In a post I wrote on March 18 titled Main Stream Media vs The Blogosphere – What’s the Economy Really Doing? I wrote that one of the things I like to do when reading the main stream media vs the doom and gloomers is to try to stick to the middle of the road when trying to figure out what’s going on.
The other day I was looking at one of the posts on MD Creekmore’s site (here) that featured a video by a guy from CollapseNet predicting market chaos starting in June or July. I watched the video and the guy makes a pretty good case for trouble starting around that time; however, just because someone is calling for the end of the financial world doesn’t mean I’m going to quit my job and look for land in Northern Idaho.
But later on I was reading a story (another vid) which featured a video from the Business Insider (which I consider main stream media) where they’re interviewing a guy named John Taylor who has an impressive set of credentials and he’s predicting financial troubles starting in… you guessed it – June or July of this year. What’s interesting in this vid is that the newscaster at one point says something like, “Man, I’m going to go and get a bunch of canned goods,” because Taylor was so bearish on the market.
I try to take a middle of the road approach to things because historically that seems to be what’s happened. Not that I don’t take my prepping seriously mind you, I do. Hell, I write for a survivalist blog, so you should all know that I’m pretty serious about it, but my message is more about avoiding panic and making hasty decisions that could cause you more trouble than we’re already in.
Anyway, back to the story. It’s not often when you get predictions from both sides of the street predicting something similar is going to happen on the same date. That’s when I sit up and take notice, so I’ll be paying close attention to the markets over the next few months.
Personally, I don’t think that it will be a total world collapse like Ruppert calls for in the first video. I think it’s likely things could get ugly for awhile and I still think it’s a smart idea to have your preps in place, but I can’t figure out how the system could totally collapse. Could I be wrong? Hell yeah I could be wrong! Wouldn’t be the first time either, but like everybody I hope for the best and plan for the worst.
In my earlier post I said it feels like things are speeding up right now and my feeling about that hasn’t changed much. It just seems like there are too many separate events going on right now without them all having some relation to one another or a cause and effect ripple thoughout the worlds markets. It’s hard to get a grip because everything seems to have suddenly picked up some velocity.
I want to make one thing very clear… I am not calling for a market crash in June or July. It’s just that I’ve heard these months mentioned several times in various contexts, so I thought it might make sense to pay attention during those times just in case. It seems doubtful we can sustain our current economy, but predicting when and if a crash is going to occur is not something I feel confident doing. The US and global economy have been very successful at kicking the can down the road and I can’t help but wonder how long they can continue to do so.
If you have any ideas about the economy, inflation, the market, UFO’s, whatever, post them below so others can see and comment as well. (Just kidding about the UFOs.)
-Jarhead Survivor
BTW: I went to the hardware store yesterday and now have all the things necessary for my Square Foot Garden together now. Hopefully I’ll have it together this week and ready to go. I’ll do an update later about how much it’s cost me so far and how it’s doing. Have you done anything for your garden yet?
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38 comments
maybe it’s nothing.
i’d say prepare like mad, and right now. get, and keep enough food on hand to make it through “growing season” at least. this is what i’d say… hopefully it’s what i actually do. i know i should move “canning” supplies up my priority list. winter is coming. (i was focussed on getting myself a Gore-Tex rain jacket, and another winter parka… but that may have to wait a few more weeks)
i should probably put in a square foot garden over at “Mom and Dads” since i don’t have any ground of my own…
Just put the final touches on my square foot garden. This is my first real attempt at a garden so I am interested to see what happens. I have spent about $70 so far.
For two gardens I’m in at around $100 – $125 I think. That’s just off the cuff mind you.
If you discount for the fact that I intentionally overbought some items, that sounds very much inline with what I spent. I would get some heavy paper bags, get some seed potatoes from the agricultural-tractor supply outlet, and go the potatoe route for just a few dollars more. They have taken some practise for me.
One of the reasons that CollapseNet was predicting market chaos in July was from bad earnings reports as a result of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. One other situation that will be occurring at this time will be that we will be reaching our debt ceiling and the markets are going to be very nervous. Depending on what our legislators do leading up to this, we may see things getting very chaotic. Fasten your seat belts.
