Money

The Global Elite Have Far More Control Over Us Than Most People Would Dare To Imagine

No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, you probably agree that the global elite have too much power and influence.  It has been said that “money is power”, and today that seems to be more true than ever.  Those at the very, very top of the pyramid dictate the rules of the game for the rest of us, and there isn’t too much that the rest of us can do about it.  When we talk about how the global elite dominate our lives, the focus tends to be on how they influence national governments, but the truth is that is one of the areas where the global elite have the least control.  I know that may sound strange, but I believe that things will become clearer by the end of this article.

I would submit that corporations are the primary vehicle that the elite use to control our lives.  In fact, many global corporations are now larger and more powerful than most national governments, and collectively the network of global corporations that dominates the planet is far larger and far more powerful than any single national government.

A number of years ago, a remarkable study was conducted that closely examined the interconnecting relationships of major corporations all over the world.  That study discovered that a network of 1,318 enormous companies dominated the global economy, and it also found that 147 colossal corporations at the core of that web formed a “super-entity” that controlled 40 percent of the entire network…

Each of the 1318 had ties to two or more other companies, and on average they were connected to 20. What’s more, although they represented 20 per cent of global operating revenues, the 1318 appeared to collectively own through their shares the majority of the world’s large blue chip and manufacturing firms – the “real” economy – representing a further 60 per cent of global revenues.

When the team further untangled the web of ownership, it found much of it tracked back to a “super-entity” of 147 even more tightly knit companies – all of their ownership was held by other members of the super-entity – that controlled 40 per cent of the total wealth in the network. “In effect, less than 1 per cent of the companies were able to control 40 per cent of the entire network,” says Glattfelder. Most were financial institutions. The top 20 included Barclays Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and The Goldman Sachs Group.

Of course at the very top are the ultra-wealthy individuals that own and control the gigantic corporations that make up the “super-entity”.

This is why our major corporations all seem to have the same values.  At the very top their ownerships are all interlinked, and so trying to fundamentally change the culture of these massive institutions is nearly impossible.

Many have promoted the idea of refusing to economically engage this monster, but that has become nearly impossible.  Over the years, we have seen so many promising companies get gobbled up by this “super-entity”, and in many instances the customers of these companies don’t even realize that they are now owned by someone else.

Because they have such a huge share of the market, the global elite essentially dictate what gets produced, what gets sold and what gets bought.

And if you need a loan to buy a home or to make some other major purchase, you normally have to go through one of their financial institutions.

But of course it doesn’t stop there.  Politicians love to talk about “job creation”, but the truth is that it is our major corporations that really hold the keys over who works where.

When I was much younger, I made it very clear who I was and what I believed on my resume.  What a big mistake that was.  If you want to get hired by the elite, it has to look like you share their values and that you will be a good little cog in the machine.

And the elite ensure that they will have an endless supply of “good little cogs” by completely and utterly dominating our system of higher education.  Colleges and universities that have done as the elite have wished have been absolutely showered with money, while others have been allowed to go by the wayside.

At this point, a “college education” will pretty much look the same no matter where you go, and that is extremely unfortunate.

Once we leave school, the elite continue to control what we think through their ownership of nearly all of the major media and entertainment companies.  Today, more than 90 percent of the “news” and “entertainment” that we get through our televisions is produced by their colossal media empires, and the average American spends approximately five hours a day in front of a television.

If you allow anyone to feed propaganda into your mind for five hours a day, that is going to have an enormous impact on how you view the world.

You can try flipping over to a different channel than you normally watch, but that won’t change much.

Have you ever wondered why the news always sounds the same no matter which channel you are watching?

Needless to say, that doesn’t happen by accident.

In the early years, the Internet allowed alternative voices to compete with the giant media empires, but now that is rapidly changing.  Because giant corporations now control so much of the Internet, those corporations can silence dissenting voices by “deplatforming” them.  One by one, bright lights are going out all over the Internet, and eventually the only voices that will be left will be corporate-approved voices.

The Constitution that governs our land is supposed to guarantee freedom of speech.  But the corporations that completely dominate our lives now control most of the online “public squares”, and they have made it abundantly clear that they are going to dictate what can be said and what cannot be said.

So you can still go out in your backyard and say whatever you want, but at this point “freedom of speech” is dead in this country for all practical purposes.

Are you starting to understand the power that they have?

President Trump cannot control what you say, but the major corporations do it every day.

And unlike our politicians, we cannot get rid of the corporations at the voting booth.

No matter what happens in November, the global elite are going to continue to dominate our society, but if we stay on the road that they are leading us down our future is going to be exceedingly bleak.

Voices such as mine will continue to try to wake people up, but when the other side has almost unlimited resources it is a very tough battle to fight.

However, we can never give up, because as long as the corporations owned by the global elite completely dominate our society we will never truly be free.

***Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available on Amazon.com.  By purchasing the book you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  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.  In addition to my new book, I have written four others that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned)  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 a great help.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

Millions Of Acres Of Crops In The Central U.S. Have Been Destroyed By A Series Of Historic Natural Disasters

While the mainstream media focuses on the upcoming election, COVID-19 and the endless protests going on in our major cities, another great tragedy is unfolding all across the middle of the country.  A nightmarish drought, horrific flooding along the Mississippi River and a giant “derecho” that just hit the farm belt have combined to make this one of the toughest years for farmers ever.  And this comes at a particularly bad time, because the stress that the COVID-19 pandemic has put on food distribution systems has already created periodic shortages of certain items around the nation.  We definitely could have used an uneventful growing season this year, and unfortunately we didn’t get it.

On Monday, an absolutely massive “derecho” roared through the Midwest.  According to USA Today, the storm had winds of up to 112 miles per hour…

The storm had winds of up to 112 mph near Cedar Rapids, Iowa – as powerful as an inland hurricane – as it tore from eastern Nebraska across Iowa and parts of Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois, including Chicago and its suburbs.

Most hurricanes don’t have winds that high once they finally reach shore, and I have personally never experienced wind speeds of such magnitude.

Needless to say, this very unusual storm caused immense devastation.  According to Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, approximately 10 million acres of crops were destroyed in Iowa alone…

Early estimates say the derecho flattened at least one-third of Iowa’s crops – about 10 million acres, according to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. In addition, tens of millions of bushels of grain that were stored at co-ops and on farms were damaged or destroyed as bins blew away.

And it rocked Marshalltown, Iowa, where an EF-3 tornado destroyed the town’s business district just two years ago. With winds of 99 mph, Monday’s storm damaged some businesses that had recently recovered, even damaging the scaffolding being used to repair the historic courthouse dome.

I can’t remember a storm ever causing this much damage in the middle of the summer.

If about 10 million acres were flattened just in Iowa, how many more acres did this storm destroy in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois?

Sadly, this one storm is going to completely financially ruin some farmers.  For example, Iowa farmer Tim Bardole is facing losses that could potentially exceed one million dollars…

Corn that used to stand upright on Bardole’s farm is now laying on its side. Some stalks snapped off, others ripped out of the ground at the roots.

Bardole estimated he’ll be out $200 an acre, which is $500,000 total.

Worst-case scenario, that could go up to $500 per acre. That would equate to $1.25 million.

How would you feel if you lost a million dollars because of one storm?

Further south, many farmers along the southern Mississippi Delta have already had their growing seasons wiped out by historic flooding for the second year in a row…

The southern Mississippi Delta is home to some of the most fertile farmland in the United States.

But not a single crop of soybeans, cotton, corn, or rice has been planted at many farms in the region — one of the poorest in the country.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

The flooding of 2019 was a complete and utter nightmare, and this was the year when the recovery was supposed to begin.  But instead, “hundreds of thousands of acres” are currently entirely buried by water…

For the second year in a row, widespread flooding has left hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland underwater, ruining entire harvests. And now, with their fields submerged, farmers are bracing for another year of no income.

Meanwhile, countless other farmers are having their growing seasons ruined by a crippling drought.

I know that many of you are reading this article and are thinking that what I am saying sounds contradictory.

After all, how can there be severe flooding and severe drought at the same time?

I know that this sounds very strange, but it is actually happening.  We are witnessing severe flooding right along the Mississippi River, and at the same time historic drought conditions are creating massive problems across much of the western half of the nation.

In fact, we are being told that drought conditions in some areas have already become the worst “in almost a decade”…

Drought conditions throughout the country are reaching their worst levels in almost a decade.

This summer, drought has hit large portions of the United States, especially slamming key pasture and ranges for ranchers. But crops are also seeing downward trends in quality thanks to the hot, dry weather.

Things are particularly bad in the Southwest, and this is making life very difficult for many ranchers…

The worst-hit section of the country, with the highest levels of drought, are in cattle country: West Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas. That’s led to really damaged, dry topsoil and grazing land, which could force ranchers to invest in other feeding options for livestock. Only 36 percent of the country’s pasture and range land is rated good or excellent; 30 percent is rated poor or very poor, reports FarmFutures.

If you look at the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map, you will see that the drought is the worst in the areas where the original “Dust Bowl” developed back in the 1930s.  Those that follow my work regularly know that I have been warning about a return of “the Dust Bowl” for many years, and now it is starting to happen.

2020 seems to be a year when the bad news never ends.  First we were hit by the worst public health crisis in 100 years, then the U.S. economy collapsed, then massive riots erupted in our major cities, and now farms are being absolutely devastated all across the United States.

All throughout 2019 I warned that a “perfect storm” was coming, and what we have experienced so far is just the leading edge of that storm.

So I would encourage you to use the relative tranquility of the month of August to get prepared for what is ahead, because the month of September is almost here, and the presidential election is right around the corner.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available on Amazon.com.  By purchasing the book you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  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.  In addition to my new book, I have written four others that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned)  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 a great help.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

Is There Evidence That The 2020 Election Could Be Stolen Using Mail-In Ballots And Counterfeit Driver’s Licenses?

