"Half the world or more may have no government to depend on soon. Policy cannot meet demand."
It's a lot worse already than you might think. For example, the Netherlands right now, effectively, has no government. Neither does Austria. Both countries have a "government" pasted together with some mighty thin glue. Italy's government is also skating on some very thin ice.
These "Western" countries are just the tip of the iceberg - start with Lebanon and keep going south to see the true state of affairs on this planet. In ten years, I estimate at least 50 countries will disintegrate.
First off, I always appreciate your quotes, Mathew, and I’ve been adding them to my growing collection.
Secondly, regarding the “open air global prison,” have you seen the conversation between CJ Hopkins and “Planet Lockdown” director James Patrick from last May? I included it and discussed the concept of building our own open-air concentration camps in my second essay:
I can appreciate the idea of a mesh network to maintain snd uphold some level of communications amongst a community . I can see an argument for crypto currency as a way to account for exchangeable capital .
But I live amongst the Amish and I see the base of community. I see the amish thrive despite next to no technology of modern kind .
It seems to me that new techno social Justice people play into the madness by attempting to use their skills and understanding to solve problems . But they are already isolated in their modern perspectives and are not able to fully appreciate what is available . Basically they became illiterate to the capacities of the human spirit and only see the technical dependence as the means forward
I've wanted to experiment with mesh networks for years since I first read about them, but I've not been able to get my hands on one that I know of anyone around using. You almost need a community before you can establish the network.
There are several vendors doing home mesh networks for wireless access points. Clearly not the wide area type Mathew is referencing, but can help you learn and play with them. Useful tools when you have a large house or a big piece of property and want good coverage throughout.
I have the strongest impression that the author believes most of the mess the world is in is a consequence of a series of small, bad acts, followed by unpredictable consequences.
As opposed to a highly organised, purposeful plot at supranational level.
As a life scientist with over 40 years training & practise, its unquestionably the latter.
No doubt the former occurs as a consequence, but I’m certain the entire “pandemic” & especially the policy responses to the news if it, were both planned over years to decades.
The problem with ignoring the powerful evidence of deliberate planning & instead interpreting it as mostly a rolling maul of human emotive responses, is that our actions will not be helpful.
Now, it’s quite possible that effective opposition isn’t feasible.
In which case, if you’re interested in surviving beyond the denouement, you’ll still need to know what is actually happening & what is the realistic frame of coming events.
I personally believe that a highly organize, purposeful event is far more likely. I'm not sure what gave the impression otherwise. Though I like to keep my mind open and flexible to changing models with complex problems (anywhere near) this huge.
Maybe effective opposition is not feasible, though you and I both operate on the assumption that our actions are meaningful. I think that's a good rule for life in general. And this is a fight for life.
I have a number of beliefs that are hard to write about now, and even when I talk about them in private, I get rejected simply for discussing them (even within what you and I might call "our circle"), so all this is difficult to write about. I try to write with lessons as much as possible so that hopefully I have a foundation of explanation among many articles to articulate certain pieces.
I wish this were easy to display, but I was warning friends in February 2020 that all this was headed toward a controlled demolition of the economy. Then again, I was warning everyone about the mortgage bond crisis back in 2000, and hardly anyone I know even remembers the blog I had that was dedicated to the topic. This time is somewhat different, but...what can we do?
I’ve never been particularly diplomatic. I’m not cruel, so generally people have forgiven my bluntness & because they’ve decided I’m well intentioned, let me go my own way.
Career wise, I was lucky to reach Vice President and it was made clear that was my apogee because I wasn’t willing to incorporate real politik in my remarks.
I sometimes frighten people nowadays.
Make that often.
Yes, I hope what we do has a chance to bend an arc however slightly.
Two years in, that hope is still there, but diminished.
Mostly, I’m disappointed in my fellow humans & in my own inability to have been more effective.
There’s a saying that if you’re one step ahead of events, you’re a genius. Two steps & you’re a crazy person. I don’t like to speculate out loud about where the nearly inevitable third & fourth steps I envisage will take us.
