Anonymous left a new comment on your post Green Beret versus Doomsday Prepper: "I don't really disagree with this story. But I don't agree that 400 neighbors is necessarily better then going it alone. I can assure you some of those 400 neighbors don't like you and some want what you have. If you think politics and human greed will suspend itself until the crisis ends you are wrong. The difference will be that you will have enemies within AND outside. You will not know who is your friend. Those people who openly dislike you are probably harmless while those who dislike you but put on a fake front will probably do you harm. The lady down the street with three kids and a husband thrives on drama and enjoys turning one person against another. That middle aged quiet guy is infatuated with your wife and thinks if he could eliminate you he would have a chance with her. That sullen guy that never talks much is still pissed at you for parking in the street a year ago in a spot he thinks is for him alone. Some of these people will do you harm directly or indirectly and you probably won't see it coming. "
UrbanMan's reply:" I do not disagree with you. Most of us that have ever been involved with some sort of Mil or LE team would rather have a small team of trained and trusted individuals as opposed to having dozens of individuals with suspect motives and character.
Let's say you decide to Bug In. If you make no effort to develop your neighbors into at least a loosely based group for mutual support, then you face, potentially, a much larger close threat. Again, I agree with your supposition that you would have neighbors who dislike you, even hate you and want what you have be it supplies, weapons,...or as you put it "your wife". (side note: he would have no idea what he would be getting into!).
I think there will be several categories of people in your possible Survivor Group:
1. People who would gladly welcome leadership and assistance in the confusing chaos of the collapse. These people may initially be the least useful, but you would need the manpower to do everything from main observation posts and checkpoints; construct necessary things; garden and grow crops; procure and/or filter water; procure (scrounge) necessary items.
2. People who will worthless. Not able to do anything, but expect someone to take care of them because we have bred that into our population the last 50 years. You may be able to make some of the types marginally useful, but the trick is to not let them such up resources at a ratio that far exceeds their contribution.
3. There will be people who disagree with most or everything you would be trying to do such as establish OP/LPS, checkpoints, develop teams to garden, procure, etc. They may be disagreeing out of fear, or out of some character flaw like wanting status and power. There will be people who are jealous of you and your "stuff". There will be people who may exploit the situation to bully or harass or even sexually assault women. You would have to deal with these people in order to develop the bigger team. Use your "spidy sense" in detecting these people if their overt actions and words don't expose them first. Hunkering down by your lonesome, in my mind is not an option.
Let's just say, worst case scenario, you don't do any team building, ......don't interface with your neighbors,.......or anything. Then the collapse starts. Let's say it's an oil boycott, followed quickly by a stock market collapse and within days food deliveries to groceries and stores are drying up and the local government basically collapses as hyper inflation hits. Going to your nearest neighbors, the ones you think are approach-able and asking how they are doing and make some suggestions on security, protection, water storage, food stocks could only build rapport and enhance your standing with them. At a minimum they could become eyes and ears for you enhancing your security.
I have a bunch of FRS radios that I can give out to my neighbors, albeit at the right time, so we can communicate. I can replace their batteries periodically with my solar powered re-chargeable systems. If a neighbor makes comms with me saying he has some suspicious people lurking about, my choices are to address the potential or actual threat now or to wait until they try and loot my house. Me and mine? We're being pro-active.
Who knows maybe your neighbors have some skills that will augment your survival plan. Maybe the old lady down the street grows tomatoes and cans them. Maybe there is a young couple across the street wit hthe husband being a welder and his wife a practical nurse.
It is much better knowing all this before the collapse. It would makes organization much easier knowing your neighbors, having rapport, building respect between you and them now as opposed to when the collapse and therefore panic hits.
You are absolutely right about be wary of the shitheads, but you'll have to deal with them in order to build that community survival group for the benefit of all. Afterall, you can always Bug Out if need be.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Monday, August 5, 2013
The Cause of the Economic Collapse
We think, talk, plan and prepare a lot on the possibility or probability of some sort of economic or societal collapse. We discuss the indicators and the effects but never really mention the cause. That's probably because in some form or fashion that cause of the collapse will be politicians and our government. Through negligence, apathy, greed, idealogy, or even just plain stupidity the march continues to diminish our standard of living, our freedoms, and all this certainly makes the collapse look much nearer.
