It’s Time To Have An Honest, Rational Conversation With Your Family

It’s Time To Have An Honest, Rational Conversation With Your Family

Notes From The Field By Simon Black  August 26, 2020  Dallas, Texas

When the captain came on the announcement system yesterday morning to introduce himself to passengers, the first thing he said was:

“Ladies and gentlemen, a lot of us have been cooped up and under tremendous stress for the past several months. So the most important thing we can do right now is be kind, patient, and understanding with one another.”

It was an interesting way to start off a flight.

And I remember thinking to myself, “He probably wouldn’t bother saying something like that unless they’ve had some bad experiences recently with passengers fighting with one another.”

Sure enough, it didn’t take long before I heard an altercation between two passengers; ostensibly one of them had let her mandatory face covering slip ever-so-slightly below her nose. And a nearby passenger would have none of that.

It was even more interesting to me to witness the sense of entitlement that some people feel in barking orders to other human beings. They’re like Army Drill Sergeant shouting “Put your mask over your nose!”

This example, of course, barely scratches the surface of conflict these days. I’ve written before in these pages about people being pepper sprayed, or assaulted, for not wearing a mask.

I’m not even talking here about whether it’s right or wrong to wear a mask; I’m talking about the inability to people to engage in civil discourse.

There’s so much bottled up RAGE in the world… and it takes nothing anymore for that rage to explode and turn violent.

Masks are only one example. Social justice is another—rage quickly turns to violence and chaos.

Earlier this week an angry mob (of mostly white young people) swarmed restaurant customers whose only crime was dining outside in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The mob ran up to the restaurant tables and commanded the diners raise to raise their fists in solidarity, screaming “White silence is violence.”

You can’t even have lunch anymore without having to worry about being attacked by a violent mob.

And just last night in Wisconsin, rioters violently clashed with armed citizens in a literal gun battle that took place in the streets in America.

The mob had already torched private property, including, inexplicably, a car dealership. And several concerned citizens took it upon themselves to defend other property from the mob since the local government doesn’t seem willing or capable to do so.

And that’s when things became violent. At least two people are dead, and several shot.

Even something as simple as politics—which has long been a source of passionate and vocal disagreement—easily descends into violence and chaos.

These days, people are literally being beaten and battered for quietly expressing their political views. Countless others have been fired from their jobs.

It’s nearly impossible to have a rational discussion anymore, and this all constitutes a complete breakdown in the social fabric.

I figure many of us probably stare at our screens and watch these videos and news reports in utter disbelief. We can’t bring ourselves to acknowledge what has happened over these past few months.

But make no mistake-- this is happening. This is not a figment of our imaginations. And it’s not going away.

Don’t be fooled into thinking it’s going to blow over. Or some politician is going to ride in on a white horse and make everything better.

In fact, in many cases, state and local governments are in on it… they’re fanning the flames of chaos, cheering on riots and dismissing the violence as “peaceful protests.”

I’ve been writing about this for years: you cannot depend on your government, and you cannot depend on the good nature of your fellow citizens. You really have yourself to rely on, first and foremost.

That’s why I’ve long encouraged our readers to have a Plan B.

A Plan B isn’t about doom and gloom. On the contrary—it’s about ensuring that you’re in a position of strength regardless of what happens, or doesn’t happen, next.

A Plan B is an acknowledgement that obvious risks exist… and a sensible approach to protect yourself from those risks.

Well, we’re not talking about ‘risks’ anymore, i.e. potential threats that -might- occur. We’re talking about terrible trends that HAVE happened… ARE happening… right in front of our very eyes.

Our brains work in a funny way in this regard; human beings often suffer what psychologists call “normalcy bias,” i.e. even when we see radical events taking place, we assume that everything will quickly go back to normal.

Seriously—does anyone honestly believe that these angry mobs will put down their torches and pitchforks and settle down? Does anyone honestly believe that after the election it will be all rainbows and buttercups?

Don’t fall into this trap. Don’t shrug off what’s happening and assume it will all go away. Remember the words of Medal of Honor recipient Admiral Jim Stockdale, who survived 7+ years in a Vietnamese prison camp:

“You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose– with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

It’s really time to have an honest, rational conversation with yourself and your family about obvious threats… and sensible solutions.

To your freedom and prosperity ,  Simon Black, Founder, SovereignMan.com

 https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/its-time-to-have-an-honest-rational-conversation-with-your-family-28721/

"Whatever Floats Your Boat" by Dr. Dinar 8-30-2020

Thank you Dr. Dinar

Whatever Floats Your Boat by Dr. Dinar

8-30-2020

So, here we are, nearing the end of June, summer just starting and... oh wait, hang on a second, this is July.

What!?! No, it's the end of August.

Almost Labor Day weekend.

The "unofficial" end of summer.

How can that be!?!

What happened to June & July?

What about all those promises of never getting to summer without seeing the release of the GCR.?

Yet here we sit, nearing the end of another summer, and still no sign of the release being released.

Not yet anyway.

How could we have floated right through an entire season and seemingly gotten nowhere.

That's quite a bit of water under the bridge.

More than too much to swallow.

Apparently I'm drowning in Dinarland and due to a severe lack of oxygen, I've been too lightheaded to even realize it.

Am I focusing too much on the RV/GCR?

Possibly. Okay, maybably. Yeah, probably.

But then again, who's to say how much is too much.

I have a few family members & friends that, for better or worse, decided to take the plunge when I first mentioned this whole RV thing but not one of them have signed up for the three hour tour to the depth that I have.

Matter of fact, while some decided to jump ship, most have chosen to remain onboard, simply choosing to tune out.

Deciding to wait for me to send the disembark signal.

Letting them know that the coast is clear, the seagull has sung, and that it's finally time to leave their bunk.

And while I sometimes struggle with it, wondering how they can remain so tuned out to the whole thing, on the other hand, I often find myself admiring their passive perspective.

Envious of their ability to just let it slide.

Somehow they're able to put the whole RV/GCR thing over in the whatever happens... whenever it happens pile and forget about it.

Living their lives as if the GCR doesn't exist.

Then there's me.

Continually working towards my GCR PHD.

Full on immersed in this thing.

Wetsuit, tanks, weight belt, mask, snorkel, big ol' swim fins, Fauxlex dive watch, you name it.

If it's GCR related, I'm wearin' it.

Without a doubt, I'm in deep, in it to win it.

I simply can't help it, needing to be as educated as possible about this whole thing.

Not only because I want to be prepared to the Nth degree for my exchange appointment but I'm one of those people that likes to know what makes things tick.

How they work behind the scenes.

What makes them "go".

