Latest / Man in America Podcast / Is the Playbook that Collapsed Rome Being Used on America Today? w/ Jeremy Slate

Transcript

Is the Playbook that Collapsed Rome Being Used on America Today? w/ Jeremy Slate · Man in America Podcast

• 0:00
  Seth Holehouse: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Man in America. I'm your host, Seth Hullhouse. So you've probably heard the saying, history repeats itself. And as we look around in modern America, what history are we repeating? So a a lot of folks have often talked about the similarities between modern America and ancient Rome and the fall of Rome.
• 0:19
  And and there's a lot of, you know, elements to what caused Rome to fall that you can see playing out right here in America. You know, unfettered immigration was a big one to say, okay. Hey. Come one. Come all.
• 0:30
  We'll see what happens. The debasing of currency, inflation, etcetera. So joining us today is my good friend Jeremy Ryan Slate, who is a fellow podcaster, but also someone who did his masters in literally Rome and the collapse of Rome. So we're gonna be talking about what happened in ancient Rome. How does it relate to what's happening now?
• 0:50
  How can looking at what happened, you know, hundreds and hundreds of years ago in ancient Rome help us to understand what's happening in America and what could come next? So, folks, please enjoy the interview with Jeremy Ryan Slate. Jeremy, you've had me on your show, but it's great to finally get you as a guest on my show. Thank you so much for being here.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Hey, Seth. I I really appreciate you me having me on, man. I've been watching you way back since, you know, really, you started online, so I just appreciate you having me, man.
• 1:20
  Seth Holehouse: Absolutely. Well, we've met a handful of times at, you know, the Clay Clark's conferences, and it's just nice to speak to people that are on the same wavelength, you know, from from many different areas. And so today, our topic is the fall of Rome, and the parallels between the fall of Rome and what we're seeing in America today. And you're someone that's I mean, plays an interesting role in this because if I'm not if I'm not mistaken, you studied extensively in your formal education, the Roman Empire and the fall of Rome. Is that right?
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: So my master's degree is actually in the propaganda that was the transition from the republic to the empire of, like, the tools that Augustus used to convince people he was God. Then after graduating, I did a lot more, you know, research into the fall, reading Edward Gibbon, things like that. So I have, I guess, a lot more familiarity than your your regular person, but I wouldn't say, like, I'm a a PhD in the subject.
• 2:14
  Seth Holehouse: Okay. Only only a master's degree, not a PhD. So I won't take it. Well, what's interesting
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: though are funny, man, because it's like Oh,
• 2:21
  Seth Holehouse: you're right.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Historians are we're we're we're really good at making you think our opinion is actually what happened. So that's just one thing you gotta think about with us history people.
• 2:30
  Seth Holehouse: That's a good point. But I think what what makes you, you know, kinda uniquely positioned is that I feel like, you know, from watching your shows and talking to you, you have a pretty accurate understanding of what's happening in the world today. You understand that there are powerful forces that are controlling this world. That these powerful forces were also, in many ways, empowered during the Roman Empire, and that there's these lineages that they've maintained. And you understand that there's certain playbooks that they've used throughout history to collapse nations and everything.
• 2:59
  And talking where America's at today, if I brought on someone that was, say, a professor, say, it a liberal professor, you know, they they'd have a really hard time kind of correlating Rome to America today, because they may be saying, oh, open borders are good, but anyone knows what open borders and, you know, kind of free immigration did to to Rome. So I'm looking forward to this. So let's just go ahead and start with because there's so many things we could talk about as it relates to Roman America. But what in the collapse of the Roman Empire, what would you say were some of the defining reasons that led to this collapse of this empire that, you know, during the time people probably thought would last forever, but, of course, it never happens.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: So I I think when you look at it, it's you have to get your your terms correct as well. So Rome was originally founded in July, and you have kind of this era of kings, then you have the republic, which is May to '31. And then in thirty one BC is when you really have where the Roman Empire starts, and that's with Augustus. And you have this time period of of an empire that lasts really from '31 to April. So that's that's five hundred years of empire.
• 4:15
  Now in the East, the Byzantines, they would have thought they were Romans as well. Right? Because they they they wouldn't have considered themselves Byzantines. So if you ask them, the Roman Empire ended in 1453. So there there's kind of these different discussions of when did it actually end.
• 4:31
  But if we're looking at the West, Western power really fell in April when when the when Rome fell to to the barbarians at that point in time. So when when you're looking at that, there's a lot of different causes. Right? I I think it's hard to say that there's one cause that did it, but one major problem that pops up in the third century is Roman emperors realized that their power comes from the military. And because of that, under the sovereign emperors in the third century, they double the size of the military.
• 5:03
  And they then take different metals and mix them with the money and they debase the currency. And by the late third century, you have the currency is about a 15000% inflation. So inflation is out of control. You've also, for hundreds of years, had barbarian tribes that are, you know, on the peripheries of Rome. And in 02/12, you have emperor Caracalla issues the edict of Caracalla where he takes all of the people living in the Roman provinces and says, hey.
• 5:30
  Guess what? You guys are citizens now too. And there's different thought process of why he did this. One is to because the Roman emperor empire could then tax their inheritance. So, you know, it was basically a money thing.
• 5:42
  But you have all these new people that now were able to get the the the brain dole from Rome. So they were able to get food and things like that, and they're within the empire, and they're being funded by the empire. So you have immigration as another big problem. Then you also have crumbling central power because after Marcus Aurelius, funny enough, he's the Roman emperor that everybody's like, oh, he was, you know, such a wonderful thinker. He had all these great ideas.
• 6:07
  But he changes how the next emperor's name by naming his son Commodus, who was totally incapable of actually ruling the empire. And that crumbles central power for the next two hundred years. So you have crumbling central power, you have inflation out of control, and you have immigration. And if you look at what we're experiencing now, Seth, those are the very similar things to what we're experiencing now. I wouldn't say they're on the same level, but they're very similar to to what America's experiencing right now.
• 6:35
  Seth Holehouse: Would you say that what we're experiencing here in America, which I think that it it's easy if you not have this conversation, say, yeah, it's intentional. Some people might they they might say, well, it's accidental. It's it's it's poor leadership. But I think that for people that really know what's happening, you can see that it's it's as intentional as as the towers falling. Right?