Here is another another article, called "Stupid to Tyranny", sent to me by a reader and written by William Horning on Constitutional Thinking. This article begins to lay out the argument,......
“The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole world and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought.” George Orwell.
When you are either stupid, uninformed, or not thinking clearly, you don’t realize the time bombs are ticking for our country. Even the tea parties fall into one of these categories.
Professor Steven Yates wrote on America “Ticking Time Bombs” which could take down the country. First time bomb is political correctness, which is taught in the schools and promoted by the media. The government is the real problem, not whites, as it stirs up racial tension. The Zimmerman case was misreported from the start and improperly handled in court.
The second time bomb is Obamacare. “Its purpose … is to centralize sick care, fatten the profits of both Big Pharma and Big Insurance, and very possibly find a legal way of dealing with an aging population that will eventually break the Medicare and Social Security banks.” One researcher figures that the monthly health costs for a family of four will go up anywhere from 2-4 times.
While costs skyrocket, the quality of care will disintegrate. Patients over 70 had better not have anything major happen. Eventually care will be denied as they get an aspirin and a ride home. Cost cutting will demand it.
Our third time bomb is the employment situation. Full time jobs are declining and part time jobs are increasing. John Williams (www.shadowstats.com), a statistician/economist points out that the true unemployment rate is between 23% and 24%. It just isn’t so obvious due to government benefit programs. In addition, underemployment is growing. The outlook for improvement is not very good.
The fourth problem is the financial markets. The stock market is approaching record highs while the national debt approaches $17 trillion. The American people bailed out the banks that are making a killing while our economic health is declining. This situation won’t last.
Please note that all of these problems are created or allowed to happen by government. Our Criminal Congress, along with state legislatures, continues to make laws killing jobs, sovereignty, freedom, and honest government. We no longer have representative government. Our elected crooks only care about the power and rewards of being in office, not the Constitution.
The answer is to replace them with constitutional representatives. Devvy Kidd has written an article, “If You Ignore the Upcoming Primaries, We’re Toast.” I said the same thing months ago. The primaries are where constitutional conservatives can replace established Rhinos/Neocons. Tea Parties need to listen to this warning.
There are only approximately five months to prepare for the primary campaign. Instead of preparing, tea parties are doing stupid things, wasting time listening to current congressmen/state representatives, etc. They should be educating their members on the issues and how to recruit more members.
In 2010, 23 Tea Party Republicans were elected to the U.S. House, but most of them caved in right away voting to raise the debt limit, so candidates need education also. Tea Parties (or similar groups) should be recruiting candidates for every possible office. They should be planning a strategy to put the maximum number of “boots on the ground” and give financial support for the candidates.
I want to suggest that constitutional conservatives brush up on what real pastors believed at the time of the American Revolution. Then, they should get with their pastors and straighten them out. If that’s not possible, get out of that church. The churches are supposed to be leading our revival, but they are silent. Alexis de Tocqueville, searching for the secret to America’s success on his visit, stated that not until he entered the church did he learn, “why America was great and free, and why France was a slave.”
Today, we’re all slaves, because our churches are not engaged or are apostate. While 78% of Americas claim to be Christian, as Bradlee Dean, a preacher and talkshow host states, “effeminate hirelings have infiltrated the pulpits” and instead of preaching against sin, “they are attempting to cover it with false grace.” If we clean up our churches, we could have a strong force behind our push to restore
Here is another another article, called "Stupid to Tyranny", sent to me by a reader and written by William Horning on Constitutional Thinking. This article begins to lay out the argument,......
“The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole world and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought.” George Orwell.
When you are either stupid, uninformed, or not thinking clearly, you don’t realize the time bombs are ticking for our country. Even the tea parties fall into one of these categories.
Professor Steven Yates wrote on America “Ticking Time Bombs” which could take down the country. First time bomb is political correctness, which is taught in the schools and promoted by the media. The government is the real problem, not whites, as it stirs up racial tension. The Zimmerman case was misreported from the start and improperly handled in court.
