A One-Way, Non-Stop Ticket to 3rd World Status On A Slow Train:
Good Morning to all of you hard working brain cells out there in sanity land; your King of Simple News is on the air.
I’m pleased to publish an article from King of Simple friend Greg Chadwick this morning. What Greg describes is a very slow train wreck. More importantly, Greg points out that this isn’t a wreck that is coming, this is a wreck that occurred a long time back and will continue as car after car slowly careens into the abyss. In the meanwhile, those in the next car to fall remain confident that they will survive. Enjoy the article.
By Greg Chadwick,
I suspect that most regular visitors to the King of Simple are in agreement that it’s already too late for the United States to prevent an economic collapse. There are too many show-stopping problems that are not being addressed for us to live happily ever after.
So if the current bout of insanity continues in Washington (and that outcome is as sure as death and taxes), what can we do to improve our chances of living well as things continue to deteriorate?
First, we need to understand that collapse isn’t coming, it’s already here. Large numbers of people are already unemployed, homeless and hungry, for them, depression has already arrived. Virtually everyone in the US has experienced a significant erosion of purchasing power since the Seventies. But notice that it didn’t happen overnight. We lost a little here and a little there; nothing sudden or dramatic.
Unemployment, pay cuts and reduced benefits have spread like a virus since the Dot Com bust. But no big deal, we learned to live with it. Next January will probably bring an end to many retailers who have had bad Holiday sales. This will trigger a rash of commercial real estate vacancies with some owners of major malls and commercial real estate holdings going belly up. Manufacturers who were counting on the Holiday Season to bail them out will go under and unemployment will rise again. But life will go on.
One day soon the dollar will no longer be the world’s reserve currency and we will need to pay for oil with something other than dollars. Our largely worthless dollars won’t give us a favorable exchange rate in the way of purchasing power, so we will learn to drive and eat less and walk more. Chronic obesity will become a thing of the past.
The government and the mainstream media will acknowledge that we are going through a rough patch. However, they will assure us that recovery is just around the corner, just like nuclear fusion, which has been just around the corner for the past fifty years, and most people will believe them. They will do their best to distract us with nonsense. If you don’t believe it, go to cnn.com any day of the week and see for yourself.
As individuals, unless we unplug from this system now, what we will get is a one way, non-stop ticket to Third World status – our very own personal ticket. We are currently buying the ticket on an installment basis, a little down now, a little more later. For the most part, the deterioration has been and will be gradual, no big headlines heralding the collapse like 9/11, or the Fort Hood shootings.
Our personal survival will depend upon our ability to see though the propaganda and recognize the relentless, ugly, frightening trends for what they are.
However, this intellectual exercise won’t be enough unless we take action. If we are waiting for a major crisis, or a headline on CNN to trigger our flight or fight response, we will one day find ourselves in the same position as people who are currently living in Detroit. Rome wasn’t built in a day and Detroit didn’t go to hell overnight. It won’t be any different where we live. This is how a herd of elephants sneaks up on people in broad daylight, one small step at a time.
If we expect to live well in the coming years, we need to take action now. This is no different than buying homeowners insurance. Anyone who waits until the house is on fire to buy a policy could find himself living under an overpass. We have a choice, we can buy “insurance” now, or we can begin scouting out overpasses for a prime location before things get too crowded. Some of the prime locations are already filling up.
What does the future look like? Just like today, except that it will be a little worse. There will be a relentless deterioration, mostly imperceptible, too slow to cause alarm, and certainly not enough to trigger a flight or fight response. For most people the alarm will never go off.
Do you see things unfolding differently? Why? What are you doing to prepare? Please share your thoughts.
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Greg,
Great article throughout, but perhaps the most important single line is, “but, we learned to live with it.”
If a collapse can be brought on slowly enough, the people simply learn to live with it. Think stimulus here. Most of us agree that the stimulus and bailouts amount to kicking the can a little further down the road. In the mean time, we learn to live with it.
When gas went from $2.00 to $4.00 we went berserk. When it came back down to $3.00 (a 50% price hike from $2.00) we were happy campers, we learned to live with it.
And so will be the acceptance as we enter the state of 3rd world status; we’ll learn to live with it and today’s kids will get tired of the old timers talking about the good ol’ days.
Great piece of work.
One small nit-pick. Obesity will be the absolute last thing to go. As long as the federal gov’t. can print dollars for the dole, the fat butts will still be fat.
Here is a link to a blog devoted to the nitty-gritty of self sufficiency. Plus it is a good read as well.
