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The Biggest Spike In Homelessness Ever Recorded Is A Sign That The U.S. Economy Is Plunging Into An Abyss Of Pain And Suffering

December 17, 2023December 17, 2023 by Michael

At least things are still good for those at the very top of the food chain. But for everyone else, economic conditions have already become very painful. Today, the vast majority of Americans have less money than they did prior to the pandemic, and thanks to raging inflation our standard of living is steadily going down. We are in the early stages of “the greatest real estate correction” in our history, and 1 out of every five children in the United States does not have enough food to eat. With each passing day, more members of the middle class join the ranks of the poor, and more poor people find themselves getting kicked out into the streets. According to the Wall Street Journal, new numbers show that the number of homeless people in the United States has reached a brand new record high…

The U.S. count of homeless people surged to the highest level on record, reaching more than 653,000 people early this year as Covid-19 pandemic-aid spending faded, new federal data show.

The increase reflects a collision of factors: rising housing costs; limited affordable housing units; the opioid epidemic; and the expired pandemic-era aid that had helped keep people in their homes, federal officials said Friday.

In addition to having more homeless people in this country than ever before, additional people are becoming homeless at the fastest pace on record…

Homelessness shot up by more than 12% this year, reaching 653,104 people. The numbers represent the sharpest increase and largest unhoused population since the federal government began tallying totals in 2007, the U.S. Department of Urban Planning and Development said Friday. Last year, federal data showed 582,462 people experienced homelessness.

We have literally never seen a spike in homelessness like this before.

It is being reported that prior to these new numbers “the previous largest increase was a spike of 2.7 percent recorded in 2019”.

Just think about that for a moment.

At no point during the “Great Recession” did we see an increase in homelessness like this.

Essentially the floodgates have opened up and an absolutely massive tsunami of homelessness has begun.

Sadly, some groups are being hit much harder than others…

Black people made up 13% of the U.S. population in 2023, but they made up 21% of the U.S. population living in poverty, 37% of all people experiencing homelessness and 50% of homeless people in families with children.
Asian and Asian American people had the largest percentage increase in homelessness, up 40% from 2022, to a total of 11,574.
Hispanic and Latino people saw the largest numerical increase, up 28% from 2022 to 179,336 in 2023.

And please keep in mind that these are the ones that they can actually count.

How many more homeless Americans are out there that can’t be found or that don’t want to be found?

Of course many of you don’t need me to tell you that we have a homelessness crisis in America.

All you have to do to see it is to step outside your front door.

In San Francisco, residents have to do “the Poopie Dance” as they go to work because so many homeless people use the streets as a toilet…

They call it ‘The Poopie Dance’ and San Franciscans are having to learn it – and quickly.

It involves constantly looking straight ahead to find a clean line between where you are on the street and where you want to go.

Sadly, it’s the reality in parts of the Bay City as the growing homeless population have taken to using the famed streets of San Francisco as one giant open-air toilet.

So why is this happening?

Well, the truth is that there are a lot of factors that are contributing to this crisis, but one of the biggest is the fact that housing in the U.S. is now more unaffordable than it has ever been before…

High housing costs continue to be a financial stressor for the poorest Americans. In recent years, more people in the U.S. are rent-burdened, according to HUD, meaning they spend more than 30% or even over 50% of their income on rent.

Of course just about everything is less affordable these days.

For example, just check out what a new Ford F-150 will cost you these days…

For the 2024 F-150 XLT, in the two-door rear-wheel-drive base-everything configuration, the MSRP before “destination and delivery charges” is $47,620 per Ford’s website today. The “destination and delivery charges” of $1,995 give the truck a total MSRP of $49,615.

The average transaction price for all new vehicles sold is about $46,000, according to J.D. Power. A fully decked-out high-end F-series 4×4 Crew Cab can be well over $100,000.

Ouch!

A new truck is out of reach for most Americans at this point.

And actually “a middle class lifestyle” is out of reach for most Americans at this point.

