The man of system… seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a great society with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a chess-board. He does not consider that in the great chess-board of human society, every single piece has a principle of motion of its own, altogether different from that which the legislature might choose to impress upon it.
Smith's ethical analysis here is much like his economic analysis. Morality and the market are both functional systems. They work on instinctive principles, and left to themselves, they work reasonably well to promote human welfare. If we had other, destructive instincts, we would not be here to discuss the matter. We should therefore be cautious of trying to re-shape these systems in ways that might appear sensible to us but could in fact destabilize the whole mechanism.
Go Back to Contents
Table of Contents
Dedications
Acknowledgements
About the Author, Bobby Akart
INTRODUCTION BY FREEDOM PREPPERS
Epigraph
Author's Note
PART ONE THE RISE AND FALL OF EMPIRES
Chapter One The Course of Empire
Chapter Two What is Economic Collapse?
Chapter Three What is Societal Collapse?
PART TWO ECONOMIC THEORY: BASIC ECONOMICS IN MODERN TIMES
Chapter Four What is Economics, and why should you care?
Chapter Five Gold, and its role in Economic Theory
Chapter Six The Great Economists
Chapter Seven Inflation
Chapter Eight Recession
Chapter Nine Deflation
Chapter Ten Stagflation
Chapter Eleven Hyperinflation
PART THREE CASE STUDIES IN ECONOMIC COLLAPSE
Chapter Thirteen The Roman Empire
Chapter Fourteen The Great Depression
Chapter Fifteen The Greatest Market Crashes
Chapter Sixteen Who's Next?
PART FOUR IS ECONOMIC COLLAPSE A REALISTIC THREAT?
Chapter Seventeen Trigger Events
Chapter Eighteen The Decline of Economic Freedom
Chapter Nineteen Can we survive another financial crisis like 2008?
Chapter Twenty Are We On The Brink of Economic Collapse?
PART FIVE PREPARING FOR ECONOMIC COLLAPSE
Chapter Twenty-One Ways to Protect Yourself
Chapter Twenty-Two Barter
Chapter Twenty-Three We Are All Preppers Now
APPENDIX A an excerpt from THE LOYAL NINE by Amazon Best-Selling Author Bobby Akart
APPENDIX B PREPAREDNESS CHECKLIST
APPENDIX C The Condensed Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith