christmas this year. Be joyous, appreciate your loved ones, and celebrate the birth of that guy with the beard you think never existed. Make this your best Christmas ever because, for you, next year is going to be just the worst.
Christmas Eve Present – China Releases Video Of Live-Fire War Drill In South China Sea
The South China Morning Post (SCMP) has reported that Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) published a video on Christmas Eve of Hong Kong’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) garrison conducting a live-fire war drill in the South China Sea.
The video was first released on the social media account of CCTV’s military channel on Tuesday night, said the live-fire exercise was conducted “in recent days.”
Featured in the video is a PLA warship called the Qinzhou, a type 056 corvette patrol boat, that was seen in the video “jamming missiles, to avoid enemy missile attacks” and firing large weapons at targets.
SCMP said the live-fire exercise was conducted by “a naval battalion,” under an annual training mission designed to prepare military forces for combat situations in the South China Sea.
VIDEO: People’s Liberation Army #HongKong Garrison’s corvette Qinzhou recently conducted a mock combat drill in #SouthChinaSea. Combat exercises, including air defense and minesweeping, were part of the drill. (Video: CCTV) pic.twitter.com/Ri8ofSRz4J
Ghosts of the past are notorious for creeping into the present, especially when holidays roll around.
If you’ve unpacked an ornament from 30 years ago or got lost in a memory while watching A Charlie Brown Christmas, then you understand.
The ghosts of Financial Mistakes Past are sometimes not so kind. In other words, they’re not mindful of seasons; they aren’t warm and fuzzy either. Rattling chains of the ghosts of financial mistakes can be uninvited guests for years to come.
December is the month to objectively review your financial history – expose the good and bad – then, outline tactics to sever ominous chains and sprout wings to the beneficial for 2020. Oh, watch for financial disciplines or lack of them that may conjure the ghosts of financial future.
Just because I partner with others on personal finance challenges doesn’t mean I don’t own my share of mistakes. Thankfully, my Ghosts of Financial Mistakes Past lose their power to frighten me, especially as I too assess my consistent progress to slay them. As a financial professional, let’s just say I remain ‘fiscally aware’ throughout the year. Hey, it’s my job.
This month, as you prepare your favorite meals from recipes that have been in the family for decades, watch a timeless film, (White Christmas is my favorite), and go through old photographs, take some time to unwrap financial gifts and pack away the mistakes.
Here are three ideas to get your started.
1. Calculate your household debt-to-income ratios.
I know. Math. I promise this isn’t a difficult task. As a society, we tend to base our lifestyle on the ability to meet monthly payments but rarely consider the damage to net worth by spending too much or taking on excessive debt.
I complete a couple of calculations for my household. I’ll also share with you, RIA’s financial guardrails. I won’t lie: Our tenets are tough; I promise your net worth will thank me 10 Decembers from now.
First, I isolate my mortgage, HOA, and homeowner’s insurance payments and divide the sum by my NET or ‘take-home’ monthly income. Currently, my ratio is 7.6%. The standard rule in finance is a house payment shouldn’t exceed 28% of pre-tax income. It’s a horrible rule. It’s designed to push the boundaries on cash flow and sell you more house than is necessary. Throw it out if you desire financial flexibility, cash to cover emergencies and save for a prosperous financial future. Dave Ramsey suggests 25% of after-tax income. Not bad. However, you need to do better.
Our rule at RIA is a total mortgage payment should not exceed 15% of after-tax income. I didn’t extract this percentage out of thin air. I’ve watched how households over the last two decades who utilized this rule continue to increase their wealth by thinking of a primary residence as a place to live, not an investment. In other words, an intimidating mortgage obligation was just too painful for couples who employed long-term consideration of other important goals they sought to fund.
I then consider my household’s variable and specific fixed expenses – entertainment, groceries, clothing. I also examine costs for utilities, car insurance (not cheap with a college-bound daughter driving). The general rule is 30% of after-tax income for ‘wants.’ Obviously, auto insurance is a need, not a want. However, with the ability to shop around for better rates or utilize insurance company ‘drive-pay’ programs which reward responsible drivers, I place auto insurance into the variable category.
