The media—whether it be print, internet, or television—is, today, a wealth of information. Unfortunately, it is also a wealth of misinformation. This is particularly true with regard to occurrences that surround the governments of the world. Governments are notoriously deceitful and circumspect, and the media can often be more than “helpful” in presenting a government’s desired perception.

In addition to the conventional media providing a great deal of misinformation, it also has the chronic failing that it “reports the news.”

But isn’t this what they are supposed to do? Yes, but unfortunately, that approach to reporting simply provides after-the-fact information. For those who are working on creating and shaping their future, the need exists to anticipate events, so that they might take steps to assure that the future will not simply roll over them like a steamroller. Advance warning provides them with the opportunity to step aside before the steamroller arrives.

Traditional Advisors Are Seriously Lacking

Readers of this publication will most likely already be savvy enough to have discovered that the traditional advisors, i.e., those in positions of authority, are, at best, seriously lacking.

So, those who twig on to the discovery that such “leaders” are not to be trusted in their forecasts and advice may decide to seek others who can better advise them as to what the future may hold.

This publication is frequently cited as a reliable source. Readers check in (regularly or otherwise) to clear the air a bit and see if they might get their heads above the tree-line, the better to see the forest.

But what appears in these pages is not the stuff of crystal balls. Further, the advice given does come from the analysis of events as they occur, but not exclusively so. It comes, in large measure, from the comparison of these events to historical patterns.

For example, Spain was the world’s empire but crumbled, largely as a result of fighting expensive wars that it could not pay for. England was the world’s empire but crumbled, largely as a result of fighting expensive wars that it could not pay for. The US is now the world’s empire, and it has over one thousand military bases in over one hundred countries. It would be difficult to pin down exactly how many battle fronts the US is currently engaged in, they are so numerous. Hence, we might be inclined to project out that, as so many empires have crumbled, in part, from overly-ambitious aggression to other nations, it should come as no surprise if the current level of aggression may contribute in a major way to the undoing of the US empire as well.

But what of other events—those who affect us more personally, more directly? What scourges will the reader’s government visit upon him in the next month, in the next year, in the next five years?

Again, we can look at history and examine what previous empires have done in similar situations. However, we need not always look back to the distant past; to examine what happened in Rome or Napoleonic France or Nazi Germany. There are also more recent comparisons. In fact, there are comparisons that are unfolding in the present time. In order to find examples of governmental failure patterns, we can look at countries in the world that are on the same path of self-destruction as our own but happen to be further along in the pattern.

There are many. We can look at communism in Serbia in the 1990s or fascism in Zimbabwe in the 2000s and get some real eye-openers as to what may be in store for our own country, if our country is following a similar path. Both of those countries have gone through the “overreaching control to collapse” cycle and are now in the rubble stage of clearing up the mess and beginning to start over.

At any given time in history, there are countries that are at different stages in this development. After all, every nation-state possesses a government, and the nature of governments is to grow themselves, both in size and in power. At some point, the levels of both size and power create a top-heavy condition that ultimately sends it crashing down.

Our Task

Our task, therefore, is in reading the signs along the way, understanding the pattern that so often repeats in one country after another as they approach the critical stage.

It is safe to suggest that your reading of this publication has a great deal to do with the possibility that the country in which you live is approaching that critical stage. Therefore, it may be in your interest to seek the counsel of those who, for whatever reason, have made a long-term study of historical patterns. It would also be beneficial to keep a close eye on those countries in the world that (as stated above) are on the same path of self-destruction as our own but happen to be further along in the pattern.

If the reader resides in either Europe or North America, he may have noticed that governmental restrictions in his country appear to be on the increase and that, in fact, the velocity of that increase is itself increasing. He may have noted that, in spite of governmental reports to the contrary, inflation is on the increase. If he is really paying attention, he will have noted that capital controls are creeping in.

And although it is becoming more difficult to expatriate (or at least without paying an exit tax), a general confiscation of passports has not yet taken effect.

Three Choices

The reader then, has three choices. He may

1. Assume that the situation will not worsen.

2. Assume that it may very well may worsen, but fail to prepare for that eventuality.

3. Assume that it will worsen, and study the patterns laid down by so many governments in the past (and present). And then to create a plan to sidestep the steamroller that he feels is on the way.