Peace, and thanks to you for your writing. We treasure it.
Dr. Yeadon, you hit the target with your "hell on earth" projection. That is the level of thinking that needs apply. Having talked to a retail banker yesterday, I sketched out the future to him as well: It is either a world revolution, or indescribable tyranny, and both are viable options. A young man, he lacked proper understanding of what gold stands for and what it means; likewise, I doubt that he got my meaning regarding the denouement that you mention. Since any effective opposition always rests with the younger generations, the envisaged catastrophy may be unavoidable - I do not see much light in them.
Forgive the stupid question, but don't the "mesh networks" still rely on the greater network that is owned by the same powers they seek to circumvent? As in, the literal cables and satellites that the network is based on? Or is that the point - that the mesh networks are somehow "off-grid" from the larger in-place telecomm network?
Piggy-backing can be done, but ultimately the off-grid solution is better in the long run. There do need to be some distributed servers, but we're not talking telecom equipment. It could be as simple as the machines that mine Bitcoin, but maybe even just home PCs. There will be people who provide that unless the until world gets shut down. In that event...it's oligarchs vs. stone age idiots anyhow.
I like your substack but this post is a little all over the place. Each title could be an essay into itself. The dollar is rising and will continue to for a while because money is being repatriated. Credit is being cut, funds are being liquidated and money is coming back into the clearing banks like JP Morgan etc. at the same time in the US you have both monetary inflation but also supply AND demand push-and-pull inflation. The demand for durable goods has almost doubled (who would have thought people staying home would order more things instead of buy more services), but also energy production and investment in it has all but been prohibited by the government. In essence a large part of the population is operating under the false paradigm that the US doesn't run on hydrocarbons and the energy industry is really just an addiction similar to tobacco. That is not at all the case, our modern way of life is built upon the massive technological efficiency of hydrocarbon energy. I am not sure if the dollar will stop being the world's reserve currency, just because there is no other game in town. It is very hard to see the yuan being the preferred reserve currency. China would have to convert to a bottom-up system as you suggest. Bitcoin will be made illegal, it is also not clear what it's cost will be when you factor in much higher energy prices.
But part of what is going on and you can see it in every facet of society is that people are completely polarized against each other and there is a total lack of empathy toward the other side. The Mass Formation Psychosis thesis is very strong about what we are going through.
Yes, each title could be a longer essay for which I don't have full time. I have 200+ partially-written essays and more to do than could be accomplished in any reasonable period of time.
Crypto currency seems like a fallacy to me . I believe a get the argument snd how Bitcoin in particular choice to be developed snd limit the amount available . But it’s not a mistake that it was marketed to black markets initially . Sure, it also had the ability to reduce the exchange costs at the time , which was used toward gaining use. For me , that it simply meant the creators and crypto pushers were getting rich on value appreciation was kind of a turn off . And it has the same issue of creating wealth pyramids .
The value in crypto currencies are really in the block chains . Those transaction ledgers as a technology is really the key . And it won’t dislodge power . Quite the opposite . Crypto currencies have the power to offer complete control of money .
Here is how I think it will end up . The block chain has the ability to account for all major traded commodities , reflecting resources and gdp. By assigning all tradable lots of commodities a block chain will allow a crypto currency to be based not as a fiat but as a hibred not simply based on gold but all included commodities that are traded . Like a currency based on the exchange itself of commodities. So it’s backed by a giant mutual fund of commodities and reflects it in its tradesble value. And it is so pure because every commodity that is traded from its creation to its use has s blockchain associated with it. And where any unregulated activity occurs the blockchain ledger has the ability track it and submit to audit .
The problem is that the amount of energy needed to maintain such a system is enormous.
"But it’s not a mistake that it was marketed to black markets initially"
It was predictable (certainly so in retrospect), but that wasn't the intention and seems to have prematurely chased Satoshi into hiding.
"The value in crypto currencies are really in the block chains ."
