Is Our Economy Going To Crash?

[MoonShadows]

@baymule, that's one reason why I believe their will be civil disorder. Their is a large segment of our population that is just so accustomed to receiving what they want/need without having to invest any time, effort or work on their part. This not only includes many on the dole, but many of the "privileged" as well. You think they are going to prepare for a disaster or work hard to sustain themselves when a disaster hits? And, for those who have the money now and are used to getting everything without mush effort, well their money is not going to buy them anything, is it, since money will be worthless in an economic disaster.

 

[sumi]

@MoonShadows that sounds like Zimbabwe. Their money is about worthless and South Africa has been supporting them for a long, long time now, with people nipping over the borders to either work, shop, plunder or all 3 of the above.

What is going on in the US now is reminding me of what happened in South Africa over the last 10+ years. Mismanagement, government officials chasing cars, citizens following whoever says the right things, unrest, racist issues, economic issues. It worries me. Because I've seen myself where it went. Why do you think I emigrated, along with a few million other South Africans?

Many people where we lived cannot afford to buy food to support themselves and their families, not helped that food prices keep going up and up and up, caused by factors ranging from drought to greed. The government taking what they want and need from those affluent enough to provide, not helping matters. We farmed on a small scale, along with others in the area and we supported more than our immediate families, involuntarily. Phone the Police to report livestock theft, you'll get told it was "a pot theft", i.e. the culprit took your animals because he needed to feed his family. Which of course only encourages the thefts, because it's "O.k." to do so.

I can go on, but you get the picture. I hope things will come right in the US. I hope everything will get resolved, before it gets worse. I hope it will not continue and go down the same road S.A. did, because it's sad to see a previously lovely, strong country fall to pieces like that.

 

[baymule]

Promise people lots of free stuff and get elected. Then take away from the people who actually work for what they have, wealthy people included, take a generous portion for self and cronies and distribute the leftovers to the "poor people." Soon, every one is poor and hungry. The richest person in Venezuela is Hugo Chavez's daughter.

 

[Mini Horses]

I don't know for how long this has been so but, you can buy food plants & seeds with an EBT card. In my area I have seen a few do this, mainly older persons. Most young ones won't get their hands dirty. It's a shame that our society has evolved to this. The violence is just unreal -- I'm tired of hearing about the ride by shootings every day.

Yes, I see worsening of all these situations and am working to be prepared to weather it, however I need. At least I won't have so much of the "what do I do now?" that City folk will. I won't enjoy the issues when they are full blown but, will survive them in better shape than those not prepared for alternative lifestyles.

 

[Jshubin]

I don't know for how long this has been so but, you can buy food plants & seeds with an EBT card. In my area I have seen a few do this, mainly older persons. Most young ones won't get their hands dirty. It's a shame that our society has evolved to this. The violence is just unreal -- I'm tired of hearing about the ride by shootings every day.

Yes, I see worsening of all these situations and am working to be prepared to weather it, however I need. At least I won't have so much of the "what do I do now?" that City folk will. I won't enjoy the issues when they are full blown but, will survive them in better shape than those not prepared for alternative lifestyles.

I live in rural town that is surrounded by cities/suburban areas. I am worried that the populations of the surrounding cities (including Los Angeles) will come plundering our rural town. My town is very old school rural population that is a lot more prepared (livestock, farm equipment, independent well water system, etc which makes us vulnerable to (except for the chance that we probably have a lot more guns).. Worst case if the town does fall, I have family with 1000+ acres in central California... away from the cities. Still need an escape plan for that scenario

 

[baymule]

We lived in a small town 75 miles north of Houston, Texas. 3weeks after hurricane Katrina wiped out New Orleans, hurricane Rita headed for Houston. People fled in fear. Hundreds of thousands of people hit the roads and it was awful. A 1-1/2 hour trip took 22 to 28 hours. People ran out of gas, cars overheated (it was 100 degrees) and several people died from heat in their cars. They were supposed to go past our town and spread out over east Texas, but most didn't get there. Our town, as well as all the little towns around Houston, were over run. We, as a town, opened our schools and churches and sheltered people. We shared our food and did the best we could. Fortunately, the storm didn't hit Houston and people were able to go back home. It did roar through our town, knocking out power and adding to the general miserable conditions. No power-no gas. It was an experience. We have since moved 160 miles north.

