A Beginner’s Guide to Western Civilization’s Self-Sabotage

Here are a few stories from the week that caught our eye, all of which highlight the bizarre ways that Western Civilization is sabotaging itself.

Canadians screw themselves to spite Trump

Canadians are celebrating that Donald Trump is not their new Prime Minister.

Of course, he wasn’t on the ballot. But don’t tell Canadian voters that. Because one of the few things Canadians across the political spectrum seem to agree on is that they are definitely not the United States.

And what better way to show that than by making their entire election about the United States?

Up until early April, Pierre Poilievre was poised to win in a landslide. Until Mark Carney—a man whose main qualification was being the most Anti-Trump candidate on offer—stepped in and ran against Trump.

For anyone paying attention, Carney is just Justin Trudeau-Castro 2.0, only with perhaps even deeper ties to the ‘eat-bugs-and-own-nothing’ World Economic Forum.

Carney is also the guy who helped shape the WEF’s ‘stakeholder capitalism’ nonsense, and he’s also one of the world’s most devout holy climate warriors.

He’s still preaching talking about “transitioning” the economy to expensive green energy… while pretending this won’t drive up energy prices, inflate costs, scare off manufacturers, and kill the good union jobs he swears he wants to protect.

What a great way to bankrupt the Canadian economy.

And we already know this is true, because from 2016 to 2024 Canada’s real GDP per capita grew just 2.5%, according to the Wall Street Journal. It was a “Lost Decade”  under Trudeau-Castro.

The US, in contrast, grew 18.7% over the same period.

But hey—at least Carney doesn’t send mean tweets.

The UK Lost 10,800 Millionaires Last Year

In 2023, the UK lost a net 4,200 millionaires.

Then in 2024, a net 10,800 millionaires fled.

What changed?

Simple: the British government announced it was killing off the “Non-Dom” regime—a 226-year-old tax structure that allowed foreign residents to exclude overseas income from UK taxation, as long as they didn’t bring it into the country.

Under the new rules, foreign income will be taxed after just four years of residency, regardless of where it’s earned or held. It’s a full-on shift from “welcome wealthy investors” to “soak the rich.”

Of course, plenty of socialists will celebrate— just like they do when they chase new Amazon warehouses and jobs out of their cities.

They fail to appreciate that wealthy people tend to disproportionately contribute to economic activity and tax revenue—whether through income taxes, capital gains, or even just everyday spending that drives sales tax and VAT revenue.

When a guy walks into a Maserati dealership and pays £200,000 for a car, that’s not tax-free. That’s VAT. That’s employment. That’s revenue. That’s economic life pumped into a high-cost, high-tax economy.

Now those people are leaving.

No one’s saying the ultra-wealthy should be given sainthood or special treatment. The point is far simpler: whatever you tax, you get less of.

Tax high earners aggressively, and you get fewer high earners living in your country.

Tax consumption, you get less spending.

Tax investment, you get less capital formation.

Tax policy is not just about revenue—it’s about economic priorities.

Tax Life, Get Less of It…

This same tax concept is true when it comes to the dramatic drop in fertility rates.

Last year, the US fertility rate remained at record lows according to new CDC data. The average woman is now expected to have just 1.63 children over her lifetime—well below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population.

And among women in their 20s—the traditional peak childbearing years—the decline is even steeper.

When asked why they are not having children, many people cite the exploding cost of living— from housing, to daycare, to medical care, to food, to education.

In other words, inflation. But inflation is really just a tax that comes from the combination of excess government spending and irresponsible central bank policy.

So, just like taxing capital chokes investment, it should be no surprise that taxing the cost of living (via inflation) results in fewer births.

Source

Simon Black is an international investor, entrepreneur and permanent traveler. His daily letter is both educational and entertaining, and we suggest that those who want unbiased, actionable information about global opportunities sign up for Sovereign Man’s free, actionable newsletter at http://www.SovereignMan.com.

From Simon Black of SovereignMan.com

Source: https://www.schiffsovereign.com/trends/a-beginners-guide-to-western-civilizations-self-sabotage-152725/