The United States in Decline

(Mediamodifier/Pixabay)

Commentary 

Last summer, I concluded that something “fishy” was going on in the world. Many of the responses to the coronavirus pandemic made no sense, that is, they were extremely destructive to economies and humans in general. Still, they were kept in place in many countries, while governments took an ever-increasing role in our economies.

To get a comprehensive picture of what was going on, our company, GnS Economics, decided to conduct an in-depth analysis of the economic and political agenda known as The Great Reset, driven by the World Economic Forum (WEF). What we discovered was very troubling.

Our analysis, based mostly on public comments and writings by members of the WEF, showed that the Great Reset agenda would lead to the domination of the world economy by international corporate conglomerates and an unelected global elite.

We somewhat reluctantly also concluded that there’s even a possibility of a global conspiracy to enslave sovereign economies and their citizens. We named this scenario “Global Authoritarianism” or “Global Dystopia.”

The building blocks of a Global Authoritarianism/Dystopia included:

• The issuance of Central Bank Digital Currencies, or CBDC’s, to control the economy.
• The issuance of arbitrary regulations over societies and economies to undermine (eradicate) constitutional rights.
• The issuance of a “police state” to keep dissidents in check.
• The issuance of a full media to control public opinion.
• The issuance of “free income” or “basic income” schemes to bring the income of citizens under direct government control.

What such a system would create would be a socialist authoritarian state, where both economic and civil liberties would have been eradicated. Of all the countries in the world, China is furthest down this road, as they are experimenting with, for example, CBDCs and the “Social Credit System.”

I have lived in the United States (during the spring and summer of 2010, when I was a non-degree doctorate student at NYU) and I have visited the country several times after. I consider it my second home, and the beacon of freedom, but now its direction worries me.

Many states enacted and have continued their arbitrary coronavirus restrictions. Regardless of their intentions, they have checked box No. 2 on the dystopian scenario. As a personal note, it’s still unfathomable that I, having had COVID-19, cannot visit the “land of the free” without taking an experimental vaccination enforced by the state. Seriously limiting the right to carry firearms would bring the United States a major step closer to a police state (checking box No. 3), as the means of citizens to protect themselves against an authoritarian state would be seriously hindered. Fortunately, this is unlikely.

For some time, we have known that something is wrong with the economic model the U.S. government has been pursuing. This is visible for example in the steep rise in income inequality during the past decades. Measured against the income share earned by the top-earning percent, income inequality in the United States is now close to that before the onset of the Great Depression in 1930.

A figure presenting the share of total income earned by the highest 1 percent in Finland and in the United States from 1920 to 2021. (GnS Economics, World Inequality Database)

Some, mostly on the left, have argued that the United States should follow Finland in its economic and social policy. This idea is a fallacy, as the Finnish “Welfare State,” which is currently under heavy strain, was built alongside our rise to economic prosperity after World War II (before that, we were a relatively poor country). It would be practically impossible to create a culture “out of the blue,” in which the government would take a lion’s share of all income and muster a wide variety of welfare services to the United States, without serious political, societal, and economic repercussions.

Following in Finland’s footsteps would just lead to inefficiencies and aggravated political divisions in the United States, which are already visible.

For example, the issuance of stimulus checks ($1,200 in April 2020, $600 in December 2020/January 2021, and $1,400 in March 2021) led to a serious drop in the labor participation rate, which has yet to recover. Why work when you can have money for free? This also contradicts the foundation upon which the United States was founded (freedom and personal responsibility). People throwing themselves on welfare has also become an epidemic in Finland. Our system is, quite simply, broken.

If such policies, that is, the distribution of free money, continue in the approaching recession, the United States would take a major step toward our Global Authoritarianism/Dystopia-scenario (checking box No. 5). The issuance of a “digital dollar,” that is, a CBDC issued by the Federal Reserve, would be another massive step toward it (checking box No. 1) and it would, quite simply, jeopardize the economic freedom of U.S. citizens.

What the United States needs, in my opinion, is more economic freedom, not less. Recessions and crises should be taken as they come. They’re painful, but a necessity to root out unprofitable businesses and failed governance models. Economic crises are also a way for citizens and nations to start anew. This is what, for example, Finland did after its banking crisis and depression of the early 1990s. Our economy was overhauled, which led to a strong recovery followed by the rise of Nokia and the Dotcom boom. The crisis was painful, but the recovery was exceptional. The complete opposite occurred in Japan, where the economy was saved by “any means necessary.” The Japanese economy has yet to recover from the crisis.

Examples from the Great Depression show that altruistic actions taken by those who have plenty (firms and individuals) can bring a lot of relief to those suffering economically. I don’t think the solution to income inequality, or other economic issues, in the United States can be found from the government, but from society.

My point isn’t that the United States would be in a permanent decline, but current trends could lead to it if U.S. citizens don’t take action to stop what is happening to their country. Current U.S. leadership, like that in Finland, seems to follow the Great Reset agenda, and it will bring nothing good to our citizens.

There are, naturally, rays of hope. Texas has been the beacon of freedom of the world for decades and especially during the past year. I hope the state stays that way, even though Texans are now facing some serious hindrances.

We need countries and states that push strongly against the Great Reset agenda, which is on the rise in most Western countries. I’m certain the United States will take this role again eventually.