The numbers that the government gives us say that we aren’t officially in a recession at this moment, but to most of us it certainly feels like a recession has already begun…

That’s according to a recent survey conducted by Bankrate, which found 59% of U.S. adults feel like the economy is in a recession, defined by two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

Regardless of income, households said they are feeling the pressure at about the same amount. Sixty percent of respondents in the lowest-income households, making under $50,000 a year, said the economy feels like it is in a recession. Of those in higher-income households making more than $100,000 annually, 61% agreed.

I wish that I could tell you that economic conditions will improve in 2024 and beyond.

But I can’t do that, because the truth is that they are going to get worse.

The U.S. economy really is plunging into an abyss, and so much pain and suffering is ahead.

So if you have a warm home to sleep in tonight, be thankful, because there are countless others that do not.

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.

The Truth About The Economy That The Mainstream Media Is Not Telling You

December 14, 2023December 14, 2023 by Michael

If it seems to you that the economic headlines that we are being fed by the mainstream media are completely and utterly disconnected from reality, you are definitely not alone. They tell us that inflation is under control, but I was just at the grocery store today and I could hardly believe the prices. They tell us that unemployment is “low”, but large companies are laying off workers in droves. And they tell us that things are getting better for the middle class, but the truth is that by mid-2024 the vast majority of Americans will have less money than they did in 2019…

The majority of Americans have burned through their excess savings piled up during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the coming months, JPMorgan says it is likely that almost everyone will be worse off financially than they were in 2019.

In a Thursday note, the bank’s top stock strategist Marko Kolanovic said 80% of consumers, a group that accounts for nearly two-thirds of consumption, has already depleted any savings cushion they may have built during lockdowns.

“It is likely that only the top 1% of consumers by income will be better off than before the pandemic,” Kolanovic wrote, pointing to the growing signs of credit card and auto loan delinquencies, as well as Chapter 11 filings.

If almost all of us are getting poorer, how is that good news?

Of course the money that we still have in our bank accounts continues to lose even more value with each passing day.

An absolutely outstanding article that was just posted on Schiff Gold analyzes how much a basket of groceries that Kevin bought in the 1990 movie “Home Alone” would cost today…

Kevin bought a basket full of groceries including a half-gallon of milk, orange juice, Wonder Bread, a Stouffer’s frozen turkey dinner, toilet paper, Snuggle dryer sheets, Tide liquid laundry detergent, plastic wrap, Kraft macaroni and cheese, and a bag of army men. He paid a grand total of $19.83 with a $1 off coupon for the orange juice.

In 2022, that same basket of groceries would have cost around $44.40 based on a shopping trip by a West Virginia mother. That’s a 123.9% increase. (Keep in mind prices vary somewhat depending on the store and location.)

This year, Kevin would have to fork out a whopping $72.28 for his provisions at a Chicago store. That’s another 62.8% increase in just one year. Since 1990, the price of Kevin’s groceries has gone up over 264%.

So how in the world can they possibly claim that inflation is “low”?

It is almost as if we are living in Bizarro World.

At this point, it would cost the typical U.S. household 3.4 million dollars to live the American Dream over the course of a lifetime…

The “American Dream” costs about $3.4 million to achieve over the course of a lifetime, from getting married to saving for retirement, according to a recent analysis from financial site Investopedia.

Meanwhile, median lifetime earnings for the typical U.S. worker stand at $1.7 million, earlier research from the Georgetown University has found.

Such figures underline the financial pressures that many families face trying to afford a middle-class life as expenses like child care, college tuition and buying a home continue to climb. The Investopedia analysis tallies the average cost of achieving other aspects traditionally associated with the American Dream, such as owning a house and raising two children to age 18.

If you are like most Americans, you are never even going to come close to earning enough money to live a middle class lifestyle.

That is why so many people out there have given up.

In this economic environment, just hanging on to a decent job is an accomplishment.

This week, we learned that General Motors will be laying off approximately 900 employees…

General Motors’ Cruise on Thursday announced internally that it will lay off 900 employees, or 24% of its workforce, the company confirmed to CNBC.

