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Food has become a prime target for thieves, and that should deeply alarm all of us.  Once upon a time, shoplifting was a minor nuisance for most retailers in the United States.  But today the game has completely changed.  Highly organized gangs of thieves are systematically looting stores all over the country, and this is costing retailers billions upon billions of dollars.  Authorities call it “organized retail crime”, but I call it complete and utter lawlessness.  When you have large groups of people storming retail stores all over the nation on a regular basis, that is a major crisis.

Originally, a lot of these gangs were primarily targeting goods that could be resold on the Internet very easily.  But now a lot of grocery stores are being targeted, and food is being stolen on a scale that we have never seen before.

In New York City, things have gotten so bad that some stores are thinking of implementing dramatic measures.  The following comes from a Fox News article entitled “NYC grocery stores consider locking up food due to rampant theft; workers are ‘traumatized’”…

Shampoo, toothpaste, and razor blades are all items that grocery stores have increasingly started locking behind counters. Soon, that list might include food.

“People have no fear of coming to your store and stealing,” said Nelson Eusebio of the National Supermarket Association.

“Our employees are terrified,” Eusebio continued. “We have young people that come to work, young cashiers who work part-time, these kids are 16-17 years old. They’re traumatized.”

When I first started warning that we are becoming a “Mad Max society”, a lot of people thought that I was exaggerating.

Sadly, the breakdown of law and order just continues to accelerate in many of our largest cities.  In fact, it is being reported that grand larcenies “were up 80% in New York City last year”…

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has made a point of combating the repeat offenses. “Criminals believe our criminal justice system is a joke,” Adams said in comments referring to a serial intruder who was arrested and released 26 times. “Those arrested for grand larceny go to court, get released and on their way home from court, they’re doing another grand larceny.”

According to the New York Police Department, grand larcenies, thefts of over $1,000, were up 80% in New York City last year.

Only an 80 percent increase?

Yes, that sounds perfectly “normal” to me.

In other areas of the country, shortages are the big news right now.

I never imagined that Costco would totally run out of eggs in early 2023, but this has actually happened at many of their stores.

This Costco is now completely sold out of eggs.

2020 was toilet paper.
2023 is going to be a run on eggs. Get yours now.

Part of this is avian flu and reduced numbers production.

sound … pic.twitter.com/GfyyEu2dpz

— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) January 10, 2023

As I discussed yesterday, bird flu is one of the factors that is causing supplies of eggs to get tighter.

But as the farmer in this video explains, it is certainly not the only factor.

The real reason for the egg shortage is NOT avian flu.

According to this farmer … the producers can’t cover their costs, so there are now millions of fewer hens, and many millions of fewer eggs produced PER DAY.

sound …

pic.twitter.com/GcYd1pHPZ0

— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) January 10, 2023

No matter how high interest rates go, people still need to eat.

So the Federal Reserve can hike rates to the moon, but food prices are still going to remain ridiculously high.

However, higher rates will crush many other areas of the economy, and some of the biggest names in the corporate world are now conducting mass layoffs…

Goldman Sachs is just the latest firm to reduce its size in recent months. Morgan Stanley announced that it would cut two percent of its staff in December, Amazon plans to cut over 18,000 jobs, and Salesforce announced it would cut ten percent of its workforce and close some offices last week.

While white collar workers were less affected by the COVID-19 pandemic lock-downs than their blue collar counterparts, many jobs were simply done remote instead of being cut, professionals are now bearing the brunt of the economic headwinds America faces.

When are people going to finally understand that we have a major league crisis on our hands?

When Goldman Sachs lays off large numbers of workers, that is a red flag.

When Morgan Stanley lays off large numbers of workers, that is a red flag.

When Amazon lays off large numbers of workers, that is a red flag.

Facebook, Twitter, McDonald’s and Walmart are also laying off workers.

As they used to say in the 1980s, it is time to wake up and smell the coffee.

At this point things are so grim that the World Bank is warning that the entire global economy could plunge into a recession this year…

The global economy is just one more knock away from a second recession in the same decade, something that hasn’t happened in more than 80 years.

That’s the latest warning from the World Bank, which on Tuesday sharply lowered its forecast for global economic growth.

As economic conditions deteriorate, people are going to become increasingly desperate.

And desperate people do desperate things.

So if you think that organized retail theft is bad now, just wait until you see what is ahead.

The social deterioration that we have been witnessing over the past several years will soon accelerate significantly, and that is really bad news for all of us.

Many retail stores on both coasts have already closed due to the epidemic of theft that we are experiencing, and a whole lot more will soon be permanently shut down.

We really are in the process of becoming a “Mad Max society”, and we only have ourselves to blame.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

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Wondering How The World Will End?

Today, I’m going to share what I believe are the 9 biggest threats to humanity.

Each of these threats has the potential to destroy our way of life.

Heck, some of these threats could be existential.

And unfortunately, the likelihood of any of the following threats occurring in our lifetimes is rising.

Why? Because as technology advances exponentially and the interconnected nature of the world continues unabated, the probability (and size) of great human mistakes also increase.

And here’s what’s truly concerning…

When you add up the chances of at least 1 of the following 9 threats occurring in our lifetimes, it seems all but certain we’ve got some tough times ahead.

Perhaps we’ll see with our own eyes exactly how the world ends…

Hey, I’m Jack – cofounder of SkilledSurvival.com and TheResilientLife.com. I have a huge favor to ask; if you learn something new today, please subscribe to my youtube channel (see the video below).

Seriously, it really helps me out.

Note: You can either watch the video below or skip over it and continue reading the article; the content is nearly identical.

The 9 Biggest Threats To Life As We Know It

1. Nuclear War

If you could convert every atom in a tiny paper clip into pure energy (leaving no mass whatsoever), it would yield roughly 18 kilotons of TNT!

That’s the size of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.

Hard to believe? Yes, but the proof is in the equation:

E=mc²

It looks so compact and harmless without any context, right?

But that’s massively misleading; the information contained in that equation is powerful enough to end all human civilization.

In physics, energy and mass are different forms of the same thing.

So, if you split an atom (mass), you force the mass to convert into energy. But a tiny mass stores a MASSIVE amount of potential energy based on E=Mc².

The Real Meaning of E=mc²

This is why nukes are so dammed scary.

This equation was discovered by genius mathematician Albert Einstein, who fully understood the consequences of this discovery.

He once said,

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”

While he didn’t call out Nuclear War specifically, he understood that this powerful equation (and future weapons) would no longer affect just local societies alone.