Gerald Celente says all this unrest in the Middle East is the start of the 1st great war of this century and that we should be ready for a terrorist attack here any time. All it would take is one dirty bomb to put us in deep doodoo.
Anyway, I have speeded up my preps and just a word to those of you depending on a garden to feed you. YOU CAN”T! If something can go wrong it will guaranteed. Example, all 650 of our onions our starting to bolt with barely formed bulbs.
Question to Jason or other expeprience gardeners. What should we do with them? Dehydrate them, freeze them? I don’t think we can cure them now can we? Help anyone?
Test: “Do You Need Food Storage”?
For all you skeptics, I suggest you take this simple test and you will know if you need food Storage.
Listed below are a few things that can and have happened here and around the world. Please read each item carefully. Then I will ask you one question. Your answer to this question will determine, if you need Food Storage.
1: Floods: Mass destruction in the path of the flood. Washes roads and bridges away.
2: Earthquakes: You can fill this one in on your own. Think about Japan.
3: Tornado: Power grid destroyed. Months to recovery.
4: Hurricanes: Just think of Katrina.
5: Extreme Heat: Power grid overloaded and fails. Power generating plants have not been upgraded for over 35 years. Power grip also not ungraded.
6: Extreme Cool: See 5 and add gas transport grid fails and trucks cannot run.
7: Money devalued: Prices skyrocket instantly, on all products and services. Read something about Germany’s inflation after WW1. A bag full of Mark’s today, a wheelbarrow full needed tomorrow
8: Financial Meltdown: Currency worthless, only barter. Food is the best currency to have to barter.
9: Banks Closed: No cash and no credit. Everything closes.
10: State and Federal Governments go Bankrupt: All at the same time. Millions added to unemployment roll, no money to pay. More likely to happen because of our national debt, no one will lend us money and we will have to print more dollars, further weakening our already weak dollar.
11: Unemployment at 50%: No work, no money and no hope. Looting on grand scale. Gangs of hunger people roaming the streets of every city, town and village in search of something to eat.
12: Terrorist Attack: Nuclear or Conventional, recovery months or years, if at all. Consensus is that next attach on USA soil will be Nuclear. Too many suitcase Atomic Bombs missing.
13: Collapse of Federal Government: Dictatorship installed to save country, everything is rationed. Many will say that this cannot happen in the US, but it is happening in Greece, Turkey and all the Muslin countries.
14: Electro-Magnetic Pulse: Commonly called a sun spot. Destroys Electric Grid and all satellites, without exception.
Everything electronic will be effected in some way from complete destruction to needs major repairs.
15: Any combination or all of the above. Think of the Perfect Storm. I firmly believe that two or more of these disasters will happen, within the next 18 months.
Now the question:
“Where will you get your food, if 2 or more of these things happen at the same time”?
It is your decision, but all of these things have happen, somewhere in the world, at some time in the past and they will happen again, this time when we are financially, politically and emotionally valuable.
You forgot #16 – a pink meteor striking Washington DC.
Questions for you –
Let’s assume you have a full one year supply of food & water, enough for a family of 5, then your friends, neighbors & family come to you for help –
A. What do you do?
B. How long will that food supply really last you?
C. If you turn them away, how long will you be alive before you are crucified by those same friends?
D. When the pink meteor strikes DC, will Obama become a better president?
Lastly, please return that suitcase you found at the airport, it may contain a dirty underwear bomb.
I think those are called skid bombs LOL
That got me laughing out loud!!!
Thanks stinky ~
Judith, from what I’ve heard, you should use the onions as quickly as possible. I would think both dehydrating and freezing would be good options. Personally, I would probably leave some to bolt to collect the seeds for next year. Plus, it’s still early in the season. You could try growing a second crop…tamp down the soil, don’t over fertilize and protect if the temps drop during the night. Good Luck!
You are so right about a garden. If something can go wrong, it will. Two summers ago I lost my tomatoes because of the blight. Last summer, I lost the cucumbers because I forgot to cure that soil from the tomato blight from the summer before. ARRGGHH…..
