(International Man)—We’ve grown accustomed to regarding the US as the most powerful country on earth.

Since the end of World War II, it’s been the economic powerhouse that’s dictated terms to the rest of the world. War production created the world’s most modern factories, allowing for a postwar boom in manufacturing goods of every description. The fact that the US held two-thirds of the world’s gold by the end of the war enabled it to dictate that the US dollar would be the default currency for trade.

And later on, the creation of OPEC ensured that all gas and oil would be settled in the petrodollar.

The resultant overwhelming economic power enabled the US to assume the role of the world’s policeman, with a defense budget that equaled that of the next ten most powerful countries combined.

But all that power led the leaders of the US empire to assume that it was omnipotent. In 1971, they went off the gold standard, and over the ensuing decades, the US went from being the world’s largest creditor nation to its largest debtor nation.

The US can no longer produce goods, as its ever-increasing union labour costs have priced it out of the market, even for local consumption. It’s now dependent upon China, Mexico, and other countries for virtually all goods. And yet, the US is threatening those countries with controls.

With help from the FATF and OECD, the US has become an economic ball and chain to the economies of the First World and, to a lesser extent, beyond.

The US is now a hollowed-out empire. By any measure, it’s a goliath that’s likely to fall in the near future.

But recently, the above conditions have been exacerbated to a degree that’s unprecedented in the post-war world.

In March of 2021, the US made the fatal mistake of confiscating privately-held assets of the Russian people. Although this was seen by Americans as just punishment for Russia’s invasion of the Donbas, the rest of the world saw it differently. The leaders of even small countries took note, realizing that the rulebook had just been tossed out the window. If the US could seize foreign privately-owned assets in Russia… they could do it anywhere.

Although almost no one in the US noticed it at the time, more than two-thirds of the world’s countries quietly began to create treaties with China and Russia – seeking to build a new alternative to the robber empire. Although this still appears to be insignificant to Americans, the change has taken place quickly and substantially. Scores of new treaties are now in place, and more are on the way. The world is now “rent in twain.”

Saudi Arabia moved decisively to shift its loyalty to China, along with other OPEC nations, assuring that the petrodollar will soon be no more.

New treaties have been inked to allow the world’s countries to trade in their own countries, bypassing the dollar, assuring that the US dollar as the reserve currency is also on its way out.

An entirely new global paradigm is underway – one that’s not even on the news in the US. Americans are blissfully unaware that their country is now a house of cards, looking for a strong wind.

That strong wind has come up in the Middle East in the form of a war that promises to break the bank of the US. The US pours $830 billion into the Military Industrial Complex annually for weaponry that has been outmoded, in some cases, for decades, while other powers have continued to advance and, today, far outweigh the US militarily.

Add to this the astonishing stupidity of American leaders to choose this time to emasculate their own military. (No matter how supportive a country may be of gay rights, a de-emphasis on masculinity in the armed forces creates a military that no red-blooded man wants to be a part of. The US armed forces are gutted.

Be assured: this is not simply a country experiencing a downturn. It’s an empire in its death throes.

To wit:

• The most prosperous cities in America are in dramatic decline. Downtown areas are filled with the homeless and the drug-addicted.
• Those who loot stores are not prosecuted, leading to a crime epidemic that’s closing entire blocks of previously-successful shops.
• Entire downtown areas are unable to support commerce, leading to an emptying out of cities.
• Banks are laying off tens of thousands of staff.
• Competent workers cannot be found. They may have credentials but can’t finish tasks. They maximise sick days and otherwise fail to show up for work.
• Simple business tasks fail to be performed. Deadlines can’t be met. Retiring older workers cannot be replaced with motivated replacements.
• Businesses are chronically understaffed – restaurants cannot serve customers; mechanics leave cars unrepaired; trash isn’t removed; flights are cancelled due to airline staff failing to turn up.
• Most countries recovered from lockdown mode, but in the US, literally millions of people have chosen not to return to the workplace.

Elsewhere in the world, the opposite is occurring. In Asia, in particular, there’s tremendous enthusiasm for new growth. New businesses are being created. Even in “communist” countries like Vietnam, it’s possible to stand on a street corner and see countless peasants setting up shop on the pavement each day: capitalism in the making.

None of this is a random occurrence. Countries have a life cycle. Empires have a life cycle.

The level of prosperity a country achieves at its height is directly proportional to the severity of its eventual collapse. 

The First World, particularly the US, is indeed running on empty and can be expected to go down, literally, in flames. From inside the US, it’s difficult to understand that the remainder of the world began its consolidation and rise eighteen months ago and that the new dominant power is rising rapidly. The non-First world recognizes that this is not the end of the world but a global shift in predominance.

