The sitrep of the American Republic at the start of 2024 can be accurately described as bella premunt hostilia (“our foes press on from every side”), an OrcBorg full-court press, soberly calling for all hands on deck to repel boarders. 2024 has the potential to be a rough ride. It would be wise for all of us to think ahead and get prepared. After all, as the venerable VDH notes, “At the end of the year, we are on the razor’s edge of many things that soon may blow up,” and in his Christmas message, he referred to 2024 as “the year of our reckoning”

It is sobering to realize that our reality is already well-larded with a multiplicity of dramas, each one of which could produce events of social, commercial, and/or military meltdown that place our republic and all our lives in danger. Just cop a gander at an abbreviated menu of some of our most dangerous dramas, grouped under the headings of just two categories: national defense and the 2024 presidential election.

Image by Andrea Widburg

National Defense

The proxy war with a nuclear Russia

Our ongoing proxy war with nuclear Russia in Ukraine has been heading south ever since Ukraine foolishly went on the offensive. What happens in the event Ukraine melts down entirely? Will it be American boots on the ground? Tactical Nukes?

The proxy war with nearly nuclear Iran

Our proxy war with Iran is especially dangerous because Iran is very close to possessing nukes, thanks in significant part to assistance from both the Obama and the Biden administrations. There is every reason to believe Iran will use its nuclear weapons against Israel as soon as it has them, which could be soon.

The potential war with nuclear China over Taiwan

Our potential war with nuclear China over Taiwan continues to brew while China seeks an alliance with Russia. Meanwhile, America’s support of Ukraine is rapidly depleting our supply of munitions.

Three big factors drive the probability that China will invade Taiwan in 2024:

• Joe Biden’s weakness.
• Joe Biden’s being comprised by China.
• China’s internal economic crisis and political unrest.

The resumption of a war with North Korea

North Korea is a nuclear power that periodically threatens to nuke South Korea and the USA. The Korean War paused with an armistice on July 27, 1953. North Korea continues to prepare for its resumption.

The capital city of Seoul has a population of 10.29 million, with 25.6 million in the metropolitan area, and lies within 100 kilometers of the North Korean border.

South Korea has no nukes, forcing it to look to the USA 7,000 miles distant for nuclear deterrence. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently ordered an acceleration of nuclear war preparations.

The 2024 Presidential Election

The upcoming presidential election offers any number of events that could give occasion for Democrat brown shirts to resort to violence, including:

(a) A Supreme Court decision quashing all the various Democrat-run states’ efforts to disqualify Trump from their ballots.

(b) A Supreme Court ruling that J6 was not an insurrection. This is highly likely, as the law encyclopedia American Jurisprudence Second defines “insurrection” as a “rising against civil or political authority, but as something more than a mob or riot.” Kash Patel, at p. 187 of Government Gangsters, writes, “The narrative that January 6th was an insurrection is gaslighting at its finest.”

(c) A Supreme Court ruling that the civil tort of fraud requires damage to a party allegedly defrauded.

(d) The Supreme Court reversing any Trump criminal convictions.

(e) A Trump electoral victory in November.

Not to be overlooked are those events that could conceivably provoke violence from the right:

(f) The Democrats successfully jailing Donald Trump.

(g) Donald Trump (God forbid) getting assassinated.

(h) Any one of the six conservative Supreme Court Justices (again, God forbid) getting assassinated.

(i) On Nov 5, 2024, a commanding Trump lead at midnight turning to dust at 3 a.m.

So, there it is. The year 2024 is loaded with opportunities for events that disrupt or endanger our lives. We could all be incinerated tomorrow in a nuclear flash, find ourselves faced with enduring a year without electric power, or be forced to defend our homes and our lives against marauding mobs.

Who was it that wanted to live in interesting times?