The Deep StateBy Doug Casey Im here to tell you that the inevitable became reality in 2008. Weve had an interlude over the last few years financed by trillions of new currency units. However, the economic clock on the wall is reading the same time as it was in 2007, and the Black Horsemen of your worst financial nightmares are about to again crash through the doors and end the party. And this time, they wont be riding childrens ponies, but armored Percherons. To refresh your memory, let me recount what a depression is. The best general definition is: A period of time when most peoples standard of living drops significantly. By that definition, the Greater Depression started in 2008, although historians may someday say it began in 1971, when real wages started falling. Its also a period of time when distortions and misallocations of capital are liquidated, and when the business cycle, which is caused exclusively by currency debasement, also known as inflation, climaxes. That results in high unemployment, business failures, uncompleted construction, bond defaults, stock market crashes, and the like. Fortunately, for those who benefit from the status quo, and members of something called the Deep State, the trillions of new currency units delayed the liquidation. But they also ensured it will now happen on a much grander scale. The Deep State is an extremely powerful network that controls nearly everything around you. You wont read about it in the news because it controls the news. Politicians wont talk about it publicly. That would be like a mobster discussing murder and robbery on the 6 oclock news. You could say the Deep State is hidden, but its only hidden in plain sight. The Deep State is the source of every negative thing thats happening right now. To survive the coming rough times, its essential for you to know what its all about. Now, what causes economic problems? With the exception of natural events like fires, floods, and earthquakes, theyre all caused directly and indirectly by the State, through its wars, taxes, regulations, and inflation. Yes, yes, I know this is an oversimplification, that human nature is really at fault, and the institution of the State is only a mass dramatization of the psychological aberrations and demons that lie within us all. But we dont have time to go all the way down the rabbit hole, so lets just talk about the proximate rather than the ultimate causes of the Greater Depression. And here, I want to talk about the nature of the State, in general, and then something called the Deep State, in particular. A key takeaway, and I emphasize that because I expect it to otherwise bounce off the programmed psyches of most people, is that the very idea of the State itself is poisonous, evil, and intrinsically destructive. But, like so many bad ideas, people have come to assume its part of the cosmic firmament, when its really just a monstrous scam. Its a fraud, like your belief that you have a right to free speech because of the First Amendment, or a right to be armed because of the Second Amendment. No, you dont. The U.S. Constitution is just an arbitrary piece of paperentirely apart from the fact the whole thing is now just a dead letter. You have a right to free speech and to be armed because theyre necessary parts of being a free person, not because of what a political document says. Even though the essence of the State is coercion, people have been taught to love and respect it. Most people think of the State in the quaint light of a grade school civics book. They think it has something to do with We the People electing a Jimmy Stewart character to represent them. That ideal has always been a pernicious fiction, because it idealizes, sanitizes, and legitimizes an intrinsically evil and destructive institution, which is based on force. As Mao once said, political power comes out of the barrel of a gun. But things have gone far beyond that. Were now in the Deep State. The concept of the Deep State originated in Turkey, which is appropriate, since its the heir to the totally corrupt Byzantine and Ottoman empires. And in the best Byzantine manner, the Deep State has insinuated itself throughout the fabric of what once was America. Its tendrils reach from Washington down to every part of civil society. Like a metastasized cancer, it can no longer be easily eradicated. I used to joke that there was nothing wrong with Washington that 10 megatons on the capital couldnt cure. But I dont say that anymore. Partially because its too dangerous, but mainly because its now untrue. Whats now needed is 10 megatons on the capital, and four more bursts in a quadrant 10 miles out. In many ways, Washington models itself after another city with a Deep State, ancient Rome. Heres how a Victorian freethinker, Winwood Reade, accurately described it: Rome lived upon its principal till ruin stared it in the face. Industry is the only true source of wealth, and there was no industry in Rome. By day the Ostia road was crowded with carts and muleteers, carrying to the great city the silks and spices of the East, the marble of Asia Minor, the timber of the Atlas, the grain of Africa and Egypt; and the carts brought out nothing but loads of dung. That was their return cargo. The Deep State controls the political and economic essence of the U.S. This is much more than observing that theres no real difference between the left and right wings of the Demopublican Party. Its well known by anyone with any sense (that is, by everybody except the average voter) that although the Republicans say they believe in economic freedom (but dont), they definitely dont believe in social freedom. And the Democrats say they believe in social freedom (but dont), but they definitely dont believe in economic freedom. The American Deep State is a real, but informal, structure that has arisen to not just profit from, but control, the State. The Deep State has a life of its own, like the government itself. Its composed of top-echelon employees of a dozen Praetorian agencies, like the FBI, CIA, and NSAtop generals, admirals, and other military operativeslong-term congressmen and senatorsand directors of important regulatory agencies. But Deep State is much broader than just the government. It includes the heads of major corporations, all of whom are heavily involved in selling to the State and enabling it. That absolutely includes Silicon Valley, although those guys at least have a sense of humor, evidenced by their Dont Be Evil motto. It also includes all the top people in the Fed, and the heads of all the major banks, brokers, and insurers. Add the presidents and many professors at top universities, which act as Deep State recruiting centersall the top media figures, of courseand many regulars at things like Bohemian Grove and the Council on Foreign Relations. They epitomize the status quo, held together by power, money, and propaganda. Altogether, Ill guess these people number a thousand or so. You might analogize the structure of the Deep State with a huge pack of dogs. The people Ive just described are the top dogs. But there are hundreds of thousands more who arent at the nexus, but who directly depend on them, have considerable clout, and support the Deep State because it supports them. This includes many of the wealthy, especially those who got that way thanks to their State connectionsthe 1.5 million people who have top secret clearances (thats a shocking, but accurate, number) plus top players in organized crime, especially the illegal drug business, little of which would exist without the State. Plus mid-level types in the police and military, corporations, and non-governmental organizations. These are what you might call the running dogs. Beyond that are the scores and scores of millions who depend on things remaining the way they are. Like the 50%-plus of Americans who are net recipients of benefits from the Statethe 60 million on Social Securitythe 66 million on Medicaidthe 50 million on food stampsthe many millions on hundreds of other programs the 23 million government employees and most of their families. In fact, lets include the many millions of average Joes and Janes who are just getting by. You might call this level of people, the vast majority of the population, whipped dogs. They both love and fear their master, theyll do as theyre told, and theyll roll over on their backs and wet themselves if confronted by a top dog or running dog who feels theyre out of line. These three types of dogs make up the vast majority of the U.S. population. I trust you arent among them. I consider myself a Lone Wolf in this context and hope you are, too. Unfortunately, however, dogs are enemies of wolves, and tend to hunt them down. The Deep State is destructive, but its great for the people in it. And, like any living organism, its prime directive is: Survive! It survives by indoctrinating the fiction that its both good and necessary. However, its a parasite that promotes the ridiculous notion that everyone can live at the expense of society. Is it a conspiracy, headed by a man stroking a white cat? I think not. I find its hard enough to get a bunch of friends to agree on what movie to see, much less a bunch of power-hungry miscreants bent on running everyones lives. But, on the other hand, the top dogs all know each other, went to the same schools, belong to the same clubs, socialize, and, most important, have common interests, values, and philosophies. The American Deep State rotates around the Washington Beltway. It imports Americas wealth as tax revenue. A lot of that wealth is consumed there by useless mouths. And then, it exports things that reinforce the Deep State, including wars, fiat currency, and destructive policies. This is unsustainable simply because nothing of value comes out of the city. Editors note: Doug Casey literally wrote the book on profiting during an economic crisis. And if his predictions about the coming crisis are true, you wont want to miss out. 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