Three decades ago, a prescient warning about the dangers of
globalization came from an unlikely source – billionaire financier Sir James Goldsmith. In a notable 1994 interview with Charlie Rose, Goldsmith accurately predicted the devastating impact that global trade agreements would have on Western nations’ industrial foundations and their working and middle classes.
This prediction has resurfaced in recent discussions, particularly during Catherine Austin Fitts’ conversation with Tucker Carlson. Fitts, who served as Under Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, referenced Goldsmith’s cautionary words about the Uruguay round of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and the establishment of the WTO.
Goldsmith, who had built Cavenham Foods into the world’s third-largest food company, became an unlikely advocate for decentralized, healthy food systems. His book “The Trap” outlined how globalization would lead to widespread illness and government dependency, while
sacrificing local infrastructure development.
The core premise of GATT was to achieve “efficient agriculture” – maximizing food production at minimal cost. However, Goldsmith challenged this oversimplified metric, arguing that it ignored crucial social costs. He pointed out that intensive farming practices would displace agricultural workers, break up families, and force people into urban poverty. These hidden costs, he maintained, should be factored into food prices.
According to Catherine Austin Fitts, these predictions have
materialized, with public health and generational wealth being sacrificed for supposedly cheaper food. More troublingly, she suggests this outcome was intentional, describing it as an “invisible corral” built gradually by what she terms “Mr. Global” – her designation for central banking interests.
In response to these challenges, a new movement is emerging. The Beef Initiative, led by Texas Slim, represents a pushback against centralized food systems. Slim emphasizes the connection between self-custody of assets and self-governance, viewing the current situation as part of a historical pattern of resource control.
During a recent Hillsdale College address, Fitts stressed the urgent need to develop healthy local food systems, not primarily for profit but for food safety. She highlighted the alarming deterioration of America’s food quality and advocated for regenerative farming and local food markets.
The Beef Initiative, partnering with ZeroHedge, aims to create a sovereign food system built on local connections and trust. Their approach eliminates multiple intermediaries – typically seven to twelve parties handle meat before it reaches supermarket shelves – by connecting consumers directly with ranchers.
This development represents a practical response to Goldsmith’s decades-old warnings. His fundamental belief that “you cannot enrich a country by impoverishing its people” and that economic health shouldn’t be measured solely by corporate profits remains relevant today.
The movement toward local, resilient food systems appears to be gaining momentum as more people recognize the validity of Goldsmith’s predictions. The emphasis on direct farmer-to-consumer relationships and sustainable agricultural practices suggests a potential pathway to address the systemic issues he identified thirty years ago.
As food system challenges continue to mount, these initiatives represent practical steps toward rebuilding local food infrastructure and addressing the problems that Goldsmith foresaw. The growing support for such alternatives indicates an increasing awareness of the need to restructure our approach to food production and distribution.