This article has been generously contributed by Michael Snyder. You can follow his regular writings, research and analysis at The Economic Collapse Blog and The American Dream. Read his recent book The Beginning of the End to get an idea of what America may look like in the very near future.
You can’t get blood out of a rock. Traditionally the United States has had a consumer-driven economy, but now years of declining incomes and rising debts are really starting to catch up with us. In order to have an economy that is dependent on consumer spending, you need to have a large middle class. Unfortunately, the U.S. middle class is steadily shrinking, and unless that trend is reversed we are going to see massive economic changes in this country. For example, in poor neighborhoods all over America we are seeing bank branches, car dealerships and retail stores close down at an alarming rate. If you didn’t know better, you might be tempted to think that “Space Available” was the hottest new retailer in some areas of the nation. On the other hand, if you live in San Francisco, New York City or Washington D.C., things are pretty good for the moment. But as a whole, the condition of the U.S. consumer continues to decline. Incomes are going down, the cost of living is going up, and debts are skyrocketing. The following are 19 signs that the U.S. consumer is tapped out…
#1 Real disposable income per capita continues to fall. In the fourth quarter of 2012, it was sitting at $37,265. By the time that the fourth quarter of 2013 had come around, it had dropped to $36,941. That means that average Americans have less money to go shopping with than they did previously.
#2 In January, real disposable income in the U.S. experienced the largest year over year decline that we have seen since 1974.
#3 As disposable income decreases, major retailers are closing thousands of stores all over the country. Some are even calling this “a retail apocalypse“.
#4 From September 2013 to January 2014, the personal saving rate in the United States dropped by a staggering 16 percent.
#5 During the fourth quarter of 2013, we witnessed the largest increase in consumer debt in this country that we have seen since 2007.
#6 Fewer Americans are applying for mortgages these days. In fact, the MBA Purchase Applications Index is now the lowest that it has beensince 1995.
#7 Overall, the rate of homeownership in the United States has fallenfor eight years in a row.
#8 Many Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to afford a new car or truck. The following comes from a recent CNBC article…
A new study shows the average household in 24 of America’s 25 largest metropolitan areas cannot afford to pay for the average priced new car or truck.
“Just because you can manage the monthly payment doesn’t mean you should let a $30,000 or $40,000 ride gobble up such a huge share of your paycheck,” said Mike Sante, managing editor of Interest.com. “Many people are spending money on a car payment that they could be saving.”
#9 Incredibly, 56 percent of all Americans now have “subprime credit” at this point.
#10 Total consumer credit has risen by a whopping 22 percent over the past three years.
#11 In the third quarter of 2007, the student loan delinquency rate was7.6 percent. Today, it is up to 11.5 percent.
#12 Overall, U.S. consumers are $11,360,000,000,000 in debt.
#13 While Barack Obama has been in the White House, median household income in the United States has fallen for five years in a row.
#14 U.S. workers are taking home the smallest share of the income piethat has ever been recorded.
#15 One recent study found that about 60 percent of the jobs that have been “created” since the end of the last recession pay $13.83 or less an hour.
#16 Middle-wage jobs accounted for 60 percent of the jobs lost during the last recession, but they have accounted for only 22 percent of the jobs created since then.
#17 According to one recent survey, only 35 percent of all Americans say that they are better off financially than they were a year ago.
#18 In 2008, 25 percent of all Americans in the 18 to 29-year-old age bracket considered themselves to be “lower class”. In 2014, an astounding 49 percent of them do.
#19 The poverty rate in America has been at 15 percent or above for 3 consecutive years. That is the first time that has happened since 1965.
Despite what the mainstream media keeps telling them, most Americans know on a gut level that there is something fundamentally wrong with our economy.
According to Gallup, “Unemployment/Jobs” is the number one issue that Americans care about these days and the “Economy in general” is the number three issue that Americans care about these days.
Most people just want to work hard, make a decent living and take care of their families.
Sadly, that is becoming increasingly difficult to do.
And the numbers that I have shared above only tell part of the story. For a more personal side to all of this, I encourage you to read my previous article entitled “10 Stories From The Cold, Hard Streets Of America That Will Break Your Heart” if you have not done so already.
