Oh, I don't disagree, there is plenty of darkness to come, as much as we need to transform ourselves, but it is not random or unfortunate. But there is light, an ever fixed mark that shines within all of us.
…it is my absolute also.Peace
Ferralhen, thank you for another story of survival. The will to live is strong and takes over beyond mere thought to compel us to do whatever is necessary in the moment of challenge.
Jan, I have chronic and disabling health conditions that have been with me since adolescence. They have provided an opportunity to learn more about myself and my abilities. It hasn't been easy but it has taught me that I am capable of more than I imagined. I learned more about my perseverance, my courage and sheer persistence than I probably would have without these challenges. They have been the bane of my existence and my greatest teachers. Perhaps there has been a reason for them; now that even greater challenges loom ahead, I have a foundation of self-knowledge to draw from. Life tests us in many ways. The variable is how we react to them.
My impression of the PP community is one of strength, awareness and compassion. I'm glad to be a part of it.
Joyce
I think that we all have 5 or 6 waves before see any light
pat the rat
First saw the crash course during the fall of 2008 when things were going bananas. Enjoyed it as it put all things together in one presentation, love the 3 E's.
5 years later and many of the things that Chris spoke out have come true. The main point is the one about promises that will not be performed. We are seeing this as municipalities and countries are going bankrupt. Sure there will be bounces and recoveries but the fact remains that there is too much debt to be serviced, too many promises made to too many people that havent had a chance to save, a risk that the system itself will be overwhelmed.
National governments are still operating under emergency measures despite proclaiming a sense of normalcy lol. Look at the fed trying to taper and the bond market watching nervously.
US economy has been weakened by the last crisis with tons of debt piled on and low full time high paying job wage growth. Diminished expectations reign and people are accepting that the future will have less.
Still, the system keeps chugging along. Because the system is a man made system they can and will change the rules when they see fit. So what will happen? In my opinion, they will hammer savers (already doing so), they will hammer social security recipients, hammer medicare benies with lower service quality. They will hammer students with onerous student loan terms.
And if they fail and blow up the currency at some point? They will institute another form and force people to play ball by the threat of prison. Most people want to follow anyways this is what history has taught us. I dont see the system getting completely overwhelmed and turning to dust like Detroit (auto industry was heavily centered there) but Detrioitization will occur in many areas. I expect authoritarianism and police state future when things get real tough.
We can and should still prepare to the fullest extent possible. I do so by having low expenses and by trying to maximize my earnings at my relatively young age (30) to set myself up during the next 20 years. Hopefully, technological progress will help in absorbing the blow of national insolvency.
Looking at the bright side, the birth rate has plunged and ecologically speaking population growth is heading towards a plateau. In 30 years the boomers will be dead leaving gen x and gen y to inherit all the property, stocks, bonds, etc. by then the country currency will have already been wiped out with all the liabilties associated with it gone to dust as well. Perhaps it will be a new era of wealth with no more indebted boomers and governments with a smaller population but high technology. The internet allows us to engage in service, commerce and business with very little foot print.
Things arent that bad after all. The deficit will come in at a 5 year low at 600 billion, not bad.
Chris I see you are determined to be as pessamistic as possible. I guess it sells more newsletters but other than that it does not get us further down the road towards a solution to mankind's problems.
First of all, for all of your subscribers, learning how to grow your own food, hording gold and building up your arsenal of guns and ammo is not going to achive anything if the apocalypse were to decend upon us. If you really want to understand anarchy study Syria or Egypt and Greece. That's how it happens. In fact, America is one of the most stable countries in the world. It is also one of the richest and most prosperous despite one of the worst financial shocks in the past 100 years.
Despite your assertion that Bernanke is doing a lousy job, it is in fact, Bernake who is mainly responsible for preventing a depression worse than the Great Depression of the 30s. Americans should be thankful and look at their situation realistically.
Yes, I agree with you that there are serious problems. Overfishing the seas is catastrophic not only for mankind but also the planet. Global warming is also something we should all be worried about. But the answer is not to isolate ourselves into small bands of suvivalists but to become part of the political process. We also need to have an intelligent conversation about options and solutions.
