International Man: Almost every government and country in the world is going in the wrong direction from a personal freedom standpoint.
And if the last two years have been an indication, the situation could get much worse before it gets better.
How can individuals limit the impact of government overreach in their day-to-day lives?
Doug Casey: The first thing is to become self-employed. You don’t want a job where you’re dependent on somebody else—or worse, some organization. The bigger the organization, the less relative importance you have, and the more danger you’re in.
Assess your resources and abilities and try to become an entrepreneur. The world has an unlimited desire for goods and services; an entrepreneur figures out how to satisfy them. It takes thought, knowledge, and hard work—but there’s unlimited upside. An employee, by contrast, just does what he’s told for a wage. Most are easily replaceable cubicle dwellers these days. Being an employee is both high risk and low reward.
The second thing you can do is to not support the State in any way. The State is not your friend; it’s your enemy. It takes a fat slice of your earnings and, in return, tells you what you can and can’t do. Find ways to reduce your contact with it and deny it both resources and approval. Minimize the taxes you pay so that you don’t feed the beast.
That includes participating in its elections. Your choice is almost always just the lesser of two evils anyway. Remember that people who want to be in office are desirous of controlling other people. Voters are dupes at best, voting for Tweedledee or Tweedledum while endorsing the corrupt system itself. It’s questionable whether your vote ever does any good—or even counts.
Ultimately, the best solution is the one that Ayn Rand outlined in her novel Atlas Shrugged, which is to put yourself in a position where you can just check out of the system and live in a parallel economy because the old one is going down anyway. Surround yourself with sound, like-minded people to the greatest degree possible.
International Man: Vaccine mandates are threatening millions of people’s livelihoods.
Politicians and companies are threatening people, telling them that either they get the jab or lose their jobs.
What can the average person do to avoid being coerced by such threats?
Doug Casey: You’re right. That’s another reason you don’t want to be reliant on an employer and why you want to be an entrepreneur.
Other than that, you should take opportunities to speak out because most people lack courage and keep their thoughts to themselves. That’s a big mistake. Don’t roll over just because it’s convenient. If you act like a docile sheep or scared rabbit, you’ll get what you deserve.
In the short run, there are ways to avoid the vaccine. For instance, the cities are full of bums on the streets. If you can find somebody who looks like you, lend him your ID, shepherd him to a Walgreens, and have him take the vaccination in your stead to get the paper.
Although I’m sure that’s only a temporary palliative because it would appear they’re going to require people to take booster shots every six months as the virus mutates.
And they’ll probably require some type of bio-identification or the implantation of a chip to ensure that you don’t find some way to get around this, in addition to imposing nasty penalties.
Some people have thought about radical counters to the threats of government and big corporations. For instance, if airlines require that you become vaccinated in order to fly, some who are well-organized might get a hundred friends together to book a flight and show up without vaccine cards. Solutions like that, however, are inconvenient and costly—not just for the airlines. It’s a real problem since we’re moving into a genuine police state.
There will likely be draconian penalties imposed on the 20% of the country that thinks for itself. On the other hand, if there are enough adverse reactions to the vaccine, the hysteria might blow over in six months. I plan on waiting at least another year or two before considering it; I don’t like playing the role of guinea pig—certainly not unnecessarily.
International Man: As the original International Man, you’ve literally written the book on how to protect yourself from your government by diversifying various parts of your life geographically and politically.
How has the current global situation changed your perspective?
Doug Casey: It’s a totally different world now than it was when I wrote the International Man book. That was over forty years ago.
In those days, it was possible to travel on a World Service Authority passport, for instance. Today, that’s completely out of the question. In any event, with international flights down 85% and many countries totally cut off, it’s a totally different world in lots of ways.
Although the days of cheap, carefree travel are over, it’s more important than ever to not be beholden to just one government. You have to get options. Even if you can’t get a second citizenship and a second or third passport, don’t act like a deer in the headlights. It’s important and doable to get official permanent residency in a number of other countries so you have an escape hatch (assuming they allow you to leave).
International Man: Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and other counties in the so-called free world have turned into explicit totalitarian police states. What can the unfortunate people who live behind this new Iron Curtain do to protect themselves?
Doug Casey: As the inmates of the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Mao’s China, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, and many other places have found, there’s not much you can do once a place becomes a serious police state. It’s dangerous to do anything.
At this stage, I think non-cooperation is still the best approach. Don’t be complacent and make supplicating motions to the apparatchiks of the State when they require you to do things. Don’t cooperate to the greatest degree possible.
Of course, it’s easy for me to say this as an academic matter, but it’s going to become increasingly dangerous because the society is full of rats that want to turn you in as a potential enemy of the State or a potential terrorist.
In this light, you might want to watch the series, The Man in the High Castle, which gives an alternate history of the US if it had lost WWII. It has lots of interesting discussions and observations about how easily the average American would roll over and cooperate with whoever gives him orders.
I also recommend that everybody rewatch V for Vendetta. It pretty much mimics—at least up to its spectacular climax—what’s going on today, right down to the virus.
International Man: What are some things that people of modest financial means can do now to protect themselves in case the situation persists or worsens?
Doug Casey: In the years to come, a lot of people will find that they have much more modest financial means than they imagined. At some point, the stock market, bond market, and probably the real estate market will crash. In real terms—I don’t know what it’s going to be in dollar terms—it’s going to be a leveling event. Not just despite, but because of the foolish efforts of central banks around the world to prop things up. It’s quite possible that the unwinding has already started with Evergrande in China. Everything else is made in China. Why not the Greater Depression as well?
But apart from staying clear of conventional markets, just try to produce more than you can consume and save the difference. I suggest saving the difference in small gold and silver coins. That keeps it simple.
In addition, speculate on things that are low risk and high potential. Also, don’t have a high correlation with conventional investments.
For instance, one of my favorite classes of securities, uranium stocks, has gone up about four to one in the last few months. Uranium stocks are no longer at the absolute bottom but are going higher. I’m also quite involved in carbon sequestration stocks. Despite the fact that I think the carbon concept ranges from hype to scam, the area will likely get very hot as a consequence of so-called “ESG” investing. I also own a lot of oil and coal stocks, which the market hates. Ironically, they’ll go up at least as much as carbon plays.
But next on the runway will be gold and silver stocks. They’ll not only have their cyclical day in the sun but will also be super hot.
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