Lessons in the Ladder Days

Candace Long: I'm Candace Long with Lessons in the Ladder Days, offering biblical commentary to make sense of the times that we're living in. Today's episode is called "Prepare for a Crash." It's a scary topic, but it's been on my mind quite a bit lately, which tells me that it's time to write it. One reason is we're in a very vulnerable position in our country with all of the chaos we're experiencing with the border crisis and the political turmoil surrounding the election.

It's just this kind of unrest that the enemy can use to trigger a financial catastrophe that has been sitting in the wings for some time now, waiting for the right set of circumstances to form. I believe this to be a very real and present danger, so serious that it would take the breath away from everyone on the planet. Now, to set the stage here, I want to tell you about the day that took my breath away when I was training in my Cessna 182.

My instructor and I were about 5,500 feet in the air, cruising over the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was a lovely day, and I was waiting for Bob to tell me what maneuver he wanted me to perform next. Suddenly, without warning, Bob pulled the throttle all the way out, effectively cutting the engine power off. He reached over my lap, turned off the ignition key, and threw it on the floor, out of reach. And there I sat in stark terror, looking out over the horizon and seeing only mountains.

This was no nice endorphin rush; this was adrenal overload. I was in severe panic, the likes of which I had never known before. The next 30 minutes or so was clearly one of my most terrifying experiences in the cockpit. Suddenly, I had to prepare for a crash landing, and for what seemed an eternity, I had no clue what to do. And that was the point of this exercise. Obviously, Bob thought I had enough training by now to be thrown a curve.

What would I do in such a scenario? How would my mind function in a crisis? What would I be able to recall during panic, and what was critical for my survival that I forgot? Needless to say, I survived. I was able to land, but not without leaving behind some mental and emotional scars, because what I learned that day changed the way I flew from then on. Since I always flew alone, I went overboard and put laminated emergency checklists all over the plane.

I did this in case I lost communication signal with air traffic control, or if my iPad overheated and shut down and I couldn't find where I was on the aviation map. I even jerry-rigged a secondary communication system and installed a separate antenna, just so if worst came to worst, I could call for help using a portable NavComm radio. I trained my mind to anticipate every danger that could possibly happen.

The takeaway is this: a good pilot has to prepare for a crash landing. And in these latter days, we have to prepare for a financial crash of apocalyptic proportions that has been waiting in the wings for some time. We know that the elite are at work 24/7 to gain control of everything we have. But should we face a sudden collapse of our financial system, the Lord would not have his children thrown into a panic, not knowing what to do. We pray it won't happen, but we must prepare as if it will.

Today, I'm going to be pulling from a documentary I recently watched with David Rogers Webb, discussing his book called *The Great Taking*. Webb is a former investment banker who earned quite a reputation by creating a hedge fund strategy where he once managed some 300 to 400 positions at the same time. This made him sought after by financial consultants all over the world. He's made his fortune, now lives in a secluded area in Europe, and has become an activist of sorts.

He is shining light on the danger we are in from derivative trading gone wild. What he's doing is exposing the plan being set in place by central banks and international financial regulatory institutions, all working together toward one objective: to crash the entire global financial system and make off with everyone's assets. I invested the time to watch his documentary and, frankly, I could have simply put a link to it in a podcast and said, "Here, this is important, watch this."

But the problem is that when you're listening to financial people, they speak a foreign language. I had to stop the video multiple times and do an internet search to understand the terminology he was using. Since what he revealed is important, I decided to do this episode and try to explain in plain language what he sees coming. I want to deal with three things. Number one: I want to warn you what the elite is planning and what to look out for.

Number two: help you think through your contingencies to keep your family safe should this crash happen. And number three: propose a shift in your mindset that is critical to survival. So, number one: what are they planning? We know that the elite's overall objective is to take everything we own and control all of the resources on the planet. Webb explains that over the last 30 years, they have set up the infrastructure to be able to pull off the greatest heist in the history of the world.

Their first goal was to segment our collateral. And by that, I mean what you and I think we own, and move that collateral legally to where it's easy to take. Let's break this down. Collateral is defined as something that is legally pledged as security to be able to repay a loan if you can't come up with the money when the debt is needed to be paid. If I want to borrow money, the bank would say, "What are you putting up as collateral if you can't pay this back?"

