Money

For a long time, it has been clear that the middle class is being systematically destroyed.  The cost of living has been rising faster than paychecks have for years, and this has pushed millions of Americans into poverty.  As for those that were already impoverished, many of them have been pushed out into the streets.  According to the Wall Street Journal, homelessness in the United States is increasing at the fastest rate ever recorded in 2023.  Anyone that thinks that we do not have a major problem on our hands simply has not been paying attention.  At one time, living “the American Dream” was a goal that the vast majority of Americans could aspire to achieve, but now it is out of reach for most of the country.  In fact, a report that was just released concluded that it now takes 3.4 million dollars for the typical U.S. household to live “the American Dream” over the course of a lifetime…

The so-called ‘American Dream’ is the benchmark that many people hope to achieve in their lifetime – getting married, buying a home and a car and raising children.

But new analysis has found that achieving these milestones now costs a staggering $3,455,305 – much more than most Americans will make in their lifetime.

One of the biggest amounts is for paying off a mortgage on a property. The average homebuyer will fork out $796,998, according to Investopedia – assuming a 10 percent down payment and a 30-year fixed loan at 7.2 percent interest.

Are you going to make 3.4 million dollars during your working years?

If not, “the American Dream” is not for you.

Sorry.

Today, it is only those that are at the very top of the economic food chain that are thriving.

Once upon a time, America had the largest and most prosperous middle class in the history of the world, but now the top 1 percent controls more wealth than the entire middle class…

Thirty years ago, America’s celebrated middle class commanded twice as much wealth as the upper 1%.

Over the years, the rich have grown steadily richer. The top 1% caught and passed the middle class in collective wealth in late 2020, Fed data show.

The top 1% of American earners now control more wealth than the nation’s entire middle class.

This is what happens when power and wealth are highly centralized.

The gap between the wealthy and the rest of us is now bigger than ever.

So good luck trying to live a middle class lifestyle in this environment.

Do you want to buy a couch?  Well, the exact same couch that would have cost you $799 in 2019 will now cost you $1,599…

An interior designer has revealed an IKEA couch that used to cost $799 in 2019 is now double the price four years later.

Jilian Dee, a small business owner based in Los Angeles, went viral on TikTok after stitching @loljustmark’s video about the Swedish furniture giant’s ‘crazy’ prices.

Mark, a construction and home décor expert, pointed out that IKEA’s Finnala sofa and chaise now costs a whopping $1,599, saying he wouldn’t pay more than $700 for it.

And don’t even get me started on the price of food.

Beef is already considered to be a “luxury meat”, and it is going to be even more expensive in 2024 because the USDA is projecting that beef production will be way down…

The USDA projects beef production to be down by 180 million pounds over a six-month period by the end of 2023, while the Insider noted that the average size of herds is at 61-year record lows as farmers struggle to feed their animals.

“A lot of our neighbors are selling … The cattle values in general are worth more than they’ve ever been worth before. And quite frankly they’re worth more than what we’re having to pay for hay,” Kent told the FT.

And we are being warned that supplies of many other products in our grocery stores will be getting tighter as well…

As we prepare to step into 2024, it’s important to know what changes are to come over the next year—including the changes that might come to the selection of items at grocery stores.

In 2023, we faced scarcity of several products, from toilet paper to sriracha. Now, there are a few other items that may be become harder to find over the next 12 months.

Factors like environmental challenges, labor shortages, and more could pose a risk to the availability, quality, and affordability of certain spices, dairy products, eggs, seafood, grains, fresh produce, and meat and poultry.

Of course there are some things that you won’t be able to get at all.

Members of Congress have been told that drug shortages in the U.S. recently reached a record high, and this is a problem that is not going away any time soon…

Drug shortages in the U.S. have hit a record high and lawmakers warn they could mean life or death for millions of patients. A House committee is investigating what Congress can do to the supply chain to make sure doctors don’t have to keep rationing essential drugs like cancer treatments.

Health experts agree the shortages of hundreds of generic drugs need urgent attention.

But they’re still trying to build consensus on a remedy.

If you go to the official FDA drug shortage list, you will see that there are 143 entries right now.

And some of the drugs that are in short supply are used millions of times each year…

Critical shortages in the US include albuterol, an asthma and allergy medication used to prevent and treat breathing difficulty; amoxicillin, a crucial antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections, including pneumonia, which is seeing rising cases in the US; epinephrine — or adrenaline — a drug used to treat life-threatening conditions like severe allergic reaction.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 54 million prescriptions written for amoxicillin in 2019. In 2020, nearly 62 million albuterol prescriptions were handed out.

I am not going to sugarcoat this for you.

This is a crisis.

In some cases, the lives of American kids are being put in danger because they can’t get the drugs that they desperately need…

One teenage lymphoma patient from Indiana was forced to take a type of chemotherapy that had previously led to a life-threatening allergic reaction, because the medication he had tolerated was out of stock.

Another Florida-based mother of a nine-year-old girl with aggressive Leukemia was told to expect a 15-month wait for a $10 drug that would save the young girl’s life.

So why is this happening?

