First things first: Happy Reformation Day! As October gives way to the last two months of an incredibly intense and convulsive 2021, we are well served to remember that however dark things may seem at the moment, we are here to win. The Great Commission is ours to fulfill and the gates of hell itself cannot keep us from fulfilling that mission, all by God's grace and all for His glory. In that context we should feel indescribably honored and downright thrilled to have been placed by God at this particularly dramatic point in His creation of history. When we set aside distractions and endless spin aimed at discouraging us and take a clear-headed look at what's actually going on right now, we'll see that even now good guys are winning and positive trends are developing as the bad guys desperately try to maintain control of their crumbling narratives and centralized power structures. THE CURRENT PUSH TOWARD FIAT REALITY What we are living through now is nothing less than an epic, world-changing paradigm shift in which counterfeit versions of good things are being used to warp lives, families, and culture in increasingly profound ways because these counterfeit components have been allowed to build, one upon another, for generations. I tend to describe these things as "fiat" versions because they are presented as if they are real and legitimate based on nothing more than the decree that they are so. Here are some examples:
I've oversimplified some of these points, but you get the general picture. We are smack dab in the middle of a war for reality. This is where and when God has placed us. What an honor! THE INEVITABLE FAILURE OF FIAT REALITY...AND OUR GOLDEN REAL WORLD OPPORTUNITIES Understanding this war and the intricacies of its numerous battlefields so that we might be better prepared to fight and win is a primary goal of the Hellrazer Report. Over the course of the first five installments of the Hellrazer Report Newsletter, I've been tweaking, modifying, and polishing my approach in different ways. This process of perpetual reformation will never end, but at this early stage is likely to result in more dramatic detours and shifts. I appreciate your patience with this and welcome any feedback or suggestions that you have to offer. Please feel free to email me with those thoughts. One thing that I plan to always make a key feature of the Hellrazer Report Newsletter is the gathering up of recent relevant articles with some added commentary so that readers can stay up to speed on key developments over the past week or so. It's hard to keep up with all of the nuttiness and there's no way to cover it all in each Newsletter, but I will do my best as time permits. As I consolidate and chronicle news items the plan is always to feature positive developments first in the "Signs of Hope and Victory in the News" section. These are the silver linings and positive developments that we need most, lest pessimism and apathy take root and allow the enemy to hold any bit of territory any longer than is necessary. Once we see things as they are and notice God's positive moves for what they are, we will be encouraged and emboldened to take His Gospel-fueled Great Commission more seriously. Once that happens, we begin a very positive and supernaturally inspiring feedback cycle that has us perpetually increasing in two key things:
All by His grace and all for His glory. Always remember that part. This is not primarily about us or what we can do to save the day, the culture, the country, or anything else, including ourselves. This is about Him using His Spirit-filled people to accomplish His Gospel-fueled Great Commission in every physical corner and immaterial aspect of life in His creation. Put another way: It's all about King Jesus' people modeling and pressing His crown rights in every area of life. That's the Spirit I hope to feed here with the Hellrazer Report. So scroll down and check it out. Let me know what you think. Let me know how I can make it better. Subscribe to the Newsletter if you haven't already and share it with others who you think might appreciate it. Soli Deo gloria...and let's roll! Scott |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
INCREASING FOOD COSTS = INCREASING LIKELIHOOD OF CIVIL UNREST The relationship between food inaccessibility and civil unrest (or even outright revolution) is interesting and particularly relevant right now. With what sure seems like government-instigated inflation and supply chain issues hitting at the same time, it seems reasonable to wonder if there might be a concerted effort underway to seriously destabilize our culture far beyond what we've already experienced. In that context, this week's "Chart of the Week" is sort of a blast from the past. It was used in conjunction with an article at Peak Prosperity in which the relationship between food prices and civil unrest was examined in some detail. The article explores the article includes the following on "the 40% rule", a correlation between the point at which food costs consume at least 40% of citizens' income and the likelihood that those citizens will advocate or participate in civil unrest: The 40% Rule If you were going to try and understand why revolts happen, but wanted to limit yourself to a single variable, you’ll be hard-pressed to find something better than the price of food. There's quite a bit of research to support the idea that people who spend above a certain percent of their income on food are more likely to protest, riot, or otherwise become restive. That number seems to have a minimum threshold of 40% of income to food costs, give or take: Since the beginning of 2014, riots have occurred in countries including Thailand and Venezuela. Although they’re different cultures on different continents, these mass protests movements may all have one commonality; increasing food prices may have contributed to their occurrence. The cost of food has been steadily increasing in both Thailand and Venezuela; last month demonstrators in Caracas took to the streets marching with empty pots to protest food shortages. According to Dr. Yaneer Bar-Yam and fellow researchers at the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI), events such as these may be anticipated by a mathematical model that examines rising food costs. The events of 2014 aren’t without precedent; the price of food has provoked (and placated) throughout history, beginning in Imperial Rome when Augustus introduced grain subsidies. In recent years, the Middle East has been particularly affected by the cost of grain. Centuries after Egypt developed bread as we recognize it, the nation experienced a bread intifada – the country rioted for two days in January 1977 following Anwar Sadat’s decision to drastically decrease food subsidies. More recently, under the rule of Hosni Mubarak, the price of grain rose 30 percent between 2010 and 2011. Then, on January 25, 2011 a new revolution began in Egypt." You can read the full article here and see the related chart below. The chart marks episodes of serious civil unrest as related to food prices from 2004-2011: |
The article (written in 2014) continues: "While the study used data through 2011, so much has happened since that I strongly expect the results are even stronger now. To wit, if we were to update the above chart we'd have to add Thailand, Argentina, Ukraine, Greece and Venezuela to the list." This relationship is something we should keep in mind as government-run inflation and supply chain issues persist and metastasize. |
|
|
|
Remember always: We're here to win...and Rome wasn't conquered in a day. If you appreciate the Hellrazer Report, please consider making a donation. |
Connect with me on the following platforms: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You can also email me directly at Scott@FireBreathingChristian.com. If you'd like to receive future Hellrazer Report updates in your inbox, sign up here. |
The Hellrazer Report is a Fire Breathing Christian production. Copyright 2021, Scott Alan Buss. All rights reserved. |