The End of America

Some people call me “Dr. Doom.” This is probably because of my pessimistic outlook on some things. I understand. When the only nation you’ve ever known in life is destined to fail, and somebody tells you that, it can be a real drag. If I told you the Roman Empire was destined to fall, that wouldn’t be so bothersome to you now. It’s been over fifteen centuries since it happened. It’s ancient history. So what else is new? But if the year were AD 400, and I told you that, you might think I was a prophet of doom, a real downer, and somebody with a whole lot of negative energy. You might be inclined to avoid me, and warn others about me. Again, this is understandable. If people live their lives with no knowledge of history, or sense of their place in it, any negative prediction about the future is considered taboo, unless it’s about who’s going to lose the next major sporting event. In which case, your prediction might provoke people to start placing wagers.

Saint Augustine wrote that the fall of the Roman Empire was inevitable, because anyone, who understood what the empire was founded upon, and its trajectory, could clearly see that its foundation was unstable, and if just given enough time, it would crumble. So it did. Saint Augustine accurately pointed out what should have been obvious, and the rest is history. So we are approaching a similar situation today. The United States is going to fall, and that should be obvious to anyone who understands the flaws of our nation’s founding, and is aware of our current trajectory. The United States will not survive the twenty-first century. Yes, that’s a downer. Yes, you can call me “Dr. Doom.” I promise you, when it finally happens, nobody will call me a prophet. I’ll get no recognition or fanfare. If anybody mentions me at all, in the pages of some history book, they’ll just say I was only pointing out the obvious, and lots of other people were too.

The United States was built on the Jeffersonian idea of secularism (the separation of church and state), and while Thomas Jefferson didn’t invent the idea, he most certainly did popularize it, and helped bring it into fruition. Thomas Jefferson, the man who wrote America’s Declaration of Independence, was not a Christian. He was a Deist. He held to the notion that the Bible contained both “diamonds” of wisdom mixed with the “dung” of ancient political agendas (Thomas Jefferson and his Bible, April 1998, PBS Frontline). He certainly wasn’t alone in this line of thinking. In fact, his views were somewhat popular at the time. The denominational fighting that followed the Protestant Revolution, of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, left behind a sour taste for most colonial Americans in the eighteenth century. The colonies had just attained independence from the Protestant British Empire, after having allied with the Catholic French Empire. The colonists were no admires of Catholics, to be sure. In fact, they listed as one of their “intolerable acts,” leading to revolution, King George III’s permission allowing the French Catholics to practice their faith in the conquered colony of Quebec. Having no affliction for Catholicism, the Protestant colonists allied with French Catholics to win independence from the Protestant British Empire. Again, during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson (1801 – 1809), the New England states threatened to secede from the Union due to Jefferson’s decision to purchase the Catholic-French territory of Louisiana (Louisiana Purchase). The gist of all this is simple. Christian religion was considered important, around the turn of the nineteenth century, especially in the area of morals, but it wasn’t considered essential in a dogmatic sense. Deism was very popular among Americans at that time, and the establishment of Secularism at America’s foundation would eventually become its undoing.

This manifested itself about two-hundred years later, starting in the 1960s with the Supreme Court decisions to remove prayer and religion from public schools. This was later followed by more judicial activism, limiting the ability of Christianity to be expressed in government institutions of any type. Thus, the divorce of the United States government from the Christian religion became official, following the principles the “wall of separation” (Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists, January 1, 1802) between church and state, laid down at our Nation’s founding by Thomas Jefferson and the other Deist Founders. This was the seed of destruction unwittingly sown by the nation’s founders when drafting the Bill of Rights in 1789, which was ratified as part of the U.S. Constitution in 1791. Two centuries later, this “wall of separation” would be used to extract Christianity from our nation’s institutions, and attack state and city governments for their own alignment with Christianity. As President John F. Kennedy correctly pointed out, the best response for religious Americans was to become more religious at home, and while visibly disturbed by the Supreme Court’s decision, he erred in stating that the best thing Americans could do for the good of the nation was support the Supreme Court’s decision. That was the exact wrong thing to do. Hindsight being 20/20, JFK should have urged Congress to immediately pass a constitutional amendment, for state ratification, that would protect the states’ right to establish religion within their own jurisdictions, overriding the Supreme Court’s decision entirely. The establishment of religion among the states, not the federal government but state governments, was the norm at the time the Bill of Rights was ratified and for decades thereafter. Sadly, Kennedy did not have this foresight, constitutional protections were not made in the 1960s, and not enough states have the political fortitude to do it now. This cemented the spiritual demise of the United States alone, without all the other things that came after, for no Union of States can survive long when God is pushed out.

