This essay takes a reflective approach to the evolving intersection of finance, technology, and human adaptation, proposing that recalibration, not collapse; defines our era.
The truth is that Canada and the United States remain the most successful alliance in human history”. - Steven Harper (A Great Game)
The Great Reset of Confidence
History never repeats exactly…but it rhymes in unsettling ways. The crash of October 1929 began as a market correction and became a civilization-level reckoning. It wasn’t just leverage and speculation that broke Wall Street at that time, it was faith. Faith in systems, in leadership, in the idea that the good times would simply continue. A decade later, the scars of that collapse had reshaped everything from global alliances to personal behavior. The world learned what happens when optimism turns to collective delusion, and when policy lags too far behind.
In 1929, the market’s unraveling was fueled by easy credit, weak regulation, and euphoric valuations. Sound familiar? Investors borrowed on margin to chase momentum, margin requirements of which was said to be tightened throughout the nine-months leading up to the crash, constraining levered-investors. When confidence cracked, the selloff was merciless. The Dow Jones fell nearly 90 percent from its peak. Bank failures cascaded through the system, wiping out savings and collapsing trust. To say the least, what followed was a decade of austerity, unemployment, and caution that would shape generations.
The parallels today are not exactly symmetrical, but they’re close enough to demand humility. Debt loads sit at historic highs, valuations defy logic in segments of the AI and crypto markets, and regulation continues to lag innovation… caught in the whipsaw of shifting election cycles. Personally, I’m hopeful this new found movement of North American unity, change and strong leadership will set the tone for the next decade.
The economy looks strong on paper, but liquidity is tight, and consumer credit is deteriorating under the surface, not a great stat with record low jobs reports coming out, in the midst of a government shutdown. Growing pains are real, and the role of AI/autonomy and robotics in our future workforce is yet to be known.
We have seen part of this movie before, when leverage hides inside immense optimism. What’s different now is the scale of interconnectedness. A crash today would ripple through every algorithm and every nation in seconds.
The Digital Age of Soft Power and Fracture
Amid the divide between left and right, another battle is quietly unfolding, one fought in code, narrative, and influence. Foreign interference, algorithmic propaganda, and the weaponization of culture have turned civic debate into a proxy war. Multiculturalism, once a symbol of merit and strength, has been repurposed by political and corporate elites. It is no longer about inclusion, it is about leverage. Policy meant to empower citizens often now empowers those already at the top, who use the machinery of migration, media, and economics to consolidate control.
Yet, the pendulum is shifting and it is refreshing to watch from a pro growth perspective. The once-dominant globalist sentiment is losing force, fast, as people realize that natural citizens, borders, stable economies, and merit-based immigration policies are not reactionary ideas, they are the structural foundations we in the West value. A nation cannot sustain fairness without prioritizing those who built it. This is not misunderstood at a civilian level from my experience, just ask any natural citizen in most countries.
In the past decade, what was once seen as progress has in some places become disarray. The pursuit of boundless inclusion and deregulated globalization blurred accountability, leaving institutions captured by ideology instead of purpose. All in all, it is a quiet yet important warning about leadership, accountability, and foreign influence. What the globalist movement framed as fairness or equality was never about improving institutions, it was about consolidating control, reshaping values, and conditioning free natural citizens to obey through fear, guilt, and social engineering.
This is not a call for isolation but for recalibration, already taking place. The digital age has introduced a new form of warfare, one without bullets or tanks, but fought in bandwidth and attention spans. Social media platforms, AI systems, and data brokers have become geopolitical weapons.
What the propaganda posters of the 1930s did with ink, today’s social networks do with more powerfully with algorithms. They spread fear, shape perception, and divide communities into exploitable segments at unimaginable speed... The West must recognize that its open systems are both its strength and its vulnerability. A digital border is now as critical as a physical one.
The Modern Parallel
The economic optimism of the 21st century is built on technological progress, but it is also layered with fragility. The United States and Canada have spent the last decade stimulating, printing, and borrowing to cushion shocks and sustain growth. It worked, until inflation and consumer-sentiment hit. Now we sit in the middle of the correction phase. Rates are high, growth is uneven, and the cost of debt is starting to test households and corporations alike. The irony is that the stronger the West’s innovation engine, the more pressure it can place on the financial system that funds it. Or maybe the so-called pressure on the system is overstated, another strategic wave of fear and uncertainty to move sentiment?