I finally started my seeds….late, yes, but it’s been so cold here in New England. I don’t usually put anything into the ground until earliest Memorial Day, anyway.
RE: market’s crashing. I’d say we’ll be lucky to make it to June/July without a major pullback. What with the Chinese just announcing over the weekend that they’re going to dispose of $2T of their $3T worth of dollars (warning shot across the bow?), the IMF stating the Chinese economy will surpass the US by 2016, silver & gold soaring overnight (with an a.m. pullback)…who knows? But, the can does seem to get kicked further down the road (against all logic), so really, it’s anyone’s guess. I just keep doing what I can and pray it’s enough if and when the time comes.
Thanks Linda for the great advice. Will try all of the above.
You are so right about the economy. It has to come to a screeching halt one of these days no matter what they do.
Just keep preparing for the worst everyone.
I think Kunstler also had a prediction of a collapse within 6 months that was made around the start of the year. I cannot remember what stupidity brought him to make this prediction.
I saw the same video as you. The linkage with Japan is there and is certainly worrisome, but the direct causal links strike me as to problematic to make such specific predictions. I had my own doom-and-gloom post on it(http://reflexionesfinales.blogspot.com/2011/03/cascading-manufacturing-shutdown.html ). I also do not know if he has a history of serial EOTWAWKI predictions that have not panned out.
John Taylor’s message is pessimistic, but he is not saying that the wheels are completely coming off: just that we will still be in a downturn.
The obvious quick kill is price of oil: it is floating around $115 barrel at the moment: high- but not in the $200 per barrel price that was feared. Oddly, some of the problems in some areas alleviate some of the problems in other areas. Poor economic performance leads to lower oil prices.
They are shooting at people in Kuwait today. When they start shooting at people in Saudi Arabia it will be time to get very very scarred. Of the purely economic scenarios (no nukes, influenza, etc.) a total collapse of Saudi Arabia has to be the lead in to the most probable quick collapse scenarios.
Kuwait or Saudi isn’t much of a worry because the world powers who benefit from the oil will come and save the day – don’t you remember Gulf War I ?
The worry is Israel if they get attacked – that will be the beginning of the end & it’ll be an end that will make any worldwide “economic crash” look like a day at the beach in Hawaii.
If Iran teams up with the Soviet Union (as it seems they are doing presently) & attacks and tries to lay any siege on Israel, the only prep thing to do is to make sure you are in God’s eternal will because nothing else will matter.
I hear ya on this one Jason, When l see Israel getting attacked then l’m gonna get VERY worried.
No need to worry my friend ~
You are talking about the intervention that at the end of it had Kuwaits oil fields up in fire?
Not sure I find that image comforting.
There was a study (can’t find now of course) that showed post trauma oil production taking years to recover back to pre-trauma levels. If I recall, some countries never did recover all together.
Russell – you’re absolutely right about Taylor’s message being pessimistic, but not calling for economic doomsday and I should have been a little clearer in the post. I merely allude to it because I say I take a middle of the road approach from doomers to mainstream media. If Taylor’s pessimistic then I sense some tough times coming because the line gets a little more to the “doomer” side of the equation. Again, I’m not ready to quit and move, but I do have my eyes open.
Thanks for the keen observation.
Judith, I’m not sure what zone you’re in, but a second crop could be very doable. Either as a main crop or as a late season crop.
Without knowing your specifics, these are the first things I could think of.
Did you plant too early? If the onions get exposed to chilly weather that can signal to them that it’s fall and time to close up shop. A soil test might shed light, on whether you had too much or too little of something.
Did you choose the right type of onion? Long day versus short day onion varieties are picky about where they get grown.
Hope some of that is of some help. I’d be glad to brainstorm some more with you, you can find me at my blog.
Jarhead, we’re still pretty chilly up here in zone 4 Iowa, so I don’t have much going on yet. Onions and garlic are up, the garlic is over 4 inches already. I have lettuce sprouting in the cold frame. And seedlings in the greenhouse. I do have the main garden hoed for the spring planting, (I don’t use a tiller, [or a lawnmower] for things I can do by hand) and some cover crops sown on the places where I need some cover to help repair soil.