We’re presently witnessing the early stages of the collapse of the world’s greatest empire. That’s difficult to even conceive of, let alone picture. Yet, the early events are unfolding and are in evidence before us. If we bother to read the tea leaves, we’ll see that the larger events are about to play out. It’s entirely possible that, by 2030, we’ll be watching the dust settle on the past empire.

But history advises us that dying empires do not go quietly. In every case, they attempt to hold onto their dying power through warfare. If no war is needed, one is invented. The excuse for the war is unimportant. What matters is that there is conflict sufficient enough to subjugate the people of the empire into sacrificing their rights in favour of their country in its hour of need.

And it’s also true that even a dying power can do massive damage on its way out.

Whether the reader lives in the US, another First World nation, or an outlying nation that’s likely to be less affected by the unfolding conflict, it would be wise to distance oneself from the fray.

A dying lion is a dangerous beast.

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And the list goes on, without apparent end.

Certainly, all of the above entities have objectives to increase their own power and profit in the world, but to what degree do they act in concert? Although many prominent individuals, world leaders included, have proclaimed that a New World Order is their ultimate objective, the details of who’s in and who’s out are fuzzy. Just as fuzzy is a list of details as to the collective objectives of these disparate individuals and groups.

So, whilst most libertarians acknowledge “the New World Order,” it’s rare that any two libertarians can agree on exactly what it is or who it’s comprised of. We allow ourselves the luxury of referring to it without being certain of its details, because, “It’s a secret society,” as evidenced by the Bilderberg Group, which meets annually but has no formal agenda and publishes no minutes. We excuse ourselves for having only a vague perception of it, although we readily accept that it’s the most powerful group in the world.

This is particularly true of Americans, as Americans often imagine that the New World Order is an American construct, created by a fascist elite of US bankers and political leaders. The New World Order may be better understood by Europeans, as, actually, it’s very much a European concept—one that’s been around for quite a long time.

It may be said to have had its beginnings in ancient Rome. As Rome became an empire, its various emperors found that conquered lands did not automatically remain conquered. They needed to be managed—a costly and tedious undertaking. Management was far from uniform, as the Gauls could not be managed in the same manner as the Egyptians, who in turn, could not be managed like the Mesopotamians.

After the fall of Rome, Europe was in many ways a shambles for centuries, but the idea of “managing” Europe was revived with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The peace brought an end to the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) in the Holy Roman Empire and the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic. It brought together the Holy Roman Empire, The House of Habsburg, the Kingdoms of Spain and France, the Dutch Republic, and the Swedish Empire.

Boundaries were set, treaties were signed, and a general set of assumptions as to the autonomy within one’s borders were agreed, to the partial satisfaction of all and to the complete satisfaction of no one… Sound familiar?

Later, Mayer Rothschild made his name (and his fortune) by becoming the financier to the military adventures of the German Government. He then sent his sons out to England, Austria, France, and Italy to do the same—to create a New World Order of sorts, under the control of his family through national debt to his banks. (Deep Throat was right when he said, “Follow the Money.”)

So, the concept of a New World Order has long existed in Europe in various guises, but what does this tell us about the present and, more important, the future?

In our own time, we have seen presidents and prime ministers come and go, whilst their most prominent advisors, such as Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski, continue from one administration to the next, remaining advisors for decades. Such men are often seen as the voices of reason that may be the guiding force that brings about a New World Order once and for all.

Mister Brzezinski has written in his books that order in Europe depends upon a balance with Russia, which must be created through the control of Ukraine by the West. He has stated repeatedly that it’s critical for this to be done through diplomacy, that warfare would be a disaster. Yet, he has also supported the US in creating a coup in Ukraine. When Russia became angered at the takeover, he openly supported American aggression in Ukraine, whilst warning that Russian retaliation must not be tolerated.

Henry Kissinger, who has literally written volumes on his “pursuit of world peace” has, when down in the trenches, also displayed a far more aggressive personality, such as his angry recommendation to US President Gerald Ford to “smash Cuba” when Fidel Castro’s military aid to Angola threatened to ruin Mr. Kissinger’s plans to control Africa.

Whilst the most “enlightened” New World Order advisors may believe that they are working on the “Big Picture,” when it comes down to brass tacks, they clearly demonstrate the same tendency as the more aggressive world leaders, and reveal that, ultimately, they seek to dominate. They may initially recommend diplomacy but resort to force if the other side does not cave to “reason” quickly.

If we stand back and observe this drama from a distance, what we see is a theory of balance between the nations of Europe (and, by extension, the whole world)—a balance based upon intergovernmental agreements, allowing for centralised power and control.