The second time bomb is Obamacare. “Its purpose … is to centralize sick care, fatten the profits of both Big Pharma and Big Insurance, and very possibly find a legal way of dealing with an aging population that will eventually break the Medicare and Social Security banks.” One researcher figures that the monthly health costs for a family of four will go up anywhere from 2-4 times.
While costs skyrocket, the quality of care will disintegrate. Patients over 70 had better not have anything major happen. Eventually care will be denied as they get an aspirin and a ride home. Cost cutting will demand it.
Our third time bomb is the employment situation. Full time jobs are declining and part time jobs are increasing. John Williams (www.shadowstats.com), a statistician/economist points out that the true unemployment rate is between 23% and 24%. It just isn’t so obvious due to government benefit programs. In addition, underemployment is growing. The outlook for improvement is not very good.
The fourth problem is the financial markets. The stock market is approaching record highs while the national debt approaches $17 trillion. The American people bailed out the banks that are making a killing while our economic health is declining. This situation won’t last.
Please note that all of these problems are created or allowed to happen by government. Our Criminal Congress, along with state legislatures, continues to make laws killing jobs, sovereignty, freedom, and honest government. We no longer have representative government. Our elected crooks only care about the power and rewards of being in office, not the Constitution.
The answer is to replace them with constitutional representatives. Devvy Kidd has written an article, “If You Ignore the Upcoming Primaries, We’re Toast.” I said the same thing months ago. The primaries are where constitutional conservatives can replace established Rhinos/Neocons. Tea Parties need to listen to this warning.
There are only approximately five months to prepare for the primary campaign. Instead of preparing, tea parties are doing stupid things, wasting time listening to current congressmen/state representatives, etc. They should be educating their members on the issues and how to recruit more members.
In 2010, 23 Tea Party Republicans were elected to the U.S. House, but most of them caved in right away voting to raise the debt limit, so candidates need education also. Tea Parties (or similar groups) should be recruiting candidates for every possible office. They should be planning a strategy to put the maximum number of “boots on the ground” and give financial support for the candidates.
I want to suggest that constitutional conservatives brush up on what real pastors believed at the time of the American Revolution. Then, they should get with their pastors and straighten them out. If that’s not possible, get out of that church. The churches are supposed to be leading our revival, but they are silent. Alexis de Tocqueville, searching for the secret to America’s success on his visit, stated that not until he entered the church did he learn, “why America was great and free, and why France was a slave.”
Today, we’re all slaves, because our churches are not engaged or are apostate. While 78% of Americas claim to be Christian, as Bradlee Dean, a preacher and talkshow host states, “effeminate hirelings have infiltrated the pulpits” and instead of preaching against sin, “they are attempting to cover it with false grace.” If we clean up our churches, we could have a strong force behind our push to restore
Friday, August 2, 2013
Green Beret versus Doomsday Prepper
An article posted month back on the Daily Sheeple, written by Sobert Gummer, titled "Why You Should Think Like A Green Beret Instead Of A Doomsday Prepper". Visit his website often as he has some good article posted there.
This was sent to me by a reader who commented that he too believed in his Bug In plan as long as he can, and to work on developing his local suburban neighborhood into a post collapse survival team. Obviously any grouping of people will be much better off with the more work they can put into team building prior to the collapse, but sometimes this is not always viable. Not every neighborhood has a Home Owners Association which is a ready made organization, useful to communications and coordinating efforts. In lieu of an HOA, a neighborhood watch committee would be the next step and a ready made reason to walk the neighborhood and meet the dwellers. Anyway, great article by Sobert Gummer.
There is a disaster coming and you have a decision to make: Is it better to live like a rat in a hole (a bunker) or to network with your neighbors and organize your local area of operation? Sure, it’s a loaded question but it brings up an interesting point: That even the lone wolf can’t survive long by himself. We are social pack animals by nature and the stronger we make our local “pack” the better our chances of survival.
I’d rather have a local neighborhood of 400 organized, motivated individuals defending an area and watching each other’s back than to go it alone in a ten foot corrugated pipe buried in the middle of nowhere. And if we agree on this point, then it makes perfect sense to look at the Green Berets for inspiration.