Currently, my variable expenses are 10% of monthly after-tax household income. I understand I no longer have a household with young children where variable expenses are greater. However, that doesn’t mean as a growing family, you shouldn’t create your own rules which still allow for a robust savings rate. At RIA, we believe variable monthly expenses shouldn’t exceed 20% of after-tax income.
If you’re disappointed by your ratio results, be grateful for new awareness and schedule a meeting with your financial professional in January to create an action plan for improvement so when ratios are calculated next year, they’re much healthier.
2. Openly communicate about money, especially mistakes, with loved ones. It’s a good time to have conversations!
Holidays, when there is downtime from work and family gathers, seem to allow for communication flow about money within families.
Children: You children are monitoring your relationship with money. What is your outward expression towards debt, savings and general household financial management, especially when communicating with immediate family?
If your relationship with money is positive or one of control and discipline, your children will learn from the example. If your relationship with money is negative, stressful, extravagant or reckless, the kids will pick up on that, too. Smart money beliefs and actions can lead to smart money imprints by the younger generations around you.
Generally, if you’re a saver your children will be too. According to a www.moneyconfidentkids.com survey from 2017, parents who have three or more types of savings are more likely to have kids who discuss money with them and less likely to have kids who spend money as soon as they get it or lie about their spending.
I have found that parents who openly communicate their financial failures along with how they worked through them, raise fiscally intuitive children. Kids want to know you’re human. You mess up! Most important is how you acknowledged and changed erroneous behavior. Give the gift of wisdom this season!
Parents: Older parents are challenged to communicate final intentions with their children; or they decide to let estate planning documents speak for them. Big mistake. If you seek to create a Ghost of Future Turmoil for heirs, go ahead and remain tight-lipped about how you wish assets dispersed including family heirlooms and whom you selected as the executor of your will and why. Perhaps John doesn’t want great-grandmother’s fine China, but Erica does.
Or Alan is bitter and wondering why your younger son, his brother, Edward is executor of the estate instead of him. These are not small things. I’ve witnessed them generate irreparable family rifts. Make December the month where you communicate with the children and ask questions about the items they’d wish to inherit upon your passing. Take a moment to explain to siblings why one is selected executor and the logic that drove the decision.
3. Trim the expense tree.
The evergreen fir has been a part of winter festivals for roughly 1,000 years. Per www.whychristmas.com:
The first documented use of a tree at Christmas and New Year celebrations is argued between the cities of Tallinn in Estonia and Riga in Latvia. Both claim that they had the first trees; Tallinn in 1441 and Riga in 1510. Both trees were put up by the ‘Brotherhood of Blackheads’ which was an association of local unmarried merchants, ship owners, and foreigners in Livonia (what is now Estonia and Latvia).
Year-end credit card and checking account statements should be available from your financial institutions the first week of January. Today’s statements do an excellent job categorizing expenses. Access, print and review all statements. Scrutinize your spending for 2019. Many statements will also outline prior years’ spending by category and how it compares to the current. From there, begin to outline a spending budget for 2020 with a focus on expense reduction and debt-to-income ratio improvement.
Let’s all try to make our financial ghosts the ones we don’t mind inviting into our homes at any time of year.
Billionaires Are Spending Their Holidays On Super Yachts Parked Off St. Maarten
What do you do for the holidays when you’re a billionaire?
You spend it off shore celebrating on one of the world’s largest yachts, obviously.
Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich’s yacht, Eclipse, is in St. Maarten surrounded by about 50 other superyachts, according to Bloomberg. The number of yachts parked off the island has now swelled to 52, from just 16 in November, as billionaires look to take up temporary residence for the holidays.
St. Maarten now leads all countries in month-to-month change of yachts and now sits at sixth on the yacht leaderboard. Antigua is seventh and St. Bart’s tied with Turkey for 10th.