For the purpose of banking, yes. The entire point of using an otherwise stupid Merkle tree (linear database!) is to channel the force of energy put into mining directly against that put into counterfeiting/double spending/hacking.
"And it won’t dislodge power . Quite the opposite . Crypto currencies have the power to offer complete control of money ."
I have seen this meme recently, but I think it's a controlled misinformation campaign. The use of a blockchain (Merkle tree) is by its nature resistant to centralization. It solves a version of the prisoner's dilemma known as the Byzantine general's problem. Otherwise, there would be no purpose to using a dumb linear database. Centralized authorities could simply run a hierarchical one, or some other faster gossip algorithm to move digital units around a graph.
The best way to look at it is that out of all possible digital currencies, Bitcoin is the least centralizable. Were improvements made on that front, the core developers would simply alter the code to incorporate such improvements and keep the Bitcoin valuable.
Thanks for the daily reminder that I'm not alone in thinking this way. Your posts give me hope.
Life the past 2 yrs+ has obviously very much been like a bad horror movie playing out right in front of our eyes but I'd fully expected this kind of thing for the past 5-6 yrs+. Studied economics in skool, and assumed there'd be a major financial reset at some point after 2008. We are literally living in an everything bubble. C-19 moved that reset up to a nearer future date.
I've recently come across the citadel movement and co-op life outside of the cities. I'm Canadian living in Tokyo (family of 4), and not sure this is where I want to live if / when the SHTF so had also been looking at mesh networks as a way of communication and value exchange.
Not sure if you've seen this mesh network / off grid system being set up yet called "Locha Mesh" → https://locha.io/ I'm hoping to see more of these kinds of things in the next coupla years before they're "ready" with their CBDCs and digital everythings..
You could reach out to farming communities and see if they need equipment or greenhouses or whatever and then invest in them. Side benefit is they would probably happily house you when the SHTF.
Or you can give wilderness survival scholarships to people, basically paying teachers to skillshare.
I think we are going to have to give up pretty much every modern thing if we don't submit to the Borg.
My hope is start or join one of those myself, soonish. But due to a flood at my last apartment, my wife and I had to move suddenly just as we were scouting land for a 200ish acre purchase. So, now we're renting a house for a year. I hope kicking that can down the road for one year wasn't terminal.
I think that finding and forming community ASAP is important. People should invest in themselves and their communities, and begin developing the suppressed technologies to rebuild with.
Maybe we're facing impossible odds, but I'm not a fatalist or a defeatist. If I'm going to believe in something, it's that my actions have meaning.
I moved out of the city to a 200 acre farm in 2003. First I realized I did not have fundamentals in general skills of sustenance . And then I saw that our system was built as. Big Ponzi scheme . Just moving back to land is the first step . It takes years to develop the mindset snd skills. At this point I think I could manage sustenance pretty much anywhere . Cause I could build or fix just about anything and develop
Production system from concept to fruition .
Co-ops are the way because they are one share one vote . But they also require the conscious capacity of organizational democracy .
I think it depends on the degree of tyranny one expects. Co-op land investments are all well and good, until the rule of law breaks down. As we've seen with the seizure of assets from oligarchs and whatnot, the people with the biggest guns can just take what they want. Hell, we didn't even need that example in the US - you can just look at civil asset forfeiture laws to see how lopsided it is.
Personally, I side with hope, and I think that building out local solutions is the best way to handle it. Decoupling from the larger societal structure seems to be the only route. Currency as a medium of exchange is simply an agreement - you and I believe that what we are exchanging has value. Whatever we happen to exchange - Treasury notes, BTC, gold flakes, beads, bushels, or brides - doesn't make a difference. With that being said, if you can convince enough people in a community to shift their "agreements," I think that's a big first step.
"Whatever we happen to exchange - Treasury notes, BTC, gold flakes, beads, bushels, or brides - doesn't make a difference."
I don't believe that's true at all. Historically, Gresham's law has pushed money to one object/commodity, and that represented a proof of work done. Otherwise, counterfeiting would be easy. It takes work to mine gold, carve and transport a rai stone, etc.