Too often, the dialog is dominated by the fringe nutcases.
Want a safer society? Get rid of the guns.
Want a prosperous future? Do something meaningful to protect the environment and also do something about the huge innequality and racisim that pervades America.
As for worrying about the money supply and investing all your money in gold, that's a pointless excercise. If your subscribers really want to secure their futures, invest in one of the most dynamic and resilient economies in the world. The American Economy. In spite of its problems, it works.
So rather than worrying about the sky falling in and finding ridiculous solutions the best action that your subscribers could take is to make the system better. Get involved politically and make the world a better place. Unlike, people in Egypt, Syria, China, India and countless other countries, Americans have options and their voices are heard if they complain loudly enough.
As for Peak Prosperity, you should use your tallent to communicate and explain to people how they can become involved in the political process to make positive changes.
We are all in this togeather.
[quote=richardgordon]Chris I see you are determined to be as pessamistic as possible. I guess it sells more newsletters but other than that it does not get us further down the road towards a solution to mankind's problems.
First of all, for all of your subscribers, learning how to grow your own food, hording gold and building up your arsenal of guns and ammo is not going to achive anything if the apocalypse were to decend upon us. If you really want to understand anarchy study Syria or Egypt and Greece. That's how it happens. In fact, America is one of the most stable countries in the world. It is also one of the richest and most prosperous despite one of the worst financial shocks in the past 100 years.
As for Peak Prosperity, you should use your tallent to communicate and explain to people how they can become involved in the political process to make positive changes.
We are all in this togeather.
[/quote]
Richard,
I have met Chris and Adam in person, and my wife and I hung out with Adam one evening. You have completely mischaracterized them. They are concerned about their families first as we all should be, but their most important "prep" is community. They've done a great job building community where ever they go. After community, they are in politics for a living. They are trying to get this information out so we as a global society can live with a true narrative, not the consumerist grow at all costs propaganda we're fed on a daily basis.
If you think that mainstream politics is the way to go, you are wasting your time. The politicians follow the individuals, not the other way around. So, change yourself for the better, and others will follow, but don't waste too much time trying to convince people. Get to work, because there is lots to do. I've got to go, tons to harvest, tons to do.
Phil
…and their hearts are in the right place. Those who don't see this are ill-informed their negative speek. Which in all likelihood means they're not all that straight with themselves. I could be wrong and often are. I'll keep my guns though, thank you. I think the Constitution and The Bill of Rights are absolutely perfect documents and we should just learn and implement them again. Let capitalism do what it do with no interference by our government and everything will be just fine, thank you very much.
I’ve been pondering a dynamic that I see on this website as well as some others that I visit. It seems that not only do people believe that an apocalyptic collapse is inevitable, but that it is actually eagerly awaited. People expend a huge amount of energy discussing the collapse, preparing for it, analyzing it, and even preaching for it. But, how much effort are people making to improve the reality we already have?
I don’t mean to “dis” anyone here. But seriously, is our current reality so meaningless, so devoid of worth, that it warrants no effort to salvage it or improve it? Yes, there are a ton of things wrong with the current system; but, the way I see it, if you think the current situation is bad, just wait until the much-heralded collapse happens. At least now in the US, most people have a roof over their head, food to eat, at least a minimal level of health care and services from public safety agencies. Most people can walk down the street (at least during the day) without fearing for their lives. The aforementioned benefits of civilization will likely disappear in a collapse, and most people will suffer horribly. Why is collapse so titillating, while working to improve the current system seemingly so pointless?
I believe that Chris and Adam, and folks like Charles Hugh Smith, James Howard Kunstler, the folks at ZeroHedge and Resilence.org, and others provide an invaluable service to us all by educating us and giving us a place to share and discuss issues that are not discussed in the MSM but should be. But for me, that is not enough. I agree with Sand_Puppy’s comment – it is time to have a national (global?) conversation. The question I’m struggling with these days is what can I do to help get that conversation going, and keep it going? I’m convinced that individual action (such as prepping, living frugally, reducing my consumption, talking with friends & family) is not enough – at least for me… So, how do we get that conversation, focused on real issues, going?
