The Coming Middle East Conflict
& How It Could Impact Your Wealth
"I care not what puppet is placed on the throne of
England to rule the Empire, ... The man
that controls Britain's money
supply controls the British Empire. And I control the money supply." -
Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild
This conference address is now a special report covering first how the Treaty of Versailles spawned most of today’s problems in the Middle East. How America has adopted British and French practices for exploiting the region under the guise of "spreading democracy". Why much of the conflict between the West and Islam as well as the Washington War on Terror response to terrorism has been created more for political reasons at home than defending America. The speech was given in late November, 2010 on the Cradles of Civilization Financial Cruise on the Mediterranean between Cairo and Naples.
I
appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today here on
the FreedomFest Cradles of Civilization Cruise & Investment
Conference. Personally, I've really enjoyed the last two ports of call, Israel and
Egypt. The pyramids are always the main attraction but we
should all
remember the Battle of the Pyramids which Napoleon won but he
like so many western invaders since, failed in his hopes for a
conquest of the Middle East.
We will be talking a lot about Middle East history today and how it relates to the ongoing conflicts in the region but remember all history has been written by the victors and crafted to make the winners look good. Napoleon understood this when he said, "What is history but a fable agreed upon?" - Napoleon Bonaparte
Jeff
(Verdon) I loved your trophy wife story on Friday. It is great having an
intelligent and attractive wife who looks far younger than
we do but in my case she really is 13 years younger but this does have a few
disadvantages. First, until only a few years before she
became a grandmother, she would often get carded at bars
while it never happened to me.
Second,
for
years I joked with Tami from the podium at investment
conferences always embarrassing her until the fall of 1999.
Come to think of it, this is almost the ten year anniversary
of that event. She introduced me much like Jo Ann Skousen did this morning to
about 500 attendees at our annual investment firm
conference, most of whom I had never personally met. The
introduction went fine but to get
me back, after all of the bio stuff, she closed with, "I
want all of you to give a round of applause to Ron Holland, "my
dad" as he comes up to speak to us today. Let’s just say my welcome speech
without notes totally escaped me and I have never made another joke
about Tami from the podium again.
Most of you know, I’m on the Board of Advisors for BFI Consulting Inc. in Zurich and I co-edit their weekly email letter “Mountain Vision. This is a free email publication and if you want a complimentary subscription, just let me know. They specialize in global wealth diversification, investment management and wealth protection for high net worth investors often using Swiss insurance products as a wrapper for managed portfolios. Swiss insurance provides a tremendous amount of asset protection and added layers of privacy when structured correctly. I'm also the senior analyst for the "Swiss Confidential" newsletter published by Appenzeller Business Press AG also in Switzerland which publishes "The Daily Bell".
Question: Before I get started I have a few questions for you:
Having
toured the Middle East how many of you feel the peace
process will take hold here over the next decade? How many
of you fear another military conflict here?
Who will be the likely combatants, nations or groups?
Finally for the financial part of my talk, we have seen Greek ruins, Roman ruins, Israel ruins and Egyptian ruins, the rise and fall of great civilizations. Do you really think most of the people living in these once powerful empires knew they were in the last years of their civilizations until the enemies were at the gates?
In the 20th century we have always been taught how civilization just advances, that prosperity grows year after year and how America and the western world we have known and loved will go on forever.
If you don’t learn anything else from this cruise, open your eyes - history is cyclical and all empires and great nations, every economic power rises and eventually falls. All governments attempt to convince their citizens that they are always in control, that the status quo will remain the same but it does not. The fall can come from direct military action, from the military and economic overreach of empires to the point where they can not sustain themselves, and from economic disruption or a change from good government to tyranny. The fall can take hundreds of years or it can be immediate.
Remember 20 years ago the Berlin Wall fell and today many of the former communist eastern block nations now have more free markets and lower tax rates than the US. Some economists say if you want to see real free market capitalism in action, go to Hong Kong, China and Korea.
As many of you know, back in May 2001, Tami and I were on a similar cruise with Mark and Joanne and I gave a speech "Today's Middle East Conflict: Born at Versailles". I found it on the internet on Friday and reviewed the speech to see how much has changed in the last 8 years. At first glance, not very much.
