Are You Ready for Poverty, Starvation, and Digital Control?

It’s Lent, so Orthodox Christians are fasting to prepare ourselves to meet the Risen Lord at Pascha. For the Orthodox, fasting is a voluntary act performed at certain prescribed times of the year as a spiritual discipline. It’s a good thing we have been training ourselves in handling hunger, because living without much food is about to become a mandatory exercise.

Thanks to the War in Ukraine, we are about to experience a catastrophic global food crisis.

Russia is one of the largest producers of fertilizers in the world. Sanctions by the United States, NATO and the European Union will limit Russia’s ability to supply this essential product:

Half the world’s population gets food as a result of fertilisers… and if that’s removed from the field for some crops, [the yield] will drop by 50%,” Svein Tore Holsether, head of agri company Yara International, told the BBC.

 

“For me, it’s not whether we are moving into a global food crisis – it’s how large the crisis will be,” said Holsether, noting that increasing gas prices were causing a steep rise in the cost of fertiliser.

Russia and Ukraine export around 25% of the world’s wheat and half of its sunflower products, such as seeds and oil. Globally, many countries are dependent on these two producers for their grains. Ukrainian production is cut off by the war, and Russian supply is complicated by sanctions. Two major food producers are offline at the same time lack of fertilizer is going to cut crop yields around the world. And you thought 2020 was a nightmare.

It gets worse, however. Spiking fuel prices also make it more expensive to run farm machinery and to deliver food to hungry consumers. Manufacturing and building will also be affected. Bloomberg just announced that steelmakers across Europe are cutting back their operations as power prices surge to record levels.

“We are going into unexplored territory,” Fabian Rønningen, an analyst at Rystad Energy said to Bloomberg, “The demand destruction could also be on another scale than we have seen previously.”

With steel limited and facing the same punishing energy costs, other industries will doubtlessly cut production as well. Also concerning for industry, Russia and Ukraine lead the global production of metals such as nickel, copper and iron. They are also involved in the export of other essential raw materials such as neon, palladium and platinum. Prices are already high and moving higher. Even if companies want to produce goods, despite the high costs, the raw materials may not even be available to do so.

Expect massive dislocation all along the supply chain. Economies will contract. Workers will be laid off from industries that are already struggling thanks to COVID lockdowns. Many workers, lucky enough to keep their jobs, will be unable to afford the transportation costs to get to them. As always in times of extreme distress, expect crime, drug use, and child abuse to skyrocket

Inflation will run rampant through all sectors of the US economy as three important factors converge. First, the increased costs for fuel and materials mentioned above will have to be priced into the supply chain. Second, the effects will be fully felt of the massive money printing carried out over the past two years to “fight” the economic effects of COVID mitigations. Since January 2020, the United States has printed nearly 80% of all US dollars in existence. In just the past three fiscal years, federal spending has swollen to nearly $7 trillion a year, up from about $4.4 trillion in fiscal year 2019. Biden and the Democrats are partially to blame with their massive deficit spending, but the tsunami of money printing actually started under Trump. All that money will be chasing fewer and fewer goods. Expect the value of the dollar against real goods and services to plummet.

Third, expect de-dollarization to eventually hit the value of the US Dollar hard. Since WWII, the US Dollar has been the preferred medium for international trade. That is rapidly changing as the use of dollars for trade brings with it the very real risk of US sanctions. ING Bank’s chief economist for Russia, Dmitry Dolgin, was quoted as saying:

Any wire transaction that takes place in the world involving US dollars is at some point cleared through a US bank. That means that the US government can tell that bank to freeze certain transactions.

The dollar is a weapon. While Russia is now the most sanctioned country in the world, it is far from alone in the dollar crosshairs. About 10 percent of the countries and 25 percent of the global population are suffering because of US sanctions. Even China fears sanctions. Dollar inflation is also a concern. There are simply too many massive incentives to de-dollarize for it not to become a global trend. Led by Russia and China, countries are doing business with each other in currencies other than the dollar. Central banks are swapping dollars for Gold and other currencies, while disposing of US Treasury debt. Nations are also collaborating on an alternative to the SWIFT system, which is firmly controlled by the US. Lower global demand for US dollars means more expensive and/or non-existent imports for American consumers.

Sure, that can mean something merely inconvenient, such as missing out on a new TV or a new phone. But it can also mean limiting the importation of essential food and medicines.