We now (for the first time in history) achieve the power, tech, know-how, and capability to end the world.

Some nuclear experts predict that a massive nuclear exchange of weapons between major superpowers would not only destroy hundreds of major cities in the blast (and potentially billions of lives), but the radioactive fallout would also kill millions (perhaps billions) more over the following years.

Worst yet, radioactive fallout in high dosages can cause hyper-aggressive cancers in humans. Any with high levels of radioactive fallout exposure would become the literal walking dead (they won’t know it until it’s too late!).

How to Survive Nuclear Fall Out

Bunkers Not Basements

And basements offer very little protection. You need feet (not inches) of dense concrete or packed dirt to slow down the deadly onslaught of radioactive fallout.

Not only this, but some folks believe global temperatures would plummet after such a nuclear exchange. This is due to the massive amount of dust and ash it would thrust into our upper atmosphere.

This blanket of ash would significantly reduce the intensity of solar rays reaching the earth’s surface.

This, in turn, would make growing crops anywhere near current yields all but impossible. And thus, create a worldwide famine for decades to come.

Nuclear Winter Nightmare

World Wide Political Tensions Are On The Rise

And unless you’ve been living under a rock, the threat of all-out nuclear war is rising due to unrelenting worldwide political tensions.

Plus, every year, more and more rogue Nation States are rushing to join the nuclear proliferation club.

All these facts add up to one hell of a scary future. And this is why Nuclear War is at the very top of this “how the world ends” threat list.

2. Super Artificial Intelligence

I used to think Super AI was just a silly Hollywood trope. I mean, the Terminator movies were interesting in the mid-80s and early 90s but back then, I thought they had very little semblance to reality.

Well…I now believe I was wrong.

I’ve changed my mind after reading an incredible article about Super AI from the blog WaitButWhy.

This article lays out the incredible risk of Super AI in a way that’s easy to understand and with enough detail to punch you in the gut.

The truth is, there’s no way for me to go over the entire argument here, you should read the article yourself, but today, I’ll give you a short introduction.

Super Intelligence Is Closer Than You Think

First off, Super AI is not as far off from reality as most people think…

Why? Because technological advancement is NOT linear, it’s exponential. So, the time between one major technological advancement to the next is shrinking, FASTER and FASTER.

For example, computing power doubles every 18 months.

At that rate, at the beginning of computing power, you’ll see very little progress for a long time… And then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, in a blink of an eye, computers have the same brain power as humans.

This is why I believe Super AI is NOT far off; a “best guess” based on “expert” consensus is around 2040…

And THAT might be too conservative.

Why? Because we’ve already seen some evidence of robots making their own decisions…And some computer programs beat humans in complicated strategic games such as Chess.

And yes, these AI systems are NOT “Super AI”…yet.

Super AI would be achieved when a “thinking” robot connects to the internet and learn EVERYTHING humans have ever written or known.

And with all this intellectual power (of new-aged physics, nanoparticles, quantum mechanics, psychology, biology, philosophy, etc.), such a super AI computer would be a “conscious” entity way smarter than any human.

And not by a small margin either; by a MASSIVE amount. I’m talking about God-like Super Intelligence.

And with this superior intellect, what are these robots now capable of? Well, damn near ANYTHING.

Elon Musk | Superintelligent AI is an Existential Risk To Humanity

Will Super AI Have A Moral Compass?

And will these “awake” robots have a moral compass? Will they adopt human-based ethics?

Perhaps they might, IF (big if) humans program them with one. But we humans are not nearly as intelligent as we “think” we are. And it’s way more complicated than it seems to put human-based moral guardrails into a computer program.

And this is assuming humans could even agree on morals, which we all know is a big reason for massive riffs in society since Adam and Eve.

The best attempt I’ve come across to write such a code says something like,

“Our coherent extrapolated volition is our wish if we knew more, thought faster, were more the people we wished we were, had grown up farther together; where the extrapolation converges rather than diverges, where our wishes cohere rather than interfere; extrapolated as we wish that extrapolated, interpreted as we wish that interpreted.”20

Or, here’s my attempt at a translation,

“We realize we don’t know as much as we think we know, so please take pity on us, and treat us like we’d like to be treated if we, indeed, knew as much as you know now. And, Oh, don’t eliminate us! Thanks”.

If we can maintain some human moral compass within a Super AI computer, perhaps, they’ll help humanity usher in a better future. A utopia without diseases, famine, strife, or aging.

If We Fail? Then What?

But if we fail and they consider humans a cancer to be eliminated…then what?

I mean, if you were super intelligent, would you want to “save” humanity? Or get rid of us and move on?

No one knows, but if they decide to eliminate us, they will have the tech and knowledge to do so easily in any number of ways.

Nuclear bombs, Cyber-attacks, nano weapons. A Super AI could get access to EVERYTHING, launch ANYTHING, or create whatever it needs.

It could trick humans, manipulate leaders, and save or ruin us all…

If it’s amoral or, worse, evil…we don’t stand a chance.

Now, the point isn’t to figure out EXACTLY how this will all play out. The point is Super AI is a REAL potential threat to humanity.

I believe Super AI is a significant contender for how the world ends.

Superintelligent A.I. Will Be Unstoppable

3. Cyber Warfare

Have you ever heard of the term “Zero Day Exploits”?

They’re a term used in the hacker world to reference the “most powerful and potent software vulnerabilities.” And these “zero-day” vulnerabilities are at the heart of a new-aged underground arms race.

Why? Because hoarding these “zero-day exploits” allows Nation States to easily spy on each other through tech devices and the internet.

The most extreme examples of this are tech allows anyone with a particular “Zero Day” to infiltrate ANYONE’s phone ANYWHERE in the world, PASSIVELY (meaning you don’t need to get an active click first).

It’s spyware called Pegasus.

Israeli Pegasus spyware used ‘zero click-attack’ to infect smartphones

That’s right, the BEST (maybe I should say worst?) “Zero Day” exploits can get into nearly any security system and pull whatever levers it chooses unbeknownst to the user.

What Cyber Warfare Looks Like

This goes WAY beyond spying and privacy concerns. I’m talking about blowing up nuclear plants (from within) by:

• Changing factory PLC controllers
• Shutting down power plants
• Frying electrical transformers.
• Cutting off oil pipelines and refiners
• Messing with food delivery systems and logistics, causing havoc in critical supply chains.

How Will The World End – Book Recommendation

All these possible threats are laid out in a gripping book, “This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends.”

It’s an excellent book if you want to know more about this threat, including cyber-weapons history, how we got here, and what the future may hold.