OOPS, I didn’t make the link.
Here it is;
http://justincasebook.wordpress.com/
Clyde,
Thanks for your comment and for plugging Kathy’s site. Kathy often comments on this site…where are you Kathy? I miss your comments.
Clyde,
Thanks for the link to Kathy’s site. Her suggestions are simple and easy, and they are all steps in the right direction. Given the magnitude of our problems, it is easy to become overwhelmed and paralyzed. However, she offers a way to escape that paralysis.
We didn’t get in this mess overnight and we won’t get out of it overnight. Taking baby steps in the right direction seems like the best way to go.
I agree that small steps in the right direction are the way to go. I would argue that devolving into “3rd world status” need not be a negative experience. Attitude and perspective make all the difference. And a sustainable economy would be a good thing.
When I first became aware of peak oil and its implications, I was quite distressed, almost to the point of panic. As I considered the skills, knowledge. and preparations that would enhance the probability of survival, and then began pursuing those things, the quality of my life improved dramatically. I am growing intellectually, keeping this mid-fifties brain lubricated. Getting closer to the details of living- collecting rainwater, gardening, chopping wood, using the sun to heat and cook- has deepened my appreciation of all these things. My understanding of what is really important- my loved ones, friends, doing charitable work- has become powerfully re-focused. Rather than doomsaying, I try to make it fun, especially with my family. Living frugally and eliminating debt has eliminated most of the stress we endured for years.
Though I still have concerns about the future, the wrongheadedness of our “leaders, the system, and prevailing attitudes among the population, life has purpose and there’s alot of interesting work to do. Work can be alot like play.
Skills and things that have intrinsic value, that is what I am working on…
Gold for saving, Seeds for growing, Silver for spending, and Lead for throwing…
But yep, it is like cooking the frog, what are we going to tell the grand kids, we were too busy watching American Idol to keep your freedoms intact?
Wordherder,
It is interesting that we are doing almost all of the same things. I am planning to become a certified Master Gardener next year. I am also becoming better connected and politically active at the local level. I am spending more time getting to know my neighbors and making new friends. Ditto the note about family.
Who knows, this may become a new social movement without anyone realizing that it is happening. Sometimes critical mass can be achieved with a minority, then things begin spreading like wild fire. Perhaps sites like the King of Simple and others are filling that role now.
Greg,
Excellent article! It is exactly what is taking place before our very eyes. I have always maintained that globalization with “free” trade was actually a license to steal labor and raw materials world wide and also allow the elites the ability to shift capital at will, without any accounting for it. And this is exactly where we are now.
My Father told me that the country was already deep in a Depression in the mid to late 20’s. The wealthy only figured it out later when the stock market crashed. The same scenario is playing out now.
Wordherder,
My family is stocking up on staples such as sugar, salt, flour, toilet paper, detergent, shoes, socks, etc. We have paid off all debt and will never go back. We have the freezer full of beef and pork and vegetables of all kinds-all home grown. Every time we got to the hardware store we get extra nails or screws or a hand tool or something else we could use in case the bottom drops out. Also have bought a spare chain saw, and have picked up other hand tools at garage sales and junk shops. Have learned to do my own plumbing and wiring. Brushing up on welding skills. Trying to learn again what my parents and grandparents knew so well-self sufficiency.
Thanks again to Greg for the article and also for all of your great comments.
I have Kathy’s home page “just in case” on the left margin of this site under “other sites.”
In my book, I predicted that communities of like minded folks would spring up as more and more people drop out of the system. Those who choose family, friends, free time, simplicity and peace of mind over clawing their way to the top of the corporate ladder will become peaceful separatists.
As wordherder said, “work can be a lot of play,” this thing may just catch on.
“but, we learned to live with it.” Much like a crab in a pot of water being slowly heated to a boil. It will be too late by the time most people notice they’ve just been cooked.
Good Morning George,
Yep, we learned to live with it and so goes the plan.
The leadership knew that we couldn’t go on forever, but they also know that they will continue to be the chosen leaders regardless of the dire conditions that the former Middle Class shrinks to. They can’t lose for winning.
Good Morning All,
Saw signs posted all over the place yesterday at Farm and Fleet: We are sorry but due to rapidly increasing prices, we cannot honor recent catalog pricing. And so it continues, lackluster demand, but raising prices.
“lackluster demand, but raising prices.”
Diagnosis: Stagflation. A nasty disease that presents in both acute and chronic forms. Difficult, if not impossible to treat. Long-term prognosis - poor.