As the price of essential commodities increase dramatically in the wake of a two-year global supply chain disruption and a war between two nations who produce a material amount of essential commodities, people around the world are beginning to get restless. Most people on the planet have been barely scraping by as is. Living paycheck to paycheck with little hope of stashing away some funds as savings. Any small movement in prices has a material effect on the lives of the global poor.

When you consider the fact that many across the world were thrust into the lower rungs of the economic ladder as governments around the world forced people to stay home from work, causing many to lose their jobs, it is scary to think of how much unrest is going to be unleashed as this bout of high inflation across the globe continues to increase. In 2010 the people of Egypt hit the streets in protest as the price of wheat skyrocketed in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis. This led to a toppling of their government and a contagion of unrest across the Middle East that we now refer to as the Arab Spring. Just 12-years later the world finds itself in a similar but much more precarious situation as the price of wheat, corn, beef, gas, fertilizer, and industrial metals all move higher in tandem. The global population was sitting in a pot of water on a stove with small flame for over a decade following the Great Financial Crisis and someone turned the knob from 3 to 8 over the last two years. Now, the water is starting to boil.

When you couple the facts that supply chains are complex systems and we completely (intentionally) broke our supply chains starting in March of 2020, you can be sure that there is no quick fix to the problem of sourcing raw materials, producing goods with them, and getting them to end consumers. Especially since one of the largest commodities producers in the world is currently embroiled in a war and doesn't seem too keen on playing nice with many who desperately need the commodities they produce. The war between Russia and Ukraine is exacerbating an already abysmally terrible problem.

With these facts in mind, it isn't hard to see what is coming; another Arab Spring, but this time on a global scale. The Global Spring is set to be much more chaotic and less isolated than the Arab Spring of 2010. People across the globe - from Europe, to South America, to the Middle East, to Africa, to Asia, and North America - are suffering as they struggle to keep up with rising prices. With supply chains being completely borked globally, it is hard to see inflation slowing down its upward march any time soon. When people can't pay for food to feed their families or gas to get to their jobs so they can work to feed their families, they get very angry and begin hitting the streets. We're seeing tremors of unrest pop up already. The people of Peru are hitting the streets across the country. People in Iraq have taken to the streets as well. There will be more protests popping up as the war between Russia and Ukraine wages on and puts increased strains on commodities markets.

As we discussed on Monday, the Lebanese government just filed for bankruptcy. Ripping away the savings of many Lebanese citizens in the blink of an eye. There will be more currency collapses as governments try to curb their inflation problems by (idiotically) printing more money.

Prepare yourselves, freaks. And help others understand the core of the problem; central planners have broken the money and they are breaking the world economy by trying to micromanage it. The more who understand this the better because it will lead to a faster recovery after shit hits the fan.

Final thought...

I want to get back to getting the Bent out in the morning.