What Life Will Be Like After An Economic Collapse: “Things Just Get Gradually Worse…”

by | Aug 29, 2016 | Aftermath, Emergency Preparedness | 63 comments

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    This article was written by Megan Stewart and originally published at SurvivalSullivan.com.

    Editor’s Comment: We’ve reached the point where many people are starting to look around and get it. The economic collapse of 2008 wasn’t a fluctuation, a downtown of the cycle. It was a step down, a new normal for everyone to get used to. But acclimation has been difficult, and slow. People are still looking around for the familiar signs of stability, but something very important is missing.

    The model has collapsed, and the net is closing in around everyone. The majority of people are experiencing difficulties making ends meet; many are becoming desperate, fed up and hopeless. What will the effect be a sustained, drawn out collapse? Everyone just left out to dry and be swept up into the collective.

    These are the times when it would be wise to make rational, long term, cautious and conservative moves towards prepping for events where income loss, financial turbulence and unsteady people are all systemic risks. Building a supply of food, equipment, medical supplies and alternative energy are all important, and here’s how you can start to prepare for any disaster that may come your way.

    What Life Will Be Like After an Economic Collapse

    by Megan Stewart

    If you have been waiting for a public announcement or news headline to let you know that an economic collapse has begun, you are in for the surprise of your life. If history in other countries and in Detroit, Michigan is any indication, there won’t be an announcement. An economic collapse tends to sneak up on a city, region, or country gradually over time. In some cases, the arrival of an economic collapse is so gradual that most people living in it aren’t even aware of it at first.

    Things just get gradually worse, often so gradually that people and families adjust as best they can until one day they actually realize that it’s not just their home or their neighborhood that has been hit so hard financially, it’s everyone. By that time, it’s often too late to take preventative action.

    In March of 2011, Detroit’s population was reported as having fallen to 713,777, the lowest it had been in a century and a full 25% drop from 2000. In December 2011, the state announced its intention to formally review Detroit’s finances. In May of 2013, almost two years later, the city is deemed “clearly insolvent” and in July of 2013, the state representative filed a Chapter 9 bankruptcy petition for Motor City. Detroit became one of the biggest cities to file bankruptcy in history.

    So we have only to look at what happened in Detroit, Michigan post-bankruptcy, to get an indication of what might soon be widespread across the United States and what is already widespread in countries like Brazil and Venezuela.

    Increased and Widespread Hunger

    Grocery stores and other businesses will fail one by one or be shut down from the riots and looting. In Detroit, the economic collapse left less than 5 national grocery stores for over 700,000 people. Imagine the lines even if food was still being shipped in on trucks. Small independent corner stores and family owned stores become the most convenient place to shop. These are stores with already high prices who make most of their profit from beer, wine, lottery, and cigarettes.

    One of the ways for you to prepare for an economic collapse and increase the likelihood that your family will be well-fed regardless of what is available in the grocery stores is to grow your own food. For further protection, consider planning and planting a hidden survival garden rather than a traditional garden that would be obvious to neighbors and looters. In addition, you can learn how to identify, harvest, and consume wild edible plants to supplement your food supply.

    Sporadic Public Services

    Public services, including the school system experience frequent strikes that shut them down for days at a time. Power issues and outages become more frequent and roadways become filled with potholes and other signs of disrepair as preventative measures are shoved aside. The water from the tap, that you pay for monthly, begins to smell funny, so you start filtering it before using it. Garbage collection service is sporadic and you begin to see increased trash along the streets and sidewalks.

    Editor’s Note: There are also issues with social unrest, transportation, criminal activity, housing, unemployment and healthcare.

    Read more at Survivalsullivan.com

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      63 Comments

      1. Already too many places like described.

        Detroit is just the “Tip of the proverbial Iceberg”.

        • SumItUp,
          that is why Obutthead is giving control of the internet to others, and it will become so censored the people in one city won’t know that the next city just burned down!! more and more evidence that something BIG is about to happen, probably will be tied to around election time.

          • Agreed.