The really bad news is that this is about as good as things are going to get for the U.S. economy. The long-term trends that are eating away at our economy like cancer are intensifying, and our “leaders” just continue to act as if “business as usual” will somehow get the job done.
Most of them don’t even realize that time is running out.
As I discussed yesterday, there is a lot of evidence that the massive financial bubble that the Federal Reserve has inflated is getting ready to burst.
When the next great financial crisis does strike, it is going to be absolutely disastrous. We are in far worse financial shape than we were back then, and this next round of financial trauma could truly be the “knockout blow” for the U.S. economy.
Let us hope for the best, but let us also prepare for the worst.
Michael T. Snyder is a graduate of the University of Florida law school and he worked as an attorney in the heart of Washington D.C. for a number of years. Today, Michael is best known for his work as the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog and The American Dream. If you want to know what things in America are going to look like in a few years read his new book The Beginning of the End.
we’re on the eve of destruction. No doubt about it. Stores like Penney’s, Sears, Radio Shack, and more are all downsizing. Government adding more and more regulations. Things are looking grim.
Last year I held to my promise and dumped all of my business debt and with the exception of my basic necessities if I don’t have the money to buy it cash, I can do without. Trouble times are here already.
Rodster, troubled times have been here ever since Obama first showed up; the times have only become MORE troubling. AMEN to buying things with cash only. I nev er had a CC and never will. Nobody really needs a CC to be able to live. That’s just propaganda.
“#4 From September 2013 to January 2014, the personal saving rate in the United States dropped by a staggering 16 percent.”
Depending on what is meant by “personal saving”, there may be another reason “savings” are down—PEOPLE DON’T TRUST THEIR MONEY IN BANKS ANYMORE. I’ve got more savings than I did before, but a whole lot LESS of it is in a bank. If #4 is derived from the amount in savings accounts, it doesn’t necessarily mean people are saving less, just banking less.
GOD, GROUND, GRUB, GUNS, GOLD. ….. PRAY, PLAN, PREP, FORM TEAMS.
Wow brave. You don’t need a credit card to live? Just propaganda? Your genius never ceases to amaze. I would think advertising is a better term than propaganda in this instance. Your idea about a credit card and life is really profound. All this time I thought food, water, air and credit cards were required.
why don’tcha’ get back to yer job painting numbers on curbs, and leave B/H alone, urbane dawg.
People are tapped out period, financially, mental, physically, spiritually. Just look at the rot of society and how totally screwed up everything is.
This is one reason I am so focused on this plane actually being found and the 200+ people being held as hostages and rescued. We hear f’en despair and total hopelessness each day. To have one story in which it appeared like all hope was gone and all of a sudden these people turned up alive would be one of the most uplifting stories in decades. Granted the masses have a short attention span and people may in a couple of weeks start acting even more like ass monkeys, it sure would be shot in the arm with something positive.
I am also focusing of course on the very serious Russian movements of troops into a full invasion of Ukraine. I have been seeing strategic Russian bombers starting their Arctic practice runs for example. I think at this point we absolutely need to be focused on Russia, as well as China with those Japanese/Chinese disputed natural gas and oil rich islands. The U.S. is in big trouble with the money angle of it, and empires in the past have fallen back on their militaries to handle the financial collapses. Too often. This seems no different with the U.S. trying to goat on Russia.
I predict we should be watching the other hand. These distractions can’t all be coincidence.
Watch the other hand, it’s going to drop something in our laps we won’t like very much.
Sadly, I think you are right. With distractions always come some big legislation to further erode our liberties. You can set your watch to this pattern.
Sixpack,
I believe you’re on to something. I’ve been watching for these events for a long time and am convinced that the Talmudic jews are behind this whole thing. I’ve seen some of them sneaking around at night with large sacks of money that they move from bank to bank under cover of darkness.
The Powers that Be may be behind some of this too as it is written in the annals of the 4th Zingassi dynasterial manuscripts that just such a thing will happen. Indeed the other shoe or should I say “jew” is about to drop!
Most of us watch both hands and even the legs…but they seem to always fool us by spitting in our eyes and headbutting us.
…nothing up my sleeve—except my fist…
Saw a tidbit yesterday saying retail went down in Dec and Jan but for Feb was up 0.3% — that’s a recovery in todays world. Hope and change here we come again.