The bottom line is I’m now convinced cyber warfare is one of the most underappreciated threats to harm society right NOW.

Unlike Super AI, this is NOT a future threat; it’s a current ongoing underground war most folks have very little idea is taking place.

At least not until their power is out and gas stations are empty with no end in sight…

Then we’ll fully understand and suffer the dire consequences and experience firsthand how the world ends for us all.

Cyberwarfare| How World War 3 Will Be Fought

4. Bioengineering

Why do humans have to mess around with things we don’t understand? How does it make any sense to create biological chemicals and weapons that can destroy mankind?

Because THAT is where bioengineering is headed.

Again, as technology advances exponentially, the ability for more and more people to access bioengineering knowledge, skills & tools continue to grow.

And I don’t care how “secure” any bio-facility claims to be – the existential risks are not worth the “rewards.”

Engineering Viruses Are the New Biological Weapons

Controlling Access To This Tech IS A Major Problem

It’s no longer JUST Nation States with the tech to manipulate biological diseases to make them more dangerous and contagious. Every year, biotech equipment gets cheaper and more accessible to more and more groups of humans.

How many years in the future will some brilliant, disgruntled high school student decide to replicate an Ebola virus that’s more contagious and deadly?

That possibility is NOT science fiction – sure, we’re not there yet, but such a reality is on the horizon.

And well before we ever get THERE, terrorist groups and rogue nation states will be there first – perhaps only a few years away from such immense power.

I’ve even heard it may be possible in the future to create a bioengineered virus that only targets specific people with specific DNA profiles.

Congressman warns DNA tests could be used for a bioweapon

So, let’s say a deadly virus that only kills you if you have a certain percentage of bloodlines (i.e., European, Asian, African, Native American, etc.)?

The sad truth is we’re already messing with things we don’t fully understand, and any mistake (or attack) could prove deadly to most of humanity.

This sure sounds like how to world ends to me.

But is it possible to avoid such a terrible fate? To figure out how to control these existential bioengineering advancements? To only use them for “good” and not “evil.”

With humans, the answer is NO!

Out-of-control bioengineering could very well be how the world ends.

5. Nano Weapons

As we discussed earlier, nuclear bombs are a massive threat in destruction potential. But since humans can’t convert ALL mass into energy (yet), most nukes are relatively large.

They currently require some rocket launcher, or they’re dropped from planes.

Perhaps they could be loaded into a semi-trailer, but we can all agree you can’t sneak them into a purse, right?!?

With the advancement of nanotechnology, THAT will no longer be the case…

Mini Nukes

What if I told you the technology to put a micro nuclear weapon that could fit in a purse was just around the corner?

Nanotechnology allows the manufacture of mini-nuke components so small that they are difficult to screen and detect. The mini weapon (equivalent to about 100 tons of TNT) could be less than 5 lbs. and could easily destroy skyscrapers.

Nanodevices are machines much smaller in size than the strand of human hair, making them nearly undetectable to the human eye.

In the future, insect-like nanobots could be programmed to perform various tasks, such as spying on political opponents or contaminating the water supply of a major city with ease.

Or a nano drone could fly into a room and drop poison into food or a drink to target a particular individual.

Again, the exponential growth of tech is the common denominator here. As these technologies continue to appear, their risks also continue to grow.

10 TINY Micro Robots and Nano Drones

And humans will be behind the curve ball in controlling or combating such tech if used by bad actors.

Having this sort of tech in the hands of major Nation States is scary enough, but what happens with small groups or individuals gain access to this end-of-the-world tech?

Again, we’re talking scary how the world ends tech here.

6. Widespread Famine & Droughts

This is the first threat to humanity that’s not directly rooted in technology. I mean, famines and water shortages are ancient threats, right?

From the beginning of human history, the fear of starvation and dehydration has terrorized us all.

In the past, famines primarily came from weather-related events (floods/droughts) or war.

And while these root causes of famine still exist today, the scope, severity, and likelihood are all on the rise. And not only THAT, but there are a few new contributors as well.

For example, topsoil depletion is a genuine problem.

One in which will not only result in less food (due to lower crop yields) but also the food that’s harvested having fewer nutrients.

Why The World Is Running Out Of Soil

So over time, the amount of food and the “value of the food” will undermine our already precarious food security.

So even IF wars don’t break out (which is highly unlikely) and politicians work together (even less likely), the depletion of topsoil nutrients may no longer be able to support the extreme size of humanity.

Again, I don’t have an exact timetable here, and perhaps with all our new tech, we can figure this problem out, but the trends are concerning, and the risk of worldwide famine is increasing at an alarming rate.

And I haven’t even touched on climate change, which we all know will worsen famines and droughts. That’s why I think this could be how the world ends.

Why California is Running Out of Water

7. Out Of Control Tyrannical Governments

The increased potential for Tyrannical Governments (in traditionally free Western Societies) is on the rise. And I believe 2 main forces are driving this trend toward Tyranny.

1. The Rise of Post-Modern, Nihilism Philosophies
2. Decentralization (via Loss of Narrative & Money Supply Control)

Let me dive into each of these a bit to help you understand what I mean.

1. The Rise of Post-Modern, Nihilism Philosophies

This philosophical threat was brought to my attention by Dr. Jordan Peterson.

Perhaps you’ve heard of him? If not, he’s a phycologist from Canada who’s been outspoken about the new radical left.

Now, his arguments are full of nuance and details I can only hope touch on…

So, here’s my best attempt to summarize his argument:

Over the past few decades, our universities have promoted a postmodern, Nihilistic doctrine. This way of thinking has absolutely dominated the humanities and social sciences.

The postmodernists completely reject the structure of Western Civilization. They call Western Civilization a phallocentric society, one that’s steeped in male domination. And is oppressive and self-serving to everyone EXCEPT for privileged white males.

And, of course, there’s a thread of truth to these concerns because there’s never been a shortage of flaws in any structured society.

No matter how people decide to structure things, there will be winners and losers because, as humans, we’re NOT angels, and this is NOT heaven!

There will be those in power and those without. There’s no way around that FACT.

Western Society Vs. Tyranny & Communism

But when you compare Western Society to the rest of the world, it’s proven to be vastly better and fairer in structure than anything else ever offered.

Western Society (with all its flaws) is still FAR BETTER than tyrannical Governments and Communism when it comes to individual freedoms and human rights, and it’s not even close.

What The Post-Modernists (a.k.a radical left) Believe

But postmodernists don’t accept that. They don’t have a shred of gratitude in their philosophy.

