INTRODUCTION 7to eliminate Osama bin Laden. But there is also much that has
been abused in the years since.
You and I have lost our privacy and have our private com-
munications, emails, phone calls and other records collected.
If you’ve traveled abroad lately, you may have seen the new
kiosks at Customs that take a digital retinal scan of each return-
ing traveler. This is something that used to be handled with a
paper passport. That retinal scan goes into a digital data bank,
perhaps to be used to pursue political enemies, as happened in
the recent IRS scandal. Privacy and liberty are mostly gone as
the result of policy responses to various shocks such as Sept.
- There are many other examples.
For investors, the important question is how will the shock
doctrine be used next? What is the unfinished business of the
power elites? What is the next part of the hidden agenda to
be revealed? And what shock will be used as cover to advance
that agenda?
These questions have definite answers that we will explore
in this book. Regardless of those agendas and coming shocks,
there are things investors can do today to avoid being manipu-
lated by the power elites.
There are investments such as gold, land and fine art that
are not digital and cannot be wiped out by computers. There
are wealth preservation strategies that are not subject to current
tax. There are portfolio diversification strategies that are robust
to many types of shocks even if each particular shock cannot be
predicted exactly.
These strategies should be implemented now before the
next shock arrives and options become limited or unavail-
able. The power elites will continue to play the shock doctrine
game. But you do not have to be the victim. The key is to
know how the shock doctrine works and prepare now before
the next shock strikes.