Imagine a Total Collapse of the US...What Would It Look Like? 

Most of us have never seen, let alone experienced the collapse of an empire. We’ve seen our fair share of market crashes and financial crises, but never a full-on collapse. So, what might such an unimaginable collapse look like? Well, it might not quite resemble what you see in the movies. Our country probably won’t fall into lawlessness and chaos overnight, as in the likes of MadMax. The fall of an empire is not a sudden event. It’s a long, drawn-out process.

Although the fall might not be immediate, there are certainly moments along the way where it seems as though the sky is falling. We’ve seen these types of events on a few occasions in our lifetime or the lifetime of a closely connected generation. The Great Depression and the 2008 financial crisis are two examples.

In both cases, central bank intervention and manipulation might have helped prop up the economy, at least for the time being. This sleight of hand by the banking elite would last a decade or so before the economy fails again.

When this happens, there are a handful of smart economists (often an oxymoron) and financial gurus who see it coming and scream about it to no avail. In the 1930s, it was Austrian Economist Ludwig von Mises. In the 2000s, assuming you’ve read Michael Lewis’ The Big Short, you know it was people like Michael Burry, Greg Lippmann, and Steve Eisman.

No matter how loud or long they scream, though, the public doesn’t take notice. Why? Two reasons: one, because most tend to think in herds (ouch), and second because the banking elites will do everything in their power to make it seem like everything is not only fine but prospering. They use terms like “boom” and “bull market” and brand everyone who disagrees a “chicken little” or “fear monger” of a “bad news bear.” Bear in mind, the human species has survived millennia not due to bubbling happiness but its tendencies toward fear.

And that’s the problem with a collapse. We have been trained to THINK we know what it looks like and that we can recognize the chaos that it brings. Unfortunately, the real collapse, when it finally comes, will go on behind closed doors and the general public will be none the wiser.

Each of these events, decades apart, are stages in the long-term financial collapse. The panic involved in each collapse is not a sign in and of itself, but a carefully orchestrated distraction to keep the attention off what is really going on.

The central banks and the powers that be run the same playbook for every crash. There is a period of “prosperity” before the crash and then, seemingly out of nowhere, everything mysteriously goes south. This happens so they can change the system once again, manipulating it to their benefit in the aftermath. Over the course of decades, these crashes will eventually take their toll on the system and lead to the ultimate collapse.

In 2020, you can see the signs of yet another crash coming which, when added to all that came before, could be one of the biggest ever, and one that might just be the final nail in the US’s coffin. And, once again, the public has been manipulated into a false sense of security and, in many cases, outright denial.

A great example of this is how conservatives’ outlook had shifted over the course of just a  decade. Under the Obama Administration, conservatives were decrying the economic bubble the government had created with stimulus and bailouts. Under the Trump Administration, many of these same people are hailing the economic “progress” brought on by the manipulation of the stock market. Similar intervention, night and day difference.

With this going on, what the shrewdest economists and financial experts are yelling about now are all the signs of a crash going on outside of the broader stock market. They will site the decline in US manufacturing, freight, international trade, and massive closures in the retail industry. Also, the fact that consumer debt, corporate debt, and national debt are all at all-time highs.

So, what does the collapse of the US look like? It looks like this exact moment as we enter 2020. In other words, it looks “normal.” Everything is all set. So, what can we do about it? Unfortunately, there is nothing individuals can do on a global level to stop what has been in motion for almost a century now. The sickness is in the cycle itself.

While there is no stopping the collapse, each individual can take steps to help prepare themselves, their families, and their communities for the hard times to come. As individuals and small groups, we can implement a philosophy of decentralization, promote localized and self-sufficient economies and production, and make sure we have tangible assets such as gold and silver that are not based on our current economic system.