Instead, they’re driven by resentment. Resentment and bitterness, even though they’re bathed in relative wealth. And living with resentment as your central ethos is a horrible, destructive way to live.

Postmodernists also don’t believe in the individual; they don’t believe in logic, and they don’t believe in dialogue to figure things out through the exchange of ideas.

They disagree with letting others speak (with “wrong” ideas)– it’s not part of their ethos.

Postmodernists believe your fundamental identity is group fostered – you’re an exemplar of your race, your sex, your ethnicity, etc.

And based on these categories, you fall either into a group called “victim” or a group called “oppressor.” This is similar to Marxist ideas of “elites vs. workers.”

This creates a power struggle. Oppressors are vilified and must be removed from power and demonized.

It’s never about competence. It’s about perceived oppression for all past sins, with no exceptions.

They believe anyone in the “oppressors’ category” must be removed and will longer get a seat at the table – regardless of their individual contributions, morality, or competence.

And this dangerous idea of “oppressors vs. victims” is behind many historical human tragedies worldwide.

The Biggest THREAT To Our Society We MUST FIGHT Against

Complex Systems Break With Incompetence

Things don’t go well when you no longer run society with the most competent people. Complex systems tend to break economically and logistically and collapse in on themselves.

Sorry, but putting people who are not competent in positions of power (CEOs, Government agencies, Judicial appointments, politicians) is complete folly for society.

Having people who are “good at being victims” gain power and influence and run critical businesses and government agencies creates an escalating downward spiral into economic depression and collapse.

Again, we have many issues in our Western Society that should be addressed within the current system to make it better and fairer and support those oppressed.

But it is a very dangerous experiment to throw it all away and start over with absolute power in the hands of those who are good at being victims.

2. Decentralization

Now on top of this “trend to overthrow current Western culture,” let’s add a bit of decentralization into the mix, and you have a very potent brew for Tyranny…

FACT: Those who control the Narrative & money supply control the people.

So, what do you think happens when Nation States (who’ve been controlling the Narratives and Money Supplies for centuries) lose this control?

Historical Upheaval Due To The Printing Press

The last time there was massive Narrative upheaval was after the first scalable printing press was developed (in the 1400s).

Soon after, the powerful Church, Priests, and Monarchies could no longer control the masses with their interpretations of the Bible (and other works of literature).

With the printing press, people could, for the first time, read and decide for themselves.

This one invention alone turned the world on its head. The centuries following that invention destroyed the power structure of Priests and Monarchies.

Many historians believe the printing press was a significant contributor to the Thirty Years’ War that changed the world from Monarchy rule and gave rise to the modern Nation State.

Our Modern-Day Printing Press Moment

Well, the next wave of Narrative upheaval is here via the internet. And this time, the modern “Nation-State” is in the upheaval crosshairs…

But just like the change from Monarchy to Nation States, will the ones in power willingly give up control? Or will they enact more and more Tyranny in a desperate effort to keep and maintain control?

This shift in control is one of the key reasons why Tyranny will continue to rise.

Narrative Control Is Slipping Away

In the past, Nation States used mainstream media to control the news narrative (i.e., propaganda). There were only a handful of news networks and newspapers, so the Governments could pressure these gatekeepers to keep information in check.

But with the internet and social media, the narrative control is slipping away FAST. Between sites like Twitter and Substack, there’s no longer any barrier to entry into the “narrative” or truth domain.

Anyone with a computer and a voice can create a media channel, and inconvenient ideas (that go counter to what the Government would like) can be distributed across the globe with the click of a button.

That is why these ideas are being labeled as “disinformation” and “mis-information” – that’s the Government trying to keep control of the Narrative by shutting down inconvenient messaging.

Joe Rogan is a perfect example of this. His podcast draws in 11 million viewers per show on average.

This is much bigger than traditional news media such as CNN Primetime (less than a million per show).

But Joe doesn’t cover news and information in small unsatisfying “quick takes” or gotcha “sound bites.” Instead, he deep dives into nuanced conversations about complex topics covering philosophy and politics and challenging the “experts.”

This is very inconvenient for the government and those in power.

And this trend (this inconvenience) will only worsen, and governments worldwide will NOT go quietly into the night. To continue to hold onto power for as long as possible, they’ll be forced to attack those who challenge them.

Attack them by shutting them down and getting rid of them if necessary. This Is Tyranny 101.

Money Supply Control Is Slipping As Well

And not only THAT, but the Nation States also need to control the money supply. They need to be able to track individual incomes and tax them at rates that keep the money coming in.

If they lose the ability to track and tax, what happens? Well…the entire Nation State structure fails.

If Governments stay large and revenues go down? It’s only a matter of time before things get worse.

And before the advent of cryptocurrencies, there was no threat of losing money control. But now, with crypto and encryption, there are more ways to get around Government taxation.

And not only THAT, but more and more billionaires can leave their Country of origin and move somewhere much more friendly to their bottom line. Heck, some live on Yachts and avoid taxation altogether.

These “super-rich” are avoiding massive taxation, money modern Nation States need to survive into the future.

How the Rich & Powerful Hide Their Money

If the taxation supply shrinks, Governments will be forced to shrink, go further into debt, or attack those who they believe are “cheating” and raise taxes on everyone across the board to protect their size and power.

But as taxes rise, more people will be incentivized to find ways to avoid being taxed. This is another dangerous cycle, where a Nation State will be forced to become increasingly authoritarian to keep its power to control the populace.

Because, again, those who control the Narrative and the money supply have ALL the power.

These 2 major trends, “dangerous philosophical ideas and decentralization,” in much of modern Society are all pointing towards greater and greater Tyranny.

Perhaps even a lawless, collapsed society where your own Government is NOT your friend but the enemy.

Another terrifying example of how the world may end…

8. Antibiotic Resistance

The medical miracle of antibiotics has saved countless lives over the centuries. But this miracle may be quickly coming to an end.

Before Antibiotics

Bacterial infections have killed untold numbers of folks throughout human history. Why? Because without antibiotics, it doesn’t take much for an infection to fester and overwhelm your immune system to the point of death.

It was a very common way to die before the advent of modern-day antibiotics.

Now, with antibiotics, if you get an infection, you go to the doctor, who prescribes the proper dosages, and the infection goes away.

But due to humans’ tendency to not finish their proscribed antibiotic regimen, not all the sneaky bacteria die. A few little buggers survive. And those that survive, well, they build up a bit of resistance to the antibiotics.

This is bad because, over the years, the bacterial microbes that’ve had repeated exposure to the antibiotics survive and build up increasing resistance to them.