What Has Changed in the Last 8 Years?
In the Middle East - Saddam is gone and we are now occupying Iraq but the main Sunni military power countering Iran is now under Shiite control. American ground troops are stretched thin in Iraq & Afghanistan, therefore our main military assets are naval and air forces.
Israel after decisively winning every war in its short history was
held to a draw by Hezbollah in Lebanon and even Israel’s
incursion into Gaza wasn’t a decisive victory. I hear Gaza makes
Bethlehem look like Beverly Hills in comparison. The radical terrorist
organization Hamas governs Gaza and given the ongoing
radicalization of the Palestinians, I believe they will soon take
over control
of the West Bank.
Most of us have seen the tragic situation in Bethlehem where the birthplace of Jesus Christ has been turned into a walled city with guard towers and barbed wire that looks all too much like the photos we've seen of Nazi concentration camps or the Warsaw ghetto. My daughter Heidi, described the situation as only a 12 year old can saying, "Dad, this sure looks like a concentration camp to me."
Israel built the wall to stop the Intifada and suicide bombing and it has worked in the short term but long term I fear it will be disastrous to Israel because it is further radicalizing the Palestinians.
Iran may be closer to getting nuclear weapons. This is a game changer in the Middle East although for reasons I'll address later, a nuclear Iran actually threatens American allies or client states far more than Israel.
In the US -
In 2001, the US Dollar was the world’s reserve currency
today it is a different story.
Mark Skousen has a great
discussion on this risk in his Forecasts & Strategies
newsletter he handed out on Friday under “Is the Dollar
Going To Collapse?” How many of you have read the essay?
In 2001, the Swiss franc was valued at 55 cents and now it is around a $1.00 and this shows us what has already happened to the paper dollar. The dollar will collapse, the only question is when. "When" will be determined by our major creditor nations like China, Japan and the oil rich countries of the Middle East when they decide to sell dollars received from exports and buy Euros, gold and other relatively hard currencies..
The official national debt of the US has increased from under 6 trillion in 2001 to almost 12 trillion today.
Gold has gone from under $300 an ounce to almost $ 1,200 an once.
This is why
I went back to work in the investment business and joined the
Board of Directors with BFI
Consulting in Zurich. I believe the growth in the Washington
national debt and the risk to the dollar threatens the
economic security and future prosperity of the American
people and future generations more than any event since the
Great Depression.
They share my long term view of the threat of an eventual global run on Washington treasury debt and the dollar that would create a major economic and political problem for the US. The solution is to build real wealth legally, following all reporting rules, paying taxes outside the US jurisdiction, the dollar and US investment markets. There is too much risk to have all of your assets in the US.
In My Talk Today: I'll give a brief overview of the history of the Middle East leaving out the somewhat biased coverage from our guides in Israel and Egypt. I will set the stage for the coming Iran/Israeli conflict and show how it may well change the balance of power in the Middle East and how this could impact the dollar, treasury markets and your investments.
So as I like to do, let’s review some points and hidden facts about some aspects of Middle East history you probably haven't heard about on CNN or Fox News.
Questions: Here are a few questions and answers about the Middle East history over the last 100 years that you might be unfamiliar with:
To quote Thomas Jefferson, he said “History, in general only informs us what bad government is” and this was certainly true in the early years of the 20th century.
(1) What nation created the 2nd worst European holocaust in
20th century Europe? We all know the most deadly holocaust
was the Jewish holocaust but what nation comes in second and
what people was it directed against? The answer is Turkey
against the Greek and Armenian Christians. I'm talking about the Greek Holocaust
in
Thrace, Asia Minor and Pantos. For example, the Christian
population in Turkey decreased from 4.5 million in 1900 to
around 150,000 today. The number of Greeks living in Turkey
fell from around 2 million to around 7,000 today. Actual
victims were around 2.5 million including 1.5 million
Armenians.
