One of the things you hear about here at LBC that you won't find many other places is the discussion of the shifting of power from West to East. This has happened before. In history class you might have learned about "the fall of Rome." That's not really how it happened. Over the course of about 500 years, the Roman state became so oppressive to the people as a result of ever-higher taxes and monetary debasement that the "barbarians" presented a more favorable lifestyle. The Roman state had already moved its locus of power to Constantinople and couldn't field the armies necessary to hold down a rebellious population. And so the centers of power shifted Eastward.

We are seeing the same issues in our own time, right this moment. As we learn from the history of Rome as well as stories in the Bible, monetary debasement is nothing new. What is new is the particular method by which our money is being debased. The reasons for this are numerous and have been discussed in detail elsewhere, but the bottom line is that the West has given away its power for short term political gain. In this round of history, the East has wised up to the opportunity and started grabbing it.

But the why isn't what I want to discuss here. It's the how to survive it part that I am most interested in.

I realized the other night that there are 3 basic strategies that you can employ.

1, move. I'm serious. Go to where the growth is and will be. Do that, and you'll be part of the rising tide that lifts all boats. If you take this approach, the only thing you need to really prepare for financially is the social instability that can come with sudden wealth.

2, become self-sufficient, at least for a while. If you plan on staying in the declining regions, you must be aware that as societies and governments lose power, the grasp at whatever wealth they can as they go down. We are already seeing this with restrictions on capital flow in and out of the US and the constant rhetoric that the rich are evil/not paying enough. If you plan to weather the storm, prepare yourself to support you and your loved ones in a manner that doesn't look rich. If you have a homestead, grow your own food, and basically look like every other poor family out there, chances are you can weather the storm quite comfortably. Start buying fancy cars and clothes though, you'll attract the attention of the wealth taxes that will be coming down the road over the years.

3, get rich. This is what you come here to LBC for. If you are rich enough, then that wealth provides you with the influence and mobility to go wherever you want. If one country's attitude isn't to your liking, you can easily pick up and move to a friendlier clime. You'd probably already be living a multi-national lifestyle just by pursuing whatever travel plans you'd normally have anyways.

And really, that's about it. Yes, you can try to enter politics and change the system, prevent the lashings out from declining powers. I emphasize the try part. You can hold out hope that it can't happen here and it'll never get that bad. I'd rather be prepared for the worst while hoping for the best.

Personally, I'm actively developing strategies 2 & 3 in my own life while keeping an eye out on #1.

Do you have any strategies for dealing with the coming world where America is a once-great empire always looking to the past? In other words, what will you do when America becomes just like Britain was after WWII?

It's pretty subjective, but to me rich enough would be having enough to buy off local government types while you make your way elsewhere. Then you have to buy all the stuff for your new life. So... Pretty rich . At current levels, I think you could do it comfortably with 10 million. You'd probably be left with 3-7 million depending on what kind of tax penalties you incur and where you end up settling.

10 million?! Maybe in my next life, if there is one. Haha.

dobedo brought up this same question on another thread, that I can't find right now. But my answer was that short term the places to be are industrialized Western countries that have a sane government like New Zealand and Australia. Longer term, the resource kings that are making the leap from 3rd world to 1st world will be the places to be, like China and Brazil.

There's been a lot of talk on this subject in the chat lately, and it has helped me refine my ideas. The fundamental criterion necessary to produce a growing economy is an increase capital investment per capita. This means that the economy (on whatever scale you want to consider) is creating more and more tools to provide goods and services for people. The more the basics are taken care of, the more time and energy people have to pursue higher worth areas.

The derivative criteria that enable a higher capital investment boil down to 2 (or 1 and a half) things:

1 - a cultural respect for private property. I'm not going to get into a whole discussion on why communism is self-destructive, but take my word for it, it is.
2 (or a half) - a growing population. Strictly speaking, this isn't necessary, but it sure helps a lot.

So when in doubt, just ask yourself: Where in the world do people respect my right to own my belongings? And where are there young people?

Answer those two questions, and you'll probably find a pretty good place to hang your hat.