7.27.2010

"What is your back-up country?"

I've asked myself this question a number of times in the past year.
When do you suppose the citizens of imperial Rome first realized that their way of life had tipped into inexorable decline?

A few foresaw the impact of Caesar's usurpation of the rule of law, marking his ascension as the beginning of the end. . . .The plebeian masses, accustomed to bread and circuses, were probably oblivious until Rome was finally sacked. Everything was fine yesterday, how did these barbarians arrive at our gates?[. . .]

The other day while out to dinner with a number of tech investors and entrepreneurs the conversation turned to a disturbing subject. "What is your back-up country?" These people weren't kidding. Property was being purchased. Contingency plans were being made.

What will it take to make most people realize that the grand American experiment is tottering on the brink? The destruction of their life savings? The nationalization of vast industries? The high seas teaming with pirates? A humiliating military defeat at the hands of primitives in a far off land?
Make sure to read Bill Frezza's whole piece at RealClearMarkets. It looks like he's starting to see the Endarkenment coming, too.

While I've given some thought to contingency plans, I think it's likely that if America falls down it will be uglier than we can imagine, and it will drag the rest of the world down with it for a long, long time.

[HT: Doug Reich]

5 comments:

Lynne said...

I'm sad to say that we've discussed this. I'm sadder to say that we have no other place to go.

Jenn Casey said...

Yeah. What she said. :(

Inspector said...

This has been a regular dinner topic among my friends and I for the last nine years or so. The conclusion is usually that we just don't have the kind of funds needed so we'll likely go down with the ship.

Anonymous said...

Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Panama, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, then Ireland. As you can see I've thought about this a little bit.

Cheers!

Jim said...

My youngest attempted to abandon ship last week by going to Costa Rica. In less than a day, she wanted to come back and kept passionately saying that she loves America.

She was so frustrated with America that she actually left...but in less than 24-hours she knew better.