Posted: 9/1/2014 12:13:04 AM EDT
|
http://www.barnhardt.biz/2014/08/30/big-fat-told-ya-so-central-banks-trading-manipulating-all-markets/
I've read it twice and still am trying to wrap my mind around the implications - both for the seemingly permanent power this sort of arrangement at first blush seems to offer to those who control the infinite printing press.... and for the seemingly diabolical self-destruct mechanism built in which would make the Tulip Mania of the Dutch seem like a walk in the park.... if what she's implying is true, then the entire global financial system is like the coyote in the Road Runner - he's run straight off the cliff...and is running on thin air so long as he doesn't notice. Once he notices it....then the entire system collapses. But that can't be right. Suppose the oligarchs have create 400 Quadrillion worth in derivatives and bogus chicanery designed to trade worthless paper (dollars) for paper called 'deeds' (which is still paper)? OK, so they claim ownership of whole industries through not just banking but the currency itself. Fine. But it's still all premised on the inherent worth (at least imputed globally recognized worth) of dollars or whatever the currency is. The moment there's a doubt into the 'money-good'ness of that paper, the whole empire collapses into really just what people with guns can physically stand over and claim as their own, right? This is where the gold bugs arguments make some sense but not complete sense....after all, if the US dollar was devalued ala the Argentinian or Mexican peso.... if suddenly it cost $8 per gallon of gas in the morning and $16 that evening.... how would gold be valued per oz? How would prices be compared beyond immediate barter value? You might as well stock pile barter items as dollars and gold (with all the storage loss risk that stockpiling stuff implies). But then, this would make the purchase of firearms, armor, night vision/thermals, and forming local self-defense units almost as vital a move as rushing out to Costco to buy as much rice and beans as the car will handle.... In such a scenario - it's worse than a limited nuclear exchange - it would wipe out not just imputed wealth globally but society as we know it which is all measured and marked and conditioned on dollars having value and peoples' jobs having value in relation to the dollar etc. Surely the oligarchs can't be that insane to rig the system with such a built in self-destruct mechanism? Unless they don't worship the same God we do? Suddenly all the hollywood stars selling their mansions is beginning to make ominous sense. 
|
|
I thought about such things for a while, but now I just keep on keepin on and not worry about it. This house of cards is already coming down, mathematically it MUST, and most of Americans are more than happy to ride the gravy train to their own graves (however soon that may be) in a state of complete complacency and denial.
|
|
Quoted:
I thought about such things for a while, but now I just keep on keepin on and not worry about it. This house of cards is already coming down, mathematically it MUST, and most of Americans are more than happy to ride the gravy train to their own graves (however soon that may be) in a state of complete complacency and denial. so, gold, silver, lead and brass? bullets, beans and bandages? dig a hole and crawl inside? |
|
Quoted: so, gold, silver, lead and brass? bullets, beans and bandages? dig a hole and crawl inside? Quoted: Quoted: I thought about such things for a while, but now I just keep on keepin on and not worry about it. This house of cards is already coming down, mathematically it MUST, and most of Americans are more than happy to ride the gravy train to their own graves (however soon that may be) in a state of complete complacency and denial. so, gold, silver, lead and brass? bullets, beans and bandages? dig a hole and crawl inside? |
|
Our financial system has ALWAYS been nothing more than a belief system, even when we were back on the gold standard.