The layoffs, which primarily affected commercial operations and related corporate functions, are the latest turmoil for the robotaxi startup and come one day after Cruise dismissed nine “key leaders” for the company’s response to an Oct. 2 accident in which a pedestrian was dragged 20 feet by a Cruise self-driving car after being struck by another vehicle.

Meanwhile, Ford is cutting production of the F-150 Lightning pickup in half…

Ford Motor will cut planned production of its all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup roughly in half next year, marking a major reversal after the automaker significantly increased plant capacity for the electric vehicle in 2023.

The new production plans call for average volume of around 1,600 F-150 Lightnings a week at Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, starting in January, according to a source familiar with the decision. The automaker most recently planned to produce roughly 3,200 of the vehicles on average per week.

They want us to purchase electric vehicles, but what they don’t tell us is that maintenance and repairs are insanely expensive…

Lucas Turner was driving his 2014 Infiniti hybrid when its check engine light made its annoying appearance on the scene, according to KPHO-TV.

Not good, but with fewer than 70,000 miles on the vehicle, he was not expecting the bill would be a whopper.

Wrong.

“They called me and said, ‘Oh, I’ve got bad news, Mr. Turner. You need a new hybrid battery and it’s going to cost $18,000 for the battery and another $2,000 to have it installed.’

No thank you.

I could never see myself buying an electric vehicle, and there are tens of millions of other Americans that feel the exact same way.

Switching to another industry, Hasbro just announced that it will be laying off more than a thousand workers…

Toy giant Hasbro is laying off more than a thousand workers and closing its office in Providence, Rhode Island.

Why would a toy company be laying off so many workers just before Christmas? Shouldn’t this be a boom time for them? Some people suspect it is directly due to their partnership with Disney, a brand which has become toxic for many Americans in recent years.

People aren’t exactly lining up to buy toys linked to the last Indiana Jones movie or the latest offering of the Marvels, both of which were total duds at the box office.

When a major toy company is laying off workers even before the holiday season is over, that is a really bad sign for the economy.

Of course things in Europe are even worse.

At this point, it appears that Europeans are facing “a continent-wide recession”…

The latest GDP figures show that the eurozone contracted in the third quarter and looks like it will do the same in the last three months of the year falling into a continent-wide recession, Oxford Economics said in a note on December 8.

“Final figures confirmed eurozone GDP contracted 0.1% in the third quarter. What’s more, the detailed breakdown showed the European economy has no engines of growth at the moment. Although private consumption posted a small gain over the previous quarter, the near-term outlook still looks dire, and with both investment and exports unlikely to provide much momentum, the economy looks set to slide into recession in the fourth quarter,” Oxford Economics said.

And on the other side of the globe, we are being told that “China’s banking system is collapsing”…

China’s banking system is collapsing, and the real estate crisis in the country could end up wiping out $4 trillion from its financial system, according to veteran investor Kyle Bass.

In an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin on CNBC on Monday , the Hayman Capital Management CIO pointed to China’s property sector, which has been reeling in recent years as debts from major property owners sour and some firms default on their bonds. The real estate crisis has left enough empty homes in China to house 3 billion people, a former top Chinese official said, and the flood of unused supply will generation huge financial losses in the real estate sector.

So don’t believe the hype.

The mainstream media would like us to believe that 2024 will be a wonderful year for the economy.

But the truth is that economic conditions have already been deteriorating all around us, and I am extremely concerned about what is coming during the year ahead. I would encourage you to check out my brand new book entitled “Chaos” for a detailed analysis of what is coming in 2024.

We have been propping up our standard of living for years by engaging in the greatest debt binge in the history of the world, but now that bubble has started to burst.

A tremendous amount of discomfort is ahead of us, but the mainstream media will continue to insist that every jolt of pain is simply a bump on the road to endless prosperity.

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.