Why did this take place? After the First World War, the
Turks who had lost Asia Minor, reoccupied the region. Then
there was a war in the region between Greece and Turkey
ending around 1921 that resulted in a partition of the
region. About 300,000 Turks had to leave their homes in
Greek territory and 1.4 million Greeks in Turkey that
survived the holocaust had to also move back to Greece.
Now, let's don't get too tough on the Turks. As we
Christians during the crusades did the same thing to Moslems
in Turkey and throughout the Middle East. Our so called
"Christian Crusaders" even laid siege and wiped out most of
Christian Constantinople now Istanbul several times on
their way to the Holy Land. Also crusaders did the same in
Jerusalem killing all the Jews and Moslems in the city.
.
(2) Since we are talking about Istanbul, what war time
World War One leader was blamed for such a military disaster
near this city, that everyone said his political career was
finished, he was voted out of office and there was near
unanimous belief that he would never hold office again? Who
was it? Answer, Winston Churchill and the British
Expeditionary Force invasion of Turkey and the subsequent
Allied Defeat at Gallipoli made very famous in the
Australian movie by the same name.
(3) Now, let's talk about the "so called" Palestinian uprising today. What successful terrorist or freedom fighter example are the Palestinians following today in Israel? The answer is Menachen Begin, the Prime Minister who led Israel during Jimmy Carter's Camp David Accords.
Beginning in 1946, his underground forces made Palestine, a guerrilla war zone. They attacked the British police stations, kidnapped soldiers and attacked civilians. The British civilians in Palestine were forced to live behind armed compounds surrounded by fences and barbed wire.
Does this sound familiar and how more and more Israeli
civilians are being forced to live today? Note, I am not
saying this doctrine today will work against Israel because
the British were occupying a distant Palestine while today's
war is taking place inside the nation of Israel. Still the
parallels are interesting and of course not lost on the
leaders of both sides in the conflict.
(5) How many of you remember the terrorist attacks that blew
up the marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon during the Reagan
Administration killing over 200 American soldiers. What was
the 2nd worst terrorist attack in the Middle East? Answer In
July 1946, Jewish freedom fighters blew up the British
headquarters in the King David Hotel killing 91 and wounding
45. This action helped turn the tide of British public
opinion against further British occupation of Palestine and
led to the establishment of the modern day nation of Israel.
(6) What is the biggest obstacle to Israel giving up the
entire West Bank (less Jerusalem) to the Palestinians?
Answer - water as there is a major natural underground water
reservoir there that provides Israel 50% of its agricultural
water and 40% of the drinking water and all of it is located
under the West Bank..
The 20th Century Problems in the Middle East
Started with the Treaty of Versailles At the End of World
War One
Question: If we had done this cruise during the early
1800’s
how many nations would we have visited? Turkey was then
called the Ottoman Empire but this empire also
included Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and
Egypt. All of the locations we will visit on the
cruise with the exception of Italy were part of the
Ottoman Empire.
The Middle East problems we face today started with the Treaty of Versailles forced on the defeated central powers at the end of World War One. The winning side "The Big Four" including President Wilson, (America's second worst president) and the leaders of Great Britain, France and Italy met together and created one of the most unfair peace treaties in history which destroyed the stability of Europe until 1991 and the Middle East for the foreseeable future.
Question: What nations were we at war with during World War One? Germany, Austria-Hungarian Empire and as we tend to forget as Americans, the Ottoman Empire. Their defeat created a power vacuum in the Middle East and we are still sorting out the problems almost 90 years later.
The basically unfair Treaty of Versailles allowed distant European politicians to arbitrarily create most of the Middle East national boundaries we have today without regard to local geography, tribal affiliations or national identity. This carving up of territory as spheres of influence by the victorious allies created discord, infighting and hatred between the very different groups of people in artificially created states. These artificial nations didn’t become independent until after World War Two and their boundaries were drawn a thousand miles away in Europe not taking into account the different cultures, natural boundaries, ethnic or religious differences.
For example, Iraq and Jordan were invented and created by British politicians. The borders of present day Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq were made by a British civil servant named Mark Sykes in 1922. Syria and Lebanon national boundaries were drawn by France as a frontier line between Lebanese Christians and Syrian Moslems.