Well, there are many factors that are contributing to this nightmare, but one of the biggest is the fact that we have become so dependent on China and India…

Another factor driving the problem is the US’ reliance on key materials from China and India to make 95 percent of medicines used in emergency care.

We should have never allowed this to happen.

But we did.

And now we will pay a very great price.

If you think that shortages are bad now, just wait until China invades Taiwan.

Things will get really crazy at that point.

So I would very much encourage you to prepare in advance for the chaotic times that are rapidly approaching, but unfortunately most Americans still believe that everything will work out just fine somehow.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

In recent months, a number of high profile individuals have made headlines by deciding to give their lives to Christ.  So exactly what in the world is going on here?  Is this the beginning of a new trend?  Ultimately, I believe that these high profile conversions to Christianity are just a very small portion of a much larger picture.  All over the world, the great battle between good and evil that has been raging for thousands of years is reaching a grand crescendo, and people are feeling compelled to pick a side.  We live in a day and age when it is becoming increasingly difficult to stay on the fence.  Darkness is rapidly growing all around us, and those that do not want to be part of that darkness are reaching out for the light.

This week, Daddy Yankee absolutely shocked millions of his fans when he announced that he will be devoting his life to Jesus from this point forward…

Daddy Yankee is officially retiring from reggaeton to devote his life to his religious faith, the rapper said after ending his farewell tour, La Meta (The Goal), Sunday night in his homeland Puerto Rico.

The 46-year-old singer made the announcement in a lengthy speech following a larger-than-life performance of his global hit “Gasolina,” a song that marked the beginning of the globalization of reggaeton and catapulted him into mainstream success back in 2004.

“My people, this day for me is the most important day of my life. And I want to share it with you because living a life of success is not the same as living a life with purpose,” the artist, who also popularized the 2017 megahit “Despacito” with Luis Fonsi, said in Spanish.

You may not be familiar with Daddy Yankee, but he is a really big deal in the Spanish-speaking world…

In the Spanish-speaking music world, this qualifies as a bombshell. For context, Daddy Yankee has 48.9 million followers on the popular social media platform Instagram.

The music superstar used that platform to post a clip of his live, heartfelt message to fans. That post already has more than 1.7 million likes as of Tuesday morning.

I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have 48.9 million followers on a social media platform.

Can you imagine the impact for God that he is going to have?

During his final show, Daddy Yankee actually quoted the words of Jesus to explain his decision…

“What good will it be for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” he said at the final show of his farewell tour at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico, quoting Mark 8:36. “That is why, tonight, I recognize, and I am not ashamed to tell the whole world, that Jesus lives in me and that I will live for Him.”

Very well said.

May God greatly bless the efforts of Daddy Yankee as he shines a light in a world that desperately needs it.

His announcement reminded me of the recent baptism of Kat Von D…

Kat Von D is tattooing her soul with some fresh spiritual ink.

The celebrity tattoo artist and “LA Ink” star shared a video of her recent baptism in an Instagram video Tuesday. In the clip, set to angelic choral music, Von D can be seen enjoying the baptism church service before being dunked into a baptismal pool by the pastor performing the ceremony.

“Katherine von Drachenberg, upon your profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in obedience to his divine command, I baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” the pastor said.

She has renounced witchcraft and has decided to return to the faith of her youth.

Needless to say, she has been viciously attacked from many directions for making this decision, but I am really hoping that she will end up being a tremendous success story.

Many social media influencers have been turning to Christ as well.

In fact, JiDion completely shocked his followers when he deleted almost all of his prank videos after making a decision to give his life to Christ…

JiDion is one of the most famous streamers and content creators on the internet. He gained a massive following for his many prank videos, one of which got him banned from all NBA-related events.

Earlier this year on September 22, JiDion decided to make a change and declared to his audience, “I’m turning my life to Christ” in a YouTube video that has since garnered 1.3 million views. At the time, his fans were concerned that he would stop making content.

Their worst fears have been realized, and then some. JiDion has deleted nearly all of the content from his multiple YouTube channels. He has since uploaded a video titled ‘Why I Deleted All My Videos…’ to explain the decision.

We should rejoice when a big name chooses Christ, because such an individual has the potential to reach vast numbers of people with the good news.

So that is why we should be praying for the biggest celebrities of all to get saved.

For example, this week Taylor Swift was chosen as the Person of the Year by Time Magazine…

Part of Swift’s stunning year was her “Eras Tour,” which grossed about $2.2 billion in North American ticket sales alone, according to research firm QuestionPro. Also on Wednesday, StubHub released its 2023 “Year in Live Experiences” report revealing that the “Eras Tour” was StubHub’s biggest tour in the website’s history.

Swift has dominated not only Super Bowl-sized arenas, but local movie theaters as well.

In its opening weekend, the pop singer’s concert film, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” raked in about $96 million in the box office in the United States and Canada, making it the highest-grossing concert film domestically for an opening weekend, according to AMC.

Among all of that, Swift broke her own Spotify record by becoming the most-streamed artist in a single day in the streamer’s history, while “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” became Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day this year.