Or in this case, not go.

Deeply digging for the nuggets of truth that are floating out there somewhere.

Unfortunately, the closer we get (and in spite of all we can't see, I firmly believe we are getting closer with every passing day), it's getting increasingly more and more difficult to find much of anything we can firmly rely on as being factual.

Now, is that because I've heard it all a thousand times over the past decade plus.

Or is it more because there is no visible proof of any of it actually happening.

That's a question that, despite his amazing depth of knowledge of all things going on below the surface, even the great Jacques Cousteau would have had trouble answering.

And that got me to thinking.

You know that feeling you get as you're floating in a lake, down a river, out in the ocean, anywhere where you're floating on top of the water?

Well, you're well aware there are lots of things going on under the surface.

None of which you can see.

Most of which you don't really want to know about, yet you know they're going on anyway.

Perhaps this RV/GCR thing is the very same way.

Maybe all those things we constantly hear about, things that are rumored to be happening behind the scenes, really are going on.

The water being far too murky for us to see them.

It isn't until we approach the shore, jumping ship as it were, that our feet touch bottom.

And it's at that exact moment we instantly realize that there truly are things going on under the surface.

Gooey, gushy things that instantly send a super squirmy feeling up our spines.

As those things come oozing out from under our feet and in between our toes, the reality of what's happening down below becomes impossible to ignore.

Which in turn speeds up our pace, as well as our heart rate, causing us to quicken our pace as we quickly speed to shore.

And that is what I hope is happening with the whole RV/GCR thing.

I'm hoping that the closer we get to the release, the closer they are to dealing with the last of the squishy stuff between their toes and they're nearing the eelgrass on the very edge of the release.

If they're still stuck in the squishy stuff, let's hope that's enough to freak 'em out and cause them to pick up the pace.

The one thing we do know is that we're all in this together, heading downstream towards the shore.

Just continue to do whatever it is you need to do to keep your boat afloat and don't allow anyone to poke a hole in your dreams.

I'm not giving up the ship anytime soon and I certainly hope you won't either.

Kindly,

Dr. Dinar

Disclaimer; I'm not a Wealth Manager, Financial Advisor, CPA, Tax Attorney, RV/GCR Committee member, nor in any way connected with the Dinarafters Association of America. I'm simply someone that chooses to believe in the power of positive thinking and on the odd chance this thing truly is real, I want to make sure I'm there at the finish line to enjoy it.

Personal Note: *I'd also like to send a special Thank You to "CH" for taking the time to send a wonderful bit of inspiration my way. While I must admit my posts do help me in being able to vent a little (hopefully in a humorous way that others can relate to), my main goal is to help others see that they're not alone on this far too excruciatingly slow and exceedingly long, needlessly drawn out journey. And that we all struggle a bit from time to time. But in the end, we'll all reach the shore as one.

Once upon a time in Hollywood. . .

Once upon a time in Hollywood. . .

Notes From The Field By Simon Black August 20, 2020  Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

When Charlie Chaplin first arrived to Los Angeles in December 1913, the city was still a fairly small oil town… just a fraction of the size of San Francisco.LA was so underdeveloped that, as Chaplin wrote in his autobiography, wild coyotes frequently roamed around Hollywood and Beverly Hills.  But within a few years the city was booming, and Chaplin had become one of the most famous people in the world.

This is obviously in large part due to the development of the motion picture industry-- the most revolutionary technology of its era.  But what’s interesting is that the motion picture industry didn’t actually start in LA. The technology was originally developed in the late 1800s in part by Thomas Edison, who was based in New Jersey.

Edison’s east coast film studio produced over 1,000 movies (including a bizarre snuff film called Electrocuting an Elephant). And he notoriously threatened to sue anyone who attempted to make movies.

In 1902, a US Appeals Court ruled that Edison did NOT invent the motion picture camera… but his lawsuits continued regardless.

This constant threat of legal action was a huge disincentive to entrepreneurs. And so, in the early 1900s, several young studio executives packed up and left the east coast for Southern California where they were much better protected from Edison’s frivolous lawsuits.

This is the primary reason why the motion picture industry grew up in LA; sure, the region’s ample sunshine was a nice benefit, allowing for year-round outdoor production.

But the chief benefit was the city’s free-wheeling, pro-business culture. It was like Hong Kong in its heyday-- anything goes-- which attracted talented artists and entrepreneurs from all over the world who were free to build their dreams.

This industry created vast prosperity. Studio executives became unimaginably wealthy. Actors became rich and famous. The industry created countless jobs and supported a deep middle class.

And the city collected substantial tax revenue. It was a win/win for everyone. And, unsurprisingly, the local government did its part to protect the Golden Goose.

For example, unions were allowed to organize. But they received no special favors or privilege from the government.

Taxes were kept low. Regulations were simple. In short, people were free to create, experiment, and build their businesses.

So much has changed since then.

The entertainment industry is still the primary economic driver of Southern California today. But the state and local governments routinely engineer ways to chase away production.

Pay attention to the end credits next time you watch a movie. You’ll probably see something about production in New Mexico or Georgia.

These are among the states that have rolled out the red carpet for production companies, enticing them with tax credits, grants, and a much easier regulatory environment.

Georgia has become so prominent that Atlanta is rapidly becoming the next Hollywood; several mega-hits, like Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Stranger Things were produced in Georgia.

The economic impact has been in the tens of billions, and tens of thousands of jobs. Those are jobs (and tax revenue) that could have gone to California. But California is too busy burdening businesses and productive individuals with absurd regulations and taxes.

If you want to move a lighting pole three feet to the left on the set of a Hollywood production, you’d better have a union employee do it (which adds dearly to production costs).

And now the state legislature wants to soak the rich with retroactive income taxes and wealth taxes.

You’d think California would be doing everything it can to keep Hollywood the capital of the entertainment industry… and to keep wealthy people in the state.

Remember, fewer than 1% of Californians pay half of the state’s taxes. So if even a small number leaves the state, California’s finances will be in dire straits.

But that’s exactly what’s happening.

Data from real estate websites like Redfin show a surge in Californians looking for houses outside of the state.

In the city of San Francisco, there’s been a 200% increase in the number of homes for sale compared to this time last year. Meanwhile, properties across the state line in Nevada (which has no state income tax) are being gobbled up.

Coincidence?

Other self-exiled Californians are heading to places like Florida and Texas (which also have no state income tax). Or even here to Puerto Rico, which has incredible incentives to reduce your total tax rate to 4% or less.

I imagine there will be a lot of people who leave the US altogether… which not only allows you to escape state income tax, but federal tax as well.