So now, when you take the meds that should kill the infection, they don’t.

And this has been happening at an alarming rate over the past few years. More bacteria are getting harder to kill. And our very best antibiotics are no longer working.

And not only THAT, but at the same time, we’re running out of new antibiotics to fight these resistant bacteria strains.

Antibiotic Resistance | Are we creating super bacteria?

The Modern Miracle Of Antibiotics Is Ending

Basically, the modern miracle of antibiotics is losing its magic AND FAST.

The future could be full of many more deaths due to bacterial infection, more in line with the past.

For example, in 2019, more than 1.2 million people (potentially more) died directly from antibiotic-resistant infections. And this will only get worse as we have yet to come up with alternative treatments.

Such a future of mass death due to antibacterial resistance could create an untenable strain on our medical systems and many other modern-day grids.

This could lead to an exponentially downward spiral of death and economic collapse, and a prime example of how the world ends.

9. Inflation Leading To Complete Economic Collapse

HyperInflation

How about dangerous, out-of-control inflation? Also called hyperinflation. Could it destroy the world as we know it? If it was widespread enough, yes, I think it could.

We don’t need to search hard to find some examples:

• In Hungary, just after World War II, prices doubled every 15 hours
• In Zimbabwe 2007-2008, prices doubled every day
• Venezuela’s CPI grew by 65000% from 2017 to 2018

If we saw this type of hyperinflation of the US Dollar, a jug of milk that costs $4 today may cost $8 tomorrow, followed by another price hike to $16 the next day.

If left unchecked, that $4 gallon of milk would cost over a billion dollars by the end of a month.

So basically, the $ would quickly become completely worthless. And THAT would cause an immediate worldwide societal collapse overnight.

The world is too dependent on the dollar for it not to create mass poverty, looting, riots, and uncontrollable anarchy.

Every human, everywhere, would be overtaken by fear and lash out against their neighbors and their societies. All-out anxiety and panic will be the main ingredients to the end of the world, and hyperinflation may be the spark to light that fire.

TOP Five Worst cases of Hyperinflation in History

Scary, yes, but to be honest, such a scenario is not likely anytime soon with the US dollar. US inflation would likely not be THAT aggressive.

What About Stubborn Inflation?

What about slightly elevated inflation but for more extended periods?

If left unchecked, even 10% inflation per month and over time would put insane amounts of pressure on an economy.

Day by day, year by year, everything would get more expensive. This would be disastrous for anyone on a fixed income, such as retired folks.

Everyone on the economic ladder, from the poor to the lower class to the middle class, etc., would all move down a peg.

So, if you’re middle class, you’re buying power would diminish, and unless you worked harder or got a big raise, you’d plunge into the lower class. And those in the lower class would drop into the poor.

Think this sort of trend would undermine society as a whole?

Such an environment would be ripe for civil unrest, strife, and anarchy. I’m talking about mass looting of stores, bank robberies, etc.

Because paper money (or digital money) only has worth because others agree it has worth. If others lose confidence in this fact, the value of it goes down FAST.

OR if a corrupt Government decides to print more money, then the dollars you currently hold lose some of their value over time.

How Inflation Worked In The Past

In the ancient past, Governments would devalue a currency by adding fewer rare metals into each coin. They would replace Gold or Silver with lesser valuable alternatives.

The populace would detect this “fraud,” and inflation would occur since people would require MORE coins (more Gold / Silver) to make up for the difference.

How Inflation Works Today

The same idea comes into play with modern-day Governments that print money out of thin air to pay for more services, foreign aid, etc.

If you print more money faster than the number of goods and services that can be bought, inflation will eventually catch up.

At this point, you must slow down the economy (through rising interest rates) and stop printing money to stop inflation. Slower economic activity slows the speed of money being exchanged and allows the Government to buy back some of the extra dollars sloshing around.

We’ve Lost All Self Control

But this all requires Government officials to show immense self-control. And to stop raising Government debt and even pay some of it down.

But those actions are incredibly unpopular. Asking folks to pay the price today to prevent a future calamity has never gotten ANYONE elected.

We ALL prefer to ignore the pain that’s building up behind the scenes and pretend it doesn’t exist. But the more debt you have, the more fragile you become.

This is an absolute truth, whether you’re talking about YOU, me, or a Nation.

Because there are no “free lunches” regarding finance and debt, if you keep digging a deeper hole, you can delay the pain for a while, but eventually, it’ll catch up.

And when it does, there will be end-of-the-world type hell to pay.

How Will The World End Wrap Up

Is it possible to prevent such an end-of-the-world blow-up?

Possible Yes, Probable No.

Greed and power have always proven to be too much for humans to handle. And the future will be NO different.

Humanity (in general) is much too broken to negotiate a future of massive debt, advanced tech, and interconnectedness.

Greed, hate, spite, envy, and revenge are too powerful to tame.

Eventually, we will:

• Invent new technology we don’t fully understand
• Develop new biological weapons we can’t fully control
• Fight each other with these weapons to control vital resources

WE are the common denominator in all 9 of these threats.

In the end, WE are our own worst enemy; and that’s why corrupt humanity is ultimately how the world will end.

Since you’re still reading, I’m guessing you’re a bit shaken up. And at this point, I “could” say, “I’m sorry for that,” and try and make you feel better. But then, I’d be a liar.

I honestly believe the risks to our current modern way of life are at an all-time high. And I don’t see these risks becoming less and less severe over time. I see the opposite.

The number of ways in which the world could end is growing.

And yet…I still hope we can thread the needle and reach the other side of these threats, both “healthy and prosperous.”

But HOPE is NOT a strategy.

Protecting Yourself & Your Family

And if you want any chance to protect yourself and those you love from the future, you must STOP living a FRAGILE life.

You need to start living what I call a Resilient Life.

It’s the only way to take matters into your own hands and avoid being a victim of future turmoil. And the first step is to determine where you stand on the Fragile vs. Resilient spectrum.

• Are you currently fragile?
• Or are you resilient?
• How much food, water, and medical supplies do you have?
• Can you ride out a multi-week power outage?
• Do you have a backup source of heat?

You must answer these questions to figure out precisely WHERE YOU STAND…Only then can you finally do something about it?

And the good news is I created a short and easy Readiness Score Quiz. Once complete, it’ll show you exactly how fragile or resilient you are to all these “how the world will end” scenarios.

If you want to stop fretting about how the world will end, focus on being more resilient. And the first step on that journey is to take my Readiness Score Quiz.