Except for Israel, Egypt and Iran, most Arab peoples feel far more loyalty to their religion, local mosque and religious sect of Islam than to any nation state they might live in.
Question: How do political leaders stay in power in these kinds of artificial nations? They create a common enemy to bind together competing tribes, religious sects, cultures, language and power structures. Early on the enemy were the colonial powers but after independence the enemy became Israel. As we will discuss later, most politicians and governments create contrived enemies if they don't have real ones to justify their governments.
Historically most of the Arab political leaders played this game using hatred for Israel to stay in power. Also many Israeli politicians have used fear of the Arabs to win elections. Today the problem for the Arab leaders who denounced and on occasion made war against Israel and blamed them for all their problems, is this government propaganda worked too well.
The Arab nations with their conventional armies suffered defeat after defeat against Israel. They couldn’t deliver what they promised and actions of Israel further radicalized the average Arab in the street. Hence the growth of radical groups like Al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. The last two groups have good programs to help their followers and they have at least not been losing on the battlefield. These groups now threaten moderate Arab governments across the region. This is what we should fear from the coming Israel/Iran Conflict.
Question: Iran is an obvious participant in a future Middle East conflict. How many times has it invaded or attacked a neighboring nation in the last 100 years? Zero
Question: Should Iran be paranoid about western intentions? How many times have western nations invaded Iran in the last 100 years?
The discovery of oil in 1908 by the British led to renewed interest in Persia. Control of Persia remained contested between the United Kingdom and Russia, in what became known as The Great Game, and codified in the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, which divided Persia into spheres of influence, regardless of her national sovereignty. During World War One, it was neutral but occupied by Russian and British forces
At the start of World War II, Iran again declared its neutrality, but the Allies needed a land corridor to supply the Soviet Union so Great Britain and the Soviets simultaneously invaded Iran on August 26, 1941. The Soviet Union from the northwest and the British across the Iraqi frontier from the west and at the head of the Persian Gulf in the south. Resistance quickly collapsed. After World War Two, America basically controlled the country through the Shah and his father until the Shah was disposed and Khomeini came to power. Later we had the hostage crisis and the rest is recent history.
Iran is right to be paranoid about US and western intentions as they are our real enemy in the Middle East from a geo-political viewpoint. They seek to become a major player in the region now that we have taken out their primary adversary, Saddam and Sunni controlled Iraq and this runs counter to the Neocon war plan for the region.
Question: What nation has the most to fear from Iran? Raise your hands, How many think Israel? the United States? Are there other potential adversary nations for Iran? How many of you saw in the news two weeks ago about Saudi Arabia attacking radicals from Yemen using tanks, air attacks and artillery?
Post
Cruise Insert: Now suddenly following the
fighting before the cruise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula, in Yemen attempts to bring down a jet
liner with explosive underwear. Read, "What
Next for Flyers, Underwear Checks?" only
two days following Senator Joe Lieberman's
suggestion that it was time for America to put
troops in Yemen. I fear the case is being made and
the American people are being conditioned to support
another invasion and occupation of a Moslem
nation.
Back to the Cruise Speech: My minority point of view is the nation that has the most to fear from Iran are the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Emirates. Everything Iran is doing is not to destroy Israel but rather to force the United States and the UK out of the region. To accomplish this they have to destabilize the moderate Arab states and hopefully overthrow several of the major oil producing nations and replace with leadership friendly toward Iran. Then they can control the production and price of Middle Eastern oil.
Internal Political Pressures Will Force Iran & Israel Into Military Conflict: I believe Israel will bomb Iranian nuclear facilities before the end of August 2010. This will start a conflict of short duration because their public policy is to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that Israel public opinion and his political future requires this action as any party in power allowing Iran to get nuclear weapons will be destroyed politically. Second, they have to do this before the fall elections in the US as the consequences for the US economy and investment markets could be quite negative for a short period of time leading up to the 2010 fall elections.
