Prioritizing Your Exit Plan 

An increasing number of Americans and Brits believe their home countries are in decline, says Jeff Thomas in this essay from Doug Casey’s International Man. And some of them are wondering if they should have an escape plan.

As a long-time publisher of gloomy economists and public intellectuals, I’ve done my fair share of such thinking. On the one hand, it’s not difficult to convince myself that I live in the safest, most stable, and most prosperous country in the world. On the other hand, when I read and write about some of what is happening today – economically, culturally, and politically – I sometimes feel it would be prudent to have an escape strategy for me and my family.

Well, I do have our home in Nicaragua – an economically impoverished country in Central America run by a self-identifying Communist. It is in a beautiful resort community (Rancho Santana) in a hamlet that is basically unpoliced and two hours from the country’s only first-class hospital. That’s something.

I could make it sound a bit scarier, but the fact is I feel safer there than I do in most places in the US. Even politically safer. (I know. That’s hard to believe. I’ll explain in a future missive.) The lifestyle is great and the cost of living great is less than half of what it is here in Florida. We don’t have to worry about fresh water, because the resort has nearly two dozen functioning wells. And it grows its own meat and vegetables on the property. All that is an advantage. As far as culture goes, Nicaragua’s is, in many ways, superior to what’s become of America’s. For what it lacks in wealth culture, it exceeds the US in family culture and happiness culture.

So, when I get engrossed in reading about the many ways America is falling apart – and even nearing catastrophe – I find myself thinking how perfectly wonderful it would be to have the entire Ford and Fitzgerald clans together down there one day.

Still, there is more to “escaping” America than having a second home overseas. And that’s why I was especially interested in how Thomas, who has been thinking about this subject for many years, prioritizes what he believes are the essential moves to make right now just in case Armageddon happens.

Read his essay… and let me know what you think.