A Survival Guide for the Changing World Order

An increasing amount of my mental energy has become allocated to trying to make sense of the current world situation and figuring out the best way to both strategically and emotionally prepare for what is to come.

Living in the United States, it's hard to not get swept up in the absolute chaos of what seems to be internal verbal warfare between the American people. Regardless of what you believe it's crystal clear that the waters are heating up. With this, it feels imperative to me that I start to think strategically about how I will survive this changing world order such that I don't get caught holding the bag financially, emotionally, or spiritually.

This essay is an attempt to consolidate all of my research into the current world situation (part 1) and the potential survival strategies for preparation (part 2).

Part 1: Making Sense of What’s Happening

Now, I'm by no means a doomsday prepper, nor do I plan to be. My sole and utter intention is to live with as much well-being, resilience, happiness, and love as humanly possible. Given that the external situation seems to be intensifying, it's requiring ever more intense individual strategies for living up to the ideals of truth, beauty, and goodness.

It's my strong conviction that with an ever more complex world, we must start with ever more intellectually rigorous standards for our strategies. That's not to say that the psychological and spiritual imperatives are not important. In fact, I would argue that they are more important, but they only become crystal clear to us when we understand with intellectual rigor the magnitude of our current world situation.

With that being said, part one of this essay is about providing relevant perspectives to make sense of what is happening. These are not comprehensive, they are merely based on my current insights and research.

The U.S. is Declining, and the Chinese empire is ready to capitalize

According to Michael Pillsbury's "The Hundred-Year Marathon," China has been executing a long-term strategy since 1949 to replace the United States as the global hegemon by 2049. The Chinese Communist Party leadership has been implementing this plan from the beginning of its relationship with the United States, with "hawks" advising Chinese leaders "to avenge a century of humiliation and aspire to replace the United States as the economic, military, and political leader of the world" by the centennial of the Communist Revolution. This ambitious timeline may be accelerating as China gains economic and political strength faster than anticipated.

America's Unwitting Assistance

What's most alarming is that "not only has China's rise happened right under our noses, but also the United States, and the West more broadly, have helped the Chinese accomplish their goals from the beginning," constituting "the most systematic, significant, and dangerous intelligence failure in American history." Through various administrations, America has inadvertently strengthened its rival. For example, "in March 1986 the Reagan administration assisted China's development of eight national research centers focused on genetic engineering, intelligent robotics, artificial intelligence, automation, biotechnology, lasers, supercomputers, space technology, and manned spaceflight," helping China make "significant progress on more than ten thousand projects... all crucial to China's Marathon strategy."

The Art of Deception

Central to China's success has been its mastery of deception. "The hawks assess that China can only succeed in this project through deception, or at least by denial of any frightening plans." This reflects traditional Chinese strategic thinking where those "of Chinese ethnic origin were found to favor the indirect over the direct, ambiguity and deception over clarity and transparency." Chinese strategists know that "the prevalent payoff of deception for the Chinese is that one does not have to use one's own forces… for surprise and deception are assumed to be vital." The ultimate tragedy is that "without knowing that deception is critical to your opponent's strategy, you'll have some sense of how America is being played by China. Americans know nothing of the game's rules... We don't know we are losing the game. In fact, we don't even know that the game has begun."

The US is extremely volatile, and we are in an economic bubble

In recent years, the United States has entered an increasingly precarious economic position that resembles patterns Ray Dalio identifies in declining empires. This volatility appears to signal late-stage economic cycles where excessive debt and monetary expansion undermine long-term stability.

The Federal Reserve's Monetary Expansion

The Federal Reserve's extraordinary policies since the 2008 financial crisis, dramatically accelerated during COVID-19, have led to unprecedented money supply expansion. Between 2020 and 2022, nearly 80% of all US dollars in existence were created, representing the most aggressive monetary expansion in American history. While temporarily stimulating economic activity, this massive liquidity injection has weakened the dollar's purchasing power and created asset bubbles across multiple sectors.