A scary situation is also Netanyahu's political future is actually in the hands of his mortal enemy, Ahmadinejad. All he has to do is to announce to the world that Iran has developed a nuclear weapon and a delivery system for defensive purposes whether true or not and Netanyahu is out of office for allowing this to happen.
I believe Iran with or without nuclear weapons is
not a near term threat to Israel because to use them
would be suicide for the country and political leadership. One
common trait you can count on with all politicians around the world
is the desire to remain in power and political survival. Iran's
government might be a lot of things but it isn't stupid.
Iran’s Goal Is To Provoke Israel Into Bombing It’s Nuclear Facilities:
Why would the current Iranian government prefer an attack on it's
nuclear facilities? They believe they can strengthen the government
at home and survive this type of limited war with a public relations
victory on the Arab street plus solve some serious political
problems that threaten to bring down the government.
You can see it in the way President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attempts to provoke Israel and the West while walking a fine line just short of what could reasonably be expected to provoke a quick military response. His goal is to provoke an attack and yet appear as the "injured party" on the Arab street of public opinion.
First, this will unite the anti-government factions in Iran behind the government. The outrage over the "sneak attack" will bind the Iranian people together just like Pearl Harbor did for the US and the Nazi invasion did for the hated communist government in the Soviet Union. Second, they will claim Israel missed most of their research facilities which they will also claim were for peaceful nuclear power.
Third, Iran will fire long range rockets with conventional warheads back against Israel and Israel will hit back with airpower but the bottom line is neither Israel nor America can successfully invade Iran. Israel doesn't have the logistical capacity surrounded by enemies and the US is already dramatically over extended with all the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. So it will be an air war on both sides even if the United States gets involved.
Iran has no modern air force but a substantial missile capability.
All they have to do is take the air bombardment and on occasion,
fire a rocket back. The Iranian radical allies in Lebanon and the Gaza strip will
also fire
a few rockets and then Iran will will declare victory once
an invasion doesn't happen. They will be the first Moslem nation, (note Iran isn’t Arab)
to win a conventional war against Israel since the beginning
of the nation of Israel.
Imagine what this will do to public opinion in the streets
of the Arab world. In many Moslem nations ruled by Sunni
elites consider how Shia Moslem minorities
will feel with this victory. While the moderate Arab governments sit
around and do nothing as usual, the Arab street will erupt with
jubilation. Remember Iran's goal is to destabilize moderate Arab
states like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Arab Emirates, where
the oil is. Maybe they will get lucky and the Shia
minorities will
overthrow a moderate Sunni government or two. This is their goal
if everything goes according to plan. The problem in war, is nothing ever
goes according to plan after the first shot is fired.
What if Iran responds With Rockets Against Our Fleet or Bases In Iraq? If there isn’t much damage and causalities, the conflict will be contained. But if they hit a big base in Iraq and hundreds of Americans are killed or sink a US warship? American public opinion will force us to get involved. We can level much of Iran from the sea and air but unless we invade, they can still declare victory. Same scenario as I presented earlier but this is a dream scenario for American Neocons who desperately want to get the United States involved in a full scale war in the region.
Great Britain will follow our lead but the rest of the world will sit on the sidelines. The chance that some of the moderate Arab states or even China might decide to show solidarity with Iran by selling or temporarily not rolling over Treasury debt is a real risk in this kind of situation. This could start a run on treasury obligations far earlier than it would have happened otherwise.
The Risks of a Middle East Conflict Are Real & Growing: The danger in the near term isn’t to Israel but rather to the US and our moderate allies in the region. Most of America's Arab political allies are corrupt to the core and they will do anything to remain in power. Iran will threaten their power base and inflame their Shea minorities and to counter public opinion something crazy or unexpected could happen on the military or economic front such as maybe a short moratorium on rolling over US treasury obligations etc. To stay in power, these regimes may be forced to do something to show solidarity with their citizens.
This is the real risk in the Middle East today to our wealth, savings and prosperity. Both Iran and Israel desire a short conflict but for different "politics at home" reasons. On the other hand, the neoconservatives in the United States who control the foreign policy of both political parties seek aggression, war and occupation in the Middle East.