The biggest federal tax benefit is the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion: US citizens living abroad are eligible to earn up to $107,600, tax free.

And your spouse can earn an additional $107,600 tax free.

Plus there’s a generous housing benefit… so in total we are talking $250,000+ of earned income, virtually free of US federal tax.

Note- this exclusion applies to ‘earned’ income, like wages. It does not apply to investment income, like capital gains or dividends. Investment income is generally still taxable if you live abroad.

(People who generate their income through investments really ought to consider Puerto Rico, which has 0% tax on most investment income.)

There are two ways to qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.

One is to demonstrate that you are a bona fide resident of a foreign country; this is more qualitative. It means, for example, you have legal residency in a foreign country and live there with your family as your primary residence.

An alternative way to qualify is through ‘physical presence’, meaning that you spend at least 330 days outside of the US during a 12 month period.

If you find yourself sick and tired of lockdowns, politics, and general social hysteria, spending some time abroad is worth considering.

In addition to the tax benefits, you might find the cost of living to be much lower… and the personal experience to be incredibly rewarding.

To your freedom and prosperity Simon Black, Founder, SovereignMan.com

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-28695/

Notes From Our Sovereign Woman

Notes from our Sovereign Woman  

August 18, 2020  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Today’s Notes from the Field is a little bit different.

As you’ll notice instead of Bahia, this letter is coming to you from Dubai, UAE. And, is penned by a Sovereign Woman.

Hi, I’m Viktorija, for those who don’t know me yet, I’ve been with Sovereign Man for the majority of its existence, working behind the scenes most of the time.  I’ve traveled to about 100 countries around the world, and I am working on eventually beating Simon’s record of 122.

While most of the world seems to be on lockdown, I wanted to share some travel stories with you.  And before you ask-- yes, traveling is definitely possible during this time. And frankly it’s been pretty enjoyable.

Once I turned off the news and went outside, the first thing I noticed was that life is pretty much back to normal in many parts of the world.

I had the pleasure of spending the peak of the Covid-19 lockdown phase in Puerto Rico and after that I traveled to Chile, then to Europe, and now in Dubai.

The range of government restrictions in these places has been remarkable.

In Puerto Rico where I spent time with Simon at his home, life was normal-ish.

As Simon likes to say, Puerto Ricans don’t have much regard for their government, so most people have openly defied government rules about lockdowns, and most of those rules have loosened up anyhow.

Chile was the total opposite.

When I was there last month, the Chilean government had kept people in total lockdown. Chileans were allowed to leave their homes only twice each week, and they had to apply online for a special permit to do so.

From there I went to Europe where the situation is a lot more sensible. And from what I’ve seen, it all comes down to attitude.

In a lot of places (like parts of the US, Latin America, etc.) there are people who are terrified of Covid. And they believe the solution is to wait.

They think that if they sit in their homes and wait long enough, the virus will eventually die off and life go back to the way things used to be.

In Europe (and here in Dubai), people seem to have a longer term view.

They understand that Covid-19 is here to stay.

Even if a vaccine is developed, it will take YEARS before it’s properly tested, with billions of units manufactured and distributed around the world.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness has been marshaling manufacturing capacity worldwide in preparation to mass produce a Covid-19 vaccine.

But even their estimates are to be able to produce 2 billion vaccines by the end of next year.

That’s only 25% of the world’s population, and it’s still more than a year away. Wider adoption is going to take several more years.

So what’s the solution in the meantime-- lock down every house, school, business, and church in the world? Cancel every performance and sporting event? Print infinite quantities of money to pay people to NOT work?

There will be no economy left. People will suffer from depression, and suicide rates will soar.

But this doesn’t have to be all gloom and doom.

And my travels have shown me that there are plenty of countries in the world who have a much saner, longer-term view.

Governments, businesses and people understand that they need to continue living their lives, and that means making certain adjustments.

For instance, when coming to Dubai, I had a Covid test done before boarding the plane.

Plus I had to have a travel insurance policy that would cover expenses in case I test positive inside the country and need medical care.

Hotels, restaurants and malls have all made necessary adjustments, making sure people are able to keep reasonable distance from one another while still maintaining a happy, social vibe.

When I was in Lithuania recently, the municipal government of the capital city (Vilnius) opened up outdoor public spaces to bars and restaurants so that they could operate at maximum capacity while still giving patrons appropriate distance.

Airports and planes are cleaner than ever before, and people are actually more mindful about the space around them. It’s honestly been a real pleasure to travel right now.

Obviously I’m always careful and very mindful of my own health, and that of others around me. I’ve even had multiple Covid-19 tests to make sure I can safely visit my mother.

With all of that being said, once you turn the news off and expand your horizons, you’ll quickly realize that there is still normal, vibrant life out there.

As Simon has written extensively over the last few months, the world is not coming to an end. It’s definitely changing rapidly.

At Sovereign Man we prefer to have a positive perspective and a position of strength.

We want to be prepared for obvious risks, but also to take advantage of the abundance of opportunity that the world has to offer… especially at a time when most people are consumed with fear and hysteria.

To your freedom and prosperity,  Sovereign Man Team, SovereignMan.com

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/notes-from-our-sovereign-woman-28669/

One Of The Single Biggest Threats To The Dollar Today

One Of The Single Biggest Threats To The Dollar Today

Notes From The Field By Simon Black August 17, 2020  Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

In late November 1943, as World War II raged in Europe and the Pacific, leaders of the ‘Big Three’ allied nations-- the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union, held a key strategy meeting in Tehran.

It’s hard to imagine anymore that the United States and Soviet Union were, at least for a time, allies. Many of us grew up in a world where the Cold War dominated, and threat of mutual nuclear annihilation was ever-present.

But it wasn’t always that way.  Relations between the Soviet Union and the West started out as fairly neutral in the 1920s. And even by the mid-1940s the two sides were allies.  The conference in Tehran (followed by another meeting in Yalta in early 1945) represented the high water mark in cooperation between the Soviet Union and the West.

But after the war, their relationship rapidly deteriorated.

By the early 1950s, the two sides were in full blown Cold War-- and you could see it everywhere: the Space Race, the Arms Race, the Cuban Missile Crisis, proxy wars across Asia and Latin America, massive military buildup in Europe.

These tensions escalated very quickly… and lasted for decades-- the Soviet Union and the United States were mortal enemies for nearly 50 years.

We’re seeing many of the same elements today in a new, rapidly growing conflict between the US and China.

What started off as a simple trade dispute has quickly escalated into a diplomatic crisis, and now a new Cold War.

