What If You Don’t Actually Own Your Assets?

The Great Taking isn’t about market crashes — it’s about legal ownership.

According to David Webb, the modern financial system has been quietly restructured so that in a systemic collapse, the largest institutions — including JPMorgan Chase — stand first in line… and you don’t.

This isn’t speculation.
It’s embedded in the legal plumbing of the global financial system.

And if Webb is correct, the hierarchy is intentional.

The Great Taking: The Legal Mechanism Behind Asset Seizure

At the center of The Great Taking is a critical shift in U.S. securities law — specifically UCC Article 8.

Here’s what changed over the past few decades:

• Stocks and bonds were dematerialized (no more paper certificates)

• Assets were placed into pooled collateral accounts

• Investors became “beneficial holders,” not direct title owners

• Secured creditors gained priority over pooled assets

In plain English:

You don’t directly own your securities.
You hold a claim within a custodial chain.

If a major intermediary fails during a systemic crisis, priority flows upward — not outward.

Webb uses a powerful analogy:

• The townspeople = brokerage firms and advisors

• The castle = JPMorgan

• The fortified walls = legal protections

• The pooled collateral = your assets

The system protects the “lord on the hill” first.

Central Banks: The Architecture of Control

This framework isn’t limited to U.S. retail investors.

It’s global.

Webb points to the Belgium-based clearinghouse Euroclear, where a significant portion of Russia’s central bank reserves were held and subsequently frozen.

Think about that.

If sovereign reserves can be immobilized and leveraged within the system, then the structure is clearly centralized and hierarchical.

This model of:

• Dematerialization

• Asset pooling

• Cross-border collateral usage

has now been implemented across:

• Europe

• Scandinavia

• Indonesia (recent dematerialization reforms)

• International investments flowing into China

The web is interconnected.

And central banks sit at the top.

All Wars Are Banker’s Wars?

Webb revives a controversial but historically referenced claim:

Major conflicts are financed through centralized banking systems that fund both sides.

He references the research of Richard Werner and themes explored in The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin.

Consider the pattern:

• Central banks expand balance sheets during crises

• Governments issue debt

• Debt is collateralized

• Financial assets are pledged and rehypothecated

Meanwhile:

• Global debt exceeds $300 trillion

• Derivatives exposure dwarfs global GDP

• Paper claims vastly outnumber physical backing

This is leverage layered upon leverage.

And leverage requires collateral.

Silver Volatility: Warning Sign or Controlled Release?

Silver recently experienced sharp upward spikes followed by violent overnight selloffs.

Why?

Because the paper market for silver — like gold — is many multiples larger than the physical supply.

Key realities:

• Average silver production costs hover near $20 per ounce

• Futures contracts vastly exceed deliverable metal

• Short squeezes can trigger rapid vertical price moves

Silver can surge “like a needle” — and collapse just as quickly.

But this isn’t just about silver.

It’s about systemic fragility in paper claims versus tangible supply.

The same imbalance exists across financial assets.

Why Central Banks Are Hoarding Gold

While retail investors debate price swings, central banks are accumulating gold at record pace.

Why?

Because gold:

• Is no one else’s liability

• Exists outside the digital collateral pool

• Cannot be printed

• Functions as ultimate settlement

Gold sits beyond the rehypothecation web.

And that makes it strategically important.

But here’s the sobering truth:

If central banks are aggressively accumulating gold, it signals preparation.

Preparation for what?

A monetary reset?
Currency devaluation?
Sovereign debt restructuring?

History suggests gold becomes central during periods of financial transition.

Wealth Preservation in the Age of Pooled Collateral

If The Great Taking framework is accurate, then traditional portfolio diversification may not protect investors during a systemic event.

When assets are pooled:

• Stocks are subject to custodial chains

• ETFs introduce layered counterparty exposure

• Bonds can be subordinated

• Pension funds can be entangled in collateral networks

This is why tangible assets matter.

Physical gold and silver:

• Reduce counterparty risk

• Exist outside brokerage rehypothecation

• Serve as an inflation hedge

• Provide wealth preservation in currency debasement

• Offer insulation in a “gold vs dollar” reset

No asset eliminates risk.

But removing exposure from the centralized collateral structure can shift your position in the hierarchy.

And in a crisis, hierarchy matters.

The Real Crisis Isn’t Just Financial

Webb’s deeper warning isn’t simply about markets.

It’s about structure.

The modern financial system has:

• Centralized asset custody

• Globalized collateral chains

• Institutionalized priority for secured creditors

• Built a debt bubble larger than anything in history

The 2008 crisis was a tremor.

Today’s global leverage dwarfs that period.

And when systemic collapse occurs, it will likely happen:

• During geopolitical tension

• Under emergency authority

• Amid sweeping financial “reforms”

The legal groundwork has already been laid.

Conclusion: When the Music Stops, Who Owns What?

The Great Taking forces an uncomfortable question:

If everything is pooled, who truly owns their assets?

In a stable market, the structure is invisible.

In a crisis, it becomes everything.

Because when the music stops, the system doesn’t treat all claims equally.

It protects the top first.

And that reality is what every investor must understand before the next shock hits.

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