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You Will Own Nothing
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB MUST-READ
The bestselling author and entrepreneur investigates what would happen if a new financial world order took hold, one in which global elites own everything and you own nothing—and yet you are somehow happy.
When Carol Roth first heard that one of the World Economic Forum’s predictions for 2030 was “You will own nothing, and be happy,” she thought it was an outlandish fantasy. Then, she researched it. What she found was that a number of businesses, governments, and global elites share a vision of a future that sounds Everyone will have everything they need, and no one will own anything.
From declines in home and vehicle ownership to global inflation and government spending, many of the trends of modern life reveal that a new world that is emerging—one in which Western citizens, by choice or by circumstance, increasingly do not own possessions or accumulate wealth. It’s the perfect economic environment for the rich and powerful to solidify their positions and prevent anyone else from getting ahead.
In You Will Own Nothing¸ Roth reveals how the agendas of Wall Street, world governments, international organizations, socialist activists, and multinational corporations like Blackrock all work together to reduce the power of the dollar and prevent millions of Americans from taking control of their wealth. She shows why owning fewer assets makes you poorer and less free. This book is essential guide to protecting your hard-earned wealth for the coming generations.
A NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB MUST-READ
The bestselling author and entrepreneur investigates what would happen if a new financial world order took hold, one in which global elites own everything and you own nothing—and yet you are somehow happy.
When Carol Roth first heard that one of the World Economic Forum’s predictions for 2030 was “You will own nothing, and be happy,” she thought it was an outlandish fantasy. Then, she researched it. What she found was that a number of businesses, governments, and global elites share a vision of a future that sounds Everyone will have everything they need, and no one will own anything.
From declines in home and vehicle ownership to global inflation and government spending, many of the trends of modern life reveal that a new world that is emerging—one in which Western citizens, by choice or by circumstance, increasingly do not own possessions or accumulate wealth. It’s the perfect economic environment for the rich and powerful to solidify their positions and prevent anyone else from getting ahead.
In You Will Own Nothing¸ Roth reveals how the agendas of Wall Street, world governments, international organizations, socialist activists, and multinational corporations like Blackrock all work together to reduce the power of the dollar and prevent millions of Americans from taking control of their wealth. She shows why owning fewer assets makes you poorer and less free. This book is essential guide to protecting your hard-earned wealth for the coming generations.
347 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 18, 2023
424 people are currently reading
1542 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 119 reviews
September 5, 2023
What a steaming pile of trash this book is. I (possibly stupidly) grabbed this book not knowing who the author was and thinking it was a critique of capitalism. How wrong I was. Carol Roth is not only right-wing, but she’s a conspiracy theorist and contradicts herself regularly throughout the book. For the life of me, I just can’t understand how these right-wing people act like they’re against giant corporations while doing nothing but supporting policies that make the rich richer. Like, do they not understand that these corporations are run by the rich people?
Fortunately, the book tipped me off to what this author is about from the very beginning. Within the introduction, she discusses COVID conspiracies, goes on an anti-mask tangent and promotes the great reset conspiracy. And then the contradictions start immediately.
The premise of the book is how the rich corporations want to own everything so you own nothing. But then, she jumps into cancel culture, and she starts talking about poor Joe Rogan and Elon Musk and how they should be protected by us. Wait…what? One of the richest men in the world and the guy who got a $100 million Spotify contract aren’t part of the rich that we’re supposed to fear and hate? Even though one of them just bought a social media platform while your book talks about how awful it is that social media platforms control speech?
I could go on forever about how dumb this book is, but you get the point. She makes good arguments, but like many right-wing faux intellectuals, they don’t see how contradictory they are. I binged this book just to see what dumb thing she’d say next.
Fortunately, the book tipped me off to what this author is about from the very beginning. Within the introduction, she discusses COVID conspiracies, goes on an anti-mask tangent and promotes the great reset conspiracy. And then the contradictions start immediately.
The premise of the book is how the rich corporations want to own everything so you own nothing. But then, she jumps into cancel culture, and she starts talking about poor Joe Rogan and Elon Musk and how they should be protected by us. Wait…what? One of the richest men in the world and the guy who got a $100 million Spotify contract aren’t part of the rich that we’re supposed to fear and hate? Even though one of them just bought a social media platform while your book talks about how awful it is that social media platforms control speech?
I could go on forever about how dumb this book is, but you get the point. She makes good arguments, but like many right-wing faux intellectuals, they don’t see how contradictory they are. I binged this book just to see what dumb thing she’d say next.
August 20, 2023
Just terrible.
Although it touches a subject that I did want to know more about it turned to a bias preachy unoriginal book. It’s just a republican author talking about republican arguments an conspiracy theories (I’m not a democrat but I hate being treated like an idiot).
Nothing interesting or new in this book .
Although it touches a subject that I did want to know more about it turned to a bias preachy unoriginal book. It’s just a republican author talking about republican arguments an conspiracy theories (I’m not a democrat but I hate being treated like an idiot).