The integrity of our elections is of paramount importance, because without fair elections we would lose the ability to choose our leaders.  This is something that should transcend politics, because Republicans and Democrats should both be able to agree that anyone that attempts to fraudulently alter the outcome of an election is committing a crime against all of us.  Unfortunately, we are already witnessing some suspicious activity that is raising red flags.  It is well known that China wants President Trump to lose in November, and U.S. officials say that they have intercepted thousands upon thousands of counterfeit driver’s licenses which are being shipped into the United States from China.  Of course a license is the most common form of ID used on voter registration forms, and most states now allow voters to register and vote by mail.  If a potential voter never has to come face to face with anyone, that opens a door for all sorts of abuse.

In 2016, Trump won the swing states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan by razor-thin margins.

Trump won Pennsylvania by just 68,236 votes.

Trump won Wisconsin by just 27,257 votes.

Trump won Michigan by just 11,837 votes.

If Hillary Clinton had won those three states, she would have won the election.

And if Joe Biden wins those three states in 2020, he will definitely defeat Trump.

So the integrity of the vote is particularly important in those three states, and each of those states recently made it easier for voters to cast their votes by mail…

Michigan: All registered voters in Michigan are eligible for mail-in voting. Last month the state invested $4.5 million in sending 7.7 million registered voters mail-in ballot applications ahead of the August primary and November general election. 

Pennsylvania: The state legislature passed a law allowing anyone who votes by mail in the primary to easily request a mail-in ballot for the November election.

Wisconsin: Voters in Wisconsin are eligible for mail-in voting without having to provide an excuse. In May, the Wisconsin Elections Commission approved a plan to send absentee ballot applications to more than 2.7 million registered voters, whether or not they requested one.

When there are millions of mail-in ballots floating around out there, it is just so easy for bad things to happen.  In a recent piece, Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation explained why so many people are concerned…

All 50 states have bans on electioneering in and near polling places. By contrast, there are no prohibitions on electioneering in voters’ homes—which is what happens all too often with absentee ballots and voting by mail. This makes voters vulnerable to intimidation and unlawful “assistance,” as well as pressure by candidates, campaign staffers, political party activists, and political consultants—all of whom have a stake in the outcome of the election—to vote in the campaign’s interests, not their own. Absentee ballots are also more vulnerable to being misdirected, stolen, forged, and altered.

In addition, mail-in voting could potentially be a golden opportunity for foreign governments that are seeking to alter the outcome of our elections.

By now, it is well known that China wants Trump out.  And so when I saw that Zero Hedge had reported that U.S. officials were intercepting thousands of counterfeit driver’s licenses coming in from China, that immediately got my attention…

China could also be attempting to undermine the election by sending counterfeit driver’s licenses to the U.S. So far, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers working at Chicago O’Hare International Airport have intercepted close to 20,000 counterfeit U.S. driver’s licenses shipped from China this year, reported FOX 5 New York.

Hidden within contents of packages arriving via international cargo, the counterfeit driver’s licenses were shipped mainly from Hong Kong and mainland China. Other shipments came from South Korea and the U.K.

If CBP officers were able to intercept “thousands” of fake licenses, how many more were they not able to intercept?

And please keep in mind that this number is for just one airport.

How many other counterfeit driver’s licenses are coming in from China through other channels?

Even more frightening is that many of the counterfeit driver’s licenses there were intercepted were for swing states such as Michigan.  And according to CBP, “the barcode on the fake Michigan licenses actually worked”…

Many had the same photo but different names. But one alarming discovery was that the barcode on the fake Michigan licenses actually worked, CBP said.

I don’t know about you, but that really chilled me when I read that.

Of course President Trump is not stupid, and he has been trying to sound the alarm about mail-in voting for quite some time.  The following comes from CNN…

Meanwhile, the President has begun laying the groundwork for the doubt and suspicion he could cast on election results if counting mail-in ballots ultimately delays the declaration of a winner.

“I want to have the election. But I also don’t want to have to wait for three months and then find out that the ballots are all missing and the election doesn’t mean anything. That’s what’s going to happen,” Trump said Thursday at a news conference, during which he also called vote-by-mail a “disaster” and argued people should have to cast their votes in person.

Whenever Trump brings up his concerns, the mainstream media goes to great lengths to dismiss them as delusional.

But after doing a little digging, I have come to the conclusion that Trump is not sounding the alarm loudly enough.

Because our election laws have become so loose, the potential for election fraud is enormous.  When you don’t have to actually talk to anyone to either register or vote, that is going to tempt bad people to try to do bad things.

If the 2020 presidential election ends up being very close, the losing side is inevitably going to cry foul, and we could ultimately see the outcome decided by the courts.  That would almost certainly cause more chaos in the streets, and I have been strongly warning about the great civil unrest that is coming.

