America is Dead. Long Live America.

Clueless English majors draw up asinine mortgage rules. [The Rude Awakening] April 25, 2023 [WEBSITE]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( America is Dead. Long Live America. - Fox News and Tucker Carlson parted ways after a lawsuit alleging anti-semitic and sexist comments on his set. - CNN finally dumped Don Lemon after years of inane rants that embarrassed the once-proud network. - The Mainstream Media has finally been subsumed as a quasi-governmental department and the USG perhaps released a Kraken. [Send Me Your Mailing Address!]( [Click here to learn more]( The biggest gold bull market in history has just begun. That’s why New York Times best-selling author Jim Rickards has arranged to send his must-read book on gold to any U.S. citizen with a valid mailing address today. [Click here now to see how to claim your copy of The New Case For Gold](. [Click Here To Learn More]( [Sean Ring] SEAN RING Good morning from sunny Northern Italy! Whew, what a day yesterday was, news-wise. Micah and I had just returned from playing in Piazza San Secondo - the gelato was delectable - when I found out Tucker Carlson had left Fox News. Thinking “freedom of the press” was dead as we knew it, then I read Don Lemon finally found the trap door open beneath him. CNN had enough after 17 years of worthless showmanship. This seems like a concerted move by the men in black sunglasses to finally bend the Media Industrial Complex to its will. After all, Carlson questioned every narrative out there. And he committed the unpardonable sin of looking downright bipartisan by having Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on his show the other night. RFK Jr. has spasmodic dysphonia, a disease affecting the voice box muscles. But if it comes between a hoarse candidate and a dribbling, demented President, the Democratic primaries will be too close to call. After all, the Kennedys, for all their sins, are American royalty. It’s safe to say the Bidens are not. Let’s look at what this could mean. America is Dead. Forgive the melodramatic subtitle. Because let’s face it, the America we knew has been dead for a while. The only question I ponder now is this: was America dead long before we knew it? My good friend and Rude reader Richard Nikoley wrote the bestselling book [Free The Animal]( which [Nassim Taleb himself recommends](. He [writes a blog]( of the same name to which I subscribe for all sorts of goodies, from fitness to travel to life in Southeast Asia. In his [latest blog post]( Richard questioned if we ever had free speech. After my initial “How dare you?” posture, I realized how right he was to ask the question. And when it comes to real politics, it’s crucial to admit “free speech” does *not* exist. Sure, you can point to the First Amendment of the US Consitution, a document no longer worth the paper it’s printed on. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. And Congress hasn’t made a law abridging the freedom of the press. But my goodness, the USG does everything it can to frame the narrative in its own way. [Richard writes]( The antagonisms over freedom of speech and censorship have been on simmer for years, finally reaching a boiling point. It’s important for personal and entrepreneurial development to overcome immature, underdeveloped, and quaint ideas and notions about the government’s essential interest in upholding and advancing censorship at all levels of society—the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution notwithstanding. Richard then points to Ayn Rand’s early-70s prediction that fascism would be the country’s undoing: I have stated repeatedly that the trend in this country is toward a fascist system with communist slogans. But what all of today’s pressure groups are busy evading is the fact that neither business nor labor nor anyone else, except the ruling clique, gains anything under fascism or communism or any form of statism—that all become victims of an impartial, egalitarian destruction. Richard goes on: What’s fascism? Look at the world. It’s big corporations running everything under all sorts of pretenses (including free speech and press) but welcoming regulation by the state (the economic, rent-seeking part, to hamper competition), and more than happy to do its political bidding (censor, curtail, or otherwise eliminate and neutralize those who engage in badspeak). It’s hard to argue with that. And we’ve seen it for a while. But here’s a glimmer of hope: Many would give up, thinking the marriage of companies and the government is the most robust system they’ve seen. What hope can you have against that? But in reality, the system relies on an incredibly fragile command and control structure. [IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY: From The Vice President Of Publishing.]