        • when i do my 8 mile bike ride i am seeing the girls get prettier with time. 5 years ago i never saw a pretty homeless girl, but i see them OFTEN now….i always wonder what the hell they did to end up homeless…sometimes i ask…but sometimes it’s obvious…there’s a LOT of crazy people out there…..think we’re in the seventh innning stretch now?

          • buttcrack. There is a lot of mental illness out there as well explaining homelessness. Lots of pill poppers and druggies and drunks and I’m talking about women. Keep in mind there is also a lot of sexual diseases out there also, many young women, especially when people do not have healthcare to fix their problems. So keep your pecker close to your own home buttcrack.

            ~WWTI…

          • Like me, you are just becoming another dirty old man.

            • beerwhisperer

              Sitting on a park bench
              Eyeing little girls
              With bad intent
              Snot running down his nose
              Greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes
              Drying in the cold sun
              Watching as the frilly panties run
              Feeling like a dead duck
              Spitting out pieces of his broken luck

              Aqualung, J.Tull

        • Agree. “In some cases, the arrival of an economic collapse is so gradual that most people living in it aren’t even aware of it at first.” this is already in motion and has been for the last 10 years. Few realize it here in USSA today, but they will soon enough.

      2. I see some financial destruction already. Prices will go up at first. Then you won’t be able to find the items you need as businesses close. Then the SHTF! Cry havoc! And loose the dogs of war! Thus spoke Zarathustra. Or whatever.

        • Blood and destruction shall be so in use
          And dreadful objects so familiar
          That mothers shall but smile when they behold
          Their infants quarter’d with the hands of war;
          All pity choked with custom of fell deeds:
          And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,
          With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
          Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice
          Cry ‘Havoc,’ and let slip the dogs of war;
          That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
          With carrion men, groaning for burial.

          Julius Ceaser by Bill Shakespeare (or whatever)

      3. Get more prepared…

        10 Week Prepping Intensive
        New class starting in September
        ht tp://www.theorganicprepper.ca

        This is an excellent course! No matter what stage of preparedness you are at, you will learn.

        Excellent speakers, resources, printables, plus the fellowship and sharing with a (closed) Facebook group.

        If you have wanted to get more prepared, this will guide you in the right direction.

      4. The economy has already collapsed. It has only been zero interest rates that have kept markets moving. These zero interest rate have reached a point of diminishing returns.

        Ford has a new zero rate program across ALL model lines for 72 months financing through Ford Credit. Some of you may remember how I mentioned that defaults and repos would explode as the end of the business cycle hits.

        The intent by Ford is to move massive product inventory build, get someone else on the hook financially (you) for these assets, then securitize the loans and sell them to investors desperate for yield in a zero rate environment.

        Rates will be moving up yet this year, a click at a time. By next summer we will be in a full blow RECESSION across the board, as is ALWAYS the case in an election year, with a new POTUS taking the helm and implementing his policies.

        Pray that it is TRUMP policies being implemented. 🙂

        • “So we have only to look at what happened in Detroit, Michigan post-bankruptcy, to get an indication of what might soon be widespread across the United States and what is already widespread in countries like Brazil and Venezuela.”

          Total bullshit. Bad analogy. 🙂

          While Detroit is a good example of “economic collapse” based upon DECADES of bad government policies and poor local administration, the people who left Detroit because the jobs and factories were moved offshore, moved to other locations in America; particularly the south and west creating demand there for goods, services, and housing; fueling jobs in those regional economies.

          No economic collapse in the USA as long as there is some form of capitalism creating incentives to buy and sell by producers and consumers.

          That is NOT the case for Brazil or Argentina. These are, or were socialist states in conflict with the FED, and their currencies (and quality of life for the masses) have taken a hit for that conflict exacerbating the economic situation in those countries.

          The lesson to be learned here for those two countries: Don’t fuck with the FED unless you have the financial and military firepower it does.

          Meagan, you obviously have NO formal education in economics or finance, and NO understanding of the American economy to write this article.

          Its FEAR PORN.

          Nothing except nuclear war, Pole Shift, CME, or Yellowstone blowing is going to create “economic collapse” in the USA. Even the BIG ONE in California or on the New Madrid would become an economic stimulus once rebuilding began.