The result of all these reinforcing calamities will be hundreds of millions of people (or more) around the world facing starvation and poverty. Lower income workers will be unable to heat their homes in Winter. Goods and services once taken for granted, will be out of reach for large segments of the population. The middle class will get poor, and the already impoverished will be reduced to destitution.

You would think, given the stakes, that NATO would be anxious to broker a peace deal. Not at all. NATO keeps providing weapons, military supplies, and just enough hope to keep the Ukrainians fighting a losing battle. Western Media and social media keep publishing and/or inventing pro-Ukrainian propaganda. All the while, Ukrainians die in a hopeless war while their cities are destroyed. The rest of us will be feeling their pain very soon.

Since when do conservative, Slavic nations send their women to fight and die in a war? Is the female empowerment theme for local or foreign consumption?

Even a Russian victory probably won’t end the war. In the event of a Ukrainian military defeat, the US plans to set up a “government in exile” to serve as the head of a CIA-backed insurgency. Word is that the CIA is following the “models” of past insurgencies in Afghanistan and Syria for its plans in Ukraine. Given that those countries were ravaged by war as a direct result of those insurgencies, this bodes poorly for Ukraine. Given the continued sanctions and loss of cultivated land in Ukraine, the rest of the world may not fare much better.

The only way out of this global disaster is a negotiated settlement that leaves both sides happy enough to stop shooting. If you are not praying for a negotiated peace already – now is a good time to start.

Taking Control of Money to Make Dissent Impossible

If the economic dislocation continues, then one would expect epically large protests. Heck, maybe even a revolution or two. They have ways of dealing with that. Remember the Canadian truckers? A media blackout plus good-old-fashioned forced removal and arrest did the trick there.

The Canadian protests were peaceful. When challenged by police power, protestors dispersed or submitted to arrest. There is no guarantee that a starving and heavily armed American population would be so passive. Fortunately for the powers-that-be, the Canadian government pioneered another, even more effective method of breaking protests than brute force.

Take away the protestors’ access to their own money.

Canadian PM Trudeau invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act, which gave the federal government enormous powers, including the ability to shut down crowdfunding and freeze the bank accounts of freedom convoy supporters without a court order. Donate $50 dollars to the freedom convoy, watch your bank account get frozen. The new regulations were so broad as to encompass the entire financial system. So broad, in fact, that they likely were withdrawn only because Canadians, in a panic, appeared to be pulling their money out of the banks. Tyranny is one thing, but causing the public to lose confidence in the banking system is something else entirely.

Should widespread discontent appear over the deliberate destruction of the global economy, expect these regulations to quickly re-appear in Canada and all other “liberal democracies.”  Still, seizing bank assets is not a guaranteed way to crush all dissent long-term. What do you do when people stop using banks? Cash gets around all these regulations. You can keep it on you and spend it on things the government doesn’t like. Cash never has to be put at risk in a bank account. You can withdraw it and hold onto it – before you get into trouble.

So if you really want to eliminate the possibility of dissent, then you have to eliminate cash. Which is where the current push for Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) comes in.

The General Manager of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), Agustín Carstens, stated in October 2020 that:

“We intend to establish the equivalence with cash and there is a huge difference there, for example in cash we don’t know who is using a 100 dollar bill today … the key difference with the CBDC is that the central bank will have absolute control on the rules and regulations that will determine the use regarding that expression of central bank liability and also we will have the technology to enforce that.”

There won’t be any cash. You will have a digital wallet. If you step out of line, they simply shut off or limit your ability to use it for transactions. Or they limit you to purchasing only essentials such as food.

While this may sound like science fiction, it is very real and totally terrifying.

British activist Maajid Nawaz was on Joe Rogan’s podcast and discussed the concept of CBDC, how it relates to vaccine passports, and how the two together can easily morph into a social credit system like in China.

And, yes, you read that news headline below the video correctly. On March 9th, President Biden signed an executive order instructing agencies to consider creation of a US digital dollar. One way out of the inflationary crisis is to create a new currency that is essentially “revalued”. Digital currency also provides a new level of control in the face of possible dissent.

Book - the great resetI am going to pause and repeat something I said frequently in the months prior to the vaccine passport roll out. It is not a conspiracy if they tell you about it. When you have public comments, press releases, press interviews, books – it’s called a plan, not a conspiracy.

