While some may consider such a discussion a waste of time, more and more people are coming to the conclusion that preparations of some sort are warranted in our current troubled environment — on many fronts.
How much preparation individuals are willing to do is usually in direct correlation to their belief that something catastrophic could happen, making life as we know it a much more difficult task.
It is a proven fact throughout history that when disruptions of any kind occur, those who made even the smallest preparations typically fare much better than those who gave no thought at all in this regard.
Today I want to share with you a list I have compiled of the things that could potentially happen — and that threaten our way of life in a small or large degree.
There is no way to predict these things, but anyone with common sense can see that the possibility is likely we could experience one or more of these events at some point in the future...
Any single event or combination of events could cause terrible and debilitating circumstances for a short or long period of time:
- Natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, tornados, volcanic eruptions, solar flares, earthquakes, and other geophysical events
- Possibility of wars, nuclear wars, nuclear reactor meltdowns, and radiation fallout
- Financial meltdown (derivative, debt crisis, economic collapse and/or bond implosion) causing currencies to implode and governments to topple
- Problems with the exploration, delivery, or production of oil, the lifeblood of modern economies
- Spread of disease such as the Black Plague or a bird flu pandemic
- Power grid failure
- Political anarchy or revolution
- Racial strife or civil war
- Electromagnetic pulse event
With any of these scenarios listed above (and there is a host of others I have probably not even thought about), you could have localized, national, or global unrest and even war for an indefinite period of time depending on the scope and duration of the event(s).
An item that is not on the list — but could be equally devastating to individual families — is the loss of a job.
Losing a job can be a catastrophic event if one is not properly prepared. Most families find themselves living paycheck to paycheck with little in the way of savings and almost nothing in the way of preparations.
For years, I had brought up the issue of preparedness to a close friend of mine.
When I first started talking about it, my friend and his wife basically blew me off... but I kept bringing the topic up.
Eventually they thought it prudent to at least get some sort of food storage together. Their family was accustomed to an upper middle class income and living comfortably in suburbia with their three children...
About a year after making their food preparations, the breadwinner of the family lost his job and ended up working a series of almost minimum wage jobs trying to make ends meet.
He kept applying for better-paying jobs in his field of expertise — but no matter how qualified he was nobody was interested in hiring someone at his previous salary level or his age (late fifties).
The family's lifestyle was devastated and they eventually lost their home...
In a recent conversation with this friend, he told me that without their food storage, things would have been immeasurably more difficult. He thanked me for being a good friend and pushing the issue when he and his wife weren’t listening.
The family is now living a greatly reduced lifestyle, but keeping their heads above water and continuing with their preparations.
I share this story because on an individual basis, there is a host of things that can happen in which being prepared could make a huge difference.
We often, as a people in general, terms take things for granted and think 'this' or 'that' will never happen to us. In addition to a major job loss due to a myriad of reasons, you could lose your health or the ability to do your job.
Unfortunately, things of this nature are happening to more and more people every day. In fact, I'm certain all of us have been affected to some degree by similar stories of friends and relatives.
Our Current State of Affairs
The world in general seems afflicted on so many different fronts.
When you look at the list above, any rational person could easily see one or more of these scenarios occur within their lifetime.
Aside from the geophysical things that seem to be going haywire, and could be explained simply as the planet’s cycles, there are plenty of man-made catastrophes that loom on the horizon...
Never has the planet had as many people as it does now. With increased population numbers, there is increased pressure for resources.
This is a key point on why you want to stay invested in commodities of all kinds.
More countries seek nuclear devices than ever before and recent advancements in technology make this much easier than any time before in history.
Biological and chemical weapons are also much easier to manufacture — and are being stored by an increasing number of very scary countries.
Oil markets are tighter than ever as demand from countries like China and India increases, but new supply cannot keep up with the increasing demand.
The financial debacle of the world economies needs no introduction to my readers. In short, bad times — really bad times — for any number of reasons could and probably will be coming to a location near you.
Unless you and your family take this possibility quite seriously, if and when something does happen, you could very well find yourself in some extremely difficult circumstances. Just look at the latest news coming out of Greece, as reported by Reuters, below...
This is happening right now — and it’s only going to spread.
When the political and economic systems of entire nations collapse the consequences are devastating.
Earlier this year pharmacies and hospitals in Greece were unable to provide life saving medicines due to a shortages caused by a freeze in the flow of credit from manufacturers to distributors to patients. A collapse in the country’s economy has forced many Greeks to turn to black market barter economies and has left millions financially devastated, with no hope of finding an income stream for the foreseeable future.
The credit system of the entire country is in shambles. So much so that reports are emerging about food shortages and hunger within the Greek prison system, suggesting that serious problems in the food delivery chain have begun to materialize.
As Nigel Farage warned recently, we are beginning to see the rise of extreme political parties as a consequence of the total and utter desperation of the populace.
Today the news gets even worse. Greece’s Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) announced an emergency meeting to deal with what can only be construed as a tell-tale sign that this crisis is very rapidly reaching critical mass and may spiral out of control in the very near future:
Greece’s power regulator RAE told Reuters on Friday it was calling an emergency meeting next week to avert a collapse of the debt-stricken country’s electricity and natural gas system.
“RAE is taking crisis initiatives throughout next week to avert the collapse of the natural gas and electricity system,” the regulator’s chief Nikos Vasilakos told Reuters.
RAE took the decision after receiving a letter from Greece’s natural gas company DEPA, which threatened to cut supplies to electricity producers if they failed to settle their arrears with the company.
You may have thought the financial collapse of 2008 was bad. That was just a warm-up.
The main event is staring us in the face, and the whole of Europe has front-row seats.