Nothing interesting or new in this book .
July 22, 2023
A fitting successor to The War on Small Business is You Will Own Nothing. Carol Roth outdid herself again here.
Far from conspiratorial, as one reviewer suggested. More like a forewarning of what lies ahead if Americans don't stand up to what Roth dubs the "New Financial World Order."
Compelling, thoroughly-researched, and eye-opening. Even as someone who covers ESG, CBDCs, and agriculture, among the topics discussed, I learned a lot of new things. We underestimate corporatists and central planners at our own peril. But their efforts aren't going unnoticed--especially by Roth.
Some people won't want you to read this. Don't give them that satisfaction. Get Carol's book, read it, then share it.
Far from conspiratorial, as one reviewer suggested. More like a forewarning of what lies ahead if Americans don't stand up to what Roth dubs the "New Financial World Order."
Compelling, thoroughly-researched, and eye-opening. Even as someone who covers ESG, CBDCs, and agriculture, among the topics discussed, I learned a lot of new things. We underestimate corporatists and central planners at our own peril. But their efforts aren't going unnoticed--especially by Roth.
Some people won't want you to read this. Don't give them that satisfaction. Get Carol's book, read it, then share it.
December 6, 2023
Deceptive. Sounds like a critique of capitalism. Ended up propping up billionaires and bolstering right wing conspiracy theories. Hard pass
November 8, 2024
Obnoxious book on a very important topic.
This is a very important topic that isn't talked about enough. I was hoping for an informative breakdown of the problem finishing off with actionable steps toward safeguarding against a troubling future.
I found it somewhat informative. However, it doesn't take long before the right leaning bias shines through with buzz words, name calling, fear mongering and paranoia.
This makes it impossible for me to take the author seriously and the book loses all credibility.
This book reads like a paranoid YouTube rant, only it's 11 hours long.
This book will leave right leaning people more paranoid and left leaning people probably won't make it past the first chapter. Centrists will just wish they could get their time and money back.
I do not recommend this to anyone looking for a factual, non biased source of information.
This is a very important topic that isn't talked about enough. I was hoping for an informative breakdown of the problem finishing off with actionable steps toward safeguarding against a troubling future.
I found it somewhat informative. However, it doesn't take long before the right leaning bias shines through with buzz words, name calling, fear mongering and paranoia.
This makes it impossible for me to take the author seriously and the book loses all credibility.
This book reads like a paranoid YouTube rant, only it's 11 hours long.
This book will leave right leaning people more paranoid and left leaning people probably won't make it past the first chapter. Centrists will just wish they could get their time and money back.
I do not recommend this to anyone looking for a factual, non biased source of information.
July 30, 2023
Eyes Wide Open
Before reading & listening to "You Will Own Nothing," I thought I was pretty well informed on this pronouncement by Klaus Schwab & the WEF. What I learned and was reminded of in this book is I did not fully grasp how far down this road we had already traveled.
My eyes are now fully wide open to this transfer of wealth the elite are planning and have some actionable ideas on how to create and preserve wealth for my family. I will do all I can to own everything and be happy.
Everyone needs to read this book and have their eyes opened wide too!
Before reading & listening to "You Will Own Nothing," I thought I was pretty well informed on this pronouncement by Klaus Schwab & the WEF. What I learned and was reminded of in this book is I did not fully grasp how far down this road we had already traveled.
My eyes are now fully wide open to this transfer of wealth the elite are planning and have some actionable ideas on how to create and preserve wealth for my family. I will do all I can to own everything and be happy.
Everyone needs to read this book and have their eyes opened wide too!
September 2, 2023
Carol Roth clearly and mostly concisely explains the problems of the new world order. Her solutions, though, in my humble opinion, would require one to be among the rich that are probably already corrupted. Noticing the problem is important - if you have time to respond and correct it. I fear we have gone too far down the road, and the global elites have already obtained the power they need. I see an even bigger plan here. One of an evil, not just greedy, system that will most assuredly take over the world and you will, indeed, own nothing. The Antichrist and his system of global government will actually achieve the dreams of the WEF. The scary part of that scenario is that so many of his building blocks are already in place. Therefore, dear reader, repent and trust Christ. He is our only hope. Owning gold, property, cyptocurrency, etc. will not deliver anyone. Only Christ can do that.
September 3, 2023
She makes some really strong points about control mechanisms and liberties. There is a lot to think about here. The chapters on the scam of student loans and the chapter on the Bretton Woods agreement were my biggest takeaways. This book is actionable. We must plan to own our lives and create wealth while it is still allowed. If we don't, the future is apocalyptic indeed.
October 19, 2023
Despite the conspiracy theory tone, this title explains problematic trends -like government implemented inflation, threats to freedom of speech and tracking of digital currencies - that every American should be concerned about.