Nobody making decisions in finance honestly believes the "money is a totally arbitrary thing that just happened to be agreed upon" theory, which may as well be a disinformation campaign within practical economics (I believe it is, but it would take many pages to explain the evidence).
There is a skill and capacity at understanding goods for trade that is lost in modern societies. When people do the work they have a baseline from which to be able to trade. Specialization makes goods and services far cheaper , it’s true . But it also isolates labor from the value of production . One usually has no idea what the price is the is better then doing it oneself . And , as someone that has gotten better at this I am surprised that quite a few things these days are far cheaper to manufacture custom then it is to buy it . People have become so disconnected from the actual value of things ( replacement value) that they only assess value in relation to what it might save them based on the specialized life they live.
It may not hold at the level of monetary policy, but I think it holds at more local levels. Frankly, a rai stone seems to be fairly arbitrary.
More to the point, I'm not sure that counterfeiting has much to do with this aspect of the conversation. Coinage has been in use longer than paper money (and certainly digital money), and it has been counterfeited throughout that whole history. Paper money has likewise been counterfeited, sometimes with more ambitious aims (Operation Bernhard, for example).
As far as what those making decisions in finance believe, I'm sure that you're right. It isn't a totally arbitrary thing that just happened to be agreed upon, especially not in anything close to modern times. Rather, it's been where declaration (or fiat, if you'd like) and convenience meet. Gresham has little to do with that, I think. In any event, the next few years will likely give us a pretty good case study on value and sound money.
No money was ever *easy* to counterfeit. When counterfeiting exceeds the utility, the next most scarce quantity becomes the money. This is why rai stones are a great lesson. They were scarce and impossible to counterfeit until a stranded sailor from the modern world stumbled upon the island and realized that he could could make more at little expense. He single-handedly overtook the economy at the moment counterfeiting was introduced to a degree that the utility could not afford. Ultimately, that was the same thing as Operation Berdhard.
Money needs to meet several criteria, but with levels of utility to each. When there are competing currencies, Gresham's law sorts them out. If one has a Pareto optimal advantage along all features, it becomes the reserve currency.
The point about gold & silver is that you become your own counter-party. It totally displaces banks & fractional reserve lending. If people don't believe a bank is being prudent, they just show up and take out their gold and bankrupt the bank.
The molotov cocktail is not allowing your assets to be hypothecated and turned into fractional reserve assets (so for every $1 you deposit in the bank, the bank can create roughly $9 in loans).
The other part obviously is barter, transactions in used goods, crypto is just too new to comment on yet. If it can be banned it is worthless, if it can't be then it has value.
No, I don't know what Opiate Lyrics are. It's a reference to the three wise monkeys, a Japanese proverb. But instead of combining the three good actions of doing good, it's how the Press, Economists, prominent Universities, and even people like me and you are keeping quiet, pretending they can't see, or pretending to agree with all the BS taking place these days.
"Half the world or more may have no government to depend on soon. Policy cannot meet demand."
It's a lot worse already than you might think. For example, the Netherlands right now, effectively, has no government. Neither does Austria. Both countries have a "government" pasted together with some mighty thin glue. Italy's government is also skating on some very thin ice.
These "Western" countries are just the tip of the iceberg - start with Lebanon and keep going south to see the true state of affairs on this planet. In ten years, I estimate at least 50 countries will disintegrate.
I know.
First off, I always appreciate your quotes, Mathew, and I’ve been adding them to my growing collection.
Secondly, regarding the “open air global prison,” have you seen the conversation between CJ Hopkins and “Planet Lockdown” director James Patrick from last May? I included it and discussed the concept of building our own open-air concentration camps in my second essay:
• “COVID IS OVER! … If You Want It” (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/covid-is-over-if-you-want-it)
Lastly, I paged you in the comments of a recent Steve Kirsch post ;-)
• https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/ed-dowd-millennial-age-group-25-to/comment/5545119
I’m hoping you can answer this question—perhaps in an upcoming post if you wish to dig into the Edward Dowd data:
So if a 40% rise in mortality among 18–64-year-olds is a 12-sigma event (https://roundingtheearth.substack.com/p/why-are-non-covid-deaths-at-historic), what does that make an 84% rise in millennial deaths?