The ultimate nightmare is a Chinese-style social credit system, in which the integration of personal data and money through digital ID allows unprecedented levels of control over the lives of people. Even if the advent of digital currency stops short of that level, it still represents a stunning loss of personal privacy and freedom once taken for granted in the “West”. The concentration of power in government and corporate hands will transform our lives in ways we can not even guess at.

The Global Elite rarely wastes a good crisis, so it is logical they would use the coming economic meltdown to usher in not only digital currency, but also the Green New Deal so we can “Build Back Better”. This interest in “using” the Ukraine War could explain why no one in the “West” seems interested in peace. We have already gone from COVID-19 to the War in Ukraine without so much as a pause for breath. It is very clear that crisis is the “new normal”. Or as Orwell said, “War is peace”.

The Mark of the Beast

Here is what the Bible says about the Mark of the Beast:

“16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”

-Revelation 13:16-18

I grew up in an Evangelical Church that was obsessed with Biblical Prophecy. One of our contributors explained what that was like.  To be honest, I was never much interested. The whole thing seemed too far-fetched. I have spent most of my life wondering if we had not either misinterpreted much prophecy, or ascribed prophetic value to what were actually historical events.

Either of those objections to prophecy may be true. I’m not an expert in the field. However, I am an expert in finance and technology. As such, I can attest that technology exists, and could be implemented, that would prevent unauthorized buying and selling. The people in charge will know what you buy, where you buy it, and even where you are at all times. If you don’t comply, you will be shut out of the economy. Imagine starving to death in your own home, unable to buy food. Who needs re-education camps? Tyranny is new and improved.

Think you are ready for political and/or religious persecution? Few of us really are. To avoid the penalties the New Financial World Order can levy, most of of us would do anything: swear allegiance to whatever was demanded, deny the Christian faith (and repent later), take whatever drugs are required, turn in our friends and family…

The technological capabilities alone are frightening enough. What is truly horrifying, however, is that the global COVID-19 response just illustrated how governments around the world now move in lockstep with each other. Governments on every continent rolled out the same lockdowns, mask orders, social distancing, and mandatory vaccines. Governments that seemingly had nothing in common all did exactly the same things, with the differences being largely in degree and not in kind.

How is that possible, and how far will such cooperation go?

It may not have been a global government, but it seems close enough to be properly alarming. Especially since all of those things were shown, in short order, to make absolutely no sense. Outside of Sweden and Florida, facts seemed to make no difference in the continuation of ruinous COVID policies.

Rather than reassuring and inspiring their citizens, most governments actively encouraged panic. The British government went so far as to engage behavioral scientists to increase fear levels in order to coerce Brits into complying with lockdowns and other measures. Governments scaring the pants off their citizens to expand their own powers is nothing new. The fact that many of the people in a “crisis” not only believed government lies, but actively defended them, is also not new. However, the sheer scale, sophistication, and extent of the COVID effort is wholly without precedent in human history.  Its success sets the stage for the next crisis to almost certainly be infinitely worse.

So forgive me if the whole Mark of the Beast thing is weighing heavily on my mind at the moment.

What to Do

This section will be short, because there isn’t much we can do. The things within our control, however, are vitally important.

  • It is Lent. Pray, fast, and repent. The Kingdom of God really is at hand.
  • Buy extra food and store it. If you are a priest, encourage your people to do so. Things may not get as bad as we fear. If so, then you have some extra food for later. On the other hand, if you need food and don’t have it…
  • Spread awareness as to how crises are being leveraged to change our societies permanently. Don’t focus on the shiny new thing, but be discerning as to what is really happening.
  • Do not comply with demands that violate your freedom of conscience.
  • Do not encourage others to comply. Contributors to this site have warned everyone for years that complying with COVID protocols would only encourage more repression.
  • Do not hate whom they tell you to hate.
  • Love all and pray for all in the name of Christ, even if they are being vilified by the government / media complex.
  • Ask questions for yourself.
  • Do not surrender any more liberty for promises of security. That way leads to slavery.
  • Do not let them manipulate Christian language to convince you that surrendering your freedom is essential to helping others.
  • Do not be bullied into silence by fellow Christians, regardless of their titles or academic creds.

Nicholas – member of the Western Rite Vicariate, a part of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in America

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