Asset Bubbles and Market Distortion

Asset valuations have increasingly disconnected from economic fundamentals. Housing prices and equities have experienced dramatic appreciation driven more by excess liquidity than by improvements in productive capacity. This widening gap between financial markets and economic reality represents a classic bubble formation that historically precedes significant corrections. The artificially low interest rates that persisted for over a decade distorted risk assessment, encouraged speculation, and punished savers – all hallmarks of late-stage debt cycles in Dalio's framework.

Social and Political Consequences

The consequences extend beyond financial markets. Growing wealth inequality has accelerated as asset inflation primarily benefits those who already own significant financial assets, while wage growth for average Americans struggles to keep pace with real inflation. This widening prosperity gap fuels political polarization and populist movements that Dalio identifies as warning signs of imperial decline. The intensifying rhetoric between political factions makes coherent economic policy increasingly difficult when disciplined fiscal management is most needed.

Challenges to Dollar Hegemony

International challenges to dollar hegemony are emerging as foreign powers question America's financial trajectory. China's development of digital currency alternatives, Russia's de-dollarization efforts, and growing interest in commodity-backed settlement systems all suggest erosion of the "exorbitant privilege" that has allowed America to sustain its spending habits. As Dalio notes, losing reserve currency status typically accelerates decline by removing the financial cushion that masks structural weaknesses.

The current economic volatility therefore appears not as a temporary disruption but as a systemic transition reflecting deeper structural shifts in the global order. The patterns Dalio identifies – excessive debt, monetary debasement, growing internal division, and external challenges – are all increasingly evident in America's current trajectory. Whether this represents the beginning of a more dramatic decline or simply a painful adjustment period depends largely on how effectively leadership addresses these fundamental imbalances in the coming years.

AI will create massive economic reverberations

The AI Technological Race

The economic volatility is further complicated by the intensifying AI race between the United States and China. Both nations recognize that AI technological supremacy correlates strongly with geopolitical power, creating a "race to the bottom" mentality where speed of development often outweighs careful implementation. This competition accelerates capital flows into AI research and development, potentially exacerbating economic distortions as investment concentrates in these technologies regardless of short-term profitability.

Labor Market Disruption from AI

AI advancements threaten unprecedented labor market disruption across multiple sectors simultaneously. Unlike previous technological revolutions that primarily affected specific industries or skill sets, AI's potential to automate cognitive tasks impacts white-collar professions previously considered immune to technological displacement. This widespread disruption risks accelerating inequality as displaced workers struggle to find comparable employment, potentially straining social safety nets and further destabilizing economic conditions during an already precarious period.

Amplified Social Instability

As AI-driven unemployment rises, social stability will face increasing pressure. Communities dependent on industries vulnerable to automation may experience rapid economic deterioration, leading to geographic concentrations of unemployment and poverty. This concentrated economic hardship tends to correlate with increased substance abuse, family breakdown, and crime – all factors that further strain social cohesion. The resulting societal fractures will make political consensus even more elusive at precisely the moment when coordinated policy responses are most critical.

Erosion of the Middle Class

AI automation disproportionately threatens middle-skill occupations that historically provided pathways to middle-class stability. As these positions disappear, society risks bifurcating more severely between a small group with the skills to complement AI systems and a much larger population competing for fewer low-skill positions. This hollowing of the middle class undermines a critical stabilizing force in American society and economy, potentially accelerating political polarization as fewer citizens have a substantial stake in maintaining existing economic structures.

Fiscal System Strain and Monetary Expansion

The fiscal system strain facing the United States presents a particularly concerning dynamic that could accelerate economic instability. As we examine this issue more closely, several interconnected processes emerge that could create a self-reinforcing cycle of decline.

The Monetary Response Trap

When faced with rising unemployment (potentially accelerated by AI automation), the Federal Reserve and Treasury will face immense political pressure to respond with expansionary monetary policies. The established pattern of using money creation as the primary tool for economic stabilization has created a dangerous dependency. Each economic crisis now requires larger interventions than the last to achieve the same stabilizing effect, much like an addiction that requires ever-increasing doses.