( Doug Hill, VP of Publishing, just recorded a [2-minute video clip]( making a major announcement for readers like you. And it could alter the course of your life forever. [You’ll understand everything when you click here to see this important message](. [Click Here To Learn More]( Long Live America. Here’s where I think the powers that be have screwed up. They’ve released Tucker Carlson into the wild. Not a good move. Sure, Carlson questioned nearly everything while he was on Fox. But now, he’ll be able to harness the internet in a way that old fossil of a corporation could only hope to. If I were Carlson, I’d copy everything I could from the most influential man in America: Joe Rogan. Go ahead and laugh. But Rogan sold his podcast to Spotify for $200 million. His average audience is between 9-11 million people per month. (Probably much more, I couldn’t verify the most recent numbers.) To compare, Carlson averaged about 3 million viewers per night. Not bad, for sure. But now, he can use Rogan's methods to grow his audience not by percentages but by multiples. Independent media is where it’s at today because you can only survive if you’re relevant, engaging, and informative. I don’t think Don Lemon would have the same luck. When you’re propped up by an aging corporation whose glory days have long since vanished, breaking out on your own is scary. As for Carlson, Fox News was holding him back. Now, he can get on with his job unencumbered while watching Fox stock tank. And this is why we should stay optimistic about the future. Sure, we’ll have our economic reckoning. But the great thing about new technology is that the government is always behind. After all, if government workers were good enough to be employed at private companies, they’d be employed at private companies. I’m hoping this move will propel Carlson to greater heights… and hopefully, he’ll encourage some regime change in the United States. Wrap Up It was a crazy day yesterday. But while it may look like a successful State hit-job, it’ll likely backfire on them. And soon. Tucker Carlson will emerge from the ashes, kitted out with new tech, ready to take on Washington and the world. I look forward to seeing his next moves. Have a great day! All the best, [Sean Ring] Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening In Case You Missed It… In Bizzaro World, Good Credit Means a Higher Rate. [Sean Ring] SEAN RING Good morning from a sunny Asti, where everyone has the day off, but yours truly! Tomorrow is Liberation Day (Festa della Liberazione). It’s held in honor of April 25, 1945, when Italians rose to protest against the Fascists. Benito Mussolini was executed three days later. Since Liberation Day inconveniently falls on a Tuesday this year, the Italian government decided to “bridge” the weekend and the holiday by giving us all an extra day off. I often crack up about the sheer number of public holidays here. I told Pam we needed to buy a calendar to keep track. I’ve walked Micah to school on days off like a bonehead. But days off aren’t the worst thing in the world. It keeps everyone young. Of course, buying a house here does the complete opposite. If I weren’t bald, my hair would have fallen out during this process. Pam found the perfect house for us. It’s beautiful. But as I wade through the molasses of Italian bureaucracy, getting our paperwork and financial proof together has been a nightmare. (That’s one of the few disadvantages of living all over the world.) My good friend and publisher, Matt Insley, has been a gem in helping me out with updated contracts and other sundries. But he said something the other day I didn’t quite understand. As I complained about Italy’s homebuying process, Matt said: “You'd be in bad shape over here, too.... if you happen to have the curse of GOOD credit.” Now what Matt pays me buys plenty of pasta here in Italy. And I laughed along without getting exactly what he was talking about. Then I stupidly picked up the newspapers. There aren’t enough expletives in Philosopher-Truck Driver John Ring’s verbose but as yet unwritten “The Truck Driver’s Guide to Communicating Your True Feelings (Sign Language Included)” to cover the sheer insanity of this new rule. The LLPA Is Economic Lunacy I’m all for people owning a home. But first, no matter how often you watch It’s a Wonderful Life, no one has a “right” to own a home. And second, you need to pay for your house yourself. Or inherit it. Yes, inheritance is good and should be appropriately wielded every generation. Remember, the same people who tell you inheritance is evil are the same people trying to break up the family structure altogether. Now, let’s get to this fresh economic hell. According to [The New York Post]( Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will enact changes to fees known as loan-level price adjustments (LLPAs) on May 1 that will affect mortgages originating at private banks nationwide, from Wells Fargo to JPMorgan Chase, effectively tweaking interest rates paid by the vast