Abramovich will be enjoying the holidays from his 533 foot yacht, which clocks in as the third largest in the world and the largest in the Caribbean. Steel billionaire Victor Rashnikov sports the second largest yacht in the area, Ocean Victory, which comes in at 459 feet. David Geffen’s Rising Sun comes in at third in the area, at 456 feet.
Meanwhile, a 282 foot yacht owned by a Pakistani billionaire, the Ecstasea, crashed on Sunday while docking at a marina on St. Maarten, taking with it an operator’s booth.
The 282 foot Superyacht ECSTASEA had a collision today with the Simpson Bay Bridge in St Maarten causing serious damage. This is the hazard of these huge yachts maneuvering for space during the holidays- https://t.co/Ok1JoEZiNCpic.twitter.com/nnEtKT1EfU
Orders for yachts measuring more than 100 meters are at a 10 year high.
But despite the order count, it could still hide a reason to be worried for the shipbuilding industry. Boat International said in its 2020 Global Order Book that the business “appears to be in a holding pattern, awaiting 2020 with a little anxiety.”
Boat International cited a slight dip in overall luxury vessels ordered and uncertainty around some major economies. Speculative production by shipyards fell 8% year over year, despite still accounting for 43% of total orders. While this may not matter to people like Abramovich – who spends $65 million a year on yacht maintenance – it could create a headache for owners in the 80 to 89 foot range, where projects on order have fallen 15%.
Legislators have begun to hold hearings on impeaching Santa Claus after an overheard conversation seemed to imply he was offering a quid pro quo: gifts in exchange for good behavior.
FBI agents spied on Claus at various malls as he repeatedly said things like, “Sure, I’ll get you a pony. But first, I need you to do something for me… be a good little boy!”
The FBI was able to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on Claus, because it’s easier to get a FISA warrant than to get a Costco membership.
“Ho ho noooooo!” Santa Claus cried as investigators leaped out and cuffed him at a Dayton, OH mall. “Not good! Sad!”
“It was a perfect conversation,” Claus said, defending himself in a series of fiery tweets.
“Absolutely perfect. I was simply talking to little Billy and asked him to keep tabs on his sister, Sally, who has been involved in some corruption. Who doesn’t want to stop corruption? Did I offer Billy a new Nintendo Switch in exchange for his good behavior? Possibly. Am I planning on giving Sally coal because she’s a little punk? Maybe. Where’s my lawyer?“
Unfortunately, he was assigned a public defender, who turned out to be Rudy Giuliani.
Baltic Dry Tumbles Most Since 2008 As Tariff-Frontrunning Fades
The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index has plunged to its lowest levels in six months as world trade continues to fade amid signs the so-called “front-loading” effect ahead of tariff deadlines is starting to wane.
Chinese firms and US importers rushed to ship goods to the US through Q1 to Sept. as the US and China were engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war. The implementation of tariffs by both countries on billions of dollars in goods forced importers and exporters to increase outbound and inbound delivers before tariff deadlines went into effect.
As a result of trade policy change, demand for bulk carriers increased throughout the year, raising the Baltic index +318% from Jan. to Sept.
Trade war sentiment improved into Sept. and into Q4 with a phase one deal between both countries — tariff front-loading declined late into year driving demand lower for bulk carriers.
Historically, The Baltic Dry Index has weakened (seasonally) from May through August, but as the chart below makes clear, this year saw the exact opposite as the ‘front-running’ sparked an optically-bullish surge in demand for shipping (ahead of the expected tariff rises that would eventually not come to pass).
The index has since tumbled the most since 2008.
Along with front-loading in decline, reduced seasonal trends has also drug down demand for bulk carriers leading to lower rates across all vessel segments.
Reuters breaks down the latest shipping report that saw weakness for all capesize, panamax and supramax vessels that haul bulk commodities:
The Baltic index .BADI, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels that ferry dry bulk commodities, fell 20 points, or 1.8%, to 1,103, its lowest since June 17.
The main index was down for a fourteenth-straight session.