Richard Gordon,
Must agree with the other comments regarding your post. This site is not about guns and ammo, retreating into survivalist enclaves, rather the opposite. It's about creating a supportive community of caring people trying to change the world through their own personal actions.
If you're not a little pessimistic, I don't think that you're paying very close attention to what's going on in the world. Regulators are completely captured and ineffective, action on global warming has been nonexistent, corruption in financial markets in endemic, the fourth estate has been bought and sold, and the political system ,when it comes to serving the needs of the average citizen, has become completely ineffective (when it comes to serving the needs of powerful special interests, it is very effective as it has always been). Ex president Jimmy Carter said recently that we no longer have a functioning democracy (sorry to quote another fringe nutcase).
Paul Craig Roberts, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Reagan (sorry, another fringe nutcase) has some very sobering news about that state of the american economy which has gutted our industrial base sending jobs over seas chasing short term profits. We have no recovery, we have a money printing operation.
If there is any commonality on this site, it is that people here are into taking personal responsibility for there own lives and doing what they can to create a better community as a whole, environmentally, politically, and socially. Many of us are frustrated with the general state of affairs in the world, but rather than retreating from the world, are working hard to create positive changes.
In Community
GroverI think you have compiled a very good summary of the dilema. The only exception I would take is to your comment, "Life's quality would diminish for the vast majority". While this may be true for the western world it is not universally true. The majority of the world population don't and have never enjoyed the quality of life we have in the west. A very large portion of the world's population will view the demise of the west with a shrug and a "So what".
PhilThe approach I am taking has two elements.
On a personal side I have purchased a some farm land that I am developing into a self sustaining lifeboat for my direct family and for as many of my extended family as i can support. In the process i am engaging with the local land owners and townsfolk situated around my farm to build a community that is also self sustaining.
But you cannot leave it at that. If we have a catastrophic collapse, no lifeboat will survive unscathed. For our own sakes it makes sense that we put a portion of our efforts into redirection of the whole society. Chris and Co are doing this through the creation and maintenance of this site. I have taken on the challenge of helping to form a new political party, the Australian Stable Population Party. We recognise the primary effect that population increase has on exascerbating the problems we face. We are facing our first election in just two weeks time.
My point is that you cannot achieve a optimal outcome soley by pursuing either a personal solution or a societal solution. You need to do some of both.
…and so you know, we here love Chris here. Meaning: We all support what Chris is doing, what Adam is doing and speaking for myself I have NOT agreed with everything written or said here but I have avoided bannishment because they respect my individual rights to Freedom of Expression, and for that I respect them. I haven't always gotten things right off and have taken my own course, and come to my own understanding, and they with everyone else here have motivated me to learn, to endure so that I am speaking from an intellectuals heart and not an emotional one. I take FULL CREDIT for my work and research, and it has been hard and time consuming, and I love it. I am not perfect but I am engaged and thriving, and life is so much more meaningful, and everyone here has contributed to that from day one. Even the Folks I haven't liked or have offended me have been heard, and motivate me to at least see where I may have a confirmation bias to my way of thinking and knowing both sides of an issue is more relevent to me as I form my own thoughts for today as tomorrow if the data changes then I change too. Anyways, I will leave what I think is this sites mantra, what we collectively stand for and represent. You will see from me why I am here. Incidentally I have cancelled my membership at least 30 times only to drag myself back to the section where I throw my cash down yet again to be a part of this for just one more month. I will probably cancel another 50 times and do this process all over again. Why? Chris, Adam, CHARLES H. SMITH, Alasdair, Gregor, CF Nation, Mish, Hussman, Pettis, Chang, Nervous Nell, Amanda, Wendy, Mark, Gillbilly (my mentor) Jan, Granny, Nate, Grover, Dave F, Jim H, Viva, Peace, tree, treemagnet, Hugh, Dogs in a pile, the new girl I like so much, "We got to leave the Planet" Arthur, richardgordon, etc…"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
(Theodore Roosevelt, submitted by Kenneth R.)
Hat tip to Charles.
Yogi
Warms my heart. You just made us all feel special. NN
I cannot forget the site gentlemen and it is sand-puppy. No!, thx you NN.