Did not finish
January 22, 2024I am mortified that I even have this book on my Goodreads, even as a DNF. Fortunately, I didn't waste much time -- I bailed on this by page 3. Yes, page 3. The audio is atrocious; Chris Henry Coffey's narration is smarmy fearmongering. It's almost comical. Roth wastes no time (3 pages!) before bashing COVID vaccine mandates and I could easily see where was going. I scanned a few pages in print and when I saw that Roth was defending the likes of Joe Rogan and Elon Musk, I knew I made the right choice to DNF.
March 2, 2024
Carol Roth does a great job of using the title to shock the reader, but once you read the book, you might agree that it is justified. It was at the World Economic Forum that she first heard the prediction that in less than a decade, private ownership would be dead. The book is her research on "You will own nothing and be happy".
She calls this a war where three kinds of forces - government and government-related forces, elite power-grabbers and bad actors, and Big Tech are colluding to ensure that they remain on top for the new financial order that will come up. Owning wealth and power.
She begins with how frontline forces who risked their lives during the pandemic were punished, their livelihoods taken away, for non compliance with a vaccine mandate. Moving quickly from social acceptance to social credit. Judged by public approval than a court of law. In China, they have already gone quite deep into the Social Credit System, where you're watched and rewarded (red list)/penalised (black list).
She uses the history of empires to show the cycles of rise and fall, and how war is usually a catalyst for change and a new financial order. The US began its ascent after WW2, and according to Roth (and data), we are now seeing a decline in the US financial system, which is likely to lead to a shift in power, and or economic and geopolitical chaos. And if we go by GoT, "Chaos is a ladder".
She also discusses Peter Thiel's framework of how good ideas cause bad outcomes through a believers (idea)- racketeers (ROI) - Useful Idiots (ROE, e for ego). Think of climate change and read it as genuine activists - ESG sellers - regular people pandering to their desire for validation and ego by sharing posts/emojis/slogans without really understanding the discourse.
The next chapters expand on the debasing of the dollar (some insightful charts on its decreasing purchasing power) and the huge concerns on turning it digital - CBDC (central bank digital currency) and how it can be used against the common person's rights and freedoms. This allows a neat segue into Big Tech and how they have made us dependent, and infringed on our basic rights. Think of getting locked out of mail, social media, payments etc with no easy means of recourse. Most of us don't really own anything digitally, it's all on a company's servers. They would serve as great allies of the government, possibly even overshadowing them with their technical superiority. Wars are almost more cyber than real, after all.
She then does a deep dive on the various power and money grab mechanisms already underway. ESG, (thanks BlackRock!) for instance, played a crucial role in tanking Sri Lanka's economy. The increasingly unattainable home ownership in US thanks to corporations, who are helped by cheap capital enabled by the Fed, competing against the common man for real estate. And city administrations who are happy to go along with AirBnB because they pay taxes. Add to this billionaires like Gates and institutions like Harvard (enabled by endowments) buying up farmland, including things like water rights. Now think about it, why wouldn't private investors start moving water to say, nearest cities, because they think it's the most efficient use of water?
Another example is the crazy cost of education and the increasing lack of ROI, thereby creating a population that is always in debt. And guess who's the one providing these loans - the government! And despite their 'loan forgiveness', ultimately it's the taxpayer footing the bill! A transfer of money from the working class to the college-educated class.
The final chapter is on how the common man (in the US context) can fight back against all this. While the context is the US, the ideology of capitalism and the alliance of government-corporations-BigTech is a global phenomenon, soon coming to a country near you.
What was super insightful to me is the nuance of arguments. I had broadly supported the vaccine mandate, Biden, and was not fond of Joe Rogan, but I was forced to think deeply on all this. This is a fantastic read, and I absolutely recommend it.
Quote
"When a social moral code replaces a legal code and gains acceptance it is only a matter of time before those in power want to leverage that dynamic to secure more power for themselves"
'We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office' ~ Aesop
She calls this a war where three kinds of forces - government and government-related forces, elite power-grabbers and bad actors, and Big Tech are colluding to ensure that they remain on top for the new financial order that will come up. Owning wealth and power.
She begins with how frontline forces who risked their lives during the pandemic were punished, their livelihoods taken away, for non compliance with a vaccine mandate. Moving quickly from social acceptance to social credit. Judged by public approval than a court of law. In China, they have already gone quite deep into the Social Credit System, where you're watched and rewarded (red list)/penalised (black list).
She uses the history of empires to show the cycles of rise and fall, and how war is usually a catalyst for change and a new financial order. The US began its ascent after WW2, and according to Roth (and data), we are now seeing a decline in the US financial system, which is likely to lead to a shift in power, and or economic and geopolitical chaos. And if we go by GoT, "Chaos is a ladder".
She also discusses Peter Thiel's framework of how good ideas cause bad outcomes through a believers (idea)- racketeers (ROI) - Useful Idiots (ROE, e for ego). Think of climate change and read it as genuine activists - ESG sellers - regular people pandering to their desire for validation and ego by sharing posts/emojis/slogans without really understanding the discourse.