Can you imagine the kind of impact that she would have if she decided to use her fame and influence for good?

We live in a period of history when everyone is going to be picking a side.

These truly are apocalyptic times, and our world will soon descend into a state of complete and utter chaos.

Some are preparing for what is ahead by storing food and building bunkers…

A doomsday community is in search of residents to live in its 575 bunkers which can reportedly fit up to 10,000 people.

In the Black Hills mountain range in South Dakota, a former army base which stored munitions has been repurposed into bunkers.

The base has since been transformed into liveable bunkers aimed at providing an ‘epic humanitarian survival project’ – not just for the top 1%.

I certainly believe in getting prepared for the cataclysmic events that are coming too.

But if you don’t have Jesus, none of those things will matter much in the long run.

If you have Jesus, you have hope.

If you don’t have Jesus, you don’t have hope.

So I would very much encourage all of you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Is your job safe?  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were more than 13 million layoffs and discharges in the United States during the first nine months of 2023, and now “layoff season” has arrived.  As the end of the year approaches, companies start taking a hard look at the bottom line, and that can result in harsh job cuts.  When I was growing up, most large companies would at least wait until after the holiday season to shove workers into the street, but these days they just don’t care.  The moment you are no longer considered to be an asset, they will throw you aside like a rotten fish.  We live in a cold, cruel world, and that isn’t going to change any time soon.

Once again this year there will be lots of layoffs during the month of December.  The following comes from a USA Today article entitled “Worried about job cuts heading into 2024? Here’s how to prepare for layoff season”…

It’s December, which means more than just cooler weather and holiday celebrations. It’s also layoffs season.

Job cuts tend to spike in December and January as companies prepare for structural changes heading into the new year, as shown by data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Layoff season is hitting the media particularly hard.

Pink slips are flying around all over the place, and we are being told that a “bloodbath” has already begun…

Seasons greetings! And by “season,” we mean that surreal time of year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day when media giants scramble to clear their books and pink-slip a bunch of employees. As 2023 nears its end, the media grinches are about to steal Christmas for many, as several key outlets are poised to suffer through a final wave of layoffs. The bloodbath began Thursday at Condé Nast, where about a dozen New Yorker staffers exited the famed magazine…

Perhaps if they tried to actually tell the truth, mainstream media companies would not have to let so many workers go.

According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, media companies laid off more than 19,000 employees between January and September.

That number was up 550 percent compared to the same time period in 2022.

Nothing to see here!  Just a 550 percent increase.  That seems perfectly “normal” to me.

Elsewhere, Pfizer has announced that it will be giving the axe to a large number of workers…

Pfizer officials have confirmed that job cuts and cost reductions are coming to the Groton campus as part of a company-wide $3.5 billion “cost cutting and restructuring plan” the company had announced on Oct. 13.

“Pfizer has launched an enterprise-wide cost realignment program. Various areas of Pfizer’s global enterprise are making changes to operate more efficiently and effectively,” wrote a Pfizer spokesperson in an email exchange with CT Insider. “These changes will be implemented on a rolling basis and will differ from area to area. Part of the effort will result in some job loss across a number of our locations, including Groton.”

It turns out that there is a lot less demand for Pfizer products these days.

Who would have guessed that?

Other industries are being hit really hard too.

Last week, we learned that U.S. steel will be laying off “up to 1,000 workers”…

U.S. Steel announced Tuesday it will idle most of its Granite City Works plant, permanently laying off up to 1,000 workers.

The 1,000 workers include about 400 who have been on temporary layoff since Oct. 1 plus an additional 600. Prior to Tuesday’s layoffs, Granite City Works operated with roughly 900 employees, said Dan Simmons, president of United Steelworkers Local 1899. The layoff notices that went to an additional 600 employees could mean only 300 will remain in non-steelmaking operations.

The news is a massive blow to the Metro East community whose economic vitality is centered around the plant.

And Union Pacific has decided to terminate a large number of track maintenance workers…

The head of the union that represents track maintenance workers says Union Pacific is jeopardizing safety by delaying nearly 1,200 planned projects until next year and laying off more than 1,000 workers.

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division union has been raising concerns with regulators, but the railroad defends the move and the Surface Transportation Board hasn’t intervened.

Seriously?

After all of the rail disasters that we have seen in recent years, they actually think that it is a good idea to lay off a big chunk of their track maintenance workers?

When I read a story like that, I can’t help but shake my head in disbelief.

Of course the tech industry continues to bleed workers too.

This week, we learned that Spotify is slashing 17 percent of its total workforce…

Music streaming giant Spotify is laying off 17% of its workforce, CEO Daniel Ek said in a note to employees Monday.

Ek said the move will help “align Spotify with our future goals and ensure we are right-sized for the challenges ahead.” He cited slowed economic growth and capital becoming more expensive as reasons for the need for layoffs.

The 17% slash in workforce equates to about 1,500 jobs being cut.

Perhaps if Spotify had not done something really stupid (like paying Harry and Meghan millions of dollars) they would have been able to keep those employees.

Overall, there have been over 256,000 tech layoffs in 2023 so far.