When people no longer believe it will work, it wont. That simple. Is that any different today than it was back in 1963, 1929, 1776, 1492, or 30AD? |
|
Quoted:
Our financial system has ALWAYS been nothing more than a belief system, even when we were back on the gold standard. When people no longer believe it will work, it wont. That simple. Is that any different today than it was back in 1963, 1929, 1776, 1492, or 30AD? Google Martin Armstrong's website and learn about his Economic Confidence Model. |
| Why is a piece of paper worth anything? As someone else mentioned, it is the belief that the paper has worth that makes it a means of exchange. Tie in inflation (pushed by the central bank) and you have a witch's brew ready for a melt down. Interesting times for sure - just waiting for the hammer to fall. |
|
The article seems to imply that the Fed has been <secretly> buying/trading equities and is just now getting caught. That is incorrect. The Fed has been indicating in both their meeting minutes and their testimony before Congress that they have been doing just that <for years>, even more so since the 2008 financial crisis. This isn't "new". Where do you think the term "wealth effect" comes from? It's the Fed's insane belief that it can willfully distort the equity markets so as to make the price of stocks in people's portfolio's increase, thus making them "feel wealthier", which in turn will cause them to go out and spend the economy back into health.
The <entire> run up in the stock market from the 2008-2009 lows has been artificial. All of it. Between the Fed's direct pumping up of prices and the availability of zero interest loans to major borrowers to buy back stocks (to inflate the price per share artificially), the stock market now is overvalued by at least double, and, if actual corporate sales revenues were used as the basis for pricing, it's overvalued by a factor of 4. So, when (not if) a few major institutions get into a tight spot and have to liquidate equities (the easiest thing to do), with as much leverage as there is in the market right now (highest ever), it will come crashing down <very> fast. But, it is likely that the circus will continue until some triggering event causes the whole mess to detonate. That could be a sovereign default (ours or somebody else's), some ME major oil producing country not taking dollars any more, a major war, hitting the debt limit (again), major terrorist attack on a US city, whatever. One thing to keep in mind is that just like during the 2008 crisis where we supposedly were within hours of a "full stop" in the economy (credit market freeze because nobody trusts anybody because they're all insolvent), it is very likely that only a handful of people will know that the crisis is about to unfold. I also suspect that both the severity and the rapidity with which the house of cards comes tumbling down will be breathtaking. And, it's all because NONE of the problems in the financial sector were solved. None. None of the fraud has been prosecuted, none of the insolvent institutions have been dissolved, none of the toxic, fake, worthless derivatives have been regulated, no capital reserve requirement enforcement, nothing. It's much, much worse now because we never cleared the bad debt, we never re-instituted leverage controls on the banks, we allow HFT autonomous algos to flash crash numerous items, debt loads at the individual and corporate levels are in nosebleed territory (and totally unsustainable), and mal-investment is a staggeringly larger percentage of the financial wealth of the country. All pointing to the situation being much worse than in 2008. Plus, there's no headroom left in the economy like there was then. Every industry is teetering on the brink now, unlike then when it was mostly finance and real estate. In a practical sense, it means that you should be thinking about how to strategically re-position your assets into something(s) that is/are not "dollar denominated". Most of us are screwed relative to our 401Ks because if the bottom falls out, we can't bail quick enough to keep our nest egg from evaporating overnight. If we take our 401k money out beforehand, we get clobbered with taxes. It's a lose-lose proposition. Nonetheless, it would be prudent to do the normal things one does to prepare, as best one can, for calamity. Food, water, shelter, clothing (an often overlooked item, btw), beans-boolits-bandaids, etc. are all good things that we're all acquiring as funds allow anyway. However, I've been adding gold and silver purchases to my list of "must do" things since 2008. I'm still nowhere near the 5-10% that financial planners have been suggesting (since they lost their clients a lot of money in 2008). Basically, it's all same-old-same-old until the bottom falls out. So, once you have the basics covered in terms of being able to take care of yourself and family, you can start looking at how best to protect your wealth should what seems to be inevitable occur. |
|
Ok. I see sheltering in place for 2-3 months without income is do-able for many of us. Perhaps 5-6 months for some of us (but in what kind of economic inflationary situation? Would banks renegotiate to demand mortgage payment in something other than dollars?). But in a flash crash, bank holiday, no ATMs working sort of crisis, much of civilized economic activity would vanish.