Just over the last few weeks, both sides shut down one of the other’s consulates (the US closed China’s consulate in Houston, and China closed the US consulate in Chengdu.)

The US government has threatened to ban the popular Chinese app TikTok and to de-list Chinese companies from US stock exchanges.

Foreign reporters on both sides have had their visas revoked.

And each government accuses the other of spreading the Coronavirus around the world.

This laundry-list is practically never-ending, and doesn’t even scratch the surface of hacking and spying allegations on each side.

In a speech last month, the Attorney General of the United States stated, “The ultimate ambition of China’s rulers isn’t to trade with the United States. It is to raid the United States.”

The following week, the US Secretary of State effectively declared Cold War against China when he said:

If we don’t act now, ultimately the CCP will erode our freedoms and subvert the rules-based order that our societies have worked so hard to build.

If we bend the knee now, our children’s children may be at the mercy of the Chinese Communist Party, whose actions are the primary challenge today in the free world.

General Secretary Xi is not destined to tyrannize inside and outside of China forever, unless we allow it. . .

Maybe it’s time for a new grouping of like-minded nations, a new alliance of democracies.

We have the tools. I know we can do it. Now we need the will.

Pretty forceful.

Now, one important thing to remember is that, during the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the US was at its peak.

Today the tables are turned. China is the rising power, and the US is well past its peak.

China is one of the world’s biggest creditor nations and has a vast pool of savings. The US is the world’s single largest debtor nation, with record-high government debt, consumer debt, etc.

This year alone the US federal government will likely increase its national debt by $5 trillion. And the debt (at $26.5 trillion) is already 136% of GDP!

More importantly, as we discussed several times over the past few weeks, economic sustainability and prosperity are no longer priorities in the United States.

Governments at the local, state, and federal levels are full of Bolshevik politicians who despise successful individuals and businesses.

They are far more concerned with chasing jobs and investment out of their districts, passing retroactive tax increases, and locking down businesses from opening up (while allowing riots, rampages, and the destruction of property).

Socially, the country has completely lost its mind and is eating itself from within.

It’s hard to imagine winning a new Cold War at a time like this.

But if this conflict continues escalating, it could have dire consequences, especially for the US dollar.

Right now the dollar is the dominant reserve currency in the world.

This means, for example, that foreign governments and central banks hold their excess savings in US dollars (most frequently in the form of US government bonds).

This is why the US federal government can increase its national debt by trillions of dollars, and the Federal Reserve can print trillions more, because the rest of the world will still readily accept their currency as THE global reserve standard.

But watch what happens as this conflict with China escalates.

The US government is rapidly pushing China out of the US financial system. They may even default on the US debt that is owned by China.

Doing so will compel China to simply create its own, competing financial system.

And suddenly every country that China does business with would start using the Chinese system and increasing their holdings of Chinese renminbi.

As a result, China’s currency would essentially take global reserve ‘market share’ away from the US dollar. And even a small portion would have a huge impact.

A smaller share of global reserves would mean that the US could no longer get away with printing trillions of dollars, or piling up its endless mountain of debt.

There would be less demand from foreign governments and central banks to buy US government bonds, which would cause the dollar to lose a LOT of value. That means serious inflation.

Conflict with China is by far one of the single biggest threats to the dollar. So it’s worth paying attention to, because, as the last Cold War proved, it can escalate rapidly and persist for decades.

To your freedom and prosperity   Simon Black, Founder, SovereignMan.com

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/this-is-one-of-the-single-biggest-threats-to-the-dollar-today-28648/

Economic Prosperity Is No Longer The Priority. Guess What Happens Next...

Economic Prosperity Is No Longer The Priority. Guess What Happens Next...

Notes From The Field By Simon Black  August 10, 2020  Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Recently I held a live Q&A Zoom call with my friend Peter Schiff, and several dozen members of our Total Access group.  And towards the end of the call, one of our members asked-- what do you think the future looks like for the US, and the West in general? Peter went off into one of his classic tirades about how the US dollar is doomed because of how much money the central bank is printing.

And while I generally share Peter’s dim view about the dollar (were it not for all the other world currencies that are being printed into oblivion), my answer was a bit different. In deference to the 20th century Danish Proverb-- “predictions are hard, especially about the future”-- I do think it’s possible to look at major trends to at least have a sense of direction.

So if you want to understand where things are going, just take a look at everyone’s priorities.

Most governments’ Covid reponses are an obvious example.

The economic destruction they’ve created is staggering. Tens of millions of people unemployed, countless businesses gone bust, trillions of dollars of wealth wiped out.

In the first wave back in March, they shut down the economy to protect us from the virus. Then they opened up again… but-- shocker-- the virus was still there.

What a surprise! Shutting down the economy did not eradicate a virus.

So what did a lot of these people do when the second wave hit? They started shutting down the economy again.

It didn’t work the first time, so let’s keep trying the same approach and expect a different result. It’s genius!

This is clearly economically destructive. But again, economic prosperity is no longer the priority. All that matters is force-feeding people a false sense of safety.

Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York probably captured this mentality the best when he said back in May,

“We don’t want to lose any lives [to reopen the economy]. We’ll figure out the dollars, and we’ll figure out the economic impact, but we’ll protect people in the meantime, and we’ll protect their health.”

This is total BS. The sad reality is that lives are lost all the time in the normal course of economic activity.

In New York City, two workers died during the construction of Freedom Tower. Plus there were dozens of life-altering injuries, like spinal fractures and paralysis.

The government knew the tower’s construction would likely cost human lives. But they approved the construction permit regardless, because they knew the benefit would outweigh the human cost.

Similarly, over 100 people died constructing the Hoover Dam in the early 1930s. The government knew that people would die. But the benefit outweighed the cost.

Today there can be no discussion of cost or benefit. There is one priority, and it’s no longer economic

But the shift in priorities doesn’t stop there.

Basic fiscal responsibility is no longer a priority-- and it hasn’t been for a long time.

Most western governments were racking up enormous debts even before Covid started.

In the US, even during the economic boom of 2015-2018, the federal government added at least $1 trillion to the debt each year.

Now the debt growth is completely insane: the US Treasury Department expects to add $5-$6 trillion to the debt this calendar year.

(That’s more than the entire national debt as recently as 2001!)

And not to be outdone, the Federal Reserve has conjured trillions of dollars out of thin air since the start of Covid and slashed interest rates, once again, to zero.

Plus, there’s a good possibility they’ll make interest rates negative. Just imagine how much prosperity you’ll achieve once you have to start paying your bank just to save money.

Of course, all of these tactics-- printing money, going deeper into debt, negative interest rates, paying people $600/week to stay home and NOT work-- are destructive to economic prosperity.