As for the financial markets.. speaking as a youngster here, I’m not too worried.
Really, there’s nothing a market crash could do to me that I haven’t been through already. We don’t own our house, we don’t have a house loan, we don’t have any stocks or retirement funds, and our savings can be measured with only 3 digits to the left of the decimal point. But, we have months worth of food, a big garden and bikes for the whole family.
Hmm… although, I do have a lot of extended family that would be hit hard, I’m sure that could impact my life, if nothing else.
Anyway, we can coast for quite a while, no matter what the markets do.
It’s good to have a little food standing by isn’t it? Just in case…
How big is your garden? Do you have a row garden or a raised bed?
Thanks everyone for the great advice. I don’t know if we can plant again because of the dry summer heat. But i agree that I think we planted too early this year. We are in Zone 8 I think and it was a lot wetter than usual this winter in the desert. i am going to plant a few and see what happens.
Judith,
Just leave the oinions in the ground. They’ll come up again and you can use the greens.
They probably bolted for lack of water. They are perenials and if left alone they will come back.
After a few years they get really big.
I was contemplating saving my usual dissenting point of view comment by saying let’s revisit this topic August 1st ….. but, I won’t and might as well stroke the survivalist cat fur in the wrong direction, again.
The one thing I despise, probably most in the world, is panic & overreacting to things. In my lifetime I have witnesses, firsthand, many significant events and the speculation of even more, such as Y2K. I’ve been caught up in some of these beliefs that the world was going to end a week from Tuesday & lost sleep worrying over what was ultimately an illusion.
I’ve made this comment several times before regarding 1980 & the economy stopping interest rates & gas lines but it seems like that is thought of as a mere hiccup in the economic timeline & has no relevance to today. Doesn’t anyone get how significant & potentially devastating that was? Yet, we pulled through somehow.
Tens of many thousands rioted – full on anarchy, police vehicles overturned, buildings firebombed, our flag burned on national television, hundreds of thousands protest camp in DC – all over our involvement in the Vietnam war – hell, Jane Fonda went deep into the enemy camp and fueled the fire of hatred of our government. The civil unrest did not overtake the US and we didn’t implode yea, strange but true.
Now we have Michael Ruppert with his latest stupidity espousing how we are going to be sucked into the abyss & you might as well kiss your assets goodbye. Mind you he has NO experience or formal education with regards to economics – he is a conspiracy theorist, pure & simple and has the same conviction as David Koresh. In fact, he was being pushed towards a dismissal from the LAPD on a psychological discharge but somehow it got buried – probably some ACLU trick. The fact remains & there must a reason the LAPD first considered it.
I decided to go to his website to see what he’s all about & things became abundantly clear – reality & lucidity has vacated what’s left of his mind. The real kicker was how you can sign up for a fee subscription with him & continue to be fed his Kool Aid. I don’t know about you but that seems hypocritical – collecting for long term memberships knowing things are going to stop.
So what do I think about the condition of the economy? I don’t give it much of a thought because it will do what it’ll do with or without my worry. Do I prep? Yes but very minimally & only for a natural disaster. I consider myself a survivalist in the purest form and have learned to act and not react to conditions that arise. Ultimately, speculation is a loosing proposition in my experience.
The Ford truck analogy –
Ever notice that when you are in the market for an item you begin to see it everywhere? You have an interest in buying a 2005 white Ford 150 truck. What begins to happen is you start seeing them everywhere as if the world became a white Ford truck.
Likewise the economy is going crash & burn and suddenly you see all of the “evidence” that clearly points to that conclusion. However, the man on the street (represents the overwhelming majority of thought) sees nothing of the sort, so who is blind, who is crazy? I guess that Ford truck is not that significant enough for most.
Is there a preponderance of evidence? If there was government intervention & the mainstream thought & actions would have been well under-weigh at this point.