The capesize index .BACI dipped 4 points, to 1,954 — its lowest in more than six months.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes including iron ore and coal, slid $85 to $14,366.
The panamax index .BPNI dropped 47 points, or 3.9%, to 1,154, its lowest since Nov. 27.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $384 to $9,228.
Scanning global dry bulk shipping lanes across the world. We find depressing rates into the late-year that suggests a massive rebound in the global economy might not be imminent as many on Wall Street are predicting.
Brazil to China dry bulk rates for iron ore have seen rates nearly halved since peaking in Sept.
The US to China dry bulk rates for soybeans have also tumbled into the late year.
And even though Brazil and China have signed a recent soybean trade deal and ramped up shipments — rates between both countries continue to slip for the fourth month.
With the US economy continuing to decelerate and a manufacturing recession deepening — shipping rates prematurely jumped earlier in the year on artificial demand via front-loading but it seems that the shipping industry is catching down to the reality that not just the US economy is trouble but the rest of the world is entering a new era of low-growth.
Ahh, it’s that time again: reportedly the most wonderful time of the year. You’re back home, no longer in your drafty dorm room eating lukewarm ramen out of a microwaved Tupperware bowl. You’re with your family. You’re surrounded by sleigh bells, carolers, a warm and glowing Christmas tree, gifts on Christmas day.
Well, forget about all that. That’s all a bunch of cultural hegemony and male patrio-fascism. Christmas is not a good thing. Christmas is not Woke. It must be cancelled and forever banished to the dust-bin of history, along with other hegemonic colonial hatefests such as Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day.
To that end, here are several things you can do to help end the evil reign of Christmas while you’re living at your parents’ house for a month:
Convert to a non-Christian religion. Sure, you’ve deemed all religions to be nothing more than delusional patriarchal theocratic reigns of terror. Still, few things send a clearer message to your stuffy old parents than becoming a non-Christian right around Christmas. Have you considered Zoroastrianism? It’s not really clear what that is, but it sounds cool. There’s also pantheism—that, also is sort of an unclear ideology, but it’ll probably offend your parents, so it’s fair game. When it doubt, you can always start your own religion right in your own living room. Whatever gets the job done.
Refuse to give gifts or do anything nice for anyone. You’re doubtlessly hearing all this talk about “the spirit of Christmas,” an ethos involving gift-giving, acts of charity, and general warmth and kindness toward your fellow man. Well, first of all, it’s “fellow person” (actually, “fellow” itself is fairly gendered, so you should opt for “person person” instead). Second: By buying into that whole charade of yuletide kindness and geniality, you’re effectively endorsing Christmas, which makes you little better than a Nazi. Don’t give gifts; they’re a sign of capitalist imperialism. And don’t do any random, selfless acts of kindness or anything like that; you don’t want people to accidentally think you’re celebrating Christmas. Instead, you can glower, mutter, scoff, huff—that will send people the right message.
Instead of Christmas specials on television, make your family watch Greenpeace videos. As well, rather than the classic Christmas songs on the radio, consider letting your family listen to those cassette tapes of your vegan collective’s didgeridoo concerts.
At Christmas dinner, prepare a list of liberationist talking points with which to harangue your family until they grow sick of it all and leave the table. Only through berating your loved ones with a forty-minute screed about prison reform and Trump’s impeachment can you capture the true meaning of the season. Bonus points if you stage a queer slam poetry competition with your friends in the living room during pumpkin pie!
“Once upon a midnight clear, there was a child’s cry, a blazing star hung over a stable, and wise men came with birthday gifts. We haven’t forgotten that night down the centuries. We celebrate it with stars on Christmas trees, with the sound of bells, and with gifts… We forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled, all that is, except one. And we have even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the child born in a manger. It’s his birthday we’re celebrating. Don’t let us ever forget that. Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then, let each put in his share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shining gifts that make peace on earth.”—The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
The Christmas story of a baby born in a manger is a familiar one.