Then we have the rise of the Bolsheviks… a growing chorus of politicians (and voters) who despise capitalism.

Like Seattle city councilwoman Kshama Sawant, who claimed she wants to overthrow “the racist, sexist, violent, utterly bankrupt system of capitalism” and replace it with “a socialist world.”

A few years ago this was a fringe view. Now it’s mainstream fever.

They want to get rid of capitalism-- the system that created the most prosperous nation in the history of the world-- and replace it with the same economic model as Cuba and the Soviet Union.

And Joe Biden, of course, unveiled his economic plan last month, built around ending “the era of shareholder capitalism.”

He wants the government (and Twitter mob) to set the priorities and stakeholders in your business, rather than the market.

This, again, is an obvious reflection of priorities. And economic prosperity is clearly not on the list.

Economic prosperity also takes a backseat to social justice.

Yes, most reasonable people probably agree that the mistreatment of minority groups should change. But that’s not an excuse to go on a violent rampage.

Yet whenever angry mobs take to the streets and destroy private property, the media elite and their political allies justify criminality as necessary to end systemic racism.

Meanwhile, universities have turned into hotbeds of progressive radicalism to perpetuate white fragility and the evils of capitalism.

Corporate America has also caved. You can’t even sell beans anymore without things turning political.

Countless people who are talented, productive, and made valuable contributions to their companies have been fired because they used the wrong words or expressed some intellectual dissent from the Twitter mob.

Firing a rock-star employee because of his/her personal (and non-controversial) views would ordinarily be considered completely stupid. But now it’s the norm… because economic prosperity is no longer the priority.

This trend is obvious: several powerful movements have gripped the world… and most of them are economically destructive.

So it’s not terribly difficult to see where things are headed.

To your freedom & prosperity, Simon Black, Founder, SovereignMan.com

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/economic-prosperity-is-no-longer-the-priority-guess-what-happens-next-28526/

4 Countries Welcoming the Digital Nomads During Covid

4 Countries Welcoming the Digital Nomads During Covid

Notes From The Field By Simon Black  August 5, 2020  Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Life has taken an eerie turn for digital nomads as their favorite cities emptied of tourists and foreigners working remotely. Tasha Prados arrived in Vietnam in late February, a few weeks before the country closed its borders.

On March 12, she received word that she had 10 days to request an evacuation to the US through her travel insurance. Tasha opted to stay in Vietnam, and rent a house with five other digital nomads. They hunkered down for what ended up being a much more mild lockdown compared to many places in the US and Europe.

Vietnam accomodated those digital nomads who stayed, by automatically extending visas.

Still, a large portion of digital nomads across the world likely went “home” as the pandemic hit-- which for many meant moving back in with mom and dad or another family member.

Now as a second wave hits, and lockdowns are continued or reintroduced-- including in Vietnam-- many digital nomads are wondering when they can get back to their nomadic lifestyle.

And that same question is on the minds of a lot of governments who understand that digital nomads are valuable assets to local economies.

They come to a country and spend money on rent, food, restaurants, and entertainment.

They don’t take local jobs, and they don’t ask for anything in return except for good weather, a low cost of living, a vibrant cultural and/or nightlife scene, and decent internet.

Usually, digital nomads can stay in their chosen country for 30 or 90 days at a time, depending on the host country’s visa policy. But that’s generally just not enough. It takes time to set up your “new office” and become truly productive in a new country.

The Republic of Georgia was first to realize that, and back in 2015, it allowed citizens from this laundry list of countries to stay in Georgia for a full year, no questions asked.

As a result, safe, inexpensive, culturally rich Georgia has become a popular place for digital nomads.

(One of our own Sovereign Man team members is currently living and working in Georgia, and is already penning a Sovereign Man: Confidential alert about what he has learned after spending a few months there.)

Now, Georgia is reportedly rolling out a new type of visa aimed explicitly at attracting digital nomads.

But Georgia isn’t the only country looking to boost its economy by attracting mobile people-- and their mobile incomes.

COVID-related travel bans dried up the flow of tourists, so other countries have realized that they, too, want productive digital nomads to come and stay.

Barbados was among the first to announce a “12-month Barbados Welcome Stamp”, allowing visitors to come to the country and work remotely for a full year in the Caribbean paradise.

Barbados does charge a $2,000 fee. But you won’t be liable for Barbados income taxes. Plus US citizens will likely qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Tax Exclusion, meaning the first $107,600 you earn abroad is tax free.

Another option: starting from August 1, Bermuda will let foreigners work remotely on the island for a full year, after paying a $263 fee.

However, you may want to think twice if you plan to save money. Bermuda offers a very civilized and safe environment, but the cost of living in Bermuda can be higher than in New York City.

If island life isn’t your thing, the European country of Estonia has long been known as a tech-friendly innovator. It offered its e-Residency program to anyone willing to run an Estonian-based business remotely.

However, the program did not offer the possibility to actually live in Estonia.

Now, Estonia has announced a new “Digital Nomad Visa” for remote workers, allowing them to stay and work in the country for a full year.

And while Estonia’s northern climate and cold Baltic sea aren’t so tropical, its Digital Nomad Visa can be an excellent opportunity to spend a year in Europe and explore the rest of the continent.

We expect a lot more countries - especially those with suffering tourism industries - to wake up to the realities of the 21st-century digital economy and to start rolling out similar offers.

Due to Covid, there are A LOT more people working from home, who have the freedom to pick up and move if they choose. And that could mean a huge wave of new digital nomads.

That’s pretty exciting. Digital nomads have been voting with their feet for a long time, and rewarding the countries with the best policies and atmospheres.

To Your Freedom & Prosperity Simon Black, Founder, SovereignMan.com

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/4-countries-welcoming-the-digital-nomads-during-covid-28499/

Mommy Put Us In Time-Out Again

Mommy Put Us In Time-Out Again

Notes From The Field By Simon Black August 4, 2020  Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

After a few weeks of freedom here in Puerto Rico where people could engage in dangerous, death-defying acts (like going to the gym), our all-knowing, all-powerful governor announced new lockdown rules late last week.

Or as I tell my friends, Mommy put us back in time-out.

This is not unique to Puerto Rico; several states and countries all over the world are imposing new waves of restrictions due to an uptick in Covid infections.

I find this all remarkable.

Several months ago when Covid was brand new, it was pretty scary. We knew nothing except that it was highly contagious and seemed deadly.

Politicians had to make hasty decisions with imperfect information in an extremely emotional environment… and it’s hard to begrudge them for that.

But it’s not March anymore. It’s August.