So if you think that you need to get to safety if a bad situation hit near you, you need to get out as soon as you can. Beat the crowd and run. Everybody else is going to have the same idea, trying to get to somewhere safe, even if they don't know where they are going.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

@baymule - Why did you have to remind me?????? OMG - worst couple days of my life. DH and I left early with trailer carrying goats/horses and made to our 'safe' destination in east texas. Yep - we went from the frying pan to the fire. Absolutely NOTHING hit the area where our house sits - didn't even lose power. My poor son did 28 hours on the road and never got north of Houston. He traveled less than 40 miles in that amount of time. Had it hit our area while he and tens of thousands (conservative number) were on the road - I shudder to think what that outcome might have been. He had his bird with him and the bird died from heat.

DH and I - our evacuation place was straight to east Texas to his parents house between Livingston and Woodville. We caught the brunt of the storm while there!

Lesson learned: I won't run from a hurricane again unless it's above a Cat 3. I'll hunker down and ride it out. Of course Rita was a Cat 5 for awhile hence our run.

And, I'd do the same thing in the event of civil unrest.

It brings up the question of how far one would go to protect what's ours. I've always believed that it would be better to help as many folks as we could. Come to me and ask for help... I'll put you to work for a couple hours and then give you a meal. I don't want to kill, or die for, a can of green beans!

My theory is the more people who can band together the better off they will be. We have good neighbors. We are all country folk and as such, are perhaps just by virtue of our lifestyle, prepared more than the average folks. We have extra food - both in the pantry and on the hoof. Can we protect ourselves - yep. Do we have generators - yes. Extra fuel - yes. Will it last forever - no. DH and I are investigating solar for the well pump. We keep 'talking' about it - but we haven't taken action. Hope we get to it before it's too late.

 

[Jshubin]

Wow both of those are crazy stories. I am sorry about the bird

That seems almost like a panic that was caused by unsubstantiated information (false alarm). Conspiracy theorists would go crazy over something like that. I dont think conspiracy, but it is almost good that it was a false alarm, because now everyone should have good idea what happens when evacuations happen on massive scale. Lots of lessons to be learned by all.

I think having enough food/shelter/provisions to hold out the storm would be the best bet in that situation. And then have a plan to bail out afterwards if all is lost. In California its a bit different, our disasters come as fires, mudslides and earthquakes, all fast moving and unpredictable.
I can see 2 major freeways and many miles into the distance from my hillside house, so I would have some idea of the conditions of society before I make any moves. Good defensive position also..

I also see the power of population.. The more people the better chance of defending or supporting each other. This has been driving civilization growth for past 10,000 years or more

 

[Jshubin]

I dont have generator but I do have solar... I think a generator would be good investment but see many draw backs, like noise and limited fuel, but I am sure it would be priceless to me on a cloudy day.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

During Hurricane Ike - the one I stayed for.... I was alone. DH was out of state and I told him to STAY out of state. He has health problems and needs A/C and meds that must be kept cool. Flights home were canceled anyway. It was reassuring to have neighbors that I trusted. However, I wasn't worried about the neighbors, I was worried about anybody else who might show up and hear the generator running. I had it chained to a steel support post in the garage. Doesn't mean a determined person couldn't get it if they wanted it that badly. Since then we have purchased a bank of batteries that will power the house for a few days at a time. The same kind of batteries that you would use with solar power - I just don't have the solar panels (yet). We keep them plugged in to a charger and we have an inverter hooked up. That's about as detailed as I can get because other than that - I know nothing, lol. My electrician son talked us into doing it and he has it all set up. (I have used it once - plugged the freezer in when the power was out a few months ago. Worked great.)

Point being - I wouldn't need to run the generator full-time. I could use the generator to charge the batteries up and then shut the generator off. The batteries would take over until time to charge them for another round. Not sure how long we could sustain that - but son says it would give us a lot of time. Only problem - it won't pull the water well - hence, the generator. But - we would pump enough water to last a few days to conserve fuel for the generator.

None of these things take away the dependence upon fuel, but seems to be a good way to conserve it. If we have a hurricane anytime soon - I'll let ya'll know how it works.