After, you’ll know where you stand, so you can finally do something about it and prepare for the tough times ahead!

Prepare, Adapt & Overcome,

“Just In Case” Jack

P.s. Are you ready for the tough times ahead?

Find out now by taking my short Readiness Score Quiz – it’s absolutely free.
Once complete, you’ll know exactly where you stand on the “fragile” vs.” resilient” spectrum.

So click here to start the Quiz….And don’t worry; the questions are so easy a 3rd grader could answer them.

Click on the image to begin the Quiz and find out once and for all if you’re part of “The Fragile Masses” or “The Resilient Few.”

The post How Will The World End? 9 Biggest Threats To Humanity appeared first on Skilled Survival.

This article was originally published by John W. Whitehead and Nisha Whitehead at the Rutherford Institute.

“There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.”—Montesquieu, Enlightenment philosopher

For those wondering what to expect from the government in 2023, it looks like we’re going to be in for more of the same in terms of the government’s brand of madness, mayhem, corruption, and brutality.

Digital prisons. Unceasingly, the government and its corporate partners are pushing for a national digital ID system. Local police agencies have already been given access to facial recognition software and databases containing 20 billion images, the precursor to a digital ID. Eventually, a digital ID will be required to gain access to all aspects of life: government, work, travel, healthcare, financial services, shopping, etc. Before long, biometrics (iris scans, face print, voice, DNA, etc.), will become the de facto digital ID.

Precrime. Under the pretext of helping overwhelmed government agencies work more efficiently, AI predictive and surveillance technologies are being used to classify, segregate and flag the populace with little concern for privacy rights or due process. All of this sorting, sifting, and calculating is being done swiftly, secretly, and incessantly with the help of AI technology and a surveillance state that monitors your every move. AI predictive tools are being deployed in almost every area of life.

Mandatory quarantines. Building on precedents established during the COVID-19 pandemic, government agents may be empowered to indefinitely detain anyone they suspect of posing a medical risk to others without providing an explanation, subject them to medical tests without their consent, and carry out such detentions and quarantines without any kind of due process or judicial review.

Mental health assessments by non-medical personnel. As a result of a nationwide push to train a broad spectrum of so-called gatekeepers in mental health first-aid training, more Americans are going to run the risk of being reported by non-medical personnel and detained for having mental health issues.

Tracking chips for citizens. Momentum is building for corporations and the government alike to be able to track the populace, whether through the use of RFID chips embedded in a national ID card, microscopic chips embedded in one’s skin, or tags in retail products.

Military involvement domestically. The future, according to a Pentagon training video, will be militaristic, dystopian, and far from friendly to freedom. Indeed, all signs point to the battlefield of the future being the American home front. Anticipating this, the government plans to have the military work in conjunction with local police to quell civil unrest domestically.

Government censorship of anything it classifies as disinformation. In the government’s ongoing assault on those who criticize the government—whether that criticism manifests itself in word, deed, or thought—government and corporate censors claiming to protect us from dangerous, disinformation campaigns are, in fact, laying the groundwork now to preempt any “dangerous” ideas that might challenge the power elite’s stranglehold over our lives.

Threat assessments. The government has a growing list—shared with fusion centers and law enforcement agencies—of ideologies, behaviors, affiliations, and other characteristics that could flag someone as suspicious and result in their being labeled potential enemies of the state. Before long, every household in America will be flagged as a threat and assigned a threat score. It’s just a matter of time before you find yourself wrongly accused, investigated, and confronted by police based on a data-driven algorithm or risk assessment culled together by a computer program run by artificial intelligence.

War on cash. The government and its corporate partners are engaged in a concerted campaign to shift consumers towards a digital mode of commerce that can easily be monitored, tracked, tabulated, mined for data, hacked, hijacked, and confiscated when convenient. This push for a digital currency dovetails with the government’s war on cash, which it has been subtly waging for some time now. In recent years, just the mere possession of significant amounts of cash could implicate you in suspicious activity and label you a criminal.

Expansive surveillance. AI surveillance harnesses the power of artificial intelligence and widespread surveillance technology to do what the police state lacks the manpower and resources to do efficiently or effectively: be everywhere, watch everyone and everything, monitor, identify, catalog, cross-check, cross-reference, and collude. Everything that was once private is now up for grabs to the right buyer. With every new AI surveillance technology that is adopted and deployed without any regard for privacy, Fourth Amendment rights, and due process, the rights of the citizenry are being marginalized, undermined, and eviscerated.

Militarized police. Having transformed local law enforcement into extensions of the military, the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, and the FBI are moving into the next phase of the transformation, turning the nation’s police officers into techno-warriors, complete with iris scanners, body scanners, thermal imaging Doppler radar devices, facial recognition programs, license plate readers, cell phone extraction software, Stingray devices and so much more.

Police shootings of unarmed citizens. Owing in large part to the militarization of local law enforcement agencies, not a week goes by without more reports of hair-raising incidents by police imbued with a take-no-prisoners attitude and a battlefield approach to the communities in which they serve. Police brutality and the use of excessive force continues unabated.

False flags and terrorist attacks. Almost every tyranny being perpetrated by the U.S. government against the citizenry—purportedly to keep us safe and the nation secure—has come about as a result of some threat manufactured in one way or another by our own government. This has become the shadow government’s modus operandi regardless of which party is in power: the government creates a menace—knowing full well the ramifications such a danger might pose to the public—then without ever owning up to the part it played in unleashing that particular menace on an unsuspecting populace, it demands additional powers in order to protect “we the people” from the threat.

Endless wars to keep America’s military empire employed. The military and security industrial complexes that have advocated that the U.S. remain at war, year after year, are the very entities that will continue to profit the most from America’s expanding military empire abroad and here at home.

Erosions of private property. Private property means little at a time when SWAT teams and other government agents can invade your home, break down your doors, kill your dog, wound or kill you, damage your furnishings, and terrorize your family. Likewise, if government officials can fine and arrest you for growing vegetables in your front yard, praying with friends in your living room, installing solar panels on your roof, and raising chickens in your backyard, you’re no longer the owner of your property.

Overcriminalization. The government has increasingly adopted the authoritarian notion that it knows best and therefore must control, regulate and dictate almost everything about the citizenry’s public, private and professional lives. Overregulation and overcriminalization have been pushed to such outrageous limits that federal and state governments now require on penalty of a fine that individuals apply for permission before they can grow exotic orchids, host elaborate dinner parties, gather friends in one’s home for Bible studies, give coffee to the homeless, let their kids manage a lemonade stand, keep chickens as pets, or braid someone’s hair.