majority of homebuyers. The result, according to industry pros: pricier monthly mortgage payments for most homebuyers — an ugly surprise for those who worked for years to build their credit, only to face higher costs than they expected as part of a housing affordability push by the US Federal Housing Finance Agency. Obviously, no one in Joke Biden’s government knows a damn thing about economics or real estate. But what’s more immediately troubling is this: to save for a down payment, you’ve got to eat the eye-watering inflation the Biden administration has served up since he was elected. That is, it’s not cheap to save. It’s an expensive proposition, purposely orchestrated by the government and their central bank minions, who kept their foot on the yield curve for far too long. In essence, savers get hit twice. First, they don’t earn enough interest because central banks prevent interest rates from rising to their unencumbered level. Second, those low interest rates lead to higher asset valuations, especially on houses. And now savers will get hit this third time to subsidize those who were more prolifigate in their spending. It reminds me of the Ants and Grasshopper fable from Aesop. The Grasshopper made music all summer and didn’t put any food aside. He asked the ants for food, and the ants told him to “go dance.” It’s a lovely little fable that teaches children to prepare and that no one will rescue them (which mirrors the real world exactly). Oddly enough, I noted that when Micah watched a video version of this fable on YouTube, the ants invited the grasshopper into the house and fed him. Even Aesop isn’t safe from the damn hipsters… and the USG isn’t safe from them, either! [Has World War III Just Begun?]( NATO sends tanks to Ukraine… Russia prepares for a winter offensive… [Is the beginning of World War III?]( [Click here to learn more]( I’ve just released an urgent message with my thoughts. But more importantly, I’m offering to send you an [exact playbook]( on what I see playing out in the world and what you need to do to prepare. [Simply click here now to watch my short message and to see how to claim a copy completely free of charge.]( [Click Here To Learn More]( Incentives and Scarcity So if you try to put down 15-20%, you will get hit. If you have a high credit score, you will get hit. Is this a positive or negative for the housing market? A massive negative. When people make big-ticket purchases, the one thing they want to know is, “Did I make the best deal I could?” Now, there will be plenty of hemming and hawing to determine if a buyer can make a better deal. And it’s not like the pros are all for this: Real estate expert and Madison Ventures+ managing director [Mitch Roschelle said]( If you have a high credit score, and 680 is a good credit score, you have to pay more. And we're talking about real money. This could be $100 a month more, depending on the size of your loan. So it makes no sense. And by the way, this isn't about first-time homebuyers. There's nothing in this rule that says it applies to first-time homebuyers. It applies to anybody borrowing money that's insured by FHA. It's madness. David Stevens, a former head of the Mortgage Bankers Association, [said the new fees]( …will create extreme confusion as we enter the traditional spring home purchase season. This confusing approach won’t work and more importantly, couldn’t come at a worse time for an industry struggling to get back on its feet after these past 12 months. To do this at the onset of the spring market is almost offensive to the market, consumers, and lenders. Strategic Wealth Partners CEO Mark Tepper [called the move “socialism for homeowners”]( and added: That's not the way you grow as a country, as an economy, by essentially saying, “Hey, if you spent recklessly, you lived above your means and you stopped making your payments on time, have no fear. Someone who's done it the right way is going to pay for you.” That's not what capitalism is all about, and it puts us in a situation where there are no consequences when you make bad decisions. Wrap Up Dopey Joe’s administration has put its heads together and devised yet another failed policy. Sure, it will fail… because it disobeys the fundamental laws of finance and economics. The higher the risk, the higher the expected return. And vice-versa. Low-risk house buyers aren’t going to tolerate this. [Mish Shedlock]( expects lawsuits. I say, “Sue the bastards!” Have a great week ahead. All the best, [Sean Ring] Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening P.S. We here at Paradigm know how our government is actively working against us, as evidenced above. As we struggle to make ends meet in today’s world of high-interest rates and inflation that just won’t cool down to acceptable levels, we really have two choices to stretch your budget… Add more income or cut spending. 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