          Apples and oranges and bullshit. 🙂

          • And Venezuela is the poster boy economy for economic collapse caused by socialism and political conflict with the FED.

            No capitalism, no incentive to produce and sell. Lots of demand and no goods to buy, generating hyperinflation. 🙁

          • i see it another way, durango…i see tens of thousands of union workers losing their jobs, moving away, and spreading their communist ways across the looted plain. finally accepting jobs that pay MUCH less than they WERE getting…jobs that they probly STILL would be working at, had they not looted the car companies for the last dime of lavish pension plan/healthcare plan…..no, i see it different…i see EVERYone MUCH worse off than ten years ago….i see people working 2, even 3 jobs to pay for their obammycare…i see people unable to keep their cars running, things have gotten so expensive…..i MUST be in a nightmare…..but it’s all too REAL for U.S., now isn’t it?…no economic collapse, inDEED!

            • BCD: Public car companies could have said “NO!” to the union workers, and did in collusion with the political class; by moving their factories to Mexico after first getting Bush/Clinton to pass & sign NAFTA.

              The adversarial relationship between business and labor, fascists and commies, the landed gentry and the proletariat, has historically marked the division between right and left.

              There is nothing intrinsically wrong with collective bargaining between owners and workers: (except in the case of Public Employees) as negotiation between buyer and seller, producer and consumer, is the NATURAL action of a market economy for goods and services.

              The business cycle ends in a market economy after an extended period of consumption that is magnified in length by credit. When credit is no longer extended, or can no longer be repaid, the cycle ends as demand drops.

              A market economy is a capitalistic economy. Anyone living in a capitalistic economy should aspire to becoming a capitalist (owning the means of production and thus revenue) rather than satisfying themselves by being a wage earner.

              Those who accept the latter are destined to be at the mercy of those who own the means of production or have a marketable skill. 🙂

              • This is why you are delusional.

                The Federal Reserve was signed into law in 1913. Google inflation from 1800 to today. The US Dollar from 1800 to 1913 actually strengthened in value. It gained almost 60% in purchasing power over that 113 year period. No need for Banks for most people. Didn’t have to outrun inflation by taking risk.

                Fast forward to today. Ever since the creation of the Private Bank they called the Federal Reserve, the US Dollar has lost 98% of it’s value. The Fed creates inflation in order to force people to take risk with their earned dollars. BTW The Fed creates money from thin air and makes us pay interest on that money. Every dollar is debt. We will never be out of debt as long as the Federal Reserve exists.

                This country has been one great big Ponzi Scheme experiment that has lasted many years longer than the math should allow, but people are very arrogant at the same time as being ignorant. That’s why they have succeeded for so long.

                • No I am not delusional. But I agree with everything else you said. 🙂

                  What you don’t understand is that while prices have increased in dollar terms; in many cases, prices in RELATIVE terms, ie the purchasing power of the wage earner in percentage terms, has remained somewhat constant for many commodities since the fifties.

                  Consider the price of gasoline for example in 1950 (29 cents/gallon) as a percentage of an hourly wage at that time (75 cents/hr) and the cost of gasoline per gallon today ($2.15) based upon the current prevailing minimum hourly wage.

                  They cost EXACTLY the same in real terms. 🙂

                  [Consider also that gasoline was as low as 19 cents a gallon in 1960 +/- a year, while the prevailing wage was somewhat higher ($1.00) than in 1950.]

                  This is not to say that all living expenses have remained constant in real terms; and where it hasn’t more or less represents a bubble (like housing); but it does support my argument that individuals should strive to produce their own wealth rather than rely on others for their compensation. 🙂

                  • Back then though we paid for things mostly in cash (even cars and homes. Today people use credit cards to buy Mcds Happy meals. As we both know, most people in this country don’t pay their balances down each month so the real growth is only credit based. Pnce the credit flow stops or even slows, the economy will collapse.

                    The average standard of living has gone down for the great majority of Americans over the last 15 years. The Pyramid Scheme is running out of math.