So now I have a Christmas retail figure. Couldnt find much and no wonder they were blacking out that news. It was a 0.6% drop in December and in Jan. How often does that happen?
Cant fool the people who hold an empty wallet.
Back when I was single, the empty wallet was my budget tool. I would cash my paycheck and pay my bills. I would spend what was in my wallet. When my wallet was empty, I was done spending until next payday.
hey Calgacus.. Read an article lately on one of lamestream sites and Janet Yelling said ” Retail sales are off because of the cold weather” Guess We know Better !!
All this being said, where is that 777? What are the powers that be cooking up this time? Maybe it will be something good! Maybe we will all live happily ever after and be happy with the things in our life; instead of wanting what the next person has. Maybe we are all about to find out all the answers we have been seeking. One can hope!
Ancient Echoes,
I’ll bet you a dollar to a donut that 777 plane has been commandeered by a bunch of bankster jews who plan to use it to spray chemtrails all over our crops this summer. And I’ll just bet that Obama is in on it too. If you painted his face white he could pass for a jew and I have believed he is all along. That nappy hair is just a cover up, a “false flag” so to speak. Yesterday a plane flew over my house and was letting off chemtrails. About 5 minutes later I smelled a terrible odor like a mixture of sulfur and Raid bug killer. I knew then that the jews were active in my neck of the woods. Keep your head up everyone, something is surely amiss!
How come everyone has been crying Iran for years now and now that something like this has happened, and the two with the stolen passports were from Iran, and the distance between Malaysia and its destination is the same as Malaysia and Iran; and yet not one report has pointed a finger at Iran. Doesn’t anyone think that is suspicious. Maybe it is time we all say enough of the games, this is our world too.
The game of lies is almost over.
But wait till Monday! Kerry will cut himself shaving, and call the whole thing off, there’ll be blood everywhere…… Then he’ll put in for a Purple Heart!
This is only going to get worse. The VP at the local community bank told me the other day that in 90 days the large banks are going to start unloading their foreclosed properties on the market.
Everything that is happening is designed to make you poor and dependent on the debt system. Every program that has come from this administration has pushed that agenda.
sooner or later the banks will realize that real estate is NEVER going back to where it was…consequently, they’ll be bankrupter at that instant than they are already. they put more R/E on market(all of them) and KABOOM!the lying will be OVER….meanwhile, PARTY LIKE IT’S 1776!
Dear GOD, protect your good and decent followers,
and open their eyes to the truth
$6.66 for every pound of bacon.
Numbers for the Roman Emperor.
@ Night Breaker, Hunter, faith of the fallen, outwest, socrates, or any one else with same like experience. What do you make of these videos on WND? I see in the first video where they are executed by gun that most are in a form of military garb? Who would they be? The article talks about the sacrificing/murdering of Christians (human sacrifice ritual), but also talks about these murderers being jihadists that are trying to oust Assad? Are they connected?
The second video, made my mind and heart feel / think things I can’t even begin to describe. Also made me tear up adn about jump out of my chair.
Gets a little confusing when I think about how I have learned how evil our own govt is and how we use war as a business and have no business doing most the things we do world wide for the banksters adn use propaganda and lies/rhetoric to condone it. But then I see a video like this and my mind tail spins.
Second video for some reason made me cry out to God for mercy on all of your children, to come quickly and destroy your enemies and avenge your own.
http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/muslims-conduct-human-sacrifice-on-video/
@BJ. That is military 3 color desert BDU’s. The executioner appears to be using a glock with an AK variant strapped on. Being in the Syria area, that could be mercs or some force we’ve supplied with old army BDU’s. When I was in Iraq we supplied the iraq friendlies with desert storm BDU’S. With all the army surplus gear I would say we had a hand in the people being executed.
…or at the very least, it was supposed to LOOK LIKE we had a hand in it…believe only half of what you see.
I can’t tell you how much that video really ruined my day. I can’t describe it. I have seen the executions before online, and seen bodies dismembered and hanging from bridges in mexico from drug wars in recent years. But that one today really screwed me up…especially the second one.
Is the article BS propaganda? What about the muslim terrorist angle and the persecution of Christians? And how does it if it does at all, tie into the muslim brotherhood (with obama’s help) ousting Assad?