The Green Berets are the U.S. Special Forces elite commandos who get dropped behind enemy lines and are tasked with organizing the local or indigenous population toward a specific goal. They are smart, motivated and trained in tactics that make them extreme force multipliers. This should be your goal as a prepper, because surviving alone is too big of a job. The days of “Liver Eatin’” Johnson, where a mountain man could live in the back country for years at a time, wasn’t even a high survivability endeavor back in the 1800′s. The odds that one man or even a small family can, “face it alone” are very slim. Sure, you might get lucky and pull it off, but personally I prefer to play the odds. And if we look at history, the odds on survival as part of a community are much greater than going it alone– which is why communities formed in the first place.
In a disaster scenario where there is No Rule Of Law (sidenote: See NutNFancy’s excellent Youtube video on WROL: Without Rule Of Law) there will be a power vacuum. People will be scared and afraid and this is where we as preppers need to be ready to step up and provide leadership. People will only huddle in their homes for so long and if an organizational structure isn’t set up quickly to utilize your neighborhood’s strengths and resources, then you may lose them forever.
First Things First
One of the first things that a Green Beret unit will do when deployed to an area is to set up an operational base in friendly territory that serves as both an operational and administrative focal point. The operational base is used for:
■Planning and Direction of Operations
■Communications Support
■Intelligence Support
■Logistical Support
■Briefing and Staging
■Infiltration
■Liason and Coordination
■Training
■Administration
Can you imagine setting up an operational base similar to what the Green Berets use by organizing your neighbors– perhaps at a local elementary school– and how it could be an asset in helping your community get through a Without Rule Of Law scenario?
Let’s compare two scenarios contrasting how modeling the Green Berets would work out much better for you and your family than modeling the typical character as portrayed on the Doomsday Preppers TV show:
A Tale Of Two Preppers
Timmy The Tool: Timmy has modeled his prepper plans in a similar manner to what he’s seen on the TV shows, including a buried corrugated pipe bunker that he’s stocked with two years worth of food for himself, his wife and his two kids, Timmy Jr. (9) and Susie (4).
Timmy lives in a non-descript suburban neighborhood in Bacon, Georgia. He doesn’t socialize or interact with any of his neighbors and the one’s who have made an effort to get to know him report that he is somewhat anti-social and odd.
When the balloon goes up, Timmy packs his wife and kids into his Chevy Suburban and gets on the road toward their buried bunker in the middle of nowhere. The trip is uneventful and Timmy hides his Suburban under a camouflage net and then ushers his family into the bunker.
Everything seems to be going swell the first night. But after seven days of living underground in a 10 foot by 40 foot bunker the kids won’t stop fighting and Timmy’s wife Helen is starting to show signs of emotional strain from being cooped up for so long without outside social interaction.
By Week 2 the radio stops working and Timmy can’t find where he put the backup radio. He’s now got a short temper and blames his wife, who’s close to the end of her fuse and can’t stop crying. Timmy’s daughter, on the other hand, has stopped communicating and their son spends most of his time escaping into books and has developed a strange cough. His wife is now begging Timmy to let them return to their home in the ‘burbs. But Timmy knows they must stay in the bunker in order to survive. It’s the only way at this point.
Two more weeks into the Crunch and Timmy’s wife has had enough. The boy is virulently sick and the antibiotics that Timmy had stored don’t seem to be helping. Their daughter has stopped eating and Timmy’s wife finally gives him an ultimatum: She’s taking the kids and returning to their home in the suburbs with or without him. Timmy weighs his options and decides that he can’t let her and the kids venture back to their house unprotected so he grudgingly packs their Chevy Suburban for the drive home. Or what’s left of their home. Looters have destroyed their neighborhood and most of the houses have burned to the ground because nobody organized the neighborhood into a defensive force that could have prevented the looting. Unfortunately, Timmy and his family will never make it home to see the wreckage because the highways are either closed or have been converted into ambush “kill zones” by marauding gangs before the military can restore order.
Meanwhile…
Ralph The Realist has adopted a different approach based on what he learned in the military as a Green Beret. Instead of withdrawing from his community he has taken proactive steps to deal with a “No Rule Of Law” scenario. Ralph is good friends with both the president of the neighborhood HOA and the principal of the nearby elementary school. Along with his wife and a couple of other friends of a similar mindset they have formed a prepper group and had begun taking action before the Crunch. Including storing ten 55-gallon drums of rice, wheat, beans and pasta in an unused storage shed at the local elementary school.