This theory might actually be possible if all the countries of the world were identical in every way, and the goals of all concerned were also identical. But this never has been and can never be the case. Every world leader and every country will differ in its needs and objectives. Therefore, each may tentatively agree to common conditions, as they have going back to the Peace of Westphalia, yet, even before the ink has dried, each state will already be planning to gain an edge on the others.

In 1914, Europe had (once again) become a tangle of aspirations of the various powers—a time bomb, awaiting only a minor incident to set it off. That minor incident occurred when a Serbian national assassinated an Austrian crown prince. Within a month, Europe exploded into World War. As Kissinger himself has observed in his writings, “[T]hey all contributed to it, oblivious to the fact that they were dismantling an international order.”

Since 1648, for every Richelieu that has sought to create a New World Order through diplomacy, there has been a Napoleon who has taken a militaristic approach, assuring that the New World Order applecart will repeatedly be upset by those who are prone to aggression. Further, even those who seek to operate through diplomacy ultimately will seek aggressive means when diplomatic means are not succeeding.

A true world order is unlikely. What may occur in its stead would be repeated attempts by sovereign states to form alliances for their mutual benefit, followed by treachery, one- upmanship, and ultimately, aggression. And very possibly a new World War.

But of one thing we can be certain: Tension at present is as great as it was in 1914. We are awaiting only a minor incident to set off dramatically increased international aggression. With all the talk that’s presently about as to a New World Order, what I believe will occur instead will be a repeat of history.

If this belief is correct, much of the world will decline into not only external warfare, but internal control. Those nations that are now ramping up into police states are most at risk, as the intent is already clearly present. All that’s needed is a greater excuse to increase internal controls. Each of us, unless we favour being engulfed by such controls, might be advised to internationalise ourselves—to diversify ourselves so that, if push comes to shove, we’re able to get ourselves and our families out of harm’s way.

And, of course, governments, when deciding what sort of general behaviour should be tolerated by its citizenry, tend to legislate less for recompense to those whom a citizen may have wronged and more for recompense to the government itself, even if it has not been wronged in the slightest.

Generally speaking, the larger the country, and the older the country, the more extensive the laws.

Of course, in a country that claims to be a democracy, the idea is supposed to be that the will of the people is followed by its elected representatives, which suggests that the people actually have a say in how they are governed – that their government may only impose such laws as the majority agree on.

Well, there’s nothing unusual in that concept. In fact, all contract law is based on the principle that a contract is created that two or more parties agree to. And, with the passage of further laws, the contract would be updated.

However, if I were to ask you to show me a copy of your current contract with your government, I’m guessing that not only could you not produce one, but that it never occurred to you that you should expect one.

That being the case, the only way that we could cobble together a contract would be to list a set of general principles under which you are presently governed. We can use US Law as an example, but much the same laws are common in many other countries.

For the sake of convenience, we shall use the terms “Servant” and “Master” to describe you and your government.

1. The Servant may not leave the Master’s property without permission.

In order to travel outside the US, you are required to present your government-issued, identifying document for approval for you to leave, even briefly. The decision as to whether you may leave is unilaterally for your government to decide.

2. The Servant may not receive income of any kind without disclosure to the Master. 

All income that you receive, whether it be through wages or the sale of goods or services, must be reported to your government.

3. The Servant shall pay a large percentage of all income to the Master. 

The amount taken from you will be determined unilaterally by your Master.

4. The Servant may not own anything that the Master disapproves of. 

The Master shall have the authority to declare any commodity or good unlawful.

5. The Master shall have the authority to fine or imprison the Servant. 

If the Master determines that the Servant has violated any of rules #2-4, he shall be entitled to fine the Servant or lock him in a cage for a period of time to be determined by the Master.

6. The Master shall have the authority to monitor the Servant at all times. 

The Servant’s activities shall be monitored by the Master, through telephone, texts, emails, social media, and other forms of communication.

Of course, these are just the basics, but you get the idea. When looked at in these terms, it becomes difficult to maintain the self-deception that “I live in a democracy. My government exists to serve me, not the other way round.”

Interestingly, in most countries, a contract such as the above does exist under the guise of “Law.” And yet, this is not a contract that the Servant agreed to. It existed before he was born, and he was obligated to adhere to it merely by being born in a given jurisdiction.

Moreover, the Master has the right to change the contract, to the detriment of the Servant, at will and may do so unilaterally. The larger the country, the greater the degree to which the Servant is unable to take part in the discussion as to whether a proposed change in Law has his approval.