I am just trying to understand and make sure I am thinking and feeling correctly through this. I want my head and heart right, my understanding, knowledge and prayers right as well.
Used to call that pattern “desert chocolate chip” I sold alot of it back in the early 90s before clinton ordered the military to sink it by the bales in the ocean (along with his order to crush ammo cans)still makes me mad…anyhow the US military switched to a new desert pattern we called “rosey) because of the pinkish color added to the pattern whilst they removed the black spots…anyhow other nations adopted and used chocolate chip BDUs so anyone out there could have them…just pointing that out…
BJ,
Those uniforms are common in the middle , they are not the chocolate Chip uniforms of the gulf war , they are commonly referred to the 3 color desert cammo but not of the US pattern I remember Saudi Arabia and Yemen have a pattern similar to ours sort of like a Tiger Stripe pattern in desert cammo. The boots they were wearing were the standard deserts boots used in theater .
The hand gun being used a indigenous appears to be a copy of a Browning High Power produced in Iraq.
This could have taken place in Iraq the arabic accents are clearly not from that region my guess is Chechnya. I am not a linguist . It’s difficult to discern from the video where this happened.
This could be Iraq or Syria where this occurred .
These people have no mercy on their enemies. They are ruthless this is what occures every day in this region , every day , be glad you have never been there.
RESIST
Semper Fi 8541
Oh I am Night Breaker, I am!
This is for Shooter
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-06/singapore-air-a380-flight-diverted-after-cabin-loses-pressure.html
The CPI distorts the true cost of living for many Americans.
Core Producer Inflation DROPS By Most In 9 Months
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-14/core-inflation-drops-most-9-months
Maybe that is why the feds have REMOVED the cost of FOOD (and ENERGY) from the “The U.S. cost of living index”.
“In the past five years inflation on FOOD has risen more than anything else has. Your best investment right now is FOOD!”
Prepare Your Own Personal Home Grocery Store and Pharmacy
http://www.personalliberty.com/survival-and-self-sufficiency/prepare-your-own-personal-home-grocery-store-and-pharmacy/
Food! You are so right KY Mom.
I have been getting a LOT of new kinds of heirloom seeds and perennials including fruit trees. Even mushroom plugs.
Running out of cash, but at my own acceptable minimum broad spectrum preparedness, still have to set up my small new solar. Still expensive, but it’s a good investment.
A weird prep I did was get a Hawaiian water ice maker and syrup. Also candy making supplies. Comfort food.
Keep Prepping!
Just think, this is probably the good news. The bad news? It will get worse: the percentages presented will getting larger.
The Biblical concept of poverty is insufficient calorie intake to sustain life. There are few people like that in America except perhaps neglected children. Obesity being the second leading cause of preventable death we are a long way from there.
While it is true we will not enjoy the lavish lifestyles of the last couple generations, there are still jobs available in parts of the country for those willing to move there and start at the bottom. I was talking to a LEO the other day who was complaining about all the homeless coming in because there are three free meals a day for anyone who wants them and space available in our homeless shelter. He admitted there are lots of minimum wage part-time jobs which pay enough to rent a room with kitchen privledges, a bus pass, and incidentals but said very few who come here have the initiative to do more than take up space.
My wife had a lot of debt when we married and despite being down to once income due to the birth of our special needs daughter, we’ve been able to pay it almost completely off because we share one ten year-old Jeep, pay an average of $60 a month for DirecTV and nothing for cell or Internet service. We have not been on a real vacation since our honeymoon using that money instead to build a wood-heated solar-powered cabin.
Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it and I see a lot of people reacting poorly because they’ve learned helplessness from our nanny state.
We have lived frugly all our married lives. Only on paydays did we take the girls out to McD. We cooked from scratch and rationed food so there would be no waste. Kept a garden/chickens. Some baby sitting on my part when times got real tight. Even shared the lower priced “family packs” of meats with a neighbor, so we could each get some meat in the house for the kids. One and only one vacation to the beach a year–pay as we went. Hubby has always had two jobs. I EXPECT those who are on welfare to at least do the same before they are “entitled” to anything.
Course, I also know that won’t happen. But I do speak my mind to them if the chance arrives.
However, if you really can’t make it, we will be first in line to help.