When news of rioting and societal breakdown begins to reach maximum velocity, Ralph and his group each begin to reach out to other friends and neighbors who – to no one’s surprise – are now very concerned about the current state of affairs, too. Many are open to taking action but nobody has a plan… except for Ralph and his group.
After the power grid goes down, Ralph’s prepper buddy, the president of the HOA, calls a neighborhood meeting and they discover that many of their neighbors have excellent skills that will help them survive the Crunch: One is a trauma nurse. Another is a welder. The guy down the street is a doctor and an avid hunter and there are several retired cops who live one block over.
Ralph asks for volunteers to form a neighborhood watch and almost everybody volunteers. They makes plans to barricade access to the neighborhood using old cars and RVs and set up a defensive perimeter. With roughly 150 families in their neighborhood there are more than enough adults with firearms experience to stand watch in shifts.
When Ralph’s son develops a strange cough, his wife takes her rifle and walks to the doctor’s house, a block over. She does not have to worry about leaving her house unattended since the “neighborhood watch on steriods” (hat tip: Rawles) is keeping the riff-raff out. The doctor correctly diagnoses her son’s cough and prescribes the right antibiotic. She then leaves her daughter to play with the doctor’s daughter for a few hours. The little one is coping with the Crunch as if it was a free day home from school: Fun!
After a week, Ralph’s son is feeling much better. His wife is happy and she has formed a gardening club with some of the other women on her block.
Three weeks later, Ralph receives word that things are still pretty crazy outside of their neighborhood. They’ve had a couple of gun fights when looters tried to gain access to their neighborhood but nobody was hurt. Word quickly spreads among the undesirables to leave Ralph’s neighborhood alone.
Everyone is coping reasonably well when a expedition group from another neighborhood proposes a trade of fish antibiotics (which can be used by humans) for some extra ammunition. The doctor advises Ralph that it would be a good trade, and since Ralph’s neighbor has a reloading press in his garage, they’re in no fear of running low on ammunition.
After another month, the military is finally able to get things under control and rule of law is restored.
A tale of two preppers: One a complete failure for adopting an ill-thought Lone Wolf strategy and the other successful after organizing his local neighborhood to withstand the perils of a Without Rule Of Law scenario.
About the Author: Sobert Gummer is the author of Sobert Gummer’s Survival Prepping For Hard Times web site. He has lived and traveled to some of the most dangerous cities in the world and has recently returned from living in South America where he fought off a home invasion with nothing more than a machete, married an Indian woman and had his head held over a fire by a Costa Rican witch doctor. He’s now back in the United States and prepping earnestly for an uncertain future while praying for the best. His latest book, Dogs For Preppers is now available at Amazon.com for your Kindle or Kindle app.
This was sent to me by a reader who commented that he too believed in his Bug In plan as long as he can, and to work on developing his local suburban neighborhood into a post collapse survival team. Obviously any grouping of people will be much better off with the more work they can put into team building prior to the collapse, but sometimes this is not always viable. Not every neighborhood has a Home Owners Association which is a ready made organization, useful to communications and coordinating efforts. In lieu of an HOA, a neighborhood watch committee would be the next step and a ready made reason to walk the neighborhood and meet the dwellers. Anyway, great article by Sobert Gummer.
There is a disaster coming and you have a decision to make: Is it better to live like a rat in a hole (a bunker) or to network with your neighbors and organize your local area of operation? Sure, it’s a loaded question but it brings up an interesting point: That even the lone wolf can’t survive long by himself. We are social pack animals by nature and the stronger we make our local “pack” the better our chances of survival.
I’d rather have a local neighborhood of 400 organized, motivated individuals defending an area and watching each other’s back than to go it alone in a ten foot corrugated pipe buried in the middle of nowhere. And if we agree on this point, then it makes perfect sense to look at the Green Berets for inspiration.
