“It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.”― William Patrick Ophuls, Apologies to the Grandchildren: Reflections on Our Ecological Predicament, Its Deeper Causes, and Its Political Consequences
On March 20, an unusual Executive Order caught my attention. It was unusual in the sense that it exposes our vulnerability as a nation, instead of pretending that we are the Great and Powerful Oz. Our vulnerability, which came from abusing our credit line at the sacrifice of production, has now created a national emergency: Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production. Suddenly, the U.S. needs mineral resources to reduce our dependency on foreign nations. Our national and economic security are currently compromised, and it’s “imperative…to the maximum possible extent” to become productive again, less reliant on other nations with ulterior motives. In addition to minerals, President Trump added uranium, copper, potash, gold, and any other elements, compounds or materials, as determined by the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC).
I’ve recently made The Whitehouse Presidential Actions page part of my daily reading. This is because most news sources regarding the Trump Administration are loaded with political bias, cherry-picked distortions, outrageous exaggerations, mind-boggling omissions, childish whining, self righteousness, financial “sponsorship” and advertising. I’m not interested in people’s issues about what’s going on in the White House. I’m not interested in being subjected to sponsored agendas and paid advertising, either. I’m interested in relevant, quick, and easy to understand news without overwhelming bias. I have my own brain to contribute bias, but only after I understand all the facts and consider them under the microscope of my own experience. It’s fun to analyze…not much fun to be a mindless sponge for manipulation and propaganda.
So here is President Trump’s plan for increasing American mineral production over the next few months…
By March 30, the Chair of the NEDC will have a list of all mineral production projects in the U.S. that have an operational plan, a permit application, or other application for approval that has been submitted to any government agency. Also, the Secretary of the Interior will have identified and provided the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs with a list of all Federal lands known to hold mineral deposits and reserves. The Secretary of the Interior will then prioritize them for mining and production, consistent with applicable law.
By April 10, the heads of each agency and the Chair of the NEDC will have identified priority projects that can be immediately approved or for which permits can be immediately issued. They will take all necessary and appropriate actions within their authority to expedite and issue such permits or approvals.
By April 20, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Energy will have identified as many sites as possible on Federal land, managed by their respective agencies, for the construction and operation of private commercial mineral production enterprises. They will then provide a list to the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and the Chair of the NEDC. The goal is to get as many sites as possible permitted and operational as soon as possible.
The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy will then enter into extended use leases with private entities to advance the installation of commercial mineral production enterprises on these lands. They will also coordinate with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, and the head of any other agency that provides or can provide loans, capital assistance, technical assistance, and working capital to domestic mineral production project sponsors. There’s more to read here.
One thing is for certain—our future is going to be very different from our recent past. When you flip from a debt-centered system to a gold-centered system, everything changes. This flip is nothing other than “anti-financialization” or the unwinding of everything that is backed by debt. It’s like a Tsunami in the global economy, and financial markets, not a soft landing. There will be lots of volatility, and probably a crash. What arises from the rubble will be a whole new world of asset values, and subsequently, a renewal of forgotten human values. The easy-money high-flying stocks of yesterday (those supported by credit, fantasies, and narratives) will be replaced by hardcore suppliers and producers of things we need.
This is not speculation; it’s planning. The implementation of the Basel III Endgame, also known as Basel 3.1, is scheduled to begin on July 1, 2025, with a three-year phase-in period ending on July 1, 2028. This is no ordinary regulatory update; it’s a transition toward a gold-centered monetary order where credit shrinks, financial instruments wane and collateral rises. We can expect that gold will play a central role in global trade and superpowers, because it is the collateral behind all the big players. Those nations that don’t have gold as part of their sovereign asset portfolios will likely be serfs to those that do. As Genesis (2:12 KJV) says, “And the gold of that land is good….” Gold will reorganize the global system into something better.