I'm in fundraising, making above the national average. That would go 'poof' overnight if this hit the fan. So I'm suddenly at zero income and no social safety net of unemployment insurance kicking in (because I doubt the post office would be working). I guess paying insurance wouldn't make much sense either - just utilities (if the internet is working)... There's so many impoderables - if re-starting a grid down is hard, how much harder would it be to re-start whole industries after the displacement of population and wealth from something like this. The suicides and homicides would run in the hundreds of thousands and they'd be distributed across socio-economic lines as professionals check out once they realize their white collar work has vanished and they've no practical hands on, blue collar skills to fall back on AND if they did, there's no work to be had except as a security guard. Come to think on it, maybe that's one of the those low sweat, high risk jobs we could prep for! It would justify the armor, NV, thermal scope and top of the line gear like nothing else.... but it would totally suck to be a security guard of someone elses' stuff in a world going to hell like that where I'd be wanting to stay home all day guarding my own family. Unlike a nuclear war where we'd probably have the natural psychological 'us vs. them' thing going on to help each other out, in a flash economic crash, we'd be adrift in a panicked, everyman for himself fight or flight mode. I have to say, this sort of overnight collapse is probably what the zombie thing is really about - hungry hordes aimlessly roving from place to place without leadership other than to loot and keep moving.
|
|
Funny thing is (well, not so funny actually), most people are not going to notice or know anything has happened until they try to do something and can't. Go to pay your lunch bill at Chili's, card declined. Most folks would think it was a network issue (because it usually is). Maybe they run by the ATM on the way home and it says "Temporarily unavailable, try again later." So, that would confirm their suspicion that their bank's network is probably FUBAR, nothing to worry about. Perhaps they try to log into their on-line system and get no response (like happened a couple of years ago with both Chase and BoA) or they get some obscure message about "System maintenance". Again, most folks would grumble about it but generally would pay it no mind. Even the EBT-ers would likely just get more nasty than usual about it like they did last year when there was a problem.
Even if they hear on the lame-stream news that some financial crisis occurred/was occurring, they might assume it was a Wall Street problem and hah-hah, sucks to be them. Right up until they see a sign on their local branch bank "Closed until further notice". And, not only their bank, but ALL the banks were closed until further notice. Then, and only then, would it begin to dawn on the vast majority of people, that they have NO money at all save what they have in their pockets or saved up at their home. Then, and only then, would they realize how completely screwed they are. It would take another day or two before the FSA caught on to the fact they were screwed, too. Then the riots would start in earnest. Likely as not, the Wallyworlds and other retailers would still continue selling the stuff in the stores using cash only (until the riots start). That would only last 2-3 days and then the lack of credit flow would halt all orders, deliveries, etc. because the truckers wouldn't be able to buy gas using their fleet gas cards. After that, they'd close, too, along with all the mom-and-pop shops. Then everybody would realize that the economy just froze up solid. Oops. (Note that this same series of events and the timeline for same has already played out in places like Argentina, Cyprus, and several others.) If we had competent, or even knowledgeable, adult leadership in our government, such a scenario would be short lived. With the neophyte idealogues who got their job because they were part of the Odumbo election campaign, this type of scenario would be catastrophic because their first response would be to try to Twitter the problem away: #Economyisfine Everybody go back to work, please. It would take them weeks if not months to come up with a solution, if ever, since none of them have any experience in the fields they were appointed to "manage". It is likely that the banks themselves would likely come up with a workable plan within a few weeks, if they could get the Fed (and the Treasury) to buy into it. It would not be pretty and likely as not, it would involve a "bail-in" ala Cyprus. So, as has been said by most folks above, live your normal life, but prepare for the likelihood of a major financial SHTF because it is actually far more likely now than ever before. |
|
WOW. THANK YOU. I actually got chills reading your day by day 'what might happen' scenario.
