Topic: Doug Casey's "How Empires Fall" (AKA "Dead Empire Walking")

[Libertas]

Present-Day Empires
Again, the events above are not taught to schoolchildren as being of key importance in the decline of empires, even though they are remarkably consistent with the decline of other empires and what we are seeing today. The very same events occur, falling like dominoes, more or less in order, in any empire, in any age:

1.The reach of government leaders habitually exceeds their grasp.
2.Dramatic expansion (generally through warfare) is undertaken without a clear plan as to how that expansion is to be financed.
3.The population is overtaxed as the bills for expansion become due, without consideration as to whether the population can afford increased taxation.
4.Heavy taxation causes investment by the private sector to diminish, and the economy begins to decline.
5.Costs of goods rise, without wages keeping pace.
6.Tax revenue declines as the economy declines (due to excessive taxation). Taxes are increased again, in order to top up government revenues.
7.In spite of all the above, government leaders personally hoard as much as they can, further limiting the circulation of wealth in the business community.
8.Governments issue bonds and otherwise borrow to continue expansion, with no plan as to repayment.
9.Dramatic authoritarian control is instituted to assure that the public continues to comply with demands, even if those demands cannot be met by the public.
10.Economic and social collapse occurs, often marked by unrest and riots, the collapse of the economy, and the exit of those who are productive.
11.In this final period, the empire turns on itself, treating its people as the enemy.
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Once an empire has reached stage eight above, it never reverses. It is a “dead empire walking” and only awaits the painful playing-out of the final three stages. At that point, it is foolhardy in the extreme to remain and “wait it out” in the hope that the decline will somehow reverse. At that point, the wiser choice might be to follow the cue of the Chinese, the Romans, and others, who instead chose to quietly exit for greener pastures elsewhere.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-08/how-empires-end

Interesting post, but this deals with broad economic and tangential political factors only, it doesn't even begin to address the serious dysfunction introduced into the society from all angles over several decades by progressive sappers!  It is a common om mission by hardcore PaulBot style Libertarians to avoid anything that might smack of moral/religious issues like gays and marriage, abortion etc and it is for this reason I suspect that Casey avoided talk of Greece or Rome, as their demise was as much about moral decay as other factors.  we have a society in America right now that has been purposely designed to separate people into several factions, many crisscrossing each other, and all poised to go at each others throats once Casey's Stage 11 is entered into in full.  The progressives have been conducting a war on religion, a war on tradition, a war on morals, a war on the traditional two-parent male/female family, a war on men, a war on women, a war on children and a war on races!!!

The energies being built up are not unlike two massive tectonic plates rubbing each other...small tremors relieving tension here and there, but the inexorable mass is still colliding and when it pops it is going to be the mother of all horrors.

[Weisshaupt]

At that point, the wiser choice might be to follow the cue of the Chinese, the Romans, and others, who instead chose to quietly exit for greener pastures elsewhere.

And those would be... where exactly?  Our people are still armed. The Chinese and Roman peasants were not. Its going to make a difference. How much and to what end I can't say, but I am not ready to give in to our fate yet.  This empire will fall,  but that doesn't mean the people will.

[Libertas]

At that point, the wiser choice might be to follow the cue of the Chinese, the Romans, and others, who instead chose to quietly exit for greener pastures elsewhere.

And those would be... where exactly?  Our people are still armed. The Chinese and Roman peasants were not. Its going to make a difference. How much and to what end I can't say, but I am not ready to give in to our fate yet.  This empire will fall,  but that doesn't mean the people will.

I left that tidbit wide open for the picking, and you made a good grab.  When I read that I thought "Yeah, where you going, pal?"  Unless you're super wealthy can can afford to build a massive compound or be able to sail at sea indefinitely you have to be somewhere, and anywhere can be reached...at some point.  Seems more about short-term time-buying than a realistic long-term strategy.  Banding together to protect what you have from those who do not or those who covet what you have is going to occur, it has to.  And those not pulling their weight or contributing will be cut loose, those trying to seize what is not theirs will be dealt with harshly.  But the phases between preliminary collapse, collapse and especially between collapse and the new stability is going to be painful.

