And it is happening, no doubt about that. In the “land of the free and home of the brave” — the U.S.A. Directly in the Defense Authorization Bill for 2008 (HR 1585), TruthNews has found some very troublesome words:

Section 1621 of the bill describes how they intend to increase the number of people in USNORTHCOM. Below is the appropriate subsection in which the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will submit a review of civilian and military positions within USNORTHCOM with the goal of increasing the number of reservists and civilians employed by USNORTHCOM. Clearly, they are anticipating massive civil unrest in this country if they intend on increasing the manpower available to USNORTHCOM.

USNORTHCOM is the U.S. Northern Command. Of the several U.S. commands around the globe, USNORTHCOM’s area of responsibility is none other than American turf. Why aren’t those soldiers placed under CENTCOM’s command where the “action” is? Because they need the soldiers to shoot U.S. citizens dead for what’s coming. In total disregard of the ancient Posse Comitatus Act (Google it up — I don’t feel like linking to the Wikipedia page today).

All the political tools for martial law are already in place; it’s all there: massive, newly built (by Halliburton) prisons to hold tens of thousands of dissidents, a plan to dismantle Congress and the courts (in another Executive order) under the pretense of “continuation of Government”, the secret No-Fly List with tens of thousands of enemies of the regime already on it. It’s just a matter of flicking the switch, and that switch is under the finger of the itinerary U.S President. The most convenient time to trigger it would be right before elections.

And this is all happening at the most unpleasant juncture of all: the collapse of the U.S. dollar. It’s been falling steadily in the last months, but it’s getting worse by the day. Don’t believe me? Here’s something noteworthy: the dollar fell 0.5%… in 5 minutes!

Whether you want to accept it or not, U.S. citizens will stage massive, violent upheavals once (note: I didn’t say “if”) the currency collapses. Still don’t think The People will explode in seething anger once they lose their homes, jobs, cars and good health? Imagine L.A.’s unrest during the last civil riots, multiplied throughout the whole country, and you might get an idea of how bad things will get.

If I were a bookie, I would start collecting bets and using that money right now to place my own, lump-sum bet on the possibility that the U.S. is months away from martial law and generalized military control. Of course… not in my wildest dreams would I accept dollars — instead, I would most likely collect bets from all incumbents in either Euros or solid gold.

I seriously hope this won’t happen. Because, if it does, it’ll basically be poor people shooting and smashing one another’s heads with baseball bats, and citizens that once were once fully free (they no longer are, by the way) will be completely powerless to stop the madness. And, of course, robber barons — those who have already wrecked the U.S. economy — will be safe and protected, secluded in their McMansions and guarded by private mercenaries, or in foreign land, happily enjoying the proceeds of their misdeeds.

People who actively chose to be poor. These people are those who chose not to live a competitive lifestyle. Just down the road from where I grew up lived a person with a Ph.D. from Berkeley who basically checked out of mainstream life in the mid-’70s. He bought a small piece of land, built a log cabin out of the wood on that land, and spent all of his time fishing, hunting, and reading. He chose to be poor as a lifestyle choice. There were others like this as well who made their living quietly.

People who inactively chose to be poor. These people were the ones that played the lottery every week, followed celebrity gossip, and rambled on about how they were going to have big money someday, but just kept going to work in the same old factory doing the same old thing. They basically refuse to make choices that would raise them up from poverty for whatever reason. It is people from this group who you often see winning the lottery - then blowing it all in a few months.

People who choose to get out. The third group mostly is filled with younger people who see that this is a fool’s game and then try to get out of the situation. They do whatever it takes to go to college, get an education, and find work. What I often noticed is that these people managed to make the step to the upper middle class, but it was their children that did amazing things, as these people instilled some serious values in their kids and also gave them appropriate support.

Keep reading that article, and then subscribe to The Simple Dollar. Whether you subscribe to their ideas or not, at the least I can guarantee you a steady source of food for thought.