This monetary expansion creates a problematic feedback loop. As the government prints more money to fund unemployment benefits, universal basic income proposals, or job creation programs to address AI-driven displacement, the resulting currency devaluation erodes purchasing power for average citizens. This erosion disproportionately impacts the working and middle classes, whose wages typically adjust more slowly than asset prices during inflationary periods.

Military-Industrial Complex Acceleration

Simultaneously, as domestic instability increases and international competition intensifies (particularly with China), the military-industrial complex will likely demand expanded funding. Defense spending historically resists cuts even during fiscal austerity, and perceived threats from technological competitors will provide compelling justification for increased military budgets.

This military spending represents another significant drain on fiscal resources that doesn't necessarily produce corresponding economic benefits for average citizens. While defense contractors and technology firms may prosper from these expenditures, the broader economic multiplier effects are often limited compared to other forms of government spending.

The Political Polarization Spiral

As economic conditions deteriorate for significant portions of the population, political polarization will likely intensify further. The combination of job insecurity, declining purchasing power, and perceived government favoritism toward financial and military sectors creates fertile ground for populist movements on both political extremes.

This polarization makes coherent, long-term fiscal planning increasingly difficult. Political gridlock can prevent meaningful reforms to entitlement programs, tax structures, or regulatory frameworks that might otherwise mitigate some economic challenges. Instead, the path of least resistance becomes continued monetary expansion, which temporarily masks structural problems while exacerbating their underlying causes.

Dollar Vulnerability

The cumulative effect of these dynamics directly threatens dollar hegemony. As the United States prints more money to address domestic challenges and fund military competition, international confidence in the dollar as a stable store of value will likely decline. Countries already exploring alternatives to dollar-denominated trade and reserves will accelerate these efforts as inflation and debt concerns grow.

The loss of reserve currency status would eliminate America's "exorbitant privilege" – the ability to run persistent deficits without immediate consequences – precisely when fiscal flexibility is most needed. This constraint would limit options for addressing unemployment, social instability, and competitive challenges, potentially triggering a negative spiral where diminished global position further reduces domestic economic security.

This vulnerability creates an opening for strategic competitors, particularly China, to expand their global influence and economic reach. If China successfully positions its currency or a new international standard as a viable alternative to the dollar, America's geopolitical leverage would be significantly reduced at a moment of particular domestic weakness.

Corporate Power Concentration

AI advancement tends to create winner-take-all market dynamics where a few dominant firms capture disproportionate benefits. This concentration of economic power may further reduce tax bases while increasing corporate influence over policy, potentially limiting government's ability to address economic displacement effectively. The tension between national interests and increasingly powerful multinational corporations adds another layer of complexity to governance challenges.

Step 2: Survival Strategies

We stand at a pivotal moment in human history, facing an unprecedented convergence of challenges that threaten not just our financial systems, but our psychological wellbeing and spiritual coherence. The rapid acceleration of AI technology, increasing monetary instability, and deepening social polarization create what philosophers call a "meta-crisis" – not just a single challenge, but a system of interconnected problems that cannot be addressed in isolation.

This essay outlines practical strategies for building resilience across three essential domains: financial, psychological, and spiritual. These approaches aren't just about survival – they offer a path to meaningful participation in what might be humanity's most significant transition.

Financial Resilience: Beyond Traditional Security

Alternative Asset Positioning

Financial instability has become a defining feature of our time. As governments respond to economic challenges with unprecedented monetary expansion, traditional financial strategies may prove inadequate. Diversifying beyond conventional assets becomes essential.

Bitcoin and gold represent different approaches to preserving value during currency instability. While volatile, Bitcoin's algorithmically limited supply provides a hedge against currency debasement, while gold's physical nature and universal recognition have preserved purchasing power through countless regime changes and economic transitions. Exposure to currencies like the Chinese Yuan acknowledges the ongoing shift in global economic power.

