January 29, 2024

[Important Reminder: In case you missed our announcement from January 24, Sovereign Man has merged with Peter Schiff's media group. We are now called Schiff Sovereign, and our founder (Simon Black) has dropped the pen name and is now writing under his real name, James Hickman.]

When Publius Licinus Valerianus (known as Valerian) became Roman emperor in September of 253 AD, people across the empire must have breathed a sigh of relief.

“Finally,” many Roman citizens probably thought, “There’s an adult in the room.”

The Roman Empire at that point was in the midst of its infamous ‘Crisis of the Third Century’. The Empire was recovering from a nasty pandemic known as the Antonine Plague. Inflation was soaring. Conflict with their enemies-- especially in the Middle East-- was intensifying.

Social tensions were growing. Crime was rising. Trade was declining. The economy was on the ropes. Taxes were going up.

And there had been far too many years of political instability in the Empire prior to Valerian’s ascension.

But Valerian was a guy with decades of experience. He was a longtime Senator, plus he had previously held one of the top positions in Rome’s executive branch. So, people naturally thought he would be the solid leader that Rome needed.

Unfortunately, Valerian turned out to be a complete disaster.

Valerian continued bankrupting the Roman treasury and running sky-high deficits. He zealously demanded ideological conformity and persecuted anyone (most notably Christians) who expressed philosophical or intellectual dissent.

He promoted his son-- a moronic, free-spending playboy-- to a position of high power.

And perhaps most importantly, Valerian was completely incompetent when it came to Rome’s border, and the empire became overrun by barbarians during his rule.

By 260 AD, after seven years of Valerian’s destructive reign, Romans were fed up… especially those who lived near the border.

Fortunately, the emperor traveled East to personally supervise Rome’s war against Persia (modern day Iran), a rising power that had grown more belligerent.

So, with Valerian distracted in Iran, a Roman military officer who was in command of the empire’s key border on the Rhine River decided to take matters into his own hands.

The commander’s name was Postumus. And in 260, he fought back against the barbarian invaders who had been coming across the border for years. In fact Postumus delivered such a decisive blow that the barbarians wouldn’t dare try crossing the Rhine for another ten years.

Finally, someone had taken real action against the migrant threat after years of the Emperor doing nothing. Citizens in the border provinces (modern day France and western Germany) were thrilled.

So thrilled, in fact, that they declared independence from Rome and made Postumus their leader.

Valerian was powerless to stop it. Literally. At that point he had been captured by the Persians and spent the rest of his life in captivity. True story.

Obviously, this historical tale probably rings familiar to many readers. Not that we wish for Joe Biden to end up in an Iranian prison like Valerian did. But clearly the guy has a lot to answer for.

Yesterday Iran attacked a US military installation in Jordan, killing three and wounding dozens more American service members. And it’s not a one-time thing. Iran has attacked US military targets over 150 times in the past few months alone.

But the guy with decades of experience has hardly done a thing in response. The fact is that no one on the planet is intimidated by Joe Biden, who is rightfully perceived as a weak, inspired idiot with unimaginably bizarre priorities.

America’s border catastrophe is a perfect example; it’s clear the federal government isn’t doing its job to keep illegals out.

It’s also clear that the surge in migrants at the southern border has caused, at a minimum, massive financial strain in many US cities.

The federal government knows there’s a problem. Yet they do nothing about it. And they waste resources to try to prevent the State of Texas from doing anything about it.

Again-- unimaginably bizarre priorities.

It’s not just the US, either. The United Kingdom has been overrun by hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestine supporters, many of whom chant for “Jihad” and “Hamas” and advocate for Sharia law in the UK.

But the government’s priority seems to be making sure the ‘mostly peaceful’ Islamists aren’t offended by angry Brits who are shocked at what their country has become.

In Canada, police in Quebec have advised residents to NOT post camera footage of thieves stealing packages from their front porches… because we have to respect the criminals’ privacy.

Another city in Ontario allowed a 50-year-old man (who identifies as a 15-year old girl) to compete in a girl’s swim meet, with concerned parents shielding their daughters in the locker room.

These developments aren’t accidents. They don’t just spontaneously occur.

They are the deliberate result of the inspired idiots in charge who think their nation’s priority should be criminals’ privacy. Or the well-being of illegal migrants. Or 50-year men who think they’re teenage girls. Or not offending angry Islamists.

YOU are NOT their priority. And you never will be.

They view you as nothing more than a financial dairy cow to be milked in order to pay for their idiotic ideas. And if you question them, you get labeled as “anti-science” or “xenophobic” or some such nonsense.

I spend a lot of time writing about the economic consequences of this ‘Rule by Inspired Idiots’ (which is the dominant political system in the West, whether it’s Joe Biden or Justin Trudeau).

And the economic consequences are-a-plenty.

In the US alone, the BASELINE government forecast over the next 10-years is an additional $20 trillion in NEW debt; and I’ve written that this will likely lead to major inflation, loss of reserve status for the dollar, and other major catastrophes.

But the social consequences of Inspired Idiots are equally great and cannot be ignored.

This is why it’s critical to understand that a Plan B is more than just protecting one’s savings and investments.

It’s about taking completely rational steps to reduce social and safety risks as well.

I’m not a pessimistic person. Quite the contrary, I’m wildly optimistic about the future and opportunities to come.

But I also recognize that Rule by Inspired Idiots presents vast and growing social risks that could become much worse over the next several years.

We’ll talk about some ideas for how to get started soon.

James Hickman
Founder, Schiff Sovereign LLC