It is a question I keep asking myself. Regardless of where you stand on current events – their cause or validity, one thing must be clear and that is we are in for massive changes in our lives. 2020 will go down in my mind as the year everything changed, but the reality for me anyway is that we have been on a path that started long ago. What comes next?

For various reasons, we have given up freedom in the name of public safety, but it was prompted by and continues to flourish in a spirit of fear. We have let regional leaders unconstitutionally control our lives and my concern is that this was just the start. This was a test and even more, draconian enforcement will be needed for the next phase.

But what will that be?

Prepping for what comes next

Prepping for me has always been about taking steps to protect my family from unseen disasters in our lives. A natural part of the prepping process has logically been to consider the most likely events you could be faced with and prepare for those first.

A casual prepper might be concerned about a job loss or natural disaster. These happen every year for an untold number of people outside of any sinister plan. Someone planning for these events is logically going with the most likely scenario first. If you can be prepared for the most likely scenarios, you will be somewhat prepared for the unlikely scenarios too.

I have tried for years to spread this simple truth to the readers of the Prepper Journal and I think we have been very successful. Just look around and there are plenty of people who see the need for prepping and the appropriateness of having supplies, resources, and skills to handle these “common” disasters but as I said in my last article, that is just the baseline. We cannot stop at the bare minimum you need and even having a years’ worth of supplies may not be enough.

Increasingly I am concerned that we are headed down a path that many will look back on and consider a disaster but will go blindly along without realizing we are that frog in the boiling pot. The next event will almost certainly be exponentially worse than this COVID “pandemic” in terms of loss of life, the changes to our society, and our way of life. I believe that events are being orchestrated in a way and we are the subjects. Whether it is a by-product of this pandemic or something that originated before the pandemic, it’s still unknown. What is more certain is the consequences are strangely similar to other plans made previously.

The restrictions we see now are not going to be completely lifted, they will be increased, I think. Why? Isn’t the new vaccine going to solve everyone’s problems? No. Could things be much worse? Yes. Even the WHO admits what most sane people already know that “this is not necessarily the big one.”

“And I will say one thing, and that may come as a shock to people, this pandemic has been very severe. It’s spread around the world extremely quickly and has affected every corner of this planet. But this is not necessarily the big one. This virus is very transmissible, and it kills people, and it has deprived so many people of loved ones. But it’s current case fatality is reasonably low in comparison to other emerging diseases. This is a wake-up call. We are learning now how to do things better, how to do science better, how to do logistics better, how to do training better, how to do governance better, how to communicate better. We’ve developed a whole new science of infodemiology and advanced behavioral science in this way.”Dr. Mike Ryan

Additionally, he states that even with the vaccine “The likely scenario is the virus will become another endemic virus that will remain somewhat of a threat”

If the threat everyone has been using as justification for the actions they have taken does not go away, why would the measures they put in place be lifted? But what could be the next threat? What comes next? Could it be an even worse virus? Possibly, but I think they have other plans in place for us. This current event is letting them learn how we act and “how to do governance better”. The next event would build upon what they learned this year I think most logically.

What is a Cyber Pandemic?

It should be inarguable from the events of this year that a few things are true. First, we are all much more dependent on technology. I personally need it to work, to write and share this blog, to get paid by my employer, and to communicate with the people I work with. We need technology to stay in touch, to shop, some need it to buy groceries, to tell us where to go. Our reliance on technology is not going away, it has and will only continue to become more vital.

Another thing is true and that is certain entities get to determine what is truth and what you can say. Facebook, Twitter, and Google just to name a few “fact check” articles, censor speech that they deem is inaccurate or false, and silence voices on their platforms if they don’t like what they say.

Free speech is not “free” if you are only allowed to say what someone wants you to say. There are some options you can use besides those platforms though and nothing is preventing someone from creating a new Facebook or a better Google. However, total control cannot be achieved without completely owning all the systems. Think of how China’s great firewall would look in the USA.

A cyber pandemic could be the next thing that is unleashed upon us to completely change the systems we currently use today. An example cause for a cyber pandemic could be a worldwide computer virus that brings the entire internet down or renders many devices inoperable and for public safety, a new solution would have to be implemented.

“The only way to stop the exponential propagation of cyber-COVID would be to fully disconnect all vulnerable devices from one another and the internet to avoid infection. The whole world could experience cyber lockdown until a digital vaccine was developed. All business communication and data transfers would be blocked. Social contact would be reduced to people contactable by in-person visits, copper landline, snail-mail or short-wave radio.”

This new controlled solution that would be put into place in the face of that reality would ostensibly be more intrusive into your privacy, but it would be “necessary for the safety of our country”. A digital 9/11. You may not see that happening, but the World Economic Forum certainly does.

How can you prepare for the next thing?

It is important to clarify that there are events we can prepare for that require resources we would normally be deprived of in a disaster that we can put aside ahead of time for an emergency. The usual items are Food, Water, Shelter, and Security. If you are prepared for a job loss, you can store cash aside, sell stock or property to deal with the loss of income. You have some social safety net mechanisms to take advantage of.

A Natural disaster does not keep going. It has a beginning and an end. If you live through a hurricane, there is clean-up and rebuilding which can be made easier by preparations. You may have boarded your house up and stored provisions further inland where you and your family rode out the storm because you have been watching it and were prepared to leave days before it hit. These are the types of events preppers can purchase or plan their way of solving.

There are other events we cannot prepare for with resources I believe so we are not able to purchase anything ahead of time. All the beans bullets and band-aids in the world will not protect you in some situations. What you can do is observe and at least for now, research. You can be your own fact-checker. Prepping in this light will be more fluid and you will want to have options and information on your side.

How would we prepare to deal with the internet going down for a month?

• Would all shopping cease or would some internet brands still be deemed “essential”? (Amazon and Walmart) Even if they did, the systems UPS and FedEx use to deliver them need the internet – assume they would be essential too.
• Would all news be silenced and only the government would provide you with information? (Ministry of Truth)
• How would you work? Yes, many people still go to work, but I guarantee the internet is required for their business to run.
• How would you pay bills? – Could there be some form of debt moratorium?
• How would banks be affected? Could there be cash withdrawal limits?

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. This type of event would be extremely hard to prepare for. Yes, you could take some steps. You could have cash on hand, you could have a Ham Radio to talk to people remotely but for a large portion of the world, this would be crippling. Do you think the suicide rate is high now?

I do not want to end on a negative note because I try to write articles that give solutions. This one has me stumped so far. I think something on this scale would cause widespread panic and violence. I could see martial law declared. I could even see UN forces in some of the major cities to quell the violence – partly because we have said the police need to be disbanded – another curious artifact of this year…Coincidence?

Let me say this to all of you who have been prepping so far. Keep doing what you are doing but cast your gaze a little wider than your local emergencies. Think about what would happen in less likely cases. Imagine slightly more bizarre scenarios because you need to think about what you could do, might need, to protect your family. If this year has taught us anything, it should be that nobody knows what comes next.

Prepping has always been about the worst-case scenario.

Maybe that’s because those really scary disasters motivate us more or maybe it’s just that in preparing for a true “the end of the world as we know it” (aka TEOTWAWKI) event make us ready for anything else we might encounter.

Regardless of the reason, there are enough of these major catastrophes in the world’s history to show us that they really can happen.

While most people who have lived on the face of this earth haven’t had to deal with anything more than a regional natural disaster, some have had to deal with much worse. To the people of Europe who survived World War II, that was a life-changing event. The same can be said for those who lived through the Great Depression or the Black Plague.

Real disasters happen. What skills would help you survive?

When I was growing up, the biggest risk we faced was that of thermonuclear war. The Cuban Missile Crisis, in 1962, was probably the closest we came to total annihilation back then. I was as glad as anyone when the Berlin Wall came down and the Cold War ended.

But we are now in another cold war and it is looking much more like it’s going to turn into a hot war that that one ever did. Should that happen, or even worse, turn out to be an EMP attack, we could easily find ourselves living in a post-apocalyptic world; a world in which we’re going to have to do everything without the benefit of electric power.

In such a case, people will be scrambling to learn the necessary skills to survive. But even more than that, they’ll have to learn how to do the things necessary to rebuild society. We are too accustomed to our technology and our comforts to just give up on them. People will be wanting things the way they are used to, or at least as close to that as they can get them.

With that in mind, it only makes sense to learn the necessary skills for living in a world without electricity. This doesn’t just mean surviving for ourselves, but helping others to survive as well; something that is normally outside of our plans as preppers.

I realize that most of us live and operate under the philosophy of taking care of ourselves, our families and our survival team. If all we’re concerned about is survival, that makes sense. But if we want our children to have a better life than that, enjoying some of the benefits we have today, we’re going to have to do more than just survive. We’re going to have to be ready to rebuild our world and as much of the technology that drives it as we can.

That job will probably fall to us, rather than to others, simply because we are the ones who are going to survive. So, we not only should be learning survival skills, but others which will help us to make things work.

Native American Doctor

Medicine is going to be one of the biggest problems in a post-apocalyptic world. While most people would die of starvation, many will also die for lack of medicine.

Today’s pharmaceutical industry depends on supplies that come from all over. Without transportation, they won’t have the materials they need to make the medicines that modern society depends on. Even if they could, without transportation those medicines wouldn’t get to you and me.

When the medicines that are locally stocked in hospitals and pharmacies are used up, there will be no more. The only medicines that will exist will be those that nature provides. The doctors of the American Indians knew those medicines and some still use them. If you can find one of them, and learn their craft, you’ll have one of the most useful skills that exist.

