2024 Readiness Checklist

265: Building Resilience Against Global Economic and Geopolitical Shifts

Good morning everyone.

Today’s post is going to be focused on some pointers, tips, and mindset shifts to get ready for what I expect to be a wild rest of 2024. On multiple fronts — many people are beginning to see that risks are rising for events that can negatively impact their daily lives, longevity, physical safety, and finances.

We are watching a rapid deceleration that began to really speed up during the pandemic.

I’d argue that societal trust is at all time lows — it’s evident in Western society and more people are shifting politically as far left policies crumble everywhere. They’re not fully crumbled — there is still an ardent base of far left voters, institutions, and organizations/corporations, but many people are starting to see the repercussions of these policies, initiatives, and ideology.

If you pay attention you can pick up on a momentum shift in media and online that’s building. People are questioning narratives, they’re being more pragmatic, they’re becoming more inclined to call things out for what they are. Elon Musk no doubt served as an important catalyst for shining a light on just how censored and manipulated mass media and news was with his takeover of Twitter/X. Consider this — if you’re being completely misled about the true risk or potential repercussions of adverse events or policies for politics sake — who suffers?

Not those misleading you, that’s for sure.

Then there was the Ivy League Israel debacle — highlighting just how infiltrated and compromised our bastions of “higher education” actually are. Normal people, who formerly embraced extreme wokeness and DEI culture scratched their heads upon realizing a large group of people actually supported the October attacks. They justify it with any range of arguments from Zionism to colonialism to overreach by the West.

There are truly radical groups with ideologies not compatible with our society living right under our nose. We are letting more in every day.

Americans at this point seem desensitized to the infrastructure collapsing around them — Boeing flights falling apart, trains derailing, boats losing power, a wide open Southern Border, and surging crime in major cities.

Almost seven days following the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, close to twenty sailors are still stranded on the vessel involved in the incident. The ship lost power and we later learned (and I posted on Instagram) that the black box onboard the DALI was missing recording for 2 minutes prior to hitting the bridge. Then last Friday night, a massive container ship suffered a power failure in the waters near New York City.

What’s that George Bush saying?

Come on bro. Twice now?Then there’s global developments. If you haven’t been paying attention it’s easy to miss how much closer we are getting to a major open conflict in the Middle East and Europe.

The Israeli drone strike that killed seven workers with chef José Andrés' aid group, World Central Kitchen, has come under intense international scrutiny in the past weeks and further strains tensions in the Middle East.

Iran has been aggressively posturing and warning of imminent strikes against Israel. Americans should care — since if this plays out we will undoubtedly be dragged in.

Iran's Foreign Minister said this week that "The coming days for the Zionist regime [Israel] will be difficult" (Fars News Agency). A strike on Israel would trigger an avalanche of global unrest and we would feel the downstream effects economically, socially, and financially.

We have movement on the European front as well. Following the terror attack in Moscow that left over 100 people dead, it seems our government and NATO ar insistent on provoking Putin further with posturing and language surrounding the expansion of NATO and forces in the region. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last Thursday that Ukraine will eventually join NATO as support for the country continues to be "rock solid" among member states. Putin’s full response t the events that transpired in Moscow has yet to be seen. Ukraine is losing steam in it’s fight as evidenced by a surging need for ammunition, troops, and supplies.

Point being — we all need to think long and hard about how we will respond if any of these current events end up creating a crisis that impacts us directly.

We no longer have the luxury of simply sitting back and watching — be it economic repercussions or a terror attack or supply chain crisis, or violent demonstrations or riots, everyone needs to be prepared at a basic level to weather the storm.

For those who want to take a step in the right direction to hedge against adverse outcomes today we will cover:

• An overview of the biggest threats and contributing factors that could lead to unrest or conflict

• 3 scenarios you could find yourself in. How would you react?

• A list of Level 1 and Level 2 preparations and hedges to ensure you come out of a crisis on top, safe, and free

If you’ve never considered prepping or hedging for an adverse situation or crisis — you are behind the ball. Today is the day to start. Not after something has already happened. There is power in being mature and level headed enough to acknowledge the chance that things may not look as great tomorrow as they do today. It brings you peace of mind, a sense of sovereignty to be able to respond to all kinds of situations, and chiefly, it allows you to preserve your wealth, safety, and freedom in an ever changing world.

Thursday we will put out a comprehensive financial markets overview with my updated holdings, top picks for the rest of the year, and more. Consider subscribing for full access.

Let’s begin with an overview of why preparing in some sense is a must at this point.

Let’s Set The Stage

In my humble opinion the first step to preparing successfully for a wide range of risk scenarios or black swan events — comes with the mindset. A shift needs to occur in order for you to truly begin “preparing”.

The cornerstone of this shift for me — was understanding how to recognize signs that others might write off or miss. It’s important to note that we as humans prefer to assume everything is okay. We also prefer comfort over discomfort or pain. This is our inherent bias. I’ve touched on this before when we talk about people “denying” or “burying their heads in the sand” when faced with uncomfortable realities or situations.