Former Congressman Ron Paul said during a recent speech that the U.S. empire is closer to collapse than most people want to believe. But, Paul added, that’s a good thing.

Paul told attendees at an event hosted by the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Texas that America, just like every other empire throughout human history, is collapsing from within.

“I believe… what our contention has to be right now is what is happening to our country from within,” he said. “And actually it’s very encouraging. They’re disintegrating… We don’t have to go to war with them.”

Paul said that the Federal Reserve’s consideration of negative interest rates and increased government pushes to do away with cash could be what finally wakes Americans up and causes them to “revolt against this insanity.”

The longtime lawmaker predicted that as the U.S. government dissolves, it will be replaced by a simple system focused on individual freedom.

“What do we have today? We have a government that lies, cheats, steals, counterfeits, murders people around the world, puts people in prison without charges,” Paul said, noting that the federal government violates all of the most basic rules of human interaction.

Paul said he believes things will get tough in the U.S. before they get better—but he doesn’t fear a bloody revolution.

“We don’t have to think about how many tanks are we going to have to invade Washington, DC. They have more tanks. They have bombs and drones and everything else,” he said. “But, believe me, ideas are much more powerful than those tanks that they don’t even know how to run and won’t even have the fuel to run eventually. So, I would say, stick with the ideas of liberty to combat the disaster of the twentieth century.”