This is a recipe for power, profits and benefits for a few special interests while risking total destruction of our civil liberties at home and our economy while brave American soldiers die on the battlefields of the Middle East for no vital American interest. It will mean perpetual war and occupation like so many times previously in the Middle East and the final result may well be the end of the American Empire abroad and the Republic at home.
Investment Suggestions: As we have seen in the lockstep foreign policies of Bush and Obama, only the tone of the rhetoric changes not the policy. Public opinion can have little actual impact on Middle East policies unless we become involved in a shooting war and suffer serious causalities as this would create a public clamor for massive retaliation and play into the dirty hands of the neocons.
What should investors do to defend our wealth and profit from another Middle East conflict? The solutions are the same as protecting your wealth from a run on the dollar and US treasury obligations.
Don't bet on
outwitting the major institutions and insiders in a volatile,
geo-political and financial market situation. Like most
Israel/Arab conflicts, the impact will be temporary with a short
duration of hostilities and dramatic swings in oil, gold, equity
markets and the dollar. Now if Iran can convince the Arab world
it has won a victory and this carries into the streets and other
oil producing governments are eventually overthrown, then buy
gold, oil and ultimately sell the dollar because Iran will be
able to control oil distribution and increase prices. They are
our real competitor for power in the Middle East.
Build a
secure position of wealth outside the dollar and the
regulatory jurisdiction of the United States with a
percentage of your assets. You can do it in an asset
protection trust like Jeff Verdon has talked about or
wrapped in a number of foreign insurance vehicles including
Swiss annuities and insurance products. The key is to
be out of the dollar and have your assets domiciled in a
location where emergency market closures, exchange controls
or presidential executive orders can’t touch your assets.
Remember, this
has nothing to do with privacy or not paying taxes. You file
the forms, pay your taxes but you will have liquidity
outside the dollar and US markets. As an American, liquidity
will be king in a future dollar or debt crisis.
While I
believe Switzerland is a leading jurisdiction for your secure wealth
but for trusts use another jurisdiction with trust law. Switzerland is the most
secure location in the world for insurance products.
Remember, it is important to
choose regulated, secure jurisdictions for your offshore
wealth wherever it is.
If you want to know more about the long term threat and how create liquidity so you can take advantage of what may be the greatest investment opportunity of a lifetime for those prepared. I'm available to talk with you in meetings here on the cruise. But remember, I'm retired from the investment business and I can discuss general topics, the dollar, the debt and geopolitical risks but individual products and specifics on investments are for other advisors here on the cruise.
In closing, I believe the risk of a future not near term run on the dollar and debt is reason enough with my background to go back to work preaching the benefits and security of secure offshore wealth diversification. Switzerland isn’t perfect but the nation has taken some hits due to the mistakes made by UBS bank but it still offers the most secure jurisdiction in the world.
The Swiss aren’t more honest than other people, they don’t love liberty more than other nations and their politicians are just like ours in America. To paraphrase a quote used by Dr. Walter Williams because I didn’t have time to find it, “in politics the scum always rises to the top”.
What
make Switzerland unique among all the nations of the earth,
is there the people still for the most part control the
government. They have a direct democracy and limited
confederation government much like America's first
government, the Articles of Confederation. They are neutral
in foreign affairs because a majority of the citizens
want neutrality. They have financial privacy, they have
limited government, they have a strong currency because the
people demand it.
They also have the political rights of referendum and initiative at the canton (state level), local level and most important at the federal level. If 4% of the populations want a referendum to do away with a law or regulation at the national level, they have a referendum and the majority wins. If Parliament refuses to pass legislation the people want, again they can create laws by referendum regardless if the Parliament have been bought off by special interests.
It would be like in the US today, if we could force through referendum an audit of the Federal Reserve, a rollback of the Wall Street bailouts or auto union bailouts by the Democrats or to defend private health care or force Congress to declare war before invading another country.
The Washington government is not here to protect you. They are out to steal as much of your wealth as possible. The politicians are up against the wall and your savings, your real estate values, your investments in dollar denominated assets, even your retirement assets are at risk.