                    I agree somewhat about tring to be at the top of your own personal pryamid, Howerver, I think that general self sufficiancy should be more broadly applied to other areas besides just producing income.

                    • I agree with both of you and yes we have created a massive credit bubble ! Or better said our governmenet has.

                  • how does healthcare fit into your narrative, durango?….right…it goes UP, SOMEthing goes DOWN in price….sadly, we only got SO MUCH money.

                    • BCD: Health Care costs go up because for all intents and purposes, it is a monopoly formed by the Obola Administration FORCING everyone to buy regardless of price.

                      That isn’t market economics. That is not capitalism.

                      Similarly, car insurance is foisted upon the American People by government to protect the assets of auto insurers and financial institutions. Granted, anyone who lends you money to buy a vehicle should be insured for its loss, but those who may cash should not be forced to buy auto insurance.

                      GEICO as an example, raises the rates on existing customers every six months so they can entice new customers with a potential 15% discount, believing that existing customers are too stupid to find a new insurer. 🙁

            • BCD

              The US Textile Industry, low paid at $15 /hr, fled to Asia at sub $1 hour. The Steel, Auto industry were going regardless once free trade was passed.

          • I would say that you clearly don’t understand economics or how our currency is made or how it’s supported. Look up who owns the Federal Reserve, I’ll give you a hint, it’s not the government or its citizens. Our currency is backed by nothing more than our military and the Petrodollar. Look it up. This collapse is already 45 years in the making since Nixon took us off of the gold standard.

            I’m so tired or ignorant people acting like they know everything.

            Look it up for yourselves.

          • Yes the better quality people left Detroit. The election of socialist commie leaders caused the bankruptcy. The social programs and unfunded pensions are driving the entire state of Illinois bankrupt. Fiscal irresponsibility and too many takers and too few makers is not long term sustainable. Places where DINDUS are present in large numbers tend to go down hill very quickly.

          • And you’re a expert. Bullshit, smoke you another one and come back with more bs…

            • Hey Devil Dog Semper Fi. I’m not sure who your comment was in response to. I’m only talking about people that are defending the current monetary reality without the knowledge of how it was instituted or having any historical understanding of what has happened in our history regarding monetary policy. And actually I am somewhat of an expert on the subject. ASk anything you want.

              A great book to read is the Creature from Jekyll Island. It won’t disappoint.

        • There is a massive subprime auto loan bubble out there. SO many people upside down on their auto loans, stuck in old vehicles breaking down, and worth less than the repair cost. So when the collapse happens, there will be a lot of those folks not making their payments, so the repo biz will be busy. And now manufactures place GPS systems in the cars, so they can easily trace the location of the car, and pick it up at 3AM while the deadbeat schlep is sleeping.

          ~WWTI…

          • I am planning on buying a lot of things once shit goes down. Take advantage of the fire sales.

          • WWTI,
            The new cars are mostly overpriced junk. And when the real collapse happens I don’t think repo people and rent a center collectors will be out trying to collect for long. It will get very dangerous quick.

          • WWTI, what you just mentioned has always been my biggest reason for avoiding credit. I bought a 2000 Honda Odyssey minvan back in March for only $1800 cash from a private owner for cash. I’ve put another $1500 into it since then for a set of tires, A/C work, and replacing all 3 engine mounts. Engine and transmission are still strong in it. I’ve driven it to the BOL and back twice this summer with NO issues. Only 125000 miles on it; 1-owner vehicle. Mileage not too bad for a 16-year old vehicle. Everything still works on it. It’s already loaded with what I’m taking to the BOL with me when I bugout. when that time comes all I have to do is hop in and go. No notes for me so I never worry about any stinkin’ repo man. I always pay my other bills so no deadbeat here. No high-dollar vehicles for me ever.

            • braveheart, if most americans thought like YOU, we wouldn’t be in this shape…………

      5. Here is a Good Article that could sum this up for collapse and push us back into the 1800’s and technology.

        Article: What Did People Eat In The 1800s?