The Green Berets are the U.S. Special Forces elite commandos who get dropped behind enemy lines and are tasked with organizing the local or indigenous population toward a specific goal. They are smart, motivated and trained in tactics that make them extreme force multipliers. This should be your goal as a prepper, because surviving alone is too big of a job. The days of “Liver Eatin’” Johnson, where a mountain man could live in the back country for years at a time, wasn’t even a high survivability endeavor back in the 1800′s. The odds that one man or even a small family can, “face it alone” are very slim. Sure, you might get lucky and pull it off, but personally I prefer to play the odds. And if we look at history, the odds on survival as part of a community are much greater than going it alone– which is why communities formed in the first place.
In a disaster scenario where there is No Rule Of Law (sidenote: See NutNFancy’s excellent Youtube video on WROL: Without Rule Of Law) there will be a power vacuum. People will be scared and afraid and this is where we as preppers need to be ready to step up and provide leadership. People will only huddle in their homes for so long and if an organizational structure isn’t set up quickly to utilize your neighborhood’s strengths and resources, then you may lose them forever.
First Things First
One of the first things that a Green Beret unit will do when deployed to an area is to set up an operational base in friendly territory that serves as both an operational and administrative focal point. The operational base is used for:
■Planning and Direction of Operations
■Communications Support
■Intelligence Support
■Logistical Support
■Briefing and Staging
■Infiltration
■Liason and Coordination
■Training
■Administration
Can you imagine setting up an operational base similar to what the Green Berets use by organizing your neighbors– perhaps at a local elementary school– and how it could be an asset in helping your community get through a Without Rule Of Law scenario?
Let’s compare two scenarios contrasting how modeling the Green Berets would work out much better for you and your family than modeling the typical character as portrayed on the Doomsday Preppers TV show:
A Tale Of Two Preppers
Timmy The Tool: Timmy has modeled his prepper plans in a similar manner to what he’s seen on the TV shows, including a buried corrugated pipe bunker that he’s stocked with two years worth of food for himself, his wife and his two kids, Timmy Jr. (9) and Susie (4).
Timmy lives in a non-descript suburban neighborhood in Bacon, Georgia. He doesn’t socialize or interact with any of his neighbors and the one’s who have made an effort to get to know him report that he is somewhat anti-social and odd.
When the balloon goes up, Timmy packs his wife and kids into his Chevy Suburban and gets on the road toward their buried bunker in the middle of nowhere. The trip is uneventful and Timmy hides his Suburban under a camouflage net and then ushers his family into the bunker.
Everything seems to be going swell the first night. But after seven days of living underground in a 10 foot by 40 foot bunker the kids won’t stop fighting and Timmy’s wife Helen is starting to show signs of emotional strain from being cooped up for so long without outside social interaction.
By Week 2 the radio stops working and Timmy can’t find where he put the backup radio. He’s now got a short temper and blames his wife, who’s close to the end of her fuse and can’t stop crying. Timmy’s daughter, on the other hand, has stopped communicating and their son spends most of his time escaping into books and has developed a strange cough. His wife is now begging Timmy to let them return to their home in the ‘burbs. But Timmy knows they must stay in the bunker in order to survive. It’s the only way at this point.
Two more weeks into the Crunch and Timmy’s wife has had enough. The boy is virulently sick and the antibiotics that Timmy had stored don’t seem to be helping. Their daughter has stopped eating and Timmy’s wife finally gives him an ultimatum: She’s taking the kids and returning to their home in the suburbs with or without him. Timmy weighs his options and decides that he can’t let her and the kids venture back to their house unprotected so he grudgingly packs their Chevy Suburban for the drive home. Or what’s left of their home. Looters have destroyed their neighborhood and most of the houses have burned to the ground because nobody organized the neighborhood into a defensive force that could have prevented the looting. Unfortunately, Timmy and his family will never make it home to see the wreckage because the highways are either closed or have been converted into ambush “kill zones” by marauding gangs before the military can restore order.
Meanwhile…
Ralph The Realist has adopted a different approach based on what he learned in the military as a Green Beret. Instead of withdrawing from his community he has taken proactive steps to deal with a “No Rule Of Law” scenario. Ralph is good friends with both the president of the neighborhood HOA and the principal of the nearby elementary school. Along with his wife and a couple of other friends of a similar mindset they have formed a prepper group and had begun taking action before the Crunch. Including storing ten 55-gallon drums of rice, wheat, beans and pasta in an unused storage shed at the local elementary school.