Not surprising, then, that the larger the country, the more numerous the laws are likely to be and the more imposing they are likely to be on the Servant.

Still, the relationship of Master and Slave exists most everywhere on the planet, to one degree or another.

And it’s understandable if the reader concludes, “Yeah, well, it’s the same no matter where you go. Whattaya gonna do about it?”

And yet, that’s not exactly true. It’s not the same everywhere.

There are countries, for example, that have no direct taxation of any kind. The individual, therefore, is not required to disclose his income to his government.

Similarly, in countries where there’s no tax on property, the government doesn’t have the power to confiscate property for failure to pay a tax.

Also, there are borders between some countries that are “porous.” Nationality documents are, in some cases, merely waved at border agents and, in some cases, dispensed with entirely.

Most governments declare some items to be illegal, but the First World appears to have a lock on regulating or outlawing virtually every commodity.

And, of course, the monitoring of the populace is quite unequal. The more sophisticated the technology in a country, the greater the surveillance. This does not mean that you have to live in a hut in the jungle to escape surveillance; it means that many countries simply cannot afford to fund or choose not to fund maximum surveillance.

The bad news is that, in any country, we’re enslaved by our government to one degree or another. The good news is that we can, at least at the present, vote with our feet and choose to reside in a location where we have greater autonomy – in some locations, far greater autonomy.

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Any thinking person (a sub-species of Homo sapiens that’s in decline but not yet endangered) would agree that the notion that an animal that’s existed in harmony with nature for over two million years could destroy the earth within fourteen years if they’re not exterminated is truly absurd.

And yet those whose ability to reason is on the decline are inclined to believe the claim. Presumably, these individuals are the same ones beginning to believe that men can have babies and that an individual can become something he or she is not simply by “identifying” as such.

But those of us who see the absurdity in such clearly nonsensical beliefs are disinclined to laugh as we observe that these concepts are being disseminated by globalist governments through a compliant media… and, worse, are being accepted by more than a few people.

As a case in point, recently, a publication – Natural News – did a piece entitled, “13 Nations agree to engineer global FAMINE by destroying agriculture, saying that producing food is BAD for the planet.”

In that article, they describe a conference led by US Climate Czar John Kerry, in which representatives from thirteen countries are stated to have committed to a diminished cow population worldwide to combat climate change.

Well, that conference did take place, and a topic of discussion was methane produced by cows, and thirteen attendees did agree that measures of some sort were needed. But it is not the case that thirteen countries have enacted legislation to eliminate cows.

We might take a step back here and examine what actually occurred. In so doing, we may not only learn whether or not red meat will soon be eliminated globally; we might also gain some insight into how globalist governments seek to achieve their ends.

In most countries, the role of Minister for the Environment is a lowly ministerial position, given to a loyal party member as a token. Most Ministers of the Environment pontificate a fair bit but rarely implement significant change. So, let’s follow the thread of what has taken place.

• John Kerry contacts the Environmental Ministers in a host of “lesser” countries around the world on the vague premise of “making a difference.” They’re pleased to take part, as Kerry gives them higher visibility and legitimizes their otherwise rather pointless jobs.
• A conference is held at a four-star hotel somewhere for a few days. Everybody listens to the speakers wringing their hands over the dangers of climate change, and each minister tries to get their photos taken with John Kerry.
• There’s very little in the text of the keynote presentation by Kerry – mostly vague comments about the dangers of methane and the need for each country to commit to making a difference.
• At the end of the conference, the attendees are proud to sign a document that’s devoid of detail but says that they’re all in agreement in hoping to make a difference.
• A press release is issued, showing all the ministers together, stating that methane is dangerous and that all the countries are in agreement regarding the concept of a worldwide methane control policy.
• The message received by the public is that all the experts agree on whatever they’re saying, although what they’re saying is still quite unclear.
• A publication such as Natural News publishes an article with a suitably alarming title.
• The perceived overstatement by Natural News is regarded as a provocation by controlled information sources such as Wikipedia to alert the public. Interestingly, whenever a publication, group, or individual is discredited by Wikipedia, they always do so in the very first line of their description, i.e.,

Natural News is a far-right, anti-vaccination conspiracy theory and fake news website known for promoting alternative medicine, pseudoscience, disinformation, and far-right extremism.

That’s essentially the process that’s now consistently being utilized by globalists.

Wikipedia now divides all publications, pundits, and others as either truth tellers or far-right conspiracy advocates. The real issue here isn’t farting cows any more than it’s whether men can have babies. These are mere exercises.

So, if we take a step back and consider an overview of what this all means – why it’s so prevalent and why the process is being so consistently utilized – we might be conclude the following:

The issues are absurdly extreme for a reason. The objective is not the achievement of the issues themselves. It is the alteration of the psyche of the populace. 

