Via Infowars.com, this video is a stunning indictment agains Anglo-Americans, overtly casting them as potential terrorists, encouraging African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Hispanic-Americans to watch white people closely and report to authorities any activity that seems suspicious.
Especially if the white guy is wearing a fleece hoodie from Old Navy.
Scary, scary stuff, Americans.
Posted in Society, Terrorism, USCollapse of our society is almost a certainty.
There was a time, early in the the writing of this website (the digital pen for which I am now picking up again), that I wasn’t certain about the future of our society, our economy or our republic. Those days are gone. Whether the collapse is a slow motion, crumbling, sliding into decay collapse, or a fast, over almost before you know it collapse, it will happen.
My thoughts these past couple weeks have turned to the most recent in our history collapse of Western Civilization, the fall of the Roman Empire. I know that we think of the Romans and the other human inhabitants of the globe at the time, as barely more than barbarians, dressed in tunics swinging short swords with no access to the internet, no iPhones, iPads or iDevices of any kind. People who burned oil for both light and heat, and never knew the greatness of Lady Gaga couldn’t possibly be intelligent stewards of humanity’s gifts, could they?
That’s all nonsense, of course. Our arrogance about the weaknesses, whether mental or moral, of our forbearers says more about us than it does about them. We’re the stupid ones, who believe things like:
There was a local real estate “expert” who in 2006 insisted on telling my wife that I just didn’t understand the real estate market, and that it was heading much higher. My wife and her family shook their heads in condescension at my arguments that real estate values must correct, because if they don’t, all property would eventually be too expensive to own, and the credit market was a mess, that at some point, the bill would have to be paid for all the “lier’s loans,” credit default swaps and other malarky going on.
In 2008, we employed that same real estate mogul to put up our Christmas tree. That’s one of the things he was doing to make ends meet at that time, and recently, he did some minor handyman work for us. I guess the market wasn’t all he thought it was.
But who could have foreseen all that happened?
A lot of people, actually. Reviled at the time, mocked, abused and dismissed as lunatics. Strangely enough, the same “experts” who said virtually all of what has happened couldn’t possibly happen are still trotted out on the television networks and on the internet as experts to help us all weather this storm.
God save us from numbnut “experts.”
As I reflect on this, and begin a new chapter with “WhatComesNext.net,” I wonder what was being written, considered, cautioned and projected during the collapse of the Roman Empire? Were there George Ures, Michael Panzners, James Howard Kunstlers, and Dmitry Orlovs?
Sure, you can read Gibbon’s History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
I’ll bring to you what I find.
Thank you for reading, and welcome (back?) to WhatComesNext.net.
Posted in Collapse, Society
Just watched a fascinating episode of the PBS series Nova, chronicling the work researchers did over the decades to understand the hieroglyphics used by the Mayans before their society collapsed. Ultimately that collapse was caused, as experts can best tell, by conflict and the shortage of that essential resource (no, not oil), water.
It’s tremendously exciting to see how dedicated researchers cracked the code of the pictograms, which have turned out to represent both phonetic sounds and collections of words representing ideas and phrases.
Watching the piece, I couldn’t help but wonder if a future civilization will be examining our culture through those words and symbols carved into the stone of monuments. In the case of the Mayans, the books, printed on a bark paper, were burned by the Spanish Inquisition, and entire culture’s printed word reduced to four books. Over time, it’s clear our books, printed on the thin and fragile paper, will break down pretty rapidly. I don’t think I need to tell you how I think the digital copies of our culture’s libraries will fare.
I’m not sure what the ultimate message of this particular episode of Nova is, but it’s worth watching.
Posted in SocietyThe author of Financial Armageddon: Protecting Your Future from Four Impending Catastrophes, Revised and Updated Edition
Review coming, but considering the prescience and brilliance of Michael Panzer’s previous work, I believe it’s a must-read for anyone wanting to prepare for the economic and societal shifts bearing down on us right now.
The above mentioned book, Financial Armageddon, called with exceptional clarity, the problems we’re enmeshed in right now, even though our “leaders” and economic “experts” laughed such talk off. Well, they’re not laughing now, but sadly, still in their “leader” and “expert” roles, pretending to know the way out of the woods.
Most of these “architects of our demise” will attempt to marginalize the concepts in this newest Panzer work as well, but will be on the front lines telling us what we need to do to fix the problems when they show up.
Posted in Books, Economy, SocietyIt’s been quite a long gap in posting, but for good reason, I think. My family, for the first time in many years, took a long holiday break from work and school. Though I had every intention of “working” on WCN.net while away (it’s more a labor of love and concern than true “work”) I decided a couple days into the vacation to consider it work and stay away from it. That, in my opinion, was a good decision, as it allowed me to soak in some life, recharge, and watch the world more as a participant than as an observer. I believe the insight I gained from this helped me better understand what’s going on, and it gave me some ideas to share with you in the coming weeks.
Once I got back to the “business” of WCN, I saw some things that need to change with the site. You’ll start to see some of those changes gradually over the next month. The big change is of perspective. It occured to me that this site has been mostly about the possible branches on the path that our economy and resulting society could travel. WCN.net is going to start being more about the path we’re on and what you can do to survive, thrive and be successful in our new world. Make no mistake, we are in a world that’s much different than the one we were living in 2 years ago.
We are living through a societal paradigm shift that is changing almost everything about the way we live in the U.S. Part of that paradigm shift is that sites like WCN.net, Kunstler.com, Financial Armageddon, When Giants Fall, WorldNetDaily, Urban Survival and others are “suddenly” seem less directed at the “paranoid fringe” and more for everyone. Those sites mentioned haven’t changed their direction, many people are simply seeing the light. Events have played out in ways the writers and editors of those sites (and many more, by the way) predicted. Those who previously scoffed are now getting it, and in many cases, preaching the gospel of dramatic change.
