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I’ve often been quoted as saying that we are living in the age of deception and betrayal. I even turned that it an acronym: WALITAODAB. But I’d like to mention another characterization for life in the early 21st Century. We are living in an age of compromise.  Increasingly, people seem willing to compromise on their principles in order to get what they desire — whether it be money, power, prestige, possessions, or even just brief pleasure. Life is all about making choices, and all too often people make poor choices because they have not overcome their base nature. Our permissive society that no longer exercises church discipline or social shunning has contributed to the abandonment of principled living.

From my perspective as a 66-year-old man living in 2026, I can see that America began to drift sharply away from maintaining principled lives starting in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This ongoing trend accelerated in the 2000s.

COVID: The Failed Test of Resolve

The COVID-19 pandemic of the early 2020s was indicative that Americans had become easily swayed and manipulated by propaganda. Collectively, our lack of discernment and gullibility led us to attack one another over disagreements on pandemic issues. And ironically, a citizenry that had lost its resolve to ostracize others for blatant sinfulness seemed more than willing to ostracize others for failure to take a voluntary jab or for refusal to wear a mask. The bleating sheeple stood at 6-foot intervals on taped squares on floors, and followed directional arrows for the aisles in stores. “Lockdowns” were ubiquitous. Most of us put up with having our churches closed for months, while supposedly “essential businesses” like McDonald’s, liquor stores, and GameStop were allowed to remain open. Many families felt obliged to stay at home while loved ones were married or buried without them being present. Or not being able to be in the same building as their elderly parents in nursing homes or dying in the hospitals.The double standard for social distancing allowed mass gatherings for “Mostly Peaceful” George Floyd protests (and riots) but denied the right of families to visit beaches and parks. And, at one point, the propagandized majority of our population was polled in favor of quarantining the minority into concentration camps. In retrospect, I consider the COVID-19 pandemic experience as a failed test of resolve, for most Americans.

The Tough Decisions

In the next few years, as our society and economy deteriorate, as CBDCs are rolled out, and as surveillance and control increases we will very likely be faced with some tough decisions. Up until now, participation in The System has largely been optional, most notably:

• We’ve been able to pay for things in cash rather using tracked forms of payment.
• We’ve been able to homeschool our children, or enroll them in private schools.
• We’ve been able to avoid vaccinations.
• We’ve been able choose whether or not we want to serve in the military.
• We’ve been able to live where we want.
• We’ve been able to choose a healthy diet.
• We’ve been able to grow large vegetable gardens.
• We’ve been able to shelter our children from decadent mass media and public events.

But all of those might cease to be optional in the near future. Those transitions would be tests of our resolve far greater than we experienced during the COVID pandemic.

Beyond externally-imposed restrictions and mandates, there are still plenty of choices that are up to us, if we are willing to budget ourselves and forego the consumer lifestyle and some creature comforts. These choices include:

1. Consciously choosing to live in a more resilient locale.
2. Carefully choosing who you associate with, and who you invest your time in.
3. Stop eating their junk foods, and eat healthy foods.
4. Learning to barter.
5. Moving to a less ostentatious home in a more affordable rural area.
6. Selling your vacation home.
7. Selling your jet-ski and other frippery.
8. Learning to grow a vegetable garden and raise livestock.
9. Foregoing expensive travel and other purely optional pleasures.
10. Eschewing expensive fashions and flashy cars.
11. Developing a second income in a recession-proof, depression-proof, and AI-proof trade or handcraft home-based business.
12. Getting out of debt and staying out of debt.

Life on a budget

Living on a strict budget is not pleasant, but it has its advantages.  When the economy contracts and our neighbors are forced into austerity, we won’t feel as much pain.  Why? Because we will have already accustomed ourselves to a frugal lifestyle. And while many people find themselves “upside-down” in their mortgages or unable to make their car payments, some of us will have little or no debt.

The remainder of the 2020s and beyond will be a challenge. Millions will lose their jobs to the rise of Artificial Intelligence. A shift toward the Beast System appears to be already underway. Our free-spending government will probably go bankrupt. The US Dollar will probably be inflated away to near worthlessness. I anticipate that in just a few years, our society’s lavish consumer lifestyle will come to an abrupt end. And soon after, our freedoms will be infringed. Our very lives may be threatened.`

Consider This:  If you are living on the ragged edge financially, then you might be tempted to compromise on your principles, just to be sure that your family is fed and housed. So, please do your very best to have multiple income streams, low monthly expenses, and minimal debt.

My advice: Pray. Prepare. Stick to your principles. Be charitable. Learn to live frugally. And if you feel convicted to move, then move soon, while you still have the choice and opporunity. – JWR