Once the public has spent several years having their heads divided between “far-right extremism” and what’s approved by the Ministry of Truth, enough people will have been converted into non-thinking proles that a bill can be put forward with the broad and intentionally non-specific objective to outlaw far-right extremism in all its forms.

In order to assure the passage of the bill, a significant majority of people will have to have already reached the stage in their new thought process that they feel that the law is not only justified but essential. Those people who can still think will be expected to comply.

The goal is not the elimination of cows; it’s the elimination of thinking and dissent. If we keep the above in mind as a process rather than an intended outcome, we have a greater ability to focus on the critical issue.

To be sure, there are those entities that would like to eliminate red meat and feed people insects as a replacement. But that’s not the central issue here.

The core objective is nothing less than the elimination of individual thought and dissent. It’s essential in the creation of a fully collectivist state, and it’s at the very heart of the overall globalist objective.

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He’s correct in each of his points.

First, there can be no question that the COVID scam was used to create tyranny in globalist countries. Although the other countries overreacted, there is mixed evidence as to whether their leaders sought tyranny or whether they were just trying to exercise caution by copying the policies imposed in the globalist countries. Therefore, the level of actual force by governments varied.

Second, the globalist First World countries introduced a joint programme that was akin to the Nazi effort beginning with Kristallnacht, and there can be little doubt that this was intentional – a campaign to manufacture irrational fear and demand obedience far beyond what might have been necessary for a mere virus.

Third, whether the globalists intend to revisit COVID with a further viral “emergency” or not, that’s not really the point. COVID was a highly successful dry run into tyranny. Whether the next emergency is to be justified by a virus, warfare, or economic collapse, is immaterial. The implementation of globalism requires tyranny to succeed, and the clock is ticking on the next excuse for a lockdown.

Not surprising, then, that those who recognise that a further, more all-encompassing tyranny is on the way are likely to ask, “Where do I go? Will I be caught out, no matter where I am? If so, why not just stay where I am?”

Now that the dust has settled on the COVID scam, the answer to this quandary may be found by looking back on how COVID played out in a variety of locations around the globe. Was the outcome uniform? Or did it vary? And if the latter, was this significant enough that I owe it to my family to relocate before the next wave of tyranny is on our doorstep?”

Having tracked the behaviour in dozens of countries during and following COVID, my first observation is that there were unquestionably layers of tyranny. It became clear over time that there was a coordinated push in the First World globalist countries (the US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand) – a verifiable effort to impose uniform restrictions, with uniform rhetoric by the media to back up the oppression.

This was less so in other countries. Those closest to the globalist countries tended to mimic their policies without seeming to do so with zeal. There was a mood of “We don’t understand any of this, but we want to be safe. Tell us what to do.”

Those who are the least attached to the globalist countries, either through trade or culture, tended to deviate even more from globalist diktat, in some cases defying it.

In this regard, it became clear that each country that was not fully invested in the globalist cabal tended to react in keeping with their respective cultures.

The US was, predictably, the spearhead for globalist mandates. Self-absorbed crusaders came out in force, as they do over every issue, making the US one of the worst places to be. Not only were people pressured to get each vaccination, regardless of a lack of evidence of effectiveness. Shaming of those who were unvaccinated peaked in the US, with a campaign that emphasized a Gestapo-like “Pandemic of the Unvaccinated.”

We saw something similar in the closest allies of the US – the other countries listed above.

However, the further out we ventured from the globalist centre, the more each nation reacted in accordance with its natural culture rather than with globalist diktat.

In Thailand, an orderly programme was created that most people complied with, yet there was a minimal push for greater controls. This was not surprising, as in Thailand, most people take up what the government puts in place, and the rest are on their own. There’s nothing in the limited national budget to pursue them. Thailand was, therefore, a good country to simply not take part in the imported hysteria.

Similarly, in Uruguay, most people observe a high degree of compliance with their minimally-corrupt government. Most people, therefore, went along with vaccinations, and Uruguay was one of the most highly vaxxed countries in the Americas. But Uruguayans have a strong distaste for meddling in the private affairs of others. Therefore, even with a high level of vaxxing, very few people would have the bad manners to question their neighbours as to whether they’d been jabbed, so Uruguay became a good country to live – to fly under the vaccine radar, unvaccinated.

Not ideal, but I’d settle for that.

In the Cayman Islands, people have always expected newcomers to come in with a good bill of health or stay away, but they will vote out any politicians who dictate to Caymanians. As a result, Cayman’s government shut down tourism for a year, but no politician dared to suggest a vaccine mandate for locals for fear of losing office. (The expats were the only people attempting to shame those who didn’t get vaxxed.)

