Meme Scholar with Madness (PhD)

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Scottish philosopher Adam Smith (1723-1790) publishes The Wealth of Nations, widely regarded as the foundational text of modern economics and classical political economy. The Wealth of Nations was published in two volumes on 9 March 1776 (with books I–III included in the first volume and books IV and V included in the second), during the Scottish Enlightenment and the Scottish Agricultural Revolution. Seen by many as the "father of economics", or the "father of capitalism".


Smith fundamentally redefines national wealth not as hoarded gold or mercantile profits (as mercantilism claimed), but as the annual production of goods and services that improve living standards for the population. He argues that the key driver of this wealth is the division of labor, which dramatically boosts productivity by allowing workers to specialize in specific tasks. His famous example of a pin factory illustrates how dividing production into simple operations enables far greater output than if each worker made entire pins alone.

Smith explains that self-interest, when channeled through free markets and competition, leads individuals to produce goods and services that others value, unintentionally benefiting society as a whole via the famous "invisible hand" mechanism. Prices, wages, profits, and rents naturally adjust through supply and demand to allocate resources efficiently toward their most productive uses.The book critiques mercantilism — the dominant economic policy of the time, which emphasized trade surpluses, monopolies, tariffs, and government intervention — as inefficient and harmful to genuine prosperity. Instead, Smith advocates for free trade, open competition, and minimal government interference in markets (though he allows for essential roles like defense, justice, public works, and education).

The invisible hand is one of the most famous metaphors in economics, introduced by Adam Smith and he used the phrase only once in the book, in Book IV, Chapter 2, in a discussion about how merchants and investors allocate their capital. He argued that individuals, pursuing their own self-interest (such as seeking security and higher personal gains), often unintentionally benefit society as a whole.

The key passage is:

"By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it."

Structured in five books, the work covers:
The division of labor and factors determining wages, profits, and rent (Book I),
Capital accumulation and its employment (Book II),
Historical economic development in Europe (Book III),
Critiques of mercantilism and other systems (Book IV),
And the role of government revenue and expenses (Book V).

All five books in one: The Wealth of Nations


“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty.”

The closing words of Edward R. Murrow, from “A Report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, March 9, 1954.


Transcript and video: Bill Downs, War Correspondent


In Hollywood, it was disclosed that Groucho Marx, Dinah Shore, and Pat Boone, among others, were the 'most fallout-proof citizens in southern California.'" - Newsweek, Nov 6, 1961.




Havana Cabana Syndrome back in the news...


https://x.com/60Minutes/status/2030788417139687801

60 Minutes transcript

The first thing that came to mind when I heard the victims talk was that "discombobulater" Trump talked about regarding the Venezuela raid. Which IMO is just another shiny adjective to throw people down a rabbit hole.

The reason they're pushing this so hard is because a segment of the National Security community wants war with Russia. And a "CIA whistleblower" saying it outright.

Unsurprisingly, 60 Minutes episode covering Havana Syndrome didn't offer a smoking gun because 1) it's all about narrative control and 2) it was a sales pitch for a book coming out in September. The authors? Two 60 Minutes producers.

Russia has been the boogeyman of all kinds of fantasy plots & weapons since 1946-47.

"Narradigm shift is a narrative of events or things that, lacking well-founded support, are otherwise being pushed or driving into society in the hopes of creating a paradigm-shift in the consciousness of people or experts by creating an artificial consensus or agreement around it."
— Joseph P. Farrell

A complementary piece published by The Insider makes clear that we're in QAnon territory with White-Hat CIA vs. Black-Hat CIA fighting for the soul of the Agency.


“The biggest cover-up of my adult life”: Inside the CIA’s attempt to make Havana Syndrome disappear by Michael Weiss (60 Minutes)


Agents of Chaos: Thomas King Forçade, High Times, and the Paranoid End of the 1970s:



The Dark Knight: I'm an agent of chaos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iwf20t9J1k


Agents of Chaos (2020): Official Trailer | HBO





Nuclear war fear? The food that protected Japanese people against atomic bomb radiation in Nagasaki




International Cryptozoology Museum




If Monday after daylight saving had a face...


I better not hear one damn sarc comment from Freija!