The next chapters expand on the debasing of the dollar (some insightful charts on its decreasing purchasing power) and the huge concerns on turning it digital - CBDC (central bank digital currency) and how it can be used against the common person's rights and freedoms. This allows a neat segue into Big Tech and how they have made us dependent, and infringed on our basic rights. Think of getting locked out of mail, social media, payments etc with no easy means of recourse. Most of us don't really own anything digitally, it's all on a company's servers. They would serve as great allies of the government, possibly even overshadowing them with their technical superiority. Wars are almost more cyber than real, after all.
She then does a deep dive on the various power and money grab mechanisms already underway. ESG, (thanks BlackRock!) for instance, played a crucial role in tanking Sri Lanka's economy. The increasingly unattainable home ownership in US thanks to corporations, who are helped by cheap capital enabled by the Fed, competing against the common man for real estate. And city administrations who are happy to go along with AirBnB because they pay taxes. Add to this billionaires like Gates and institutions like Harvard (enabled by endowments) buying up farmland, including things like water rights. Now think about it, why wouldn't private investors start moving water to say, nearest cities, because they think it's the most efficient use of water?
Another example is the crazy cost of education and the increasing lack of ROI, thereby creating a population that is always in debt. And guess who's the one providing these loans - the government! And despite their 'loan forgiveness', ultimately it's the taxpayer footing the bill! A transfer of money from the working class to the college-educated class.
The final chapter is on how the common man (in the US context) can fight back against all this. While the context is the US, the ideology of capitalism and the alliance of government-corporations-BigTech is a global phenomenon, soon coming to a country near you.
What was super insightful to me is the nuance of arguments. I had broadly supported the vaccine mandate, Biden, and was not fond of Joe Rogan, but I was forced to think deeply on all this. This is a fantastic read, and I absolutely recommend it.
Quote
"When a social moral code replaces a legal code and gains acceptance it is only a matter of time before those in power want to leverage that dynamic to secure more power for themselves"
'We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office' ~ Aesop
August 3, 2023
I heard about this from the Blaze, on Glenn Beck's show.
This book is great for those who have little understanding of the WEF's 2030 plan, but for people who are already good planners and investors probably won't find anything too valuable here. 10 chapters of despair, with a final chapter that doesn't really provide anything other than what I would consider to be fairly obvious advice.
Solid nonetheless, if you're just beginning to research and learn about The Great Reset.
This book is great for those who have little understanding of the WEF's 2030 plan, but for people who are already good planners and investors probably won't find anything too valuable here. 10 chapters of despair, with a final chapter that doesn't really provide anything other than what I would consider to be fairly obvious advice.
Solid nonetheless, if you're just beginning to research and learn about The Great Reset.
October 30, 2023
This book was painful to listen to (audiobook form); I could only make it through the intro and 10 minutes of the last chapter. The author is an “American TV Personality” according to Wikipedia.
April 25, 2024
Half of the time conservatives talk about systemic problems, they sound like progressives. The other half is made up of equal parts consisting of propaganda, bad jokes, and poor takes.
Roth is right about wealth being stolen from the masses and handed to the elite, she's wrong about nearly everything about how to fix the problem, and that's because she, like everyone, starts with faulty assumptions about what's right, and then ignores anything that doesn't support her view.
For instance, in her advice on how to combat the draining of wealth, she advised that you invest in a mutual fund on the stock market, the number one vehicle of wealth theft that has been perpetuated on the American people at large outside of bailouts.
She over-emphasizes the role of WEF connected companies without ever really copping to the fact they're a newcomer in the looting game that is the American Government. Nixon (R) took us off the gold standard. Every president following this has cut taxes and increased spending, without fail.
We live in the end-game of corporate controlled government systems, and Carol seems to think the problem is somehow communism.
Conservatives are right to fear a global authoritarian regime. It's an inevitability if you ask me. But it's being brought to us by Google and Chase Bank, not Marx and Tolstoy.
I understand that 'equity' is the buzzword of the last decade of the elite, but I don't think poor non-whites are any better off today for it.
Roth is right about wealth being stolen from the masses and handed to the elite, she's wrong about nearly everything about how to fix the problem, and that's because she, like everyone, starts with faulty assumptions about what's right, and then ignores anything that doesn't support her view.
For instance, in her advice on how to combat the draining of wealth, she advised that you invest in a mutual fund on the stock market, the number one vehicle of wealth theft that has been perpetuated on the American people at large outside of bailouts.
She over-emphasizes the role of WEF connected companies without ever really copping to the fact they're a newcomer in the looting game that is the American Government. Nixon (R) took us off the gold standard. Every president following this has cut taxes and increased spending, without fail.
We live in the end-game of corporate controlled government systems, and Carol seems to think the problem is somehow communism.
Conservatives are right to fear a global authoritarian regime. It's an inevitability if you ask me. But it's being brought to us by Google and Chase Bank, not Marx and Tolstoy.
I understand that 'equity' is the buzzword of the last decade of the elite, but I don't think poor non-whites are any better off today for it.
