“[T]he older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment.” – Benjamin Franklin
“Happiness is a warm gun.” – John Lennon
Anno Domini 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution and the country’s Declaration of Independence from British colonial rule. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that most Americans take that date, July 4th, 1776 to be the founding of the country and the system of government that they know today. But what most will gloss over this coming summer when they are barbecuing in their back yards and drinking their Lite beer, is the fact that it wasn’t until many years of hardship later – almost a decade and a half later, in fact – that the Constitution of the United States finally went into effect.
The Revolutionary War itself lasted eight long years, ending in 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. But the founding of the republic that we know today took more years still to come to fruition. The drafting of the Constitution began in May 1787, when the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia. It lasted until September 17th that year when the Convention ended with delegates from twelve states1 signing a sort of declaration of intent, if you will, for the Constitution’s ratification. These signatures had no legal clout, and the Constitution was clear; it would only go into effect when nine of the thirteen former British colonies officially chose to ratify it. All thirteen states eventually did so when Rhode Island finally singed on on May 29, 1790.
But after that last day of the Constitutional Congress on September 17, 1787 the blueprint and likely path for the new country was clear, and it gave rise to an apocryphally mythical moment in American history when Elizabeth Willing Powel, a Philadelphia socialite, confronted Benjamin Franklin outside of what is now known as Independence Hall and asked him:
“Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
Franklin famously responded:
“A republic, ma’am. If you can keep it.”2
Our crystal ball is a cloudy one. It’s more of a snow globe, really. But that doesn’t stop us from peering in from time to time. With that in mind, we make one long-term prognostication now. This year, AD 2026, will set up President Donald Trump to go down as one of the most consequential figures in world history. This is not a puff piece for President Trump.
And this is certainly not a show of support for everything he has done or said in his second term so far. But it is a recognition with the events that have already taken place in Anno Americae 250, and the globe-shaking developments that seem to be on the precipice of unfolding, Donald Trump has set the world on a path where empires will rule once again. And despite the hand-wringing in Brussels, Davos, and the City of London that is sure to come over the coming weeks and months, there will soon be no pretense by the parasitic Globalist, Malthusian, “rules-based order”3 closet-Communist crowd that things are able to be any other way.
America has of course been an empire for eighty years to be honest – since at least the end of World War II. But no President ever really felt comfortable taking on the responsibilities of that word “Empire.” They were satisfied with “Superpower.” Probably because that way it sounds more like your power was earned and not pillaged or confiscated.
But America is embracing reality now. Tucker Carlson – think of him what you will – laid this idea out well in a recent podcast monologue, just after America’s incursion into Venezuela and the snatching of its bellicose president Nicolas Maduro and his wife (emphasis added).
“It is the effective announcement by the U.S. government that our system is changing, that we are now explicitly an empire. We’re an empire. So, of course, the argument has been made, and probably there’s some truth to it, the United States has been an empire for a long time, for at least the last 80 years since 1945, when we emerged victorious from World War II, or maybe even 1918, when the British Empire effectively ended. Maybe even 1898, when we got Puerto Rico,4 and then a few years later, Cuba from the Spanish Empire. So you could argue that the United States, like all big, prosperous countries, inevitably became an empire. But the difference between the last 120 years and earlier this week is that we never before admitted it, and now we are.”
And Carlson continues with what will surely make heads in Brussels, Davos, and the UN compounds in Geneva and midtown Manhattan explode:
“But what makes what happened in Venezuela, taking the head of state out of the presidential palace with Delta Force and bringing him to New York and putting him on trial, what makes that so very different from say, I don’t know, pick one, killing Mosaddegh in 1953 in Iran or whatever, is that the US government, the President of the United States, basically just said, ‘We’re doing this because of the resources.’ Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserve in the world. It’s in our hemisphere. It’s going to China. And how about, no? This is our hemisphere. It’s going to go to us. He just said it out loud. And there’s something kind of thrilling about that. There’s something thrilling about the honesty there. There’s no fakery. No, we’re the US. We’re not going to put up with that. This is our interest, and we’re going to protect it. That’s what the President said...We’re doing it because we want the oil. And again, there’s something bracing and refreshing about someone finally telling the truth about why we’re doing what we’re doing. And the President absolutely told the truth, and that’s great.”