This is the sort of doomsday planning that helps me - I guess it was just too big to make personal. But yeah.... if over 3-4 days people suddenly realize their plastic magic card doesn't work to get the stuff they like and then the stuff they need (like gas!) sure, they'd be gobsmacked, angry, scared.... the right mix for doing crazy, desperate stuff in a fight or flight mode. THAT's when there's great deals to be had as folk will hock all sorts of things for cash or barter items.... but it's also the time to be super careful as the animal passions rise and people wig out... I imagine banks would seek to ration how much people could take out at one time to draw out the pain but still.... we're talking "self quarantine for a month to let things cool down" is what would make most sense.... pull vehicles into garage or back yard, reinforce all windows and doors from the inside, fill sand bags and water barrels... check and load all weapons...and begin a watch night and day.... buttoned up and quiet as a mouse as the neighborhood freaks out. Having cash and coin as a backup to credit and debit cards is a big deal...having usual consumables, as in 1 month minimum of all regular supplies is huge too, easily worth $1,000. In such a situation robberies and invasions would probably be a growing threat night and day as desperate people do desperate things. So not needing to go to the store for resupply and thus not needing to expose oneself to the risk of being out near food distribution hubs or gas stations etc. is a huge preparedness thing.... to be able to avoid the crowds.... that's something I can prepare for. it's do-able. It's imaginable. But if it lasts longer than 1-2 months.... then it's time for alternative economies - barter, trades, etc. people will always need entertainment, inspiration, health care, education, child care, security, food, water, help with child birth and help burying the dead. In those times having the skill mitigate or take care of any of those core needs would be worth something to people to pay for your time and attention. |
|
Quoted:
Funny thing is (well, not so funny actually), most people are not going to notice or know anything has happened until they try to do something and can't. Go to pay your lunch bill at Chili's, card declined. Most folks would think it was a network issue (because it usually is). Maybe they run by the ATM on the way home and it says "Temporarily unavailable, try again later." So, that would confirm their suspicion that their bank's network is probably FUBAR, nothing to worry about. Perhaps they try to log into their on-line system and get no response (like happened a couple of years ago with both Chase and BoA) or they get some obscure message about "System maintenance". Again, most folks would grumble about it but generally would pay it no mind. Even the EBT-ers would likely just get more nasty than usual about it like they did last year when there was a problem. Even if they hear on the lame-stream news that some financial crisis occurred/was occurring, they might assume it was a Wall Street problem and hah-hah, sucks to be them. Right up until they see a sign on their local branch bank "Closed until further notice". And, not only their bank, but ALL the banks were closed until further notice. Then, and only then, would it begin to dawn on the vast majority of people, that they have NO money at all save what they have in their pockets or saved up at their home. Then, and only then, would they realize how completely screwed they are. It would take another day or two before the FSA caught on to the fact they were screwed, too. Then the riots would start in earnest. Likely as not, the Wallyworlds and other retailers would still continue selling the stuff in the stores using cash only (until the riots start). That would only last 2-3 days and then the lack of credit flow would halt all orders, deliveries, etc. because the truckers wouldn't be able to buy gas using their fleet gas cards. After that, they'd close, too, along with all the mom-and-pop shops. Then everybody would realize that the economy just froze up solid. Oops. (Note that this same series of events and the timeline for same has already played out in places like Argentina, Cyprus, and several others.) If we had competent, or even knowledgeable, adult leadership in our government, such a scenario would be short lived. With the neophyte idealogues who got their job because they were part of the Odumbo election campaign, this type of scenario would be catastrophic because their first response would be to try to Twitter the problem away: #Economyisfine Everybody go back to work, please. It would take them weeks if not months to come up with a solution, if ever, since none of them have any experience in the fields they were appointed to "manage". It is likely that the banks themselves would likely come up with a workable plan within a few weeks, if they could get the Fed (and the Treasury) to buy into it. It would not be pretty and likely as not, it would involve a "bail-in" ala Cyprus. So, as has been said by most folks above, live your normal life, but prepare for the likelihood of a major financial SHTF because it is actually far more likely now than ever before. Plane, you are still missing the biggest part of the picture after all this time. [Otherwise your post is GREAT] The ruling Leftist Party isn't dumb as you always seem to say, they are brilliant and have mostly met their objective of STEALING OUR COUNTRY. When will you ever figger this out? |