It seems to me that the fiat-dollar financial system has maximized its debt to resources among the global players. We have maxed out abundance, leveraged on the back of credit and its debt derivatives. To bring things back into balance again, we must now operate from a position of scarcity. This is natural law, governed by cycling, the very character of nature. It’s also spiritual awakening, because it changes people from narcissistic to humble to communal again. Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt in the biblical story of Genesis, had two dreams about seven fat cows being devoured by seven thin cows, and seven good ears of grain being consumed by seven thin ears. Joseph interprets this as seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine in Egypt, and prepares people for the coming hardship.
Another article I saw last week, before I heard about the earthquake, was the World’s biggest stock rout deepens as Thai market rescue falters. I think any country that relies primarily on tourism and doesn’t have gold, energy production, and/or agriculture behind its global-trade ethos is going to have a harder time in the future. President Trump sees what’s coming in the world, and he’s acting on it by preparing the U.S. for tough times, which are really already here, save for the stock market. The Bible also says there’s a time for everything, acknowledging the natural law of cycles. It’s not the right time to buy real estate for vacation rentals, for example—it’s the time to buy land and learn how to grow things, chop wood and build things, become largely self-sufficient within community, conserve energy-food-water, dig for valuable resources, etc. Notice, Trump is not pumping the stock market this time around.
We’ve got to start thinking differently now about how to make a living and thrive in the world. Just as USAID and the Department of Education are going away, so will a lot of other service-oriented “professions” built on debt imperialism. You won’t be earning much money in acting, writing, philosophy, marketing, insurance, doing YouTube videos, tourism, playing for the NFL, etc. The days of non-producing quick get-rich schemes and big entertainment will be shrinking, not growing. Everything today is about entertainment, and everything tomorrow will be about production. Entire business models are on the verge of collapse, but most people aren’t seeing it yet. Many young people, especially, have never experienced anything other than an instantaneous easy and very entertaining world at their disposal. A steep learning curve on the other side of a cliff.
RFK Jr. has a very important job revamping health in America, because we have got to get in shape again…physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Netflix, Hollywood, TicTok stars, social influencers, Meme coin pumpers, NFT dumpers…I’m sorry to say, but the glory days are over for them when the recession/depression becomes obvious. There may no longer be a place for HMOs or insurance either. Think of all these jobs as “fillers” for a financial system that needed more and more debt to survive. The middlemen will go away, and doctors will adjust their prices. If you’re someone like me, whose profession was International Education, then you will need to change how you make a living and thrive. This means that people’s brains and bodies need to be working again. Those who continue to operate from a zombified propaganda-fed couch will certainly perish.
When it comes to thinking about and contemplating the future, one author in particular comes to mind. Patrick Ophuls (born in 1934) has a kind and gentle spirit. He is one of the few people I know who has been able to connect the dots of the future through various disciplines, including ecology. He also has this rare ability to turn a scary topic into something positive for those of us who can accept truth and adapt to change. I have enjoyed reading some of his relatively unknown books, and learning about the social and political challenges we face from an ecological, philosophical, political, and spiritual perspective. Apologies to the Grandchildren is a good introduction to his work. And his most recent interview was inspiring and helpful to me as I have been mulling over my personal life in the coming new world.
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“Outstanding, sophisticated, and mesmerizing…a spiritual intrigue similar to Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.” —ForeWord Reviews
Excellent piece; insightful, thoughtful, thought provoking, a bit futuristic, a bit retrospective, a bit (Big bit) negative, a bit (Big bit but in a different way) positive. Kind of a, “A day’s work is never done-ish.”
Self reliance will be at a premium, as it probably always should have been.
The markets seem to crash about every ten/fifteen years, so no one should be surprised to see a fiat-shoe falling, (out of control?)
Perhaps the next global mantra will be, “Back to Basics.”
Thanks, Randall 🙂 I try to be a realist, without being negative or positive, but realism isn’t always what folks like to hear. “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” – William Arthur Ward
I’m gonna get me a homestead somewhere. Still deciding where to go though. Lots of things to consider in the new world, but yes, back to the basics. A really great thing.