June 5, 2024
The author has a magnificent way of taking the dismal science, which can also be mysterious and incomprehensible, and turning it into plain-Enlgish explanations that anyone can understand and appreciate.
Admittedly, much of the material in the book wasn't new to me. I've listened to the author when she appears on various radio programs and podcasts. But there's a lot here to sober and even scare anyone who believes in the intrinsic value of private property. I loved this book, and yes, it was well worth that Audible credit.
Admittedly, much of the material in the book wasn't new to me. I've listened to the author when she appears on various radio programs and podcasts. But there's a lot here to sober and even scare anyone who believes in the intrinsic value of private property. I loved this book, and yes, it was well worth that Audible credit.
August 14, 2023
Roth spends the first 10 to 11 chapters of the book laying out the alarming, distressing, and dismal facts behind her assertion "You will own nothing." From ESG to the decline in home ownership, and the greed of governments looking to increase wealth taxes, she details what our 'elite' have in store for us. Finally, in the last chapter, after having made a solid case, Roth gives hope with recommendations on how you can fight back.
May 19, 2024
I hope this book is a parody because it seems like the author totally misunderstood literally everything she talked about. It has to be the most thorough misreading of practically everything Ive ever seen. I mean, do people really think this? Complete waste if time unless youd like a tour of a broken brain. Ugh
September 21, 2023
I was always suspect of conspiracy theories. @Caroljsroth changes that. Her theories are backed with well-researched data. Her closing resonates with practical calls to action.
March 24, 2026
what i thought would be an interesting critique of exploitative capitalism turned into a fear mongering, right wing rant on the attack of personal freedoms. the book opens up with covid conspiracies (the argument being that you own nothing because the government can terminate your job for not getting vaccinated as a medical worker during a pandemic) and whishy
washy critique of cancel culture that put the poor seth rogan and dave chappelle under backlash. i could not continue listening to this pile of trash any further after this.
washy critique of cancel culture that put the poor seth rogan and dave chappelle under backlash. i could not continue listening to this pile of trash any further after this.
June 11, 2024
3.5 stars. A little hard to follow (terms I didn't recognize, especially acronyms with no explanation), but important info, and I especially enjoyed the chapter on college. Also, she needs to be reading her own audiobooks!
January 7, 2025
I read this book because it was referenced in other non-fiction reads and I do enjoy hearing opposing views. I found some of the information really interesting, but I disagreed with many narratives used by Roth to explain the facts. This was most apparent to me in her discussion on the World Economic Forum. In other areas, I disagreed with the whole premise, such as Roth’s categorization of inheritance taxes as a government tool to erode individual wealth generation or the need to abolish central banks. I found the tone to be quite conspiratorial, which was off-putting and ultimately led to the ⭐️⭐️ rating.
October 9, 2025
“You Will Own Nothing” by Carol Roth (favorite quotes and notes)
*Do you support the current thing? If you do you can put up an emoji in your social media biography or a ribbon on your profile picture and a sign in front of your house. You can signal that you are a virtuous and worthy moral being. You are deemed by your peers and mainstream media as a good citizen and part of the crowd of “right think” instead of “wrongthink.”
*The continual picking of winners and losers. Deciding who is essential and who isn’t. Distinguishing who is a good citizen and how they can virtue signal and gain social clout with that designation. Deciding who will be punished by having their lives and livelihoods disrupted. That is what is at stake.
*When a social media code replaces a legal code and gains acceptance, it is only a matter of time before those in power want to leverage that dynamic to secure more power for themselves. That begets the foundation for social compliance.
*The “pandemic” created an unbelievably dangerous precedent for the US govt putting the rights of the collective above the individual and infringing on those rights, based on the words “for the good of society.” We saw that if you refused to get a “vaccine”, the govt would suggest that you not be able to do certain activities (travel, eat at restaurants, etc) and even work (many people lost jobs for refusing to “comply”).
*Many people DID comply. These mandates were accepted and embraced by a meaningful percentage of the population. Those in power now know that social credit can be a very effective tool.
____________________________
*The period of incredible abundance the US has been blessed with will forever be changed. As trade blocs shift and global supply chains realign to more regional trade, everything will become more expensive. The US will be relatively better off than other nations, but the quality of life known to Americans for the past 60-70 yrs will deteriorate. It will be painful, as it is when you have something special and lose it.
*The elites have put us in this situation because, in thinking they are smarter and better, they have become completely decoupled from reality. Or, perhaps, more accurately, they are setting themselves up to benefit, financially and otherwise.
*Re: the linkage between property rights and prosperity: The key…is private property, because if it belongs to me, you know, there’s an obvious fact. Nobody spends somebody else’s money as carefully as he spends his own. Nobody uses somebody else’s resources as carefully as he uses his own. So if you want efficiency and effectiveness, if you want knowledge to be properly utilized, you have to do it through the means of private property (Friedman).
