The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age [Paperback]

James Dale Davidson (Author), William Rees-Mogg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 26, 1999

Two renowned investment advisors and authors of the bestseller The Great Reckoning bring to light both currents of disaster and the potential for prosperity and renewal in the face of radical changes in human history as we move into the next century. The Sovereign Individual details strategies necessary for adapting financially to the next phase of Western civilization.

Few observers of the late twentieth century have their fingers so presciently on the pulse of the global political and economic realignment ushering in the new millennium as do James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg. Their bold prediction of disaster on Wall Street in Blood in the Streets was borne out by Black Tuesday. In their ensuing bestsellar, The Great Reckoning, published just weeks before the coup attempt against Gorbachev, they analyzed the pending collapse of the Soviet Union and foretold the civil war in Yugoslavia and other events that have proved to be among the most searing developments of the past few years.

In The Sovereign Individual, Davidson and Rees-Mogg explore the greatest economic and political transition in centuries -- the shift from an industrial to an information-based society. This transition, which they have termed "the fourth stage of human society," will liberate individuals as never before, irrevocably altering the power of government. This outstanding book will replace false hopes and fictions with new understanding and clarified values.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The computer revolution, in the authors' dire scenario, will subvert and destroy the nation-state as globalized cybercommerce, lubricated by cybercurrency, drastically limits governments' powers to tax. They further predict that the next millennium will see an enormous decline in the influence of politicians, lobbyists, labor unions and regulated professions as new information technologies democratize talent and innovation and decentralize the workplace. In their forecast, citizenship will become obsolete; new forms of sovereignty reminiscent of medieval merchant republics will spring up; electronic plebiscites will decide legislative proposals; mafias, renegade covert agencies and criminal gangs will exercise much more behind-the-scenes power. Davidson and Rees-Mogg, who publish Strategic Investment, a financial newsletter, present an apocalyptic exercise that is unconvincing. Appendices offer advice to "Sovereign Individuals" (members of the information elite) on how to invest, find tax shelters, avoid criminals and list one's business on the World Wide Web.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Following up their equally visionary Blood in the Streets (LJ 5/1/87) and The Great Reckoning (S. & S., 1993), the authors offer a sweeping analysis of the implications, especially financial, of the information age. According to Jupiter Communications, a research firm specializing in emerging technologies, in the year 2000 online transactions will total about $7.3 billion, and new payment methods such as electronic money will be used for almost half of that amount. The authors explain that such developments are driving a "megapolitical" level of societal transformation similar in scope and significance to the end of the Roman Empire or the 15th-century gunpowder revolution. The key result of this information revolution will be the advent of the "sovereign individual" and the death of mass democracy and the welfare state. The authors are serious, conservative thinkers whose advice will attract attention on Wall Street. A major work; strongly recommended for academic libraries.?Dale F. Farris, Groves, Tex.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (August 26, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684832720
• ISBN-13: 978-0684832722
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #163,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Future Trends and being Financially Independent, July 12, 2000

By 

Ng Chon Hsing (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sovereign Individual: How to Survive and Thrive During the Collapse of the Welfare State (Hardcover)

Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad recommends The Sovereign Individual as one of the must-read books for those who want to be Financially Independent. I like this book for its contribution to future-trend-watching. It ranks as one of the essential readings for those who want to be Financially Independent.

James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg are experts at predicting future trends and tailoring financial strategies and self-reliant measures to protect oneself against the future. The Sovereign Individual is about self-accountability and taking action. The Sovereign Individual is not beholden to his government and looks out for himself/herself and his/her loved ones. The Sovereign Individual takes steps to ensure his/her physical safety, job/business and finances.

This book challenges the concept of nationhood and all the propaganda fed to us. The concept of nationhood as we have come to known is a relatively young one and not necessarily a good one. Governments, spouting patriotism, can make use of its people for its own ends e.g. burdensome taxes, raising armies for wars, treating its citizens like low-classed employees - all for the benefit of a select elite few.

A warning for the interested would-be reader. The Sovereign Individual is written in the typical Davidson/Rees-Mogg famed-style - alarmist, paranoid and hyberbolic. I urge the reader to see pass this style because there is much to be gained from reading this book.

For the interested reader, I would also recommend The Roaring 2000s by Harry Dent.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Predictions are Finally Coming True, July 17, 2008

By 

T. Krimm "twk" (Kentucky, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sovereign Individual (Hardcover)

Keep in mind that this book was written around 1997, before 9/11/2001.
It is summer 2008 and the "US empire" is in decline.
The US debt is quickly approaching the $10 trillion mark.
(that is a one with thirteen zeros behind it)
The US dollar is in decline.
The US financial markets are in meltdown mode.
The FDIC has taken over IndyMac, more banks to follow.
The government is talking about a bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
(how high can the US deficit go?)
The government has enacted the so called "patriot act".
The government has expanded the FISA rules.
The housing market is in deflation mode.
The commodities market is in inflation mode (oil approaching $150).

Here are few quotes from the book:
Page 20: "Governments will violate human rights, censor the free flow of information, sabotage useful technologies, and worse".

Page 23: "All nation-states face bankruptcy and the rapid erosion of their authority".

Page 29: "We forecast and explained why militant Islam would displace Marxism as the principal ideology of confrontation with the West".

Page 137: "You can expect to see crises of misgovernment in many countries as political promises are deflated and governments run out of credit".

Page 196: "Governments that tax too much will simply make residence anywhere within their power a bankrupting liability".

Page 197: "Paper money also contributed significantly to the power of the state, not only by generating profits from depreciating the currency, but by giving the state leverage over who could accumulate wealth".

Page 198: "Control over money will migrate from the halls of power to the global marketplace".

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A bold, unemotional thesis - ignore at your peril!, July 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Sovereign Individual: How to Survive and Thrive During the Collapse of the Welfare State (Hardcover)

Davidson and Rees-Mogg put forward a dispassionate and compelling argument on the ramifications and logical outworkings of the information age. What sets the book apart from its peers' is the unemotional and, some would say, cold logic the authors use in developing their hypothesis, argument and conclusions. By comparison, most authors attempting to 'predict' the future tend to use an emotional, idealistic approach to the argument proposed - little, or dubious emperical evidence is put forth. As a result the reader will either agree,or disagree, on the basis of their personal belief system. We can assume, in the marjority of cases, that neither party will change his views.

This book is therefore fundamentally different, the case provides a wealth of evidence, facts and historical precedent to support the hypothesis. The reader is challenged to seek out for himself the signs that these 'megapolitical' changes are, in fact, occuring. Recent examples include, the 'asian financial meltdown', the 'revenue problems' that taxation departments are experiencing world wide, the rise of xenophobic 'nationalist' parties reacting to globalisation and technology (Australias "One Nation Party"), the 'luddite' irrational argument of the evironmental movement, the list goes one - however, as Davidson and Rees-Mogg clearly state, you must find out for yourself.

Even within this review section, several reviewers have argued, bitterly, against this book using emotional and idealistic arguments. I am afraid that 'wishful' thinking will matter not in the least as these megapolitical events unfold.

However, this reaction is entirely expected.

PS: The "offshore" services and facilities proposed by the authors to protect your assets and avoid predatory taxation are now readily available - use your 'browser'! Sorry 'state worshippers' the 'cats already out of the bag', so to speak.