• 6:56
  It's like this is a planned collapse. But would you say when you look at what's happening in America, look at especially look at the the border, immigration, you know, also the the money printing, inflation, do you do you see any signs or indicators that the the playbook that is being used on America is it was heavily based on Rome. Are you are you seeing that when you look at something happening and saying, ah, like, that came from somewhere? What are your what's what are your thoughts on that?
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: So I don't necessarily know if the the playbook comes from Rome, but I think it's it's very similar causes. Right? Like, you look at politicians throughout history make a lot of the same dumb moves. And I I think when you look at the late third century in Rome, you know, you have emperor Diocletian that tries to save it, and he puts a lot of the right reforms in place and then just bad leadership kind of continues it. But if you look at what's happening here, I think this is more of, like, a a globalist control play.
• 7:53
  Because if you look at it, America is kind of, I guess, the last bastion of freedom in the world. And if you take down America, it's gonna become much easier for places like the World Economic Forum and things to be able to put through a lot of the ideas they want. So while I don't necessarily think it's a playbook, I think they understand their history. They understand what's worked. And if you look, a couple different immigration is is an interesting one because it it causes a couple different problems.
• 8:18
  Like, the first one that it causes is number one, it overwhelms the welfare state because we now have all these people we have to pay for. But another big thing that no one is talking about is they say, well, what if what if these illegals, I guess they're calling them newcomers now or whatever whatever the verbiage is at the moment, what if they get the right to vote? And the the the thing is, Seth, that doesn't actually matter because under Obama, the census changed on how congressional representation is put together. So now those illegals are actually counted as part of congressional representation. So I believe California has it's anywhere from five to seven seats in congress that it shouldn't actually have.
• 8:56
  So all they have to do is, in these different states, change congressional representation, and you've now changed the government. So that's a really big issue with immigration that nobody's really talking about. And I think if you look at it, one of the number one ways Rome fell is there were no Romans Right? Like, it was all these other people that came into it, and that was how they were able to kind of change the empire. And it eventually becomes, you know, the the final Roman, I guess, emperor falls in April, and you have the the barbarian king just to say, I'm the king now, and that's Odoacker's name.
• 9:27
  So that's we we have a similar experience of where the democrats look at this and they say, well, if we can change the voting populace, if we can change the voting base, will we become the power in the state? And the money is kind of an interesting one because if if you look at the the inflation, I I think it's our politicians have too much faith in themselves, and I think they think they can get it keep it going forever. But I I think groups like the World Economic Forum want that to happen because they don't want the dollar to have premise anymore. Because if it does, it's much easier to control us just like they control other countries.
• 10:02
  Seth Holehouse: That makes sense. And so with immigration, you have everyone coming in, and it's okay. We about America being the melting pot. Like, okay. You know, that's that's true.
• 10:13
  And there's there's good aspects that, like, my family traces back to Germany, and and Ireland, and Scotland, and England, and obviously, you know, I'm not a native American. Right? I don't have multi generations that here are living off the land. So there's good in that. But, you know, America right now, even though it seems, you know, somewhat turbulent looking around, this is actually a really peaceful time.
• 10:38
  There's no civil war. Yes. We we have violence in, you know, places like Chicago or, you know, in in the inner city areas or there's some bad things, but overall, America is like, it's a dream to live here. I can go get my car and and and go to the store and buy something, go to the bank, and not be robbed or mugged or anything like that. And that's the case for most places in America.
• 11:01
  But what happens when there is turbulence? What happens when the the the stability of a country starts to really, really unravel? You look at Haiti as an example. How quickly it's now descended into this place that they've literally got cannibal gangs roaming around killing people. That's that's what happens.
• 11:22
  And so in America, we we brought in all these immigrants. We now know that through a lot of reports, know, folks like, know, Ann VanderSeehan or Michael Yann, that a lot of people coming over the border are military aged men. People that are probably coming in with the intention to cause chaos at some point whenever they they get their order. So all of these different tribes that we brought into this country. Right?
• 11:44
  And I think tribes is is a relatively appropriate way to refer to it. You have these, you know, there's a Somali tribe in this area. There's the, you know, the Iranian tribe in this area. Like, you know, there's different groupings, but they have their own customs. Right now, during peaceful times, it's it's easy to adhere to the the norms of United States, our culture.
• 12:03
  So when things get upset, and when when the stability of our society really starts to to fall apart, what happens to these tribes, and what happened in Rome? Right? Because I know Rome, they brought a lot of little tribes into Rome, gave them citizenship. As things started to fall apart, what happened in Rome, and how can we use that to understand what might happen here in America?
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Well, I I think, first of all, understanding citizenship is Rome in Rome is kind of an important aspect to that, because as we mentioned, 02/12, the edict of Caracalla, anybody in the so you have Rome in the center, and anything around Rome is considered the provinces. So emperor Caracallus says everyone in the provinces is now a citizen. Before that, the pathway to citizenship was different. You had Roman citizens that were either born that way or they gained their freedom as maybe they were born a slave or something like that, but you had these tribes that would serve in the Roman military. So you had the regular Roman military and you had what was called the auxiliary.
• 13:01
  And you would serve in the auxiliary if you were, you know, one of the barbarian tribes, and you would serve for maybe twenty or thirty years. And after that point, you would be a citizen. And your family would be citizens. Your your wife, your kids, everybody would be a citizen at that point. They would gain Roman citizenship.
• 13:18
  Now that means you can vote. That means you can participate in government. It also means you have access to, you know, any of the welfare state things, such as the Grain Dole and things like that. So I think it's important to have that understanding to understand, like, what do they plan to do with these military age males that are coming through? And I think the interesting thing to look at, and this goes right back to where Roman emperors realized their power came from, is they realized their power came from the military.
• 13:45
  I think what you're going to see is you're going to see our government propose the idea, well, you want to be a citizen. How about you serve in our military? Because then they have the loyalty to the person that is giving them the stuff or the citizenship or whatever it be, just like the Roman military had loyalty to whoever was paying them. And that's why they would, you know, raise the military pay 30%, sixty %, whatever it may be. That would be my real concern, Seth.