Again, not ideal, but workable.

In Mexico, the populace has a long history of distrust of authority and is inclined to defy the central government at the drop of a hat. Consequently, the Mexican Government allowed its people access to all vaccines and traditional treatments, such as Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, but made no edicts about their use. There were no mandates of any kind and, in fact, no testing required, even for travelers in and out of the country.

Mexico ended up being the freest country in the Americas regarding COVID.

COVID was a dry run for globalism. Those who managed to avoid the vax dodged a bullet, but, like my colleague in the opening paragraph, they were left with the understanding that, while the COVID scare may be over, the intent of globalists to impose tyranny is not. COVID was merely a dry run – a Kristallnacht that’s the first installment in a plan for all-encompassing tyranny.

As troubling as this realisation is, we can benefit from it by understanding that while the tentacles of globalism do seek to dominate all corners of the globe, they’re less effective than they’d like to be. The world at large does not perform uniformly to the globalist edict.

It matters little whether we see another manufactured viral emergency or whether the next globalist attempt at dominance is justified by unnecessary warfare or by a now-overdue First World economic collapse. The COVID scam has revealed that the worst place to be in a crisis is right at the centre of the storm – the First World.

Interestingly, Uruguay sat out two world wars and the Great Depression almost totally unaffected – they simply didn’t participate, and the country bypassed all three crises. In the colonialist period, attempts were made to colonise nearly every country in southeast Asia, yet Thailand was passed by. As such, to this day, Thais tend to ignore the edicts of the West more than any other Asian nation. Good to know.

There’s no perfect place in the world, but there are locations where the odds of being victimised by the latest Hitler, Robespierre, Idi Amin, etc., are considerably less.

Regardless of the comfort of the familiarity of our birth country, if it’s a First World country, we’re located in the centre of the storm that’s now underway.

If we establish a bolt-hole in another country, our environment will surely change. There may be no Starbucks. There may be no baseball game to watch. But there’s the likelihood that we can provide ourselves and our families with a greater possibility of a continued quality of life than by remaining in a location where a significant decline in freedoms is a near-certainty.

Article cross-posted from International Man.

On the other end of the scale, in 2004, my country, the Cayman Islands, experienced a Category 5 hurricane, with winds up to 200 miles per hour that sat on us without moving for 36 hours. I was responsible for ensuring that safety be provided for scores of my employees prior to the hurricane. After the storm, one of my companies took on the complete rebuilding of the country’s wholesale and retail food distribution facilities in order to ensure that the country’s population would have the most essential commodities—food and water. (A big change in level of responsibility over the years.)

In addition to having spent decades planning for hurricane damage, I’ve also spent decades as an economist, planning for major economic storms. In 1999, I determined that the world would experience what Doug Casey has termed a Greater Depression that would be more devastating than any economic event the world had ever seen. I predicted that it would happen in stages and that the final stage would be the most devastating. I would have been quite pleased to have been incorrect, but unfortunately, my predictions have come to pass. I believe we’re now quite close to the final destruction stage, a period that will lead to the collapse of many of the world’s formerly strongest economies, coinciding with a period of devastating warfare. In both the economic and warfare cases, those who are the world’s major players will believe that they’ll be able to control the extent of devastation and even profit from it, but events will go beyond their control and take on a life of their own.

As in the image above, there will not be just one, but multiple epicentres. Europe and North America will be hit the hardest economically. Next in line will be those countries, such as Japan, Australia, etc., that are the most closely linked economically with these centres. The next tier down will be those countries that are dependent on the centres, but more peripherally, such as Panama or Mexico. Finally, there will be those countries that are the least linked to the major centres, such as Uruguay or Thailand.

All countries will be impacted by the coming economic hurricane, but the effects will vary. Those in the US and Europe will experience the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane. Those in Australia and Japan will experience a Category 4. Countries in the third tier will experience a Category 3, and those countries that are either distant from or the least economically dependent upon the epicentres will experience Category 2 or even Category 1 damage.

This is not mere speculation. In examining previous depressions and the last two world wars, we can see that those countries that were the least connected to events tended to fare well. This will hold true this time around as well.

When we turn on the television and the weatherman says that a hurricane is approaching, we have to make a decision. Do we trust in the hope that it might not pass directly over us? Do we question the severity of the storm as it’s being described to us? Should we plan to stay at home, as in a Category 1 or Category 2 storm, or should we plan to go to a local shelter as in a Category 3 or Category 4 storm? Or, do we believe we’ll be experiencing the devastation of a Category 5, in which case we’d pack our bags, wave goodbye to our home, and get as far away from the epicentre as possible?