As we have been saying for many months, the Trump administration has been telegraphing pretty much everything they do. It has all been laid out in plain English here around the election, and here just recently:
What we’d call “crystal clear.” | whitehouse.gov
Crossing the 21st Century Rubicon
So America is officially leaving the republic stage of its history and shifting to Empire – just as Rome did. “That’s a pretty familiar life cycle for civilizations, and so we roughly know what will happen,” Carlson said. He’s right. For the closet anti-American cheerleaders who think some sort of collapse is imminent – for the United States versus some other economic competitor, or for the US dollar versus other fiat currencies, for instance, we would say, stop thinking with your heart and start thinking with your head. The empire centered in Rome lasted over 400 years, and then another thousand in a rejiggered form a bit further east. The “Sell America” crowd is probably at least a century or two too early.
But again, we know how this goes. Power will further solidify in the executive branch. Congress’ worth, power, and influence will inevitably erode even further than it already has – as evidenced by the fact that it had nothing to do with the Venezuela operation.5 As it stands, one could cynically make a case that one of the main functions of the United States Congress now is to be an outlet for the recipients of Monied Class patronage to hone their insider trading skills.
Even Democratic party cheerleader CNN had to say something on this one. | msn.com
Though maybe every once in a blue moon the will of the people will actually be addressed by the legislative branch.
Believe it when you see it. | The Hill
Presidential elections will become more important than ever before – again, because Congress will be useless. In such a world, would a move be made to abolish term limits so that a sitting president would not have to worry about legal prosecution (and persecution) after he leaves office? It would not surprise us at all if this is where we are headed. The “if you can keep it” of the republic is the important part. It probably lasted a lot longer than Benjamin Franklin even thought it would.
Empire is not all bad, to be honest. All the ancient wonders of the world, and almost all of the beautiful relics and tourist attractions that people from all walks of life travel the globe to see are the result of the glory of empires. It’s what makes humans proud of their societies and their cultures.
It just isn’t what America is supposed to be.
Donald Trump is this millennium’s Julius Caesar. Acquiring Greenland by force or coercion from a so-called ally would be his crossing of the Rubicon moment. We don’t cheer it on. But we believe it will happen. Our cloudy crystal ball is uncommonly clear on this one. Denmark and the European Union can kvetch all they want about it. It won’t matter one bit, as this satirical headline points out.
Yet, there will likely be little-to-no love lost between much of Greenland’s native population and their oh-so benevolent Danish colonial masters. Greenland’s Prime Minister has spoken for his people, and has unequivocally sided with Denmark.
Fellow subjects of the Danish crown. | Liselotte Sabroe | Afp | Getty Images
“If we have to choose between the USA and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO, the Kingdom of Denmark and the EU,” Greenland’s Prime Minister with a very Danish-sounding name, Jens-Frederik Nielsen said.
We don’t know if the 31-year-old Prime Minister has any native Greenlandic blood, but we do wonder how the victims of the Danish policy of forced population control and resulting sterilization of many young Greenlandic Inuit women in the 1960s and 1970s6 feel about remaining loyal to the Danish crown – or how the “legally fatherless” children of Greenlandic mothers unwed to the Danish fathers of those children who then had no legal right to inherit their fathers’ property7 feel – or those who fell victim to the (say it with me) Forældrekompetenceundersøgelse, the “parental competence examination” set of Danish psychometric tests that were used to assess parental competence which, apparently due to cultural issues, has disproportionately led to ethnic Greenlandic children in Denmark being removed from their families.8
We wonder if there isn’t some level of monetary compensation that would tip the scales in the United States’ favor.
Greenland: paid for by H-1b visa applicants. | democracynow.org
At $100k per Greenlander, Trump’s H-1B visa application fees, even with reduced demand from companies balking at the high price, could pay for Greenland in less than a year.9
Remember, no more pretense. America is an Empire now. Trump’s moves are all about securing routes and resources. Venezuela and Greenland are crucial spots for both in the Western hemisphere.