In 2025, The U.S. Will Finally Begin Preparing To Fight A Nuclear War With Russia

December 12, 2023 by Michael

Will the upgrades that are coming to our strategic nuclear arsenal be ready in time? Right now, hopelessly outdated Minuteman missiles that first went into service in the 1970s form the backbone of our strategic nuclear arsenal. The silos where they stand ready to be launched still use rotary phones and 8 inch floppy disks in many cases. Once they are launched, the brand new S-500 anti-missile systems that the Russians have deployed will be able to intercept them. Meanwhile, the Russians have introduced a brand new intercontinental ballistic missile known as the Sarmat. A single Sarmat carries enough firepower to destroy an area the size of Texas, and our anti-missile systems are not able to deal with this new threat. The balance of power has fundamentally shifted, and so we desperately need to update our capabilities.

Unfortunately, this process will not even begin until 2025.

So we better hope that we do not get into a shooting war with Russia during the next couple of years.

The U.S. has been developing a brand new ICBM known as “the Sentinel”, and it is desperately needed…

The control stations for America’s nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles have a sort of 1980s retro look, with computing panels in sea foam green, bad lighting and chunky control switches, including a critical one that says “launch.”

Those underground capsules are about to be demolished and the missile silos they control will be completely overhauled. A new nuclear missile is coming, a gigantic ICBM called the Sentinel. It’s the largest cultural shift in the land leg of the Air Force’s nuclear missile mission in 60 years.

These upgrades cannot happen fast enough, because right now the infrastructure of our strategic nuclear arsenal is constantly breaking down and falling apart…

The silos lose power. Their 60-year old massive mechanical parts break down often. Air Force crews guard them using helicopters that can be traced back to the Vietnam War. Commanders hope the modernization of the Sentinel, and of the trucks, gear and living quarters, will help attract and retain young technology-minded service members who are now asked each day to find ways to keep a very old system running.

This is something that I have been warning about for years, but most people didn’t want to listen.

Now our military is in a race against time, because the clock is ticking.

Overall, 750 billion dollars will be spent to overhaul our strategic nuclear forces, and it is being projected the silo work for the Sentinel could begin “as soon as 2025”…

The Sentinel work is one leg of a larger, nuclear weapons enterprise-wide $750 billion overhaul that is replacing almost every component of U.S. nuclear defenses, including new stealth bombers, submarines and ICBMs in the country’s largest nuclear weapons program since the Manhattan Project.

For the Sentinel, silo work could be underway by lead contractor Northrop Grumman as soon as 2025.

I am glad that they are moving forward.

But if work will not even begin until 2025, when will it finally be completed?

Until the Sentinel is ready, the Russians will continue to possess a major strategic advantage over us, and they know it.

If the war in Ukraine spirals out of control, we could easily find ourselves facing a nightmare scenario.

The Russians have been steadily gaining ground in Ukraine in recent weeks, and over the past few days they have started to gobble up significant chunks of territory.

The Ukrainians are running out of warm bodies to throw into the fight, and that is a major problem.

They are also running out of ammunition and equipment, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky just made a trip to D.C. to beg for more money…

Zelensky is in D.C. to ask Congress to pass $61 billion more for Ukraine, on top of the $113 billion they approved early this year. However, it looks increasingly likely that any more funding for Ukraine will have to wait until next year.

The Biden administration requested the funding as part of a $106 billion package, which includes only $13 billion for securing the border, but Republicans say it does not go far enough, and are calling for a number of reforms to reduce the number of asylum seekers and illegal border crossers, which recently hit 12,000 per day.

Johnson said at a Wall Street Journal event on Monday that Democrats and the White House must agree to some or all of the border-security measures outlined in H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act.

Even with all of the money that we have given him already, his forces are still losing.

And even if we give him what he is asking for now, Russians forces will continue to advance.

Zelensky is holding a losing hand, and as the Russians advance he is going to become very desperate.

And very desperate people do very desperate things.

Eventually, I expect that events in Ukraine will force the U.S. and Russia into a showdown.

When that day arrives, will the U.S. be ready?