Creekmore’s site shows this idiotic video & at least 70% of those jaded, fear driven followers posted disagreement with Ruppert’s assessment. Here’s a guy (Creekmore) with a minimal education that has gained quite a following tapping into & exploiting a very easy target – people’s fear. I respect the fact he is a very working guy but he falls incredibly short of the mark & believes we crossed over the financial cliff and ignites that fragile side of people. Encourages arming up and wait until the hoards come then, defend your …. food! Kill someone for a loaf of bread including the blue helmeted army that supposedly comes to confiscate your goods? Wow ….
BUT he does have a following so that must account for something & give him some validity …. uh, right? That’s the problem with the Internet, anyone can set-up shop and become an expert, no resume needed.
So who’s right? The bread is in the oven and will be done by July 1st, let’s how it tastes then.
By the way, the worst thing that could happen for the survivalist websites would be an economic implosion because it would put them out of business. Now, there’s an interesting thought …..
Wow, very well put….
Jason, Jeff, WITWCT or whatever name you are going by now – I bent over backward allowing you to post on my blog for over a year, even though I did not agree with 95% of what you said, but I let you speak.
Sorry you feel that you have to come here and attack me, my blog and my credibility. But it does show who you really are…
Welcome to Ranger Man’s blog…
ironically, jason is the flip side of everything he attacks. he is an internet expert with no resume or credentials needed.
while i’ve never been prompted into panic by reading any web site – i find it incredibly interesting that jason in all his expert wisdom and supreme view on world events – spends the majority of his day posting in internet forums. what does it say about someone’s credibility who has to post using multiple hidden identities? (what a loser – is what it says.)
jason you spend your entire day rebutting anybody’s view that is opposite your own – so what is your point? are you the self-appointed savior of internet blogs? what benefit do you gain from this? (other then due to obvious mental disfunction)
i find it annoying as it dampens many threads or discussions of topics when you come with your wet blanket and push your opposing views on others. go away rather then constantly annoy those who exercise their freedom to read topics of their choice and interest.
if you are so right – then why not go enjoy your life while you smile smugly to yourself about how correct you are? why the constant need to attack, rebut or belittle anyone who believes what they are free to think or believe. you mention religion lately but don’t seem to follow it. why not live and let live?
i can only assume you have a sad empty life, so you need to fill it with pushing your viewpoints onto others… it makes you feel superior just like any dumb schoolyard bully acts – you really should talk to your therapist about this behavior.
is what you do any different from what you currently attack others for doing?
as ranger man said one time – why not go start your own blog?
Of course I am the flip side of everything I challenge, what else could I be?
Anyway “Anonymous”, I at least take a stand and express myself & it may surprise you, I am more than willing to acknowledge any error in my posts.
Please excuse me, for I must get back to my sad, empty, superior, repugnant, smug & loser of a life.
BTW, there is a “y” in disfunction.
the point of this blog is to allow people to communicate about common topics, goals and ideas.
ever notice on other blogs how the comments sections can be hundreds of posts/comments long? with branching ideas from the base topic and follow through and contributions from multiple users?
not here though. with you being typically 1/3 of the comments in any given post – usually shutting down topics or users ideas and discussions with your constant challenges or contradictions to whatever topic is at hand.
i’m sure jarhead and rangerman look forward to any small income this site can help provide to them (as most blog owners do) and you do nothing to foster communication or community here – which i would make the assumption is a blog owners goal – increased readership and community growth.
all they gain from you is constant walls to comment branches and challenges to whatever topics or posts a user may make. this blog will struggle to grow and be increasingly challenged to attract new and interesting followers with a troll in residence like you around. it’s like having an obnoxious slobbering patron sitting right in the front window of your restaurant – an internet cliff claven drooling at the next comment so they can contradict it – hardly inviting – as they challenge everyone and everything. (again, why are you here?)
i’m sure many just don’t want to bother arguing with you so they just be quiet or go away – a shame as you probably drive away a lot of nice people that may help build a nice growing community here. i personally have been following the main posts, but just have not bothered with reading comments the past month or so, as it is a bore wading through your multiple comments to nearly everything.
if i were jarhead and ranger man i’d learn from the experiences of creekmore – eventually you’ll just wander off somewhere else (or be booted from here purposefully) then according to your child-like mentality patterns you’ll start bad mouthing this blog and start your method of idiocy somewhere else. hardly a future benefit for shtfblog.com to look forward to…
Anonymous,
Ask Ranger for my email address & I’m happy to explain my point of view to you. Things are not as they appear & told Ranger I would cease with this thread.