And I say, "Well, I'm putting my house up as collateral." So if whatever I needed the money for goes south and I can't pay back the loan, the bank now has the right to take my house. I have no legal ground to stand on to get it back. So when I signed the pledge to put up my house for collateral, that action made what I own vulnerable and ripe for the taking. Since the 1990s, the elite has worked hard to pass all kinds of obscure legislation to enable them to get their hands on what we think we own.

Let me explain some of their tactics and introduce terminology that you need to be aware of. For 400 years, the stocks and bonds that we owned in our investment and retirement accounts were personalized properties. We owned a piece of the companies that we invested in and had paper stock certificates to show for it. So the elite created a new protocol called financial de-materialization, or DeMat. De-materialization is the move from physical certificates to electronic bookkeeping.

On the surface, this system offers more security and increases speed in making financial trades. This way, you can invest in a lot of companies all at once, diversify your portfolio, and this makes good financial sense. But let's look now at the flip side. Today's investors have a misperception that we own something. We have a broker who's contracted to invest our money and buy shares of companies in our name, and we get a statement every month and think we're doing great.

We think this because on paper we own—and I use that word loosely—a certain monetary value of all these companies. But what happens if the whole financial system tanks? Do we have stock certificates to redeem for that value? No. Since 1994, 30 years ago, a little-known group of laws called the Universal Commercial Code has now been passed in all 50 states. Anybody ever heard of that code? I haven't. But that's what they're counting on.

Webb explains that this code, which is now law, severs the property right of the individual and transfers it to the legal owners, which is the company that owns the legal title of the shares under their name. You see, what they have done is divide ownership of shares in your account into two classifications. The legal owner is the company that holds your shares under their name, such as your brokerage account. This entity, the legal owner, serves the other group known as the beneficial owner.

The beneficial owner is the person who enjoys the benefits of ownership, such as a growing stock portfolio and dividends. And that's you. So we entrust our financial holdings to these companies. Now, the current practice is a term called pooling. The brokerage firm pools our resources so they have a lump sum from multiple clients, and this pooled money becomes the collateral for investing in derivatives. I have to admit I don't quite understand derivatives, but it is a very speculative investment.

In these investments, you hedge your bet by buying contracts called futures or puts based on whether you think that company is going to go up or down. Now, if something happens to that investment, the law now says that owners—that's you and me—have no right legally to take back the few shares that we think belong to us in the pooled money. Because the law says that only the secured creditors can take these assets in the event the debt cannot be paid.

Now we're getting back to who owns the assets or the money in the investment account: you, the beneficial owner, or the company you do business with, which is the legal owner. A real-world example happened in 2008 when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt during the subprime mortgage crisis. Let me introduce two more terms. A custodian bank is defined as a financial institution that holds customers' securities in electronic or physical form to minimize the risk of theft or loss.

These are typically your largest banks who hold all of the assets from investment managers, mutual funds, insurance companies, retirement plans, endowments and foundations, corporations, and private bankers. That's a custodian bank. The other term you need to know is a secured creditor. This is the company or bank who has the right to some or all of the assets of the borrower, like who holds the lien on my house if I can't pay my debt.

And that was where Lehman Brothers found itself. It couldn't pay back what it owed. JP Morgan was the custodian bank holding every asset that did business under Lehman Brothers. But JP Morgan was also the secured creditor that had the legal right to all of Lehman's assets when it went bankrupt. So those who had their investments with Lehman Brothers lost everything. And JP Morgan walked away with everything.

Only the biggest banks have this power to take clients' assets, but it is this set of laws called the Universal Commercial Code that is now law in all 50 states. What the elite did was create a whole new legal construct for security entitlement that benefits the biggest banks. They've engineered it now so they can take everything that you put up as collateral, and the law supports this new breed called legal owners who have your assets digitized and pooled in their system.

Now, David Webb's concerns are many. Number one is the volume of derivatives trading that has created a debt bubble in the quadrillions. Warren Buffett called derivatives financial weapons of mass destruction because you can lose everything so quickly. Webb believes we're at a tipping point where the largest international banking institutions are prepared for just this kind of crash. All of the laws they needed to protect them have been passed.

He said, "When the wave of insolvencies unfold, like Signature Bank in 2023, people will be terrified, but the elite have been waiting for this day." Gold is no longer the underlying collateral; it's all securities, stocks, and bonds. And the legal owners who hold our investments have the legal right to take everything. The panic will be overwhelming. And once the trigger happens, the wealthy banks will come away with everything, and the smaller ones will be allowed to fail.