Earlier today, I came across an article about a calendar that is being sold in Russia that shows “a Russian soldier outside the US Capitol building in Washington DC with a drone and helicopter overhead”…

A Russian veterans organisation is selling a 2024 calendar featuring a muscle-bound Vladimir Putin.

The calendar continues a series of propaganda images including one showing a Russian soldier outside the US Capitol building in Washington DC with a drone and helicopter overhead.

Many Russians believe that a war with the United States is inevitable.

And as I have repeatedly warned my readers, the Russians have been feverishly preparing for such a conflict for a long time.

Thankfully, the U.S. is finally starting to get prepared as well.

But if work is not even going to begin until 2025, will the much needed upgrades to our strategic nuclear arsenal be completed in time?

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.

Last Chance To Get Out Of Dodge?

December 11, 2023December 11, 2023 by Michael

Time is running out. Lately, I have been hearing from so many people that believe that 2024 will be the year when our society goes over the edge. Our financial system is teetering on the brink of disaster, crime is absolutely exploding all over the country, homelessness is rising at the fastest pace ever recorded, food banks are facing unprecedented demand for their services, and I believe that 2024 will be the most chaotic election year in the entire history of our nation. And of course all of this is happening in the context of a global environment in which war, pestilences, economic problems, famine and natural disasters are all on the rise. A “perfect storm” is raging all around us, and millions upon millions of Americans have become deeply concerned about what our immediate future will look like.

So where will you be when things finally hit the fan?

During the past several years, we have seen a mass exodus of conservatives from blue states. For example, Fox News is reporting that 65 percent of those that have recently moved to the state of Idaho are Republicans, and only 12 percent are Democrats…

Data published by the Idaho Secretary of State’s office shows that out of the nearly 119,000 people who recently moved to the state, 65% registered as Republicans, compared to just 12% registering as Democrats.

The data, which was reviewed by Fox News Digital, show that out of the roughly 20,000 Americans who moved from Washington state to Idaho, 62% registered as Republicans, compared to 12% as Democrats, 24% as unaffiliated and 2% as “other.” The percentage of registered Republicans originally from Washington who recently moved to Idaho is actually higher than the state’s overall percentage of registered Republicans, which sits at about 58%.

And for those moving from the state of California, the numbers are even more dramatic…

Out of the nearly 40,000 people who left California for Idaho, a whopping 75% registered as Republicans, the data reviewed by Fox News Digital show. Only 10% of the California pool registered as Democrats, 14% as unaffiliated and 2% as “other.”

Wow.

Real estate agents in Idaho are urging potential clients to “escape liberal hell” and to get to the state “before the coming collapse”…

The Seattle Times noted that real estate ads advise residents in states such as Washington to “escape liberal hell” and move to Idaho.

“Time is not on your side, flee the city NOW before the coming collapse!” another ad for a house listing in Idaho states, the outlet reported.

Perhaps you are thinking that you should move to Idaho too.

Unfortunately, for many Americans it is already too late, because property values in some areas of the state have more than tripled.

Of course property values have also skyrocketed in desirable areas in many other red states as well.

Meanwhile, mortgage rates have also soared, and as a result home payments have risen to absolutely absurd levels during the Biden administration…

WSJ analysis of the housing market:

Average monthly new home payment
when Biden took office: $1,787

Average monthly new home payment
today: $3,322

You can still try to relocate.

But it will cost you much more than it would have a few years ago.

Renting is also an option, but we have just been through a period of time when rental prices have also jumped substantially…

After suffering through a three-year period when rents jumped by 30% or more in many U.S. cities, renters are now starting to enjoy small breaks like this.

Ultimately, if you were planning to relocate, you should have already done it by now.

But the good news is that conditions are still at least somewhat relatively stable as we approach the end of 2023.

So if you want to get out of Dodge, you can still do it.

In fact, for many of you this may be your last chance.

But don’t wait too long, because the clock is ticking.

At this point, most Americans can feel that something has gone horribly wrong. The warning signs are all around us, and conditions are getting worse with each passing day.