[Weisshaupt]

I left that tidbit wide open for the picking, and you made a good grab.  When I read that I thought "Yeah, where you going, pal?"  Unless you're super wealthy can can afford to build a massive compound or be able to sail at sea indefinitely you have to be somewhere, and anywhere can be reached...at some point.  Seems more about short-term time-buying than a realistic long-term strategy.  Banding together to protect what you have from those who do not or those who covet what you have is going to occur, it has to.  And those not pulling their weight or contributing will be cut loose, those trying to seize what is not theirs will be dealt with harshly.  But the phases between preliminary collapse, collapse and especially between collapse and the new stability is going to be painful.

I think leaving the US is a viable strategy if you are  fluent imn the language and can look the part of a native elsewhere. For most white people that means Western Europe, NZ or Australia - all of which will go down at the same time as (or sooner than) the United States.  They all have massive entitlement states - they all have politically correct culture rot, and none of them will let you still legally own a gun.  Even if you fit the part elsewhere, most of those places you can't have a gun for self-defense, and lack any culture that values individual liberty.  You give in, and live their way.  The End.

China and Russia will dictate the pecking order in the new system, and you can bet they will not be as generous and beneficent a world Hegemon as the United States has been. Most of the 3rd world is in de-facto slavery and I think they will make the move to simply re-enact the system now that no western power stands to oppose it ( no other culture ever understood why slavery was wrong)  Its very possible that some South American countries ( Brazil, Chile and maybe Argentina despite their communist idiocy(  they have already lost it all twice. The only people left are the survivors. ) ) will continue on in the 2nd world tier, and that still a pretty good standard of living, and probably superior to what we will have in the States as Civil war and economic collapse engulf us. Its going to be very unpleasant and messy, but f we avoid a WMD ebola plague, EMP pulse from North Korea etc during that period,  I think we will come out the stronger and without the dead weight we had going in.  Or not.  Really I am pretty focused on just getting out of bed. Typing what I need to for work, and then sucking at welding. The world will take care of itself. Or it won't. Its likely  to have only temporary and sporadic  effects on my little five acres- which is really all there is left in my world.
 

[Libertas]

I left that tidbit wide open for the picking, and you made a good grab.  When I read that I thought "Yeah, where you going, pal?"  Unless you're super wealthy can can afford to build a massive compound or be able to sail at sea indefinitely you have to be somewhere, and anywhere can be reached...at some point.  Seems more about short-term time-buying than a realistic long-term strategy.  Banding together to protect what you have from those who do not or those who covet what you have is going to occur, it has to.  And those not pulling their weight or contributing will be cut loose, those trying to seize what is not theirs will be dealt with harshly.  But the phases between preliminary collapse, collapse and especially between collapse and the new stability is going to be painful.

I think leaving the US is a viable strategy if you are  fluent imn the language and can look the part of a native elsewhere. For most white people that means Western Europe, NZ or Australia - all of which will go down at the same time as (or sooner than) the United States.  They all have massive entitlement states - they all have politically correct culture rot, and none of them will let you still legally own a gun.  Even if you fit the part elsewhere, most of those places you can't have a gun for self-defense, and lack any culture that values individual liberty.  You give in, and live their way.  The End.

China and Russia will dictate the pecking order in the new system, and you can bet they will not be as generous and beneficent a world Hegemon as the United States has been. Most of the 3rd world is in de-facto slavery and I think they will make the move to simply re-enact the system now that no western power stands to oppose it ( no other culture ever understood why slavery was wrong)  Its very possible that some South American countries ( Brazil, Chile and maybe Argentina despite their communist idiocy(  they have already lost it all twice. The only people left are the survivors. ) ) will continue on in the 2nd world tier, and that still a pretty good standard of living, and probably superior to what we will have in the States as Civil war and economic collapse engulf us. Its going to be very unpleasant and messy, but f we avoid a WMD ebola plague, EMP pulse from North Korea etc during that period,  I think we will come out the stronger and without the dead weight we had going in.  Or not.  Really I am pretty focused on just getting out of bed. Typing what I need to for work, and then sucking at welding. The world will take care of itself. Or it won't. Its likely  to have only temporary and sporadic  effects on my little five acres- which is really all there is left in my world.

That's about it, try to control what is in your ability, the rest is up for grabs...