This is just like all of the spoils of Lehman Brothers went to JP Morgan. That's why his book is called *The Great Taking*. It is a diabolical scheme that fits right into where we are leading up to the day of the Lord. Now, they are planning for our panic. And here's what they'll do. Suddenly, you'll get a message on your smartphone saying, "Download this app to give you access to some money so you can buy food."

But Webb warns: every time you use the app, you're borrowing money which must be paid back. And he says things are going to unfold very fast. This is the crash waiting to happen. We've lost everything: no investment accounts, no 401(k) retirement accounts, and if you're in debt, it's not going to be pretty. Now, what I have done is shut the power off on everything you've got going. It's all gone, and you have no legal power to do anything about it.

The world is in chaos and martial law has probably been declared. Now, please hear me. Before this happens, get your family together and listen to this episode again, because I'm going to ask some questions and propose suggestions for you to think through as a family. If you're alone, listen together with close friends you trust to have your back. Don't go through this alone. Now, I am not a lawyer or an investment advisor. I am advising you according to biblical wisdom.

Number one: are all your assets and securities in the same place to where you are only the beneficial owner? I suggest you think about diversifying. Convert some of your cash into something you can barter with in desperate times. You might consider subsidizing local farmers in exchange for food that they grow that you can store up or dehydrate or can. Number two: store some cash in a non-bank vault. Number three: pray with your family and ask God what he would have you do.

Downsize and move closer to one another. Are you in a protected neighborhood? Because in a financial crisis, mobs will leave the city in droves and break into homes looking to steal whatever they can. Make contingency plans in case martial law is declared and communication lines are disrupted. Purchase portable radios. Set up a place to meet your family if you're spread out. Divide up duties, such as, "You grow potatoes and I'll figure out how to cook" in the event we have an EMP.

Number four: would God have you hoard what you have, as he instructed Noah to do? Noah did not open the door of the ark and offer to feed the 700,000 mob trying to break in. Or would God have you feed crowds of people if they came to your door? You would need to trust God to supernaturally multiply the little food that you do have, just like he did with Jesus. Now, there's no easy answer here. The Lord has given us two biblically sound options.

You need to talk through with your family what he would have you do. Number five: study the Bible stories and promises that God gave. David wrote in Psalm 37, "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous one forsaken nor his children begging for bread." We are going to see desperate people do desperate things if this crash hits, but I believe this is when God will show up miraculously for his children.

He will use our faith in him to magnify himself and bring others to him. Number six: the story of most importance for us now is the Exodus, because this is the tapniet, or picture, that God gave to prepare us for this day. Did you know that only 20% of all of the Jews who were in Egypt left at the Exodus? The Torah says that 600,000 men of fighting age left with Moses. With the women and children, the sages estimate that number to have been about three million people.

The Torah tells us that only one-fifth, or 20%, of the people left. That means 12 million Jews stayed behind in Egypt and chose to live in slavery and oppression. And number seven: if you do choose to leave the oppression, that's when you will see miracles. That's the miracle of the Exodus story, reading how the Lord provided his children with food, water, and protection 24/7 for 40 years. This is the mindset we need to survive.

In Joshua 24, the Lord told the people, "I plagued Egypt and afterward I brought you out." Now, this tells us that before God delivered them, the people had to endure ten horrible plagues which helped build their faith so they would see God at work on their behalf. And only then he led them out. Look at the timetable. First, they went through horrible things, and afterward, he brought them out. Now, the hard stuff we're going through now is to build our faith so we will know our Heavenly Father can be trusted.

Now, that's when your cell phone will alert you with a message, and it says, "You've got money. Just download this app and you'll be fine. We'll take care of you. We're all in this together. We are one people and one world." You will have the same choice our forefathers did. Will you accept the money? If you download the app, you will remain metaphorically in Egypt. But if you and your family reject the offer, that's when you fully align with your Jewish forefathers.

The next destination for you and me is the kingdom. Now, I don't know how the Lord is going to do all this, but I know he will. He will provide food, water, and protection for as long as it takes until he calls us up. That is the mindset we need to survive. To share this important episode, go to CandaceLong.com/podcast and look for the episode "Prepare for a Crash." In the description notes, I'll put a link to Webb's documentary and a PDF of his book, *The Great Taking*, which he's offering for free.

You'll find it on my podcast page at CandaceLong.com. I want to thank you for being with me today. I hope you join me again next time. I'm Candace Long, and you've been listening to Lessons in the Ladder Days. God bless.