From Louis James, senior investment strategist, Casey Research: Black lives matter.

ALL lives matter.

And no “color” of life matters more than others.

Don’t get me wrong. I understand the outrage people feel in response to being treated like a criminal for Driving While Black. Racism is a very real and serious problem in the world and in America today.

Not being entirely white, I feel its effects myself at times.

But I think there’s something more going on here, and it’s dangerous for us as investors—and as human beings—to get distracted by sensational rhetoric.

Which is not to say that a sniper taking down a dozen police officers in Dallas and the preceding police shootings of black men are not important. Of course they are. It’s that there’s more than racism going on here.

As Doug Casey keeps telling anyone who will listen, “public servants” in uniform tend to be loyal first and foremost to each other. Many people want to make heroes of them, as a class, but they are no more selfless angels than any other human beings. And their “tribe” tends to react like any other when attacked.

The rising tide of protests already had police officers feeling defensive. The propensity for violence to break out has them on edge. And now, some people have gone from protesting peacefully to fighting back. The sniper in Dallas is getting most of the headlines, but he’s not the only one who’s decided to take matters into his own hands.

This is huge.

Authorities are portraying Dallas shooter Micah Johnson as a lone crazy man. But if police keep shooting people during what should be routine encounters, and more people respond in kind, it will amount to a form of revolution.

The question now is whether things will simmer down or boil over.

To their credit, some Black Lives Matter folks repudiated the killings. But they didn’t call off the protests. I’m not sure they can. And the protests are turning more violent, even without snipers taking advantage of the “target-rich environment” they create.

How must the cops assigned to patrol in such situations feel?

How would you feel if it were you and a bunch of your fellows were just killed performing the same duty?

Edgy doesn’t even begin to cover it. It’s not necessarily that they’re going to be trigger-happy. They will be right to be on the highest alert. And if anyone else starts shooting at them… they are going to respond as strongly as they can.

In short, it’s becoming more “us vs. them” than ever. Each act of violence ratchets the vicious cycle up another notch.

Frankly, I have no idea how this explosive situation gets defused. I don’t see the leadership needed on either side.

Perhaps things will cool off on their own. They do sometimes. But I wouldn’t want to bet on it. And even if things do settle down, it won’t mean any of the underlying problems have been addressed, let alone fixed.

Here’s where the Black Lives Matter folks might get mad at me, because I don’t think the fundamental problem is racism. That’s a contributing factor. (And it cuts both ways.)

In my view, the more fundamental issue is a rising tide of “ends justify the means” thinking among rulers in the U.S. and elsewhere. The means justified by this are increasingly militarized police.

In the past, American police were peace officers. Their main duty was to project limited force to protect the lives and property of the people. In the police state America is becoming, they are law enforcement officers. Their essential function is to coerce, to compel obedience.

This having unintended consequences. It’s looking like the beginning of the nightmare John Ross warned of in his novel by that name, Unintended Consequences.

I wish I knew how to defuse the current situation. I don’t—and I don’t see anyone in power who does. I don’t mean to sound alarmist, but I have to say that it seems more likely to escalate. I’m not alone: A former police chief of Washington, D.C. says the U.S. is “sitting on a powder keg.”

Neither side seems to realize that if it does escalate, a substantial portion of the population of the U.S. could become essentially ungovernable. And if more angry people whose fellows are being shot decide they “want to kill white people“… well, it’s going to get uglier than most people imagine.

Maybe some even greater acts of butchery will provide the needed wake-up call. If so, I can only hope the call is heeded.

If not, the coming years would be profoundly impacted by the resulting explosion of violence, and the fallout will affect everyone in the U.S., and many beyond.

If the call is heard, now or after some further escalation, and leadership rises to the occasion, perhaps the fuse can be pulled from the powder keg.

But are you willing to bet your wealth—or possibly your life—on this?

Now, I’m not saying it’s time to buy a cabin in the woods and a 4×4 full of guns and ammo. Actually, these are nice things to have, and I know many people who’ve been making moves in that direction for years. I am saying that we should be thinking about how this situation is shaping up and what the consequences, intended or otherwise, might be.

The good news is that we should have time to see how this situation evolves. This will help us to act accordingly.

Bottom line: I am reiterating our call to rig for stormy weather. It seems more urgent to me than ever to practice Doug’s Crisis Investing formula: liquidate, consolidate, create and speculate.

Times like these also underscore our insistence that the reason to buy gold and silver is not speculation. Nor even investment. It’s prudence. Self-preservation.

The escalating violence in the U.S. could turn into a black swan event even more powerful than the Brexit vote has been thus far. If so, the gains we’ve seen with our stocks this year could look like ripples before a tsunami when all is said and done.

It may seem uncouth to profit from such tragic turns of events. Don’t let such muddled thinking get in your way. We are not the cause of the violence. And we don’t do ourselves or our loved ones—or even society—any good if we see trends developing and fail to act accordingly.

It’s better that people with the capacity to see honestly, think clearly, and act decisively should have the means to help, should some form of reconstruction become necessary.

A measure of fear about our uncertain future may be justified. Our world keeps getting more chaotic. But baseless guilt serves no useful purpose.

Maintain your speculator’s discipline. You’ll be glad you did, and so will those who depend on you.

Reeves’ Note: If you’re concerned about the safety of your wealth in our chaotic world, watch this video now. It explains why we’re in the early stages of a global currency crisis—and how to protect yourself from this threat. Click here for more.