        Part of the Article:
        Food: Because these innovations in transportation were still in their infancy in 1815, however, most Americans ate what they grew or hunted locally. Corn and beans were common, along with pork. In the north, cows provided milk, butter, and beef, while in the south, where cattle were less common, venison and other game provided meat. Preserving food in 1815, before the era of refrigeration, required smoking, drying, or salting meat. Vegetables were kept in a root cellar or pickled.
        For those who had to purchase their food, one record notes the following retail prices in 1818 in Washington, D.C.: beef cost 6 to 8 cents a pound, potatoes cost 56 cents a bushel, milk was 32 cents a gallon, tea 75 cents to $2.25 a pound. Shoes ran $2.50 a pair. Clothing expenses for a family of six cost $148 a year, though the record does not indicate the quality of the clothes.

        Housing: More than four out of every five Americans during the early 19th century still lived on farms. Many farmers during this time also made goods by hand that they’d use, barter, or sell, such as barrels, furniture, or horseshoes. Cities remained relatively small and were clustered around East Coast seaports: New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, and Charleston, South Carolina. In the 1810 census, New York, the largest, was home to 96,373 people. By 1820, the population would reach 123,706.

        Transportation: Industrialization affected the country in other ways, of course. In 1815, there were no steam railroads in America, so long-distance travel was by horseback or uncomfortable stagecoach over rutted roads. Cargo moved by horse-team was limited to 25-30 miles a day. But in 1811, Congress signed a contract for the construction of the National Road, the first highway built by the national government. By 1818, it had crossed the Appalachian Mountains, fostering westward expansion.
        In 1815, Americans were also discovering steamboat travel. In 1807, Robert Fulton had opened the first steamboat ferry service, between Albany and New York City. By 1815, advances in technology allowed a rival to ferry arms and ammunition to General (later President) Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans, the last battle of the War of 1812, and then to steam back up the Mississippi and then the Ohio to Pittsburgh, proving the feasibility of steamboat navigation of the mighty river.

        Life Expectancy: The boom in native population in the early 19th century was even more remarkable considering the low life expectancies of the time. By one estimate, a white man who had reached his 20th birthday could expect to live just another 19 years. A white woman at 20 would live, on average, only a total of 38.8 years. If measuring from birth, which counted infant mortality, life expectancy would have been even lower. A white family in the early 19th century would typically have seven or eight children, but one would die by age one and another before age 21. And, of course, for slaves, childhood deaths were higher and life expectancy was even lower. About one in three African American children died, and only half lived to adulthood.
        Disease was rampant during this time. During the War of 1812, which concluded in 1815, more soldiers died from disease than from fighting. The main causes of death for adults during this period were malaria and tuberculosis, while children most commonly died from measles, mumps, and whooping cough, all preventable today.

        Link: ht tp://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/2015/04/29/what-was-life-like-200-years-ago/?utm_source=outbrain&utm_term=732779&o_xid=65604&o_lid=65604&o_sch=Content+Marketing

        ~WWTI… Maybe some of those antiques stuffed in the attic at Grandma’s house, can be brought back to life. That spinning wheel, the butter churner, the bed pan, oil lanterns, etc… Even by the turn of the century in 1905 the average of men’s life expectancy was about 48 and for women it was 53 Yrs old. Which probably gives reason for men and women getting married at 16 years old and having kids.

        • Well, depending on when, and what type of balloon goes up, the numbers for those figure will rise sharply also (est. +/- 1000%). We will all be looking for those “Antiques” to help us.

          BTW, good read.

      6. It’s going to be hard after a collapse?? Wow, I thought it was going to be easy. Sure glad I read this article. And all the other fear porn articles on this site.

        • And now you know.

          “And knowing is half the battle.”
          ~ GI Joe

          You might want to get busy.

      7. “So we have only to look at what happened in Detroit, Michigan post-bankruptcy, to get an indication of what might soon be widespread across the United States and what is already widespread in countries like Brazil and Venezuela.”

        Total bullshit. Bad analogy. 🙂

        While Detroit is a good example of “economic collapse” based upon DECADES of bad government policies and poor local administration, the people who left Detroit because the jobs and factories were moved offshore, moved to other locations in America; particularly the south and west creating demand there for goods, services, and housing; fueling jobs in those regional economies.