What is really tragic is that we may never even know the legitimate winner of the 2020 election.

No matter what they ultimately decide, I believe that the American people should get to choose the next president, but thanks to our absurd election laws that may not happen this time around.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available on Amazon.com.  By purchasing the book you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  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.  In addition to my new book, I have written four others that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned)  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 a great help.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

Did The “Mushroom Cloud” Explosion In Beirut Just Push The Middle East Closer To A Major War?

2020 just keeps getting weirder.  On Tuesday, an absolutely massive explosion caused a red mushroom cloud to rise high over the city of Beirut, Lebanon.  It is being called “Beirut’s Hiroshima”, and the blast was heard as far away as Cyprus.  You can watch a two minute compilation that contains video clips of the explosion from several different angles right here.  It appears that the shockwave did even more damage than the initial explosion did, and at this hour a large portion of the city of Beirut lies in ruins.  Dozens are dead, thousands are injured, and the entire city is now in a state of complete chaos…

Two enormous explosions devastated Beirut’s port on Tuesday, leaving at least 73 people dead and thousands injured, shaking distant buildings and spreading panic and chaos across the Lebanese capital.

The second blast sent an enormous orange fireball into the sky, flattened the harbourside and drove a tornado-like shockwave through the city, shattering windows kilometres (miles) away.

It is being reported that Beirut’s port “is totally destroyed”, and this comes at a really bad time because Lebanon is already in the midst of an epic economic collapse.

In recent months, we have become accustomed to hearing about “mystery explosions” all over the Middle East, and many believe that those mystery explosions indicate that the region is on the brink of a full-blown war.

But this incident was different.  A large section of the capital of Lebanon has been flattened, and many eyewitnesses are comparing the blast to a nuclear explosion.  Here is one example…

“It was like an atomic bomb,” said Makrouhie Yerganian, a retired schoolteacher in her mid-70s who has lived near the port for decades.

“I’ve experienced everything, but nothing like this before,” even during the country’s 1975-1990 civil war, she said. “All the buildings around here have collapsed.”

And even Beirut Governor Marwan Aboud brought up “Hiroshima” and “Nagasaki” when asked about the explosion…

“This reminds me of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” said Beirut Governor Marwan Aboud. “I have never seen such widespread destruction. This is a national catastrophe. This is a disaster for Lebanon. We’re already living through days where we can barely keep going.”

“And now this…I don’t know how we’re going to recover from this,” Aboud told Sky News, before bursting into tears.

Immediately after this happened, a lot of people began wondering if this was an Israeli attack, but that does not appear to be the case.

One unnamed Israeli government official told AFP that “Israel had nothing to do with the incident”, and Benny Gantz has actually offered to send humanitarian aid to Beirut…

Offers of aid also came from bitter rivals Israel, with which it is still technically at war. Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, on behalf of the State of Israel, have offered the Lebanese government – via international intermediaries – medical and humanitarian aid, as well as immediate emergency assistance,’ said a joint statement from the two ministries.

If Israel really had been behind this attack, I seriously doubt that they would be offering to patch up their enemies.

And this isn’t Israel’s style either.  The Israelis prefer surgical strikes that avoid civilian casualties as much as possible, and this explosion definitely does not fit that profile.

Instead, it appears that this was some sort of deeply tragic accident.  Lebanese officials have admitted that 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate were stored in the unit that exploded, and that amount of ammonium nitrate can definitely produce the sort of explosion that we just witnessed…

Lebanon’s interior minister said ammonium nitrate had been stored in the unit since 2014, with experts agreeing that the chemical would cause the red plume of smoke which burst up from the blast.

Local media are reporting that 2,700 tonnes of the chemical exploded, which scientists making initial calculations said was about three kilotonnes of TNT – roughly a fifth of the Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in the Second World War.

But Donald Trump is apparently not buying that explanation.  He told the press that the explosion “was an attack” and that it was caused by “a bomb of some kind”…

At least 60 people were killed and thousands were wounded in an explosion that caused widespread damage in the Lebanese capital. Trump said he had been briefed by “our great generals” and that they “seem to feel” that the explosion was not an accident.

“According to them – they would know better than I would – but they seem to think it was an attack,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “It was a bomb of some kind.”

If this really was an attack, the Lebanese are going to want revenge, because a substantial portion of their capital city has been absolutely decimated.

And needless to say, there are already voices all over the Middle East that are eagerly pointing a finger of blame at Israel and are calling for war.

But unlike the “mystery explosions” that have been happening in Iran, the evidence does not indicate that Israel had anything to do with this great tragedy.

Unfortunately, a lot of people out there are going to jump to their own conclusions, and many of those that hate Israel will use this as another justification to call for armed conflict.

Over the past couple of years, there have been so many moments when it seemed like a major war could break out at any time in the Middle East.  And here in 2020, tensions are running higher than ever.  The IDF has been regularly hitting Iranian and Hezbollah targets all over the region, and we just witnessed a harrowing confrontation on the Syrian border.

