Snurkle - re thoughts on - when the SHTF
Hard part is deciding what plan/preparedness level you are aiming at
- 24hr power cut
- Cyprus style 2 week banking shutdown
- Martial Law
- or the ...full monty.. eg Mad Max Scenario
To show how "just in time" everything is geared up for today - during the Petrol Tanker Strike a few years back....the supermarket went to No10 - and said if they didn't break/settle the strike ....there was only 3 DAYS supply left in the distribution chain.
(A phrase bandied about at the time ....9 Meals away from starvation beginning)
To give a further example - of what I think could be a major problem - in even a mildly protracted "event" ie mob/gangs with nothing....seeking out the prepper...haves......
- This is how Americans are set up
- I would imagine much of the UK falls in the same category.
Right now we seem to be living in a "hope bubble" and people have become very complacent. For a while there, being a "prepper" was very trendy, but now concern about a coming economic crisis seems to have subsided. What a tragic mistake. As I pointed out yesterday, our entire financial system is a giant Ponzi scheme, and there are already signs that our financial markets are about to implode once again.
Those that have not made any preparations for what is coming are going to regret it bitterly. The following are 17 signs that most Americans will be wiped out by the coming economic collapse...
#1 According to a survey that was just released,
- 76 percent of all Americans are living..... paycheck to paycheck.
#2 - 27 percent of all Americans ....do not have even ....a single penny saved up.
#3 - 46 percent of all Americans have $800 .....or less saved up.
#4 Less than one out of every four Americans has enough money stored away to cover six months of expenses.
#5 Wages continue to fall even as the cost of living continues to go up. Today,
- the average income for the bottom 90 percent of all income earners in America
- is just $31,244.
An increasing percentage of American families are just trying .....to find a way to survive.... from month to month.
#6 - 62 percent of all middle class Americans say that....... they have had to reduce household spending over the past year.
#7 - Small business is becoming an endangered species in America. In fact, only about 7 percent of all non-farm workers in the United States are self-employed at this point.
- That means
- that the vast majority of Americans are depending..... on someone else to provide them with an income.
- But what is going to happen as those jobs disappear?
#8 In 1989, the debt to income ratio of the average American family was about.... 58 percent.
- Today it is up to ..154 percent.
#9 Today, a higher percentage of Americans are dependent on the government than ever before. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau
- 49 percent of.... all Americans..... live in a home that gets direct monetary benefits from the federal government.
- So what is going to happen when the government handout gravy train comes to an end?
#10 Back in the 1970s, about ...one out of every 50.... Americans was on food stamps.
- Today, about.... one out of every 6.5...... Americans is on food stamps.
#11 It is estimated that less than 10 percent of the U.S. population owns any gold or silver for investment purposes.
#12 It has been estimated that there are approximately 3 million "preppers" in the United States. But that means that almost everyone else is not prepping.
(Ie the other ....275 millions - have NO PLANS)
#13 - 44 percent ...of all Americans do not have...... first-aid kits in their homes.
#14 - 48 percent..... of all Americans .....do not have any.... emergency supplies stored up.
#15 - 53 percent of all Americans.... do not have "a 3 day "....supply of nonperishable food and water in their homes.
#16 One survey asked Americans how long they thought they would survive if the electrical grid went down for an extended period of time. Incredibly,....
- 21 percent said that they would survive for... less than a week,
- an additional 28 percent.... said that they would survive for... less than two weeks,
- and nearly 75 percent.... said that they would be... dead
- before the two month mark.
#17 According to a survey conducted by the Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation, 55 percent of Americans believe that the government will come to their rescue when disaster strikes.
Just because you are living a comfortable middle class lifestyle today does not mean that it will always be that way.
If you doubt this, take a look at what is going on in Greece. Many formerly middle class parents in Greece have become so impoverished
- that they are actually.... dumping their children.... at orphanages
- so that they won't starve...
Scores of children have been put in orphanages and care homes for economic reasons; one charity said.... 80 of the 100 children.... in its residential centres
- were there because their families - can no longer provide for them.
Ten percent..... of Greek children are said to be ....at risk of hunger.
- Teachers talk of cancelling PE lessons because
- children are underfed and of seeing pupils ........pick through bins for food.
That account I find very chilling
-and suggests just how quickly "civilisation begins to collapse"
- and how "soon after" humans would then begin to revert to "type behaviour"...ie animal
(As Celente puts it - when people lose everything - then they...lose it)
And certainly the above paints a - Grim Picture, that...
The vast majority of Americans are going to be........ absolutely blindsided
- by what is coming.
- They don't understand how our financial system works,
- they don't understand how vulnerable it is,
- and most of them blindly trust that our leaders
- & think they know exactly what they are doing
(and that they will be able to fix our problems).
As a result, most Americans are simply not prepared
- for the massive storm that is heading our way.
So, that said & moving on - what happens if the situation collapses so far
- that people descend so far that they reach - "revert to type" - ie animals and ...truly "lose it ??
Here is an alledged account of a "survivor
- of when The Serbs besieged Sarajevo (For I believe around 12m)
http://www.prudence-not-paranoia.com/2013/05/16/bosnia-war-survivor-warns-of-things-to-come-in-collapse-of-america/
So within only a few "very recent" years of our immediae history - a EUROPEAN Country - was.......
- as near as damn it - at Defcon ...."Mad Max"
Quite a horrific account.
So - what level do you think ....might be coming down the track...is probably step One - of any plan.
A "starting point" - checklist - to perhaps dealing with - an inconvenient & mildy unpleasant - "event" - is laid out in the attached list....in this link
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/25-things-that-you-should-do-to-get-prepared-for-the-coming-economic-collapse
As I mentioned at the beginning - as time goes on....
No - 20 Self-Defense - would grow increasingly...in relevance & importance
In the years ahead, being able to defend
- your home
- and your family is going to become increasingly important.
- When.... the economy crashes,
- people are going to start to become...... very desperate.
And desperate people...... do desperate things.
Wow that was a bit epic - so will leave it at that for now - and "HOPE" it's just a work of.....acedemic theory.