|
Quoted:
Plane, you are still missing the biggest part of the picture after all this time. [Otherwise your post is GREAT] The ruling Leftist Party isn't dumb as you always seem to say, they are brilliant and have mostly met their objective of STEALING OUR COUNTRY. When will you ever figger this out? Quoted:
Quoted:
Funny thing is (well, not so funny actually), most people are not going to notice or know anything has happened until they try to do something and can't. Go to pay your lunch bill at Chili's, card declined. Most folks would think it was a network issue (because it usually is). Maybe they run by the ATM on the way home and it says "Temporarily unavailable, try again later." So, that would confirm their suspicion that their bank's network is probably FUBAR, nothing to worry about. Perhaps they try to log into their on-line system and get no response (like happened a couple of years ago with both Chase and BoA) or they get some obscure message about "System maintenance". Again, most folks would grumble about it but generally would pay it no mind. Even the EBT-ers would likely just get more nasty than usual about it like they did last year when there was a problem. Even if they hear on the lame-stream news that some financial crisis occurred/was occurring, they might assume it was a Wall Street problem and hah-hah, sucks to be them. Right up until they see a sign on their local branch bank "Closed until further notice". And, not only their bank, but ALL the banks were closed until further notice. Then, and only then, would it begin to dawn on the vast majority of people, that they have NO money at all save what they have in their pockets or saved up at their home. Then, and only then, would they realize how completely screwed they are. It would take another day or two before the FSA caught on to the fact they were screwed, too. Then the riots would start in earnest. Likely as not, the Wallyworlds and other retailers would still continue selling the stuff in the stores using cash only (until the riots start). That would only last 2-3 days and then the lack of credit flow would halt all orders, deliveries, etc. because the truckers wouldn't be able to buy gas using their fleet gas cards. After that, they'd close, too, along with all the mom-and-pop shops. Then everybody would realize that the economy just froze up solid. Oops. (Note that this same series of events and the timeline for same has already played out in places like Argentina, Cyprus, and several others.) If we had competent, or even knowledgeable, adult leadership in our government, such a scenario would be short lived. With the neophyte idealogues who got their job because they were part of the Odumbo election campaign, this type of scenario would be catastrophic because their first response would be to try to Twitter the problem away: #Economyisfine Everybody go back to work, please. It would take them weeks if not months to come up with a solution, if ever, since none of them have any experience in the fields they were appointed to "manage". It is likely that the banks themselves would likely come up with a workable plan within a few weeks, if they could get the Fed (and the Treasury) to buy into it. It would not be pretty and likely as not, it would involve a "bail-in" ala Cyprus. So, as has been said by most folks above, live your normal life, but prepare for the likelihood of a major financial SHTF because it is actually far more likely now than ever before. Plane, you are still missing the biggest part of the picture after all this time. [Otherwise your post is GREAT] The ruling Leftist Party isn't dumb as you always seem to say, they are brilliant and have mostly met their objective of STEALING OUR COUNTRY. When will you ever figger this out? Heehee, I'll "figger this out" when I see evidence of brilliance and not the ample evidence of sheer incompetence combined with an overwhelming communist ideology within this administration. Stealing our country? Not so fast, Kimosabe. Most everyone on this board has multiple guns, most everyone on this board still can post on same, most everyone on this board can vote (lack of decent candidates notwithstanding), and most of us have or will, at one time or another, given the finger to Uncle "Despot" Sam in some way, shape, or form. Like the old saying goes, "It may be too late to save the Republic but it's too soon to start shooting." Or something like that. 