*Ayn Rand also commented on this topic: Without property rights, no other rights are possible. Since man has to sustain his life by his own effort, the man who has no right to the product of his effort has no means to sustain his life. The man who produces while others dispose of his product, is a slave.
*Since 2021 govt regulations at all levels have added approx. $94,000 to the average cost of a new home. Onerous property taxes mean that your home and land are never really paid for.
*Business regulations have made it harder and more expensive to start and run a business. (and this was before Covid deemed some businesses essential and some non-essential, based not on data or science but on political clout and connections. They put mostly small businesses into financial peril, causing an estimated seven figures’ worth of them to shutter forever, while transferring trillions to Wall Street, including a 3.4 trillion increae in the value of seven tech companies during 2020).
*The strengthening of the corporate Goliaths took place not just with monetary policy, but via government policy as well. The shuttering of small businesses by mandate meant that larger competitors who could remain open received more of consumers’ dollars. The financial support from the Fed was the second piece of this 1-2 punch.
*In the documentary “In Money We Trust,” anthropologist Jack Weatherford noted that you can follow the decline of Rome with the decline of its money and that the two were very closely associated. Concerning the Roman Empire’s downfall, a large expansion in government spending (for both bureaucracy and war) and currency debasement set them on the path to destruction. STABLE MONEY IS CRUCIAL TO A STABLE SOCIETY. When your currency is debased, no matter the time or place, it ultimately leads to inflation, unrest, and collapse. This destabilization created a downward spiral for the Roman Empire, and history rhymes (a familiar tune- ***we are here*****).
*Dollar value needs to remain fixed. Money is a measure of value (the way a scale measures weight or a clock measures time). Similarly, money measures the value of goods, services, and investments. To be able to measure something, the measuring device NEEDS TO BE FIXED IN VALUE. (imagine if time changed- an hour was 60 minutes one day, but 50 the next, and 80 the day after that). This brings CHAOS, especially with $, because it changes the values that were agreed upon. One party got an undeserved gain, and the other got an undeserved loss.
*As the dollar has become fiat currency, its value has been manipulated and debased by policy. As the govt and Fed have debased the dollar, much like the Romans did with their denarius 2,000 yrs ago, the warped perception of $ has allowed the debasement to continue. People can identify the symptoms- they know that they can buy less today and that it is harder to purchase a home, for example- but they don’t necessarily realize why. This is an easy and deceptive way for the govt and central planners to steal wealth.
*To illustrate above, in layman’s terms, if you or I found a mechanism that let us go into our online bank account and change the balance to whatever we wanted, and we then used that money to buy things, it would be called fraud. When the Federal Reserve does the very same thing, we call it “monetary policy.”
*People are fond of saying, “This/That would never happen in the U.S.! But…you would have probably said the same thing about many govt mandates and actions over the past few years before they actually happened.
I didn’t have time to organize it beyond this, but I will say that I enjoyed most of the book and found it enlightening (I appreciated a lot of the financial details and explanations, which gave me a much clearer understanding of things I previously was a little bit foggy on). In reading online reviews of the book, a lot of people complain that it’s harsh, or conservative drivel, conspiracy theory based, etc. However, I can see, especially based on history (Rome especially, as mentioned) how we could easily be headed down the same path to our destruction. And people will happily march down that path because they are COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS (because “the news” did not mention it). I really think a lot of the anger and outrage is because people are clinging to ideologies or how they interpret (or want to interpret) a situation (ie: the Government would never do anything willingly to hurt its own citizens) and would rather proceed blindly rather than open their eyes to the reality (or study history).
*Do you support the current thing? If you do you can put up an emoji in your social media biography or a ribbon on your profile picture and a sign in front of your house. You can signal that you are a virtuous and worthy moral being. You are deemed by your peers and mainstream media as a good citizen and part of the crowd of “right think” instead of “wrongthink.”
*The continual picking of winners and losers. Deciding who is essential and who isn’t. Distinguishing who is a good citizen and how they can virtue signal and gain social clout with that designation. Deciding who will be punished by having their lives and livelihoods disrupted. That is what is at stake.
*When a social media code replaces a legal code and gains acceptance, it is only a matter of time before those in power want to leverage that dynamic to secure more power for themselves. That begets the foundation for social compliance.
*The “pandemic” created an unbelievably dangerous precedent for the US govt putting the rights of the collective above the individual and infringing on those rights, based on the words “for the good of society.” We saw that if you refused to get a “vaccine”, the govt would suggest that you not be able to do certain activities (travel, eat at restaurants, etc) and even work (many people lost jobs for refusing to “comply”).
*Many people DID comply. These mandates were accepted and embraced by a meaningful percentage of the population. Those in power now know that social credit can be a very effective tool.
____________________________
*The period of incredible abundance the US has been blessed with will forever be changed. As trade blocs shift and global supply chains realign to more regional trade, everything will become more expensive. The US will be relatively better off than other nations, but the quality of life known to Americans for the past 60-70 yrs will deteriorate. It will be painful, as it is when you have something special and lose it.