Even if you can’t find a Native American doctor, you could still learn about their medicine. There is a growing movement of people who believe in herbal medicine, which is based to a large part of the same roots as those Native American doctors’ medicine.

While you probably wouldn’t learn everything that a Native American Doctor could teach you, you’ll end up a whole lot better off, with a whole lot more information, than what you have now.

Chemist/Pharmacist

Pharmacists are actually trained for much more than just counting out pills, they are highly trained chemists. More than doctors, they know how different medicines interact and how they react once in our bodies.

Some pharmacists even know how to make medicines. That’s what you’re looking for: a pharmacist who can show you how to make your own penicillin, ether and chloroform will be giving you information that can save lives.

In addition to medical chemistry, there are probably other things you can learn from these people, such as how to make biofuel and other useful chemical substances.

Midwife

Everyone knows what the “world’s oldest profession” is; but I’ve never heard agreement on what the second and third oldest are.

Personally, I think that the midwife has to be pretty high on that list, as the “oldest” would necessitate midwifery. So even if something like farming or shepherding would beat it out (Able was a shepherd and Cain a farmer), midwives have been around for a long, long time.

As long as babies are being born, there will be a need for midwives. This will be especially true in times when there aren’t enough doctors to help women through childbirth. In a post-apocalyptic world, there’s a much greater possibility of women using midwives, than doctors.

Amish Farmer

Modern farming has become industrialized, with massive corporate farms and lots of expensive equipment. Even smaller farms depend heavily on equipment, with the tractor long ago having replaced the horse or oxen.

But the Amish never made that transition. Today’s Amish farmers largely do things the way their ancestors did them, still using horses as the main source of power on the farm. This gives them an incredible advantage over the rest of us, who don’t have the slightest idea of how to do things without gas engines and electric power.

Should we find ourselves on the receiving end of an EMP, the Amish will be less affected by it than any other group of people in our country. That’s basically because they don’t depend on electricity or the modern electronics that the rest of us use.

Their communities will thrive, while the rest of the country is dying. Spending time with one of these farmers and learning the methods and tools they use, would prepare you to be able to feed your family and many more, once the brown stuff hits the rotary air movement device.

Rancher

Ranching and farming aren’t the same thing. Throughout the time of the Old West, these two groups of people fought for the use of the land. That’s because the best farmland was also the best land for raising cattle, or should I say the best ranchland was often the best land for farming.

Of all the animals that mankind has domesticated through the years, cattle give us the most meat per animal.

Another way of putting that is that cattle give us the most meat for effort expended. That makes them the perfect sort of animal to raise for meat, assuming you’ve got enough land to raise them.

Snake-Eater

In the military, all “special action groups” are collectively known as “snake eaters.” It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about the Navy’s SEALs, the Army’s Special Forces or any other group, they all fall into the same general category.

Snake eaters are the best of the best. In the Army, Special Forces is not only the group that is called upon for unconventional warfare (guerrilla warfare), but they are the ones who are sent to other countries, in order to train their militaries. In fact, Special Forces got their start that way, first as the Jedburgh Teams in World War II and then as advisors in Greece and elsewhere.

Many people think of these snake eaters as expert survivalists. But that depends largely upon the environment you are talking of. They aren’t experts in the sense that you and I are trying to be, but rather in surviving any combat action. Their superior training makes them the best soldiers to have on your side, should things become violent.

Spending time with any snake eaters, learning their combat skills, will greatly increase your chances of not falling prey to the two-legged predators that will be out in force after a disaster strikes.

Hunting Guide

Hunting may not be the most efficient way of finding food after a collapse, but it may still be a very necessary part of our survival. But what most people consider hunting today is sitting in a deer blind, waiting for deer to start munching on the seed corn they put out.

While this may be an efficient way of hunting, it’s highly dependent on having the right equipment and the right place. I don’t think that’s something that any of us can count on in a post-apocalyptic world. Rather, we’re going to have to go hunting the old-fashioned way, tracking animals, learning their habits and then laying wait for one alongside a trail.

Skills like that aren’t something you can learn from just any hunter, as they probably don’t know them either. Rather, you’re going to need someone who started hunting before people used corn and deer blinds to hunt.

That’s why I recommend a hunting guide, rather than just any hunter. They’re more likely to know the skills you’ll need.

Blacksmith

If you’ve ever read any of my other post-apocalyptic articles, you know that I believe strongly in the profession of blacksmithing.

Before the dawn of the industrial age, the blacksmith made just about anything that could be made out of metal. From armor and weapons to shoeing farmer’s horses, the blacksmith was the man to see.

There are few blacksmiths in the world today; mostly because modern industry has replaced them. But when industry is taken away, then what? Who will be able to make the tools and other things that we need? It will have to be blacksmiths, or someone with very similar skills.

My father learned how to be a blacksmith, once he retired; apprenticing with a lifelong blacksmith who was a true artist of the trade. Unfortunately, I only learned a little of it from him, and don’t have a forge and anvil to practice on. If I could find one around where I live, I’d love to spend some time in his shop, learning what I could.

Mr. Fix-It

You probably know someone who can fix just about anything; a Mr. Fix-It (or perhaps a Mrs. Fix-It). These are some of the world’s most useful people and will probably be the true leaders of rebuilding society after a major disaster.

What makes these people so special is that they aren’t limited to just one trade, like many people are. Rather, they’re comfortable with any number of trades and even with fixing things that don’t fall within any particular trade. Whatever you need designed, built or repaired, they can find a way to do it; often a rather imaginative way.

I consider myself to be one of these people. Earlier in my career, I was a manufacturing engineer. Rather than just working in one engineering discipline, this forced me to do both mechanical and electrical engineering. I also took the time to learn how to be a machinist, mechanic and made many of my own prototypes.

On the side, I had a small construction company, along with a buddy of mine. So I’ve learned how to do a wide variety of things; becoming what we used to call, a jack of all trades.

Today I build a lot of my own survival gear. You can find countless examples of my work around my house. My garage hasn’t had a car in it since I painted one of them. Rather than being a garage, it’s actually my workshop. I figure that will serve me well in a post-apocalyptic world.

The Old Survivalist

Survivalism has changed since I got started in my youth. Back then we weren’t so focused on equipment, as methods. There just wasn’t that much equipment available; at least not compared to what we have available to us today.

So, you had to know how to do things yourself, rather than depending on having some sort of gadget to do it for you.

What this means is that those old survivalists were often trained much better than we are today, simply because they had to be. So they’re a fountain of useful information, if you can find them and get them talking.

Fortunately, most are willing to share what they know; so the real problem is finding them.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated 60 years ago. If he had  lived and won a second term, the Israeli Palestinian conflict would have evolved differently. Possibly the path toward Israeli apartheid and genocide in Gaza could have been avoided. 

In his short time in office, Kennedy changed US foreign policy in significant ways. As documented in the book “JFK and the Unspeakable: Why he died and why it still matters”, JFK resisted the CIA and military industrial complex in the policies he set regarding the Third World and Soviet Union. The Vietnam War, assassination of Indonesia’s President Sukarno, and continued hostility to Cuba and the Soviet Union would not have happened had Kennedy lived and won a second term.   

Less well known, Kennedy’s policies also challenged and opposed the military and political ambitions of Zionist Israel. At the time, Israel had only existed for thirteen years. It was still evolving and the course was not totally set. There was significant international resolve to find a compromise solution regarding Palestinian refugees from the 1948 Nakba. When Israel attacked Egypt and seized the Sinai peninsula in 1956, the Eisenhower administration demanded Israel withdraw from the captured territory. They complied. 

At this time, in the early 1960’s, prominent Jewish voices criticized the racism and discrimination of the Israeli government. Israelis like Martin Buber assailed Ben-Gurion and noted that “At the inception of the state, complete equality with the Jewish citizens was promised to the Arab population.” Many influential Israelis realized their long term security and well-being depended on finding a just settlement with the indigenous Palestinian population. 

In the United States, the Jewish community was divided and many were anti-Zionist. The American Council for Judaism was influential and anti-nationalist. The racist and militaristic character of Israel was not yet set in stone. Nor was American Jewish support for Israel. When Menachim Begin came to the United States in 1948 he was denounced by prominent Jewish leaders including Albert Einstein. They said Begin, who later became Israeli Prime Minister, was a “terrorist”  who preached  “an admixture of ultra-nationalism, religious mysticism and racial superiority.” Many American Jews had mixed feelings and did not  identify with Israel. Others supported Israel but on the basis of there being peace with the indigenous Palestinians. 

There are four key areas where the Kennedy policy was substantially different from what followed after his death.  

Kennedy Was Not Biased in Favor of Israel  

The Kennedy administration sought good relations with both Israel and the Arab nations. Kennedy aimed to extend US influence throughout the Middle East, including with nations friendly with the Soviet Union and at odds with NATO partners. 

JFK personally supported Arab and African nationalism. As a senator in 1957, he criticized the Eisenhower administration for supporting and sending weapons to France in their war against the Algerian independence movement. In a 9,000 word presentation to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he criticized “western imperialism” and called for the US to support Algerian independence. Algerian President Ben Bella, who France had tried to assassinate and considered far too radical by many in NATO, was given a huge and impressive welcome to the White House. 

Kennedy changed the previous frosty relations with the United Arab Republic (Egypt and Syria) led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. For the first time, the US approved loans to them. Kennedy wrote respectful letters to the Arab presidents before he welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Ben Gurion to Washington. The Arab leaders could see the difference and responded with appreciation. Those who claim there was no difference with Kennedy ignore the fact that Egypt’s Nasser, Algeria’s Ben Bella and other nationalist leaders saw a big difference.   