        No economic collapse in the USA as long as there is some form of capitalism creating incentives to buy and sell by producers and consumers.

        That is NOT the case for Brazil or Argentina. These are, or were socialist states in conflict with the FED, and their currencies (and quality of life for the masses) have taken a hit for that conflict exacerbating the economic situation in those countries.

        The lesson to be learned here for those two countries: Don’t fuck with the FED unless you have the financial and military firepower it does.

        Meagan, you obviously have NO formal education in economics or finance, and NO understanding of the American economy to write this article.

        Its FEAR PORN.

        Nothing except nuclear war, Pole Shift, CME, or Yellowstone blowing is going to create “economic collapse” in the USA. Even the BIG ONE in California or on the New Madrid would become an economic stimulus once rebuilding began.

        Apples and oranges and bullshit. 🙂

        • Durango:

          That’s the good news. However, I see no reason to take this woman to task too much just because she lacks your formal education in economics. There are reasons, some you listed, that could even according to your own evaluation, result in economic collapse.

          The economic collapse I plan for is not what happens to America’s finance. I plan for job loss, pension loss, social security loss, and some kind of screw up at the bank (it happens).

          ___

          • States like IL just reported that their state pension system is only about 45% funded. So those public employees who think they are going to retire in style are delusional. Another reason I left that bankrupt state 26 yrs ago. I saw the handwriting on the wall, besides being so corrupt, flat terrain, cold and boring 9 months of the year..

            ~WWTI…

          • Yeah, you don’t need a college education in economics to know when a depression hits home, “What’s in your wallet?”

            ~WWTI… I asked a geeky buddy of mine that question, “What’s in your wallet,” He replied “A dried up condom with an expiration date of 1984.” ha.

          • B: I am not taking her to task because she doesn’t have a formal education in economics or finance; or actual experience in those fields like I do.

            I am taking her to task because her analysis is total bullshit REFLECTING her lack of a formal education in these categories, while attempting to sell me something from her website based upon a fear of the unknown.

            If she had that education or experience she couldn’t spew out such bullshit and use a piss poor analogy to try to support her belief that the sky is falling.

            If she had either the education and experience and still tried to pass that shit off as a real potential her crime would be worse and morally bankrupt to boot. As it is she is just another idiot in Alt media that doesn’t know what she is talking about.

            She is obviously another wanna be. What she wants to be I have no clue; but it certainly is not an economic analyst.

            Yes, it doesn’t take a genius to recognize that the economy has reached the end of the business cycle, despite all attempts to extend it indefinitely.

            The end of the business cycle in America is NOT economic collapse. Venezuela DOES example economic collapse. They are NOT IN ANY WAY similar. 🙂

      8. Seeing more garbage in the streets:

        We have discussed this aspect of financial decline in urban and suburban areas. It is so important, I’ld like to center my comments on this subject in particular.

        Like most things, it’s a good idea to look ahead and prepare for the inevitable. With that in mind, we, myself included, should go out and acquire a steal barrel to burn garbage. We can use them for storage. Food attracts critters. These barrels can hold plastic buckets of food. Or, food in the bags from the distributor.

        Every place you sit your behind belongs to you, at least while you occupy it. Rather than wait for collapse, start taking some responsibility for those public spaces. Once I waited for a bus for such a long time, I got bored. There was a large garbage can near the public bench. Walking over to it, I saw the can was empty. There were paper cups, bags of partially eaten fries, and other pieces of trash under the bench, on it, and all around the ground. So, I spent a few minutes gathering trash. Another time I was in a public restroom. Some travelers from out of town who were just driving thru did something I found extraordinary at the time. They brought into this public john, disinfectant and paper towels. Then proceeded to disinfect the sinks before using them. When they left, they cleaned up after themselves.

        Now all this is petty, I know. But when you multiply by the millions who occupy a city, either you get a decent livable environment or a hellhole.