*The elites have put us in this situation because, in thinking they are smarter and better, they have become completely decoupled from reality. Or, perhaps, more accurately, they are setting themselves up to benefit, financially and otherwise.
*Re: the linkage between property rights and prosperity: The key…is private property, because if it belongs to me, you know, there’s an obvious fact. Nobody spends somebody else’s money as carefully as he spends his own. Nobody uses somebody else’s resources as carefully as he uses his own. So if you want efficiency and effectiveness, if you want knowledge to be properly utilized, you have to do it through the means of private property (Friedman).
*Ayn Rand also commented on this topic: Without property rights, no other rights are possible. Since man has to sustain his life by his own effort, the man who has no right to the product of his effort has no means to sustain his life. The man who produces while others dispose of his product, is a slave.
*Since 2021 govt regulations at all levels have added approx. $94,000 to the average cost of a new home. Onerous property taxes mean that your home and land are never really paid for.
*Business regulations have made it harder and more expensive to start and run a business. (and this was before Covid deemed some businesses essential and some non-essential, based not on data or science but on political clout and connections. They put mostly small businesses into financial peril, causing an estimated seven figures’ worth of them to shutter forever, while transferring trillions to Wall Street, including a 3.4 trillion increae in the value of seven tech companies during 2020).
*The strengthening of the corporate Goliaths took place not just with monetary policy, but via government policy as well. The shuttering of small businesses by mandate meant that larger competitors who could remain open received more of consumers’ dollars. The financial support from the Fed was the second piece of this 1-2 punch.
*In the documentary “In Money We Trust,” anthropologist Jack Weatherford noted that you can follow the decline of Rome with the decline of its money and that the two were very closely associated. Concerning the Roman Empire’s downfall, a large expansion in government spending (for both bureaucracy and war) and currency debasement set them on the path to destruction. STABLE MONEY IS CRUCIAL TO A STABLE SOCIETY. When your currency is debased, no matter the time or place, it ultimately leads to inflation, unrest, and collapse. This destabilization created a downward spiral for the Roman Empire, and history rhymes (a familiar tune- ***we are here*****).
*Dollar value needs to remain fixed. Money is a measure of value (the way a scale measures weight or a clock measures time). Similarly, money measures the value of goods, services, and investments. To be able to measure something, the measuring device NEEDS TO BE FIXED IN VALUE. (imagine if time changed- an hour was 60 minutes one day, but 50 the next, and 80 the day after that). This brings CHAOS, especially with $, because it changes the values that were agreed upon. One party got an undeserved gain, and the other got an undeserved loss.
*As the dollar has become fiat currency, its value has been manipulated and debased by policy. As the govt and Fed have debased the dollar, much like the Romans did with their denarius 2,000 yrs ago, the warped perception of $ has allowed the debasement to continue. People can identify the symptoms- they know that they can buy less today and that it is harder to purchase a home, for example- but they don’t necessarily realize why. This is an easy and deceptive way for the govt and central planners to steal wealth.
*To illustrate above, in layman’s terms, if you or I found a mechanism that let us go into our online bank account and change the balance to whatever we wanted, and we then used that money to buy things, it would be called fraud. When the Federal Reserve does the very same thing, we call it “monetary policy.”
*People are fond of saying, “This/That would never happen in the U.S.! But…you would have probably said the same thing about many govt mandates and actions over the past few years before they actually happened.
I didn’t have time to organize it beyond this, but I will say that I enjoyed most of the book and found it enlightening (I appreciated a lot of the financial details and explanations, which gave me a much clearer understanding of things I previously was a little bit foggy on). In reading online reviews of the book, a lot of people complain that it’s harsh, or conservative drivel, conspiracy theory based, etc. However, I can see, especially based on history (Rome especially, as mentioned) how we could easily be headed down the same path to our destruction. And people will happily march down that path because they are COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS (because “the news” did not mention it). I really think a lot of the anger and outrage is because people are clinging to ideologies or how they interpret (or want to interpret) a situation (ie: the Government would never do anything willingly to hurt its own citizens) and would rather proceed blindly rather than open their eyes to the reality (or study history).
December 15, 2023
This is a deeply biased book, fortunately I was turned off almost immediately, so overall, I didn't waste much time. I tried to read some later chapters and saw a few good points, that's pretty much it. Clearly she had her libertarian agenda, which I disagree in general. I don't like to give one star, but I do to this one without any hesitation.
September 23, 2024
Although I think Carol did a great job researching for this book my largest problem comes not from the research itself but the loose association research. She brings up 4-5 points, then says they are associated and continues as if so. At no point do I feel Carol actually PROVED to me that the are associated. Felt like the logic leap was just too great to be onboard all the time.
November 1, 2024
There's no need to read this book unless you are a into partisan politics. Just turn to any right wing outlet and you're good. I thought this would about the WEF's views and its future economic policy. I didn't even make it through the first chapter and he began criticizing the current president and gun control laws. I am disappointed to say the least.