Artificial intelligence, robotics, and biotechnology are not fads, they are revolutions in motion. But valuations have already priced in perfection. In 1929, investors believed industry had made the world invincible. In 2025, we believe AI will make it efficient. The lesson is the same. Technology does not eliminate cycles, it accelerates them. When optimism outruns cash flow long enough, the market eventually corrects. When liquidity tightens, even the best ideas get sold.
Still, there is a deeper resilience in North America. Both the United States and Canada share something larger than GDP, European lineage or politics, a culture of reinvention, advancement, and true freedom. The two nations have long fought side by side, traded across borders, and innovated together. From aerospace to AI, from hockey rinks to venture labs, that quiet alliance has shaped a century of prosperity. It is time to renew and revamp it, not through bureaucracy, but through shared purpose.
The West prospers when it invests in its own people, protects its borders with integrity, and rewards those who build rather than speculate. Duration matters here, as it does in investing. The long game favors conviction. And quietly, it seems that North American leaders are already exploring how to rebuild it properly, a modern, strategic renewal of partnership and purpose. Both Mark Carney and Donald Trump understand the art of alignment and high-stakes deal making. If they manage to sign off on an evolved United States–Canada framework, balancing independence with shared ambition, it could go down as one of the defining economic alliances of the century.
The Human Side of Leadership
Leadership today demands more than policy, it requires strength through principle. The gap between rhetoric and reality has grown so wide that citizens now see through the performance. The next generation does not want slogans, they want competence, fairness, and a future that feels theirs. That means prioritizing the elderly who built the foundation, the high-performing workers driving top-line growth and innovation, and the families trying to find stability, in an economy that increasingly serves capital over community.
As an entrepreneur and researcher, I have come to believe that national strength begins with individual integrity, and that integrity begins at home. If the West is to stay exceptional, it must remember what made it exceptional in the first place: principles, innovation, merit, courage, creativity, and accountability.
The alternative is drift, and drift never seems to end well.
Source: “Saint Michael Vanquishing Satan” by Guido Reni, painted around 1635
A Quiet Revival
The crash of 1929 was a reckoning born from complacency after a decade of reconstruction and optimism after WW1. The same characteristics remain true in almost every financial and cultural collapse since, whether the dot-com bubble, the global financial crisis, or the quiet corrections now unfolding in markets and institutions. Each cycle reminds us that the forces that build prosperity are the same that can undo it when left unchecked. But collapse is not destiny, it is a teacher… it humbles speculation, restores value to discipline, and tests the full character of those impacted, shedding a light on true traits and abilities, often forgotten or unpronounced in between. This is usually the environment that creates legends or exposes bad actors. As the old saying goes, “tough times create strong people, strong people create good times, and good times create weakness”, and the cycle always finds its way back.
If the last decade was defined by leverage, liquidity, and loud optimism, the next will demand precision, restraint, and real conviction. The West is still rich in human capital, ingenuity, and courage. What it lacks is focus, the collective sense of purpose that once made it unstoppable. That focus can be rebuilt, not through slogans or subsidies, but through meaningful innovation, leadership, and aligned national interest. The digital age has exposed vulnerabilities, but it has also handed us tools of extraordinary potential.
This is not decline, it is renewal. A quiet revival of accountability, competitiveness, and shared strength. It begins with protecting what matters, from quality of life to stable borders, sound money, and a merit-based system that rewards effort and innovation. It extends into rebuilding trust in institutions and ensuring that technology serves people, not the other way around.
If history rhymes again, let it rhyme with resilience. Let this era of uncertainty be remembered as the start of something wiser, a smarter capitalism, a stronger alliance, and a renewed belief in what North America can build when it stops dividing itself, removes the noise, and starts investing in its own.
Because the next century of leadership will not be claimed through noise or narrative, but through those willing to think clearly, act decisively, and build what endures.
Disclaimer: This publication reflects personal research, interpretation, and opinion — it is not financial advice. All investment and trading decisions carry risk, and readers should conduct independent due diligence or consult a qualified financial advisor before acting on any information herein. 24K Research does not hold itself out as a broker, dealer, or investment advisor and assumes no liability for decisions made based on this material.