It appears that it is just a matter of time before a huge war erupts in the Middle East, and it certainly isn’t going to take much to trigger one.

So could this explosion push the region over the edge?

Let us hope not, but without a doubt this blast is not going to help matters.

The devastation that we just witnessed has caused great pain and anger in Lebanon, and terror groups such as Hezbollah will inevitably try to channel all of that pain and anger in a way that furthers their ultimate goals.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available on Amazon.com.  By purchasing the book you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  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.  In addition to my new book, I have written four others that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned)  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 a great help.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

The Underground Bunker Business Is Booming As Global Events Spiral Out Of Control

This is a really good time to be selling underground bunkers.  The COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest in major U.S. cities, and concern about what else may be coming have combined to create a tremendous amount of demand for “survival real estate”.  In all my years of writing, I have never seen anything like this.  I have been hearing from so many people that suddenly feel a great urgency to prepare for the total collapse of society, and quite a few of them have either recently relocated or plan to do so in the near future.  For some, moving entirely out of the country seems like the best option, but for most others the goal is to find a way to survive the coming chaos here in the United States.

Of course a lot of people are still tied to major population centers by their jobs, and for a lot of those individuals a “survival bunker” in a remote location that they can bug out to if things get crazy enough is an attractive option.

In South Dakota, one company has established the “largest survival community on Earth”, and the New York Post recently interviewed a 69-year-old man named Tom Soulsby that purchased one of the very first underground bunkers in that community…

Tom Soulsby, 69, and his wife, Mary, were one of the first to buy a bunker at Vivos xPoint — the self-proclaimed “largest survival community on Earth” — near the South Dakota town of Edgemont. In 2017, he made a $25,000 down payment and signed a 99-year land lease (with fees of $1,000 per year) to occupy an elliptical-shaped, 2,200 square-foot underground concrete bunker once used as a military fortress during World War II to store weapons and ammunition.

For a while there, sales were not happening too briskly.  But then 2020 happened, and at this point sales of underground bunkers at Vivos xPoint are “up over 600 percent”…

When Soulsby signed on the dotted line, he was one of a handful of new owners. But in 2020, Vivos xPoint has become hotly sought-after real estate. The price has jumped to $35,000, says Robert Vicino, the California developer and CEO of the Vivos Group, which launched in 2008, and bunker sales are “up over 600 percent.”

I really admire what they are trying to do, and I am sure that having major news stories done about your community helps sales, but it will also make the community a target when things really do hit the fan.

Another project that has been making a lot of headlines is “the Survival Condo” in central Kansas.  It is completely underground, and it was originally designed to survive a nuclear war…

The Survival Condo has a lot of the hallmarks of your standard fallout shelter. It’s underground (200 feet underground, in the middle of rural Kansas, 200 miles from Kansas City). It was built during the Cold War (as a nuclear missile launch facility). It’s also been retrofitted with nine-foot-thick reinforced concrete walls designed to survive everything from tornadoes to 12-kiloton nuclear warheads dropping half a mile away.

This converted nuclear silo has been described as an “underground skyscraper”, and this is how author Bradley Garrett described his visit to “Level 11”…

On level 11 of the Survival Condo, about 50 metres underground, Hall and I visit a 1,800 sq ft home. I have had the same feeling as walking into a bedroom in a hotel chain. The apartment has never been used. It has a Navajo print rug, a cushy white sofa set and a stone electric fireplace with a flat panel TV over it. A marble countertop extends to a bar separating the living room from the kitchen, which is filled with high-end appliances.

It sounds quite lovely, but the units are not cheap.

In fact, prices start at more than a million dollars…

Half-floor apartments here are $1.5m (£1.2m); full-floor apartments $3m (£2.4m); and a two-level, 3,600 sq ft penthouse has sold for $4.5m (£3.6m). In total, 57 people will be living in 12 apartments, each paying an additional $5,000 (£4,000) a month in residents’ association fees. One apartment, bought with cash, is designed to feel like a log cabin, with a loft looking down on a fake fireplace flanked by a six-screen display of a snow-capped mountain range.

The company selling the units insists that the location is super secret, but if that is actually the case it probably is not a good idea to let reporters roam around inside the facility with a film crew.

In any event, only the ultra-wealthy will get to live there, because most Americans could never even dream of being able to afford such an elaborate bug out location.

But all of us should be doing what we can to get prepared for the hard years that are ahead, because things are about to get really, really crazy.

We live in truly unprecedented times, and what we have experienced so far is just the beginning.

As global events spiral out of control, many among the elite will be heading for their underground bunkers, and some are already there…

As coronavirus infections tore across the U.S. in early March, a Silicon Valley executive called the survival shelter manufacturer Rising S Co. He wanted to know how to open the secret door to his multimillion-dollar bunker 11 feet underground in New Zealand.