        If at least some people take it upon themselves to be the first and perhaps the only one picking up trash and cleaning up after themself, perhaps a cultural shift will follow. If not, at least, you are not adding to the problem.

        You should see the people in China Town. These people don’t wait for the city. I’ve seen sixty and seventy year olds jumping on trucks of garbage as they clean restaurants, and sweep streets with nothing more than a small broom.

        ___

        • B of CA.

          “If at least some people take it upon themselves to be the first and perhaps the only one picking up trash and cleaning up after themself, perhaps a cultural shift will follow. If not, at least, you are not adding to the problem.”

          There are very few who would endeavor to clean up others people’s mess. The majority of people today throw there trash where they want. Dirty diapers all over the parking lots and especially at Wal-Mart. Irresponsible pet owners also comes to mind. Then those who can not keep their yards clean and invite rodent populations to establish. One of these days a bad ass bug is going to come along. One there is no cure for and spreads like wildfire. Then the sanitary compulsive behavior people will be the only people left alive.

          Nothing will be done till it scares the shit out of them because then, it is real and not just a newspaper headline.

          • Well, as the economy declines there is less trash and containers to throw away, so trash is reduced. Recycle everything you can at the local depository, and burn the rest in a 55 gal drum. That’s what I do out at my BOL. It gets rid of most of it. I burn about once every 2-3 months for an hour or so. Keep all your trash split up in plastic trash bins, recycled cans cardboard etc in one, and other trash in another bin, with lids. When they get full empty them. I eliminated a $45 a monthly bill by doing that, in fact I never started trash pick up here, at all and did this from start. Hey get off the grid, its all possible. I am about to buy another 55 gal drum for burn barrel, locally here about $15 ea. as the other one is getting rusted and needs to be replaced. If you can get this stuff for free go for it. More stuff you need for off the grid living. Also I’m living way out in the country so burning is no problem. Harder to do this living in any city, and get fined.. or neighbors bitching.

            ~WWTI… You have to have a plan to get rid of trash. Get busy..

        • Come to think of it. It wasn’t a smart move messing up that gas station’s bathroom in Brazil by the US SWIM TEAM! Was it now?

      9. WWTI

        I see that storm headed into the Gulf might take a turn on us. See what happens.

      10. Retired. Lived in Detroit suburbs and worked in Detroit for 40 years. What killed Detroit was greed, taxes, unions and politicians. I used to read the bank reports at Detroit Bank and Trust (later Comerica) that predicted exactly what would happened to Detroit and the auto industry years before it happened.

        The auto industry gave into unrelenting pressure from unions and politicians to raise wages and benefits and have lax work rules. The city of Detroit wanted its share and taxed plant property to unsupportable levels. The only thing that kept Detroit and the auto industry going where the boom years when the demographics of the baby boom generation produced record auto sales years. Then came the foreign car makers selling to the baby boom generation. This is the point the downward spiral started.

        Car makers like Toyota and Honda began expanding and building non-union assembly plants in the U.S. The big 3 could not compete. A front page wage report in the Automotive news has always stuck in my head – Toyota wage and benefit cost at $15 an hour compared to the average big 3 cost at $43 an hour. Within two decades of that headline more than 2/3rds of Detroit’s factories where shut down. From 1970 to 1990 more than ½ a million people picked up and left Detroit as plants shut down.

        From 1990 on Detroit and the Auto companies lived on borrowed money and borrowed time. Of these Ford was the only business entity who understood they were living on borrowed time and managed to survive without going belly up.

        Every time I examine the U.S. government I see the same pattern of greed, taxes, unions and politicians like termites eating the U.S. structure down. It is only a matter of time until the next ripple in the collapse…

      11. The Federal Reserve was signed into law in 1913. Google inflation from 1800 to today. The US Dollar from 1800 to 1913 actually strengthened in value. It gained almost 60% in purchasing power over that 113 year period. No need for Banks for most people. Didn’t have to outrun inflation by taking risk.