And they’ve had five months to gather their wits, summon their courage, and perform a rational cost/benefit analysis based on mountains of data that are now available.

CDC statistics, for example, show that 79.8% of Covid deaths are from retirees over the age of 65 who are no longer in the work force.

Yet politicians still want to prevent people in their prime working years from being able to work-- ages 25-64, whose mortality rate is very low according to CDC data.

Most importantly, the CDC states that out of all ‘Covid deaths’, 94% were actually related to some other condition besides (or in addition to) the Coronavirus.

“[O]n average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death” in addition to the Coronavirus.

For example, roughly 10% of patients aged 0-24 years who tested positive for the Coronavirus actually died due to poisoning, accident, or intentional injury.

Yet they’re still recorded as a ‘Covid death’.

This is not some wild conspiracy theory. The CDC posts this data on its public website for anyone who cares to look.

But you never hear about this in the media.

They’d rather fan the flames of panic and hysteria.

Just as soon as people start to feel a little bit comfortable again-- BOOM-- they shove some story in our faces about a healthy teenager who died of Covid... just to make sure we all stay afraid.

They forget to mention, of course, how extremely rare this is. The mortality rate for healthy people, and especially healthy young people, is absurdly low.

They also fail to mention that healthy young people even occasionally die of the flu.

In December, for example, a 16-year old girl from Ohio caught the flu. And yes, it was the flu, not Covid. She had influenza B. And she died.

This is extremely rare; the mortality rate for young people with influenza is negligible. But even still, it happens. Just like Covid.  Yet amazingly enough, they did not shut down the global economy because a 16-year old girl died of the flu.

Covid is different due to its asymptomatic transmission. And I’m not making light of its public health impact. It’s obviously a serious issue.

But my main point is that these politicians don’t make decisions based on a rational, data-driven cost/benefit analysis.

It’s just monkey see, monkey do nonsense.

If some governor in one state tightens restrictions, it’s politically safe and acceptable for another governor to follow along.

If everyone is doing it, the political consequences are pretty low... regardless of the economic consequences.

80% of Covid deaths are from people who are not actively contributing to economic production. And 94% of deaths are related to some other condition.

Yet their only solution is to shut down the economy and cost tens of trillions of dollars of prosperity… even though this ‘whack-a-mole’ approach has been ineffective at eliminating the virus.

Duh. You can’t just wait-out a virus. Even 7th grade biology students know that.

Meanwhile, US GDP is down 33%. In Europe it’s down 40%.

The Census Bureau reported that more than 100 million Americans went without a paycheck last week, and 30 million had to borrow money from friends and family to make it through the month.

Tens of millions are without work, countless businesses have gone under.

And the national debt is skyrocketing.

Just this morning, in fact, the US Treasury Department announced that it expects to borrow at least another $2 trillion between now and the end of December.

That will bring the total new additional debt for 2020 to more than $5 trillion. It’s staggering.

A banker friend of mine in Switzerland summed it up last week when he told me, “The more money they print and the more debt they borrow, the less anyone seems to care.”

He’s right. And that’s a pretty scary statement… because it means they’ll just keep piling up the destructive consequences without ever asking the difficult question: “Is it really worth it?”

To your Freedom & Prosperity  Simon Black, Founder, SovereignMan.com

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/mommy-put-us-in-time-out-again-28485/

Some Clear Thinking On Gold At Its All-Time High

Some Clear Thinking On Gold At Its All-Time High

Notes From The Field By Simon Black  August 3, 2020  Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a fan of Bruce Lee.  I was probably about four years old when I first watched one of his movies. And I was instantly hooked. The guy was legendary.

As a teenager, I learned more about how he lived, and I began to admire his tenacity, discipline, and relentless pursuit of self-improvement… qualities that I endeavored to attain. I remain a fan to this day. In fact there’s even a Bruce Lee mural on the wall at our office in Chile.

So when I had the opportunity to purchase some of Bruce Lee’s artwork a few years ago-- sketches that he drew with his own hand-- I jumped at the chance.  It cost me around $8,000… but it was the best money I ever spent. I had it professionally framed and hung in my home, and it’s probably my most prized possession.

I doubt I’ll ever sell it. But it’s the only asset that I allow myself to be sentimental about.

In everything else related to money, I force myself to be unemotional. I don’t fall in love with prospective investments, nor do I have an emotional attachment to businesses that I own.

You hear this a lot with entrepreneurs, who often refer to their companies as ‘their baby’.

I don’t have that view. Bruce Lee aside, I’m willing to sell any asset for the right price… especially if someone is willing to pay far more than what I think it’s worth, or what it could be worth in the future.

And this brings me to gold.

The price of gold is now at an all-time high in nearly every major currency, including US dollars. On Friday, in fact, gold briefly passed $2,000 per ounce, and it’s still hovering near that figure now.

A lot of people have an emotional attachment to gold… a borderline fanaticism.

I don’t. I write about gold quite frequently. But I’m not a ‘gold bug’.

My views on gold are unemotional, grounded in a rational understanding of gold’s advantages, and the disadvantages of the financial system. I’ve written about this extensively.

But one important thing to understand about gold is that it can be very difficult to value.

I can much more easily value a business like Apple, or private company that I own. The analysis is never perfect, but I can project future cash flows and market-based asset prices, and derive an appropriate value for what an asset is worth.

But gold does not intrinsically generate cash flow like a business or rental property, so that analysis doesn’t work.

People often try to predict the price of gold by examining certain financial benchmarks.

For instance, in theory there are some loose relationships between the gold price and the money supply. But these relationships are far from perfect.

The previous peak for gold was in 2011 when it reached around $1900. The gold price then fell for more than four years, reaching a low of around $1,000 in December 2015.

Yet during that 4+ year period, the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet increased 70% from $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion, and M2 money supply in the US increased 30% from $9.5 trillion to 12.3 trillion.

Gold should have performed well from 2011 to 2015 given all the money the Fed was printing. Yet instead the gold price fell.

There’s another theory that gold prices increase because the dollar is weak. But this relationship is also far from perfect.

In the summer of 2018, I wrote a note to our readers suggesting that it was a good time to buy gold, and that the price could double over the next few years.

At the time, the gold price was around $1200. But the ‘Dollar Index,’ i.e. the standard financial benchmark for the US dollar’s relative strength, was around 94.

Today gold is at a record high-- up more than 60% since I wrote that article. Yet the dollar index is almost exactly the same-- 93.8.

But if the theory is true, the gold price should be the same as it was in summer of 2016.

Finally, there’s a theory that the gold price is correlated with ‘real interest rates’, i.e. the rate of interest after adjusting for inflation.

