Surviving the crash

[41mag]

The big one we are in now will surpass the great depression and most of us won't be alive to see the country come out of it.

So we won't know which speculation was accurate.

Given the general conclusion we all die regardless of proximal reality, there's a few loose ends on this conversation I haven't seen resolved yet.

1) granted the substantial backing of US currency is non-existent, how do we acknowledge the apparent success of such as Bitcoin/etc?

2) whatever calamity in our given lifetimes, the New Generation has a different bundle of concerns & cluelessness beyond anything we have yet endured.

3) the successive lamentations of corrosion of our Original System falling to ruin, may arguably have been propped up by those noisome alterations by (choose one) gluttonous/clueless/greedy/oppressive/minionofevil political movement along the way.

Yes Our Country is far different than it was in Our Youth. Just as it morphed along the way in the time of Our Grandfathers. etc.

How many of us are currently now concerned whether our cocopuffs will be affordable/available this winter, vs are otherwise enjoying a life span at 2x/3x or more, that of our grandfathers generation? How many of our progeny of whatever age currently, are willing/able/capable of identifying the notions and convictions any of us have, in their own survival/happiness beyond their current struggles & unhappiness?

Adaptability & inventiveness are the real survival tools we can hope continue to serve our species.

 

[The Heretic]

Don't forget that the '29 crash was made worse/longer by the "dust Bowl" years ... roughly 1930 - 1936.
That was a big part of what makes the 1930's Depression years so ...uhhh...well..."Great".

Which is one major reason why my fraternal grandparents came to Oregon - from Kansas.

 

[The Heretic]

If I were to list all the policies that are crashing America about 55% of folks would say I am just bias or negative in my views and not something folks should read. Most of the rest are secure in their lives and don't want to be bothered with doom and gloom. Head in the sand or living life with a blindfold on, it's how the nation got into the mess its in.

My original intention was talking survival when a crash hits. Things you have to do that will help you through. I find that there is such disagreement that I would be wasting my time. Best to let it play out and let folks struggle, that brings learning.

I encounter the same issues when I talk about prepping for Climate Change.

The thing is, most prepping for these scenarios is the same regardless of the scenario.

When it comes to finances, it isn't that hard:

Pay off debt as much as possible.

Have savings for income/economic disruptions.

Invest in durable goods and real estate

Become self-sufficient with regards to energy, food/water and shelter, all of which will increase in cost over time, quite possibly at an extreme rate.

---

I don't hold that a severe economic disruption is not possible, I just don't see it as imminent and/or inevitable.

That doesn't mean I don't make preps for it happening.

But you know what is inexorable? Time. I prepped hard for my retirement and the eventuality that I would not be able to work. I still may not have prepped hard/well enough, but here I am - retired. It will happen to all of us and we can pretty much predict when.

 

[Mono1]

how do we acknowledge the apparent success of such as Bitcoin/etc?

My view is that it is the latest speculative mania. Anecdotally, the people who I know that are excited about it are all under 35.

The same people who were excited about dot-com stocks in 1999 and about flipping houses in 2007.

With Bitcoin, how do you place a value on an increasingly rare share of nothing?

 

[Xaevian]

whether our cocopuffs will be affordable/available this winter,

Wait, what? That would be time to panic!

 

[41mag]

With Bitcoin, how do you place a value on an increasingly rare share of nothing?

The give away notion that conflicts with 'vapor-ware value' is, that sorry mess of Federal Reserve Notes continues as an ongoing method of paying for those vapor-bits. Granted, an ever taller stack, yet the innate humor of the transaction reminds of Buster Keaton follies.

 

[Bam]

Instead of pumping more oil, we're going to drain the strategic oil reserves.

Canada is tapping their maple syrup reserves.

It really is end times!

 

[mhayd93]

Instead of pumping more oil, we're going to drain the strategic oil reserves.

Canada is tapping their maple syrup reserves.

It really is end times!

I just read about this, what a terribly stupid move! Increasing domestic oil output is a great idea, but tapping into strategic reserves is a dumb idea when we are perfectly capable of pumping fresh stuff!

 

[Longwalkhome]

Seems pretty dumb to deplete our oil reserves on the brink of war. My cynical nature has an answer for that but you gents will have your own.

 

[VanceInWA]

Seems pretty dumb to deplete our oil reserves on the brink of war. My cynical nature has an answer for that but you gents will have your own.

You got that right. Mega dumb on steroids.
There's a reason they call it the Strategic Oil Reserve and not the Save Joe Biden's Political Career reserve.

 

[GWS]

Using 1/3 of our strategic reserve in a tawdry attempt to buy votes. He's too stupid or senile to notice his 1st 2 tries didn't lower the prices at all.
Biden is a curse on this nation.