In addition to this, we have seen the collapse of our nation unfold in the years since the tragic divorce of America from Christ. The 1960s were a turbulent time of social decay, followed by the 1970s, 80s, and 90s which were no better. Divorce rates skyrocketed. Abortion-on-demand was legalized. The American family collapsed. Alongside the social upheaval, the national deficit grew and the national debt exploded. Today, our national debt is about $27 trillion. That’s about $222,000 per taxpayer. Our national debt is now larger than our gross domestic product, with no end in sight. It just keeps growing. The United States is officially broke. The world just hasn’t figured out how to cope with that yet.

We maintain our current standard of living, barely, only because there are no other economic/military superpowers strong enough to replace us. That will change someday. When it does, the United States of America will collapse like a house of cards, crushed by the weight of our own national debt, and the social inability to cope with hard times.

We may not need to wait for the demise of our federal monetary system, followed by the demise of our military. (It’s a simple and fundamental truth. If you can’t pay an army, you don’t have one.) Already the cracks are starting to form in America’s political union. Talk of state secession has arisen on both the political Right and the political Left. The case is seriously being made for some Red-Republican states, like Texas for example, to secede from the Union all by itself. Of course, we know if Texas could somehow manage to pull this off, it wouldn’t go alone. Other states would follow, especially those that neighbor Texas. Normally, when talk of secession surfaces on the political Right, the political Left is quick to chime in with references to the Civil War and how secession is impossible, but not this time! This time, talk of secession is surfacing on the political Left too, alongside the political Right, at the same time. That’s unprecedented! And it reveals something. Elements on both the political Right and the political Left are letting go. They’re letting go of the concept of the United States as one Union, and they’re becoming more willing to embrace the idea of starting new countries where the United States one stood. If this isn’t a sign of “the end,” I don’t know what is. Let’s face it. If a Red-Republican state, like Texas, decided to unilaterally secede, or a Blue-Democrat state, like California, did the same; would our nation have the stomach to stop them by rolling tanks in and starting another civil war? Think about it. Is that what you want? It’s not what I want. If California or Texas wants to leave, I say let them go! It’s a problem, but it’s certainly not worth killing people over. I think most Americans feel the exact same way, and our federal government is going to be making a hard-sell trying to convince us that we need to roll in the tanks and start shooting people over it. I don’t know if a political breakup before the fall of the federal government is in our future or not, but I do know if a growing number of Americans are open to the idea, it’s a sign that the end of our Union is near.

Of course, when America finally does collapse, many will be shocked. That, however, will only reveal who has been living in denial all this time, and willfully blind to everything going on around them. It’s normal. This is just what people do. So it was with the Romans before the dawn of the sixth century, so it is with Americans before the dawn of the twenty-second century. People just live in denial. It’s part of the human condition. The only thing that can save the United States is a radical transformation, of both the population and the government, toward a more Christian nation that values frugal savings, hard work, and moral character. I don’t see that happening. Do you?

So, what does this mean? Is it the end of the world? Will the apocalypse come next? I don’t think so. Back when I was an Evangelical in the 1990s, I used to hear my fellow Evangelicals constantly say that God will not let America fall until the Rapture comes first. In fact, many of these same Evangelicals thought the Rapture itself would cause the demise of the United States, ushering in the era of Antichrist. Well, I’m a Catholic now, and that means I’ve rejected this kind of dispensationalist thinking. I’m of the orthodox Catholic belief that the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ are the same thing, and the only thing that follows the Rapture is the judgement of God and eternity. I’m also of the personal opinion, based on good reason and the traditions of the early Church, that we are not in the Last Days right now, and we’re not anywhere near that era just yet. I won’t get into that here, but suffice it to say, when America finally collapses, I believe we’ll experience the full ramifications of that, and we won’t be spared by some mystical “Rapture” that’s going to whisk us away while others suffer the consequences of their sins and ours.

No. It’s very common for people to think the end of the world is nigh when their nation starts to crumble. The Jews though that when their nation imploded at the end of the first century. In fact, that’s where we get a lot of our apocalyptic writings in Christianity. The Romans thought the same when the Barbarians were sacking their capital toward the end of their empire. The Aztecs believed the end of the world had come with the arrival of Europeans to their shores here in North America. So likewise, as we approach the end of the United States, it’s only natural for some Americans to think the same. Again, it’s just what people do. It’s part of the human condition.