Will we hit 300,000 by the end of the year?

Lastly, I want to talk about what is going on in the banking industry.

This year banks have been letting workers go at a staggering pace, and Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf just admitted that his company will be facing “something like $750 million to a little less than a billion dollars of severance in the fourth quarter” due to layoffs that will soon be conducted…

“We’re looking at something like $750 million to a little less than a billion dollars of severance in the fourth quarter that we weren’t anticipating, just because we want to continue to focus on efficiency,” Scharf told investors during a Goldman Sachs conference in New York.

That expense is an accrual for worker layoffs that Wells Fargo expects to make next year, according to a bank spokeswoman. The company declined to say how many jobs it will cut.

At this point, the entire banking industry is in very serious trouble.

Large banks are permanently shutting down hundreds of branches and laying off thousands upon thousands of workers.

The banks are the beating heart of our economic system, and so if they get into deep trouble the rest of us will soon be in deep trouble as well.

But of course they weren’t going to be able to keep the game going forever.

Their house of cards is starting to collapse all around them, and that is going to result in a tremendous amount of chaos in 2024 and beyond.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Unlike so many people around the world, those of us that live in the United States were fortunate enough to grow up in a relatively civilized society.  Unfortunately, we have turned our backs on the values that our forefathers handed down to us, and so now we are starting to find out what is beneath the thin veneer of civilization that we have all been taking for granted all these years.  Our society is absolutely teeming with predators, crime rates are soaring all over the nation, millions of Americans are afraid to leave their own homes, and hordes of drug addicts are literally pooping in the middle of our streets whenever they feel like it.

In some of our largest cities, highly organized groups of criminals are constantly invading homes.  Of course when these thieves encounter a homeowner that is actually armed it can result in a deadly confrontation…

A homeowner shot and killed a home invasion suspect in Los Angeles early Saturday morning while a grandmother and toddler were in the house in the fifth such crime reported in the area in the space of 10 days.

Officers were called to a home in the Granada Hills section of the San Fernando Valley, north of Beverly Hills, around 5am on Saturday after someone reported a ‘hot prowl’ – a burglary where the homeowner is present.

‘The officers’ preliminary investigation determined that approximately three to four armed males in their 20s entered the home with the intent to burglarize the location,’ according to LAPD officials.

Once upon a time, Los Angeles was such a beautiful city.

But now it is covered from one end to the other in filth, trash and drug paraphernalia.

Imagine as a store owner coming to your store one morning to open shop and this is what greets you. Welcome to Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/U7eruuPumu

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 26, 2023

Of course much of this degradation is being fueled by drug addiction.

We are in the midst of the worst drug crisis in the entire history of our country, and many addicts have made theft a lifestyle in order to fund their addictions.

In addition to robbing homes, these addicts are constantly smashing into vehicles, and they are one of the biggest reasons why retail theft has soared to unprecedented heights…

New York City has led the US with the sharpest increase in the number of reported shoplifting incidents since before the pandemic, according to a study.

The Big Apple saw a 64% increase in reported incidents of retail theft during the four-year period between mid-2019 and June of this year, while Los Angeles experienced a 61% surge in the same metric, according to the Council on Criminal Justice.

This is not what a civilized society looks like.

In Bellevue, Washington, so many vehicles are being stolen that the police are literally giving away steering wheel locks in a desperate attempt to bring auto theft down…

The Bellevue Police Department is giving away steering wheel locks Sunday, December 3 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bellevue Crossroads Substation.

“The effort comes as auto thefts have been on the rise in Bellevue and across the region,” said BPD.

BPD said Bellevue has had a 29% increase in car thefts in 2023 through October.

BPD has seen a 762% and 730% increase in theft of Kias and Hyundais.

I honestly do not understand why people still want to live in these big cities.

According to one recent survey, 40 percent of Americans are now “afraid to walk alone at night near their home”.

Millions of Americans live in a constant state of fear because our nation is absolutely teeming with predators and drug addicts.

During his recent debate with Gavin Newsom, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pulled out the infamous “poop map” that shows reports of human feces on the streets of San Francisco…

During Thursday night’s debate between Gavin Newsom (D) and Ron DeSantis (R), the Florida governor busted out the San Francisco ‘poop map’ created by OpenTheBooks.

The map, created in 2019, plotted nearly 120,000 case reports of human feces on the streets of San Francisco between 2011 and 2019 using the city’s open records portal and 311 call information posted by city officials.

Well, now that map has been updated, and despite everything officials have tried reports of human feces in the streets have been coming in faster than ever…

It’s been updated…

According to Adam Andrzejwski of OpenTheBooks, here it is in all it’s brown glory – only now it’s got an additional 125,506 cases in just three years – more than double the amount reported in the initial eight-year period.

This is our country now.

We live in a country where hordes of mindless drug addicts pull down their pants and defecate in the streets whenever they feel like it.

And thanks to the open border policies of our leaders in Washington, more drug dealers and more drug addicts are pouring across our borders with each passing day.