In 1960, when Kennedy was campaigning for the presidency, he spoke at the Zionists of America Convention. He made complimentary remarks about Israel but also expressed the need for friendship with all the people of the Middle East. He said the US should “act promptly and decisively against any nation in the Middle East which attacks its neighbor” and “The Middle East needs water, not war; tractors, not tanks; bread, not bombs.” 

Kennedy frankly told the Zionists, “I cannot believe that Israel has any real desire to remain indefinitely a garrison state surrounded by fear and hate.” By maintaining objectivity and neutrality on the Israeli Arab conflict, Kennedy wanted to steer the  Jewish Zionists away from the racist, militaristic and ultra-nationalistic impulses which have led to where we are today.  

Kennedy Wanted the Zionist Lobby to Follow the Rules 

The second difference in Kennedy’s policy is regarding Zionist lobbying on behalf of Israel. Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), organizations that promote or  lobby on behalf of a foreign government are required to register and account for their finances and activities. Under Attorney General Robert Kennedy, the Department of Justice (DOJ)  instructed the American Zionist Council (AZC) to register as agents of a foreign country. AZC is the parent organization of the American Israel Public Affairs Council (AIPAC). 

As documented in detail here, on 21 November 1962,  the Assistant Attorney General wrote to them “the receipt of such funds from the American sections of the Jewish Agency for Israel constitutes the (American Zionist) Council an agent of a foreign principal… the Council’s registration is requested.”  

The emergence of Israeli  political influence was also scrutinized in the Senate. Under Senator William Fulbright, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings in May and August 1963. They revealed that tax free donations to the United Jewish Appeal, supposedly for humanitarian relief in Israel, were being channeled back to the US where the money was used for lobbying and Israeli public relations.  

Attorneys for AZC stalled for time. On August 16, 1963, a DOJ  analyst reviewed the case and concluded, “Department should insist on the immediate registration of the American Zionist Council under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.” 

On October 11  the DOJ demanded that AZC register and “Department expects a response from you within 72 hours.”  

On October 17, a DOJ memorandum  reports that attorneys for AZC pleaded for not being required to register as foreign agents. They offered to provide the required financial disclosures but that registering as a foreign agent “would be so publicized by the American Council on Judaism that it would eventually destroy the Zionist movement.” As indicated in this discussion, political zionism was not yet dominant in the American Jewish community and was actively opposed by the American Council on Judaism and other Jewish groups. 

Kennedy Supported Palestinian Rights

A third difference is regarding Palestinian rights. Although he was only 44 when he became president, Kennedy had more international experience than most US presidents. In 1939 he spent two weeks in Palestine. In a lengthy letter to his father, he described the situation and difficulties. He wrote,

“The sympathy of the people on the spot seems to be with the Arabs. This is not only because the Jews have had, at least some of their leaders, an unfortunately arrogant, uncompromising attitude, but they feel that after all, the country has been Arabic for the last few hundred years … Palestine was hardly Britain’s to give away.” 

In comments that are still true, Kennedy remarks how the Jewish residents are divided between “strongly Orthodox Jewish group, unwilling to make any compromise” and a “liberal Jewish element composed of the younger group who fear these reactionaries”. His analysis is sympathetic to both Jewish and Arab peoples and addresses the difficulty but necessity to find a compromise solution. 

In the early 1960’s, the US State Department was not locked in to a biased acceptance or approval of Israeli policies. The US supported UN Resolution 194 resolving (in paragraph 11) that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.”  This has become known as the “right of return”.

On November 21, 1963, the day before Kennedy’s assassination, the NY Times has two news stories which exemplify the discord  between Washington and Tel Aviv. A report from the United Nations is titled “Israel Dissents as U.N. Group Backs U.S. on Arab Refugees”. It begins,

“A United States resolution calling for continued efforts to resolve the predicament of the Palestinian Arab refugees was approved tonight 83 to 1… Israel cast the single negative vote… The issue centers on a 1948 resolution whose key section, paragraph 11, concerns the future of the Arabs who were displaced from their homes by the Palestine conflict. They have been living in the lands bordering Israel … The revised United States text calls on the Palestine Conciliation Commission to ‘continue its efforts for the implementation of Paragraph 11’.” 

The second NYT story is titled “U.S. Stand Angers Israel”. It reports from Jerusalem that “Premier Levi Eshkol expressed extreme distaste today for the United States’ position in the Palestine refugee debate… Israel’s anger was conveyed ‘in the strongest terms’ to the US Ambassador … The Israeli Government is upset about the American resolution before the UN Political Committee and by American maneuvers over the issue.” Israel was angered and objecting because the Kennedy administration was trying to resolve the Palestinian refugee situation including the right of return. 

Kennedy Tried to Stop the Israeli Nuclear Weapons Program 

The fourth and biggest contention between Kennedy and the Israeli leadership was regarding their developing nuclear weapons. This issue was kept so secret that crucial documents and letters have only been released in recent years.  

President Kennedy was a strong advocate for stopping nuclear proliferation. After the 1962 Cuba missile crisis, he realized how easy it would be to intentionally or accidentally trigger a catastrophic nuclear war. If nuclear weapons were allowed to spread to more countries, the risks of global catastrophe would be all the greater. It was also predicted that if Israel acquired nuclear weapons capability, they would become more aggressive and less likely to reach  a compromise agreement regarding Palestinian refugees.   

When intelligence indicated that Israel might be trying to build a nuclear weapon at Dimona in 1962, Kennedy was determined to find out if this was true, and if so to stop it. This caused an intense diplomatic confrontation between JFK and Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. The proof of this has recently been revealed in the exchange of letters between President Kennedy and Prime Minister Ben-Gurion and his successor Levy Eshkol. They are all labeled “Top Secret” or “Eyes Only”.  

It is important to see the sequence and some details to understand how intense this showdown was. These communications are all from 1963. (Note to reader: skip ahead to the next section if you become tired of the detail in the following exchanges.) 

In March  the US State Department instructed the US Ambassador to inform the government of Israel (GOI) that for “compelling reasons” the “USG seeks GOI assent to semi-annual repeat semi-annual visits to Dimona, perhaps May and November, with full access to all parts and instruments in the facility, by qualified US scientists.”

On April 19 the State Department instructed the US Ambassador to Israel to “press” for an “affirmative reply” to the earlier request for semi-annual inspections of Dimona. 

On April 26, Israeli PM Ben Gurion replied to President Kennedy. He evaded the issue of  nuclear facility inspections and instead expressed his concern regarding a recent proclamation from Egypt, Syria and Iraq. He compared Egyptian President Nasser to Germany’s Hitler. 

On May 4  JFK responded to Ben Gurion’s concerns and underscored the US commitment to Israel and peace in the Middle East. He told the Israeli leader he is much less worried about an “early Arab attack” than the “successful development of advanced offensive systems”. 

On May 8, a Special National Intelligence Estimate concluded, “Israel intends at least to put itself in a position to be able to produce a limited number of weapons” and that “unless deterred by outside pressure [the Israelis] will attempt to produce a weapon sometime in the next several years.” The analysis predicted that if Israelis had the bomb it would “encourage them to be bolder in their use of the conventional resources both diplomatic and military in their confrontation with the Arabs.” 

On May 10, US State Department sent an “Eyes Only Ambassador” telegram to the US Ambassador to Israel. The ambassador was instructed to remind the Israeli leadership that they have previously agreed to the bi-annual inspections. The telegram also says Israeli concerns about Arab development of a nuclear bomb “are not valid” because there is nothing comparable to the “advanced Israeli program.” 

The tensions between the Kennedy administration and Tel Aviv caused the Israel lobby to escalate pressure on the White House. This is revealed in a May 11 TOP SECRET State Department memo regarding “White House Concern with Arab-Israeli Matters”. It begins,

“In recent weeks, as you are aware, it has become increasingly clear that the White House is under steadily mounting domestic political pressure to adopt a foreign policy in the Near East more consonant with Israeli desires. The Israelis are determined to use the period between now and the 1964 Presidential election to secure a closer, more public security relationship with the Unites States, notably through a public security guarantee and a cooler, more antagonistic relationship beween the United States and the UAR [United Arab Repubic].” 

Source

This is a highly interesting memo showing Israeli influence in US foreign policy and electoral politics. It further shows Kennedy’s effort to mitigate this influence while standing firm on the goal to stop nuclear proliferation. 

On May 12, 1963 Ben Gurion wrote another long letter to President Kennedy. Again evading the US request, Ben Gurion gives a distorted history including the claim that Palestinian refugees left Palestine “at the demand of Arab leaders”. He again compares Nasser to Hitler and suggests the danger of a new Holocaust. 

He says, “Mr, President, my people have the right to exist … and this existence is in danger.” 

Source

On May 19, Kennedy responded to Ben Gurion emphasizing the importance he placed on not allowing the spread of nuclear weapons.

“We are concerned with the disturbing effects on world stability which would accompany the development of a nuclear weapons capability by Israel.” 

Kennedy underscores the “deep commitment to the security of Israel” but says the commitment and support “would be seriously jeopardized” if the US is unable to obtain reliable information about “Israel’s efforts in the nuclear field.” 

On May 27, Ben Gurion responded to Kennedy saying that the nuclear reactor at Dimona “will be devoted exclusively to peaceful purposes”. He counters Kennedy’s request for bi-annual visits starting in June by suggesting annual visits “such as have already taken place” starting at the end of the year. The condition is significant because the previous “visit” to Dimona was restricted in time and space. 

The Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center as viewed from a Corona satellite in the late 1960s (Public Domain)

On June 15, Kennedy wrote to Ben Gurion after he had received a scientific evaluation of the minimum requirements for a nuclear site inspection, After welcoming Ben Gurion’s assurances that Dimona will only be devoted to peaceful purposes, Kennedy issued a polite ultimatum. “If Israel’s purposes are to be clear to world beyond reasonable doubt, I believe the schedule which would best serve our common purpose would be a visit early this summer, another visit in June 1964, thereafter at intervals of six months.” He specifies that  the “visit” must include access to all areas and “sufficient time be allotted for thorough examination.” 

On June 16, the US Embassy in Israel reported that Ben Gurion resigned as Israel’s Prime Minister. This was a huge surprise; the explanation was that it was for “personal reasons”. It is likely that Ben-Gurion knew the contents of the forthcoming letter from Washington (received at the embassy the day before). The impact of his resignation was to stall for time. US Ambassador Barbour suggested waiting until the “cabinet problem is worked out” before sending JFK’s near ultimatum to the next Prime Minister. 

Kennedy did not wait long. On July 4, he wrote to new Israeli Prime Minister Levy Eshkol. After congratulating Eshkol on becoming new Prime Minister, he goes straight to the point “concerning American visits to Israel’s nuclear facility at Dimona.” Kennedy says, “I regret having to add to your burdens to soon after your assumption of  office, but …” He then goes on to request inspections as was requested in the letter to Ben-Gurion and that “support of Israel could be seriously jeopardized” if this is not done.  

On July 17, Eshkol wrote to Kennedy that he needed to study the issue more before responding to Kennedy’s request for visits to Dimona. US Ambassador Barbour added that Eshkol verbally conveyed that he was “surprised” at Kennedy’s statement that US commitment to Israel might be jeopardized. Indicating Israeli defiance, Eshkol told the US Ambassador “Israel would do what it had to do for its national security and to safeguard its sovereign rights.” 

On August 19, Eshkol wrote to Kennedy re-iterating the “peaceful purpose” of Dimona and ignoring the request for a summer inspection. He proposed the inspection take place “toward the end of 1963”. 

On August 26, Kennedy wrote to Eshkol accepting the visit at year end but emphasizing it needs to be done “when the reactor’s core is being loaded and before internal radiation hazards have developed.” Kennedy set these conditions because they were essential for determining whether the facility could be used for developing a nuclear weapon. 

On September 16, State Department prepared a Memorandum of Conversation with a counselor from the British Embassy. There was joint concern but agreement that  Dimona would be visited and inspected “prior to the activation of the reactor.” 

After the Assassination of JFK on November 22

After Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) became president, US mideast policy changed significantly. From the start, LBJ told an Israeli diplomat, “You have lost a very great friend. But you have found a better one.” The Israeli publication Haaretz says, “Historians generally regard Johnson as the president most uniformly friendly to Israel.” The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs writes “Lyndon Johnson Was First to Align U.S. Policy with Israel’s Policies” and “Up to Johnson’s presidency, no administration had been as completely pro-Israel and anti-Arab as his.” 

On the crucial issue of  Dimona inspection, the Israelis ignored JFK’s condition and the reactor went critical on December 26. When the inspection occurred three weeks later, they could not inspect the areas that had been irradiated. A handwritten comment on the report says, “We were supposed to see this first!” We do not know what would have happened it JFK had been in the White House but given the intensity of his effort, and deep convictions regarding the dangers of nuclear proliferation, it would not have been ignored as it was under LBJ. 

Under LBJ, relations with Egypt deteriorated. The US stopped providing direct assistance loans and grants to Egypt. The US became increasingly antagonistic to President Nasser, as desired by the Israel lobby. 

US support for a resolution to the Palestinian refugee issue decreased and then stopped. 

The Department of Justice efforts to require the American Zionist Council to register as foreign agents became increasingly weak until they were dropped under LBJ’s new Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach. The sequence of exchanges includes: 

On December 11, 1963, the AZC attorney wrote to the DOJ saying, “Our client is not prepared to register as an agent of a foreign government.” Instead, he proposed to provide “voluntarily” the required financial information.  

In January and February 1964, there were more exchange between AZC and the DOJ. AZC expressed concern because the American Council on Judaism publicly said that AZC was acting as “propaganda agents for the state of Israel and that the Jewish Agency was being used as a conduit  for funds for the Zionist organization in the United States.” 

In summer 1964 Nicholas Katzenbach becomes Attorney General. Negotiations continued. DOJ staff noted that AZC was “stalling” and not providing acceptable information despite the increasingly special and favorable treatment. In spring of 1965 the DOJ accepted that AZC was NOT required to register as foreign agent. Their financial information was kept in a unique expandable folder. In November 1967 the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) applied for a federal tax exemption. The US Treasury Department granted it, backdated to 1953. 

 Increasingly Aggressive and Uncompromising Zionist Israel 

The successful development of nuclear weapons  added to Israel’s aggressive actions and unwillingness to resolve the Palestinian refugee crisis. 

With intelligence information provided by Washington, Israel made a surprise attack on Egypt, Syria and Jordan in June 1967. The “Six Day war” was a crucial turning point in middle east history. Israel quickly defeated the unprepared combined armies. In the West, public perception of Israel changed overnight. The mythology of Israeli military (and general) superiority was created. Among the American Jewish population, doubts and concerns about Israel evaporated and support skyrocketed. 

Israeli leaders arrogance and deceit is exemplified by the attack on the USS Liberty during the Six Day War. The communications navy vessel was monitoring the air waves in the eastern Mediterranean when it was attacked by Israeli aircraft and boats. Thirty four US sailors were killed and 172 injured. Amazingly , the ship managed to stay afloat. The plan was evidently to sink the ship, blame it on Egypt and consolidate US support and hostility to Egypt and the Soviet Union. 

Lyndon Johnson over-ruled the calls for help from the vessel, saying “I will not have my ally embarrassed.” 

The deadly incident was covered up for decades. 

We do not know for sure what might have happened had JFK not been assassinated. It is possible that Israel would have been stopped from acquiring the bomb.  Without that, they may not have had the audacity to launch the 1967 attacks on their neighbors, seizing the Golan, West Bank and Gaza Strip. If the Zionist lobby had been required to register as foreign agents, their influence would have been moderated. Perhaps Israel could have found a reasonable accommodation with Palestinians in one or two states.

Instead, Israel hardened into an apartheid regime committing increasingly outrageous massacres. As Kennedy warned in 1960, Israel has become a “garrison state” surrounded by “hate and fear”. The assassination of John F Kennedy insured Zionist control of Israel, suffering for Palestinians and permanent instability.  

When it comes to national security, Americans are more of a threat to the US than the Chinese or the Russians.

If you take a poll of American pundits and policymakers about the greatest threat facing the US government, they’d probably put China at the top of the list. Maybe a handful would opt for Russia. A few holdouts from the War on Terrorism era might point to Islamic extremism.
But the greatest threat to the US government is actually Junior Airman Jack Teixeira.

The 21-year-old behind the leak of US intelligence documents might seem like just a guy who wanted to win a few points with his buddies in an on-line discussion group. Sharing insider information to demonstrate his street cred was, of course, an extraordinarily stupid thing to do. But Teixeira was no whistleblower like Chelsea Manning or Reality Winner. He shared the documents in the belief that they wouldn’t go beyond the relatively small circle of gamers in his chat group Thug Shaker Central on the Discord platform.

So, how much of a threat could that be?

For all his youth and naivete, Teixeira represents a sizable government-skeptical force that works in or adjacent to the US government. Many of these right-wing and extreme libertarian individuals can be found in the military. Others are elected representatives—from school boards up to the US Congress—motivated to run for office by Donald Trump or his extremist predecessors. They would never characterize themselves as anti-American. But in their mind, the government is not really part of America—not their America, not the real America.

This version of nationalism stripped of any love of government is only part of the ideological picture.

Teixeira was embedded in the right-wing gamer culture that has taken aim at women, minorities, and the presumed “deep state” through “trolling” and “doxxing” (calling in false reports to police and SWAT teams). Right-wing recruitment takes place in the chat of first-person shooter games and on social media applications like Discord, a platform for gamers since 2015 and also a popular meeting place for extremists. The organizers of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, for instance, used Discord to plan the event, while the white supremacist behind the Buffalo mass shooting last year used Discord to communicate his thoughts through a personal diary.

Discord: what a perfect name for a communications platform that has divided the country even as it has united the right.

It’s not easy to figure out Teixeira’s actual views. According to The Washington Post, 

[M]embers of Teixeira’s server have showed The Post video of Teixeira shouting racist and antisemitic slurs before firing a rifle and said he referenced government raids at Ruby Ridge in Idaho and in Waco, Tex.—events with deep resonance among right-wing, anti-government extremists.

Another piece by the paper provides more insight into Teixeira’s worldview:

[H]e spoke of the United States, and particularly law enforcement and the intelligence community, as a sinister force that sought to suppress its citizens and keep them in the dark. He ranted about “government overreach.” [He] told his online companions that the government hid horrible truths from the public. He claimed, according to the members, that the government knew in advance that a white supremacist intended to go on a shooting rampage at a Buffalo supermarket in May 2022… [He] said federal law enforcement officials let the killings proceed so they could argue for increased funding, a baseless notion that the member said he believes and considers an example of OG’s penetrating insights about the depth of government corruption.