The Roman Empire, a police state in its own right, had ordered that a census be conducted. Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary traveled to the little town of Bethlehem so that they could be counted. There being no room for the couple at any of the inns, they stayed in a stable (a barn), where Mary gave birth to a baby boy, Jesus. Warned that the government planned to kill the baby, Jesus’ family fled with him to Egypt until it was safe to return to their native land.
Yet what if Jesus had been born 2,000 years later?
What if, instead of being born into the Roman police state, Jesus had been born at this moment in time? What kind of reception would Jesus and his family be given? Would we recognize the Christ child’s humanity, let alone his divinity? Would we treat him any differently than he was treated by the Roman Empire? If his family were forced to flee violence in their native country and sought refuge and asylum within our borders, what sanctuary would we offer them?
These nativity scenes are a pointed attempt to remind the modern world that the narrative about the birth of Jesus is one that speaks on multiple fronts to a world that has allowed the life, teachings and crucifixion of Jesus to be drowned out by partisan politics, secularism, materialism and war.
The modern-day church has largely shied away from applying Jesus’ teachings to modern problems such as war, poverty, immigration, etc., but thankfully there have been individuals throughout history who ask themselves and the world: what would Jesus do?
What would Jesus—the baby born in Bethlehem who grew into an itinerant preacher and revolutionary activist, who not only died challenging the police state of his day (namely, the Roman Empire) but spent his adult life speaking truth to power, challenging the status quo of his day, and pushing back against the abuses of the Roman Empire—do?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer asked himself what Jesus would have done about the horrors perpetrated by Hitler and his assassins. The answer: Bonhoeffer risked his life to undermine the tyranny at the heart of Nazi Germany.
Martin Luther King Jr. asked himself what Jesus would have done about America’s warmongering. The answer: declaring “my conscience leaves me no other choice,” King risked widespread condemnation when he publicly opposed the Vietnam War on moral and economic grounds.
Even now, despite the popularity of the phrase “What Would Jesus Do?” (WWJD) in Christian circles, there remains a disconnect in the modern church between the teachings of Christ and the suffering of what Jesus in Matthew 25 refers to as the “least of these.”
As the parable states:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’”
This is not a theological gray area: Jesus was unequivocal about his views on many things, not the least of which was charity, compassion, war, tyranny and love.
After all, Jesus—the revered preacher, teacher, radical and prophet—was born into a police state not unlike the growing menace of the American police state. When he grew up, he had powerful, profound things to say, things that would change how we view people, alter government policies and change the world. “Blessed are the merciful,” “Blessed are the peacemakers,” and “Love your enemies” are just a few examples of his most profound and revolutionary teachings.
When confronted by those in authority, Jesus did not shy away from speaking truth to power. Indeed, his teachings undermined the political and religious establishment of his day. It cost him his life. He was eventually crucified as a warning to others not to challenge the powers-that-be.
Can you imagine what Jesus’ life would have been like if, instead of being born into the Roman police state, he had been born and raised in the American police state?
Consider the following if you will.
Had Jesus been born in the era of the America police state, rather than traveling to Bethlehem for a census, Jesus’ parents would have been mailed a 28-page American Community Survey, a mandatory government questionnaire documenting their habits, household inhabitants, work schedule, how many toilets are in your home, etc. The penalty for not responding to this invasive survey can go as high as $5,000.
Instead of being born in a manger, Jesus might have been born at home. Rather than wise men and shepherds bringing gifts, however, the baby’s parents might have been forced to ward off visits from state social workers intent on prosecuting them for the home birth. One couple in Washington had all three of their children removed after social services objected to the two youngest being birthed in an unassisted home delivery.
Then again, had Jesus’ parents been undocumented immigrants, they and the newborn baby might have been shuffled to a profit-driven, private prison for illegals where they first would have been separated from each other, the children detained in make-shift cages, and the parents eventually turned into cheap, forced laborers for corporations such as Starbucks, Microsoft, Walmart, and Victoria’s Secret. There’s quite a lot of money to be made from imprisoning immigrants, especially when taxpayers are footing the bill.
