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Beneath the Surface

What Are You Resisting, Gavin?

Loading ...James Hickman

November 18, 2024 • 4 minute, 53 second read


CaliforniaTrump

What Are You Resisting, Gavin?

The blood isn’t even dry on the corpse of Kamala’s billion dollar presidential campaign, and the opportunists in her party are already shamelessly jockeying for power.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has just called a “special legislative session,” to “Trump-proof” his state and “safeguard California values”.

Naturally we’re left wondering, what exactly are those California values?

Luckily, Newsom gave us a demonstration earlier this week. As a classic tone deaf politician, he wandered around Los Angeles’ skid row neighborhood in his $1,200 shoes, with his $8 latte— and very fancy tailored suit— while being heckled by the neighborhood’s residents and homeless.

Apparently, he expects to be greeted as a hero everywhere he goes, completely oblivious to the destruction he has caused.

It appears that the value he aims to protect is that he, and he alone, should be in charge, at everyone else’s expense.

Obviously preparing for a White House run, it is also so interesting that Newsom, over the past couple of years, has gone out of his way to compare and contrast his state against his arch nemesis, Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida.

The left seems to think Florida is the worst place in the world.

MSNBC host Joy Reid captured the angst of the left, howling that America might turn into Florida: “that kind of extreme, extremist right wing fascist type government.”

Ah yes, fascist Florida, the state which did not lock down its residents for years in the name of COVID, did not shutter business, require masks, force injections, or arrest people for walking in parks.

The state with a booming economy, with a balanced budget, despite having NO state income tax, with massive net migration, and constantly improving infrastructure— despite being pummeled by hurricane after hurricane.

God forbid America turns into Florida!

But this is one of the beautiful things about America.

As the Founding Fathers were framing the US Constitution in the 1780s, they baked in the idea that states should have tremendous autonomy.

They had all read Adam Smith’s 1776 work, The Wealth of Nations. They understood that competition between states would make America a marketplace of ideas and policies, where the best ones could win out.

And while the federal government has amassed way more power than was ever intended, you can still see the results of capitalist-style competition between the states.

It’s why California, New York, and New Jersey are losing population amidst unsustainable state government debts, crime waves, unchecked illegal immigration, and high taxes.

And it’s why states like Florida and Texas are booming— because Americans all have a choice of where they live.

But still, if you want a government that spends $35,000 per homeless person, yet doesn’t reduce the number of homeless, you can move to California.

If you want a state that promises high speed rails, but 16 years and $35 billion later has nothing to show for it, California is calling!

If you want a Governor who raises taxes on oil and gas, shutters nuclear power plants, and insists on inefficient “renewables” unable to keep up with electric grid demand from the electric vehicles he mandated, Newsom is the guy for you!

If you want to live in a place where shoplifting is decriminalized, Newsom is your knight in shining armor.

The Founding Fathers gave Americans the option to build their own Plan B… as well as Plan C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, and M to choose which of the original 13 states they preferred.

Today, you can freely choose from 50 states to move to without asking permission.

If your number one concern in life is making sure your children have access to drag queen story hour, there are plenty of options for you in the United States.

If, on the other hand, you prefer to live in a state with sounder government finances, safer streets, better performing schools, and lower taxes, you also have options.

You even have the additional choice of the territory of Puerto Rico, if you want to legally avoid having to pay federal income tax.

And there are also about 170 other countries on earth to choose from as well, for a cheaper cost of living, access to inexpensive healthcare, a better climate, or your preferred lifestyle.

Obviously, there is still a mountain of problems to fix and challenges to overcome for the country as a whole.

But the fact that Newsom thinks he’s the guy that can get it done it just hilarious.

His idea of “Make America California” is so blind to everything that has happened in his state, including the countless residents and businesses who have fled California in disgust.

He’s also blind to the fact that “make America California” was already on the ballot in this election. And it got complete destroyed.

That’s essentially what Kamala and the guy who shakes hands with thin air were doing.

The results are clear: Americans are weaker, poorer, the country more chaotic, less unified, more pessimistic, and less respected internationally.

Newsom is so delusional he still thinks people want more of this. Honestly, it’s hilarious.

And as I wrote last week, this is actually good news for the most part.

The risk, of course, is that if the incoming government isn’t able to move the needle in the right direction and get the country back on track, there may be another giant turn to the left in a few years, not to mention some pretty severe social and financial consequences.

This is why it still makes sense to maintain a solid Plan B.

But as long as there are Inspired Idiots like Newsom who think people actually want more destruction, more likely the Left will continue to lose… and hence the better chance that the country and the world will have a brighter future.

 

~~ James Hickman, Schiff Sovereign


Seven Grey Swans, One Investment Strategy

January 5, 2026 • Addison Wiggin

The entire process of reviewing forecasts and then issuing new ones has made us more intensely focused on our purpose. We’re not actually trying to “predict the future” to parody the disdain with which so many lazy media pundits would dismiss our approach.

Rather, we’re examining trends in the news cycle and trying to separate the wheat from the chaff. What signals are coming through stronger than the nauseating cacophony of  Washington and Wall Street, amplified by legacy and social media alike?

There are years when markets feel confusing because they are volatile. And there are years when they feel confused because the old explanations no longer work.

Seven Grey Swans, One Investment Strategy
Debt Hangover? Nah…

January 5, 2026 • Addison Wiggin

To start the year, the U.S. government didn’t bother with a hangover, rather it continues to spend so profligately that if we compared it to a drunken sailor, we’d have to apologize to the sailor.

Closing out 2025, America managed to rack up over $38 trillion in “official” debt. Looking at debt relative to GDP, it’s back over 121%.

Debt Hangover? Nah…
Grey Swan #1: The Age of Intelligence: Rise of the Network State

January 2, 2026 • Addison Wiggin

The Grey Swan is not the invention of artificial intelligence. It is the moment the public understands that incentives have changed.

Network economics reward different behaviors than factory economics. Platform states operate by different rules than welfare states. Coordination outruns legislation. Culture lags technology. Conflict follows the gap.

In Financial Reckoning Day, we described how systems adapt when fiscal choices narrow. The Age of Intelligence represents that adaptation in software and silicon.

By the end of 2026, most people will recognize that machines now think alongside humans in logistics, finance, and planning. Some jobs disappear. Others appear. Output improves faster than consensus expects. Politics argues. Markets enforce discipline.

Grey Swan #1: The Age of Intelligence: Rise of the Network State
Grey Swan #2: The Crack-Up Boom Reaches Terminal Velocity

January 1, 2026 • Addison Wiggin

The crack-up boom does not signal immediate collapse. Monetary policy gets a new master… inflation rages… and investors chase stocks as a means of keeping pace with their savings.

Markets may even finish 2026 higher than they begin. Many investors will still lose purchasing power along the way. Terminal velocity will feel like momentum… until reality hits.

In 2026, expect breathtaking advances, with the AI narrative remaining dominant, and sudden reversals to occur quickly. Expect liquidity to remain plentiful and erode discipline even more.

Grey Swan #2: The Crack-Up Boom Reaches Terminal Velocity