BTW, it will be a discussion & not a debate. Also, it’s pretty easy to create a fake email address to protect your anonymity.
That’s the best & most respectful thing I can do, the rest is up to you ~
(Sorry, wasn’t trying to end it poetically!)
Wow, 95%?
How silly of you to respond & to take offense, then toss in a little arrogant, pseudo- haute dig at Ranger … but you did help illustrate my point, thank you.
What I posted above wasn’t necessarily about you; it was on a more contextual level regarding influence, base truth & how manipulating information can easily persuade people. Your blog happens to be a shining & readily available example in my experience. I will admit that there was a small negative inference towards “you” and was used to stimulate interest & to flush out other thoughts which is my unabashed style.
Incidentally, which part of what I posted above is untrue?
1. You showed this idiotic (my shared opinion) video – correct
2. Minimal education, no experience with global or US business economics – right, wrong?
3. Exploiting fear – articles you provide in fact, Ruppert’s video was labeled on your blog as a “must see”, subsequent reactions by readers in the follow-up posts. Fires fully ignites when a dissenting or opposing point of view is presented. Fact, fiction?
4. Hard working guy – 100% accurate, you are by far & have complimented you many times in your forum on that aspect (I hope that’s in that remaining 5% you are referring to).
5. Believes we have fallen over the financial cliff as a country – right, wrong?
6. Encourages arming up & shooting trespassers and or the blue helmet army “when” they invade to take your preps – correct, not?
7. Large following of like-minded, creating agreement thereby the assumption of validity or credibility (exception noted in #2) yes, no?
8. Anyone can set up shop on the Internet and claiming to be an expert – no question.
So I ask you, was this really an “attack”?
I came here to the SHTF Blog & found Ranger & Jarhead’s style a bit more refreshing & more intellectually stimulating – then, expressed a point of view that happened to ruffle your feathers and that is a problem? Remember, I was forthright enough to write to you & explained why I was leaving your blog & requested being removed from your database follow-ups because of the negative trend I was seeing.
The truth of the matter is MD, I feel for you because you don’t seem to get it. Many in your blog complain about the “sheeple” (of which I’ve been accused by the angry mob) being blindly led off to never-never land however, how is what you do any different? You certainly don’t entertain or encourage more “global” thinking and that lack, is what keeps people stuck in the mud. At least Jarhead maintains perspective & fairness with regards to information presented. Ranger, well that’s another story … ha, ha.
Survivalism is a mindset & should be addressed as such in my opinion. Prepping is completely independent & has value but not near the value as proper perspective & a more steadfast mindset. What good is it if you have every possible life saving device on a boat & you accidentally fall overboard into the water & cannot swim? (Hope you get the analogy & parallel).
So, I stand on the metaphorical soap box and poke holes in the fear based motivations or exploitations because I believe that agenda is flat out wrong & only serves to deepen paranoia or worse. I’ve been caught up in that poisonous camp before, been burned & refuse to stand by silently idle. And to “Anonymous” I am not a self appointed, egocentric savior as you so enjoy thinking, I’m just a yang opinion (yin-yang).
Lastly, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) who has a pretty damn good finger on the worldwide economic pulse, announced that the US economy will be surpassed by China by 2016 which will make the US the 2nd leading economic power in the world. Uhhh, yes …. from number 1 to number 2 in the world.
Gee, I wonder where Spain, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Argentina are on the list? Remember, many have used those as benchmarks & models for our demise.