• 14:10
  Because if you look at what happened through the pandemic, we took out a lot of people in the military that were, you know, very good faithful Americans. Then you have a lot of the woke stuff coming in, and that's changing the military. Now if you bring in, you know, these new immigrants or illegal immigrants into the military, like, you've totally changed the face of the military, and they're not culturally Americans, and they don't have, I guess, faith or something to the to to what it is to be American. You know what mean? They don't have that that willingness to to stand up for that.
• 14:43
  They're willing to stand for whoever gives them the stuff. And I think that is the dangerous thing, and that's one of the major things that causes downfall of the empire because you'd have each general raise an army and attack Rome and stand them in charge. In the third century, you had 47 different people claim to be Roman emperor.
• 14:59
  Seth Holehouse: Folks, perhaps you'd agree with me when I say that over the past five years, the mainstream health care system's credibility has plummeted. Alternative health care systems that aren't beholden to medical consensus or big pharma are on the rise. Sweetamine is time tested and proven to boost your life with better health. It's one of the leading products that helps with inflammation and daily aches and pains. Just because you get older, it doesn't mean you have to feel old.
• 15:22
  And folks, did you know that most of the diseases that make people sick and die these days are rooted in chronic inflammation, oftentimes due to glycine deficiency. So sweetamine is composed mainly of the amino acid glycine, the nutrient that the immune system uses to regulate inflammation. So with once daily sweetamine, most people feel the reduction in pain after just a few days. So I challenge you to the twelve day sweetamine challenge to fight inflammation and take control of your health today. So folks, buy sweetamine online at sweetamine.com, or call 855 That's (855) 438-7933, and make sure you use promo code Seth, s e t h, to get a nice discount on your purchase.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: If you have something like that happen here, like, you could just have, you know, each new politician popping up saying, I'm in charge. And, you know, we're not there yet, but that could happen if you have these military age males brought into the into the military and offered citizenship or some other sort of goodies.
• 16:24
  Seth Holehouse: And so with Rome so, basically, if I understand what you're saying here is that you had your main central army, and then they had the auxiliary armies that were Correct. You know, more of the provinces that were made up of the people working towards earning their citizenship. Right? So did they so okay. So taking a step back is we also saw that with all these immigrants, you know, these immigrants flooding across the borders, I forget who it was.
• 16:49
  One of the high the political brass, they they made an announcement talking about how they were going to allow some of these people to serve in our military. Right? They proposed the idea of allowing the illegal immigrants to serve our military. So that feels like kind of a Rome thing, right, that's happening. Percent.
• 17:07
  What happened once things started to unravel in Rome? Did those military did you have any instances where, you know, entire regiments or sections of that military, especially the military the provincial military, did they turn against the empire? Like, did you what role did those what role did having large chunks of the military comprised of people not actually loyal to Rome itself or the idea it's Rome only to what the pay they're getting? When things got tough, what happened? What unfolded?
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: Well, so this goes back to so for for your listeners, if if you really wanna understand your world, read more about Rome's crisis of the third century. There's some really great YouTube videos out there on it as well because this goes back to the to the third century once again. You have troops were not loyal to the emperor. They were loyal to their general, and that's what starts to happen because they're different tribes and whoever pays me. Right?
• 18:08
  And a lot of times generals were the ones paying them. And in the third century, Rome actually breaks up. You have the central Roman Empire, but then in the West, you have something called the Gallic Empire, which is under a general named Posthumous. Him and his troops say, okay. Cool.
• 18:24
  We're gonna be an empire empire. They last for a good twenty years in the West. Then in the East, you have another empire that breaks off called the Palmyran Empire, which is I think it's actually a town in Pennsylvania too. But you have the Palmyran Empire under this woman named Zenobia that pops up on in the East. So the Roman Empire gets very small, and you have the Roman emperor at that time, his name is Gallienus, who's trying to unite the empire.
• 18:51
  He's fighting barbarians in the North. He has lost part of his empire in the West. He's lost part of his empire in the East. So you have this very, very unstable thing. And and that was one of the major problems is that soldiers were only loyal to their general, and that is why the third century is just so tumultuous.
• 19:10
  And then you have emperor Valerian that comes in after Gallienus or not not Valerian. I'm sorry. Aurelian. Valerian was Gallienus' father. You have Aurelian comes in and re reunites the whole thing, and he's actually killed by his troops because they decide, oh gosh.
• 19:25
  This guy is getting too powerful. And then in February, you have Diocletian comes in, reunites the whole empire. He actually changes how the military functions because he realizes that, like, okay. These guys have too much loyalty to their general, and that's continuing to make this problem happen. Chain puts in some some monetary reforms and things like that.
• 19:45
  So it was realized that was the problem. And and if we have a problem like that here, we start having troops that are no longer loyal to, you know, whether it's they're the National Guard for Florida or the National Guard for Texas or, you know, they're federal troops, and they start having loyalty to their general or a person, like, we're in real trouble, Seth. And I think that's that's the road we could be headed down.
• 20:08
  Seth Holehouse: That's my concern as well. So the people living at that time, and this will be kind of your your best guess or idea to to Sure. Go through a creative process of this. I feel like, okay, in America right now, that a lot of your average people walking the streets of America, they they know something is wrong. They know that there's problems with our elections.
• 20:30
  Like, they they know there's problems with the medical industry and the mandates, all that kind of stuff. They know things are are off, but they may not have an accurate understanding of how off they really are. Because we're always, you know, we're always used to what we see. Right? So we can't compare life now to life in the, you know, turn of the century, you know, hundred years ago, because we just we we become used to all the new norms and all the the way life is.
• 20:55
  But whereas, it's almost like if you have a you you see someone that has a kid that's three years old, you go back six months later, and you're like, oh my gosh, you got so big, because you you can actually take a step away and go look at this again, and you can see the difference. Whereas that three year old, you know, whatever age they are, they don't see that difference, right, because they're they're within it. So I feel like that a lot of people in America don't actually understand where America is at historically, and that we are at a place where we could see the collapse of this republic. So when you're looking back at Rome, and I know this is maybe a hard question to answer, but I'd love to see you kind of creatively attack it. For the average citizen of Rome, do you think that they saw the collapse coming?
• 21:40
  Do you think they believed that Rome could collapse, or do you think that they were just distracted and and and not really paying attention or not really aware of it? So how how would you look at that versus what we're seeing today?
