Circle of Blame

What happens when strawberry plants refuse to read the manual on planned obsolescence?In this wickedly funny tale that channels the satirical genius of Will Cuppy, a simple nursery worker named Bunto Fairweather discovers strawberry plants that work too well-producing abundant fruit without chemicals, improving soil instead of depleting it, and generally behaving as if they'd never heard of artificial scarcity.What begins as a horticultural curiosity quickly escalates into an economic crisis when these impossibly productive plants threaten the entire foundation of modern commerce: the carefully maintained balance between human needs and profitable solutions.From the corporate boardrooms of Eternal Solutions Inc. to the algorithmic depths of the WANT system (Widespread Artificial Necessity Technology), humanity faces its greatest challenge: what to do when abundance becomes possible. Heading into what is statistically the last quarter of my life I have been establishing my affordable housebuilding Company Home@ix . A lot has happened in my 60 years and indeed I have learned a great deal in the Last 5 years , shocking, disspiriting, disappointing , things but also with some blessings, which we should all count one by one and cherish dearly.https://grubstreetinexile.substack.com/about

The trilogy's structure is itself a work of art. Volume One employs the detective fiction framework with considerable skill, transforming Father Brown into a sleuth of systematic rather than individual crimes. Lewis's insight that artificial scarcity operates like a murder mystery-with millions of victims but no single perpetrator-is both brilliant and deeply unsettling. The housing crisis, as presented through Monica Fairweather's tragic corruption, becomes not merely a policy failure but a moral catastrophe of the first order. Heading into what is statistically the last quarter of my life I have been establishing my affordable housebuilding Company Home@ix . A lot has happened in my 60 years and indeed I have learned a great deal in the Last 5 years , shocking, disspiriting, disappointing , things but also with some blessings, which we should all count one by one and cherish dearly.https://grubstreetinexile.substack.com/about

What happens when a dead humorist discovers that modern economics makes less sense than hermit crab behavior?In this wickedly satirical masterpiece channeling Will Cuppy's observational genius, we trace humanity's greatest organizational achievement: the perfection of systematic irresponsibility. From Ancient Greeks who invented democracy as a spectator sport to modern AI systems programmed with the biases of their corporate creators, this is the definitive guide to how everyone became responsible for nothing.Discover:• Why strawberry plants are better economists than actual economists• How the Circle of Blame makes everyone complicit while no one accountable• Why housing shortages exist alongside empty properties (spoiler: it's profitable)• How daily bread became a complex financial instrument• Why the revolution will not be algorithmized• The eternal tug-of-war between human nature and inhuman systemsFeaturing guest appearances by Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Medieval theologians, Renaissance geniuses, Industrial Revolution profiteers, and various other practitioners of organized chaos-plus appreciations by William Blake and G.K. Chesterton on why systematic absurdity has become humanity's most successful export."A savage journey into the heart of systematic irresponsibility that makes 'Catch-22' look like a training manual for rational behavior." -Hunter S. Thompson Heading into what is statistically the last quarter of my life I have been establishing my affordable housebuilding Company Home@ix . A lot has happened in my 60 years and indeed I have learned a great deal in the Last 5 years , shocking, disspiriting, disappointing , things but also with some blessings, which we should all count one by one and cherish dearly.https://grubstreetinexile.substack.com/about