Russia and China will not care what the Danes think if and when the time comes for them to make a move on the region. We mentioned that here in “Big DONG Energy” back in September.
And we mentioned a post-hype Critical Metals Corp. (CRML) and its Tanbreez Rare Earth Project in Greenland in “Officially Unhinged” here in November.
It is not for the faint of heart, but under an administration that does not shy away from “picking winners” this just may be one of them for when the United States does finally take control of Greenland.
Critical minerals, rare earths, and companies with claims on assets in Greenland are about to see a whole lot more interest as this modern-day Rubicon comes closer to being crossed.
Denmark has said that an “attack” against a NATO ally would mean the end of NATO.
Trump to Frederiksen: “You had me at ‘end NATO.’”
But the United States is calling Europe’s bluff on that. That idea was proved patently false when Europe did nothing after America attacked the continent’s energy infrastructure and blew up the Nordstream 2 pipeline. Or do you believe the official narrative?
If the 21st century has taught us anything so far, it is that we are not as “evolved” as many of us thought ourselves to be. The human desire for dominion over others and access to resources will never disappear. — and neither will the cycle of empire.
So no matter what happens regarding US-Denmark-European relations, again, it doesn’t mean one should “Sell America” as so many of the very serious people, salty and butthurt European bankers and bureaucrats that they are, would probably have you do right now. The so-called “Rules-based order” is being replaced by “understanding-based” spheres of influence. We will see how well the continent can keep up their generous pensions and socialized healthcare systems if they actually start spending on defense like their sovereign borders depended on it.
No, “Selling America” just before it adds a few more stars to the flag would be like “Selling Rome” in 49 B.C. when Caesar cast his die and declared war on the old order.
Not so impressive 2,075 years later, to be honest. | touristainitalia.com
It’s the Opening Act. You’d miss all the fireworks. Decades of power projection and fiat money printer-go-brrr remain.
Like Caesar, Trump won’t be around to see this all play out, but his name will reverberate through the ages. Before you cheer (or jeer) that statement, just think about Benjamin Franklin.
A republic is hard to keep, as Franklin unwittingly taught us all almost a quarter of a millennium ago. Empire is the natural state of the world – centralized power compounds and expands as it eats everything in its path – until gets crushed by a stronger or smarter competitor, or becomes so bloated under the weight of its own success that it eventually dies a hollow shell of its former self. Someone else then takes a turn at the top.
And that’s when the fun really begins for those watching, commenting, and investing with a historical perspective in mind. The gravitational pull towards control and empire are a feature – not a bug – of the systems that are human governance, economics, and society.
Ben Franklin, trying so very hard to rally support behind the newly drafted Constitution, admonished us on this as well, pointing the finger of bad governance squarely where it belongs – at each and every one of us.
“In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a General Government necessary for us, and there is no form of government, but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered; and believe further, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government.”10
At the end of the day, we (collectively) get what we deserve as a society.
❤️ “Like,” zap⚡⚡, and share this post to cast your die for us.
1 Rhode Island did not send any delegates to the Convention.
2 This conversation was supposedly overheard by James McHenry, a Maryland delegate and signer of the Constitution. He recorded Franklin’s response in a journal entry from that day.
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/constitutionalconvention-september17.htm
3 Their rules, or course, are where you are taxed to pay their salaries and they figure out evermore ways to make you poorer and more dependent on them.
4 And overthrew the monarchy in Hawaii so Sanford Dole could sell a whole lot of pineapples.
5 Despite every American generation having a major conflict where soldiers have been sent to far away lands to die, World War II was the last time Congress actually declared war on any opponent.
6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_case
7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legally_fatherless
8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For%C3%A6ldrekompetenceunders%C3%B8gelse
9 This is not a dig at Greenlanders and any supposed lack of patriotism for their kind rulers over in Denmark. It seems that patriotism means little to most people when large sums of money are involved. In some hypothetical world, if Mexico were to offer every American $100k to secede and become a part of Mexico, we believe close to 50% or even more would take the money.
10 https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/constitutionalconvention-september17.htm