What is happening in Europe is just a precursor for what will eventually be coming to the United States...
I personally witnessed what can happen within a very short period of time when food is no longer available to the public.
I was in my early twenties, living in Paris, France.
Because of an extended truckers' strike, the food stores were cleared out within 24 hours of the announcement. Within five days, normally law-abiding citizens took to the streets and began threatening anyone who had food...
Those with no food quickly crossed the line of sanity and started desperately looking to take food from those who had it by any means necessary.
These events were never properly covered by the news media (what a surprise!), but I saw firsthand how uncivilized a so-called "modern country" can become within a matter of days because of a lack of food.
If I had not witnessed this myself, I probably would not believe this could happen so easily.
And even as a strong young man, I found myself quite frightened at times before the trucks started rolling again.
That particular truckers' strike lasted three weeks — but it left me with a lasting impression.
The following are Items to Consider that I feel are prudent as you make your own preparations based on the problems that could potentially threaten our way of life.
Each of the items below could fill a book... but my intent is to at least get you thinking about the most important things related to being prepared.
1. Should I stay or should I go?
Many have already decided where they will go if and when any such disaster occurs. One of the questions I get more than any other regarding this topic is: Should I stay in the United States or leave to another country?
Personally, I know many who have already left the United States — and they have never looked back. I have been invited to their retreats in Costa Rica, Panama, Argentina, and the Caribbean Islands, and they seem very happy with their decision to leave.
This is a huge decision. My hope is that the following discussion may be of some help when thinking about this topic.
Because I travel internationally so much in my search for quality mining assets, I often compare notes on my trips with other folks (geologists, newsletter writers, etc.) about their travels...
One of the realizations you see firsthand as you travel extensively worldwide is the extreme wealth, extreme poverty, and extreme corruption that exists in all of its world flavors.
If you think the United States is corrupt, you should try going to Peru, or Bolivia, or Panama. And if you think those countries are corrupt, you haven’t see anything compared to Russia, Haiti, India, or some places in Africa...
The fact is corruption and the growing global police state is EVERYWHERE!
So while we certainly see much to complain about in the United States, which is definitely going the wrong way fast, from what I have seen in most other places on the planet, the U.S. is still less corrupt than most. There are bad apples everywhere throughout politics, local police, FBI agents, and most certainly the court system — but for every bad apple, there are probably three times as many honorable people who are truly just trying to do their jobs.
Leaving the country is a decision you must make before the event takes place due to the sheer amount of time and effort it takes to accomplish such a task.
You must also think about being away from family and friends who don’t share your enthusiasm to leave the country and what affect that could have on everyone over time.
For most, I think it’s probably best to just hunker down in your own country (U.S. or Canada) and prepare as much as you can. If you can afford a retreat cabin somewhere far away from the big cities, that would probably be best — but again, you still need to get there once the event occurs.
Studies have clearly shown that once a SHTF (Sh*t Hits The Fan) event occurs, you have two to three days to get to where you ultimately want to hunker down. After that, travel becomes extremely dangerous and it is unlikely you will reach your final destination.
Highways will become kill zones targeted by the bad guys. To a gang of armed looters who forgot to prepare or plan ahead before the event, there is not a better target than an RV loaded down with stored food, ammo, and gold.
Don’t be foolish and attempt travel once things have gone south: If you need to get somewhere, plan to leave the moment the event happens and arrive where you want to be within 72 hours.
This may require several false starts (meaning the situation looked bad at first, but didn’t materialize, and you need to return home) on your part as events start to unfold. But it's better to be safe than sorry if you are planning to get somewhere when an event happens.
Military strategists know from historical accounts of what happens when governments fail or when SHTF events affect a country: The rule of thumb is that roads are to be avoided at all costs.
If you cannot afford a retreat cabin of some sort, there are things you can do to hunker down in your own home...
First, you need to stock up and find a way to defend it. Like-minded friends and neighbors can be a huge support network — as long as they have prepared as well.
There is a great book (it's not well-edited, but has solid content) on how to live in your home and defend it called Holding Your Ground: Preparing for Defense if it All Falls Apart by Joe Nobody, which in itself is a lesson in laying low.
This book isn’t about turning your home into a concrete bunker armed to the teeth; it's more about using cosmetic deception to fool would-be marauders into thinking your place has already been hit. It includes plenty of clever techniques that go far beyond "shooting back."
Ultimately, everyone must decide for themselves based on finances, family concerns, and individual preferences what he can or cannot do in his preparations.
Hopefully, this discussion will help you make the best choices for what is in your best interest.
2. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
This is a good motto to live by, despite how you think about things.
Individuals can still hope for the best (that things can and will eventually work out), but what good is your prosperity going to do if you don’t have anything to eat or a safe place to hang out for an extended period of time?
Why not prepare while you still can — when things are readily available and can still be purchased at cheap prices? The coming hyper-inflation will make any such purchases beforehand look very intelligent...
To prepare for the worst, you need a plan. Why are most people so against doing basic preparations that could be the difference on how they survive — or whether they survive?
History shows time and again that those who prepare always fare better than those who did not. Having a plan and being determined to act on that plan will always be the best way to handle any contingencies, should they occur.
After disaster strikes, your mind is going to be racing around like a car on a race track. Pre-planning and having a written set of measures to take will make someone’s life go much smoother when the SHTF.
Your own personal plan is ONLY what best fits what you are going to do during and after a disaster.
People should also have back-up plans — Plans B and C, at least — because nothing ever seems to go as planned. Haphazard approaches to the aftermaths of catastrophes are kind of like a chicken running around without its head.
Full article > http://tinyurl.com/y9lqo8fo