Thanks, Mathew!
I can appreciate the idea of a mesh network to maintain snd uphold some level of communications amongst a community . I can see an argument for crypto currency as a way to account for exchangeable capital .
But I live amongst the Amish and I see the base of community. I see the amish thrive despite next to no technology of modern kind .
It seems to me that new techno social Justice people play into the madness by attempting to use their skills and understanding to solve problems . But they are already isolated in their modern perspectives and are not able to fully appreciate what is available . Basically they became illiterate to the capacities of the human spirit and only see the technical dependence as the means forward
I've wanted to experiment with mesh networks for years since I first read about them, but I've not been able to get my hands on one that I know of anyone around using. You almost need a community before you can establish the network.
There are several vendors doing home mesh networks for wireless access points. Clearly not the wide area type Mathew is referencing, but can help you learn and play with them. Useful tools when you have a large house or a big piece of property and want good coverage throughout.
I have the strongest impression that the author believes most of the mess the world is in is a consequence of a series of small, bad acts, followed by unpredictable consequences.
As opposed to a highly organised, purposeful plot at supranational level.
As a life scientist with over 40 years training & practise, its unquestionably the latter.
No doubt the former occurs as a consequence, but I’m certain the entire “pandemic” & especially the policy responses to the news if it, were both planned over years to decades.
The problem with ignoring the powerful evidence of deliberate planning & instead interpreting it as mostly a rolling maul of human emotive responses, is that our actions will not be helpful.
Now, it’s quite possible that effective opposition isn’t feasible.
In which case, if you’re interested in surviving beyond the denouement, you’ll still need to know what is actually happening & what is the realistic frame of coming events.
Mike,
I personally believe that a highly organize, purposeful event is far more likely. I'm not sure what gave the impression otherwise. Though I like to keep my mind open and flexible to changing models with complex problems (anywhere near) this huge.
Maybe effective opposition is not feasible, though you and I both operate on the assumption that our actions are meaningful. I think that's a good rule for life in general. And this is a fight for life.
I have a number of beliefs that are hard to write about now, and even when I talk about them in private, I get rejected simply for discussing them (even within what you and I might call "our circle"), so all this is difficult to write about. I try to write with lessons as much as possible so that hopefully I have a foundation of explanation among many articles to articulate certain pieces.
I wish this were easy to display, but I was warning friends in February 2020 that all this was headed toward a controlled demolition of the economy. Then again, I was warning everyone about the mortgage bond crisis back in 2000, and hardly anyone I know even remembers the blog I had that was dedicated to the topic. This time is somewhat different, but...what can we do?
Mathew,
Your reply is generous of spirit. Thank you.
Yes, I see the difficulty.
I’ve never been particularly diplomatic. I’m not cruel, so generally people have forgiven my bluntness & because they’ve decided I’m well intentioned, let me go my own way.
Career wise, I was lucky to reach Vice President and it was made clear that was my apogee because I wasn’t willing to incorporate real politik in my remarks.
I sometimes frighten people nowadays.
Make that often.
Yes, I hope what we do has a chance to bend an arc however slightly.
Two years in, that hope is still there, but diminished.
Mostly, I’m disappointed in my fellow humans & in my own inability to have been more effective.
There’s a saying that if you’re one step ahead of events, you’re a genius. Two steps & you’re a crazy person. I don’t like to speculate out loud about where the nearly inevitable third & fourth steps I envisage will take us.
Peace, and thanks to you for your writing. We treasure it.
Mike
Mike,
I have to thank you for reminding me of a great quote. I made use of it.