This is also why the current administration is so dangerous to our country. When the going gets tough, inexperienced or ignorant bureaucrats will revert to their ideology to solve a problem. If their ideology were free-market, limited government, freedom based, that would work wonders. With a Politburo mindset there is a guarantee that the solution will be worse than the problem. 
|
|
Quoted:
so, gold, silver, lead and brass? bullets, beans and bandages? dig a hole and crawl inside? Quoted:
Quoted:
I thought about such things for a while, but now I just keep on keepin on and not worry about it. This house of cards is already coming down, mathematically it MUST, and most of Americans are more than happy to ride the gravy train to their own graves (however soon that may be) in a state of complete complacency and denial. so, gold, silver, lead and brass? bullets, beans and bandages? dig a hole and crawl inside? Five Bs |
|
Quoted:
Heehee, I'll "figger this out" when I see evidence of brilliance and not the ample evidence of sheer incompetence combined with an overwhelming communist ideology within this administration. Stealing our country? Not so fast, Kimosabe. Most everyone on this board has multiple guns, most everyone on this board still can post on same, most everyone on this board can vote (lack of decent candidates notwithstanding), and most of us have or will, at one time or another, given the finger to Uncle "Despot" Sam in some way, shape, or form. Like the old saying goes, "It may be too late to save the Republic but it's too soon to start shooting." Or something like that.
This is also why the current administration is so dangerous to our country. When the going gets tough, inexperienced or ignorant bureaucrats will revert to their ideology to solve a problem. If their ideology were free-market, limited government, freedom based, that would work wonders. With a Politburo mindset there is a guarantee that the solution will be worse than the problem.
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Funny thing is (well, not so funny actually), most people are not going to notice or know anything has happened until they try to do something and can't. Go to pay your lunch bill at Chili's, card declined. Most folks would think it was a network issue (because it usually is). Maybe they run by the ATM on the way home and it says "Temporarily unavailable, try again later." So, that would confirm their suspicion that their bank's network is probably FUBAR, nothing to worry about. Perhaps they try to log into their on-line system and get no response (like happened a couple of years ago with both Chase and BoA) or they get some obscure message about "System maintenance". Again, most folks would grumble about it but generally would pay it no mind. Even the EBT-ers would likely just get more nasty than usual about it like they did last year when there was a problem. Even if they hear on the lame-stream news that some financial crisis occurred/was occurring, they might assume it was a Wall Street problem and hah-hah, sucks to be them. Right up until they see a sign on their local branch bank "Closed until further notice". And, not only their bank, but ALL the banks were closed until further notice. Then, and only then, would it begin to dawn on the vast majority of people, that they have NO money at all save what they have in their pockets or saved up at their home. Then, and only then, would they realize how completely screwed they are. It would take another day or two before the FSA caught on to the fact they were screwed, too. Then the riots would start in earnest. Likely as not, the Wallyworlds and other retailers would still continue selling the stuff in the stores using cash only (until the riots start). That would only last 2-3 days and then the lack of credit flow would halt all orders, deliveries, etc. because the truckers wouldn't be able to buy gas using their fleet gas cards. After that, they'd close, too, along with all the mom-and-pop shops. Then everybody would realize that the economy just froze up solid. Oops. (Note that this same series of events and the timeline for same has already played out in places like Argentina, Cyprus, and several others.) If we had competent, or even knowledgeable, adult leadership in our government, such a scenario would be short lived. With the neophyte idealogues who got their job because they were part of the Odumbo election campaign, this type of scenario would be catastrophic because their first response would be to try to Twitter the problem away: #Economyisfine Everybody go back to work, please. It would take them weeks if not months to come up with a solution, if ever, since none of them have any experience in the fields they were appointed to "manage". It is likely that the banks themselves would likely come up with a workable plan within a few weeks, if they could get the Fed (and the Treasury) to buy into it. It would not be pretty and likely as not, it would involve a "bail-in" ala Cyprus. So, as has been said by most folks above, live your normal life, but prepare for the likelihood of a major financial SHTF because it is actually far more likely now than ever before. Plane, you are still missing the biggest part of the picture after all this time. [Otherwise your post is GREAT] The ruling Leftist Party isn't dumb as you always seem to say, they are brilliant and have mostly met their objective of STEALING OUR COUNTRY. When will you ever figger this out? Heehee, I'll "figger this out" when I see evidence of brilliance and not the ample evidence of sheer incompetence combined with an overwhelming communist ideology within this administration. Stealing our country? Not so fast, Kimosabe. Most everyone on this board has multiple guns, most everyone on this board still can post on same, most everyone on this board can vote (lack of decent candidates notwithstanding), and most of us have or will, at one time or another, given the finger to Uncle "Despot" Sam in some way, shape, or form. Like the old saying goes, "It may be too late to save the Republic but it's too soon to start shooting." Or something like that.