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Well, there there's often, you know, people talk about bread and circus, and I and I think the the problem with that, Seth, is I think some of that is a poor understanding of history because in different sources, they wanted to make different emperors look worse or or whatever they may be. Like, there's a few crazy ones. Right? Like, you have Caracalla, you have Commodus, you have Elagabalus, you have these, like, really crazy guys. But I think if if you look at the reforms of Diocletian in February, that's actually a really good indicator of how people felt.
• 22:23
  Because one of the major things is people lost faith in their currency because they were mixing in different metals, they were doing different things. And the major thing that that Diocletian did off the bat is he standardized currency because people did not have faith in the currency. And if you don't have faith in the currency, the economy can collapse. So I think if you want one indicator, that's definitely it. Other than that, like, the power structure for regular people didn't change that much.
• 22:49
  You know, even when if you look at the last hundred years of Rome, there were emperors in place, but they were actually run by barbarian kings. And eventually in April, you have the barbarian king Odawacker says, okay. We're just gonna do away with this idea of there's an emperor and, like, yeah, I'm in charge. So the power structure didn't really change. But if you wanna look at how people looked at the currency, I think that's your indicator that something was wrong because people were not willing to use it to trade for different things.
• 23:17
  They would try to use different things to trade. And that becomes a real problem because if there's no currency in circulation, well, then, you know, the empire can't control what's happening. And to me, if you want a real feeling, you look at how people treat money. And I think that's a big thing of how do you feel look how it is now. You'd have to correct me on the numbers on this because it's been a couple days since I looked, but I think, you know, Bitcoin was over $7,070,000 dollars for for a single Bitcoin.
• 23:41
  So if you wanna look at how people feel about the economy, look at things that aren't our regular money and how they're doing. And that's what happened in in, you know, in late Rome is people lost total faith in the currency. And that's when, you know, as I said, Diocletian realized he needed to do something about the currency and actually minted new coins. But to me, if you look at that, that's an indicator of how people feel about the environment.
• 24:04
  Seth Holehouse: Such a good point. I mean, currency, it underlies everything. I mean, you know, one of my favorite guests is Martin Armstrong. And a lot of his programs are built off looking at what currencies can tell you about life at that time. And I'd say that, especially for folks who are watching this show, there's very little faith in the dollar or the the the fern, you know.
• 24:25
  Right? The the Federal Reserve note itself. So that's important. I think it's important to look at. But, you you know, in terms of the actual collapse of Rome.
• 24:35
  Right? They talk about the collapse of Rome, and maybe we have these ideas. Okay. What is the collapse of Rome? It's like it's like the one day that Rome fell.
• 24:43
  It's the one day all the riots started, and the government got thrown out, and the barbarians came in, but I think it's much more gradual than that.
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: But Yes.
• 24:52
  Seth Holehouse: It is. So what what is what is the actual collapse of Rome look like? And in its most collapsed state, what did it look like when it kinda hit rock bottom?
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: So this is gonna be very controversial because as I said, know, us as people, we like to we like to fight about what we believe and what we don't believe. But you have kind of the so so Rome, quote, unquote, falls in April. And what had happened for kind of the last hundred years is you have these emperors in place, but they're they're really just figureheads. They're they're they're really just there holding space. And you would have a barbarian king behind them, basically running them and and running what was left of the empire.
• 25:29
  So they wanted to use the power structure because it was already there. Right? There's no reason to create something new. And in April, eventually, I've mentioned his name a few times, but the barbarian king Odawacker says, you know what? We're I'm not gonna run this through a emperor anymore.
• 25:46
  I'm gonna do this myself. I'm the king of I'm the king of the Roman Empire, and that that's eventually what happens.
• 25:50
  Seth Holehouse: Let me jump in
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: real quick.
• 25:52
  Seth Holehouse: Just to make sure I understand, because I think this is a really important point. So if I understand correctly, what you're saying is that you have this this structure, this infrastructure, this org chart that runs the nation. And so what you're saying is that there's definitely a period you're saying, you know, upwards of a hundred years where even though it looked like on the surface, there was regular governance and and order, it was actually that that order was being used by an enemy by a barbarian king to run the country. So most people in Rome would have thought life was still normal. They had no idea that actually that there it was really a shadow government running their country.
• 26:29
  To me, that that right there is America. I mean, if you feel like, oh, the president's in charge, whether it was Reagan or JFK or even the ones you thought were the good ones that were fully independent, they were still massively controlled. And so Yes. Interesting. So it's almost like they they kept it going for as long as they needed it, and as Odewacker you're talking about here, when they no longer need it, that's when they wipe the chessboard and then rebuilt.
• 26:55
  So, anyway, I'll let you continue, but that's just I find it very interesting.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: Well, so so then in April, he comes in and says, you know, we're gonna get rid of the charade. And you guys know I've been in charge, so I'm just in charge. So then Odawacker is is basically the the king of Italy at that point. And then you have in the East, you have the Roman emperor Justinian. And Justinian's famous for the law code.
• 27:17
  He's famous for a lot of he he's the last emperor to really rule over a united Roman empire because what he actually does is he starts a campaign of trying to take Rome back over. And what ends up happening, Seth, is he destroys what was there. So he destroys the power structure that was there to, quote, unquote, save it. And, you know, history is often written by the victors. So the scribes around Justinian describe the date of April of and once again, as I said, this is very controversial and half your audience will probably tell me I'm crazy.
• 27:50
  But the the scribes that were around Justinian described the April date of the fall because, well, you know, Justinian had basically ruined what was left, and they didn't want him to look bad. But it had been if there there's a really, really interesting historian named doctor Brian Ward Perkins that writes about kind of the end of barbarian Rome. And he likes to postulate that Rome was actually, you know, quite profitable in that this period of time. It was doing quite well, and it was only because Justinian came in and ended it to, quote, unquote, save it that Rome falls. And, you know, during that point in time, the city is burned.
• 28:27
  You know, many of the inhabitants are leave. But from 04/10 to April under barbarian rulership, it was pretty good. You know, the Ostrogoths came in at 04/10 and basically sacked Rome. And, you know, we really, for that last seventy years, we have kind of, as I mentioned, Roman emperors that aren't Roman emperors. They're just kind of people propping them up.
• 28:48
  And when Justinian comes in to reunite the empire, that's the major thing that kills what's left of it.
