Even with the propaganda spewing from the mainstream media machine, most Americans seem to be in tune with what is going on.

Most American voters believe it’s possible the nation’s economy could collapse, and majorities don’t think elected officials in Washington have ideas for fixing it.

The latest Fox News poll finds that 79 percent of voters think it’s possible the economy could collapse, including large majorities of Democrats (72 percent), Republicans (84 percent) and independents (80 percent).

Just 18 percent think the economy is “so big and strong it could never collapse.”

Moreover, 78 percent of voters believe the federal government is “larger and more costly” than it has ever been before, and by nearly three-to-one more voters think the national debt (65 percent) is a greater potential threat to the country’s future than terrorism (23 percent).

Who has a plan for dealing with the economy?

Overall, 35 percent of voters think the Obama administration has a clear plan for fixing the economy, down from 42 percent last summer (July 21-22, 2009).

At the same time the number saying the White House doesn’t have a plan for the economy has increased from 53 percent in July to 62 percent in the new poll. That includes almost all Republicans (88 percent), two-thirds of independents (67 percent), as well as a third of Democrats (33 percent).

Even fewer people think Democrats in Congress (24 percent) and Republicans in Congress (16 percent) have clear plans to fix the economy.

Surprisingly, 35% of those who believe the economy could collapse, also believe that the same people who got us into this mess have a clear plan to get us out of it. Unfortunately, there is probably nothing we can do for those people.

But, if you are part of the 62% that says the White House doesn’t have a clear plan, then you may find it in your interest to come up with a plan yourself.

There are different levels of “economic collapse,” so the first step is to define the potential scenarios you may be faced with:

• Stock market crash and double-dip economic recession lasting another 18 months
• stock market crash and a deflationary economic depression where GDP contracts for an extended period, unemployment continues to rise to Great Depression-like levels of 25% – 30% (currently around 16.7%).
• Stock market crash and a hyperinflationary economic depression not unlike the Weimar inflation of the 1930’s, where we experience high unemployment, extreme price swings, and complete destruction of the US Dollar
• Perhaps a combination of all three scenarios over the course of the next 0 – 10 years.

There are, of course, many variables that come into play here, but all three scenarios are possible. Some of the scenarios one can imagine are more severe than others, especially on the hyperinflationary depression front, where things can get very bad, very fast.

If you believe the economy could collapse, and you have no faith that your elected representatives have done anything to fundamentally repair the system, then start considering what you will do if you lose your job for an extended period of several years, or your retirement account doesn’t grow for a decade, or the purchasing power of your cash holdings evaporates as the dollar loses value, or what you will do if a hyperinflationary event causes food prices to triple or affects our food transportation systems.

The government cannot and will not save our economy. Only the people can save the economy and cause it to grow.

The government can help us to do that by getting out of the way in the private sector, for the exception of enforcing existing laws on the books to prevent financial scams, ponzi schemes and extreme leverage in the banking system.

Hat tip Economic Collapse Blog