Many academics have said that an empire usually lasts 250 years, or ten generations. So, as the true beacon of “Western Civilization”, the USA is at that mark and we can see similarities with the downfall of other Empires i.e. Rome.
In “olden times”, such as during the Roman Empire, the standard pay for a days Labor was roughly 1/10 oz of silver. The economy ran on a gold/silver standard. Eventually the coins minted were made into alloys or mixed metals until the 100% Silver, 50%, then 10% coins eventually became silver washed copper coins and in the meantime creating a pure fiat currency. We already have one since the 20th Century rid us of the Gold Standard entirely, meanwhile paper money and the greenback can be traced back even further. So if the empire is showing signs of past empires failures how do we know and what do we do?
Decadence is one of the final stages of an empire and is often represented in the form of oversexuality and loss of morality. It includes a people that need the government to run them rather than have a limited government with more personal freedoms. It tends to be atheist or agnostic but most of all apathetic. The lack of caring removes the empathy that has made us humans raise babies into adults and giving up everything for a moral principle, finally, a religious one. Without God and without an objective set of universal values we have virtue signaling citizens who scream “Nazi” while attempting enforcing thought crimes and controlled speech. We see environmentalists that have private jets and who drive SUVs while going through six plastic water bottles a day.
Decadence is also made aparent by its lack of religion which goes with the loss of morals and a deep focus on material wealth, bringing with it a loss of connectedness with nature and the earth in general. So what the heck is going to happen?
Mostly Empires die from “the inside out” and then are taken over by a more moral society (or more militarily superior) and/or are divided through a Civil War which are both possible scenarios in the USA right now. The money is already paper, the food supply relies upon a highly coordinated system and is three days out from empty store shelves should that system fail. If we did not have the perfect, delicate systems we employ and rely on now our society would quickly devolve into an anarchal hellscape of hungry and afraid “Americans”. So what can you do right now if this is an inevitable truth? Prepare ...
If the grid goes down, which will be one of the very first things to happen, you will want to be able to protect yourself and identify the situation. What IS going on? Get on the radio but keep in mind you need to save your electricity now. Use those rechargeable batteries you stocked up on. The ones that you can connect to that portable solar panel and AC/DC Converter (1,000w with two outlets and a 2.1A USB) that you bought on Amazon back when that was a thing :( Have a radio that maybe does need any power at all like a hand cranking one. What do you do about that $20,000 in your bank account that you just aren’t able to access since the ATM and internet aren’t working and all the banks are closed and guarded? Better have something to trade because checks aren’t going to work either.
If there is a Civil War we will mostly have a ground war as the military will devolve into factions large enough to support those Active Duty Military members and their families. They will instantly say “F U” to the Generals and follow their Colonels. The Air Wings will dissolve once they run out of fuel which will be two weeks at most as the skeleton government attempts to control the situation, but even they give up and escape before they are hung in the streets for “not doing anything”. So the official military will last two weeks before devolving/evolving into Militias and in that time you should be preparing an escape and collecting everything you will need to make it out of the danger zone.
Since paper money is no good anymore the currency is now anything people need. At first stupid people will think they can make a lot of profit so they will sell necessary things at super-inflated prices. The grocery store manager will charge $100 for a dozen eggs, $200 for a load of bread that’s half stale, but don’t worry, that $100 bill isn’t worth the paper/fabric it’s printed on. Next is gold/silver/jewelry/watches. People will be trading their wedding rings for baby formula. They will be trading pure silver rounds for ammo and if you have those resources, USE THEM! Now is not the time to think about the Silver Manipulation, you will get max value right now, as paper money has become nothing and gold and silver are known, scarce resources and easy to use as currency. Pocket change will also work to some degree but only after a newer economy begins. So spend up all that silver you stacked (and I hope you have at least 100 oz). After the economy resets, however that may be, silver and gold will become a viable currency but will eventually be replaced by another empires money. Crypto will be dead in the water if this occurs.
You had better have a rifle too, if not more than one. Personally, I like to have a weapon that I know and am familiar with, that I can fix if needed, owning the parts and tools to fix it, as well as smartly selecting my ammo. As a Marine the AR platform is familiar. It’s designed for a popular ammunition in America, my environment, so I have it set up to shoot 5.56NATO but it can also shoot .223 Remington.
It has an optic for quick target acquisition but I have metal sights as well for my Primary option, as well as batteries for the optic in the handle. I own more than one of these in case one breaks. This will be my defense and hunting rifle. I have stocked up on ammo and gone to the range to make sure my sights are zeroed and I know my trigger pull. I bought ammo and magazines and a place to hold them for when I have to travel outside the home. I also have a .22LR because ammo is cheap and plentiful when the Empire begins to collapse from the inside and I need to shoot to hunt and defend my position.
I also have ammunition for other rifles. For example I bought my father a rifle for Fathers Day last year so if I need to team up, which I will, I have ammo for that rifle. I also sold an upper to my Uncle and have ammo for that rifle so if they run out, it can still be used. I also have popular ammunition that aren’t for any weapons I have. Maybe I can trade a cheap box of 9mm or .45 for something I need when the Empire is not there to make sure law and order is in effect. Got someone with a weapon and no ammo you need to make sure you proceed with caution, as that person has used their ammo, likely in a firefight and they may not think twice to shoot you in the back as you turn to walk away. Also never sell magazines. They will be gold just like ammo and food.
