We are in far more trouble than most people realize. In recent months, our rapidly growing economic problems have gotten a lot of attention, and without a doubt our economy is heading into really hard times. The greatest debt bubble in the history of the world has started to implode, and the end of this “mega-cycle” is going to cause an immense amount of pain. But if every other element of our society was strong, we could survive that. It may surprise a lot of you to hear me say that, but it is true. If all that we were facing was an economic collapse, it would cause an enormous amount of turmoil in this country but we would make it through.
Unfortunately, we are not just facing an economic collapse.
I like to call what we are facing “the everything collapse”, because virtually every element of our society is steadily breaking down right in front of our eyes.
So once our economic and financial systems implode, it won’t just be a matter of patching them up and returning to “normal”, because “normal” doesn’t exist anymore.
Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. The president of Giant Food just admitted to the Washington Post that theft at his stores is completely out of control…
Giant Food president Ira Kress said that theft and violence have risen significantly over the past several years.
“To say [theft has] risen tenfold in the last five years would not be an understatement,” Kress noted, according to the Washington Post, which also reported that the man said that violence has “increased exponentially.”
Giant has more than 160 locations, with stores located in Maryland; Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and Delaware, according to its website.
When I was much younger, I would often shop at Giant Food.
In those days, I never witnessed a single shoplifting incident.
But now systematic looting is happening on an industrial scale all over the nation. In fact, I recently wrote an entire article about the fact that theft is now costing U.S. retailers about 100 billion dollars a year.
Meanwhile, other forms of crime are spiking as well. Sadly, violent crimes are increasingly being committed by kids that are extremely young…
As soon as he confronted the masked youth who seemed to be trying to rob him with a gun last week on Irving Street in Northwest Washington, Ryan Cummins knew the assailant was young.
“When I shoved him, he weighed nothing,” Cummins said in an interview…
Police said the youth they arrested on Saturday in Cummins’s case and two nearby robberies is even younger: 11. He is among the youngest arrested in the District this year in an armed robbery…
Did you catch that last part?
That kid was “among the youngest” arrested for armed robbery this year. So how old was the youngest?
On the west coast, conditions are even worse.
The following is how one San Francisco resident named Seema Gokhale recently described what living in the heart of the city is like these days…
Speaking with Fox News Digital, Seema Gokhale who lives near the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood expressed, “It really feels post-apocalyptic. Something needs to be done. We have to make this a livable place. I describe it as a hellhole right now. If I wasn’t a homeowner and hadn’t grown up in the area and there wasn’t a strong job market in the area, I would leave.”
“I walk by people regularly and it feels horrible,” she said as drug addicts have “needle tracks all over their arms and legs and toes. I see people with rotting limbs because they’re living on the streets.”
“It honestly feels like I’m in a place that’s been in a zombie apocalypse. It’s like a dystopia. It really feels like a dystopian reality right now where I see boarded-up storefronts. I see people defecating on the streets,” Gokhale detailed.
Sadly, this is the direction that the entire country is going.
Up in Portland, voters are completely and totally fed up with the rampant social decay that has been steadily growing all around them…
Months of stepping past sidewalk homeless camps and open-air drug markets have taken their toll on residents of Portland, Oregon.
Voters there have delivered a stunning rebuke to officials of the Democrat-run hipster city, with three quarters calling homelessness ‘an out-of-control disaster.’
The survey, commissioned by People for Portland, a conservative advocacy group, found that more than two thirds of voters wanted to clear the streets by forcing drug addicts into rehab.
But no matter what our politicians do, the social decay gets worse with each passing year.
And that is because our entire culture has been completely transformed. According to one recent survey, only 16 percent of Americans now attend church at least once per week…
The number of Americans who attend church once a week fell from 19 percent in 2019 to 16 percent last year, says the survey of some 6,600 adults across all 50 states.
This means that 84 percent of us do not attend church at least once per week at this point.
If we could go back and tell Americans from 100 years ago this, they would be absolutely floored. Of course the truth is that we are a completely different country than we were 100 years ago.
Many of us like to think that we are superior to every generation that has come before us, but the reality of the matter is that just about every aspect of our society is rapidly getting worse.
If we are having this much difficulty keeping order now, what are things going to look like once our economic and financial systems have fully imploded and tens of millions of Americans are deeply suffering?
You might want to think about that, because “the everything collapse” is only going to pick up steam in the weeks and months ahead…
Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.
Article cross-posted from The Economic Collapse Blog.
At Last, a Company With Integrity in the Gold IRA Industry
For several years, I’ve been vetting out precious metals companies in search of the best. I believe in gold and silver but it’s hard to find integrity in the Gold IRA industry. The vast majority operate with shady tactics and gigantic spreads that take advantage of Americans who simply want to protect their life’s savings.
I’ve found a handful that I like and I’ve worked with some of them. By no means would I “unrecommend” them because, again, I vetted them out and found them to be above the fold. Unfortunately, it isn’t hard to be better than the rest when the rest are so darn awful.
After years of searching, I finally found a company that truly operates with integrity. Augusta Precious Metals has three important attributes that set them far above the competition:
- Non-Commissioned Sales Team: I cannot stress how important and unique this is. With just about every other company in the Gold IRA industry, the sales teams make commission from every account they open. This means they steer their clients toward the gold and silver products with the highest commission. With Augusta Precious Metals, the team is solely focused on putting the best gold and silver for their clients into their IRA. They get paid to serve the best interests of the Gold IRA client, NOT their own commission pay.
- Incredibly Low Fees: Most Americans would be shocked if they knew the spread other Gold IRA companies charge. Augusta charges just 5% versus up to 45% elsewhere.
- No Pressure, No Gimmicks: There’s an understanding among most in the Gold IRA industry that fear and pressure is the way to go. Augusta Precious Metals takes a sober approach when working with clients because they hold integrity in the highest possible regard. This is why they don’t offer gimmicks like “free” or “bonus” silver. It’s also why they do not apply pressure tactics to get quick sales. Their educational and transparent approach to doing business is exceedingly rare in the Gold IRA industry.