. . . there's no stopping it.
The line is from Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. It appears midway through Book One and refers to the black magic-induced chaos Woland and his devilish crew unleash upon the unsuspecting citizens of the Soviet Union. I've been picking away at a rereading of the novel for over a month now, and every time I pick the book up I can't help but draw parallels between the witchcraft contained within Bulgakov's pages and black magic I sense in our own contemporary world. It's not so much a similarity of events, but rather a similarity of essence. As is the case in Bulgakov's novel, the devilry that has started in our world grows more intense (and absurd) with each passing day.
For example, earlier this week we learned that the US economy shrank at 32.9% annual rate between April and June - the steepest decline since the US government began records of this in 1947. How steep is steep? Well, the second steepest decline, which happened in 1958, clocked in at a mere 10%. Despite this awful figure, US stock markets continue push toward record highs, with the Nasdaq making all time highs (if I'm not mistaken). It's good to know the several trillion dollars of stimulus the government pumped into the financial system via the Federal Reserve is being put to good use. Trillions. A trillion contains twelve zeros - a number so big it would take you 31,000 years to count the number out. Where is this money coming from? Where is it going? What is it doing?
That contemporary economics is voodoo should surprise no one, but the dark sorcery does not end there. It spills into nearly everything, and it shows no signs of stopping. On the contrary, it looks like the bulk of it is just getting started . . .
The line is from Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. It appears midway through Book One and refers to the black magic-induced chaos Woland and his devilish crew unleash upon the unsuspecting citizens of the Soviet Union. I've been picking away at a rereading of the novel for over a month now, and every time I pick the book up I can't help but draw parallels between the witchcraft contained within Bulgakov's pages and black magic I sense in our own contemporary world. It's not so much a similarity of events, but rather a similarity of essence. As is the case in Bulgakov's novel, the devilry that has started in our world grows more intense (and absurd) with each passing day.
For example, earlier this week we learned that the US economy shrank at 32.9% annual rate between April and June - the steepest decline since the US government began records of this in 1947. How steep is steep? Well, the second steepest decline, which happened in 1958, clocked in at a mere 10%. Despite this awful figure, US stock markets continue push toward record highs, with the Nasdaq making all time highs (if I'm not mistaken). It's good to know the several trillion dollars of stimulus the government pumped into the financial system via the Federal Reserve is being put to good use. Trillions. A trillion contains twelve zeros - a number so big it would take you 31,000 years to count the number out. Where is this money coming from? Where is it going? What is it doing?
That contemporary economics is voodoo should surprise no one, but the dark sorcery does not end there. It spills into nearly everything, and it shows no signs of stopping. On the contrary, it looks like the bulk of it is just getting started . . .
RSS Feed
