Jeremy Aragon, The 7 Steps to Freedom Step 7: Obtain a Second Residency or Passport

The 7 Steps to Freedom Step 7: Obtain a Second Residency or Passport

I am not a number. I am a free man. No 6 in The Prisoner

I probably don’t need to remind you of the precarious nature of our existing political and social systems. What, on the surface, appears permanent - something we have got used to during our own lifetime - can suddenly look very fragile. I’m talking about the potential impact of economic crisis and dislocation. This possiblity is very real as I write this. Various stresses and strains are building up under our political and economic foundations and hidden tectonic power shifts are under way - even if they are not clearly visible right now.

Just take one example. As of writing a number of nations are in serious economic trouble. And I’m not talking about obvious “banana republics”. No, I’m referring to ”old world” countries in Europe - including the United Kingdom. And even more surprisingly, also the USA.

Over the past decades each of these countries has lived in a mirage economy created by debt. The whole social welfare/socialist experiment has been built on the shakey foundations of deliberate devaluation of paper money, income transfers, and passing the financial buck on to future generations. But the game may be up.

Take the danger of a sovereign debt default. This is where a country gets itself into such a financial hole that it is unable to borrow without paying ever higher interest rates. This type of national borrowing is done through the issuance of sovereign bonds, which have historically been considered as a “safe-haven” asset class, due to the expected reliability and permanence of the government in question. However, when any government has deficit that approaches or exceeds 100% of its GDP, then the bond markets demand a greater rate of return (interest). This in turn pushes up the borrowing costs for the nation concerned, creating what is in effect a debt trap - where more and more of the nation’s income is eaten up in servicing such debt.

Trouble is, the only way out of this (apart from an actual debt default and devaluation) is to cut back on government expenditure. This may sound entirely logical and rational, but due to the dynamics of western democracies, which all have significant welfare expenditure in place, the options for cutting back are not great.

The very fact of democracy makes governments more concerned about short-term gains rather than long term consequences. And any serious financial cut-backs would have to include cutting back the various entitlement programmes - something which the recipients would be loath to give up! This could easily get ugly as a result. If any nation state starts to get serious about living within its means, then the blowback from disgrunted residents and welfare recipients could get quite nasty, with riots, strikes and other forms of civil unrest.

If it gets bad enough it would naturally provoke a state reaction in the way of increased police powers and various “lock-downs” - even military rule. This would escalate the problem, leading to more draconian “emergency” laws and more civil unrest as a result. And if the worst came to pass, then things could get completely out of hand - and civil disorder could turn into widespread lawlessness.

I’m sure you can see the potential consequences in such a scenario for you and your loved ones. No one wants to find themselves in a full-blown break-up of the social order - something which is entirely possible, given the nature of the political and economic problems that exist.

The solution is to have some “insurance” in place. And what type of insurance would cover such an unpleasant eventuality? I’m talking about having a second residence or passport up your sleeve. Now while this may deem drastic, I can assure you it’s not. It’s like having fire insurance for your home. The odds your house will actually burn down are not that great, but you still purchase insurance cover in case of a worst-case scenario. Same goes for residency/citizenship insurance.

If you are living in any country where such a “debt bomb” is possible, then your only hope of preserving your freedom would be to make a quick exit to somewhere safer. But unless you have pre-planned for such an eventuality, you will not have many options.

A second residency or citizenship is therefore not a luxury, but a necessity in this fast-changing world. Being able to buy an airline ticket and fly somewhere else - somewhere far from potential trouble spots - is the ultimate in “peace of mind” insurance. And while such a strategy may seem strange and difficult to you right now, I can assure you it’s nowhere near as difficult as you think. There are literally many places that could offer a safehaven should you need one - and it pays to think long-term on such matters and investigate the options available to you while you still have the time and freedom to do so.

As a virtual “prisoner” of the country you were born into (via immigration and passport controls) the only way to increase your freedom is to have more than one passport or residency up your sleeve. And I certainly recommend you give this your serious attention.
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