The tech chief had neve­r used the bunker and couldn’t remember how to unlock it, said Gary Lynch, general manager of Texas-based Rising S Co. “He wanted to verify the combination for the door and was asking questions about the power and the hot water heater and whether he needed to take extra water or air filters,” Lynch said. The businessman runs a company in the Bay Area but lives in New York, which was fast becoming the world’s coronavirus epicenter.

It sure must be nice to have a luxury underground bunker in New Zealand.

Unfortunately, most Americans are going to have to deal with whatever is ahead right where they are currently located.

But whether you have an underground bunker or not, the truth is that challenging times are coming for all of us, and no amount of money is going to change that.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available on Amazon.com.  By purchasing the book you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  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.  In addition to my new book, I have written four others that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned)  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 a great help.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

Shock Survey Finds That Funding Is Being Reduced For “Nearly Half” Of All Major City Police Departments In America

In recent weeks there has been a tremendous amount of debate about whether police departments around the country should be “defunded” or not, but what most Americans don’t realize is that it is already happening on a massive scale.  At a time when crime rates are absolutely soaring and civil unrest is raging in major cities across the nation, police budgets are being deeply cut and in some cities there is talk of eliminating police departments altogether.  I knew that a few cities had already made moves in this direction, but I had no idea that it was happening on such a widespread basis.  According to a report prepared by the Police Executive Research Forum, nearly half of the law enforcement agencies that they surveyed “are reporting that funding has already been slashed or is expected to be reduced”…

Nearly half of 258 agencies surveyed this month are reporting that funding has already been slashed or is expected to be reduced, according to a report slated for release this week by the Police Executive Research Forum, a non-partisan research organization.

Much of the funding is being pulled from equipment, hiring and training accounts, even as a number of cities also are tracking abrupt spikes in violent crime, the report concluded.

And in most cases we are not talking about small cuts.  Police funding in Los Angeles has been reduced by 15o million dollars, and police funding in New York has been slashed by a total of one billion dollars.

Those are staggering numbers.

In Seattle, there had been a proposal to cut police funding by 50 percent, but apparently that wasn’t good enough for some people and so now a measure has been introduced that would completely “abolish the entire Seattle Police Department”…

BREAKING: Seattle City Council moves to abolish the entire Seattle Police Department and replace it with a “civilian led Department of Community Safety & Violence Prevention.”

They want to replace the police force with nonprofit programs and “community-led activities.”

If you live in the Seattle area and you are concerned that in the future you may not have anyone to call if someone breaks into your home, you can rest assured that someone will still be on the other end of the line when you call 911.

But instead of a police officer with a gun responding to your call, you may have a “community safety official” armed with “science” and “reason” come pedaling out to your place on his or her bike to perform a “mental health evaluation” on the individual that you are having a “disagreement” with.

Minneapolis is another major city that is considering doing away with the police entirely, but for now the MPD is still operating.  However, right now they are being completely overwhelmed by a massive crime wave that has erupted in the city, and in a recent email to 3rd precinct residents they told citizens to be “prepared to give up your cell phone and purse/wallet”…

“Be prepared to give up your cell phone and purse/wallet,” the police said in their email, a copy of which was obtained by Alpha News. The email said citizens should listen to criminals and “do as they say.”

The message warned that “some victims have been maced, dragged, assaulted, and some threatened with a gun.”

I don’t know about you, but I would not have been comforted if I had received that email.

Chicago is dealing with an enormous crime wave as well.  At this point, so many people are being gunned down in the city that it is making headlines all over the globe…

Data released on Saturday showed that Chicago saw 440 homicides between January 2020 through the end of June, a 52 percent increase from the same time period last year (which saw 290 homicides). Shooting victims similarly increased by 51 percent (1,480 to 2,240) and shooting incidents themselves rose 47 percent (from 1,210 to 1,783).

In Los Angeles, it is property crime that is making headlines, and the latest numbers show that auto thefts in the city hit an all-time record high last quarter…

A COVID-19-induced recession, with exceptionally high unemployment in Los Angeles, has resulted in record-high auto thefts in 2Q20.

A new report via Crosstown LA, who examined the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) data, reveals that 5,744 vehicle thefts occurred between April and June, up 57.7% from the same period last year.

But it really isn’t fair to point out just a couple of cities because the crime wave that we are facing is actually national in scope.

Never before have we seen such a dramatic spike in crime in such a short period of time.  The following comes from Fox News…

A host of other cities — Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland and Seattle — also saw spikes in shootings and murders, according to public data. “I think it’s just a perfect storm of distress in America,” Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in July.

In her city, the police department reported a 240 percent increase in murders (from 5 to 17) when comparing a four-week period ending in July 2019 to the same timeframe this year. New York City, meanwhile, saw a 277 percent increase in shootings (from 13 to 49) when observing the year-over-year change for one week in July.

In such an environment, does it really make sense to “defund the police”?

Unfortunately, you and I are not the ones making the decisions, and right now police budgets are being dramatically slashed from coast to coast.