Well, first, we’d better look at the categories, then, based on where we’re located, ask ourselves what we need to do. We’re presently already experiencing Category 1 conditions.

• Category 1 Warfare: Minor civil disobedience and/or riots
• Category 1 Economics: Increased mortgage foreclosures, some strip-shop and mall closings, decreased spending overall
• Category 2 Warfare: Major civil disobedience, riots, and/or insurrection
• Category 2 Economics: The above, plus tariff wars, stock and bond market crashes
• Category 3 Warfare: Minor bombing and/or ground invasion
• Category 3 Economics: The above, plus minor inability of governments to pay entitlements, significant inflation, credit collapse
• Category 4 Warfare: Major bombing and/or ground invasion
• Category 4 Economics: The above, plus the end of the dollar as a reserve currency/end of the petrodollar, considerable inflation, short-term bank closures
• Category 5 Warfare: Nuclear destruction
• Category 5 Economics: The above, plus major inability of governments to pay entitlements, permanent closure of the majority of banks, currency collapse, confiscation of deposits, major internal capital controls

The above descriptions are not by any means comprehensive. They represent basic categories, to which many details can and should be added.

So, what should your personal plan be? Well, if you’re located in one of the epicentres (the EU and US), you might devise a plan to head out to the country, if you have a destination that you either own or rent. Then, depending on the severity of the storm, you may survive the damage. (A rural area is the equivalent of a hurricane shelter.) However, if you’re dependent on your government for income, you may not be able to survive a Category 3 storm. Even if your income is independent of your government, you may not be able to survive a Category 4 or 5 storm, as you’ll still be under the control of a collapsing system.

The closer you are to an epicentre, the worse the damage promises to be to you personally. And the stronger the hurricane, the greater the damage. It’s important to remember that personal preparedness will help, but the worse the state your government, infrastructure, local businesses and neighbours will be in, the more you’ll be impacted by their condition, even if you’re personally prepared.

As an example, those who choose to sit out a Category 5 monetary and/or warfare hurricane in Uruguay would be likely to fare quite well, just as the Europeans who went there during the world wars. (Very few of them returned after the wars, having found a better life abroad.)

In a Category 4 hurricane, life would be likely to remain relatively stable in areas such as the southeastern provinces of Mexico. In a Category 3, New Zealand might just be manageable.

However, in order to assess your personal situation, it would be advisable to have another look at the categories above and decide for yourself what degree of damage is likely in the near future, then make a personal assessment as to whether you’re willing to chance experiencing that level of damage.

We’ve passed the point of whether there’ll be a hurricane; we just can’t be sure how severe it’ll be. The winds are already picking up and those who choose to make a move will need to do so soon.

Article cross-posted from International Man.

IM’s Note: If you live in the US or the EU, expect the coming financial hurricane to be a Category 5. Think major currency collapses, big bank closures, and capital controls. In other words, total financial mayhem.
New York Times best-selling author Doug Casey and his team share all the details in this urgent video. Click here to watch it now.

And yet, the concept of globalism has always existed. There have always been those who sought to control all that was within their perception. Even if that was just a few villages within a valley, those who sought total rule were thinking “globally,” i.e., “I want it all.”

Over the ages, the obsession to control the world led to the creation of empires. Each empire spread over vast areas, eventually growing beyond the ability to control them. Each empire, in turn, collapsed and always for the same reasons.

In the late eighteenth century, Mayer Rothschild, a brilliant banker, came up with a new twist. He focused on currency control, saying, “Let me issue and control a nation’s money, and I care not who writes the laws.”

He accomplished this in his native Germany, then sent his five sons out to achieve the same ends in other countries. His son Nathan created the Bank of England and with the then-recent formation of the United States, created its first central bank.

The bank lost its charter, then a second bank was created, which also lost its charter.

But success came in 1913 when Rothschild descendants, along with American bankers, created the Federal Reserve. These individuals, plus the leading industrialists, began to dream of the expansion of their powers. They would take over the country’s institutions of higher learning and control the curriculum. They would reshape the medical industry to avoid curative practices in favour of the dispensation of drugs that would keep people permanently dependent on the nascent pharmaceutical industry.

And most importantly, they would take control of political power.

Within a very short time, they conceived of a New World Order – a concept that we today regard as being a secret plan. Yet, from the beginning, the self-anointed Elites were quite proud of their plan. As David Rockefeller wrote in his memoirs, “Some even believe we are a part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States… to build a more integrated global political and economic structure – one world if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty and am proud of it.”