This relationship is also far from perfect; real interest rates in 2011 and 2012, for example, were negative. Yet the gold price was falling.

Real rates in 2017 were rising. But the gold price was also rising. So this theory is also flawed.

The bottom line is that there’s no magic formula to tell us what the gold price should be. Dollar weakness, real rates, and money supply are all useful indicators. But they’re not predictors.

It’s fair to say, for example, that gold is still undervalued right now relative to recent growth in the Feds balance sheet.

Or that, over very long periods of time as central bankers print money and create inflation, gold tends to keep up.

After all, gold has a 5,000 year track record of holding its value against inflation.

In the short-term, however, the biggest driver of gold prices ironically seems to be emotion... specifically negative emotions like fear and mistrust.

Few people buy gold because they’re happy. Some forward-thinking central banks and investors may buy gold when it’s cheap because they understand its value and potential.

But for the most part, the price rises when people lose confidence in the financial system, in their government, in their central bankers, or in each other.

And that’s what we’re seeing now.

Nearly every government around the world looks incompetent and heavy handed against the Coronavirus.

Central bankers seem desperate.

Banks are sitting on trillions of dollars of losses, while regulators have actually asked the public ‘please do not withdraw your money.’

And social cohesion has practically collapsed. People are ripping each other apart over masks, social justice, political views, and just about everything else.

It’s hard to have trust and confidence at a time like this. And that’s been a key driver of the gold price.

If you own gold, congratulations. You’ve done well. But don’t be emotional about it.

A record high milestone like this is a good time to check your outlook; be rational and determine whether you want to buy, sell, or hold at this level.

Being rational means being able to see all sides of an issue.

You could easily make a strong case that the fear, uncertainty, and desperation could continue for quite some time. And that, long-term, gold continues to make sense.

You could also make a case that, given how quickly gold has risen in price, a short-term correction may be in order. Or that some of the fear subsides if a Covid vaccine is produced.

Remember that great quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald-- “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”

To your Freedom & Prosperity  Simon Black, Founder, SovereignMan.com

https://www.sovereignman.com/investing/some-clear-thinking-on-gold-at-its-all-time-high-28481/

And Suddenly Your Passport Is Worthless

And Suddenly Your Passport Is Worthless

Notes From the Field By Simon Black July 30, 2020  Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Imagine being a seventeen year old, travelling internationally, all by yourself. It’s scary, but exciting-- all the more so because you have been accepted to Harvard University.

You’ve worked your tail off for years, all culminating in this amazing opportunity for an education at one of the top schools in the world. And so, after an exhilarating summer travel adventure around the world, you hop a plane to the US where you’re set to start classes in a few days. All you have to do is clear customs and have your passport stamped by a US immigration official.

No problem, right? After all, Harvard students don't exactly fit the demographic of who might be “randomly” selected for more scrutiny at a US border crossing.

But that changes if you are a Palestinian national living in Lebanon.

Ismail Ajjawi already had his student-visa ready when he landed in Boston last August.

But Customs agents weren’t satisfied. They grilled him about his religious practices, and asked to see his phone and social media.

Ismail couldn’t say no or else he could be rejected from entering the country. So he handed over his digital life to be examined by border agents.

And those agents didn’t like what they saw.

Ismail’s friends were sharing political points of view that America-- or at least one American immigration official-- found objectionable.

Ismail himself had not shared, liked, or commented on these “objectionable” posts.

But regardless, Customs canceled Ismail’s visa, and deported him back to Lebanon.

Goodbye America. Goodbye Harvard education.

Hello the arbitrary and Byzatine process of crossing an American border.

It’s not hard to find horror story after horror story from people trying to deal with US customs.

You spend all this time and money to get everything in order, buy a ticket, and any random border agent can reject you for any reason.

US citizens, on the other hand, have long enjoyed one of the best travel documents in the world.

With a US passport you could enter 157 countries without having to even apply for a visa. Rarely did any US citizen get deported at a foreign border crossing.

But that has changed.

Now the US passport is practically worthless because of Covid-19 travel restrictions.

For example, the European Union remains closed to US citizens. But that ban doesn’t apply to Canadian, Chinese, or Uruguayan nationals to name a few examples.

US passport holders are down to being allowed access to only about three dozen countries.

Compared to before the pandemic, it is like having a passport from Haiti, Tunisia, or Botswana.

Sure, the US passport may regain all its clout and privilege after the pandemic.

Then again it might not.

Certain temporary emergency measures might become permanent.

Just think about all the new security features to travel after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) and DHS (Department of Homeland Security) were born.

Screening procedures intensified. Agents could now feel you up and down. Then came naked body scanners and the Real ID requirement.

The ratchet effect makes it easy to lose your freedoms, but a lot harder to regain them.

It’s easy to imagine that many Covid restrictions will remain. And that if your passport is on a list of ‘unsafe countries’, you’ll need to apply for a visa before you can travel.

The good news is, you don’t have to be stuck with any passport simply by accident of birth. You can obtain a second (or third, fourth, and fifth passport should you desire).

There are four main ways to obtain a second passport: through ancestry, naturalization, “flexibility” (like marriage, adoption, or even converting to Judaism), or investment.

The citizenship by investment option allows you to become a citizen of another country by buying property, investing in a business, or giving a direct donation to a country’s development fund.

It is the quickest option for acquiring a second passport, but also the most expensive.

But with tourism essentially halted, Carribean countries are desperate for revenue. So they are lowering their prices on purchasing a passport.

St. Lucia has become one of the cheapest in the world for single applicants because of the new Covid discounts.

You can now buy a $250,000 bond from St. Lucia which will be paid back (without interest) after five years.

That means after the bond is returned, you could buy citizenship for as little as the cost of the filing fee– about $40,000.

Antigua and Barbuda (which has a similar program) has also cut its fees through October 31, 2020 making it the cheapest option for a whole family looking to buy citizenship.

[And members of our inner circle, Sovereign Man Total Access, are able to acquire these passports even cheaper thanks to a special arrangement in two Carribean nations. The savings can easily amount to $15,000 to $20,000 or more.]

But are these passports really better than a US passport?

Right now, yes.

St. Lucians can travel to Japan, for instance. But if you only have a US passport, you’re banned.

St. Lucians are also currently allowed into the UK with no requirements to quarantine-- US citizens have to isolate for two weeks.

In the future, who knows. But these tiny Carribean island nations at least won’t be giant targets, caught up in diplomatic retaliation from trade or immigration wars.

US citizens, on the other hand, could easily see increased restrictions due to diplomatic tensions with other countries.

