What I Heard in Rome Should Worry You

“I guess I’m gonna be an English teacher, then. That seems like the best way to get out.”

I’ll call her “M.” She looked to be late-50s. I didn’t ask; apparently gentlemen don’t do that. And she’s from one of those so-called “flyover states” in the Upper Midwest—her words, not mine.

Furthermore, she’s a Republican—“My first vote was for Reagan in ’88.”

I met “M” in Rome this past weekend, at the International Living Fast Track Europe event. She sidled up to my table to chat… wanted to understand her options for chasing a new life in Europe because she’s scared for her future in America… and for America’s future in the world.

Now, I note her political affiliation because she told me to. She said that if I did decide to write about our conversation, she wanted it known that, “I’m Red, White, and Blue America. I don’t bleed liberal. But where this country is right now and where it’s going, I think I’m more liberal than I’ve ever been just because the country I knew has moved too far away from me.”

I heard various versions of that over three days in Rome.

Based on those conversations, I have to surmise that the tenor inside America has clearly shifted from “this moment is temporary” to “what the actual hell is happening right now?”

Seems to me that more and more Americans—of all stripes—are done with the political antics that define the country today.

I opened my phone late last week to see that the administration and their toadies in Congress and across social media want to dump NATO, despite the radically brutal impacts that would impose on the US economy.

I also came across reports—though they’re disputed—that back in January, Pentagon officials warned the Vatican that the US has the military power to “do whatever it wants” and that the Papacy should simply align itself along the lines of American foreign policy. Some reports even suggested that in said meeting with the Vatican, US officials, to heighten the pressure, invoked the historical Avignon Papacy—a period when the papacy was under the captive influence of the French crown—which some Vatican officials interpreted as a veiled threat of force or forced relocation.

And then more recent were the tweets launched on Sunday, in which Trump took a verbal swing at the Pope on Trumps’ Temu Twitter/X, to the great consternation of Catholics who once backed Trump (those folks are popping up right now on social feed, and they are miffed!).

He also announced a new threat to form a blockade of the Persian Gulf as a counter to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which is only going to cause huge price spikes—potentially debilitating spikes for many families—in gasoline, food, and all kinds of products Americans buy.

Not to mention that it risks a major confrontation with China, because at some point the Chinese navy is pretty much guaranteed to sail into the Arabian Sea to create a corridor for Chinese oil tankers to exit the Strait of Hormuz with crude destined for China.

Will the US really confront China militarily?

Seems an exceptionally bad idea.

And seems the adults below the man cosplaying as Secretary of War realize just how exceptionally bad it really is.

So… another day, another page written in the modern retelling of A Confederacy of Dunces.

Which is why “M” and so many others (again, this was all political stripes; I want to emphasize that) wanted my take on the best countries to pursue digital nomad and passive-income visas, and the best options to secure one’s future when it’s blindingly obvious that the US is moving in a dangerous direction that threatens to eviscerate the dollar and the US economy.

I shared, as I always do.

I won’t go into the details of why particular countries, but I will say that for those who can work for themselves and generate a minimum of roughly $4,100 per month in self-employment income, Greece is a winning bet for those who want to be inside the European Union. Croatia is a very strong second, requiring about $3,900 and imposing zero taxes on foreign-sourced income.

For those who are retired, Greece is great for them too, because of the country’s tax scheme, which imposes a flat 7% rate on all pension income for 15 years. Monaco and Malta are solid seconds with no tax on any personal income… you just have to put up with a higher cost of living in Monaco, and mosquitoes and dewy heat in Malta every bit as world-class as a south Louisiana swamp.

As for securing one’s future, well, you know this answer. I play it on repeat always. But, just like Sinatra’s Fly Me to The Moon, the classics are a classic for a reason.

To the end, the classic protection you need right now is gold and Swiss francs.

The world, led most prominently by the US, is moving toward a financial reset sometime this decade (I keep saying I think it will be in the 2027-28 timeframe) and in that reset, gold and francs are going to act as lifestyle life-preservers.

So, that’s what you missed in Rome: Your path to a safer future when things go pear-shaped in the US.