Urban Survival - Collapse Indicators Late April 2011

I am getting a lot of readers e-mailing me about an imminent collapse. Maybe some of these that were the same people who called for an imminent collapse a dozen times or more in the last 10 years. I do know that most of us cannot keep at a peak preparedness 24/7. Obligations and just plain life get in the way. I think keeping on top looking for and analyzing the indicators of a SHTF scenario, or at least the scenarios that we can see coming is about the only thing we can do, besides trying to get better preparation wise each and every day.

As far as economic collapse indicators, I am trying to keep on top of the ones I am aware of,.....not just the financial factors, but make no mistake about it,...the financial factors ARE dire. Here are just some recent events and indicators:

University of Texas Investment Management Co. converting Gold shares into physical Gold on taking delivery of 6,643 gold bars, worth $991.7 million yesterday, that are stored in a bank warehouse in New York. Why would U or Texas do this when just the storage fee is around $900K a year?

Open interest in gold futures and options traded on the Comex (paper shares of Gold) typically exceeds supplies held in its warehouses. If the holders of just 5 percent of those contracts opted to take delivery of the metal, there wouldn’t be enough to cover the demand. Imagine if many people or companies held their base capital or even just their reserves in Gold then found out they could not re-deem it, nor sell it because there was nothing of value? Paper Gold and Silver shares are just like fiat currency!

Rep. Ron Paul’s warning that “Holding your money in dollars when the Fed can double and triple the supply rather quickly and quietly, is a losing proposition”. Ron Paul, a Texas Republican, advocates a return to a currency backed by precious metals.

West Coast advisor's report more and more of their investors converting their portfolio into physical Gold. The highest percentage of those who take possession of Gold shares in physical gold are millionaires.

The FED has printed more money than they ever have, so the value of the dollar has declined while the prices of goods and services have skyrocketed.

More people, including Congressman Paul, are warning of a probably Government attempt to curtail private entities and people holding gold,……remember U.S. ownership restrictions in the 1930s?

Speaking of Gold,…..and Silver. Prices were: Gold up $3.10 to $1,506.50 and Silver up $.54 to $46.60 and by the time I upload this article, the prices will be higher.

Concerns over Sovereign-debt (at an all time high) driving Standard & Poor’s to revise its U.S. credit outlook to negative. It the U.S> defaults on their debt or the U.S. dollar ceases the be the World’s reserve currency, then fuel prices will free fall upward.

Speaking of fuel,……it is averaging around $4 a gallon, with some locations charging $5 per gallon. Some analysts are predicting fuel to hit $7 a gallon by the fall – this is without the collapse of the dollar, however I suspect the dollar will collapse long before it. Fuel prices have tremendous repercussions as many electrical plants are ran by fossil fuels. Can you imagine everyone’s electric bill doubling? How about routine rolling blackouts? Can you imagine tens of thousands of people, who depend upon fuel oil to heat their homes, not being able to afford the necessity of heat during the winter in some of the coldest environs in the U.S. ?

The Urban Threat – Why the Need for Urban Survival Skills

Urbansurvivalskills.com is intended to address the “common man” survival preparedness. These are reasonable survival skills & tasks, just like personal and family insurance, involving the acquisition of survival gear, knives, kits, skills, equipment, food, training, books, mental preparation and general survival preparedness based on realistic threats.

Most people looking for survival preparedness don’t understand things like Defense in Depth, Cleared Fields of Fire and Withdrawal - Escape Routes. These same people don’t have several M-4 Carbines or Battle Rifles with several thousands rounds stored for each. These people just may be in the middle of “doing nothing and hoping for the best” and “being fully prepared for all contingencies”. The purpose of this site is to bring Urban Survival Skills to those people as well as also address survival issues that may be of use for more advanced urban survivalists.

Surely, firearms and the skilled used of them; a defensive mind set; and, preparations for defense of you, your family and property are all valid first line urban (and suburban) survival skills, however it is just as likely that your initial survival tasks (in a survival situation) may be procuring and conserving food; procuring and treating water; and, living a post electric world.
Certainly in a catastrophic environment where banking has collapsed, commodities such as food has skyrocketed in price and declined in availability, and public utilities are greatly degraded or nonexistent,…..you, the urban survivor, may have to make decisions regarding moving someplace or joining some organized group to give you the best chance of survival.

Again, the intent of this site to address primarily urban dwellers the void in survival education and preparedness between doing nothing and having a fully defensible military model fire base survival retreat.

Summary:

• Everybody needs to employ some level of survival preparedness, be it for the threat of economic collapse, utilities grid failure, anarchy in the streets, natural disasters or whatever.
  
• Figure out the threat and prepare accordingly even if it is just to re-locate to a safer location.