Even Warren Buffett can sense that a really big shift is coming. During the first three quarters of this year he sold off a whopping “$28.7 billion of stock”…

Warren Buffett’s firm Berkshire Hathaway sold $28.7 billion of stock in the first three quarters of 2023 in a move that some economists have interpreted as ringing alarm bells for the American economy.

According to the company’s earnings, the Nebraska-based firm of the legendary investor and billionaire, known as the Oracle of Omaha, sold a net $10.4 billion of stock in the first quarter of the year. In the second quarter, it sold close to $13 billion of shares and bought less than $5 billion. In the third quarter, it sold about $5.3 billion worth of stocks.

As Buffett is considered one of the greatest investors of all time, as well as one of America’s richest men, his moves are closely observed and analyzed.

He didn’t make so much money by being stupid.

Buffett may not fully understand all of the specifics, but he realizes that something is up.

As our society crumbles, most of the population is not going to be able to handle it.

The suicide rate just continues to go up, and psychologists are reporting unprecedented demand for their services…

For the third consecutive year, many psychologists across the country say they are seeing patients struggle with worsening symptoms, many of them needing longer treatment times.

Those are among the findings of an annual survey by the American Psychological Association, released this week. The APA first launched this survey in 2020 to gauge the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on practicing psychologists.

A majority of psychologists reported that more people are seeking mental health care this year, adding to already long waitlists. Over half (56%) said they had no openings for new patients. Among those who keep waitlists, average wait times were three months or longer and nearly 40% said that their waitlist had grown in the past year.

When conditions get really bad, we are going to witness a national emotional meltdown of epic proportions.

Where will you be when that occurs?

Global events just continue to accelerate, and 2024 is less than three weeks away…

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.

1 Out Of Every 5 U.S. Children Does Not Have Enough Food To Eat As The Global Food Crisis Intensifies

December 10, 2023 by Michael

We tend to think of the global food crisis as something that is happening on the other side of the world. And it is certainly true that there are vast hordes of impoverished people that are desperate for food in other areas of the planet right now, because hunger is spreading like wildfire in poor countries. But the truth is that hunger is spreading rapidly in the United States as well. According to a report that was just released by the USDA, a whopping 44 million Americans now live in “food insecure households”…

The number of people living in food insecure households in the United States in 2022 increased to 44 million, including 13 million children, according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This is an increase of 31% for all individuals and 44% for children from the previous year, the highest rate and number of individuals and children since 2014 and the largest one-year increase in food insecurity since 2008.

So exactly what are “food insecure households”?

That is just a politically-correct way of saying that they don’t have enough food to eat.

As you can see from the overall rate of increase and the rate of increase for children, hunger has been absolutely exploding in this country.

According to this new report, one out of every five children in the U.S. now lives in a food insecure household…

“The USDA released data showing that 1 in 7 people, including 1 in 5 children, in the U.S live in food insecure households,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, Feeding America CEO. “This news is heartbreaking, but sadly, it is not surprising. People facing hunger have shared with us that the end of pandemic-era relief efforts and the high cost of food have impacted their ability to make ends meet. I see the long lines myself as I travel across the country. Food banks have been reporting that they are operating under increasing pressure from both sides: the growing number of people experiencing food insecurity and a diminished supply of nutritious food to distribute. Food donations and fundraising have decreased since the pandemic, and while we know the USDA has been working to help, it simply has not been enough.”

One out of every five!

After reading that, how can anyone out there possibly claim that we are not facing a food crisis?

And it is important to keep in mind that this new report reflects conditions in 2022.

How much worse will the numbers for this year be?

As I discussed last week, the Wall Street Journal has reported that homelessness in the United States is rising at the fastest pace ever recorded this year.

And demand at food banks all over the nation has risen to unprecedented levels.

Sadly, it isn’t just the U.S. that is hurting.

Right now, we are in the early chapters of the worst global food crisis in modern history.