When news of rioting and societal breakdown begins to reach maximum velocity, Ralph and his group each begin to reach out to other friends and neighbors who – to no one’s surprise – are now very concerned about the current state of affairs, too. Many are open to taking action but nobody has a plan… except for Ralph and his group.
After the power grid goes down, Ralph’s prepper buddy, the president of the HOA, calls a neighborhood meeting and they discover that many of their neighbors have excellent skills that will help them survive the Crunch: One is a trauma nurse. Another is a welder. The guy down the street is a doctor and an avid hunter and there are several retired cops who live one block over.
Ralph asks for volunteers to form a neighborhood watch and almost everybody volunteers. They makes plans to barricade access to the neighborhood using old cars and RVs and set up a defensive perimeter. With roughly 150 families in their neighborhood there are more than enough adults with firearms experience to stand watch in shifts.
When Ralph’s son develops a strange cough, his wife takes her rifle and walks to the doctor’s house, a block over. She does not have to worry about leaving her house unattended since the “neighborhood watch on steriods” (hat tip: Rawles) is keeping the riff-raff out. The doctor correctly diagnoses her son’s cough and prescribes the right antibiotic. She then leaves her daughter to play with the doctor’s daughter for a few hours. The little one is coping with the Crunch as if it was a free day home from school: Fun!
After a week, Ralph’s son is feeling much better. His wife is happy and she has formed a gardening club with some of the other women on her block.
Three weeks later, Ralph receives word that things are still pretty crazy outside of their neighborhood. They’ve had a couple of gun fights when looters tried to gain access to their neighborhood but nobody was hurt. Word quickly spreads among the undesirables to leave Ralph’s neighborhood alone.
Everyone is coping reasonably well when a expedition group from another neighborhood proposes a trade of fish antibiotics (which can be used by humans) for some extra ammunition. The doctor advises Ralph that it would be a good trade, and since Ralph’s neighbor has a reloading press in his garage, they’re in no fear of running low on ammunition.
After another month, the military is finally able to get things under control and rule of law is restored.
A tale of two preppers: One a complete failure for adopting an ill-thought Lone Wolf strategy and the other successful after organizing his local neighborhood to withstand the perils of a Without Rule Of Law scenario.
About the Author: Sobert Gummer is the author of Sobert Gummer’s Survival Prepping For Hard Times web site. He has lived and traveled to some of the most dangerous cities in the world and has recently returned from living in South America where he fought off a home invasion with nothing more than a machete, married an Indian woman and had his head held over a fire by a Costa Rican witch doctor. He’s now back in the United States and prepping earnestly for an uncertain future while praying for the best. His latest book, Dogs For Preppers is now available at Amazon.com for your Kindle or Kindle app.
Monday, July 29, 2013
18 Similarities Between The Last Financial Crisis And Today
By Michael Snyder on The Economic Collapse Blog, posting an article with the title "It Is Happening Again: 18 Similarities Between The Last Financial Crisis And Today"
#1 According to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch equity strategy team, their big institutional clients are selling stock at a rate not seen "since 2008".
#2 In 2008, stock prices had wildly diverged from where the economic fundamentals said that they should be. Now it has happened again.
#3 In early 2008, the average price of a gallon of gasoline rose substantially. It is starting to happen again. And remember, whenever the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. has risen above $3.80 during the past three years, a stock market decline has always followed.
#4 New home prices just experienced their largest two month drop since Lehman Brothers collapsed.
#5 During the last financial crisis, the mortgage delinquency rate rose dramatically. It is starting to happen again.
#6 Prior to the financial crisis of 2008, there was a spike in the number of adjustable rate mortgages. It is happening again.
#7 Just before the last financial crisis, unemployment claims started skyrocketing. Well, initial claims for unemployment benefits are rising again. Once we hit the 400,000 level, we will officially be in the danger zone.
#8 Continuing claims for unemployment benefits just spiked to the highest level since early 2009.
#9 The yield on 10 year Treasuries is now up to 2.60 percent. We also saw the yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries rise significantly during the first half of 2008.
#10 According to Zero Hedge, "whenever the annual change in core capex, also known as Non-Defense Capital Goods excluding Aircraft shipments goes negative, the US has traditionally entered a recession". Guess what? It is rapidly heading toward negative territory again.