Strip searches and the denigration of bodily integrity. Court rulings undermining the Fourth Amendment and justifying invasive strip searches have left us powerless against police empowered to forcefully draw our blood, forcibly take our DNA, strip search us, and probe us intimately. Individuals—men and women alike—continue to be subjected to what is essentially government-sanctioned rape by police in the course of “routine” traffic stops.

Censorship. First Amendment activities are being pummeled, punched, kicked, choked, chained, and generally gagged all across the country. Free speech zones, bubble zones, trespass zones, anti-bullying legislation, zero tolerance policies, hate crime laws, and a host of other legalistic maladies dreamed up by politicians and prosecutors have conspired to corrode our core freedoms. The reasons for such censorship vary widely from political correctness, safety concerns, and bullying to national security and hate crimes but the end result remains the same: the complete eradication of what Benjamin Franklin referred to as the “principal pillar of a free government.”

Taxation Without Any Real Representation. As a Princeton University survey indicates, our elected officials, especially those in the nation’s capital, represent the interests of the rich and powerful rather than the average citizen. We are no longer a representative republic. With Big Business and Big Government having fused into a corporate state, the president and his state counterparts—the governors—have become little more than CEOs of the Corporate State, which day by day is assuming more government control over our lives. Never before have average Americans had so little say in the workings of their government and even less access to their so-called representatives.

Year after year, the government remains the greatest threat to our freedoms, and yet year after year, “we the people” allow ourselves to be suckered into believing that politics will fix what’s wrong with the country.

Indeed, as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, this is the very definition of insanity.

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The post VIDEO: We Found 4 Hidden Military Gun Collections That Rival Museums! appeared first on Ballistic Magazine.

How bad do things have to get before people start realizing that we are in the midst of a full-blown economic crisis?  The “experts” on television are endlessly debating about whether or not we are going to have a “recession” this year, and meanwhile economic activity is imploding all around us.  The number of homes being sold in this country each month has already fallen by a third.  The number of job cuts in November was 417 percent higher than it was during the same month a year earlier, and at this point even Amazon is laying off thousands of workers.  The Federal Reserve has declared war on inflation, but prices continue to spiral out of control.  In fact, vegetables are 80 percent more expensive now than they were 12 months ago.  Meanwhile, the financial markets continue to plunge.  A third of the value of the Nasdaq has already been wiped out, and more than two-thirds of the value of all cryptocurrencies is already gone.

After everything that has already transpired, everyone should be able to clearly understand what is happening.

So many people have been waiting for an economic nightmare to come, but the truth is that it is already here.

The following are 11 signs that the economic “tipping point” that everyone has been waiting for has now arrived…

#1 U.S. manufacturing is declining at the fastest pace that we have seen since the early days of the COVID pandemic…

The S&P Global U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell at the fastest rate since May 2020 in December, a continuing sign that the manufacturing sector is on the decline, S&P Global reported Tuesday.

The U.S. Manufacturing PMI posted a 46.2 in December, down from 47.7 in November and solidly below 50, which signals that the sector is contracting, according to S&P Global. Production levels contracted in back-to-back months, with new sales plummeting at the end of December at the fastest pace since 2007, as companies cited weakening demand amid “economic uncertainty” and inflation weighing on customers.

#2 U.S. services PMI has now fallen for sixth months in a row.

#3 We just witnessed the largest one day drop in the Baltic Dry Index since 1984…

The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index crashed on Tuesday in the worst decline on record, sinking on prospects of a global recession.

Baltic Dry Good Index is a measure of global shipping and economic health. The overall index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax, and supramax shipping vessels carrying dry bulk commodities, plunged 17.5% to $1,250, the most significant daily decline since 1984.

#4 Thanks to rapidly falling imports, we just witnessed the largest monthly decline in the trade deficit since the last financial crisis…

According to the BEA, the November trade deficit narrowed to $61.5b from $77.8b in prior month, coming in below the median estimate of $63.0BN (and just barely missing the top end of the range of $61.3BN to $80.5BN from 42 economists).

Remarkably, the 20% one-month decline in the deficit was the single biggest drop in the US trade deficit on a percentage basis going back to the global financial crisis!

#5 In 2022, U.S. auto sales were the lowest that we have seen for a full year in more than a decade…

Industrywide, U.S. auto sales totaled 13.7 million vehicles in 2022, the lowest figure since 2011 and an 8% decrease from the prior year, according to the research firm Wards Intelligence. Sales had topped 17 million vehicles for five straight years before the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020, unleashing supply-chain problems that have bogged down deliveries ever since.

#6 The average rate on a 30 year fixed-rate mortgage is more than twice as high as it was this time last year…

Mortgage rates inched up again last week, after a slight increase the week before interrupted six straight weeks of falling rates.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.48% in the week ending January 5, up from 6.42% the week before, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago, the 30-year fixed rate was 3.22%.

#7 According to CNN, sales of apartments in Manhattan were 28.5 percent lower in the fourth quarter of 2022 than they were in the fourth quarter of 2021…

Higher rates and still-high housing prices cooled demand at the end of last year, causing sales to tumble. Sales dropped 28.5% in the fourth quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2021.

#8 Overall, existing home sales in the United States have fallen for 10 months in a row and are now down by more than a third since January 2022.

#9 Bed Bath & Beyond is warning that the company is literally on the verge of declaring bankruptcy…

Bed Bath & Beyond warned Thursday it’s running out of cash and is considering bankruptcy.

The retailer, citing worse-than-expected sales, issued a “going concern” warning that in the upcoming months it likely will not have the cash to cover expenses, such as lease agreements or payments to suppliers. Bed Bath said it is exploring financial options, such as restructuring, seeking additional capital or selling assets, in addition to a potential bankruptcy.

#10 It is being reported that Amazon has decided to lay off approximately 18,000 employees…

Amazon.com Inc. is laying off more than 18,000 employees — the biggest reduction in its history — in the latest sign that a tech-industry slump is deepening.

#11 Overall, the tech industry has already laid off more than 150,000 workers over the last year.

Many more American workers will lose their jobs as economic activity slows down even more throughout 2023.

So if you currently have a good job that you value, try to cling to it as hard as you can.

The times that we are moving into are going to look completely different from the times that we have enjoyed over the past decade.

Our leaders were able to keep the party going for a long time by absolutely flooding the system with money, but now they have lost control.

We are literally careening toward disaster, but most Americans still don’t understand what is taking place.

