An article by Jeff Thomas, feature writer for Strategic Wealth Preservation, Doug Casey’s International Man and 321gold.com
For many years, I’ve been predicting the coming of a crisis of epic proportions. I’ve focused on the economic and political aspects, although the social aspects will be no less severe.
This is not the stuff of crystal balls, nor is it mere guesswork. The fundamentals for the economic crisis have remained essentially the same for thousands of years, and if we’re diligent enough to study history and analyze the present, we can identify the fundamental ingredients of a crisis in the making. Once we’ve done this, the actual prediction of the event itself is no more inspired than recognizing that if we have a bomb filled with explosives and we light the fuse, it’s safe to say that it will go off.
The predicted bomb was long in coming, but in 2020, it arrived on our doorstep and the fuse is lit.
Governments understand that, if they wish to give the shaft to their own citizens and still remain in power, they must deflect blame for their actions to another party.
In 2020, they outdid themselves by creating perhaps the most ingenious distraction ever created. Whether or not the coronavirus was consciously created and/or consciously released, governments’ handling of it has been brilliant.
People the world over have lined up to get their vaccines, believing them to be essential to the recovery of their freedom, even though the vaccines have been declared by the experts to be ineffective in controlling transmission, curing the virus, eliminating the need for masks and social distancing, or making it possible to return to the normal freedoms of travel, sports, work, religious gatherings, schools or even a meal out.
So, if we accept the obvious – that the reason for all the hoopla was not to protect the public from a killer virus – then what could possibly have been the purpose of all the Machiavellian controls?
Well, we might want to consider that the controls themselves were the object.
Historically, whenever a dramatic governmental shift to collectivism has been intended, the very first move is to lock down the people. Convince them that only the government can or should have the power to decide whether its subjects may get on a plane, attend school, or even go out for a sandwich.
As Thomas Jefferson stated, “When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.”
The people have now been successfully subjugated, and whether they understand it or not, a condition of tyranny exists.
It has often been observed that, if you wish to shear sheep, you first enclose them in a pen, so that they have no escape. You can then shear them at your leisure.
Of course, readers of this publication are likely to object to the idea of being sheared – of either their wealth or their liberty. But it’s safe to say that the great majority of people are likely to fall victim to the upcoming shearing. For most of them, this will be because they simply waited to see what will happen and did little or nothing to ensure that their wealth and freedom had been safeguarded.
But what can you do? Is the government not, for all practical purposes, omnipotent at this point?
Well, no, but they soon will be. There remains a window in which to act to retain wealth and freedom.
But first, it’s important to recognise that you cannot guarantee that you will not become a casualty. What you can do is to place as many obstacles between you and your government as possible, so that you’re less likely to become a casualty.
Exit Your Jurisdiction
If you currently live in one of the jurisdictions that will be most highly impacted (the US, Canada, UK, EU, Australia, etc.), move to another jurisdiction. Select an alternate jurisdiction with a historically stable government that’s less likely to cave into demands from your home government during a crisis period. In addition to the governments of those countries listed above, others such as Panama, Israel, Japan, etc., have a long history of caving into demands by world powers quickly, often to their residents’ peril.
Choose instead a jurisdiction that has a minimal dependency upon the major powers, and/or has had a history of fighting off edicts from them, such as Uruguay, Singapore, Mexico, or Thailand.
Avoid Double Criminality
This is a bit of an unknown to most people in most countries, but by international agreement, in order for one country to pursue you or your wealth, it must appeal to your refuge country, to cooperate with it to deport you or to hand over your wealth.
However, it must first state the law under which you are being accused. If there is no similar law in your refuge country, the likelihood of compliance by its government is very low (unless the government actually violates its own laws to do so).
Some countries have been known, on occasion, to do just exactly that. However, if the demand goes against the well-being of the refuge country, its government is unlikely to comply.
For example, a country such as the Cayman Islands depends heavily upon international wealth preservation for its livelihood. It would therefore be economically suicidal for it to give in to demands for the confiscation of a foreign depositor’s wealth, as word of the breach of faith would quickly get out and cause a run of wealth exiting the islands. The Caymanian government itself would soon find itself without international revenue to pay its own salaries. It would fight tooth and nail to protect the client.
Or, in the case of Uruguay – which imports only ten percent of what it consumes and exports only ten percent of what it produces – another country would have great difficulty in pulling a muscle on the Uruguayan government. It would simply have no leverage.
And it’s safe to say that no world power needs the wealth of its few citizens who may live in Uruguay badly enough to go to war to pursue such minimal revenue.
Understand the Laws in Your Refuge Country
Finally, with regard to dual criminality, it’s wise to seek out a country that has a fairly non-corrupt court system. Short of going to war, even a major power, when dealing with a much smaller country, must do so within the laws of both countries. You are therefore protected by the courts in your refuge country.
Unless your net worth is in the hundreds of millions, it’s simply not worth it to any country – even a major power – to drag your case through the courts, possibly for years, in an attempt to attack your wealth. It’s not that they don’t want the money, it’s just that there’s only so much manpower to facilitate the shearing and there will be more low-hanging fruit elsewhere. You may simply be too much bother to pursue.
Again, there are no guarantees. But the more obstacles you place between yourself and those who would seek to pillage your wealth, the less likely you are to become a casualty or, possibly, even to be pursued.
Make it as hard as possible for your adversary to succeed in taking your wealth and he is altogether likely to focus his attention on easier prey.
Jeff Thomas
International Man and Strategic Wealth Preservation
jeff.thomas1066@gmail.com
This article was originally posted in the Strategic Wealth Preservation Blog and copied here with the permission of the author.