It is being reported that the foreign-born population in the U.S. has now reached a whopping 49.5 million people…

The nation’s foreign-born population has hit an unprecedented 49.5 million, the largest ever recorded in American history, under President Joe Biden.

Analysis by Steven Camarota and Karen Zeigler at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) revealed that in October the foreign-born population reached almost 50 million, increasing by 4.5 million foreign-born residents since Biden took office in January 2021.

How do you think the drug cartels in Mexico make so much money?

They make millions upon millions of dollars by selling drugs to us.

And our leaders refuse to secure our borders year after year.

It is infuriating.

We are literally committing national suicide, and the stage is set for an epic eruption of societal unrest in our major cities which will be so bad that it shock the entire planet.

Decades of incredibly bad decisions have brought us to this point, but even at this late hour our leaders continue to make some of the stupidest decisions imaginable.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Do you believe the politicians in Washington or do you believe your own eyes?  The politicians keep telling us that “inflation is low”, but everyone can see that everything sure does cost a lot more than it once did.  Our standard of living just keeps going down, and even JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is admitting that “inflation is hurting people”.  But how can inflation be “hurting people” if it is under control?  Of course the truth is that it isn’t under control.  If the official rate of inflation was still measured using the formula that was in place in 1980, it would be well into double digit territory right now.  Prices have been rising much faster than paychecks have, and that is putting an extraordinary amount of financial stress on the more than 60 percent of U.S. adults that currently live paycheck to paycheck.

Vox is a website that leans very far to the left, and even they are complaining about inflation.

In fact, a recent article posted on Vox boldly declared that life in 2023 “means being in a constant state of sticker shock”…

Life in 2023 means being in a constant state of sticker shock.

You walk out of the grocery store feeling like you’re not really sure what happened, but somehow, your normal fare ran you $50 more than you swear it should have. Did Diet Coke always cost that much? Or eggs? Maybe you’ve been putting off buying that new car in the hope prices go back to where they were pre-pandemic, but you’re starting to feel like the wait is awfully long. Or, the morning after a post-work happy hour, you’re left scratching your head. You swear you had two glasses of wine, but the size of your credit card receipt makes you wonder if it wasn’t four. “How expensive everything is today” is a top theme of conversation. The whole situation can be infuriating.

I don’t care for Vox much, but those two paragraphs are quite accurate.

Prices have reached absurd heights, and most of us really are “in a constant state of sticker shock” these days.

And the cold, hard numbers back this up.

According to a report from Republican members of the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee, the typical household in this country “must spend an additional $11,434 annually” in order to have the same standard of living that it did when Joe Biden entered the White House…

The typical American household must spend an additional $11,434 annually just to maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed in January of 2021, right before inflation soared to 40-year highs, according to a recent analysis of government data.

So let me ask you a question.

Has your household income gone up by $11,434 a year since January 2021?

If you are like most Americans, your income has barely moved.

As I discussed last week, half of all American workers made less than $40,847.18 last year.

If you are one of those workers, life is not easy in 2023.

Even really basic things just cost so much at this point.  For example, a Big Mac value meal will now set you back 18 dollars in some parts of the country…

A Big Mac burger, a medium beverage, and a medium fry meal now costs 18 dollars in some locations, up $10 from 2018 when former President Donald Trump was president.

Visiting McDonald’s has become something that only wealthy people can afford to do on a regular basis.

Of course it isn’t just fast food that has become painfully expensive…

• A pound of ground beef now costs $5.23 on average, up from $3.89 in January 2020.
• Coffee is up some $2 a pound. Prices for fresh fruits and vegetables are nearly 14% higher.
• At one point, the price of a carton of eggs was triple its pre-pandemic price.

When I was growing up, my mother would feed us ground beef all the time.

Now it is considered to be a luxury item.

Let me give you another example of how inflation is killing us financially.

The cost of auto insurance and the cost of home insurance are both going through the roof…

The skyrocketing cost of auto and home insurance is increasingly weighing on cash-strapped Americans.

In 2022, the average price of both types of insurance saw its biggest spike in more than five years.

And this year rates are projected to grow by an even greater amount, according to analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Within the first seven months, both had already jumped by double-digit amounts.

When you combine both expenses, the average American household is now spending over $3,700 a year…

According to the latest analysis from Forbes Advisor, the average cost of home insurance is $1,582 a year for a policy with $350,000 coverage. And typical motorist pays $2,150 a year for full coverage car insurance.

That means on car and home insurance alone a household can expect to spend more than $3,700 a year.

How can anyone afford that?

And don’t get me started on health insurance.

Our system is so broken that only those with lots of money can afford a decent health insurance policy that actually has adequate coverage.

Needless to say, Joe Biden doesn’t want to take the blame for any of this.  Last week, he was accusing large corporations of “price gouging”…

President Joe Biden delivered remarks from the White House on Monday to announce the new council’s creation. He touted the lower inflation rate and falling grocery prices but admonished American companies for, in his view, not going far enough.

“Let me be clear: To any corporation that has not brought their prices back down—even as inflation has come down, even as supply chains have been rebuilt—it’s time to stop the price gouging,” Biden warned, imploring them to “giv[e] the American consumer a break.”