Meanwhile, civil unrest continues to simmer in many of our largest cities.  For example, protesters in Portland just made headlines by burning an American flag and a Bible…

Protesters burned an American flag and a Bible in Portland, Oregon, sparking outrage just as weeks of violent demonstrations seemed to be coming to a close.

For more than 60 days, Black Lives Matters demonstrators, including a “Wall of Moms” and a “Wall of Vets,” have clashed with federal agents in the city, drawing national attention as authorities blasted marchers with tear gas and the civilians at times responded with weapons of their own — such as feces, bleach, bricks or batteries.

Sadly, what we have experienced so far is just the beginning.  The upcoming election certainly has the potential to trigger more protests and more riots, and the severe economic downturn that we are currently experiencing will add fuel to the fire as well.

Everywhere you look, people are angry and frustrated, and our society seems to be coming apart at the seams all around us.

It is at such a moment that politicians all over America have decided to radically cut police funding, and needless to say this is going to have very serious implications for every man, woman and child in the entire country.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.***

About the Author: My name is Michael Snyder and my brand new book entitled “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America” is now available on Amazon.com.  By purchasing the book you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  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.  In addition to my new book, I have written four others that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned)  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 a great help.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

Now Americans Are Rioting Over Mini-Golf And Bagels

Have you noticed that people all over the country are starting to completely flip out for little to no reason?  People are becoming violently angry even over very trivial matters, and you never know when someone might erupt.  One moment you could be talking to a seemingly mild-mannered middle-aged woman, and the next moment she could transform into a raging “Karen”.  And of course I am not singling out women in particular, because most of the people that have been involved in the violent riots that we have seen around the nation in recent weeks have been men.  People of all ages and backgrounds are suddenly going completely nuts, and what we have experienced so far is just the beginning.

The mainstream media deserves a lot of the blame for this.  Over and over they keep telling us that the riots that are happening in our major cities each night are “peaceful”, but everyone can see that they are not.  In Portland, protesters have been regularly firing projectiles, vandalizing buildings and setting fires, and they keep getting away with it.  Other than Fox News, the major news outlets in this country have put their full stamp of approval on what these rioters are doing, and that sends a very dangerous signal to everyone else.

If it is perfectly acceptable for rioters to attack police officers, destroy buildings and commit other acts of violence because they are “offended” by the system, then a lot of other young people out there are going to give themselves permission to violently erupt when they are “offended” by something as well.

For example, there was just an incident in Tennessee where hundreds of teens started going on a violent rampage at a mini-golf center because “the game machines ate their cash”…

A Tennessee mini-golf center erupted in chaos Saturday night when 300 to 400 teenagers began terrorizing staffers and smashing up the premises because the game machines ate their cash, Jam Press reported.

The riotous scene at Putt-Putt Fun Center, at Golf and Games Family Park in Memphis, was caught on camera by an alarmed bystander and shows the violent teens go berserk and throw various heavy objects at staff because they didn’t issue the kids a refund.

To really get a feel for this incident you need to see some video footage, and someone posted a short clip of the chaos on Twitter right here.

100 years ago, young people in America never would have conducted themselves in such a manner, and this is yet more evidence of how dramatically our culture has decayed.

Over on the east coast, three male “Karens” completely freaked out and caused 13,000 dollars in damage to a bagel shop when they were told that they had arrived too late to get food…

Footage released by police shows the suspects smashing up The Brothers Deli & Bagel in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn at around 5.30pm on Friday after workers had packed up and were waiting for their deliver man to bring the bikes inside.

The video shared Tuesday shows the would-be customers knocking drinks off a shelf, flipping over snacks, and turning tables after seemingly realizing they were too late to buy food.

In a civilized society, people resolve their differences calmly and peacefully, but the truth is that we are becoming less civilized with each passing day.

For many people, resorting to violence is becoming option number one and talking things out rationally is way down the list.

Down in South Florida, nobody is quite sure why a bunch of people in bathing suits started “pummeling each other” at a local casino, but it ended up making headlines all over the globe…

Three people were arrested and several more were banned from a South Florida casino after they were filmed in a violent brawl.

Video on social media shows several individuals, wearing bathing suits, while pummeling each other inside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood on Friday.

At this point, video of the brawl has been seen more than four million times, and I suppose that should not come as a surprise to any of us.

As I was writing this article, several lines penned by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament came to mind…

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Everywhere you look, people are exceedingly angry, and we are starting to see Americans take out their anger on one another with frightening regularity.

And if things are this bad already, what is the U.S. going to look like when events really start to spiral out of control?

The way that we raise and educate our children really matters.  For decades, most of the country has completely thrown out all traditional forms of morality, and we have raised our children to believe that they can define “right” and “wrong” however they wish.

Our education system is a complete and total joke, most children have been raised without any real moral foundation, and our culture relentlessly pounds a “victim mentality” into the heads of our young people.

A society is only as strong as the sum of the individuals that make up that society, and right now the lack of character in the United States is absolutely frightening.

