"Tipping Point -- The moment where critical mass, the threshold, and the boiling point converge. It is the point when everyday things reach epidemic proportions."

Some time after his arrival in the Philippines to begin production on Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola was warned by a crew member that seasonal typhoons would destroy the sets that were being constructed. "What are you," Coppola replied, "a f---in' weatherman?"

It wasn’t like the crew member was alone. Even before leaving America, Coppola had been warned not to go by veteran director Roger Corman. "You're going right into the rainy season," Corman warned. "Nobody goes there that time of year."

Coppola ignored continued admonishments from locals that heavy monsoon rains were imminent and set about his business of making the movie. But a few weeks later. Much of Coppola's set was destroyed by a violent tropical storm.

Of course, the fabled director did survive the weather and went on to make one of the groundbreaking movies of our time. But he paid a heavy price. He nearly suffered financial ruin, as the film went far over budget and way over schedule (primarily due to the nasty weather and the ill health of one his stars, Martin Sheen, who suffered a heart attack while filming). Coppola himself said he just about suffered a nervous breakdown

To this day, in numerous interviews, Coppola rues the decision to film in the Philippines, near the Pagjansan River at the height of the tropical storm season.

But at least he survived.

Can we say the same?

The answer to that question will decide whether you spend the bulk of your remaining years toiling at a fast-food drive-thru window for a living or living in relative comfort with your loved ones safe and secure.

A stark contrast? No doubt about it. But a realistic one.

That’s because there’s an economic storm cloud brewing on the horizon; one that could sink millions of middle class Americans into poverty and the US economy into financial chaos. Unfortunately, few Americans are aware of the train wreck ahead.

The fact is, we’ve reached an economic tipping point in the U.S. today.

It’s a point that leads to economic disaster for America and its citizens; a collapse of catastrophic proportions that just might reduce the U.S. to a level of chaos, poverty and deprivation that Americans are woefully unprepared for. It could be a period of tremendous hardship and economic deprivation.

Imagine an almost instant depression seizing the entire modern industrialized world as nation-states break down. Americans, even relatively wealthy ones, frantically struggling with crippling tax increases; slashed retirement benefits; gutted budgets for homeland security; highways, research and everything else. But most of all, imagine an economic decline and financial collapse that devastates the middle class, as happened recently in debt-strapped Argentina. There, upper-middle class Argentineans were plunged into poverty after the country’s economy and currency collapsed. Many went homeless, many lost their jobs, and many have yet to recover from Argentina’s economic catastrophe – the same type of catastrophe that threatens the US today.

Imagine cash-strapped banks calling in all their outstanding loans to stay afloat. That would force millions of American homeowners to pay the entire outstanding balance on home mortgage in a period of three months or less. The same story will occur with credit card companies – they’ll be demanding full and immediate payment from card carriers; most of who won’t be able to pay off their debt in a single payment. Basically, any American who has undertaken significant debt will most likely lose everything.

Sound unlikely? Hardly.

During my years as a professional investor and financial book author I have witnessed a perfect storm quickly gathering strength on our nation’s economic horizon, fueled by staggering federal debt. Furthering this problem, our Baby Boom generation continues to collect Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Together these stipend comprise almost 50% of the U.S. economy (military spending, by comparison, accounts for just 7%) and cost taxpayers $1.69 billion per day. As I will explain in detail in the next few blogs, other factors contributing to the gathering storm are:

-- a devalued dollar, which is fueling the current run-up in rising energy and health care prices

-- growing imbalances in the U.S. economy

-- lack of domestic savings on the part of Americans

-- and the erosion of the U.S. industrial base

These trends weave like vines throughout our financial culture, clinging to our economy and threatening to strangle our status as the world’s largest superpower. No longer singular forces, these trends speckle the economic landscape like a plague, creating a toxic economic stew that will lead to a significantly lower standard of living for debt-ravaged Americans and a wobbly stock market that could sink by 50 to 75 percent in value in the next ten years. Fanning the flames further is complete paralysis on the part of the Federal Reserve, Congress, and the President. For reasons of political expedience, these government bodies are likely to delay addressing such the current hazardous economic trends.

Worse, I am convinced that the tactics they ultimately do utilize will intensify the problem, making the inevitable recession that much worse. The outcome, of hyper-inflationary proportions, would render the U.S. dollar practically worthless in terms of real purchasing power. This crash could potentially lead to an extreme financial, political, and social unrest.

Then there is the global competition factor – a trend that doesn’t bode well for Americans. Over the past few decades the US has become a consumer-based sociological and economic culture that relies increasingly on the products manufactured by other countries, most notably along the Pacific Rim. Countries like China and India are burgeoning into the world’s greatest producers of goods, leaving America and its increasingly quaint service economy in the dust.

Bundled together, these effects will culminate in a substantial decline in the overall American standard of living by 2010, resulting in the greatest financial collapse in history.