House of Cards
Although it could be said that the old paradigms of power are shifting, they could more aptly be described as crumbling. Powerful men and women in industries once thought untouchable, are now being exposed for a variety of crimes, hypocrisy, and corruption with increasing frequency. Terrible crimes done in the dark and behind the scenes, are now being brought to light with an uncomfortable doggedness that has the pillars of power shaking. If the powers that be are already in the process of falling apart, and we haven’t even made it into the 70th week, how well do you reckon the US does once the Rapture takes place?
Hollywood is reeling (no pun intended) from the collapse of its once powerful patriarchy as victims of their sexual assaults are now coming out of the woodwork. Victims once intimidated into silence or paid off, are now speaking out and have a willing audience to listen. Their stories of abuse and cover-up by some of the most powerful, liberal progressives in the industry, make it doubly hypocritical as the Hollywood left overwhelmingly support Democrats who continually accuse Republicans of waging a ‘war on women.’ Yet, after a century of suffering in silence, many in Hollywood are finally now empowered to speak out at what really goes on behind the glitz and the glamour of tinsel-town.
The National Football League is still suffering from low-rating and empty-stadium syndrome. Their unwillingness to rein in on-field political protests by pouty millionaires has seemingly turned the stomach of the average American. While not in complete collapse, it’s been a downward trend for the past few years as more and more millennials become less and less enthused with football in general. If America had the time left, the NFL would be on life support within a decade, asking for their own bailouts from the federal government.
The Rock-n-Roll legends of the 20th century are markedly aged and dying off. What’s left of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, etc., are dried husks of men who used to be relevant. Rock stardom for that matter is no longer measured anymore by albums and tours but in downloadable “hit” songs. Another way to put that is that today’s rock stars have a much shorter shelf life than at any time previous. Rapidly advancing technology is driving the world’s entertainment platform, and as it continues to evolve, the movie and rock stars today, probably won’t be tomorrow.
The self-righteous ones, such as Bono, who has long preached to the world that we must do more to help the needy, are having their own financial secrets exposed for personally using island tax havens while their “charity” foundations give only a fraction to the actual charity. That fraction would be around 1% of all the funds they raise. But, Bono is probably not alone in this. Progressive movements are usually long on campaigning and short on actual giving. Not to single out Bono, but he’s supposed to be one of the legit ‘people’s champion,’ and even he can’t stay pure.
For most of the year, Hollywood is taking a beating from a continual slump in ticket sales. A movie that costs $50-100M to make, is lucky today to break even these days. With the exception of super-hero flicks from the likes of Marvel and D.C. Comics, most in the movie industry are struggling. Television is contending with the likes of streaming services such as Netflix, Vudu, Hulu, and Amazon, and are not faring that much better.
On September 27th, 2017, Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy and the last of the old-school 20th century hedonists, passed on into eternity. So intricately linked to the idea of hedonism was Hefner, that if there were a picture in the dictionary next to “20th-Century Hedonism,” it would have been his. Yet, for all of his decades of lavish parties, beautiful women, and high-rolling lifestyle, there was one passage of scripture that continually came to my mind…even before he died. Matthew 16:26 says for what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
All in all, it seems that the age of entertainment royalty is coming to its own inglorious ending.
While it’s easy to comment on the who’s who of the American drama story, the entertainment and politics business have become accustomed to living in the limelight. What they don’t like, is the spotlight. Los Angeles on the left coast used to wield significant cultural and popular sway, while Washington D.C. on the right coast makes the laws and steers the direction of the country. Democrat pundit Paul Begala once stated that Washington is Hollywood for ugly people. If true, then it seems the country is caged in on both coasts with people who are ugly both inside and out.
The D.C. swamp or deep-state is the bureaucratic underground that supposedly keeps the centers of power going in our nations’ capitol. These are the career politicians, the federal employees, lobbyists, political machinery for both Democrat and Republicans, retired generals, spooks, spies, and a million other entities that operate behind the scenes. A currency even more powerful than money, is influence and who has it. With decades and decades of power being built up, the swamp’s worst nightmare is for someone like Donald Trump, a political outsider (or at least outside the Beltway), to come in and shake the rugs and open the curtains.
Political cronyism on the left is finally getting the lid pulled back to expose the rotting mold that undergirds the democrat party’s platform. You can forget all the Trump-Russia collusion brouhaha, at worst Special Counsel Robert Mueller frames Robert Flynn and Paul Manafort for past crimes that will be unrelated to the campaign itself.