December 8, 2023
What a terrible book. Nothing more than grievance politics. All Roth does is repeat republican, MAGA, conspiracy culture war talking points. Nothing meaningful, impactful, or honest is to be found in this dumpster fire.
December 13, 2023
More opinion without data than fact, like a bad op-ed. Uses derogatory language and gives bad financial advice.
September 26, 2024
Could not get past the first chapter. While it could have been an interesting topic it is extremely biased and politicized. Very disappointed.
June 6, 2025
I'm a Republican and I broadly share the baseline concerns of the author, specifically globalism (in the sense of the International Political Economy and macroeconomic policy, not the antisemitic conspiracy nonsense, which this book thankfully doesn't touch) and a lot of the machinations of these international orgs like the WEF and IMF. The neofeudalism we're being pushed into is going to be abysmal and people should know about it. But this book just sucks.
I started off a bit frustrated when the first chapter was endlessly complaining and spiraling about COVID. Lockdowns and vaccines are obvious ways to deal with a novel (meaning we have never seen it before and have no info!) pandemic virus that is freakishly transmissible. We can and should have conversations about things like Canada's authoritarian weaponization of finance to shut down protests (I have little sympathy for their cause but the reaction was unacceptable) or myopic and ineffective guidance in the US, but comparing the vaccine cards in the US to what China did with that app or their social credit programs is asinine. This topic of always comes up in discussions about the kind of surveillance technology issues, and it feels like some kind of trauma processing from the kinds of silly people who claimed masks threatened freedom of speech.
I had to DNF when she had a whole scenario implying that climate change was something dreamed up in a dark room by a Don Draper type in order to scam the planet. You have to be seriously data-illiterate and incurious to actually think this. Yes there are tons of people capitalizing on it and scamming people, this is entirely obvious, but they're taking advantage of a real situation. This isn't confusing or even weird, this is what profit-obsessed people do. Yes ESG is insane and the UN and various IOs doing some horrible things with land and wealth redistribution in the name of climate change, but that doesn't mean the climate isn't changing. It means people are taking advantage of it without actually addressing the various causes (hello China, I see you're burning a lot of coal), which is a huge concern.
There are better books on these topics. In addition to the above silliness, this just isn't well written and there were a lot of places where she makes unclear references to things and doesn't fully set up her arguments. I just don't have patience for this.
I started off a bit frustrated when the first chapter was endlessly complaining and spiraling about COVID. Lockdowns and vaccines are obvious ways to deal with a novel (meaning we have never seen it before and have no info!) pandemic virus that is freakishly transmissible. We can and should have conversations about things like Canada's authoritarian weaponization of finance to shut down protests (I have little sympathy for their cause but the reaction was unacceptable) or myopic and ineffective guidance in the US, but comparing the vaccine cards in the US to what China did with that app or their social credit programs is asinine. This topic of always comes up in discussions about the kind of surveillance technology issues, and it feels like some kind of trauma processing from the kinds of silly people who claimed masks threatened freedom of speech.
I had to DNF when she had a whole scenario implying that climate change was something dreamed up in a dark room by a Don Draper type in order to scam the planet. You have to be seriously data-illiterate and incurious to actually think this. Yes there are tons of people capitalizing on it and scamming people, this is entirely obvious, but they're taking advantage of a real situation. This isn't confusing or even weird, this is what profit-obsessed people do. Yes ESG is insane and the UN and various IOs doing some horrible things with land and wealth redistribution in the name of climate change, but that doesn't mean the climate isn't changing. It means people are taking advantage of it without actually addressing the various causes (hello China, I see you're burning a lot of coal), which is a huge concern.
There are better books on these topics. In addition to the above silliness, this just isn't well written and there were a lot of places where she makes unclear references to things and doesn't fully set up her arguments. I just don't have patience for this.
July 21, 2025
Carol Roth's You Will Own Nothing provides a glimpse of the future that most Americans are headed into. The future is a dystopia where the elites, big tech and the government are looking for ways to control people and horde their wealth. By 2030 the World Economic Forum states that you will own nothing and be happy. From killing your purchasing power through ESG (environmental, social and governance) schemes the elites are trying to make you poorer. Big corporations are pushing the cost of housing out of reach for most Americans by purchasing homes and renting them out. Big Tech can destroy your small business by cutting you off from your accounts if you violate their terms of service. Big tech is turning your life into a subscription service, and they work closely with the government to penalize free speech. Roth goes into detail about how the dollar is losing value and people have less purchasing power because it requires more dollars to buy products. The most frightening thing is the emergence of Central Bank Digital Currencies where the government will have direct control over your life and the items you purchase. The government is likely to use CBDC's to punish people for "wrong think" or behaviors they do not like, such as smoking for example or eating a hamburger every day. The book discusses the governments predatory lending for higher education and how degrees have turned into worthless paper and students are saddled with $10,000s or millions of dollars in dept. In the future people will be poor and not happy. The book describes a new financial world order where you are the target. I highly recommend the book.
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