Economic Collapse Rapidly Approaching, Fascism to Follow?

US Dollar (1999-Present)

Silver (1999-Present)

If you really want to know what is going on with the US economy, just look at the flight of dollars into commodities. As the dollar tanks, banks write off billions in bad loans and the Fed Kabuki Theater becomes theater of the absurd, dollar flight into tangible assets continues to climb. Look no further than silver which has seen a 30% rise in value in just the first 2 months of 2008. Since Bush took office and the Neo-Conservative Welfare/Warfare state was fully initiated, silver has risen almost 500%!

The million dollar question (a million will buy a loaf of bread and a coke in another 6 months) is this: Is the Bush administration and the Fed criminally incompetent, incapable of controlling the economic tsunami now cresting, or is the darker, more nefarious assumption that they are intentionally destroying the dollar in order to initiate the introduction of a unified Amero and a fascist state less the stuff of conspiracy theories then we would like to admit?

Whichever it is, history tells us that we are teetering on the edge. A careful study of inter-war Germany and 20th Century Latin America shows that the rise of totalitarian regimes is led by economic collapse.

Simply put, authoritarianism needs a desperate and impoverished population to take root. The commonality throughout recent history is that a debased currency is a necessary condition for totalitarian rule. Inflation in the 100% to 25,000% is common in these historic scenarios. Or, if you look at it from the other side, a wealthy and robust middle class is the best hedge against anti-democratic forces.

But today, it is the middle class in this country that is being wiped out by the destruction of the dollar, thus creating the space necessary for greater and more oppressive state-led control. If you are inclined towards believing that the worst intentions are responsible for this crisis, then your concerns are buttressed by a careful reading of recent legislation and Bush administration directives.

The State of the Campaign

Many of us who have been working for the Ron Paul campaign these last few months have been simultaneously encouraged and discouraged by the effects of our efforts. Of course, the first priority was to get Dr. Paul elected. That is, to a 99 degree certainty, not going to happen. Does that mean then that we have failed? I would posit that quite the opposite is true.

Setting aside the fact that we have taken a little known congressman and made him a national figure and that we have assured ourselves a voice in the National Republican Convention, I have seen an infusion of his ideas into the national narrative.

I was in California recently for the last Republican debate. The night before, Dr. Paul's security director and myself stopped in at a local watering hole for a drink. As we sat at one end of the bar enjoying our libations, I heard snippets of conversation coming from three men seated nearby. The topic was the declining dollar and the need for a competitive money market. I was curious and a little surprised so I saddled up next to them and introduced myself. It turns out that they were all in the mortgage industry and had been taking a bath as a result of the economic downturn. None of them were Paul supporters per se, but they all recognized and had been studying the root causes of the recession that they had already been feeling for many months. Never in my wildest libertarian dreams would I have imagined such a scenario.

This is but one small example of what I have experienced all around the country as I have traveled with the campaign. Another important metric that I have used to measure our success is the anecdotal evidence of "Ron Paul Republicans" becoming engaged and, in some cases, taking over local GOP organizations, infusing them with ideas, activists and enthusiasm in a way that has not been seen in many, many years.

While our electoral success has not materialized in the way that many of us had hoped, there is no reason to despair. There is STILL hope for America and I hope that all of you will continue to be a part of it.