Yes, there are certainly lots of exceptions.  I know some truly wonderful people, but I just wish that there were a whole lot more of them.

Unfortunately, the social decay that is eating away at our society like a cancer is getting worse with each passing year.  Decades of incredibly bad decisions have brought us to this point, and there are no indications that our nation is going to choose a different course any time soon.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of 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 have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. 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. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. 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 a great help.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

Soon, You Will Need To Wear A Mask To Enter Virtually Every Major Retail Store In America

If you are adamant about not wearing a mask, you are not going to like this news one bit.  Coming into this week, Costco, Starbucks, Best Buy and Panera Bread were requiring customers to wear masks to come into their stores, but most other major retailers were still giving people the freedom to choose whether they wanted to wear a mask or not.  I know that a lot of people appreciated this freedom to choose, but it is about to come to an abrupt end.  On Wednesday, Walmart and Kroger announced that they will be starting to require consumers to wear masks in all of their stores, and the National Retail Federation is pushing all of the rest of their members to do the same thing.  In the days ahead it is expected that most of them will follow suit, and that means that soon there will be very few major retail stores that you are able to enter without wearing a mask.

Walmart says that they decided to make this change in order to “bring consistency” across all of their stores.  The following comes from the official Walmart website…

As the number of confirmed cases has spiked in communities across the country recently, so too have the number and types of face covering mandates being implemented. Currently about 65 percent of our more than 5,000 stores and clubs are located in areas where there is some form of government mandate on face coverings. To help bring consistency across stores and clubs, we will require all shoppers to wear a face covering starting Monday, July 20. This will give us time to inform customers and members of the changes, post signage and train associates on the new protocols.

In the region of the country where I live, there are a ton of people that feel very strongly about not wearing masks, and this announcement is going to hit them really hard.

There is only one Walmart within a 90 minute drive of where I live, and virtually everyone in the region pops in there at some point.  But now those that do not want to wear masks will be excluded, and there will be some very hard feelings over this.

If you try to enter a Walmart without a mask next week, you will be greeted at the door by a “Health Ambassador” wearing a black shirt.  I find it very interesting that they specifically chose the color black, and I think that it would have been helpful if they had chosen a more friendly color.  In any event, these new positions are being created in order to ensure that only people wearing masks are able to get into the stores.  Of course Walmart is trying to make this sound as non-threatening as possible…

In addition to posting clear signage at the front of our stores, Walmart has created the role of Health Ambassador and will station them near the entrance to remind those without a mask of our new requirements. Our ambassadors will receive special training to help make the process as smooth as possible for customers. The ambassadors, identifiable by their black polo shirts, will work with customers who show up at a store without a face covering to try and find a solution. We are currently considering different solutions for customers when this requirement takes effect on July 20.

Needless to say, this announcement by Walmart is likely to spark an avalanche of other announcements by major retailers.

In fact, Kroger made an announcement just hours after Walmart did…

Within hours, Kroger — the largest U.S. supermarket chain — said it will also require shoppers to wear masks starting July 22.

And as I mentioned above, the National Retail Federation is already pushing all of their members to fall in line…

The president of the  National Retail Federation trade group wants retailers to adopt a nationwide policy that requires customers to wear masks, and hopes Walmart’s decision to do so would galvanize other companies to take similar action, reports Reuters.

“Shopping in a store is a privilege, not a right. If a customer refuses to adhere to store policies, they are putting employees and other customers at undue risk,” the NRF says.

We will be told that this is just a “temporary” thing, but at what point will we be able to start shopping without masks again?

It certainly won’t be any time in 2020.  This week, CDC director Robert Redfield said that he anticipated that this fall and winter “are probably going to be one of the most difficult times that we’ve experienced in American public health”…

I am worried. I do think the fall and the winter of 2020 and 2021 are probably going to be one of the most difficult times that we’ve experienced in American public health because of what you said — the co-occurrence of Covid and influenza, and this is where I’d like to continue to work with you to get the American public to embrace the influenza vaccine so we can try to minimize the impact of inluenza, because I think those two respiratory pathogens hitting us at the same time do have the potential to stress our health system.

Ultimately, we will probably be forced to wear masks until the pandemic ends.

But what if this pandemic lasts for years?

A couple days ago, I authored an article in which I discussed three separate scientific studies which all showed that COVID-19 antibodies disappear very, very rapidly.  In fact, some patients no longer had detectable antibodies just weeks after originally testing positive for antibodies.

What this means is that it appears that COVID-19 is very similar to many other less dangerous coronaviruses that are floating around out there.  Just like there is no lasting immunity to “the common cold”, there also appears to be no lasting immunity to COVID-19.

That means that no “vaccine” is going to save us, we will never get to the point of “herd immunity”, and this virus will circulate all over the globe year after year.

So does this mean that wearing masks will now become a permanent requirement in our society?

We should certainly hope that won’t be the case, but unfortunately we aren’t the ones making the decisions.

About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of 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 have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. 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. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. 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 a great help.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

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