Justin’s
note: As longtime
readers know, Doug Casey says we’re well into what he calls the Greater Depression.
America is headed
for trouble… and it’s critical to know exactly what’s going on.
That’s why today’s essay is so important. In it, Doug
explains the source behind every negative thing that’s happening right now… and
what’s really going on behind the scenes.
It’s one of the most educational and entertaining pieces
you’ll read all year.
By Doug Casey,
founder, Casey Research
I’d like to
address some aspects of the Greater Depression in this essay.
I’m here to tell
you that the inevitable became reality in 2008. We’ve 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 won’t be riding
children’s 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
people’s 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.
It’s 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
won’t read about it in the news because it controls the news. Politicians won’t
talk about it publicly. That would be like a mobster discussing murder and
robbery on the 6 o’clock news. You could say the Deep State is hidden, but it’s
only hidden in plain sight.
The Deep State is
the source of every negative thing that’s happening right now. To survive the
coming rough times, it’s essential for you to know what it’s all about.
The
State
Now, what causes
economic problems? With the exception of natural events like fires, floods, and
earthquakes, they’re 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 don’t have time to go all
the way down the rabbit hole, so let’s 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 it’s part of the cosmic firmament, when it’s really just a
monstrous scam. It’s 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 don’t. The U.S. Constitution is just an arbitrary piece of paper… entirely
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 they’re 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.
We’re now in the Deep State.
The
Deep State
The concept of the
Deep State originated in Turkey, which is appropriate, since it’s 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
couldn’t cure. But I don’t say that anymore. Partially because it’s too
dangerous, but mainly because it’s now untrue. What’s 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.
Here’s 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 there’s no real difference between the left and right wings of the Demopublican Party.
It’s 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 don’t), they definitely don’t believe in social freedom. And the
Democrats say they believe in social freedom (but don’t), but they definitely
don’t believe in economic freedom.
Who
Is Part of the Deep State?
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. It’s composed of top-echelon
employees of a dozen Praetorian agencies, like the FBI, CIA, and NSA… top
generals, admirals, and other military operatives… long-term congressmen and
senators… and directors of important regulatory agencies.
But the 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 “Don’t 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 centers… all the top media
figures, of course… and 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, I’ll
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 I’ve just described are
the top dogs.
But there are
hundreds of thousands more who aren’t 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 connections… the 1.5 million people who have top secret clearances
(that’s 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
State… the 60 million on Social Security… the 66 million on Medicaid… the 50
million on food stamps… the many millions on hundreds of other programs… the 23
million government employees and most of their families. In fact, let’s 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, they’ll do as they’re told, and they’ll roll
over on their backs and wet themselves if confronted by a top dog or running
dog who feels they’re out of line. These three types of dogs make up the vast
majority of the U.S. population. I trust you aren’t 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 it’s great for the
people in it. And, like any
living organism, its prime directive is: Survive! It survives by indoctrinating
the fiction that it’s both good and necessary. However, it’s 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 it’s 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 everyone’s 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 America’s 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.
Regards,
Doug Casey
Founder, Casey Research
Founder, Casey Research
