Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing citizenship-by-investment, so-called Golden Visas and "Peak Globalism". What are we talking about here? Well I want to be clear. Globalism and globalization to me are two different things and when I say they are two different things, I look at 'globalism' as a kind of mindset that developed in the later 90s coming up to call it 2019-2020. I think the cut off mark is probably somewhere around COVID, give or take a little bit. Call it '99 to 2019. When I say globalism, it is a way of thinking, it is sort of a way of viewing the world as largely transversible easily. I have been watching this series 1883 which I find fascinating. I am originally from Kansas and I love the history of the pioneers. It is really weird to live there because you sort of live in this museum, because all these people either passed through and went on, or they just lived and died there and they are now not there, but you are sort of living in what they built. It is sort of a weird thing. I am sure Europeans will get this like 'living in a museum'. I am sure Romans think ‘well we have got all this around us and it just is what it is’. In any event, globalism to me, globalism the thinking is this sort of "oh," I think digital nomadism for example came about as sort of a byproduct of this globalism way of thinking and I am not using the term globalism in sort of the negative or pejorative that I have seen via certain folks out there on the internet. I just mean in a much more sort of banal way a very basic way of thinking about the world, basically that it's easy to travel and navigate international travel, that it was very easy to just hop around, work in different places. 

Long story short and for whatever reason, I think that that era has ended. Now I want to be clear, globalization hasn't gone anywhere. There's still International trade; different trade blocks if you will are going to continue to trade but this globalism if you will of, frankly the circumstances that allowed me to come to Thailand, I seriously question if they are going to be there. You know that was 15 years ago, I seriously question if that is going to be the same 15 years from now and I really do. Now will the physical ability be there? Possibly but as we see this kind of overall global decoupling and this is happening in many, many ways, I'm not talking here about just so and so is mad at so and so, or this country is joining that, no we have kind of hit this high point where it was very integrated for like a moment but the fact of the matter is, the global economy and the global geopolitics are such that it is so complex it is just not going to say that integrated forever which brings me to "citizenship-by-investment" as well as Golden Visa programs.

I thought of making this video here recently, I was reading an article in Pattaya Mail, I am not going to quote it here; we have discussed it previously. In that article they were discussing issues sort of about how some of these Golden Visa providers especially in Europe, are rescinding their programs and this isn't uncommon. Citizenship by investment, depending on the country comes and goes. Sometimes new Governments come in, they don't like program, they scrap it, this happens, there's no doubt about this. But the point I am trying to make here is out here in Asia as we are seeing sort of peak globalism having kind of in my opinion come and possibly gone, I think we are on the precipice of seeing, I found myself saying to myself sort of during COVID that wow, America got a lot further away and I didn't say farther, I meant further, in matters of degree, not of distance, got a lot further away because it was just harder, there was so much more that had to be done. Now in the aftermath of lockdowns and everything, we are in a situation where maybe it is not so difficult at this present moment, at this present moment, let's be specific there but one thing that I take away from all of this is I am kind of the opinion that nation states, nations around the world, especially here in Asia are either not going to get real warmed up to the notion of Citizenship by Investment which has never been something that is real common here in Asia and also the programs that are out there I can see some of them at least being rolled back where it's either decided it is just sort of not worth it or they are not attracting the people they want to attract. I can see problems arising this and I think it has, you read stuff "oh it's transnational criminals, well what does that mean? I am always sort of taken aback when I read well, "a lot of transnational criminals!" Well what do you mean ‘transnational criminals’? Has anybody been convicted? What are we talking about?

No, I think it more gets to the issue that look global is, like peak globalism, and again I am not talking about this in a pejorative or negative sense just the moment when the world was as interconnected as it could be and everybody was pretty well getting along and just doing business and trading, I think at least for a period of time we are looking at moving forward, that may not necessarily be the case and I have a pretty good inclination to think that a lot of these 'citizenship by investment' programs, Golden Visa programs and whatnot are probably especially here in Asia, which it was never a big thing but I think even throughout the world we can see this kind of rolling back. Now that does not mean you can't expatriate. I want to be clear on this. I don't think that is happening at all. In fact I actually think Asia is probably relatively welcoming, especially of foreign expertise but I have a pretty good feeling we are not going to see forever, at least into the immediately foreseeable future out a year or two where we are possibly not going to see this mass of second citizenship options and Golden Visa options that we have been used to dealing with roughly the past 5 years or so.