When you're three steps ahead, you're probably Holden Caulfield.
https://roundingtheearth.substack.com/p/the-loneliness-epidemic-is-a-symptom?s=w
The realisation makes me shudder. None of us want the role of catcher in the rye. I find it spooky, especially now.
Dr. Yeadon, you hit the target with your "hell on earth" projection. That is the level of thinking that needs apply. Having talked to a retail banker yesterday, I sketched out the future to him as well: It is either a world revolution, or indescribable tyranny, and both are viable options. A young man, he lacked proper understanding of what gold stands for and what it means; likewise, I doubt that he got my meaning regarding the denouement that you mention. Since any effective opposition always rests with the younger generations, the envisaged catastrophy may be unavoidable - I do not see much light in them.
Forgive the stupid question, but don't the "mesh networks" still rely on the greater network that is owned by the same powers they seek to circumvent? As in, the literal cables and satellites that the network is based on? Or is that the point - that the mesh networks are somehow "off-grid" from the larger in-place telecomm network?
Piggy-backing can be done, but ultimately the off-grid solution is better in the long run. There do need to be some distributed servers, but we're not talking telecom equipment. It could be as simple as the machines that mine Bitcoin, but maybe even just home PCs. There will be people who provide that unless the until world gets shut down. In that event...it's oligarchs vs. stone age idiots anyhow.
Not a stupid question at all; on the contrary.
I've been looking into this particularly being from Canada given what happened here.
I like your substack but this post is a little all over the place. Each title could be an essay into itself. The dollar is rising and will continue to for a while because money is being repatriated. Credit is being cut, funds are being liquidated and money is coming back into the clearing banks like JP Morgan etc. at the same time in the US you have both monetary inflation but also supply AND demand push-and-pull inflation. The demand for durable goods has almost doubled (who would have thought people staying home would order more things instead of buy more services), but also energy production and investment in it has all but been prohibited by the government. In essence a large part of the population is operating under the false paradigm that the US doesn't run on hydrocarbons and the energy industry is really just an addiction similar to tobacco. That is not at all the case, our modern way of life is built upon the massive technological efficiency of hydrocarbon energy. I am not sure if the dollar will stop being the world's reserve currency, just because there is no other game in town. It is very hard to see the yuan being the preferred reserve currency. China would have to convert to a bottom-up system as you suggest. Bitcoin will be made illegal, it is also not clear what it's cost will be when you factor in much higher energy prices.
But part of what is going on and you can see it in every facet of society is that people are completely polarized against each other and there is a total lack of empathy toward the other side. The Mass Formation Psychosis thesis is very strong about what we are going through.
Yes, each title could be a longer essay for which I don't have full time. I have 200+ partially-written essays and more to do than could be accomplished in any reasonable period of time.
Not to mention if we don't have industry to provide Internet then we also don't have industry to make computers and phones..
Crypto currency seems like a fallacy to me . I believe a get the argument snd how Bitcoin in particular choice to be developed snd limit the amount available . But it’s not a mistake that it was marketed to black markets initially . Sure, it also had the ability to reduce the exchange costs at the time , which was used toward gaining use. For me , that it simply meant the creators and crypto pushers were getting rich on value appreciation was kind of a turn off . And it has the same issue of creating wealth pyramids .
The value in crypto currencies are really in the block chains . Those transaction ledgers as a technology is really the key . And it won’t dislodge power . Quite the opposite . Crypto currencies have the power to offer complete control of money .
Here is how I think it will end up . The block chain has the ability to account for all major traded commodities , reflecting resources and gdp. By assigning all tradable lots of commodities a block chain will allow a crypto currency to be based not as a fiat but as a hibred not simply based on gold but all included commodities that are traded . Like a currency based on the exchange itself of commodities. So it’s backed by a giant mutual fund of commodities and reflects it in its tradesble value. And it is so pure because every commodity that is traded from its creation to its use has s blockchain associated with it. And where any unregulated activity occurs the blockchain ledger has the ability track it and submit to audit .
The problem is that the amount of energy needed to maintain such a system is enormous.