[quote=phoenix44]The majority of the world population don't and have never enjoyed the quality of life we have in the west. A very large portion of the world's population will view the demise of the west with a shrug and a "So what".
[/quote]
phoenix44,
The people to whom you refer live low on the social scale. They buy basic commodities (because that is all they can afford) and make their own meals from it. There isn't much luxury in their lives. On the surface, I'd agree with you that they couldn't care less about the bad times befalling on anyone in America who is richer (a vast majority.) It will affect them when the commodities spiral upward in price because supply can't keep up with demand. Only those who are truly self sufficient will escape the backwash.
On another note, I just saw this article yesterday: http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/24/jobs-robots-capitalism-inequality-and-you/. I'll cut and paste a few salient quotes.
Another theory is far more disconcerting: it’s the suggestion that “the economic progress of the past 250 years may have been a unique period in human history.” As New York Magazine puts it: At some point in the late sixties or early seventies, this great acceleration began to taper off … The rate at which life is improving here, on the frontier of human well-being, has slowed.
Henry Blodget says: “Hate To Say It, But If Companies Don’t Start Paying People Better, We May Need Unions.” But unions only matter if labor is valuable, and with every passing year, technology renders labor more irrelevant. When the 5.7 million licensed truck drivers in America are replaced by self-driving vehicles, they can go ahead and strike all they like. Nobody will care. Hardly anybody who matters — which is to say, the rich, the powerful, the technical — will even notice. And it’s not just truck drivers and factory workers. Better software and better robots are already beginning to replace lawyers, bartenders, burger-flippers, even surgeons, and countless other workers, including those poor souls in technology who haven’t kept up. The new law of the economic jungle is this: either write the software that eats the world, or be eaten.
The big thorny question is this: is technology destroying jobs faster than it creates them?So, the feral reserve keeps interest rates low to stimulate the economy. Unfortunately, low interest makes it cheaper to buy advanced equipment to improve productivity. Each year, computer and robotic advances make them more capable. Already, the advanced equipment is able to defeat any human contender on Jeopardy. For now, these robots will aid surgeons ... before they replace them. Here is the Wikipedia article on Watson, the computer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watson_(computer) In February 2013, IBM announced that Watson software system's first commercial application would be for utilization management decisions in lung cancer treatment at Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in conjunction with health insurance company WellPoint.[13] IBM Watson’s business chief Manoj Saxena says that 90% of nurses in the field who use Watson now follow its guidance.Is anyone who has a job (or a business) safe from robots doing it more productively (cheaper, faster, better?) I'd think that those in essentially artistic or esthetic fields have an advantage. Computer written music sounds like computer written music. Earlier in this thread, I was asked (in jest) how we will reduce the population of capitalists. I can think of several ways. One that could be accomplished with absolutely no violence would involve Monsanto and genetically modified organisms. Imagine inserting a gene that makes an encapsulated poison that is stored in body fat. Potatoes would be the perfect vehicle. "You want fries with your burger?" At some point, they release an infectious virus that slowly dissolves the encapsulation and the poison is released. Anyone who ate the GMO spuds would then be poisoned. It would work on capitalists and proletariats alike. Given those 2 groups, who eats more fries? Grover
I second NN, it warms my heart as well. We are all here to learn, teach, act, and support each other in our shared beliefs. I've appreciated your comments and advice as much as you have mine. I think all would agree that you win hands down when it comes to passion! Go Tigers!
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/communitarianismI agree with Rose. People will survive only in community. Fences and weapons were originally developed to protect communities not individuals. It is folly to think that isolated individuals will remain alone when Maslov's hierarchy levels one and two (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs) are threatened. It is easy to view Maslov's pyramid in the wrong way. These levels are not independent. The third level (of community, family and even intamacy) is necessary for food, water, and security to exist. FInd your community. Bloom where your are if it can work. If not, get transplanted before the next financial/cultural winter comes. If your roots are in fertile ground, blooming comes naturally.
I love people, and I also love liberty which is a necessary prerequisite to the formation of viable community structures. Communities built by command seem to fail, while those built organically through voluntary formation seem to fair better.