Seriously?

Other liberals are actually blaming you for inflation…

People hate inflation, just not enough to spend less: This is one of the central tensions of today’s economy, in which things are going great yet everyone is miserable. And in some ways, Americans have nobody to blame but themselves.

No matter how high prices go, most of us still have to pay the bills and put food on the table.

So there is only so much that we can “cut back” on our spending.

However, one recent survey did find that approximately a quarter of the U.S. population has been engaged in “doom spending”…

Nearly all Americans, 96%, are concerned about the current state of the economy, according to a recent report by Intuit Credit Karma.

Still, more than a quarter are “doom spending,” or spending money despite economic and geopolitical concerns, the report found.

A lot of people figure that if everything is about to fall apart they may as well enjoy things while they still can.

But I think that a much wiser approach would be to use the resources that you have to get prepared for the tremendous chaos that is ahead of us.

Economic conditions are going to get a whole lot rougher from here.

So enjoy these relatively stable times while you still can, because they will not last indefinitely…

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

If you do things the right way, in the long run you will get positive results.  But if you do things the wrong way, in the long run you will get negative results.  Our banks are the beating heart of our entire economy, and unfortunately they have been doing things the wrong way for a long time.  As a result, the entire system is being greatly shaken.  Loans are starting to go delinquent at a frightening pace, we have seen endless “banking glitches” in recent months, tens of thousands of banking employees have already been laid off, and U.S. banks are sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars of unrealized losses.  Sadly, a lot more chaos is on the way.  As small and mid-size banks fail, they will get gobbled up by the big boys.  Of course the big boys are scrambling to survive too.  In fact, it is being reported that JPMorgan Chase will close a total of 159 local branches by the end of this calendar year…

In 2023, JP Morgan Chase has or will close 159 branch locations across the United States. The banking giant is not alone in its decision to scale back its physical presence as banking moves online; Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citi Bank have announced closures at similar scales that will continue into 2024.

Bank of America is not far behind.

We are being told that it will permanently close more than 100 local branches by the end of 2023…

Bank of America is the second largest bank in the United States, and this year, the financial giant has announced that it will close up to 138 locations. To date, 95 branches have been closed this year, and 15 more are to shutter by the end of the year. The remaining locations are planned to close in 2024, meaning that the trend, common among nearly all of the big banks of shutting local branches will continue.

At this point, just about everyone is closing branches.

In addition to laying off workers, this is one of the measures that banks can take to try to save some money.

As I discussed the other day, in just one week in November U.S. banks submitted filings to permanently close another 64 branches.

Of course this “avalanche” of branch closings didn’t just start recently.  In 2022, our banks shut down more than 3,000 branches.  We have never seen anything like this before, and everyone agrees that more branch closures are coming in 2024.

But many banks have no choice.  Right now, U.S. banks are sitting on an absolutely colossal mountain of unrealized losses.

In fact, new numbers that were just released show that U.S. banks are now sitting on a total of 684 billion dollars of unrealized losses…

“Unrealized losses” on securities – mostly Treasury securities and government-guaranteed MBS – at FDIC-insured commercial banks at the end of Q3 jumped by $126 billion (or by 22%) from the prior quarter, to $684 billion, according to the FDIC’s quarterly bank data release on Wednesday.

As long as everyone pretends that everything is fine and there are no bank runs, there will be no need for panic.

But if Americans start pulling their money out of our troubled banks, they will be forced to sell Treasury bonds at massive losses, and there will be more bank failures.

Do you remember when Silicon Valley Bank failed earlier this year?

Well, that is precisely what happened.

So let’s hope that everyone stays nice and calm and leaves their money in the banks.

According to one recent report, there are three banks that are particularly vulnerable at this moment…

Regional banks Comerica, First Horizon and Zions are at risk of being targets for acquisition by larger rivals, according to a new report.

Since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March, the US banking industry has been poised for a reconfiguration that could see smaller regional banks wiped out.

Meanwhile, the housing bubble just continues to burst.

On Thursday, we learned that pending home sales in the U.S. have fallen to the lowest level ever recorded…

Pending home sales, a measure of signed contracts on existing homes, dropped 1.5% in October from September.

They hit the lowest level since the National Association of Realtors began tracking this metric in 2001, meaning it’s even worse than readings during the financial crisis more than a decade ago. Sales were down 8.5% from October of last year.

Let those paragraphs sink in for a moment.

Even during the darkest days of the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, pending home sales never dropped this low.

But the mainstream media continues to insist that the economy is “strong” and that there is no reason for concern.

And during the month of November stock prices surged higher…

The Dow reached a new high for the year Thursday as easing inflation data and strong third quarter earnings from Salesforce shot the benchmark index 520 points, or 1.5% higher.

While it was a mixed day for markets overall, all three major indexes managed to make November one of their top-performing months of 2023.

The S&P 500 rose more than 8% this month and the Nasdaq was up about 10%, marking their best month since July 2022. The Dow, meanwhile, managed to shake off a three-month losing streak, also rising by about 8.8% and notching its best month since October 2022.