Food. You need food and water to live to stock up now while it is plentiful and cheap. Ok it may not to cheap to buy a crate of USGI MRE’s but it is cheap to buy bags of 20 lbs of rice and pounds of fried black beans. It costs nothing to save your 2L soda bottles and take some time, filling them with filtered water. You also need something to cook in and God forbid you aren’t at home, a way to start a fire in the wild and a way to carry it. Do make sure you all have bags with a bit of everything you need and spread them out. You have a bag, vest, belt and jacket to cover your rifle. Your wife has a hiking bag too and a .22LR. Your kids have backpacks with clothes in them and they carry a bottle of water on their belts (athletic tape, paracord and carabiners are cheap so buy a bunch now). But multiple ways to start a fire because having food is great, being able to prepare and eat it is the only thing that matters. Have a bunch of liters. Cheap ones, Zippos, waterproof matches, storm-proof matches, fire starters, a fire starter bracelet, some kindling you stuck inside a bag like some cotton swabs with vasoline. It is truly back to basics so try to get away from people. If you are in a city get outside ASAP. If you are in the suburbs you can witness the city-folk come into your town and bug-in or you can go further, where they can’t survive. So prepare mentally as well. Take your kids and wife or whoever on a camping trip and for a couple days live “AS IF”. I did this with my family last year and it was a crazy experience.
As a self-professed “Prepper” I thought this will be doable. I set up our bags. I had a great location where I could shoot my rifle now and then and we had a fresh water source. There were no threats that I could see ... except for the bugs. The bugs! You do not think of things like the sun and the bugs until you are in the woods sweaty, trying to set up a site to make fire and sleep. The kids may be playing after complaining about that five mile walk but I know it could be much harder and much, much longer than this. This is an introduction.
There is something to say about the modern world that I will miss if this empire desolved in my lifetime. Things like Air Conditioning, refrigeration, thermostats, bug spray, a stove ... but try it out and see how you do. I feel this is the most necessary part to prepping. You can have all the gear you think you need and then you step into the woods with only your packs and you quickly realize what you never thought of. I carried my silver because that’s what I would do. A waste of space and weight. I should have buried it or traded it as soon as I could have.
The hauling of 30lbs of food in my 80 lb+ load-out was a good idea and having the ammo in magazines was also good. That belt saved me a lot of space having canteen stoves and water on hand, the lifestraw was also handy. I am also thankful I brought about five knives and a hatchet. Without a blade I would have been dead. Without a hatchet I would have taken forever to make a shelter. Without my family I would have had no motivation.
So when we talk about the end of civilization what is more important, speaking about why it will occur, if it will occur, what it will look like or really, what should we do if it does ad what are the signs? I think there are many signs to look at that are already apparent. We have a generation screaming to have their inalienable tights taken away by a government they don’t even trust. We have sexuality displayed everywhere and a society where a more religious, moralistic set of values is looked down upon.
One time my wife, while waiting tables a decade ago was told that her wooden cross and rope necklace was “strangling her life” as friends chuckled in arrogance. How could people be so crass to a stranger while paying for overpriced processed chicken wings and micro-brewed beer? What true apathy and disrespect for your common human!
The affluence has already passed and now we are approaching the time where pink haired men wear dresses, have beards and say they hate “toxic masculinity”. You look at it and say to yourself “is this the new normal?” If so why is there so much pushback against it? Are we about to come to the point of a civil war where each side fights the other for the dominance of the nation? Could that devolve into a physical war of aggression or a political one that sparks violence and ostracizes a group like in Nazi Germany?
I honestly don’t know how this will go down but it will go down. As much as I would like to think it won’t, unless we become a single, monopolized and fully socialized world IT WILL HAPPEN! That is a society I do not wish to be a part of so I will choose to leave if that happens. As this empire comes to a nexus what will you do if the lights go out and it’s either run for the hills or run for the government camp? When it comes to putting food in your babies mouth I understand why some will ask for help instead of prepare for the worst. I get it. I also understand those who think “if the S does HTF there will be so many people that I can make it out”. But what chances do you have if you are walking into the woods in Gucci glasses with a kitchen knife and a backpack of ramen noodles and no water? What will that person do when night falls and it gets cold? What about when it rains?
All the money in the world cannot save you from this if it happens. Only one thing can save your soul. If you believe in a higher power and have good morals you will know that it is your responsibility to make sure you can protect yours! Jesus said if you do not have a sword sell your coat and buy one. There will be a tribulation and when you see the signs head to the hills. This is no coincidence. There is a plan, mans and Gods and man will always be subject to the will of something they can neither control nor command.
People will default to animalistic instinct and be occupied with self preservation and rightfully so. But if you are surviving by killing others and stealing than what is your life worth anyway? Prepare and learn something. Connect yourself to nature and you will appreciate the world we live in that much more. Give your children the opportunity to understand what it means to live in the woods and they will understand poverty worldwide. Better than watching a documentary and seeing pictures is feeling hungry and sunburnt.
Give yourself the feeling of empowerment by testing yourself often and intensely. Be smart and vigilant because empires collapse and we are certainly part of one. So, how do you feel about politics now? Still feel like wasting that money on a cup of Starbucks? Might want to consider buying a box of ammo instead. @wwamd AKA “The Radical Centrist” over and out!
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