by Tuomas Malinen, The Epoch Times:

I have had a series of conversations lately on how did we, the world, get to this point? I think that it’s a valid question, considering how well things were in the 1990s after the Soviet Union had collapsed.

The really interesting follow-up question is: Has this deterioration been a series of mere random events, or have we been somehow guided to this point?

I think there have been two major “game changers”: the 9/11 terrorist strikes and the global financial crisis of 2008–09 (GFC). If you really consider the aftermath of these events, it’s rather clear that we never really returned to the status quo after either.