I believe Switzerland is the ultimate safe haven for your wealth and this small nation is a shining example of limited government and personal liberties which is the envy of freedom loving people around the world. But Switzerland is also the most hated nation on the face of the earth by corrupt, pillaging governments and tax-feeding bureaucrats who covet your ability to create and save your private wealth.
The
Information Gates Are Open:
Make no mistake, America is in the Middle East today for many of the same
political and economic reasons that have led other empires to invade
and occupy the region since recorded history began. I don't doubt
that our long-term presence will end as it has for all the outsiders
who have come and gone before us.
Yes, there are real economic, oil and geo-political reasons advanced for the United States to position our forces in the oil rich Middle East. But there is another reason America is now involved in perpetual wars around the globe and a "War on Terror" at home and abroad. Given the recent failures of Wall Street and Washington to be anything but an anchor around the necks of productive Americans, Americans have finally lost faith and trust in most establishment institutions.
The internet revolution has ended forever the ability of the establishment press, "the gatekeepers" to control the free flow of information, opinions and political thought as has been the case for hundreds of years. There is a devolution just starting to happen where private individuals, groups, regional movements and even social media can organize and inform free people of news and views free of the propaganda of governments and politicians.
This is a frightening situation to political, media and financial interests which have always divided their share of the spoils and restrained real capitalism and competition through government regulations and controls designed to protect establishment monopoly interests. Today, you can just as easily read Pravda from Russia or a newsletter from China or an investment publication from Switzerland as information from inside your own nation. This is scary and unsettling to the American elites. Their monopoly control over you is ending now right before their eyes.
Empire & Foreign Policy Risk: The ability of Washington and other governments around the world to control you, your access to political and financial information and your wealth is ending. There is now only one "control mechanism" still proven to work to mold and control public opinion and actions and this is an external threat or crisis.
Washington can still use an external threat to control the majority of Americans, pass legislation like the Patriot Act and generate support for military actions. They can also still use an external threat or economic crisis to burden future generations with government debt and benefit special interests as with the recent bailouts. In the future Washington will use an identical economic threat, real or contrived to grab much of your retirement benefits as the $15 trillion dollars in qualified plans is the largest single source of private wealth remaining outside of Washington and they need this money.
Most nations use external threats or economic crises to create a public view required by the political establishment to survive and prosper. Israel uses this, all the Middle East and Moslem nations use it and only Europe is somewhat immune to war as a controlling factor because of their history of wars, conflicts and holocausts during the last hundred years. Too much property has been lost, death and destruction realized and false political leaders promising solutions have been proven wrong and Europe hopefully has turned the corner after corrupt monarchies, fascism, national socialism and communism have failed.
Europe
has learned what Switzerland somehow knew from it's beginning way
back in 1291 with the Federal Charter or Letter of Alliance (in
German "Bundesbrief) that a strong defense is the best alternative
to aggressive war and decentralization is best for good government
and prosperity. The Bundesbrief
takes its place along side the Magna Carta, the Constitution and
American Declaration of Independence as unique and hopefully
enduring freedom documents.
History shows us time and time again how a real or contrived external threat is necessary for strong central governments to endure and prosper. The fear of the threat needs to be terrorizing and threaten all segments of society as otherwise the need for big government and a strong centralized state could collapse. Therefore we are finally here in the Middle East because as Randolph Bourne wrote, "War is the health of the state". The coming Middle East conflict follows the War on Terror, the War on Drugs, The War on Poverty and all the other military and economic crises always used to expand the power of the state.
Going back to the original quote at the beginning, by Baron Rothschild, "I care not what puppet is placed on the throne of England to rule the Empire, ... The man that controls Britain's money supply controls the British Empire. And I control the money supply." Today in the United States, powerful global banking interests "the monetary elite" using the Federal Reserve have the monopoly power to create money out of nothing and they use this power to control the government who in turn use these crises to extort more wealth for the establishment institutions. I believe their time of monopoly control, unlimited credit expansion and paper money is ending, but I fear the final economic and military conflict from their global bubble, Washington debt and misallocation of wealth will be very severe particularly for the United States and our prosperity.