• 28:53
  Seth Holehouse: Interesting. Interesting. So where where do you see that America is at on this timeline? Because there's a lot of discussion about this. It's it's almost like, you know, when you say that is it Osterwack?
• 29:06
  What's the guy's name? The
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: barber Oderwacker.
• 29:08
  Seth Holehouse: Oderwacker. Okay. Here we go. Oderwacker. These are new new words for
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: These are they're fun names.
• 29:12
  Seth Holehouse: Right? Yeah. They are. They are. Sounds like a it's an insult.
• 29:15
  You you, Oderwacker. It's like, how dare you? So Oderwacker, basically, at a certain point, basically, okay. We're we're done with the charade. I'm actually in charge.
• 29:23
  It almost makes me think of, imagine, say, Obama coming out one day. And like, okay, you know what? I'm actually the person running
• 29:29
  Robert Kiyosaki: This is
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: actually my third term.
• 29:31
  Seth Holehouse: Exactly. And not only that, but like, we're gonna do away with this whole House of Representatives and Congress, and, like, I'm gonna impose myself as the the supreme ruler. Right? Because I'm actually the one that's running things here. So but where so where do you see that America is at right now in this timeline versus where Rome was at?
• 29:55
  Hey, folks. I've got a quick message for you. So I'm sure you've heard a lot of people, myself included, talking about the importance of buying precious metals, gold and silver. But what's really behind that? Is it just a thing of, hey.
• 30:09
  Buy this gold. Buy this silver. Right? Or is there something deeper that we should be looking at? So I recently came across some figures about house prices.
• 30:16
  So in 1930, the average family home was approximately $4,000. Fast forward to 02/2023, the average family home is just over $400,000. So you have to ask yourself, why is that? Is it because things have just gotten more expensive? No.
• 30:32
  It's actually because the dollar has lost 99% of its value since 1930. Right? When people talk about the collapse of the dollar or inflation, this is what it means. Now let's take a look at gold. So in 1930, if you wanted to purchase your home in gold, it would take approximately 200 gold coins.
• 30:50
  So 200 gold coins would purchase the average family home in 1930, about $4,000. Now if you instead of buying a home with that gold or cash, you set those aside. If you set aside $4,000 in cash in 1930, it would be worth $4,000 today. What can you buy with $4,000? Can you buy a family home?
• 31:11
  No. You can't even buy a crappy used car. But if you set aside $4,000 worth of gold coins in 1930, which is 200 gold coins, 1 ounce coins, that would be worth approximately $400,000 today. And this is the key lesson about precious metals. It's not about getting rich.
• 31:31
  It's about putting your money into an asset that protects you against inflation and against the destruction of the currency, which is what happens to all fiat currencies, especially now we're in the end days of the dollar. And so that's why it's important, maybe not all of your money, but a portion of your money, a portion of what you have, I highly recommend putting it into precious metals of gold and silver, because what it's doing is it's protecting you. This is an asset that has stood the test of time, not just stood the test of time since the nineteen thirties. We're talking about the rise and fall of civilizations. Gold was used to buy houses back in ancient Rome.
• 32:09
  It's still around. It's an asset that will forever have its value. So folks, if you want to do this and you need someone you can trust, there's no person I can recommend more than doctor Kirk Elliott. He's a very good friend of mine. He's a strong Christian patriot, and he's out to really help people to protect their savings and what you've worked for against the destruction of the dollar, not to mention also protecting it against the dangers of a central bank digital currencies.
• 32:34
  So to learn more about this, go to goldwithseth.com or call (720) 605-3900. Again, that's goldwithseth.com or (720) 605-3900. Both those places will allow you to set up a quick appointment where you can talk to a wealth adviser that will help get you started on this path. Again, goldwithseth.com, 7 2 0 6 0 5 3 9 0 zero.
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: So I I think the the the thing you have to point out is I think people wanna say history repeats, and I I don't think that's a % true. I think it does rhyme, but I don't think it repeats. Because I think we're most similar to Rome's Third century. And the third century, we're talking about the two hundreds. And Rome lasted another two hundred years after that, right, till April.
• 33:22
  We haven't had, you know, the continual overthrows by a general. Like, that's something that hasn't happened here. But if you wanna look at a lot of the issues that we're suffering from, you know, we have crumbling central power. Right? We have a country that's trying to assert itself as more of a federalist system than than more of a sis of a states' rights system.
• 33:41
  So you do have this kinda central power issue. Another issue we have is we have the currency issue. Our currency is out of control, and, you know, car repairs this year that that I had done seven years ago cost me double for the hourly rate seven years ago. That's wild. So the money is out of control, and immigration is going wild.
• 34:02
  And I think another thing to point out as well, and and this is, I guess, one of the downsides of Rome, is is anytime that there's cultural issues, the the Roman emperor says, well, let's all go after the Christians again. Right? Because we we can unify ourselves as kind of a, you know, a group going after one group. And that's one of the things that, you know, Caligula does. It's one of the things that Nero does.
• 34:24
  It's one of the things that Diocletian does is they look at because of if in comparison to America, if you look at we don't really have a unified American culture anymore. And America was always an innately Christian nation. And looking at Rome, they were a polytheistic society. It was different. And it wasn't in the way of we all worship these different gods.
• 34:45
  Once a year, you would you were asked to pray to the emperor and you kinda prayed however you wanna pray. But when things weren't going well, they would go after the Christians because that was a wide idea of kind of uniting people under one idea. And I don't think prosecute persecuting Christians is a great idea, but I I do think if you look at it, we don't have a homogenous American culture. We don't have, you know, that Christian society we used to have. So if you look at it, we have money's out of control, immigration's out of control, central power's out of control, and there's no uniting culture.
• 35:16
  Well, that's Rome's Third century. So if you wanna look at that, we have if we get in the right reforms, Seth, like, we can actually fix this thing because the constitution fixes the federal problem. Right? Because anything that isn't given to this given to the federal government and the constitution is given to the states in the tenth amendment. But and then you also look at if we can handle the currency and get back on hard currency.
• 35:39
  It's gonna be a little painful for a while, but if we can get back on hard currency, that's good. And we have to close the borders and get the people out that did not come here legally. There's nothing wrong with immigration. That's how my family got here. It's how a lot of families got here.
• 35:52
  But if we do not close the borders, we're gonna lose everything.