The most valuable financial strategy, however, may be debt minimization. High debt creates rigid financial obligations that become increasingly dangerous during periods of currency instability. Reducing fixed expenses while building connections to local economic systems creates flexibility to adapt to rapidly changing conditions.

Skills as True Assets

In times of transition, your capabilities often prove more valuable than your possessions. Meta-learning – the ability to acquire new skills efficiently – has become the ultimate asset in a rapidly changing landscape. This approach prioritizes learning methodologies over specific content, developing systems for identifying emerging opportunities and rapidly adapting to them.

Building multiple income streams rather than depending on a single employer or industry creates natural resilience against sector-specific disruptions. Position yourself at the intersection of multiple domains, where your unique combination of skills allows you to pivot as conditions change.

This approach doesn't require predicting exactly which skills will remain relevant, but rather developing the adaptability to evolve regardless of which particular future emerges.

Psychological Resilience: Transforming Consciousness

Overcoming Modal Confusion

One of the most profound insights from philosophers like Erich Fromm is the distinction between "having" and "being" modes of existence. Much of our psychological suffering stems from modal confusion – attempting to satisfy deeper "being needs" through surface-level acquisition.

We seek meaning through consumption, intimacy through status, and purpose through achievement. Yet these strategies inevitably fail, creating what Fromm called a "reciprocal narrowing" – a contraction of both self and world that generates a vicious cycle of superficial pursuit and deepening disappointment.

Breaking this pattern requires recognizing when we're attempting to address existential needs through inappropriate means. By distinguishing between genuine growth needs and deficiency needs, we can direct our energy toward authentic transformation rather than endless acquisition.

This shift isn't merely philosophical – it creates practical resilience by reducing dependency on external circumstances for inner wellbeing.

Presence and Attention Training

Our ability to remain present forms the foundation of psychological resilience. Ellen Langer's research on "soft vigilance" offers a practical approach – developing concentration not through forced attention but through renewed interest in the subtle details of experience.

Complementing this micro-focus is the ability to scale attention outward, perceiving larger patterns and contexts. This attentional flexibility – zooming in for detail and out for perspective – creates the cognitive conditions for insight, allowing us to recognize both immediate challenges and broader opportunities.

Balancing these opposing attentional movements creates what cognitive scientists call "opponent processing" – the dynamic tension between focused awareness and expansive connection that characterizes optimal psychological functioning.

Inner Conflict Integration

Much of our suffering stems from conflicts between different aspects of ourselves. Plato described this as the tripartite nature of the psyche – the appetitive center (seeking pleasure and avoiding pain), the social center (concerned with honor and status), and the rational center (focused on meaning and truth).

When these centers operate at cross-purposes, we experience inner conflict and diminished agency. Integration requires not suppressing any center but orchestrating their coordination, creating what Plato called an "optimization strategy" where each aspect of the self can flourish without undermining the others.

This inner harmony reduces self-deception, lessens egocentrism, and creates clearer perception of reality – all essential qualities for navigating complexity with wisdom.

Spiritual Resilience: Finding Meaning in Transition

Existential Reframing

Our capacity to find meaning amid disruption depends largely on how we frame our circumstances. A "post-tragic" perspective transcends both naive optimism (denying difficulties) and cynical despair (denying possibilities), embracing the genuine challenges of our time while recognizing the opportunities for transformation they present.

This approach aligns with ancient wisdom traditions that emphasize "kairos" – moments when deeper patterns of reality become visible through the cracks in our conventional understanding. By developing sensitivity to these moments, we can perceive larger movements and participate in them more consciously.

This participatory knowing goes beyond mere intellectual understanding, engaging our whole being in relationship with reality. When we know not just with our minds but with our entire identity, we discover capacities for meaning-making that transcend the limitations of our conventional worldview.