        Fast forward to today. Ever since the creation of the Private Bank they called the Federal Reserve, the US Dollar has lost 98% of it’s value. The Fed creates inflation in order to force people to take risk with their earned dollars. BTW The Fed creates money from thin air and makes us pay interest on that money. Every dollar is debt. We will never be out of debt as long as the Federal Reserve exists.

        This country has been one great big Ponzi Scheme experiment that has lasted many years longer than the math should allow, but people are very arrogant at the same time as being ignorant. That’s why they have succeeded for so long.

        • FSPS, you hit the nail on the head…(((The people))) that have been the cause of this havebeen doing this for centuries… the j*ews…

      12. I just hope I have enough ammo. Fuck all this conjecture…

      13. Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises:

        “How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.

        “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”

        And that is how it will happen here…..slowly at first….you’re seeing it now, more potholes, more vacancies in strip malls, (and big malls), more young folks moving back in with their parents, and so on.

        One day we’ll wake up and things will be really bad.

        • Sounds just like “The Frog in the pot” analogy

      14. I have different ways to boil water and will be living on dry soup and noodle and beans and rice. Not a great diet but it will make one last for while.
        I am poor so it keep the two of us safe.
        For all of you who have more money and space to save items in good luck.

      15. The unaware flock to stores right before a big storm and practically wipe the store out of water, milk, batteries and the like. They have been conditioned to stock up only right before some big storm is coming. There won’t be any warning before the real collapse and many won’t know what hit them. I’ve noticed it’s been way to quiet on the news front. Only a blip until the next big crisis.

      16. Today, I overheard a conversation between two of the floor workers in the meat dept. of my big new supermarket. “They want us to spread everything out so it looks full.” said one. “Again?”,said the other wearily.

      17. I would believe a gradual decline . If it wasn’t written that mystery Babylon would be destroyed in one hour. We are warned over and over . To fill our lamps . A measure of wheat for a days wage. Sell your clothes to buy a sword. The four horseman. Strong men’s hearts will fail thinking about what’s coming.how much plainer can it be. We would not be warned if it didn’t matter. We are being warned for a reason .The non believers will laugh at the warnings and you. Their lamps will be empty. Isn’t it obvious this is the great culling . Separating the wheat from the Tares . And burning the Tares. It’s all part of the plan. And it seems like a nesesary one. Look up and be glad . The new world is finally here. We don’t care how bad it will be . Even so Lord come.We want that redemption . Regardless the tribulation . And our suffering.

      18. Beans and rice . Will be gold and silver.

      19. When your neighbor loses his income and is flat broke its a recession. When you lose your income and become flat broke its a depression. As long as my Social Security Ponzi scheme Check is direct deposited the third Wednesday of the month. I will not experience a depression! Wahoo Yippie Hooray !!!

        • Until the day comes the entire deposit won’t buy a loaf of bread.

          Alan Greenspan testified before Congress some years back that he (meaning the FED & Govt) could absolutely guarantee that SS checks could continue forever…..but could not guarantee purchasing power.

      20. Things can go various ways old son Lots of unknowns to deal with in reality when it comes down for real. I have talked to old Germans that lived through the inflation an6d were in the Hitler Youth and the army later. Get lots of info on what things were like. My grandparents talked about the great depression and what they had to do to live. They mined gold in the back yard. Sunk a shaft and so did others tunneling under the city creating a web of mine tunnels all over the place Got nine ounces of gold in one day. Lot of money b5ack then

      21. If you will, google “Ukraine”and get the latest of the state of the economy. Prior to the Nazi regime set up by Obama, the country was stable, democratic and life was tolerable. The collapse is still coming, but since 2014, prices have tripled, employment is running around 55%, they have never had clean water; many medicines are not available; Insulin is not available; food quality is poor, with many meats being soaked in bleach prior to selling; people get food poisoning from restaurants continually. Employers are not required to pay employees; UKE soldiers attack couples in the street and rape young girls, without any recourse; police are bought and sold with every incident; the people have no recourse about anything- no one cares and no one is in charge. Complain and you can die or disappear. I know first hand..thanks Obama, another country destroyed by incompetence, stupidity and greed.

      22. I’m stocking up on toilet paper and cigarettes for bartering purposes.

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