The story line that a solar storm could cause a technological collapse has been created and pushed by the same people who first pushed the concept as originating with a EMP attack by the USSR. Yes, USSR. The story has been around that long. The 'solar Katrina' thing is an interesting variation in phrasing but the outline remains the same.

It regularly comes back as North Korea doing what the USSR failed to do. Or Iran. Or terrorists. The solar version is a regular variant. Which one gets pushed depends on what is in the news. If Iran has been in the headlines they carry the EMP pearl clutcher story forward.If no other group or nation is deemed to be malevolent enough, nations and groups can potentially be deterred, there is always the good old sun and its ability to belch in our general direction. It could happen at any time, and there is nothing we can do to stop it, are good for keeping people cowed.

It is always the same story and it has become one of the go-to stories to trot out when the general population is deemed to be insufficiently apoplectic.

Or if there is a suspicion that we have enough composure left to figure out that the pain and fear we feel doesn't have to do with any direct threats, internal or external, or infringed rights but is instead primarily a simple matter of economic manipulation. The result of economic decisions made in the 70s, and fully implemented in the 80s, to subjugate labor to business and alienate the citizenry from the government to make sure they couldn't easily reverse that trend.

Henry Ford, despite his goose-stepping tendencies, understood that paying workers well meant they could afford to buy the products they produced. That this would translate into others wanting the product, profits that could be reinvested for productivity, shared long term prosperity, a rising standard of living for everyone; a virtuous cycle.

The recent economic downturn can be seen as the inevitable manifestation of a crippled cycle. Impoverished workers can't afford to buy products that keep money flowing rapidly around the economy. The velocity of money makes a profound difference. Accumulation of capital in holding and rent systems (FIRE sector) and impoverishment of labor/consumers, the resulting drop in capital velocity, accounts for virtually all of the downturn.

But if the powers that be (Not the people who make the headlines; primarily billionaires that never get mentioned) can keep you focused on a hypothetical technological Armageddon coming from the sun, or the Iranians, you won't notice how the system is rigged. Or that the advice they push, staying isolated and alienated from the collective systems, including the government, are exactly opposite of what might help.

It is all about wealth and power. It always has been.