The tenor of WCN.net won’t change. The changes I’ve been writing about for a couple years now are happening, and instead of engaging in the tempting “I told you so” that would be easy to write, I’m going to transition to writing more about what preparations and activities could help ensure survival and success in these difficult times.
Posted in Society, US
If you’re a regular reader, you probably have noticed a slowdown in the number of posts since the election of Barack Obama. Though I didn’t intend to slow down or stop posting, the events of November 4, 2008 have caused me to realize that the future of this website is uncertain. To be frank, I’m not sure about the direction (if any) I should take with it.
The American People have spoken, and what they said was “we choose the message of change Obama and his $600 Million in marketing has sold us.” Think about that. $600 MILLION dollars were raised and most of it spent to acquire the White House. These foolish, foolish people have elected a man no one knows that much about. It’s at times, very frightening.
But it’s done.
I’m not writing right now, because the future is getting so terribly dangerous for Americans, who are mostly asleep. But an abrupt wakeup is coming. It will probably begin not long after the first of the year, after the worst retail holiday season ever, as in the cold, harsh light of the winter of a new year, companies begin their fiscal years gutted from layoffs. In many, many companies across the country, only essential employees will remain. Layoff news stories that will begin in early January will be shocking, and mind-numbing as they roll over us like a tsunami. Chicago Mayor Richard Daly calls it “frightening.”
“We never experienced anything like this except people who came from the Depression,” Mayor Daley said. “When you have that many layoffs early – and they’re telling me this is only the beginning of their layoffs – that is very frightening.”
I believe some of the darker predictions of Kunstler, Panzer and Orlov will come to pass in 2009. I do not believe there is much we can do to stop it. For ourselves and our families, we can only prepare.
So, in that spirit, I’m spending my What Comes Next? time finishing up my special report What You Can Do to Protect Your Family and Yourself During This “Greater Depression.”
I’m also spending some time thinking about whether, as a family, we stay or we go. I’ve always rolled my eyes at those people who say “if so and so is elected, I’m leaving the country…” but this is different. It’s not so much Obama that I’m worried about (though I’m not at all comfortable with such an unknown quantity with his questionable background leading our nation), but the mentality of the people who elected him, whether its a culture of people who feel it’s time for payback of one type or another for one perceived injustice or another, or a culture of tv-fed, clueless liberal magical thinking sleepers who believe in this vague message of “change,” and may or may not soon wake up to realize they’ve brought about a change much different than the one they intended.
In short, my family may decide that it’s time to expatriate, and return to the land of my wife’s parents and my grandparents in the UK. My name will probably tip you off to exactly where that is. We’re currently evaluating the real estate situation in both Glenfinnan on the mainland and Portree on the Isle of Skye, as we consider where it would be best to continue raising our family. It’s kind of heartbreaking to be seriously researching this, rather than just fancifully discussing it as we have in the past, because we’re both proud and loyal Americans. But, day by day, I can feel the America I knew growing up changing into something very different, both structurally, politically and philosophically. It’s changing into something that increasingly, I feel I don’t understand, someplace that’s not really “home.”
Posted in Politics, Society, US
Problem number 1 will be the economy. He will be in charge of the world’s only remaining Superpower in decline, and possible economic collapse.
Problem number 2 is Iraq. He claims to know what to do, and it’s entirely possible he will get the chance to prove whether he does, or will just screw things up worse.
Problem number 3 will be impeachment. There is no way a candidate for President of the United States can raise $150 million in a month without his organization making some big mistakes. I predict that in the coming months, should Obama be elected, we will hear about a massive donation from somewhere horrifying. I guarantee that Senator Obama’s opponents have already begun investigating where the almost quarter of a billion dollars in donations in August and September came from.
He shouldn’t have taken the money. First, in doing so he broke an agreement with Senator McCain to take public funds, which would limit his outside fundraising. Secondly, studies show once you get to a certain level of money, incremental dollars don’t help that much, if at all. He didn’t need the money.
The problems associated with massive fundraising in my opinion (which I should tell the reader ISN’T backed up by any first-hand experience with political fundraising – just common sense) just aren’t worth the benefit derived from them. The more money rushing in, the more likely it is that some of it will be difficult and/or embarrassing to explain. I think the possibility exists that a President Obama will spend a great deal of attention during his first term explaining not a spot on a dress, but a million dollar contribution by someone he shouldn’t have taken a dime from.
Again, I believe an Obama Presidency, should it occur, will be an ugly time. And that’s unfortunate, because I don’t fear Barack Obama as a person at all. I think, if he were at the head of a complete overhaul of our political landscape in Washington, DC, we could do far worse in a President. But, it’s not a complete overhaul, and a lot of the same players are in charge in Washington. I don’t fear the results of a President Barack Obama, but I am concerned about what can happen with Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank and Harry Reid in charge with a rubber stamp-providing President in the White House.
They are incompetent and corrupt and will play Obama like a fiddle.
Posted in Politics, Society, US
The question is no longer “if?” But rather “when?” and “how bad?”
Answers: 2009, and very bad.
We’ve got lots of data about what happens when economies slide into recession, but fortunately, little experience with what it’s like to enter a depression. My view is, we’re about to collect some data and add to our experience level.
Despite our lack of first-hand experience with depressions, one thing is clear – the beginning of an economic event like this can be like a snowball rolling down a hill, picking up energy and mass as it goes. That snowball is bearing down on us right now. Believe it.
Here are some important cues:
So, it’s more important than ever to protect yourself and your family. I’m writing a FREE report about how to start the process of doing just that. Click HERE to get it.
Posted in Economy, Society, US