“Please vaccinate. I have no desire to learn the entire Greek alphabet.”
— Tweet attributed to Dr. Sujay Kansagra
Dear Reader,
On Thanksgiving, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced it was tracking a new form of coronavirus. The next day, it gave the variation its own Greek letter — Omicron.
It seems like people only care about the Classical Greek alphabet when it comes time to name new diseases. This variant sounds like a villain from the Transformers.
Whatever you think of the name, the WHO has cautioned that they still know very little about this version of COVID. Early research suggests that Omicron has more mutations than the garden-variety coronavirus. Whether that means it’s more transmissible… creates worse symptoms… or bypasses vaccines is currently anyone’s guess.
Yet the markets tanked on Friday as already nervous investors sold stocks. Doctors urged more vaccinations. Skeptics dismissed the variant as propaganda. There have been fresh travel bans… more mask and vaccine mandates… and talk of more lockdowns.
Politicians across the political spectrum have weighed in, either to say we’re not doing enough to slow the spread… or we’ve already gone way too far with nothing to show for it. Bill Gates says Omicron is more proof of vaccine inequality around the globe. The goofy Dr. Fauci says he doesn’t know.
Whatever. The cognitive dissonance is more of the same Modern Society Syndrome — where emotional reactions to the news are obfuscating what very little we know or want to know about the variant.
So this week, we’re going to continue looking for ways to expand our knowledge and make us less susceptible to acting pointlessly. Our guest will be Demetri Kofinas, host of the Hidden Forces podcast.
Demetri started reading The Daily Reckoning when he was 18 years old. I met him at one of our Vancouver conferences and started a friendship with him. Somehow or another, we lost touch… until a chance meeting in 2017.
My son was attending NYU in New York City. And during one of my trips to see him, I randomly ran into Demetri on the street. It turns out Demetri had graduated from NYU with degrees in Economics and Political Science. And he had just launched Hidden Forces… his latest venture as a self-described “media entrepreneur.”
It was a natural evolution from his time as a blog writer… radio host… and as executive producer for Russia Today’s news show, Capital Account.
He tells me how each iteration of his media career has expanded his scope. The podcast allows him to “bring on all sorts of different folks with different viewpoints,” giving him a fuller picture of what’s really going on in the world.
“The vast majority of people use social media just to safely lob invectives and offer really unsubstantiated or thoughtless opinions,” Demetri says.
Over the next few days, we’ll share why Demetri’s different approach matters… and how it can help you understand what’s coming next.
Follow your bliss,
Addison Wiggin
Founder, The Financial Reserve