Let’s hope that this continues for a while.

Let’s hope that everyone remains calm and continues to conduct business as usual for as long as possible.

Because once a panic begins and people start pulling their money out of the banks, we are going to have a massive crisis on our hands.

At this point, vast numbers of U.S. banks are “financial zombies”, vast hordes of U.S. consumers are “financial zombies”, and the U.S. government is the biggest “financial zombie” of all.

But as long as most people have faith in the system, the game will be able to continue.

Unfortunately, it is just a matter of time before the charade crumbles and a meltdown of absolutely epic proportions begins…

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

America’s National Christmas Tree fell down this week.  That tree is the most important national symbol of our most important national holiday.  The National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony has been performed every year since 1923, and so the falling of the tree has happened as we approach the centennial anniversary of this tradition.  Do you think that this was just a coincidence?  I certainly don’t.  I believe that the downing of the most important national symbol of our most important national holiday is significant.  On Tuesday, a very powerful gust of wind knocked the 40 foot tree completely to the ground…

The National Christmas Tree near the White House was knocked over Tuesday when strong winds roared through the Washington area.

The National Park Service said the 40-foot tree from Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia fell over during a strong wind gust.

Interestingly, the tree had already been replaced in 2023, because the first one had “developed a fungus”…

This year’s tree was already replaced once, after the tree originally planted for the ceremony developed a fungus, WUSA-TV reported. A wide variety of diseases target Christmas trees, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Once the National Christmas Tree came down, many immediately compared it to the Biden presidency.  Here is one example…

“National Christmas tree falls DOWN,” the Republican House Committee on the Judiciary wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Perfectly summing up Joe Biden’s presidency.”

Without a doubt, Joe Biden’s presidency has not gone well.

But the truth is that Joe Biden and all of the other corrupt politicians in Washington are a reflection of the country as a whole.

We are a fallen nation, and we are completely and utterly unprepared to handle the consequences of decades of very foolish decisions.

In our time, Americans are becoming increasingly emotionally unstable.  According to the CDC, the national suicide rate just hit the highest level in more than 80 years…

The suicide rate among Americans, which has risen steadily over the past 18 years, has reached its highest point since 1941, preliminary data for 2022 shows.

The suicide rate per 100,000 people in 2022 was 14.3, according to a report from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention released early Wednesday. The rate was 15 in 1941.

The latest numbers also show that men are killing themselves at a far higher rate than women are…

The rate for males was 22.8 and 5.7 for females in 2021.

The number of suicides for males in 2022 was 2% higher than the 38,358 deaths in 2021. For females, the 2022 number rose 4% from 9,825 deaths in 2021.

Meanwhile, the worst drug addiction crisis in our history has resulted in yet another new record high for drug overdose deaths…

Drug overdose deaths reached another record level in the United States this spring, new data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows, as 2023 is on track to be another devastating year amid the drug epidemic.

More than 111,000 people died from a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending in April, according to the new estimates.

If our society is so great, why are “deaths of despair” off the charts?

Can anyone answer that question?

And if so many Americans cannot emotionally handle the way that things are now, what is going to happen during the chaotic years ahead?

In 2024 and beyond, there will be more political unrest, more wars, more pestilences, more economic troubles, more famine and more natural disasters.

In particular, one thing that I will be watching in the months ahead is the sun.  A cluster of very large sunspots has become extremely active, and scientists are warning that this group could potentially pose a danger for our planet…

A cluster of sunspots has rolled into view of Earth and may send a solar storm our way as early as Saturday.

The cluster includes about a dozen sunspots that are around 125,000 miles wide— about 15 times bigger than our planet, Space.com reported.

The group is very active. It had already shot out three M-class and several C-class solar flares before it came into view, per spaceweather.com.

The article that I just quoted above was written before a “full halo CME” was unleashed on Wednesday…

On Wednesday, SWPC said a fourth CME, known as a full halo CME, prompted forecasters to upgrade the G2 watch to a G3-level geomagnetic storm watch for Friday. Full halo CMEs send out solar material away from the Sun in all directions, appearing halo-like, and usually result in geomagnetic storms at Earth.

“This faster-moving halo CME is progged to merge with 2 of the 3 upstream CMEs, all arriving at Earth on Dec. 1,” according to SWPC.

I am entirely convinced that the behavior of the sun will eventually become a huge story.

We have already seen more activity during this solar cycle than we did during the last solar cycle, and this solar cycle is not expected to peak until next year at the earliest…

Unfortunately, a new study reveals that this solar maximum is coming sooner than expected – most likely in early 2024.

The new forecast comes from an Indian team of researchers and contrasts with the latest forecast from NASA, which puts its arrival at late 2025.

If you think that the past few years have been chaotic, just wait until you see what is coming.

The things that will happen in 2024 and beyond are truly going to be wild.

And much of our population is completely and utterly unprepared to emotionally deal with the very challenging times that are approaching.

We are a fallen nation with a fallen population.

So was it just a coincidence that the most important national symbol of our most important national holiday just violently fell to the ground?

Of course not.