From the time he was old enough to attend school, Jesus would have been drilled in lessons of compliance and obedience to government authorities, while learning little about his own rights. Had he been daring enough to speak out against injustice while still in school, he might have found himself tasered or beaten by a school resource officer, or at the very least suspended under a school zero tolerance policy that punishes minor infractions as harshly as more serious offenses.
Had Jesus disappeared for a few hours let alone days as a 12-year-old, his parents would have been handcuffed, arrested and jailed for parental negligence. Parents across the country have been arrested for far less “offenses” such as allowing their children to walk to the park unaccompanied and play in their front yard alone.
Rather than disappearing from the history books from his early teenaged years to adulthood, Jesus’ movements and personal data—including his biometrics—would have been documented, tracked, monitored and filed by governmental agencies and corporations such as Google and Microsoft. Incredibly, 95 percent of school districts share their student records with outside companies that are contracted to manage data, which they then use to market products to us.
Jesus’ anti-government views would certainly have resulted in him being labeled a domestic extremist. Law enforcement agencies are being trained to recognize signs of anti-government extremism during interactions with potential extremists who share a “belief in the approaching collapse of government and the economy.”
While traveling from community to community, Jesus might have been reported to government officials as “suspicious” under the Department of Homeland Security’s “See Something, Say Something” programs. Many states, including New York, are providing individuals with phone apps that allow them to take photos of suspicious activity and report them to their state Intelligence Center, where they are reviewed and forwarded to law-enforcement agencies.
Viewed by the government as a dissident and a potential threat to its power, Jesus might have had government spies planted among his followers to monitor his activities, report on his movements, and entrap him into breaking the law. Such Judases today—called informants—often receive hefty paychecks from the government for their treachery.
Had Jesus used the internet to spread his radical message of peace and love, he might have found his blog posts infiltrated by government spies attempting to undermine his integrity, discredit him or plant incriminating information online about him. At the very least, he would have had his website hacked and his email monitored.
Had Jesus attempted to feed large crowds of people, he would have been threatened with arrest for violating various ordinances prohibiting the distribution of food without a permit. Florida officials arrested a 90-year-old man for feeding the homeless on a public beach.
Had Jesus spoken publicly about his 40 days in the desert and his conversations with the devil, he might have been labeled mentally ill and detained in a psych ward against his will for a mandatory involuntary psychiatric hold with no access to family or friends. One Virginia man was arrested, strip searched, handcuffed to a table, diagnosed as having “mental health issues,” and locked up for five days in a mental health facility against his will apparently because of his slurred speech and unsteady gait.
Without a doubt, had Jesus attempted to overturn tables in a Jewish temple and rage against the materialism of religious institutions, he would have been charged with a hate crime. Currently, 45 states and the federal government have hate crime laws on the books.
Had anyone reported Jesus to the police as being potentially dangerous, he might have found himself confronted—and killed—by police officers for whom any perceived act of non-compliance (a twitch, a question, a frown) can result in them shooting first and asking questions later.
Rather than having armed guards capture Jesus in a public place, government officials would have ordered that a SWAT team carry out a raid on Jesus and his followers, complete with flash-bang grenades and military equipment. There are upwards of 80,000 such SWAT team raids carried out every year, many on unsuspecting Americans who have no defense against such government invaders, even when such raids are done in error.
Instead of being detained by Roman guards, Jesus might have been made to “disappear” into a secret government detention center where he would have been interrogated, tortured and subjected to all manner of abuses. Chicago police have “disappeared” more than 7,000 people into a secret, off-the-books interrogation warehouse at Homan Square.
Indeed, as I show in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, given the nature of government then and now, it is painfully evident that whether Jesus had been born in our modern age or his own, he still would have died at the hands of a police state.
Thus, as we draw near to Christmas with its celebrations and gift-giving, we would do well to remember that what happened on that starry night in Bethlehem is only part of the story. That baby in the manger grew up to be a man who did not turn away from evil but instead spoke out against it, and we must do no less.