The links between the US military and the far right go back many years, though it’s hard to know just how deep the relationship really is. Timothy McVeigh, the perpetrator of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, was a decorated veteran but developed his anti-government views largely outside the military. Between 2001 and 2013, , according to New America Foundation data, 21 veterans were involved in committing or planning far-right violence. A Florida National Guard member, who was the co-founder of the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division, was convicted in 2018 of possessing explosive materials (released from prison, he plotted to bomb a power station in Maryland and was re-arrested). Veterans were also overrepresented in the January 6 storming of the US Capitol.

According to an October 2020 Pentagon report on the inroads made by white supremacists in the military, “US military personnel and veterans are ‘highly prized’ recruits for supremacist groups, and leaders of those groups try to join the military themselves and get those already in their groups to enlist. Their goal is to obtain weapons and skills and to try to borrow the military’s bravado and cachet.”

In her 2020 congressional testimony, Heidi Beirich of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism reported that the

Armed Services’ own soldiers know that white supremacy in the ranks is a serious problem. A Military Times poll in 2017 found that nearly 25 percent of actively serving military personnel have encountered white nationalism and racism in the Armed Forces. Active duty troops were about 1.3 million at the time, meaning some 325,000 soldiers had encountered white nationalism in some form. Follow up surveys in 2018 and 2019 by the same publication found substantially the same troubling results.

Before the 1970s, such white nationalism and racism would have overlapped substantially with official US government policy. But now, in the wake of the civil rights, affirmative action, and #BlackLivesMatter movements, this extremism has acquired a distinctly anti-government character. Unlike in Germany or New Zealand, the US government has not made much of an effort to eliminate this potential fifth column from the military’s ranks.

Republicans to the Rescue

Given the ideological affinities, It’s no surprise that the far right has come to Teixeitra’s defense. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has supported Teixeira for being “white, male, christian and anti-war,” which “makes him an enemy to the Biden regime.” She goes on: “Ask yourself who is the real enemy. A young low level national guardsmen? Or the administration that is waging war in Ukraine, a non-NATO nation, against nuclear Russia without war powers?”

Fox’s Tucker Carlson, too, has sided with Teixeira and Russia against both Ukraine and the Biden administration:

Just two weeks ago, for example, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told the US Senate that Russian military power is “waning.” In other words, Russia is losing the war. That was a lie. He knew it was when he said it, but he repeated it in congressional testimony. That is a crime, but Lloyd Austin has not been arrested for committing that crime. Instead, the only man who has been taken into custody or likely ever will be is a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who leaked the slides that showed that Lloyd Austin was lying. He revealed the crimes, therefore he’s the criminal.

The Pentagon has been consistently pessimistic about Ukraine’s ability to win the war outright, and some of that pessimism has even been expressed publicly. The leaks have only confirmed that less-than-sanguine viewpoint. But that doesn’t mean that Russia is winning the war. Quite the contrary. The Kremlin’s attempt this winter and early spring to seize the entire Donbas region resulted only in the acquisition of a few square miles of scorched earth.

Carlson, of course, is not interested in the truth, only in Biden-bashing and leading the charge against the US government more generally. Even when Trump was putatively in charge of the federal government, the extreme right and its media darlings managed to maintain their anti-government stance by transferring their animus to a “deep state” that they’d invented largely for that purpose. Look to Trump, indicted but still in the running, to exploit this extreme libertarianism in his campaign to be reelected in 2024.

What the Leaks Reveal

The essential contents of the documents that Teixeira leaked is yesterday’s news. Ukraine is running low on missiles to defend itself against Russian aerial attacks, it has limited resources that it can use in its long-awaited spring counter-offensive, and Russia is having an equally difficult time dealing with the loss of troops and dissension within its own ranks.

The leaks don’t reveal anything about Ukraine’s upcoming counter-offensive because the government in Kyiv hasn’t shared that information with Washington—obviously a wise move given the porous nature of the US intelligence community. The documents don’t identify the specific sources of Russian intel. They don’t uncover any major behind-the-scenes funding of the Kremlin’s war efforts, though the Chinese promised to provide some military assistance disguised as civilian shipments and Egypt was planning to send 40,000 rockets on the sly.

Some revelations outside the Ukrainian front are indeed new—for instance, about China’s supersonic drone capabilities—but others have been relatively small bore. The allies have some Special Forces on the ground in Ukraine, including 14 from the United States. It’s hard to say what they’re doing, but given the Biden administration’s extreme caution around engaging Russian forces directly, they might be there only to facilitate a rapid evacuation of embassy personnel if things should suddenly go south. Israel might reverse its position on providing lethal aid to Ukraine—but then again, it might not. The United States has been spying on ally South Korea, but that’s not a surprise after the Snowden-era revelations about Washington listening in on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone.

What’s most surprising about the revelations is that a 21-year-old airman, a low-level computer tech at an Air National Guard base in Sandwich, Massachusetts, had access to these documents and could so easily bring them home to be copied. It’s a surprise to me, at least. But it’s apparently not so surprising to those familiar with the intelligence community who, according to The New York Times, “say untold thousands of troops and government civilians have access to top secret materials, including many young, inexperienced workers the military relies on to process the monumental amount of intelligence it collects.” They just log on to the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System and boom: secrets at their fingertips.

The sad truth is that the edifice of US intelligence is so huge that it must rely on the services of the young and the restless. It’s not just the intelligence community. Every administration must deal with loose lips. The Trump administration sprang leaks in every direction and went to great lengths to try to plug them. Given the sheer number of opportunities and motivations, it’s surprising that more sensitive materials aren’t floating around the Internet.

Anti-government sentiment—in the military, in the political realm, among the public—adds something new to the equation. It’s happening not so much on the left, where it was a feature of the 1960s, but on the far right. Once confined to the fringes of American life, this far right is now committed to gaining power through government institutions like school boards and the National Guard.

A little over a decade ago, in 2012, alarms were sounded about the very foundation of our banking system. Warnings were issued, red flags raised, but were they heeded? Now, in 2023, let’s rip away the veil and confront the aftermath of those revelations. The truth? Those dire predictions weren’t just spot on; they were the tip of the iceberg.

Remember those towering banks, the symbols of economic might and stability? Back in 2012, it was revealed that many of them, including giants like Santander, Deutsche Bank, and the Royal Bank of Scotland, were on shaky ground. Fast forward to today, and the fallout has been nothing short of catastrophic. Those warnings weren’t just cries in the wilderness; they were the canaries in the coal mine.

The crux of the issue was the dubious practice of fractional reserve banking. Banks were essentially playing a high-stakes game with money they didn’t have. If an ordinary Joe tried such a stunt, they’d be in handcuffs. But these financial behemoths? They danced on the edge of the abyss, and when they finally toppled, the shockwaves were felt worldwide.

But let’s not forget the puppet masters in this saga: the political elite and their bedfellows at the central banks. Back then, they were brazenly printing money, hiding behind the euphemism “quantitative easing.” Today, the consequences of that reckless action are clear for all to see: skyrocketing inflation, devalued currencies, and economies in turmoil.

Central banks, once revered as the guardians of fiscal order, have been unmasked. Their manipulation of interest rates, once a covert operation, is now public knowledge. The audacity of their actions, especially in light of the 2012 revelations, is nothing short of scandalous.

And the ultimate slap in the face? The cavalier approach to deposit guarantees. When the dominos began to fall, it wasn’t the banks or their top-tier executives who bore the brunt. No, it was the average taxpayer, the everyday individual who was left to pick up the pieces. A betrayal of trust, a breach of the social contract, and a glaring example of the system’s inherent flaws.

So, where does that leave us in 2023? Wiser, certainly. Cynical, undoubtedly. But also empowered. The events of the past decade have laid bare the machinations of the financial world. The cat’s out of the bag, and there’s no putting it back in. We’ve seen the underbelly of the beast, and it’s not pretty.

But with knowledge comes power. The revelations of 2012 weren’t just a wake-up call; they were a call to arms. Now, more than ever, it’s crucial to demand transparency, accountability, and reform. The system may be broken, but it’s not beyond repair. It’s up to us, the people, to ensure that the lessons of the past aren’t forgotten and that the future is built on a foundation of trust, integrity, and fairness. The time for complacency is long gone. The time for action is now.

Look, let’s cut the nonsense. When Biden, the self-proclaimed Zionist, stepped up to the podium, we expected, naively perhaps, a fair discourse on the Israel-Palestine debacle. Instead, we were force-fed a hot mess of misinformation, half-truths, and blatant omissions. It’s almost like he was reading from a script written by someone with a vested interest.

First off, grouping all Palestinian freedom fighters under the Hamas tag? Really? That’s like calling every soda a ‘Coke‘. It’s lazy and grossly inaccurate. Groups like the Islamic Jihad Front, Popular Front, Quds Brigade, and others have banded with Hamas for the Al-Quds Flood operation, desperately trying to break the hellish 17-year chokehold on the Gaza Strip. And while the world played dumb and mute, these groups were battling for a life worth living.

His comment on Hamas not representing the Palestinians? Laughable. Did he miss the memo on the democratic election of Hamas by a majority of Palestinians in 2006? Or perhaps he’s chosen to ignore the uproar of support from major cities worldwide. Either way, it’s a glaring oversight.

Biden’s dramatic narrative of Hamas’s supposed war crimes sounds like it was ripped straight from a horror novel. Oddly enough, it mirrors the terror tactics of the Zionist Israeli army against Palestinians over seven and a half decades. The systematic eradication of over 75 Palestinian cities, cold-blooded executions, and the unspeakable horrors meted out to women and children. Was Biden having a Freudian slip and recalling the dark days of the Deir Yassin massacre? Makes you wonder.