Well, I’m no prophet, and I don’t have a crystal ball, but I do have some knowledge of history. If the future looks anything like the past, and it usually does, then this is what we can expect to happen. The United States will eventually collapse. There will be chaos in the big cities for a while. States that have strong influence in their region of the continent will begin filling the power vacuum left behind by the fall of Washington DC. Weaker states will begin rallying around stronger states that seem to have their act together. Once these conglomerations of states start issuing their own money, that’s it. Boom! The end just happened. Money is sovereignty. Once a government starts printing its own money, it’s reclaimed its status as a sovereign nation that is essentially independent. What follows that is raising an army, and that usually happens in short order. After that, the United States will be carved up into multiple nations, each consisting of a handful of member-states. How long will this take? Well, once the federal government collapses, it will all happen rather fast, mainly because it has to in order to preserver order. So the whole process will take no more than one to two years. Times will be tough during that transition period, but gradually get better thereafter. Lot’s of people have imagined what such a scenario might look like. While none of these maps should be taken too seriously, here are some ideas…

I think it’s impossible to predict what a post-USA map might look like at this time, but the above examples should give you an idea of the possibilities. Personally, I think the fewer nations the better, lest we end up looking too much like Europe. So I tend to like the three-nation idea on the upper-left that leaves the states intact with their borders. I also think that something like this is a more likely and hopeful scenario. Once it’s done, life will go on, and in many places, it will improve.

What do we do in the mean time? And how do we prepare? There are some simple things that everyone can do to prepare for the end of our nation, and in doing so, please keep in mind that nothing we do here will hasten its demise. In fact, if it should turn out that I’m entirely wrong, and the United States is destined to last for centuries more, these things will only strengthen the USA. While none of these actions are capable of saving America, they could strengthen it if things should (magically) take a turn for the better…

The first and most important thing we can do is take President Kennedy’s advice to start praying more, and with that, become more faithful in our church attendance, reading the Bible, and practicing our Christian religion. If we fail in this area, nothing else really matters, and we might as well prepare for the Chinese to rule over us. If you’re Catholic, you’ll want to start attending a Reverent Catholic Mass, and you can find one here. You’ll also want to start reading the Baltimore Catechism #4, and the New Testament of the RSV-CE Holy Bible. I highly suggest praying the Rosary as well.

Second, stop playing the stock market, and start investing in land and precious medals like gold or silver. Land is the one thing that everyone will always need, and they’ll pay through-the-nose to get it. Gold and silver retain their value in the event of inflation or a monetary collapse. Get your money out of the banks and put it into a local credit union, so as to keep your money working locally. Shop locally, and try to stay away from the big-box stores when you can. Invest in local Christian businesses, and always support your fellow Christians first in their business endeavors. Buy a few guns for home defense and personal protection, and make sure you stock up on plenty of ammunition and emergency food storage, as well as seeds. While such things could be helpful in a crisis, they will also be useful in trading for other things. So keep that in mind.

Third, network with other Christians at Church and beyond. Networks are the key to survival in a crisis. Those who try to “hunker down on the ranch” alone, are only setting themselves up for failure and making themselves a target in the event of civil unrest.

Fourth, get involved in city, state and local government. Forget the federal government right now. That’s either going to get better or worse on its own. Pay attention to what’s going on in your state, and start researching candidates. Only vote for devout Christians when you can, and write your state assemblymen/legislators regularly, informing them of your wishes and what kind of government you would like to see.

Fifth and finally, get off the mainstream media (FNC, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CBS, New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, etc.) and big tech platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). Consider using alternative media (OAN, The Epoch Times, Breitbart, Church Militant, LifeSiteNews, etc.) and alternative tech platforms (Gab, MeWe, Minds, etc.).

Nothing lasts forever, and our nation’s founders clearly understood the fragility of the Republic and Union they created. It was John Adams who said: “our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” We have moved well beyond that point a generation ago. The rot that infests our society now, along with our federal government’s complete inability to respond to it adequately, only demonstrates this. Everything from Antifa, to BLM, to the Capitol Riot, are the death rattles of a nation on the verge of collapse. We’ll have both better times, and worse time, in the months and years ahead. My father once told me that watching a corporation die is like a bad Hollywood death scene, and America is the biggest corporation in the history of the world. It’s going to seem dead, then revive, then seem dead again, then revive again. That’s just how it goes. This will last over the course of decades, and I think the process began with the Energy Crisis of the 1970s, and was felt again during the Great Recession (2005 – 2009). There is no way to know how long this cyclic process will last before the inevitable collapse, but I think it’s fair to say the United States will not survive to see the twenty-second century. Hopefully, I’m wrong, but if I’m not, don’t worry. It’s not the end of the world. Life goes on, and new nations will rise on the ashes of the old. That’s just the pattern of history.

Shane Schaetzel is an author of Catholic books and an Evangelical convert to the Catholic Church through Anglicanism. His articles have been featured on LifeSiteNews, The Remnant Newspaper, Forward in Christ, and Catholic Online. You can read Shane’s books at ShaneSchaetzel.Com