"But it’s not a mistake that it was marketed to black markets initially"
It was predictable (certainly so in retrospect), but that wasn't the intention and seems to have prematurely chased Satoshi into hiding.
"The value in crypto currencies are really in the block chains ."
For the purpose of banking, yes. The entire point of using an otherwise stupid Merkle tree (linear database!) is to channel the force of energy put into mining directly against that put into counterfeiting/double spending/hacking.
"And it won’t dislodge power . Quite the opposite . Crypto currencies have the power to offer complete control of money ."
I have seen this meme recently, but I think it's a controlled misinformation campaign. The use of a blockchain (Merkle tree) is by its nature resistant to centralization. It solves a version of the prisoner's dilemma known as the Byzantine general's problem. Otherwise, there would be no purpose to using a dumb linear database. Centralized authorities could simply run a hierarchical one, or some other faster gossip algorithm to move digital units around a graph.
The best way to look at it is that out of all possible digital currencies, Bitcoin is the least centralizable. Were improvements made on that front, the core developers would simply alter the code to incorporate such improvements and keep the Bitcoin valuable.
Thanks for the daily reminder that I'm not alone in thinking this way. Your posts give me hope.
Life the past 2 yrs+ has obviously very much been like a bad horror movie playing out right in front of our eyes but I'd fully expected this kind of thing for the past 5-6 yrs+. Studied economics in skool, and assumed there'd be a major financial reset at some point after 2008. We are literally living in an everything bubble. C-19 moved that reset up to a nearer future date.
I've recently come across the citadel movement and co-op life outside of the cities. I'm Canadian living in Tokyo (family of 4), and not sure this is where I want to live if / when the SHTF so had also been looking at mesh networks as a way of communication and value exchange.
Not sure if you've seen this mesh network / off grid system being set up yet called "Locha Mesh" → https://locha.io/ I'm hoping to see more of these kinds of things in the next coupla years before they're "ready" with their CBDCs and digital everythings..
You could reach out to farming communities and see if they need equipment or greenhouses or whatever and then invest in them. Side benefit is they would probably happily house you when the SHTF.
Or you can give wilderness survival scholarships to people, basically paying teachers to skillshare.
I think we are going to have to give up pretty much every modern thing if we don't submit to the Borg.
My hope is start or join one of those myself, soonish. But due to a flood at my last apartment, my wife and I had to move suddenly just as we were scouting land for a 200ish acre purchase. So, now we're renting a house for a year. I hope kicking that can down the road for one year wasn't terminal.
I think that finding and forming community ASAP is important. People should invest in themselves and their communities, and begin developing the suppressed technologies to rebuild with.
Maybe we're facing impossible odds, but I'm not a fatalist or a defeatist. If I'm going to believe in something, it's that my actions have meaning.
I moved out of the city to a 200 acre farm in 2003. First I realized I did not have fundamentals in general skills of sustenance . And then I saw that our system was built as. Big Ponzi scheme . Just moving back to land is the first step . It takes years to develop the mindset snd skills. At this point I think I could manage sustenance pretty much anywhere . Cause I could build or fix just about anything and develop
Production system from concept to fruition .
Co-ops are the way because they are one share one vote . But they also require the conscious capacity of organizational democracy .
Gold and Silver are the simplest answer. Physical Gold and Silver, so don't do any of the ETF's which have options in them or non-allocated gold.
I think it depends on the degree of tyranny one expects. Co-op land investments are all well and good, until the rule of law breaks down. As we've seen with the seizure of assets from oligarchs and whatnot, the people with the biggest guns can just take what they want. Hell, we didn't even need that example in the US - you can just look at civil asset forfeiture laws to see how lopsided it is.
Personally, I side with hope, and I think that building out local solutions is the best way to handle it. Decoupling from the larger societal structure seems to be the only route. Currency as a medium of exchange is simply an agreement - you and I believe that what we are exchanging has value. Whatever we happen to exchange - Treasury notes, BTC, gold flakes, beads, bushels, or brides - doesn't make a difference. With that being said, if you can convince enough people in a community to shift their "agreements," I think that's a big first step.