In other words, nobody has a bone to pick with a St. Lucian. And no one is ever going to hijack an airplane and threaten to start killing St. Lucians.

And with a St. Lucian passport--or any second citizenship-- you always have at least one other option for where you can travel away from your homeland.

That means another option to live, work, invest, or hunker down for a global pandemic… or whatever comes next.

To your freedom & prosperity, Simon Black, Founder, SovereignMan.com

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/and-suddenly-your-passport-is-worthless-28467/

This Is Bigger Than Covid But Few People Are Paying Attention

This Is Bigger Than Covid But Few People Are Paying Attention

Notes From the Field By Simon Black July 27, 2020  Bahia Beach, Puerto Rico

Most people realize that 2020 has thrust two game-changing trends upon us that will change the world for years to come.

The first is Covid.

In less than six months, this virus has created extreme global hysteria and economic devastation. Countless businesses have gone bust or are teetering on the edge. Tens of millions of jobs have been lost.  Government debt around the world has exploded higher. And their heavy-handed abuse of power has been astonishing… often incomprehensible.

Politicians and public health officials have suspended many of our most fundamental freedoms, threatened to come into our homes and take our family members away, and even banished us from our own private properties.

We’ve also seen a breakdown in basic social conventions.  Family and friends have stopped gathering together in person out of fear that someone may be a carrier. Weddings and funerals are virtual. And a simple handshake is practically considered an act of biological terrorism.

And, just like 9/11 nearly two decades ago, many effects of Covid will never return to ‘normal’.

Then there's the social justice movement... which tore onto the world stage two months ago with a desire to make important cultural changes.

At its core, the movement is virtuous. After all, it’s supposed to be about freedom.

But it has quickly become divisive, menacing, and pointlessly violent.

Everything is offensive. Intellectual dissent must be immediately squashed. People lose their jobs, receive death threats, or are censored, merely for expressing completely valid (and even supportive) opinions.

And some of the largest corporations in the world have all submitted to the Twitter mob, like Nazi collaborators in France who began goose-stepping with the Wehrmacht the moment Hitler took Paris.

History is being rewritten. Vocabulary is being replaced. And any civil discourse results in persecution.

Just like lingering Covid effects, this social turmoil will also be with us for years. Don’t fool yourself into believing it’s some some flash in the pan that will be over in a few weeks.

But what I wanted to tell you today is that there is a THIRD, major trend brewing right now. And it could prove to be even bigger than Covid, bigger than the social justice movement.

It’s not one that evokes the same emotion. So you won’t see too many people marching in the streets or cowering in fear in their homes. There’s no hysteria.

This third major trend is rational. And that’s why it’s largely been ignored. But its impact could be far bigger and longer lasting.

I’m talking about conflict with China.

Over the past several months we’ve witnessed a minor trade dispute between the United States and China escalating into a major diplomatic conflict, and now, into full-blow Cold War.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left no doubt about this when he essentially declared cold war against China’s communist party in a speech late last week:

“If we bend the knee now, our children’s children may be at the mercy of the Chinese Communist Party, whose actions are the primary challenge today in the free world.

General Secretary Xi is not destined to tyrannize inside and outside of China forever, unless we allow it.

Richard Nixon was right when he wrote in 1967 that ‘the world cannot be safe until China changes.’ Now it’s up to us to heed his words.

Today the danger is clear. And today the awakening is happening.

Today the free world must respond. We can never go back to the past.”

It’s pretty incredible how China has already managed to get most of the world to bend to its will.

There are so many examples of this; major US airlines like Delta and American, have scrubbed references to “Taiwan” on their websites so as not to offend the Chinese communist party.

Hollywood, despite constantly thrusting its woke social justice politics in everyone’s faces, refuses to utter the slightest criticism of China, simply so they can squeeze out more box office revenue there.

And the National Basketball Association squashed an executive for Tweeting support to Hong Kong protesters last year.

Even the league’s biggest and most outspoken star, Lebron James, meekishly told reporters that China has “a complicated issue with racial, socioeconomic and geopolitical layers" and that he saw “little upside in speaking up” against the Chinese communist party.

Comparing sports team owners to ‘slave owners’ is perfectly fine. But don’t say anything bad about China!

In addition to Pompeo’s speeech, the US-China conflict escalated last week when the US government ordered the Chinese to close its consulate in Houston, Texas.

The Chinese government retaliated by closing a US consulate in China.

This is after months of sanctions, asset seizures, tariffs, arrests, expelling of foreign journalists, and plenty of tension about the Coronavirus.

I know there’s a lot of fear that an actual shooting war will break out between the US and China. And that is a possibility.

I’m probably biased as a West Point graduate, but I’m convinced that the US Marine Corps and Army Rangers are the most proficient fighting forces in the world.

But the reality is that China has a bigger army. It's better equipped with newer, better technology. Its tanks are superior, and it has more of them.

China has also been investing heavily in its Navy and Air Force; it already has more ships than the US Navy, and it has also rolled out a fifth-generation fighter jet, the J-20, to compete head-to-head against the US military's F-22 and F-35.

But that's just conventional warfare. The next war will be highly unconventional... and the Chinese are dominant in "system destruction warfare".

They could take down the US power grid, hack multiple defense and intelligence networks, and remotely disrupt key US command and control elements, before a single shot was fired.

This is not my assessment; the Pentagon has been wargaming conflict between the US and China for years. And in the words of one researcher who has participated in these scenarios, the US “gets its ass handed to it.”

Fortunately, a shooting war is unlikely. Why would China want to invade the US and deal with 400 million guns in the hands of the civilian population?

Why would the US want to invade China and deal with another Vietnam war?

War doesn’t benefit either nation, and on that basis it’s possible… but not probable.

What is likely is a total reset in the global financial system.

The current “Bretton Woods” financial system in which the US economy and US dollar are at the center of the global economy is decades old.

The US has derived extraordinary wealth and prosperity from this system for years.

Bretton Woods is the reason why the US national debt can be nearly $27 trillion (over 100% of GDP) without the dollar collapsing in value.

It’s the reason why the Federal Reserve can conjure trillions of dollars out of thin air and keep interest rates at 0% for years, but still be taken seriously.

Losing this advantage would be nothing short of catastrophic for the US economy.

And continued conflict with China is the one thing that is practically guaranteed to make it happen.

That’s why this trend-- conflict with China-- could be the biggest thing happening right now.

It’s not as scary as Covid, it’s not as emotional as social justice… but the effects may be permanently devastating.

To your freedom & prosperity, Simon Black, Founder, SovereignMan.com

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/this-is-bigger-than-covid-but-few-people-are-paying-attention-28428/