#11 Average hourly compensation in the United States experienced its largest drop since 2009 during the first quarter of 2013.
#12 In the month of June, spending at restaurants fell by the most that we have seen since February 2008.
#13 Just before the last financial crisis, corporate earnings were very disappointing. Now it is happening again.
#14 Margin debt spiked just before the dot.com bubble burst, it spiked just before the financial crash of 2008, and now it is spiking again.
#15 During 2008, the price of gold fell substantially. Now it is happening again. #16 Global business confidence is now the lowest that it has been since the last recession.
#17 Back in 2008, the U.S. national debt was rapidly rising to unsustainable levels. We are in much, much worse shape today.
#18 Prior to the last financial crisis, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke assured the American people that home prices would not decline and that there would not be a recession. We all know what happened. Now he is once again promising that everything is going to be just fine.
Are the American people going to fall for it again?
Add to Michael Synder's points is that the stimulus from the Fed's printing money and dumping into the market is or has to stop at some point. Everything Bernanke makes a comments about slowing or stopping the fiat currency printing, the markets go crazy in a bad way. Not that I have any trust in the market financials anyway. They are hocus pocus.
The welfare rolls continue to grow. We are on target for 1/3 of the American population to be on welfare and this is not counting Social Security Insurance or Disability. Add to the underfunded state and muncialaity retirement costs from cities like Detroit going bankrupt, and there will be many more, is ading to the population rosters of financially strapped and therefore at risk.
#1 According to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch equity strategy team, their big institutional clients are selling stock at a rate not seen "since 2008".
#2 In 2008, stock prices had wildly diverged from where the economic fundamentals said that they should be. Now it has happened again.
#3 In early 2008, the average price of a gallon of gasoline rose substantially. It is starting to happen again. And remember, whenever the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. has risen above $3.80 during the past three years, a stock market decline has always followed.
#4 New home prices just experienced their largest two month drop since Lehman Brothers collapsed.
#5 During the last financial crisis, the mortgage delinquency rate rose dramatically. It is starting to happen again.
#6 Prior to the financial crisis of 2008, there was a spike in the number of adjustable rate mortgages. It is happening again.
#7 Just before the last financial crisis, unemployment claims started skyrocketing. Well, initial claims for unemployment benefits are rising again. Once we hit the 400,000 level, we will officially be in the danger zone.
#8 Continuing claims for unemployment benefits just spiked to the highest level since early 2009.
#9 The yield on 10 year Treasuries is now up to 2.60 percent. We also saw the yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries rise significantly during the first half of 2008.
#10 According to Zero Hedge, "whenever the annual change in core capex, also known as Non-Defense Capital Goods excluding Aircraft shipments goes negative, the US has traditionally entered a recession". Guess what? It is rapidly heading toward negative territory again.
#11 Average hourly compensation in the United States experienced its largest drop since 2009 during the first quarter of 2013.
#12 In the month of June, spending at restaurants fell by the most that we have seen since February 2008.
#13 Just before the last financial crisis, corporate earnings were very disappointing. Now it is happening again.
#14 Margin debt spiked just before the dot.com bubble burst, it spiked just before the financial crash of 2008, and now it is spiking again.
#15 During 2008, the price of gold fell substantially. Now it is happening again. #16 Global business confidence is now the lowest that it has been since the last recession.
#17 Back in 2008, the U.S. national debt was rapidly rising to unsustainable levels. We are in much, much worse shape today.
#18 Prior to the last financial crisis, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke assured the American people that home prices would not decline and that there would not be a recession. We all know what happened. Now he is once again promising that everything is going to be just fine.
Are the American people going to fall for it again?
Add to Michael Synder's points is that the stimulus from the Fed's printing money and dumping into the market is or has to stop at some point. Everything Bernanke makes a comments about slowing or stopping the fiat currency printing, the markets go crazy in a bad way. Not that I have any trust in the market financials anyway. They are hocus pocus.
The welfare rolls continue to grow. We are on target for 1/3 of the American population to be on welfare and this is not counting Social Security Insurance or Disability. Add to the underfunded state and muncialaity retirement costs from cities like Detroit going bankrupt, and there will be many more, is ading to the population rosters of financially strapped and therefore at risk.
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