I believe that someone is trying to send us a message, but hardly anyone is listening…

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

For decades we were warned that someday our politicians would push things too far.  We were warned that someday our national debt would spiral out of control, servicing that debt would become extremely oppressive due to soaring interest rates, existing bonds would crash thanks to the shift in interest rates, and foreign sources would start stepping back from buying any new debt that we would be issuing.  Unfortunately, that time has arrived.  The government debt crisis that we have been warned about is here, and it is going to be incredibly painful.

At this moment, our national debt is sitting at $33,836,693,993,860.35.

It is probably going to hit 34 trillion dollars by the end of the year.

To put this into perspective, when Barack Obama first entered the White House we were about 10 trillion dollars in debt.

We are literally committing national suicide, but for a long time most Americans didn’t really care because we were not experiencing any serious consequences.

But now the party is ending.

Thanks to rapidly rising interest rates, U.S. Treasury bonds “are in a bear market worse than the dot-com bust and almost as bad as 2008”…

Elementary economic forces — too much supply and not enough demand — have collided to create the worst stretch for U.S. government bonds since the Civil War. The government keeps borrowing to cover its budget deficits, while once-reliable buyers of that debt, both at home and abroad, have pulled back.

The result: Investors are demanding the steepest yields since 2007. Auctions of fresh bonds that were once routine are now going terribly. And bond portfolios are getting absolutely hammered. The longest-dated Treasury bonds are in a bear market worse than the dot-com bust and almost as bad as 2008.

A bond crash normally precedes a stock market crash.

That is exactly what happened in 2008, and it appears that the same pattern is being reproduced now.

So if you have a lot of money in the stock market, you may want to brace yourself for what is ahead.

In the past, we could always rely on China, Japan and other foreign buyers to keep the party going, but now they are not very interested in our bonds…

China and Japan, once reliable buyers of Treasury bonds, have been selling them to prop up their weakening currencies. A decade ago they held more than 22% of U.S. government bonds; today it’s 7%.

The Ukraine war has dampened demand among Eastern European buyers, said Steve Ricchiuto, the chief U.S. economist at Mizuho. Increasing U.S. oil production means fewer petrodollars in the Middle East to be reinvested through the Treasury market.

U.S. banks, too, are stepping back.

I certainly can’t blame our banks for “stepping back” from buying more bonds.

Thanks to the dramatic shift in interest rates that we have witnessed, they are sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars in unrealized losses.

So who is going to buy our debt in 2024 and beyond?

That is a very good question.

And servicing the debt that we have already accumulated is becoming a major problem.

During the last year, the federal government “had to spend one-fifth of all the money it collected just on debt interest”…

The U.S. federal government has borrowed so much money that, over the past year, it has had to spend one-fifth of all the money it collected just on debt interest—which came to almost $880 billion.

Americans paid some $450 billion less in income taxes for the year, trapping the government in the pincers of a fiscal crunch.

The country teeters on the brink of a debt spiral that could devolve into a fiscal crisis or hyperinflation, several economists told The Epoch Times.

“The problem is serious because, any way you cut it, taxpayers are paying interest on the mountain of debt that has been accumulated,” said Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University. “In short, they are paying something for nothing.”

In 2024, the U.S. government will spend well over a trillion dollars just in interest on the national debt.

That wasn’t supposed to happen until 2030.

A day of reckoning has arrived, and it is just a matter of time before the entire system comes crashing down like a house of cards.

This isn’t going to be just another “financial crisis”.  As James Rickards has aptly noted, what we will soon experience will be “qualitatively different” from anything that we have ever experienced before…

The next financial crisis will not be merely a bigger version of the 1998 and 2008 crises, it will be qualitatively different. It will encompass multiple asset classes on a global scale. It will exhibit inflation not seen since the 1970s, insolvency not seen since the 1930s and exchange shutdowns not seen since 1914. State power will be summoned to contain panic.

What Rickards is describing is a full-blown economic collapse.

So what will our society look like once such a scenario unfolds?

Already, economic conditions have deteriorated so dramatically that demand at local food banks has risen to “unprecedented” levels in some cities…

The demand for local food banks is on the rise as soaring prices impact average Americans under President Joe Biden.

The increasing demand for food banks demonstrates how soaring inflation driven by “Bidenomics” negatively impacts lower income families.

“We are seeing unprecedented demand,” Jackie DeCarlo, chief executive of Manna Food Center, told the Washington Post on Monday.

If things are this bad now, what will we be facing a year or two from now?

At this point, there is no escape.

All our politicians can do is to keep the party going for as long as they possibly can.

They knew that they were destroying our financial future, and they also knew that they couldn’t keep borrowing and spending insane amounts of money forever.

Of course nobody can say that we weren’t warned.

People like me have been relentlessly warning about our financial condition for years, and now I am warning about what is coming in the aftermath of the approaching financial meltdown.

Our leaders tried to outrun the basic laws of economics for a long time, and for a while they were flying high.

But now reality has caught up with them, and we are all going to pay a very bitter price for their crimes.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned)  When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends.  Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible.  I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles.  I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe.  I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article.  The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions.  I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.