Agapic Development

At the heart of spiritual resilience lies what theologians call "agape" – a form of love not dependent on the worthiness of its object but on the capacity of the one who loves. Unlike transactional relationships that dominate our economic and often our personal lives, agapic love creates a "reciprocal opening" where both giver and receiver expand rather than contract.

This approach responds to what philosopher Marc Gafni calls "outrageous pain" with "outrageous love" – recognizing that conventional responses are inadequate to our extraordinary challenges. It manifests as what early Christians called "fore-giving" – extending recognition to others before they have "earned" it, thereby creating conditions for their transformation.

Far from naive idealism, this orientation toward generosity creates practical resilience by generating relationships characterized by mutual support rather than mutual exploitation.

Transformational Practice

Aristotle observed that character development requires creating what philosopher Alicia Juarrero later called a "virtual engine" – a system of enabling and selective constraints that regulate growth and development. Like a gardener who both nourishes and prunes, we must create conditions that systematically shape our evolution.

Ritual and play serve as essential tools in this process, creating what psychologist L.A. Paul describes as "transformative experiences" – encounters that change not just what we know but who we are. These enacted analogies allow us to court transformation through embodied experience rather than mere intellectual understanding.

When combined with reflective integration, these experiences can produce lasting change in our fundamental relationship to self and world, developing what John Vervaeke calls "wisdom" – the capacity to live well amid fundamental complexity and uncertainty.

Community Resilience: Creating Shared Fields of Value

Win-Win Ecosystems

Our individual resilience depends largely on the quality of our relationships. Communities organized around shared intrinsic values rather than merely instrumental transactions create natural resilience against disruption.

This approach requires moving beyond win-lose metrics that reduce others to instruments for our advancement. By cultivating what philosopher Martin Buber called "I-Thou" rather than "I-It" relationships, we create ecosystems of mutual support that can weather challenges no individual could face alone.

Working with seeming opposites to find higher syntheses rather than falling into polarization allows communities to integrate diverse perspectives into more comprehensive and adaptive responses to complex challenges.

Sense-Making Integrity

In an age of information warfare, our collective ability to discern reality has become critically compromised. Building relationships with reliable information sources and practices creates cognitive resilience against manipulation and distortion.

Equally important is expanding awareness of what economists call "externalities" – the impacts of our choices that lie outside our immediate field of attention. By bringing previously ignored consequences into consciousness, we develop more comprehensive approaches to addressing complex challenges.

Creating coherent narratives that integrate scientific understanding with existential meaning allows us to move beyond both anti-scientific fundamentalism and spiritually impoverished scientism toward more integrated ways of knowing.

Future-Oriented Action

True resilience requires extending our circle of concern beyond immediate self-interest and even beyond our individual lifespan. Intergenerational thinking – considering impacts that will unfold long after our personal time – creates natural alignment with evolutionary processes that unfold across much longer timeframes than our individual lives.

Building what Nassim Taleb calls "anti-fragile" systems – structures that gain strength from volatility rather than merely surviving it – creates natural adaptation to increasing uncertainty.

Perhaps most importantly, our time requires what CosmoErotic Humanism calls "democratized heroism" – the recognition that ordinary people must become "unique heroes" during this transitional period. This isn't about grandiose self-importance but about assuming responsibility for contributing our unique gifts to humanity's evolution through this critical passage.

Conclusion

The most effective approach integrates these domains into a coherent strategy. Financial positioning that acknowledges technological and geopolitical realities provides material foundation. Psychological practices maintain functional cognition during stress. Spiritual frameworks provide orientation when conventional narratives falter. Community connections offer practical support during disruption.

Together, these elements create resilience far more robust than any isolated approach. Rather than attempting to predict specific outcomes in fundamentally unpredictable systems, this integrated strategy creates adaptive capacity across multiple scenarios.

In a world characterized by increasing volatility, the capacity to adapt while maintaining core values and connections may ultimately prove more valuable than any specific preparation. By developing capabilities across these interconnected domains, individuals can navigate systemic transition while preserving agency, meaning, and possibility amid transformational change.