1. TPTB have no conception of themselves benefitting from a Knowledge Age if they don't expand their monopolies. They are fighting over a smaller pie and have even stated that is their goal, e.g. Georgia Guidestones et al. Individual members may avail on anonymous means of hiding wealth and as anonymous competition within their ranks.
2. Boomers are philosophically against self-control and survival without a State. The State and hedonism are their glorious creation. They'll abandon it only when they're dead. The boomers drove the education and culture of the society of the generation after the X gen (my generation observed the transition and the State breaking the family unit so we rebelled, at least in the USA and I don't know about Europe). It is only the X gen (my generation) would are somewhat prepared en masse. From the latter generations in the West, there are a some exceptions on an individual basis and especially in the USA. Outside the West, the people are more prepared in the sense that many grew up surviving in difficult circumstances, even agrarian; and they have lower debt and State unfunded actuarial social welfare liabilities. But most in the developing world even though they didn't have the State take care of them, are very much socialist and want to copy the Western socialism asap.
3. So the likely outcome is very similar to Rome's fall. First the waterfall collapse, then as Constantine did, a renewed socialism religion towards global socialistic contract via a one world reserve currency with all axis powers sharing a vote in its global central bank. The youth of the world will follow starry-eyed into the NWO eugenics. The Knowledge Age will marching ahead growing much faster than that political morass. The political morass will be attempting to parasite the Knowledge Age with expropriation and taxation. I think in the end, that unproductive old world economy dies. But it will die hard because TPTB and boomers did such a glorious job of indoctrinating the world into socialism.
------------------------------------------------------
I know how fast things escalate (according to history et al) in a down-wards spiral - but spurred by your recent posts about the fall of Rome, I was contemplating that the real suffering in Europe/west likely won't come before a generational shift. Yes, we will likely see a waterfall event - and fall down very fast - however, we still have a two generations that have a lot of know-how. However, the young generation seems to largely have lost that - for several reasons. One being they never learned to take care of themselves (in many ways, physically, mentally, growing food, repairing things, hedonism, innovate etc) because the state does that for them. The older generations still have some of all that knowledge inherent in them. Secondly the thought is that the large rates of unemployment escalates this issue, where most young people in their most productive and years, where they should learn the most, are not learning anything new. They are not being handed any knowledge - in fact many places we see them being handed inferior knowledge (purposefully or not, e.g. Common Core).. And many are not seeking it themselves either.(i.e your point about Westerners being fucking lazy... most of them..)
By saying all that, I'm not disregarding things turning to shit real fast. I'm probably arguing why it will continue to keep falling down.
I am also thinking that if TPTP are smart(er) and not just self-propagandized to believe that top-down control rules everything, then they should allow for a knowledge age to flourish in which they themselves can benefit. If they tread too hard and too much they suffer themselves (in what's available etc.)
------------------------------------------------------
Aug 23
Armstrong's computer predicts that political divide in the USA but it might take longer than a few years. Looks like the USA will swing hard to the right politically this Nov 2016 election, then riding the up to the 2017.9 peak and then after fall into the economic abyss. 2018 forward is going to probably pandemic, war, chaotic shift in personal financial status every where.
So if I were you, I'd be preparing a plan B bug out for 2018ish, just in case you need it. If you don't need it, then great. But better to be prepared than not.
So the the whole 2015.75 (sept/oct) predictions of another financial collapse are now slated for 2018?
It just seems like these predictions constantly get thrown around, and every time nothign comes of them, they are ust pushed out a year or two