And for clarity’s sake, let’s get one thing straight: the Palestinian freedom fighters aren’t the monsters they’re painted to be. Footage doesn’t lie. They’ve shown restraint and respect, even to captured Israeli soldiers. Their actions are guided by the Christian and Islamic values of not harming innocents. Meanwhile, the Israeli military playbook? It’s a masterclass in moral bankruptcy.

And here’s an inconvenient truth: every Israeli over 18, male or female, serves in the army. They’re bred on a diet of extremist rhetoric, honing biases before they even hit puberty. So, the line between civilian and soldier? It’s blurry at best.

Unmasking Biden: The Hidden Power Games

When Biden evoked the Holocaust and anti-Semitism to rally sympathy for Jewish Israelis, he conveniently bypassed a vital historical fact. These brutalities were European-made, inflicted primarily on Ashkenazi Jews. Meanwhile, Sephardi Jews thrived in Arab territories, including present-day Iran. That was until Israel’s inception and the alleged Mossad-led attacks, forcing them into this ‘new homeland’.

Biden’s narrative about a war, painting it as a simple skirmish with terrorists, is misleading. He’s quick to send American forces to save hostages but remains mum about these hostages’ dual allegiances. Many served the Israeli military while their Palestinian and Arab American counterparts suffered in Gaza and the West Bank. So much for patriotism, eh?

His unabashed pro-Israel stance is glaring. Pouring military aid into Israel, Biden hides behind the façade of global security. But here’s the kicker: He’s deploying the USS Gerald Ford, named after the only president who once questioned America’s bond with Israel. Irony much?

Sending the Gerald Ford to the Middle East isn’t a mere show of strength. It’s a cold warning to Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran. And yes, the threats were delivered in person to Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad, with even a newspaper reporting a warning shot to Lebanon.

But these parties aren’t backing down. They recall past US blunders, like the Beirut bombing. Biden, despite his reliance on military might, seems to forget that today’s advanced missiles don’t discriminate against giant carriers.

The Iraqi military faction and the Yemeni Houthis have thrown their hats into the ring too. They’ve signaled that any US assault against Arab allies will be met with fierce resistance.

When American weaponry – some of which are banned by international standards – landed in Israeli arsenals, it wasn’t a mere gesture of alliance. These tools of destruction, like white phosphorus and cluster bombs, were a blatant directive from Biden: Get the job done, and do it fast. Why? Because the West fears that a ragtag group of Palestinian fighters beating the mighty Israeli army could inspire a global shift. Imagine the domino effect if, say, the events in the Middle East influenced the conflict in Ukraine.

Israeli leaders, drunk on their power and age-old beliefs, went on a rampage against innocent Palestinian civilians. When Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spewed hatred, branding all Arabs as “animals to be slaughtered,” it wasn’t just a slip of the tongue. It revealed the sinister mindset driving these acts of violence. The insistence on erasing the Gaza Strip wasn’t just for strategic gain; it was about sending a cold, hard message.

The aftermath paints a grim picture. With American bombs in tow, Israeli planes rained terror. They didn’t just target military bases. They went after homes, hospitals, businesses, and even sacred places of worship. These weren’t accidental casualties; these were deliberate acts of annihilation. The phosphorous and cluster bombs used on churches, mosques, and UN schools, sheltering over 263,000 Palestinians, was nothing short of a massacre.

The human cost? Devastating. Over 1,600 Palestinian civilians were butchered, including innocent children and women. Their lives extinguished by the very weapons Biden sent.

Drawing parallels to the nuclear horror of WWII might seem extreme, but how else can we define this scale of brutality? Biden’s lofty claims of America standing against “terrorism” and “evil” ring hollow. Let’s not forget America’s own bloody legacy, where they wiped out over 100 million indigenous American Indians.

Israel’s 75-year track record is stained with blood. But the U.S.? Their unwavering support makes them partners in crime. Biden’s gifts to Israel aren’t acts of friendship; they’re tickets to destruction.

Biden’s cozy chat with Golda Meir, reminiscing about Israel as the “savior of Jews,” conveniently omits a crucial piece of history. Jews thrived in the Arab world, long before Israel’s creation. The narrative of Jews having “no place to go” is a farce, especially when many Zionist Israelis hold dual citizenships. But when they realized the grim reality of Israel, they yearned for their original homes.

Countries like Denmark, Australia, and Brazil tried to evacuate their dual citizens. But Israel’s sneaky move to shut down Ben-Gorion International Airport? It’s just another card in their hand of deceit.

The world’s not just watching a conflict; it’s witnessing a sinister puppet show. As the smoke clears, it’s time to expose the puppeteers and tear down their curtains of lies. The world deserves the raw truth, no matter how ugly.

Hold onto your seats, folks, because the world as you know it is about to be flipped upside down. The immense shadows concealing the darkest truths of our society are being dragged into the unforgiving limelight. Those pulling the strings behind the scenes, crafting the storylines of nations, are finally being exposed for the puppeteers they truly are. This isn’t just another day in the financial sector, this is the reckoning.

Trillions of dollars in U.S. Treasury Bonds, akin to the bloodline of the U.S. corporation, are making their exodus back to Europe and a staggering 110 nations. It’s more than just numbers and financial jargon; it’s the revelation that the mighty U.S. is teetering on an economic precipice so profound, it threatens to consume everything in its path.

France, a nation once seen as the epitome of romance and culture, is undergoing a transformation of its own. And it’s not a pretty sight. With the audacious pilfering of its citizens’ hard-earned wealth, the streets are echoing with the cries of the betrayed, fuelling riots and unspeakable civil unrest.

Germany isn’t faring much better. The very foundation of its metal industry, crucial to Europe’s economy, is eroding. Hyperinflation isn’t just an economic term anymore; it’s the demon gnawing away at German society, curbing weapons production, and pushing corporations to their knees.

Now, let’s talk about the big elephant in the room, or should I say the sinister spider weaving an intricate web – the Deutsche Bank. With alleged ties to Epstein’s murky underworld, its complex maze of connections is beginning to unravel. From Estonian banks to uncharted international waters, the dominoes are starting to fall, threatening to decimate the global banking edifice.

Israel, a nation that has endured and triumphed over countless adversities, is now teetering on the edge. The facade of prosperity is beginning to crack, revealing the rot that has festered beneath. Fabricated gains by the banking sector can no longer mask the impending doom as the streets fill with unrest and disarray.

And as if the world needed another jolt, the seismic COLLAPSE of SVB BANKS in California with a loss too huge to fathom—$10 trillion—threatens to bring nations down in its wake. The veil has been lifted, exposing the machinations of the Deep State and their distorted market narratives.

Yet, even as the world seems to be falling apart, there are silent watchers— the military courts, the Alliance— waiting, watching, and calculating. Their gaze is fixed on this global spectacle, knowing full well that it could usher in military intervention on a scale never seen before.

The revelation of intertwined stories—of governments’ underhanded dealings, hidden money laundering operations, the creation of bioweapons, and the sparking of proxy wars through the U.S.— is painting a nefarious portrait. We are, perhaps, staring at the precipice of an era marked by war crimes, unspeakable offenses against humanity, and the reverberations of a global PLANDEMIC.

The Global Event: We Stand at the Precipice of Chaos

Look up and squint hard, because massive clouds of chaos are gathering at a daunting pace, casting a deep and overwhelming shadow over global citizens. A majority of these people, blinded by their everyday concerns, are shockingly oblivious to the impending COLLAPSE EVENT. This isn’t just another trend or an insignificant blip on the global radar; this is The Great Awakening.

But what exactly is this so-called awakening? It’s a multi-layered unraveling, a process meticulously crafted through covert operations, overt military intervention, tribunals, and the global purge of establishments that have been dripping corruption for decades.

The very giants who seemed invincible – the deep-seated powers wielding control over organizations like NATO, the UN, and major global banks – are on the brink of an earth-shattering downfall.

And when one mentions Jeffrey Epstein, he isn’t just a name. He’s a key that could unlock pandora’s box, revealing chilling secrets about child trafficking rings, illicit weapon deals, and the sinister underbelly of global drug cartels.

As the world’s gaze fixates on Germany’s strategic maneuvering with China and Russia, Poland emerges from the shadows, revealing a jaw-dropping alliance with these two behemoths. This isn’t some haphazard alignment; it’s a meticulously crafted pact roping in nations like Italy, France, Austria, and Hungary, setting the wheels in motion for their banks to unite and forge an unstoppable EU BRICS subsidiary system.

But watch closely: Poland’s every move, even seemingly contradictory ones like dispatching jets to Ukraine, could be part of a grand strategy aiming to dismantle the shackles of NATO and lay bare the rot in the EU system.

Yes, banks are collapsing, but it’s not just about the money. This COLLAPSE has a profound underpinning. Its objective? To tear down world banks, shatter the illusion of the IMF, and unveil the malevolent ties binding institutions like the WHO, Gates Foundation, and CDC. Anticipate a global shift that promises to redefine our understanding of the financial labyrinth.

Now, more than ever, the shadows are retreating. As these truths unfurl, a broader design is painstakingly coming to fruition. For those in the know, the message is clear: Trust the plan. Q.

Grip your seats, world. For we’re not merely witnessing change, we’re living through a revolution.

Every nation, every individual, every sacred belief we held might be forever transformed.

The tide is coming, and it’s bringing with it a tempest that promises to rewrite history itself.

If and when there is a ‘next’ Great Depression (some may argue that we’ve already entered the next one – although hidden from sight), the question is “How will it be different from the first?”

The current labor force participation rate is somewhere around 62% in the U.S. and the current combined U3 & U6 unemployment numbers reflect 22.8%. Apparently there are about 41 million people receiving food stamps while nearly 14% of Americans live below the ‘official’ poverty threshold (hinged to income and family size).

