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THE TIMELINE TO COLLAPSE 2.0  
From Path-Dependency to Path-Exit  
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0. 30-Second Abstract  
Collapse is not a future event; it is the **late stage of a system that has already failed**.  
The same architecture—reserve-currency over-issue, state-corporate fusion, and statistical illusion—has detonated **three times** in the last century (1914, 1971, 2008).  
This document maps the **design defect**, traces its four detours, and then sketches the **only viable fork left**: a **mesh of local, open-source, low-entropy cells** that route around the collapsing core.

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1. 1945-1971  •  The Managed Interlude  
1.1  Bretton Woods: A 26-Year Pause  
•  IMF archives show European recovery was **financed by U.S. deficits**, not trade surpluses.  
•  CEPR: by 1970 foreign dollar claims exceeded U.S. gold by 4.5:1.  
1.2  The Nixon Shock (1971)  
•  Not betrayal—**scheduled expiry**.  
▶︎ Historical rhyme: Rome’s denarius (3rd c.), French assignat (1790s), Weimar (1923).  

Outcome  
Global liquidity now floats on pure fiat. **Asset inflation 14× wages (1971-2021)**.

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2. 1980-2008  •  Financialization as War-by-Other-Means  
2.1  Corporate-State Fusion (Precedent: WWII “dollar-a-year” execs).  
2.2  Reagan/Thatcher  
•  SEC Rule 10b-18 (1982) → **$7 T** diverted to buybacks.  
•  Big Bang (1986) → London tax-haven; manufacturing dies.  
2.3  Clinton  
•  NAFTA → U.S. manufacturing jobs **-29 %** (1994-2004).  
•  Glass-Steagall repealed after **$300 M** Citigroup lobbying.  
2.4  2008  
•  Lehman’s Repo 105: **auditor-certified fraud**.  
•  Fed bails Wall St.; **top 1 % capture 95 %** of post-crash gains (Saez & Zucman 2012 window).

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3. 2010-2023  •  Surveillance Capitalism  
3.1  Tech-Monopoly as State Subsidy  
•  Project Maven (2017) & CIA cloud ($600 M) → **FAAMG > Italy GDP**.  
3.2  COVID Stress Test  
•  IMF meta-study: **no clear mortality benefit** from lockdowns.  
•  Yet **$4 T** flowed to billionaires; CBDC pilots accelerated.  
3.3  WEF “Great Reset”  
•  ESG as **soft-law corporate governance**.  
•  Social-credit beta: China → EU Digital ID.

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4. 2024-2030  •  Controlled Demolition  
4.1  Fake Populism  
•  Trump tax cuts: **+$2 T deficit**; Le Pen votes 70 % with EU corporates.  
4.2  Reset Triggers  
•  Central-bank gold hoard at **50-year high** (WGC).  
•  U.S. debt-to-GDP **129 %** = pre-default Argentina (1998).  
4.3  Neo-Feudal Outcome  
•  AI job risk: **47 %** (Oxford 2013).  
•  Climate lockdown pilots: Oxford “15-minute city” fines.

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5.  Systems Diagnosis  
Defect = **Entropy Export**  
The architecture survives by pushing disorder outward:  
•  ecological (soil, carbon)  
•  social (wage erosion, mental health)  
•  geopolitical (currency wars, proxy conflicts)

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6.  Path-Exit: The Mesh Imperative  
6.1  Principle  
Collapse cannot be **reformed** from within; it must be **routed around**.  
6.2  Core Requirements  
A.  **Low-entropy cells**  
   •  Local food, energy, and credit loops with **energy return on investment (EROI) > 5**.  
B.  **Open-source protocols**  
   •  Transparent ledgers (e.g., Fedimint, Bisq, Urbit) to prevent new capture.  
C.  **Mutual-credit rails**  
   •  LETS, Local CICs, **Time Banks**—units that cannot be securitized.  
6.3  Tactics  
•  **Parallel bookkeeping** (triple-entry ledgers) to starve CBDC data-hunger.  
•  **Mesh ISPs** + **community solar** = dual-stack resilience.  
•  **Skill guilds** (repair, agro-ecology, encryption) to replace wage labor.  
6.4  Governance  
•  **Liquid-democracy** modules forked from open-source DAOs.  
•  **Conflict-resolution** via rotating juries (Athens 4th c. BCE model).

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7.  Why Most Will Miss the Exit  
•  **Divide & Conquer** (owner vs. renter).  
•  **Bread & Circuses** (TikTok dopamine loops).  
•  **Education collapse** (literacy < 8th-grade median).

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8.  Epilogue  
The same architecture that produced collapse also produces the **instruction manual for its by-pass**.  
History does not repeat—but **it forks**.  
This is the last one that matters.

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▶︎ SOURCES  
BIS Working Papers 2023-18; IMF Archives; CEPR Discussion 18042; Romer & Romer 2022; Monthly Review 2024-01; World Gold Council CB Survey 2024; Oxford Frey 2023 update.