 

[Burt Gummer]

Don't worry. The WEC via mommy global gov will have everything under control by 2030.

 

[VanceInWA]

Using 1/3 of our strategic reserve in a tawdry attempt to buy votes. He's too stupid or senile to notice his 1st 2 tries didn't lower the prices at all.
Biden is a curse on this nation.

Amen brother. Nailed it.

 

[Bam]

Just when you thought they couldn't get any stupider or insane.

Mentally challenged democrats solution to gas prices is to push more ethanol.... ethanol blends gets WORSE millage, which would only force people to spend more money to buy more gas, because they get crappier gas millage!

WTF! How? Not surprised after hearing how he gets lost in the white house.

We are living the movie Idiocracy.

 

[Howard1955]

Don't worry. The WEC via mommy global gov will have everything under control by 2030.

Good post.

Near the end of the video, he talks about rural living and growing your own food.

There are skillsets that our ancestors had, that have been/are being lost. Growing food (including meat) is a set of skills that most city dwellers have no experience with. In another generation or two, even cooking a meal may become a lost art.

My wife and I have lived on a farm for a long time, and occasionally I'm still surprised by our lack of knowledge.

The things that our great-grandparents knew how to do have been forgotten (by most people, anyway). How to make soap. How to raise, butcher, and preserve meat. How to sharpen a saw. Etc, etc, etc

I think the government-dependent society that is described in the video is already forming. How many people in Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York City would survive if their food, their soap, etc stopped being delivered to them?

 

[VanceInWA]

There are skillsets that our ancestors had, that have been/are being lost. Growing food (including meat) is a set of skills that most city dwellers have no experience with. In another generation or two, even cooking a meal may become a lost art.

I agree, but...
The best food is hunted. Nothing beats wild. Nothing. Given the rules we have and not being a tribal member, however, there's just no way to survive as a family on hunted food alone. So I've made some serious attempts at growing/processing my own, not just garden food, but goats, ducks, and beekeeping as well. Have not yet expanded into cows or chickens. With enough effort, you can achieve true independence, but the amount of effort is extraordinary and at the outer edges of doability when you otherwise have a fulltime job beyond the home, not to mention raising young children. It can be done, but at some point you juxtapose all that extraordinary time and effort against simply driving to the store. Today I'm more into balance instead of pushing the extremes, but still glad I've gotten the experiences under my belt.

 

[ma96782]

Or.......

Someone could.......
Invest in some Oil/Gas Company stocks and get dividends.

So then.....
The rising gas prices will also mean.......
Rrrrrright.......(hopefully) greater price appreciation for your stocks and more dividends too.

End result.....
Maybe, you'll have a small smile on your face?

Aloha, Mark

 

[ATCclears]

Boiling the Frog on the informal, reserve currency…

Israel adds China's yuan for the first time ever while cutting its dollar holdings in biggest currency reshuffle in a decade

For the first time ever, they yuan is part of Israel's central bank reserves, and its allocation for US dollars has been cut.

markets.businessinsider.com

 

[GWS]

Boiling the Frog on the informal, reserve currency…

Israel adds China's yuan for the first time ever while cutting its dollar holdings in biggest currency reshuffle in a decade

For the first time ever, they yuan is part of Israel's central bank reserves, and its allocation for US dollars has been cut.

markets.businessinsider.com

Wow. I wonder if Israel will be willing to cut its foreign aid from us in the same proportion that they reduced their US dollar holdings?

 

[Angie]

I agree, but...
The best food is hunted. Nothing beats wild. Nothing. Given the rules we have and not being a tribal member, however, there's just no way to survive as a family on hunted food alone. So I've made some serious attempts at growing/processing my own, not just garden food, but goats, ducks, and beekeeping as well. Have not yet expanded into cows or chickens. With enough effort, you can achieve true independence, but the amount of effort is extraordinary and at the outer edges of doability when you otherwise have a fulltime job beyond the home, not to mention raising young children. It can be done, but at some point you juxtapose all that extraordinary time and effort against simply driving to the store. Today I'm more into balance instead of pushing the extremes, but still glad I've gotten the experiences under my belt.

I don't know about that. There has to be some consideration for your time and a sure thing. Granted, it takes time to feed and care for your cattle, hogs, goats, whatever, but you are kind of hedging your bets. I know a lot of people every year that get skunked hunting. Raising your own ensures that you will have meat (not considering outliers such as disease and predators). The time spent hunting is time not spent at your home, protecting it, and doing other things for daily survival. Of course, as you stated, there is a time investment in learning how to do all of the animal husbandry, as there is for hunting, I guess.