The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.
~ Bertrand Russell
In 2016, my goal continued to be to live a “free and inspired life” and to help you do the same.
The year 2016 began with our publication of the 2015 Annual Wrap Up: Space Here We Go! It was an inspiring look at the possibilities of becoming a multi-planetary civilization. Continuing concerns regarding the integrity of the financial system, however, helped me focus on more practical risk issues in the 1st Quarter Wrap Up: Where to Stash Your Cash in 2016.
The US Presidential election was a whirlwind that engaged more of my time and energy than I anticipated. The campaign involved unexpected but welcome transparency and debate on critical issues: local control of schools, health freedom, engineering WW III with Russia, whether 25% of Americans should be classified and treated as “deplorables,” corruption in Congress and the media, and more. In the heat of the political competition, several important truths about domestic and global corruption were exposed.
I was able to spend time abroad in 2016, although not as much as I had hoped. I visited Australia for several weeks in May. During that time, I attended a three-day leadership retreat entitled Global Disruption and Uncertainty – Navigating the New Disruptions. This event was hosted by a group founded by Australian members of the World Economic Forum. It provided an opportunity to understand the issues facing a group of Australian and global leaders from a variety of sectors, particularly productivity growth. This inspired the theme for our 2nd Quarter Wrap Up – Productivity, Prosperity & the Popsicle Index.
I was in Europe twice in 2016. In the summer, I visited Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. While in Austria, I attended the Bregenz Festival, a music festival known for producing opera with fantastic sets on a floating stage on Lake Constance (the third largest freshwater lake in Central Europe). It was also my first opportunity to hear the Vienna Philharmonic live. Wow! I am looking forward to returning for the Bregenz Festival again this year and to the Santa Fe Opera, as well.
I returned to Europe in the fall to attend a Pistus Sophia Workshop in Trento Italy and then continued to Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Ireland on business. I was in Friesland in the northern Netherlands for the US election. Covering the election with the benefit of the European point-of-view was very helpful.
Meeting and getting to know subscribers, clients, and colleagues continued to offer fresh insights and inspiration throughout the year.
As I do every year, I was able to drive the full length of the United States with trips to both the East and West Coasts. I had meetings and visits with subscribers in Tulsa, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Reno, Davis, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Berkeley, Pasadena, Tucson, El Paso, Midland, Austin, Dallas, Boulder, Denver, Providence, Lancaster, Malvern, New York, Memphis, Nashville, Jackson Mississippi and Marietta, Ohio along with numerous smaller cities and towns. Along the way and during the year, I logged (35) radio shows and speeches in addition to the Solari Report.
In 2016, the Solari Report offered subscriber lunches in Dallas (Texas), Amsterdam (Netherlands) and New York City. After recording an amazing Solari Report with Helen Chaitman on her book JP Madoff, she joined us at our April New York lunch and invited me to return to New York in July as she had tickets for Hamilton and Sleeping Beauty at the Met – what a culturally inspiring weekend that was!
Contemplating some of the possible outcomes of the US Presidential election was at times an unspeakably gruesome affair. To offset the gloom and to contribute to efforts to preserve Western culture, we launched the Dr. Joseph P. Farrell Virtual Pipe Organ Crowdfund in October, with a dinner with Dr. Farrell in Tulsa. Thanks to the tremendous support of many wonderful subscribers, Phase I was completed in January. Our goal is to fund Phase II in 2017.
Another great morale booster was launching the Solari Food Series with Harry Blazer, a series that will continue in 2017. As you will understand from reading this Annual Wrap Up, I believe that the price of food and its availability will become a more important issue in the years ahead. Our quarterly guests continued to be a voice of reason, intelligence and creativity, including Rambus, the Saker, Jon Rappoport, Dr. Joseph Farrell, and Franklin Sanders.
I will be launching a Solari investment screen in partnership with an asset management firm in 2017. In anticipation, we published a review of the universe of ESG (environmental, social and governance) investment in our 3rd Quarter Wrap Up: Investment Screening: Can We Filter for Productive Companies? In part, this report continued our emphasis on the importance of both labor and human productivity.
I said this last year, and here I am saying it again this year: we planned to launch our new website for solari.com in 2016. As sometimes happens with systems projects, this endeavor has taken longer than expected. We are hoping to launch in the 1st Quarter of 2017. Our goal is a significant improvement in your subscription software, mobile access and greater ease in locating content. This new site will represent a significant investment in the future of the Solari Report.
Expected in the 1st Quarter of 2017 is a new website for my online book, Dillon Read & Co. Inc. & the Aristocracy of Stock Profits with a French translation added. We also plan to make a hard copy of this book available. We have redesigned our Solari coin and will be offering it soon – I think you will like it! We will also announce the 2018 excursion to the Australian Outback with Richard Dolan and Jason Bawden-Smith. Stay tuned!
The Solari Report team has additional events and plans percolating for 2017. However, this will be a year of transition – we expect the unexpected and want to make sure that we can be responsive. As I mentioned in a previous section, get ready to “rock and roll.” The theme for our 1st Quarter Wrap Up will be Washington Heads in a New Direction: People and Policies to Watch. There is no doubt that change is accelerating in Washington and that it will have a global impact.
As our subscriber base grows, I continue to enjoy our ongoing conversation. As a group, you are some of the most remarkable people I have ever known. Together, we are conspiring in a world of dramatic change and getting better at it every day.
Keep those ideas, questions, and comments coming to help us serve your free and inspired life in 2017!
Catherine Austin Fitts