According to the UN’s World Food Program, war, “economic shocks”, crazy weather patterns and soaring fertilizer prices “are all combining in a perfect storm to create a hunger crisis of unprecedented proportions”.

The situation is particularly dire in Africa. We have reached a point where at least three-fourths of the entire population of the continent cannot afford a healthy diet…

At least three-fourths of Africans cannot afford a healthy diet, and a fifth are undernourished due to an “unprecedented food crisis,” United Nations agencies said in a report released Thursday with the African Union Commission.

In Sudan, 42 percent of the population is now facing acute food insecurity, but most people in the western world don’t even know that this is happening…

Since the start of the conflict in April 2023, acute food insecurity in Sudan has strongly increased, further worsening an already alarming nutrition crisis.

Prior to conflict, food insecurity was at the highest levels in a decade, with 11.7 million people (1/4 of the population) facing acute hunger. Sudan had one of the highest numbers of people in the emergency level of food insecurity (IPC4), with 3.1 million people affected.

According to the Mid-Year Update of the Global Report on Food Crises, due to the conflict, an additional 8.6 million people in the Sudan are facing high levels of acute food insecurity.

This is a 74% increase since the 2022 peak, bringing the total to 20.3 million people (42% of the population) in IPC Phase 3 or above during July-September 2023.

If you have never watched “Alone”, I would encourage you to watch a few episodes in order to get an idea of what can happen to the human body after several weeks when there is not enough food available.

Because it appears that the global food crisis is going to get even worse in 2024.

Rice is one of the most important staples for billions of people worldwide, and rice prices have been skyrocketing in recent months…

Rice prices are on the verge of hitting new 15-year highs as the damage effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon across Asia have damaged farmlands, leading to dwindling supplies.

Thai white rice 5% broken hit $640 per ton this week. These prices are back to levels not seen since October 2008. Prices are up over 50% since the start of 2022.

India had already severely restricted rice exports, and now they have decided to also restrict the export of onions…

India added onions to the nation’s expanding list of food staples slapped with sweeping export restrictions, as the government seeks to contain domestic prices ahead of a national election next year.

Overseas shipments of onions will be banned until March 31, although cargoes of vegetables that started loading prior to the notification can still be exported, the government said Friday.

Wealthy nations are running into very serious food production issues as well.

Here in the United States, beef prices are already at a record high, and the USDA is warning us that beef production continues to fall…

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.

In the UK, “one of the lowest potato harvests on record” is creating a tremendous amount of concern…

UK farmers are struggling with one of the lowest potato harvests on record after an autumn of heavy rain, raising fears about supplies for this year’s Christmas dinners and beyond.

Experts are also warning that supermarkets could be forced to increase imports for vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower, pushing up the environmental impact of the Christmas meal. They could look as far afield as Egypt for potatoes from next year.

In France, authorities are sounding the alarm about a resurgence of the bird flu…

France raised the risk level of bird flu to ‘high’ from ‘moderate’ on Tuesday after new cases of the disease were detected, forcing poultry farms to keep birds indoors to stem the spread of the highly contagious virus.

The decision by the agriculture ministry was published in the Official Journal on Tuesday.

Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, has led to the culling of hundreds of millions birds worldwide in recent years.

The bird flu pandemic has already wiped out more than a hundred million chickens and turkeys in the United States and Europe combined, and now it is back in a major way.

So what is the bottom line?

The bottom line is that global food supplies are going to get even tighter, and the devastating global food crisis that I have been warning about in my books has already begun.

One out of every five U.S. children already do not have enough food to eat, and that number will inevitably go even higher as this global food crisis slowly evolves into a true global famine.

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.

It Now Costs 3.4 Million Dollars To Live “The American Dream” And The Gap Between The Wealthy And The Rest Of Us Is Bigger Than Ever

December 7, 2023 by Michael

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.

Why Are So Many Celebrities Suddenly Becoming Christians?

December 6, 2023December 6, 2023 by Michael

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.

They Are Calling This “Layoff Season”

December 5, 2023December 5, 2023 by Michael

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.

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