So tell me, how does that work? The US economy – #1 in the world – will crash & burn in June and many will be scavenging the streets looking for crumbs with a .45 strapped to their side, shooting roving MS13 gang bangers then, we will rebuild back to a super economic power (albeit #2) in less than 5 years? That’s utterly ridiculous.
Oh wait a minute, I get it now – it’s all a gigantic manipulation of the American people & a Ponzi scheme being purported upon all of the sheeple of the world & it just hasn’t been unveiled yet!
I think I’ll give the Shepherd’s a little more credit instead.
That’s my opinion & I am sticking to it! Smile, America’s still a pretty great place to live ~ ☺
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/112616/imf-bombshell-age-america-end-marketwatch
No “arrogant, pseudo- haute dig at Ranger” it was a good luck to Ranger Man in dealing with his new troll (you, Jason, WITWCT etc.) I’m just glad to have you stop trolling my blog and wasting my time and that of my readers.
About to start moderating this thread, Jason. Quit while you perceive to be ahead.
No problem Ranger, I made my point.
…ya know, there’s a reason they say: “let sleeping dogs lie”.
they say it, but too many of us feel the need to have the last word; and on too many subjects. (guilty) maybe it’s an Ego thing…
none of us would be commenting anywhere if we didn’t think what we have to say wasn’t important enough to be said. it’s possibly even a mild form of autism, although most of us function at a fairly high level otherwise… but we’re not making many friends for ourselves. (except among the other nurds relegated to this corner of the cafeteria…) new preppers reading these “lively” exchanges are likely to be a little put off by all this. so really guys, can’t we all just get along?
Having seen many of the same things you mentioned jason I tend too agree
While I don’t think sticking your head in the sand is the right thing to do.
Panic is definitely counter productive………….
Prepping for a personal disaster or natural disaster makes great sense.
being laid off from your job is alot more apt to happen than a dirty bomb going off in your neighborhood.
Have enough food to weather 3 months of No Pay Check as well as enough savings to pay the bills.
If TSHTF how much or how many would come out of it even with years of food storage and all the trappings. Odds are you’ll be in disney world or somewhere,
Can’t stop living Just need to Live Smarter………..
Well put Nick.
l too have seen some of these videos, and you’re right they do make ya sit and think of the possibilities. So l’m making sure (just in case) my preps are stocked.
As for gardening updates, Since l’m in Florida, l’m being overrun with all my baby veggies coming in nicely. I did want to offer an option to those out there in warmer climates. l’m fortunate enough to live near a bee farm. They have 275 gallon plastic containers for sale for 20 bucks or 65 if you want the cage to hold it in too. It’s food grade quality and those exact containers at tractor supply are over 100 dollars. So do a search and see if you have any bee farms around you, l’m telling you these things are awesome and worth the time to clean out. Stay safe out there and happy prepping!
It all comes down to financing the deficit. Right now as you all know, the Fed buys 70% of the debt issued to fund the bloated government. When QE ends at the end of June where are we going to get buyers for our new bond issues? China just announced that it will be selling off $2 Trillion of it’s USD denominated assets out of $3 Trillion owned-and it is unlikely they will be buyers of any new debt. Additionally, the second-largest national holder of our debt, Japan, is no longer in a position to buy it and may in fact need to start selling it (their national pension plan already is). You take out the three largest players in US treasuries and who will buy our record debt from us at these low rates? The answer is no one will. So, interest rates will need to skyrocket in order to find buyers for our bonds. Either that or the Fed will need to start another round of QE. Either will ruin confidence in the US markets. After all if our bond rates go up then the cost of servicing them quickly goes out of control as the debt these interest rates incurs starts to add to the mountain of debt we already have and eventually collapses the system. The collapse may be intentional at some point too as hyperinflation would essentially reset the nation to zero and let us start over again. It would also allow for a new order to be put in place which is cheaper to run and more restrictive on personal freedoms.
Will it happen this summer? That all depends on the government getting religion all of a sudden and living within it’s means. As this is not likely then you have to plan for a possible economic collapse in the very near future and just hope it does not happen. No matter how prepared you think you are for what is to come it is not likely you are prepared enough to deal with the pain this sort of collapse would bring with it.