War might be the health of the state if we become more involved militarily but this could be painful for our liberties and deadly for our wealth if the Middle East conflict gets out of control. Protect and preserve a portion of your wealth outside your home nation and jurisdiction. Follow alternative political and financial news in addition to conventional sources if you want to know what is really going on in the world.
I
don't view an Iran/Israel conflict as the end of the world but
hopefully only another skirmish in a region that has known
thousands of years of warfare. The major threat to your wealth
is if the war gets out of control or if it is contained but a
perceived Iran victory causes Shia and other groups out of power
in oil producing countries to overthrow the existing corrupt but
pro-American dictatorships.
If this happens all bets are off! Remember, almost all wars are
economic based and pillaging expeditions by one or both sides in the
conflict. One government always wins but usually the people and
wealth on both sides of the conflict pay the financial and ultimate
price.
The Restoration: "It is darkest before the dawn." I don't know who said this but it is true. We are blessed to live in a thrilling and exciting time in world history probably comparable to the birth of the United States or the invention of the printing press. Change will not come easily without resistance when an entrenched parasitic elite and their fake prosperity built on debt is overthrown and cast out from power but it will happen as thanks to the internet, the information gates are open.
In our future, the restoration of real free-market capitalism, real money and prosperity and the rebirth of limited, decentralized government hopefully like the government established by our patriot founding fathers, "The Articles of Confederation" will take place. We need to preserve and expand our wealth to fund the coming restoration of the American Dream and for the next generation during the difficult political and economic transition period to follow. This is why I'm here today. Take action, buy gold, preserve your wealth in jurisdictions, strategies and currencies outside the dollar to prepare for the coming run on the dollar and treasury debt.
In closing, remember what Victor Hugo said, "In history, Switzerland will have the last word". He was right then and I believe he is still right now about the Swiss, their currency and their position as the leading financial center for investors seeking stability and security. For Americans who understand economic history and are concerned about foreign policy risk, the growth of $12 trillion government debt and the long-term impact on the Dollar, Switzerland may be the answer for you...but don't wait too long.
Ron
Holland, A Member of BFI Advisory Board & Co-Editor of Mountain Vision
Mr. Holland began his career as a banking and trust officer working with
several American banks where he developed the first hard asset retirement
program for American investors. Later he spent 20 plus years in the
investment industry as an investment consultant, stockbroker and as the
president of a national American investment firm licensed for securities and
insurance in 47 states. In addition
he is the senior analyst for the "Swiss Confidential" newsletter published
by Appenzeller Business Press AG also in Switzerland which publishes
"The Daily Bell".
Ron has written three books, plus over 100 reports and articles and he
speaks and serves as a moderator at conferences on a wide variety of
financial, political and freedom-related topics. He is a strong proponent of
defending American liberties at home and the importance for global
investment diversification outside the dollar and U.S. financial markets.
Mr. Holland is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a major
in Banking & Finance. He enjoys skiing, history, economics, reading and
traveling. And, he is the father of three girls and married to Tami Holland,
Conference Coordinator for the FreedomFest
group of conferences and tours. They hold the largest
pro-liberty conference in the United States each July in Las Vegas, Nevada
Readers can receive a copy of his latest report,
Plan Now To Escape
Obama's Retirement Trap by just e-mailing Ron at
ron.holland@bfi-consulting.com
and requesting the retirement trap.
Ron Holland [send
him mail] works in Zurich and is a co-editor of the "The Swiss Mountain
Vision Newsletter." The
weekly pro-liberty,
hard money and free-market economics newsletter discusses the falling
Washington dollar, the exploding national debt & the growing threat to our
liberty, you can click to
http://www.bfi-capital.com/mountainvision/subscribe.php
and sign-up for a free subscription to the newsletter. Just type
in "Ron Holland" when the form asks "How Did You Learn About Us". If the
link doesn’t work you will have to copy and past the link directly into your
browser for it to work.
Many articles by Ron have been published on the popular Lew Rockwell website. You can access Ron's columnist archive on lewrockwell.com here.