Most Americans just assume that those in authority know exactly what they are doing and that a “return to normal” is inevitable.

I wish that was true, because the ride into the economic abyss that we are facing is not going to be fun.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post 11 Signs That The Economic “Tipping Point” That Everyone Has Been Waiting For Has Now Arrived appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Impulse sealers are a great tool for speedily sealing large quantities of stored food. Preppers and homesteaders know the value…

This article %3 Best Impulse Sealers in 2023% appeared first on %SHTF Blog – Modern Survival%.

Wireless Intel – for Hunting or Surveillance This post is somewhat of an uneasy departure for me since the subject…

This article %Spartan Cellular Trail Cameras – My Experience% appeared first on %SHTF Blog – Modern Survival%.

The Federal Reserve giveth, and the Federal Reserve taketh away.  In a desperate attempt to help the U.S. economy recover from the horrific economic crisis of 2008 and 2009, the Federal Reserve pushed interest rates all the way to the floor and kept them at or near the floor until 2022.  During that same time period, the Fed also created trillions of dollars out of thin air and pumped it into the financial system.  All of this new money had to go somewhere, and it created colossal financial bubbles that were unlike anything we had ever seen before.  There were a few voices that were warning that all of this foolishness would end very badly, but those voices were mostly drowned out by those that were super happy that asset values were absolutely exploding.  The Fed had essentially created the ultimate “get rich quick scheme”, and countless Americans were more than happy to take advantage of it.

But in 2022 inflation started to become exceedingly painful, and the Federal Reserve went into panic mode.  The flow of free money stopped, and the Federal Reserve began to aggressively hike interest rates.

Everyone knew that this sudden change of course by the Fed would crash the housing market, and that is precisely what is happening.  In fact, even the Wall Street Journal is now admitting that we are facing “a housing slump as severe, by some metrics, as that of 2007-09”…

The Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases have brought on a housing slump as severe, by some metrics, as that of 2007-09, inflicting pain on prospective buyers, homeowners, builders and other industries linked to real estate.

For the Fed, this is a feature, not a bug: Slumping housing could help deliver the lower economic activity and inflation that the Fed wants in the coming year.

Home sales have been falling month after month, and it is being projected that they could soon fall below the levels that we witnessed during the last housing crash…

Sales of existing homes fell in November for a record 10th straight month. Economists at Fannie Mae and Goldman Sachs forecast they will drop below 4 million in 2023, lower than during the 2006-11 housing bust.

On Wednesday, we got some more bad news.

Pending home sales are one of the best leading indicators for where the housing market is going next, and at this point pending home sales have dropped to the lowest level ever recorded…

Contracts to buy U.S. previously owned homes fell far more than expected in November, diving for a sixth straight month in the latest indication of the hefty toll the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes are taking on the housing market as the central bank seeks to curb inflation.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Wednesday its Pending Home Sales Index, based on signed contracts, fell 4% to 73.9 last month from October’s downwardly revised 77.0. November’s was the lowest reading — aside from the short-lived drop in the early months of the pandemic — since NAR launched the index in 2001.

With interest rates so high, very few people want to buy homes right now.

So home prices are going to have to come down.

A lot.

In fact, George Gammon has demonstrated that we will need a crash in housing prices even larger than we witnessed during the last housing crash just to get back to the long-term trend line.

Do you think that our system will be able to handle a housing crash of that magnitude?

Of course not.

Meanwhile, the absurd cryptocurrency bubble that was created by the Fed’s easy money policies has already imploded.

I really like how Wolf Richter described what we have been witnessing over the past year in one of his most recent articles…

And then come the copycats since anyone can issue a crypto currency. Suddenly there were a dozen of them, and then there were 100 of them then a 1,000, and suddenly 10,000 cryptos, and now there are over 22,000 cryptos, and everyone and their dog is creating them, and trading them, and lending them, and using them as collateral, and all kinds of businesses sprang up around this scheme, crypto miners, crypto exchanges, crypto lending platforms, and some of them went public via IPO or via merger with a SPAC.

And the market capitalization of these cryptos reached $3 trillion, trillion with a T, about a year ago, and then when the Fed started raising its interest rates and started doing QT, the whole thing just blows up. Companies go like POOF, and the money is gone, and whatever is left is stuck in bankruptcy courts globally possibly for years. Cryptos themselves have imploded. Many have gone to essentially zero and have been abandoned for dead. The granddaddy, bitcoin, has plunged by something like 73% from the peak. The whole crypto market is also down about 73%.

More than two trillion dollars of “crypto wealth” has already been wiped out.

Less than a trillion is left.

But the party was fun while it lasted, right?

Sadly, all of the bubbles are starting to burst, and 2023 is going to be a really painful year.

Normally, major economic downturns take just about everyone by surprise.  But this time around, almost everyone can feel that really bad times are coming.  The following is what Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics recently had to say about this…

“Usually recessions sneak up on us. CEOs never talk about recessions,” said Zandi. “Now it seems CEOs are falling over themselves to say we’re falling into a recession. … Every person on TV says recession. Every economist says recession. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

He is right.

We’ve never seen anything like this before, and that is because the coming crisis is going to be really bad.

Many among the elite can sense that what is approaching will be truly nightmarish, and so they have been feverishly preparing for the worst…

Though a recent poll found that four-in-ten Americans believe we are ‘living in the end of times,’ it’s not just the everyman who is fearing the apocalypse these days – billionaires have been prepping themselves for the apocalypse with elaborate doomsday bunkers for years.

As the world still reels from the scars of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change-driven storms lash American coastlines and flood inland cities, and Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to talk of using nuclear weapons to devastate Ukraine, a Pew Research Center survey of more than US 10,000 adults found that 39 percent called these the ‘end times.’

The world’s wealthiest are among those cautious of a coming calamity, including billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Sam Altman, who have famously laid down routes in remote New Zealand with the express purpose of riding out the end of days.

Yes, things will soon get really crazy as global events spiral completely out of control.

But that doesn’t mean that you should curl up into a fetal position and throw a pity party for yourself.

When I was growing up, I was told that when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

So get prepared for some really rough years ahead.

The clock is ticking, and just about everything that can be shaken will be shaken in 2023 and beyond.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

The post The “Mega-Bubbles” Have Started To Burst, And That Could Mean Unprecedented Financial Chaos Is Ahead appeared first on The Economic Collapse.

Lots of Great Choices – But One Size Won’t Fit All The U.S. Military is now into their second generation…

This article %1911 Sights – A Guide for 1911 Pistols% appeared first on %SHTF Blog – Modern Survival%.