• 35:58
  Seth Holehouse: So you think that we can save this nation, which I I tend to agree.
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: I
• 36:03
  Seth Holehouse: do. I I think that there's a process. Think a lot of bad stuff has to get taken out. Like, you have to destroy the the bad, which is difficult because there's always collateral damage. So what what path do you see forward for that?
• 36:17
  I mean, do you think that Trump getting back in, having a second term, not having to behave so well as his first term, or he's trying to, you know, he's trying to win over folks for the second term. Do you think that's it? Do you think I I mean, what path forward do you do you see? Because sometimes it's hard to see that way forward.
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: Well, I I think the path forward is through the system. Right? Because I I think to say, like, let's blow this thing up and start again is the wrong viewpoint. Like, I think we need to get back to what the constitution is. And some of those issues, I don't know if we can fix because I I say the year that the republic ended is 1913, and that's because you have the the Federal Reserve Act that goes through, you have the income tax amendment that goes through, and you have the seventeenth amendment that takes representation away from state legislatures.
• 37:00
  That's a big thing that needs to be fixed that we're no longer a functional republic. But I think if you look at kind of where we are, I do think Trump with the right reforms can help us. I think he can kind of fix a lot of the situation, but he needs to hire better. Right? Like, we need to have better people in those cabinet positions.
• 37:19
  And he's gotta stop caring so much about what other people think about him, because I think to a certain extent, he does like how the media views him. He does like being a celebrity a bit. The right reforms and not caring what other people think is what's gonna fix this thing. But it and, Seth, it's gonna be painful for a little while to get those right reforms in because we've been living off of the future's money for years. So unless we get hard currency in now, you know, we're gonna be too far down the road.
• 37:46
  And we need to do something about immigration. We really do because it is out of control. And and I have to check the stats on this, but the last thing I saw was under four years of Trump, it was, like, 1,700,000 people came in. And under three years of Biden, you know, we're almost at 9,000,000 people coming across the border, which is insane. So we need to fix that fast.
• 38:08
  We really do. And I think with the right reforms, it can be done. I don't think we're, you know, kind of too far down the road. But I think another four years, we're too far down the road, Seth. I think this is the time it has to be done.
• 38:19
  Seth Holehouse: No. I agree. I I I say that this is the most important election in the history of our country. I mean, it I agree. It really determines the fate of our country in many, many ways, which makes me concerned that they're gonna try something even more aggressive and and and crazy to make sure that that it goes, you know, the way they want it to go.
• 38:39
  But I want to touch on currency. Again, you mentioned currency just now. And so Yeah. What did it look like? So in in Rome, when their currency collapsed from, you know, the the debasement inflation, etcetera, what that what that process look like, and what what did life look like for people amidst that currency collapse, and how long did it take?
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: Well, there was and there was also it's interesting thing because there was a lot happening at that same time too. Rome had just had a plague, the January to the January where they lost ten percent of the population, and then they have another plague in the third century where and they don't they think it was smallpox. We're not really sure. So you have the population is depleted. Right?
• 39:21
  And then there's also kind of a, like, a once in a generation issue with crops. So there's massive crop failures, and people don't have faith in the currency. So what you end up seeing is you're seeing a lot more bartering, people refusing to use the currency. And that was one of the major issues why the emperor wanted to do something about the currency because people weren't using it. And if they're not using that currency, well, that means the central power no longer has control.
• 39:48
  Right? Because then the central power is there to to be the kind of thing between people. And once they take that out, that's a problem. So I when when you look at it, that was the major thing that was happening is it was more bartering. It was more people saying, you need this, I need that.
• 40:03
  And and that was why you have a new silver coin that's minted and a new gold coin that's minted in the in the late third century because we need to get people having faith in this currency again. And it lasts for a little bit, but I will tell you after about three ten, they go right back to the same policies. And that's one of the things that kind of weaken central power is when you have bad leadership, you can have a reformer that can fix some things, but you're gonna have the same problems over and over again. So I think what has to happen is you have to have reform, and then you have to have better better leaders in the future, Seth. Like, that that is what does it.
• 40:39
  Otherwise, we create the same problems over and over again.
• 40:42
  Seth Holehouse: Which is difficult because when they're the ones choosing our leaders, not us, or we have this illusion that we choose our leaders. But, obviously, what's it mean to be a good leader if someone that is loyal to the the the well-being of the country versus loyal to the well-being of a global government that doesn't want national borders, doesn't want America to exist. I mean, it's it's it's tricky. It's really tricky to to figure this this equation out. We're really on a knife's edge here.
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: Well, and they also care so much about their own well-being, which that's similar to how, you know, late emperor empire emperors were. Like, if you look at, you know, our politicians, they'll take money from China. They'll take money from these corporations. They'll take money from lobbyists. They'll, you know, you know, commit grievous acts as long as nobody else knows about it.
• 41:28
  And that's the problem is our politicians should be the best of us, Seth, and they're the worst of us. And I think that's the real problem we have is who do we even trust out there? Because if you wanna look at Rome's problems, Rome's problems came from poor leadership. You have you have your early emperors that that go until about '96, and you have what's called the five good emperors. And it was unusual to have emperors rule for a numb you know, a long number of years, but the five good emperors, they all rule for an average of twenty years, which is really good.
• 42:01
  The last one of those is Marcus Aurelius. And what they actually did is they created this weird process of adoption. You could actually adopt adults in the Roman Empire. So they would take the person around them that they thought was most qualified to be the leader, and the emperor would adopt that person. That meant he got his name, his titles, his wealth.
• 42:18
  And for five emperors, they have all this stability because they actually take the best qualified person and they say he's in charge. And then Marcus Aurelius says, okay. I'm gonna name my 16 year old son Commodus emperor. And that is one of the major things that kills it. Unless we have good leadership, we can fix things for a period of time.
• 42:35
  But unless we have good leadership, we're not gonna fix it forever.
• 42:39
  Seth Holehouse: And when Aurelius brought in Commodus, what what were some things that happened under Commodus that led to the downfall?
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: So he was actually more interested in being a gladiator than ruling. And he would do these gladi but he was kind of a wimp as well. So he would shoot animals and things like that, but he would do it from a platform where they couldn't actually hurt him. So he would spend all of this time in gladiatorial gladiatorial fights, and he also raised the grain dole. So he was giving out more free food to the people, doing all these different things, and he wasn't actually interested in ruling the empire.