The U.S. National Debt is just about to turn over to 20 Trillion dollars. Unfunded liabilities are currently 104 Trillion dollars (source: usdebtclock.org). On average, each household with a credit card carries more than $15,000 in credit card debt, and the average U.S household with debt owes $130,922 (source: time.com).

According to a Federal Reserve report, nearly half of Americans couldn’t cover a $400 emergency expense without borrowing the money or selling something. Additionally, almost 30% of people report having a zero balance, and 62% have less than $1,000 in savings, according to a recent survey (source: GOBankingRates.com). An additional 21% report having no savings account whatsoever.

We as Americans are really not wealthy. Rather, we as Americans are drowning in debt while putting on a facade of phony wealth. Most do not own anything. The banks do. And guess what? The banks are in trouble too. The Federal Reserve (a private organization) has essentially been propping up the banks (and ‘the market’) since 2008 – and it’s all based on more gargantuan debt.

While most Americans are entirely clueless about the big picture here, one day (or over a period of time), we may descend further into a ‘Greater Depression’ as so many of the so called ‘asset classes’ collapse in value as they seek out their own ‘true value’ when they cannot be propped up anymore.

Okay, back to the question at hand… How will the next Great Depression be different?

Recently, a commenter here said,
The “great depression” lasted somewhere around 10 years…. 80% of the population lived on farms-ish, I would bet that 90% of those had a HUGE-deep-pantry, and already had Gardens and Livestock. In 1935 there were around 127 million in the US, now 320-ish million, IF the “greater” depression hits and 80% are in the cities….. Just something to think about.

Someone else said,
“…but the greatest loss is the knowledge of survival. In the “great depression” many survived by riding the rails to areas that needed farm labor – try that with most urban dwellers today. Not only are they not physically able but are totally ignorant about agriculture, nature, and most of all, being able to cooperate in a rural society.”

A few of my own thoughts…

Back during the Great Depression, people had a MUCH GREATER sense of morality, work ethic, and practical skill sets than they do today.

There is a tremendous number of people today who have not experienced real hardship. They have been coddled, they have had things handed to them, and they EXPECT to be taken care of. They get angry when they don’t get their way.

During the days of the Great Depression, people on ‘assistance’ had to line up to receive their benefits. It was very visible. Today, ‘digital cards’ hide all of that. The numbers of those receiving benefits are hidden from view and all ‘appears’ as normal…

Today, it’s easy to get a bank loan for just about anything. Back during the days of the Great Depression, people taking on loans was significantly less. They had to save and work for ‘it’.

Family farming and agriculture today is essentially non-existent compared to the years of the Great Depression.

People have no idea how large of a garden and the right kinds of foods which will produce adequate calories to help over-winter for their household. A few tomatoes and squash in a 10×20 garden is not going to cut it…

How many people today know how to preserve their own food (e.g. canning)? I would say VERY, VERY FEW.

Because most Americans suffer from extreme ‘normalcy bias’, a Greater Depression will be shocking and devastating to say the least. Many will lash out as the cities burn… (perhaps literally).

People today are NOT educated the same way as back then. Practical skills are all but ‘gone’. Used to be that many would learn some technical trades in High School and some would go on to a trade school afterwards. Whereas today, ‘everyone’ (even those who really aren’t that bright) has to go to ‘college’ where they’re taught diversity training, political correctness, ‘Dem’s Good – Repub’s Bad, etc…

Today, our manufacturing base is GONE. Back during the Great Depression, we made ‘stuff’. When a nation makes their own ‘stuff’, that’s a good thing…
In conclusion, my general opinion is that the next Greater Depression will be a complete disaster, and it will become violent as the waves of desperation wash over the land. We are a different people than back then, and it’s going to bite us in the a$$…
Care to add your own thoughts?

The prophet Isaiah warns us that in the last days God is going to “turn the world upside down.” He declares, “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down” (Isaiah 24:1).

According to this prophecy, sudden judgment is coming upon the earth, and it will change everything in a single hour. Within that short span, the whole world will witness fast-falling destruction upon a city and a nation, and the world will never be the same.

If you are attached to material things — if you love this world and the things of it — you won’t want to hear what Isaiah has prophesied. In fact, even to the most righteous of God’s people, what Isaiah says might seem unthinkable. Many would surely ask, “How can an entire world be stricken in one hour?”

If we didn’t believe the Bible is God’s pure Word, few of us would take Isaiah’s prophecy seriously. But Scripture makes it clear: in a single hour, the world is going to change. The church is going to change. And every individual on earth is going to change.

The apostle John gives a similar warning in Revelation. He speaks of destructive judgment coming upon a city and nation: “In one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her…. For in one hour so great riches is come to nought” (Revelation 18:8, 17).

In Isaiah’s prophecy, the city under judgment is cast into confusion. Every house is shut up, with no one coming or going. “The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in” (Isaiah 24:10). The entire city is left desolate: “In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction” (24:12). All entrances and exits to the city are gone. The passage indicates that a fire has come, a blast that has shaken the very foundations of the earth (see 24:6).

We who live in New York City know something about this kind of scene. When the Twin Towers were attacked, the ominous fires and smoke could be seen ascending to heaven for miles. Recently, New Yorkers panicked as a mass of steam erupted from below a city street. People ran in all directions screaming, “Is this it? Is this the end-all attack?”

Today, multitudes of secular prophets are saying a nuclear attack is inevitable. The target they mention most often is New York, but it could happen in any major city: London, Paris, Tel Aviv, Washington. Neither Isaiah nor John names the city upon which destructive judgment falls.I don’t intend this message to frighten anyone.

Let me make clear at this point: I don’t intend this message to frighten anyone. Paul tells us that as disciples of Jesus Christ, we have already passed from death into life. We who call on Jesus as Lord should be confident that no matter what happens in this world, his shed blood saves and redeems us.

Therefore, we are not to fear any newscast, but rather to be attentive to what the Lord is doing in the world. Like many people, I hear grievous reports that make me want to tune everything out. But the truth is, God moves in the midst of such times, and through them he speaks warnings to all who would hear his voice.Isaiah’s prophecy points clearly to our generation.

I believe, along with many eminent Bible scholars, that Isaiah’s prophecy points to the last days. By that, I mean our present time. In short, sudden judgment is coming, and Scripture strongly indicates it is now at the door.

At this point you may be wondering: “How can we be sure we’re the generation this prophecy points to?” We can know by two reasons that such judgments are imminent:

1.A growing number of prophets warn of an apocalyptic disaster at the door. When I use the word “prophets,” I speak not just of those in the church. I’m talking also about “secular prophets.”

There are several precedents for secular prophets in Scripture. God used Assyria as his rod of correction with Israel. And he appointed King Cyrus as his servant to assist Israel: “(The Lord) saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure” (Isaiah 44:28).

Likewise today, God uses secular prophets to send warnings. These become “his prophets” for a season. And their prophecies can be harder than those delivered by believers. The message I’m writing here is mild compared to the prophecies being delivered by all manner of secular voices. Just check your newspaper or radio reports.

“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).

2.Sudden destruction comes when the cup of violence overflows. Sensuality, perversion and greed are running rampant throughout our society. Yet, when God sent the Flood upon the earth, it was because of a worldwide eruption of violence: “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11).

Right now, there are numerous wars and bloody uprisings taking place around the globe. Yet foremost in my mind is the violence being waged against children worldwide:

• I think of the sexual violence of pedophiles. Children all over the world are being raped, kidnapped and forced into enslavement in the global sex trade. Recently, a pedophile in the U.S. was discovered running a web site that advises other pedophiles on the easiest places to pick up children. There is no law in place to stop this man. The world’s largest church denomination has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to settle the claims of those who were molested in childhood by clergy. Tell me, how long will God endure the pitiful cries of children who are molested by those who would represent Christ?
• Thousands of children in Africa are being slaughtered in tribal wars, hacked to death by machetes. Young boys — even those under ten years of age — are enlisted into tribal militias and forced to murder men in initiation rites.
• Here in the U.S., the blood of millions of aborted babies cries out from the ground.
• Reports of school murders no longer shock many of us but continue to terrorize our children. We may grow hardened to such reports, but God’s heart is grieved by them.

I tell you, there is no worse violence than the brutalizing of children. Heaven is crying out, “Woe, woe! Your judgments have no cure.”1. In one hour, God is going to change the whole world.

A sudden cataclysmic event will strike, the first of the final judgments of God. This great event will cause the earth to reel. And Isaiah says that when it hits, there will be no place to escape: “The lofty [proud] city, he layeth it low…even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust” (Isaiah 26:5). “The inhabitants of the earth are burned” (24:6).

Once this happens, utter chaos will erupt. All civic activities will stop, and society will descend into massive disorder. Government agencies will be helpless to restore any kind of sanity. No state troopers, no national guard, no army will be able to bring order to the upheaval.

You well remember that when the Twin Towers were destroyed, help poured into New York from all over the world. An army of people came to assist in whatever way they could. But the scene in Isaiah’s prophecy is different: this calamity is clearly beyond humankind’s capacity to respond.

Once this judgment strikes, it will devastate the economy. Rich merchants will stand by watching in torment, weeping and mourning, as they face bankruptcy. In an instant, all the wealth they amassed will be reduced to nothing. John describes the scene: “The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city… For in one hour so great riches is come to nought” (Revelation 18:15–17).