This is also why the current administration is so dangerous to our country. When the going gets tough, inexperienced or ignorant bureaucrats will revert to their ideology to solve a problem. If their ideology were free-market, limited government, freedom based, that would work wonders. With a Politburo mindset there is a guarantee that the solution will be worse than the problem.
You fail to accept our 'leftist' bureaucrats have been 'reverting' to their ideology [aggressively] for 70 years [+, for the Purists]....
Though their brilliant and tireless efforts, and laser like focus on their objectives, they have pretty much sewed up their bag. While we tenuously caress our guns and engage in wishful thinking, hoping that our 'opponents' are stupid. They aren't! |
|
Look, I'll grant that the oligarchs are real, they own most of the resources on the planet, control the federal government through the banking system, regulatory capture, etc. I'll grant that they've lied, cheated, stolen and broken every rule to keep the plates spinning. I'll grant that SOME of them are insane and stuffed shirts, wildly out of their element while others are steely eyed ruthless bastards willing to start wars to make a buck.
But what I can't figure out is who wins if the world collapses? I think they'll do things we think are impossible to keep the whole sheebang going long after we all thought it had to collapse.... they'll fake the numbers, agree to not call each others bluff - the whole financial world is in a mexican standoff so have agreed to put down their guns as a detonation anywhere will blow everyone up. Even the evil bastards who wish for a mere 500 million people on earth as an 'ideal' total population.... can't be insane enough to think they will be among those 500 million...any war, plague, depression that results in 6.5 billion deaths will most likely wipe out most of western civilization - including most of their friends and family. So what's the end game? Suppose we all prepared for nuclear war and a nuclear winter - 6 full months of food, etc. thousand of rounds of ammo, the gear and accessories of light infantry, fuel, hams, etc. our neighborhood militia all ready to go.... if the international system detonates it's not like these people will go quietly. It'll be a mess for years - none of us can 'prep' for a decade of poverty. The best we can do is MITIGATE the suffering or prepare to avoid the initial panics and survive the purges, pogroms, genocides, wars, and plagues....meaning we'll all either be so totally in the boondocks or we're on the move. Think fall of USSR 1991 to 2001. I look at Ann's youtubes - the Vendee genocide etc. and wonder...how did anyone survive? Obviously enough did lay low and come out of the woodwork post Napoleonic era to re-establish Catholicism and monarchy after the Republic! What was their strategy? How did they avoid the secret police, wars, invasions, etc.? Benedict XVI's dad was a police man in pre-war Germany and in response to the rise of Nazism he moved his family to south Bravaria - about as far into the boondocks as he could. But his boys were still forcibly put into the Hitler youth and later drafted into the army. They were POWs and sure, came out and entered the seminary ,but the point is,... they didn't escape. A global detonation of the financial system would spare no one. There's few safe places and those might be overrun or bathed in fallout. This is what overwhelms me... how does one prepare for the disruptions that comes from an economic collapse? Merely having blue collar skills or country boy skills is no guarantee. |
|
The end game of end games is that the soul is immaterial.
The rest ultimately is noise. Live as you will, fast or slow. Stand behind your actions no matter how it falls. Economically, I'd say play the Game and mirror the position of the enemy until further developments. Perception is reality. |