• 43:12
  So there's actually several he he reigns for almost twenty years, but there's several attempts to kill him. The first, they try to poison him, but they give him too much poison in the wine so he vomits and he doesn't die. Then they have a wrestler actually strangle him to death, and that's how he ends up dying. But he was just so interested in his own vanity and, you know, being looked at as the new Hercules and being a gladiator and not ruling and not, you know, legislating his country. And that was one of the major things.
• 43:40
  He was one of the few emperors that people would would actually shout insults at because they hated him so much. People realize this thing is not doing so well, you know, during his during his reign. And if you wanna look at, like, what caused Rome to fall, it's his reign. It's what, you know, causes the next several hundred years of instability.
• 44:01
  Seth Holehouse: Gosh. It's almost like, I mean, if you look at Biden as an example, that he's mean, now, obviously, he's not a, you know, Herculean gladiator. I mean, he's Sure. Kinda the opposite. But if you look at the the public disdain, it's not just like the ultra MAGA supporters.
• 44:18
  The average person now is calling this guy names and and and sees what what has happened in this country. And so so, basically and and how long did Commodus rule for? Like, how how long did he inflict damage before he set the course of Rome towards that that destruction?
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: So he jointly rule so so he jointly ruled with Marcus Aurelius, which is a very unusual thing to happen. And Marcus Aurelius dies in the year January. Commodus dies in January, and you have what's known as the year of five emperors. So there's Commodus and then four other short lived emperors because that's where kind of this idea of central power changes over to whoever can get the military who can is who can rule the country. So he really starts that crumble.
• 45:02
  So he rules for about a good twelve years on his own, but I'd say he's in power for a good twenty, which is very unusual for a boy to be basically named Roman emperor.
• 45:12
  Seth Holehouse: Folks, how do you feel? Me? I feel great. And one of the reasons I believe I feel better is because I take Balance of Nature's fruits and veggies in a capsule. They have an amazing story how this product was developed by doctor Douglas Howard.
• 45:25
  It's right there on their website. Balance of Nature receives over a thousand success stories every single month. They have hundreds of thousands of customers who've purchased billions of capsules of their fruits and veggies over the past twenty years. You should check it all out on their website. Their products are gluten free and non GMO, and they contain no added sugars or synthetics.
• 45:44
  I think if you're looking for something to make you feel better naturally, you should definitely give Balance of Nature a try. In fact, order today. Whether you order online or call them direct, you must use a promo code Seth, that's s e t h, to get this special offer of 35% off, plus $10 off any additional sets, plus free shipping and the money back guarantee. So call them at 802468751 and use discount code Seth, or order online at balanceofnature.com and use discount code Seth to get 35% off.
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: The first, they try to poison him, but they give him too much poison in the wine so he vomits and he doesn't die. Then they have a wrestler actually strangle him to death, and that's how he ends up dying. But he was just so interested in his own vanity and, you know, being looked at as the new Hercules and being a gladiator and not ruling and not, you know, legislating his country. And that was one of the major things. He was one of the few emperors that people would would actually shout insults at because they hated him so much.
• 46:51
  People realize this thing is not doing so well, you know, during his during his reign. And if you wanna look at, like, what caused Rome to fall, it's his reign. It's what, you know, causes the next several hundred years of instability.
• 47:04
  Seth Holehouse: Gosh. It's almost like, I mean, if you look at Biden as an example, that he's mean, now, obviously, he's not a, you know, Herculean gladiator. I mean, he's Sure. Kind of the opposite. But if you look at the the public disdain, it's not just like the ultra MAGA supporters.
• 47:21
  The average person now is calling this guy names, and and and sees what what has happened in this country. And so so, basically and and how long did Commodus rule for? Like, how how long did he inflict damage before he set the course of Rome towards that that destruction?
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: So he jointly rule so so he jointly ruled with Marcus Aurelius, which is a very unusual thing to happen. And Marcus Aurelius dies in the year January. Commodus dies in January, and you have what's known as the year of five emperors. So there's Commodus and then four other short lived emperors because that's where kind of this idea of central power changes over to whoever can get the military and who can is who can rule the country. So he really starts that crumble.
• 48:05
  So he rules for about a good twelve years on his own, but I'd say he's in power for a good twenty, which is very unusual for a boy to be basically named Roman emperor.
• 48:14
  Seth Holehouse: I see. Okay. Okay. That makes sense. And so with with America, you mentioned, you know, reforms and changing some of these, you know, very fundamental things happening in our country.
• 48:25
  Do you or, you know, it's it's easy to have these discussions about America collapsing and seeing the end of, you know, America as we know it, but also seeing something new coming in, or there's a lot of different, you know, ideas. I mean, I would say that if you look at the corruption of our agencies, the corruption of our government, the corruption of our politicians, the fact that, you know, we're being taxed, almost 50% of everything we we do goes to the government in some form. And, I mean, no one's really raising too many flags about it. I mean, obviously, a lot of us are, but the average Americans just go along with it and say, well, the government taxes me. Like, we've just we've kinda we've come so far.
• 49:02
  So do you do you think that I mean, obviously, so let's just say Trump gets in and does four years worth of really good reforms. Do you think that all that can do is just set us on the right course? Or because to me, it's just like, I I can't imagine how this country would would be fixed in even twenty years, let alone four years, I mean, without major major fundamental changes to the entire fabric of our country.
• 49:28
  Speaker 2: Well, and I think this goes back to something that that you actually raised on my show. And and I think it goes back to, sure, Trump can do what he can do, but the the presidency only matters so much. Like, unless we get involved in our families, unless we get involved in a local level, unless we start taking responsibility in our own sphere, it can get better for a couple years, but nothing changes. Right? Like, we've lost the culture.
• 49:53
  And unless we start creating new culture, which that means books and movies and different things, and we're seeing that, you know, here and there. But we need people to start saying, I provide for my family. I provide my own food. I'm gonna vote for my school board. I'm gonna vote for my mayor.
• 50:08
  You know what? I'm gonna run for my school board. Unless those things happen on a local level, Seth, we only give ourselves a couple more years of lifetime with a good president. It has to be a grassroots cultural change in who we are as people. Because even I don't know if you watched there was that the Yellowstone precursor series.