Overnight, all buying and selling will cease. Every restaurant and bar will be shut down, and all drinking and music making will end. Indeed, every trace of mirth and delight, joy and gladness, will vanish: “All the merryhearted do sigh. The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. They shall not drink wine with a song…. The mirth of the land is gone” (Isaiah 24:7–9, 11).

Yes, this is a picture of gloom and doom. But it is not my prophecy. This word was given by the Holy Spirit of Almighty God, to be delivered by his righteous prophet Isaiah. Even the secular world is preparing for it to happen. Billions are being spent on homeland security in the U.S., England, Europe and Israel. Why? Military experts warn that a world-impacting terrorist attack is sure to come.

You may ask: “Why would the whole world change, if a nuclear attack occurs in just one city?” It will happen because of the fear of retaliation. If a rogue nation sends such an attack, you can be sure that within hours that nation will be wiped out. Consider the plan Israel has in place, known as the Samson Option. The moment a nuclear warhead is launched against them, within moments Israel will unleash nuclear missiles to devastate the capital cities of all enemy states.

The world has become a ticking bomb, and time is quickly running out.2. In one hour, God is going to change the church.

This hour of devastation will suddenly change churches, whether they are alive or dead. Isaiah writes, “There shall be the shaking as of an olive tree” (Isaiah 24:13). The image is of God shaking an olive tree after it has been picked of fruit. In short, he’s going to shake everything that can be shaken, sparing nothing. It will be a time of cataclysmic destruction and overwhelming darkness.

So, you ask, “What about God’s people in the midst of all this? What will happen to the church?” Isaiah gives us an incredible word about what will happen with believers.

In the midst of the terrible shaking, a song will be heard, and its sound will grow steadily stronger. Suddenly, in that darkest of hours, a worldwide chorus of voices will sing praises to the majesty of God: “They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea” (24:14).

Do you get the picture? There will be panic everywhere. Men’s hearts will fail them for fear, as fires belch smoke seen for hundreds of miles. Disorder and chaos will reign on all sides. Yet amid the devastating fires and calamity, the world will hear a glorious song being sung: “Glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel… From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous [One]” (Isaiah 24:15–16).

A holy remnant is going to awaken, and a song will be born in the fire. Instead of panicking, the people of God will be praising his awesome majesty. Imagine it: in the darkest hour of all time, a collective voice will rise by the millions out of every nation, not in fear or agony, but in joyful praise to the Lord.

How will this happen, you ask? In one hour, God is going to regenerate and restore his church. Dry bones will shake and rattle, and the righteous will be awakened, as the Holy Spirit calls multitudes of lukewarm believers back to their first love. In his mercy, he’s going to rouse those who have neglected him, ignoring his Word, avoiding prayer, perhaps even contemplating divorce. Suddenly, their souls will be flooded with pangs of remorse and godly sorrow. And many will fall on their knees, crying out in repentance.

There will be a revival of glorifying God’s majesty. And the song of this revival will be heard from the uttermost parts of the earth. East, west, north and south — from Arab lands to China, Indonesia, Africa and all parts of the earth — a glorious song will rise up from the midst of the fires. In one day’s time, those who survived the fires are going to be singing a new song throughout the world.Isaiah 25 tells us wonderful miracles will come in this time, as “God makes all things new.”

All around the world, the Lord’s people are going to “feast” on his Word: “In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined” (Isaiah 25:6).

“And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations” (25:7). Right now, in this time of prosperity, the world’s masses seem to be covered with a veil, unable to see the truth of Jesus Christ. But when God rises up to shake the world through judgment, the shrouds covering the minds of billions will be cast aside. The veil of darkness will be removed, and many will see the Lord in his glory. The Holy Spirit won’t force Christ upon these opened eyes and hearts; rather, a remnant is going to rise up from among them.

I believe the darkest shroud-coverings today are over the eyes and hearts of youth worldwide. This is especially true of college-age students, whose faith has been bombarded for up to four years. Over that time their minds have been indoctrinated by godless professors in classrooms where belief is attacked, mocked and scorned. Now these young men’s and women’s faith has been shipwrecked. They leave college convinced God is dead.

But in one hour of devastation — nuclear, economic and social — all such hypocritical veils are going to fall away. Those same professors who mocked them will realize, as they face the possibility of death, a choice must be made: “What about eternity? Is there life after death?” They’re going to look for someone to explain to them all that’s happening.

When the song is sung, it’s going to be heard by young people from every walk of life, from every nation under the sun. Many will harden their hearts and curse God at the sound of this song, but multitudes of others will join in singing of his majesty.3. In one hour, God is going to change us as individuals.

In a single hour, the focus of our lives will be changed. We’ll no longer obsess about our own adversities and troubles. Suddenly, so many things that we held dear will no longer be of any value to us. Why? In that hour, everyone will be in the same boat:

“It shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him” (Isaiah 24:2).

The sudden judgment that comes will not be a respecter of anyone. Rather, it is going to touch all who are within the realm of its fury. Presidents, kings, the world’s richest and most famous — all will tremble just like the poorest of the earth. And this cataclysmic event will bring to naught every idol, purging iniquity and tearing down all false altars:

“By this [the calamity] therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up [be left standing]” (Isaiah 27:9).

The world’s most prominent idol is money, and right now America is facing a monstrous financial disaster. Investors are scrambling to move their money out of high-risk funds, and mortgage companies are going bankrupt. One recent financial headline read, “Abandon Ship!” Everyone is selling and nobody is buying. Many households are in a panic, as overnight their lives are changing. I think of the president of a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund, who recently put up for sale his 142-foot yacht and his sixteen-bedroom mansion in Aspen, Colorado. His fund had dried up virtually overnight.

The day is coming when sports will be the last thing on people’s minds. I have nothing against sports, but soon there will be no more 250-million-dollar deals for athletes, when so much of the world is starving. All idols will come crashing down, crushed to dust, and the playing field will be leveled. The richest and the poorest alike will face the same conditions.

It will all happen within a day. “When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).Why such apocalyptic warnings?

You may wonder: what good can come of these prophetic messages? Why should anyone have to live under such anxiety?

I remind you, Jesus warned Jerusalem of sudden devastation to come upon that city. It was going to be burned to the ground, with over a million people murdered. Christ explained his warning: “I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe” (John 14:29). He was saying, in essence, “When it happens, you’ll know there is a God who loves you and forewarned you.”

Paul calls such warnings “light,” insights that expel darkness. He says, in short: “You are children of light, because you know what’s coming in the future. So, when destruction comes, and there’s panic all around, you will have the calm of the Holy Spirit. Something will quicken inside you, and you’ll remember, ‘God warned me.’ This prophecy isn’t a message of wrath to God’s people, but a wakeup call to begin preparing.”

“God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9–10). Paul is speaking here of a time of possible destruction. Therefore, he says, “Comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do” (5:11).

In this day of prosperity, nobody wants to hear a message like Isaiah’s. I certainly don’t want to hear it. But we cannot ignore it, because it is here at our door. In such times, Paul says, when we have knowledge that sudden destruction is coming, we are not to tremble or sorrow as the world does. Instead, we are to comfort one another in faith, knowing that God rules over every aspect of our lives.

“Be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (5:8). Paul instructs, “Arm yourself with faith. Build up your belief now, before the day comes. Learn your song, and you’ll be able to sing it in your fire.” “Glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel” (Isaiah 24:15).

This is the hope of our most holy faith: our Lord causes a song to come out of the darkest of times. Start now to build up your holy faith in him, and learn to praise his majesty quietly in your heart. When you sing your song, it will strengthen and encourage your brothers and sisters. And it will testify to the world: “Our Lord reigns over the Flood!” ■

We can see the signs of a coming economic collapse, but that does us no good whatsoever if we fail to act. No, we can’t prevent what is coming, but we can certainly prepare to minimize the pain when it all comes down.

When the government debt is no longer payable and the government checks can’t be covered or the money printing to make it all keep going causes hyperinflation, there will be a lot of civil unrest. Unhappy people who either aren’t getting their government checks or people who are unhappy that their government checks won’t go far enough as 5% becomes the monthly inflation rate instead of the annual inflation rate.

So if we have the benefit of foresight and we see it coming, just what can we do to survive when it all comes down? Let’s take a look at three specific things you can to do survive the riots and looting that will make the streets a very dangerous place to be when the economic collapse happens.

Be able to stay home

The safest place during a riot is in your home. Especially if you have taken measures to ‘fortify’ your home and make is safer, and if you have some means of self-defense, you won’t want to be anywhere else when there is civil unrest.

However, when an economic collapse happens, there are always reasons to be tempted to brave the danger outside – and it is almost always making a run to the store for supplies.

If you have had the wisdom to prepare, you will have 6 to 8 weeks’ worth of non-perishable items in your pantry to give you the insurance policy of being safe in your home.

Keep a low profile

If you haven’t been telling anyone and everyone about your predictions of economic collapse and how you are preparing by stockpiling food, then you are much better off. While you certainly do want to help others in need, you don’t want to have every neighbor on the block knocking down your door asking for a handout when things go south.

The less said, the better off you will be in your attempts to keep a low profile. Looters and burglars who decide that they will help themselves to the supplies of others will not have you on their radar if you have kept a low profile, since word gets around quickly these days with Facebook.

Be able to hunker down anywhere

Just as with my first point, having the luxury of staying in the safety of your home when there is civil unrest, you want to have the luxury of not having to risk taking to the streets to get home if things go south when you are at work.

Since we never know when something like this will happen and how it will unfold, having an emergency preparedness kit in your car is critical. We spend a lot of time away from home, and having some supplies with us only makes sense if we want to have the best chance possible of making it through periods of civil unrest unscathed.

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