"Whatever we happen to exchange - Treasury notes, BTC, gold flakes, beads, bushels, or brides - doesn't make a difference."
I don't believe that's true at all. Historically, Gresham's law has pushed money to one object/commodity, and that represented a proof of work done. Otherwise, counterfeiting would be easy. It takes work to mine gold, carve and transport a rai stone, etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rai_stones
Nobody making decisions in finance honestly believes the "money is a totally arbitrary thing that just happened to be agreed upon" theory, which may as well be a disinformation campaign within practical economics (I believe it is, but it would take many pages to explain the evidence).
There is a skill and capacity at understanding goods for trade that is lost in modern societies. When people do the work they have a baseline from which to be able to trade. Specialization makes goods and services far cheaper , it’s true . But it also isolates labor from the value of production . One usually has no idea what the price is the is better then doing it oneself . And , as someone that has gotten better at this I am surprised that quite a few things these days are far cheaper to manufacture custom then it is to buy it . People have become so disconnected from the actual value of things ( replacement value) that they only assess value in relation to what it might save them based on the specialized life they live.
It may not hold at the level of monetary policy, but I think it holds at more local levels. Frankly, a rai stone seems to be fairly arbitrary.
More to the point, I'm not sure that counterfeiting has much to do with this aspect of the conversation. Coinage has been in use longer than paper money (and certainly digital money), and it has been counterfeited throughout that whole history. Paper money has likewise been counterfeited, sometimes with more ambitious aims (Operation Bernhard, for example).
As far as what those making decisions in finance believe, I'm sure that you're right. It isn't a totally arbitrary thing that just happened to be agreed upon, especially not in anything close to modern times. Rather, it's been where declaration (or fiat, if you'd like) and convenience meet. Gresham has little to do with that, I think. In any event, the next few years will likely give us a pretty good case study on value and sound money.
No money was ever *easy* to counterfeit. When counterfeiting exceeds the utility, the next most scarce quantity becomes the money. This is why rai stones are a great lesson. They were scarce and impossible to counterfeit until a stranded sailor from the modern world stumbled upon the island and realized that he could could make more at little expense. He single-handedly overtook the economy at the moment counterfeiting was introduced to a degree that the utility could not afford. Ultimately, that was the same thing as Operation Berdhard.
Money needs to meet several criteria, but with levels of utility to each. When there are competing currencies, Gresham's law sorts them out. If one has a Pareto optimal advantage along all features, it becomes the reserve currency.
Warren Buffett's father, who was a very libertarian congressman from Nebraska wrote an essay called Human Freedom Rests on Gold Redeemable Money.
https://www.math.snu.ac.kr/~hichoi/finmath/Human%20freedom%20rests%20on%20gold%20redeemable%20money%20(Howard%20Buffett).pdf
The point about gold & silver is that you become your own counter-party. It totally displaces banks & fractional reserve lending. If people don't believe a bank is being prudent, they just show up and take out their gold and bankrupt the bank.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y0I-vVLBVQ
The molotov cocktail is not allowing your assets to be hypothecated and turned into fractional reserve assets (so for every $1 you deposit in the bank, the bank can create roughly $9 in loans).
The other part obviously is barter, transactions in used goods, crypto is just too new to comment on yet. If it can be banned it is worthless, if it can't be then it has value.
Thanks! I appreciate you taking the time to respond to me with so much thought and consideration. Is your user name an Opiate lyrics reference?
No, I don't know what Opiate Lyrics are. It's a reference to the three wise monkeys, a Japanese proverb. But instead of combining the three good actions of doing good, it's how the Press, Economists, prominent Universities, and even people like me and you are keeping quiet, pretending they can't see, or pretending to agree with all the BS taking place these days.
I was referring to an old TOOL song from the early 1990’s. But yeah. I agree. I am going along too even though it’s all bull💩 🙈🙊🙉