For decades, there have been those who have seen this coming and warned about it. For the most part, they were scorned or laughed at. But that’s changing rapidly. In the last two years, the mask of the globalists has been slipping, and we’ve now reached the stage where the common man is beginning to accept that he’s been conned.

He may not be certain yet whether it’s the politicians on the right or left, or both together, or whether it’s Dr. Fauci, or whether it’s the WEF that’s targeting him, but he understands in his gut that something is fundamentally wrong, and he may have to actually get off the couch and address the problem in some way.

In recent years, he’s been observing his rulers failing to be honest about the pandemic whilst oppressing him with demands that he kowtows to ever-changing restrictions in response to what amounts to a seasonal flu.

He’s watched as massive spending goes to a war that he never signed on to have his country fight. That war has served as an excuse to increase taxation dramatically at a time when he was barely keeping his head above water. If that weren’t enough, he’s watched as the cost of necessities has risen dramatically, whilst his political leaders have assured him that he must simply bite the bullet, as it’s “the price we have to pay.”

In the mix, unemployment has soared, and rather than become more frugal and responsible, his fellow citizens have been encouraged to rely on the government for ever-increasing handouts.

The net result has been an ever-increasing demoralization – the destruction of truth, erosion of the family, and the erasure of morality. Wokeism, sexual mutilation of children, and random acts of violence are becoming commonplace.

The common man can only conclude that those in power are doing everything wrong – that they are failing in all their attempts at “solutions.”

But this is not the case. They are, in fact, succeeding. The problem is that their goals are not his goals. Their goal is globalism under a collectivist rule. Their intent is to collapse the economy, destroy the national moral compass, to destroy any sense of family, truth, and spiritual belief so that the only belief system is in the government.

And they’re doing a bang-up job.

Once these things are lost, and once the average guy is drowning in debt that he can’t repay, the theory is that he’ll welcome a proposal from his leaders that they bail him out, allowing him to have a portion of his life back. All they will ask is that he gives up his property and his freedom. “You’ll own nothing, and you’ll be happy.”

Not surprising, then, if most of those who have seen this coming say to themselves that we’re nearing the point of total takeover.

We’ve been spouting our warnings for decades, largely unheard, and we’re now deep in the process of conversion to totalitarian rule.

But rather than become discouraged, we should pause at this juncture and remind ourselves that this has all happened before. We’re looking at the final stages of empire – a period when the populace lives in fear of their leaders.

But if we observe the situation from a global perspective, we may perceive the situation quite differently.

The globalists mean to cement their power by collapsing the system, and there can be no doubt that they are going full-tilt in that direction.

They’ve created a war in Ukraine that they cannot win. In so doing, they’re depleting their military resources beyond what can be replaced in a reasonable time, weakening their might. Meanwhile, they’re recklessly threatening action in China as well.

This has driven Russia and China, which are traditional adversaries, into each other’s arms. This is a fatal and arrogant mistake, as the West is no match for them together.

Further, the globalist countries – the US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia, etc. – are on the verge of a debt-driven financial collapse that is now inescapable. Yet they’ve placed sanctions on Russia that have not only opened the doors to massive world trade for Russia, making them stronger than ever. They’ve virtually guaranteed that much of Europe will “freeze to death in the dark” this winter.

From a Western perspective, the prognosis could not be darker, but from the perspective of the Second and Third Worlds, the situation keeps getting better. In talking to people in Asia in particular, the general view is that if they can just stave off conflict with the West for a few more years, the globalists will self-destruct within that time. The West will not cease to exist, but it will become a lesser player.

The question that Westerners should ask, then, is not whether there will be a collapse; that’s baked in the cake. The questions should be, a) What do I do to avoid becoming a casualty? And b) How do I prepare now to be in a position to thrive after the collapse?

Well, first, there’s a great likelihood that what the globalists will achieve will be the economic collapse of their cabal. They’ve already ceased to be able to produce and provide for themselves and will no doubt slide into a generation or more of collectivist doldrums. Their countries will be less livable, some more so than others.

But that will not mean that the world has come to an end—quite the contrary. The remaining world will blossom and thrive as a result of the vacuum left by the West.

The challenge for those who understand this will be to lift themselves above the fray and plan for the aftermath. It will be a very changed world, but it will be one that’s full of possibilities.

Editor’s Note: It’s clear there are some ominous social, political, cultural, and economic trends playing out right now. Many of which seem to point to an unfortunate decline of the West.

That’s precisely why legendary speculator Doug Casey and his team just released this free report, which shows you exactly what’s happening and what you can do about it. Click here to download it now.

Article cross-posted from International Man.