I was watching Glenn Beck on CNN Headline News and must admit there is something about him. First, let me reiterate that this is not a political blog, it is about anything that might affect investment decisions. br /br /To me, Beck is a hard core republican but at the same time he eschews many of the so-called Republican values to which the candidates of today seem to kow-tow (look that one up). He is for getting government the hell out of the way and that includes things like letting people do what they want with their lives, making their own mistakes and taking the consequences like a man/woman.br /br /Anyway, let’s bring this to your portfolio. His report yesterday had two relevant points to us here. br /br /1) Oil money and how those with it are beating the cr*p economically out of those who don’t have it. Makes sense to me. Money is power, even for communists and certainly for terrorists.br /2) He also said something to the effect that the US is so focused on helping poor homeowners in default that it is borrowing money from China to bail them out. That makes the credit crunch today look mild in my view.br /br /On point 1, he compared the US today to the Soviets just before they crumbled. No revenue (oil was low) and fighting “you know who” in Afghanistan. Economically, they were a disaster and poof, they were gone. Now, with oil so high they are flush with case and dictating an awful lot of political stuff in their world. br /br /On point 2, he basically said that we are moving towards socialism – and economic ruin. I love to quote a comedian on this one – Nick DiPaola – who said on his short-lived talk show that this country is becoming a “Nanny State.” br /br /So what do we do to make sure we can ride out these issues and keep our retirement nest egg? br /br /1) alternate energy, not to be green but to get off oil (although green would be a great side effect)br /2) stay diversified globallybr /3) own hard assets