• 50:28
  I think it was called 18 something. Oh. But if if Yeah. If you watch how how rough those people were, like, you didn't mess with those people. Americans are pushovers now, man.
• 50:40
  We need to get back to being people that we can depend on ourselves and depend on our neighbor and take part of our and take care of our own sphere. We've gotten to be too soft. We've lost religion. We've lost spirituality, and we we've lost the pillar of society that is us as community. So unless we bring that back, you know, presidential reforms aren't really gonna help us that much.
• 51:02
  Seth Holehouse: Yeah. It's it's a good point. I mean, we need more beards and mustaches. That's gonna help
• 51:06
  Speaker 2: in Right? My my wife made me cut mine because it got two walruses, so I'm trying to grow it back.
• 51:12
  Seth Holehouse: Oh, I see. Yeah. Thankfully, my wife, like, she she just she loves it in whatever state it's in, except if it's too short. If I trim
• 51:19
  Speaker 2: it too
• 51:19
  Seth Holehouse: short, she's like, it's it's it's too short. So so as we're we're rounding out, I wanna make sure to to give a big shout out to your show, because you're not just an expert in in different subjects, but you do what I do. Right? You have guests. You you bring people on.
• 51:34
  So I'll pull up your your YouTube page, which thing know, luckily, you're still on YouTube. But what you know, pitch us your show. Why would someone watch the Jeremy Ryan Slate show that you put out, which I have to say is very well done, very professional, but what do you do? Why is it important?
• 51:52
  Speaker 2: So I I believed in the words of Andrew Breitbart that politics is downstream from culture. And we really talk about, like, what are the cultural issues? What are the things that matter so that you can play the game of life well? What information do you need so that you can take care of your family, so that you can run a business, so you can do these different things? We talk to business leaders.
• 52:10
  We talk to politicians. You know, we talk to generals because I wanna help people know not just what the game board of life looks like, but how do you play it well so that you can be more responsible for your sphere. So that that's what we do over at my show.
• 52:23
  Seth Holehouse: And so then tell us about Command Your Brand because that's also something that you do, which I'll pull the website up for that.
• 52:29
  Speaker 2: Yes. So we started Beyond is the show. So we started Command Your Brand in in 2016 because I'm a big believer that podcasts and new media are the only thing that matters. You know, the the pod father, Adam Curry himself, made the statement that podcasts are the last bastion of free speech. So we help people to get their word out on the right podcast, have the right conversations, and and do things like this, Seth.
• 52:51
  Talk about what matters so that we can make this place a lot better. So we help clients to appear in the right podcast. We help them run a campaign over about a year, and that's what we do at Command Your Brand.
• 53:02
  Seth Holehouse: Great. And so if folks wanna get ahold of you, obviously, you know, commandyourbrand.com. Any other ways that they should be, you know, kinda interacting with you?
• 53:11
  Speaker 2: So I'm on x the most. I'm at Jeremy Ryan Slate over there, and I'm I'm at Jeremy Ryan Slate on every major platform. My parents named me an actor, so I use my middle name to to be able to get found. So, yeah, I'm at Jeremy Ryan Slate everywhere.
• 53:24
  Seth Holehouse: Perfect. And any closing comments as we wind up this interview?
• 53:30
  Speaker 2: Well, I I would say this, Seth. I would say, like, yes, a change in presidency will help us. Right? Like, it definitely will help us put in the right path. But if we're gonna see change, if we're gonna see things get better, it's out to up to those of you out there listening to start making your own food, to start taking care of your family, to take care of your neighbor.
• 53:50
  You know, how many people actually stop because they see somebody on the side of the road that needs help on their car? Like, be that person. We need community back, and that is how we save this country.
• 54:01
  Seth Holehouse: It's such a good point. I interviewed David Martin recently, and one of his, like, really important things on how to save the country was invite friends over for dinner. Yes. Have your neighbor over, have a friend over, start building community again, which is it it's it's so important. I think it's been lost.
• 54:18
  I think it's been intentionally lost. They they obviously they tried to isolate us and separate us. But, yeah, like, build local community. It it's so Yeah. So so critical right now.
• 54:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And it it gets on my wife's nerves sometimes because sometimes we're running a little bit late, but I'm like, I see a car on the side of the road. I'm the guy that always pulls over. And I always ask, like because people get a little jumpy. I'm like, are you okay?
• 54:37
  Do you need help? Because you know what? What if that was my wife? What if that was my kids? I'd want somebody to help them.
• 54:42
  So I think you need to pay it forward like that even in those small ways, and that's how our community gets better.
• 54:48
  Seth Holehouse: Good good words to end with. So, Jeremy, thanks again, man. It's great talking to you. Take care, and god bless.
• 54:54
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Thank you for having me, Seth.
• 54:56
  Seth Holehouse: Of course. Folks, have a quick message for you. Look, the twenty twenty four election is do or die for the globalist and communists that have infiltrated our country and are currently running it. And they either have to win or they're gonna destroy America so nothing is left either way. And if you're the person that's watching this show and following this information, unfortunately, you have the weight on your shoulders of making sure that your family is prepared, especially as we head in to this next year in this next election cycle because unfortunately, I think it's gonna get rough.
• 55:27
  And one of the ways I know they're going to target us is through our food supply. You can see all the food factories burned down, you can see the warnings of coming famines and food shortages and everything like that. And food is one of the number one ways totalitarian regimes have always used to control the populations destroy the food supply. So if you don't have at least two, three, four, five, six months worth of stored food, I highly recommend you take that very seriously because look, as I mentioned, if you're the person that's watching this, you're the person that carries the burden of making sure your family is prepared. I would recommend at least six months, if not a year of storable food.
• 56:02
  So if things go haywire, whether it's grid down or terrorist attack from what's coming across the border, that your family can safely stay in place and you can feed your family. So folks today, go to heavensharvest.com and make sure you get your storeable food that'll last for up to twenty five years. Just in case things go south, you know that you have what's gonna take to feed your family, which is so so critical for us to get through this next stage of history. So go to heavensharvest.com today, order your food that lasts up to twenty five years and use promo code Seth to save 15% on your entire order. Again, that's heavensharvest.com and use promo code Seth, s e t h, to save 15% on your entire order.