At best, Mueller could be being used to conduct a sting operation against the real colluders: the Podesta’s, George Soros, the Clinton Crime Syndicate, along with the rest of the movers and shakers in those circles. Hard to say which way this is going at present, but it seems (and I use that word cautiously) that the swamp is vomiting up Hillary and the Podesta’s as token sacrifices on the altar of political convenience. Old blood out, new blood in. Either way, their unwanted attention for past crimes and schemes at the very least, moves them having significant influence (Obama-esque), down to just marginal or negligible influence (Jimmy Carter-esque).
Wall Street is continuing its year of high riding earnings, yet we all know in the back of our minds that the law of gravity requires that what goes up, must come down. Will that mean a new depression or just a cascading financial collapse of certain industries? Whatever it is, you can bet that a new batch of bank executives will continue their Lemming-like plunge out of office building windows for no apparent reason. What new bail out (if any) does the American public have to wait to swallow? Will President Trump be pressured to resuscitate some aging industry to keep America Great, or will he let nature take its course?
Numerous states are now seeking ways to secede from the union. States are seeking to break apart (California). Federal judges have now become activist judges seeking to stop any and everything President Trump is trying to do, regardless of legality. The US is facing more and diverse geopolitical and existential challenges than at any point in our history. The news can’t be trusted. The politicians can’t be trusted. Our military is overworked and underpaid. Our healthcare, national debt, and social security systems won’t survive another ten years as is. The challenges seem insurmountable.
Conclusion
“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Luke 21:25-26
Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Revelation 13:1
So given what we know now at the end of 2017, what do we make of all this? The titans of American industry are falling like dominos. Our American constitutional federal republic way of life, with rich agriculture and booming industry, once so multifaceted and strong, now seems like a flimsy house of cards. Do these crumbling American strongholds strengthen Satan’s agenda for global governance? Is it just a form of divine judgment coming upon our land? Or both?
According to Scripture (Daniel 9:26), a man known as the prince who is to come arises from somewhere within the confines of the old Roman Empire. At first, he will come on the scene as an insignificant person, but then he rises to power rather quickly (Daniel 7:8). He will be a deceiver and will mask his true intentions by pretending to be a deliverer and a great-peacemaker (Daniel 8:25, 9:27; Revelation 6:1-2), but ends up triggering global war (Rev. 6:3-4). From the beginning to the mid-point, he is the man of lawlessness. At the mid-point, he becomes indwelt by Satan himself and becomes the son of perdition.
If (not when) the old Roman Empire is to take the stage again as a global superpower, then that by necessity means the current superpower (the United States) must abdicate the throne. Could it be that our collapse comes as a necessity in order to allow the EU to fill the vacuum the demise of the US leaves behind? This isn’t a new topic or even a new spin on old speculation, but it seems that the foundations of our global strength is cracking.
It is not clear what exactly causes the US to collapse (Rapture or some other cataclysmic event), something does. While the shuddering of the above industries doesn’t pinpoint our demise specifically, neither does it strengthen the idea that the US is somehow Mystery Babylon or that we play some significant role in the last days. Our current state of affairs is most aptly aligned with that of the Roman Empire circa fifth century AD. Our currency is depreciated (as was the Roman denarius), we have barbarians at the gates, and we are overcome with political intrigue, conspiracy, and corruption. But I’m not the only who sees this as a possibility. From thenation.com back in 2010;
As US power recedes, the past offers a spectrum of possibilities for a future world order. At one end of this spectrum, the rise of a new global superpower, however unlikely, cannot be ruled out. Yet both China and Russia evince self-referential cultures, recondite non-roman scripts, regional defense strategies, and underdeveloped legal systems, denying them key instruments for global dominion. At the moment then, no single superpower seems to be on the horizon likely to succeed the US.
In a dark, dystopian version of our global future, a coalition of transnational corporations, multilateral forces like NATO, and an international financial elite could conceivably forge a single, possibly unstable, supra-national nexus that would make it no longer meaningful to speak of national empires at all. While denationalized corporations and multinational elites would assumedly rule such a world from secure urban enclaves, the multitudes would be relegated to urban and rural wastelands.
Of interest is the idea (many were posited here) that a single, supranational government arises since neither China nor Russia seem capable at present. Not to say that either doesn’t have the ambition, but neither lacks the ability to project their power like the US does. If a secular source cites the potential for a single world system coming online, then why are so many denominations and churches quick to dismiss Revelation 13 as allegory or spiritual metaphor?
While we can’t know the specifics about what comes after the rapture, and how soon, we discuss, we share, we talk, we warn, and we plead with those who will not heed the message of turning and believing the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ’s and His soon return. Trust me, you do not want to be here one second after the Rapture.
Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. Luke 21:36