Our major cities have become cesspools of lawlessness where violence can literally erupt at any moment.  But if Americans are this eager to riot and loot now, what is going to happen once we are in the midst of a severe economic recession?  Needless to say, harsh economic times are certainly not going to improve the mood in this country.

It appears that Monday night is Kansas City’s turn to experience civil unrest.  According to Time Magazine, protests “have erupted” even before the sun has gone down…

Protests have erupted in Kansas City, Mo., after a Black teenager was shot in the head and arm by a white homeowner late last week after accidentally ringing the wrong doorbell.

Ralph Yarl, 16, has been hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. He was shot after he went to collect his two younger brothers on Thursday after 10 p.m., according to police. Police said Yarl mistook the address 115th Terrace for 115th Street, where he was shot.

Any time a young person dies a tragic death like this, we should all mourn. Unfortunately, for a lot of people any sort of an incident like this is used as an excuse to riot, loot and burn things down.

And sometimes the criminals don’t need any sort of an excuse at all.  Less than 24 hours ago, hundreds of looters completely gutted a gas station in Compton…

Sheriff’s deputies in Compton are returning to their patrol duties Monday following a chaotic weekend that involved a series of street takeovers and a mob of looters that left a trail of destruction at local stores.

Video captured a wild scene at an Arco gas station near Alondra Boulevard and Central Avenue early Sunday morning where a large group was caught on video bum-rushing an Arco gas station and stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise, all while the clerk on duty hid inside.

The video shows one man breaking the glass door while dozens of looters crowd behind him. Moments later, the group was seen grabbing everything from drinks, snacks, alcohol and even condoms.

Go back and read that first sentence again.

The mainstream media is actually admitting that criminals are taking over entire streets in Los Angeles right now.

And the police are admitting that they couldn’t do anything about the looting because they were so greatly outnumbered.

Watching hundreds of young men work together to loot a gas station should send a chill down all of our spines.

In this case, there was absolutely no political motivation for the attack.  These young men just saw an opportunity to steal, and they gleefully took advantage of it…

The day before that, there was a massive riot in downtown Chicago that made headlines all over the nation, and a “huge brawl” erupted at a Chicago White Sox game…

A huge brawl broke out at Saturday’s Chicago White Sox game for over two minutes with several spectators involved.

Fists were flying all over the place before a woman was dragged from behind over a row of seats on the first-base side.

One lone security guard attempted to make peace, while another pair of women were throwing haymakers at one another.

If we are seeing this much chaos while economic conditions are still at least somewhat relatively stable, what will things be like once millions of Americans become truly desperate?

Earlier today, I was quite alarmed to read former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli’s assessment of the economy…

Former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli issued a grim warning over the U.S.’s “very complex” economy, cautioning consumers that middle market companies are under “tremendous pressure.”

“I think we’re going to see a lot of bankruptcies. Like Bed, Bath and Beyond. We got Walmart not only laying people off, but closing stores. We got Accenture laying people off. We got Amazon closing distribution centers. So I think there’s a tremendous-mixed message,” Nardelli said during an appearance on “Cavuto: Coast to Coast.”

The former CEO continued, saying that the “complexity” of the U.S. economy is “different than anything I have seen in my 52 years.”

Sadly, he is quite right.

So many companies are going to go out of business in the months ahead.

In fact, we just learned that David’s Bridal has just filed for bankruptcy…

David’s Bridal filed for bankruptcy protection days after the company announced it would lay off more than 9,200 employees across the nation.

The wedding retailer said in a press release Monday that its stores would remain open and fulfill orders without delay as the company looks to sell all or some of its assets. Its online platforms will also remain available to help with customers’ wedding planning needs.

As economic conditions deteriorate, Americans are going to increasingly turn to debt as a short-term solution, and this will particularly be true for financially-distressed young people that don’t have a lot of resources…

Many young adults overwhelmed by financial stress cope by ignoring the problem.

Some tune out bank and credit-card balances, lose track of their spending and rack up debt. Average credit-card debt rose 29% to $5,800 in March from a year earlier for millennials and increased 40% to $2,800 for Gen Z, Credit Karma said. Younger people were also more likely to have paid late fees or taken advances from their credit cards, a survey from NerdWallet found.

Unfortunately, U.S. banks are starting to get really tight with their money, and so that means that credit lines will be reduced and fewer credit cards will be issued.

A lot of people will soon find that they are maxed out and are unable to get more credit.

And all of this comes at a time when the U.S. money supply is steadily shrinking…

The U.S. money supply contracted for the third consecutive month, and is declining at the fastest pace since the Great Depression, new Federal Reserve data show.

In February, the M2 money supply – a benchmark for how much cash, bills, bank deposits, coins, and money market funds are circulating throughout the national economy – tumbled 2.24 percent from the same time a year ago, down from negative 1.7 percent in January. This represented the third straight month of a contracting money supply.

There is so much economic pain on the horizon.

And the American people are certainly not mentally or emotionally equipped to deal with hard times.

So we better hope that our leaders can find a way to artificially prop up the economy, because if they are unable to do so there will be much more rioting, looting and chaos ahead.

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

Article cross-posted from The Economic Collapse Blog.