Nope. The welfare goons are eating lobster while you eat those “family packs”. As an American citizen you are told to take a seat behind some illegal who gets EBT, SNAP, WIC, free medical, gasoline cards, free education, etc….and told who and what Democrap to vote for. People always say that we are too hard on those on Welfare. I say bullshit. I saw some dude at a Walmart who had a whole bunch of bulk groceries (eggs, bread, soaps, etc.) He had everything just “maxed” out. I knew immediately what was going on. On the way out of the store though, he had enough disposable income to get some Red Box DVDs. F*ck these people. We all know that Welfare was just a program designed to make people dependent. Johnson even admitted it aloud. Let the collapse come. Just be advised that quite a few of these Welfare goons will be coming to your home looking for food. Be prepared, be armed, and be ready. One weapon that everyone needs….yes, everyone: AKM or AK-47 chambered in 7.62 x 39
I’ve been stumped how people were getting by with inflation so high and wages going down. In our world my wife and I need not wait for the collapse its been on for awhile. With this article and other reports it is apparent many are using credit cards to survive. This should end well maybe even better then when the idiots were buying houses on interest only loans. They just better not ask for a hand out again like they did then.
MADDOG ,I,m right there with ya , the depression has been at my house for a few years now. While alotta idiots took out loans they could not afford , it wasnt the homeowners who got the bailout , it was the banks that made loans they knew were no good.
They got bailed out and resold the houses , cool huh?
If there had not been a bailout all this shit would have washed through the system by now and we would be having a real recovery by now.
What we are experienceing now was caused by the government stepping in to “help” and as usual they f’ed it all up .
Ya hammerhead, not sure if some of the demoncats will make it till the SHTF before we’ll need to implement “man on the inside’s” post-SHTF plan for them. Still looking for his recipe.
you hammerhaed, they didn’t sell ALL the houses….they are still up to their asses in forclosured homes…and it looks like they will NEVER be able to get their money out of them!…but i agree with most of what you said. in this baseball game called “housing bubble”, we aint even sung the national anthem yet….we are just walking in from the parkin’ lot….warmin’ up our voices to sing it…..oh, did i mention it’s a DOUBLE-HEADER? hold onto yer BUTTS!(jurrasic park).
Foreigners DUMPING U.S. Treasuries…
Foreigners Sell A Record Amount, Over $100 Billion, Of Treasurys Held By The Fed In Past Week
“…in the just reported latest data, for the week ended March 12, Treasurys held in custody by the Fed dropped to $2.855 trillion: a drop of $104.5 billion.
This was the BIGGEST DROP of Treasurys held by the Fed ON RECORD…”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-14/it-begins-past-week-foreigners-sell-record-amount-over-100-billion-treasurys-held-fe
Well let’s see, my catastrophic on my med ins went from $5,000 to $7,000, no one told me, I have terminal cancer, no job, medical bills up the ass, another state threatening me about child support that used to come out of my pay now I’m waiting for an award on dis retire., my Thrift (IRA) is at an all time high, but can’t take it out, can barely afford gas to chemo, sick every day…….sometimes I just think, let it rain missiles cuz for me it’s all down hill anyways. Love this site and the people on it. Keep prepping my friends, you’ll use ’em up when it hits and it WILL. For the mean time enjoy what you have and who you’re with. Things will change very shortly.
Mailguy – My heart breaks for you. I’ve been low before too. Nothing like yours though. My prays, for what there worth, are with you. Trust in the Lord with all your heart…. in all your ways. That’s the only way I’ve made it this far. Oh yea, and my wife. Who was a blessing from Him.
Nasty weather today. At least it’s not snowing. It’s some sort of frozenish rain/water crap. Spring is coming. I got 16 maple trees tapped a couple days ago. That usually nets us out about 5 gallons of syrup if we keep at it. I enjoy it most of the time.
I see that odumbshit signed a deal yesterday that made 32,000 acres a wilderness area in our local back yard. Guess that’s a good deal. ??? I also heard that it contributes something like 1150 jobs or some such crap to the area. WTF? How many of these jobs are held by nongubermental employees. I looked around on line but was unable to find any thing about it. I heard it on what ever the news source is on the local Christian radio station.
hammer – if your missing any bluejays at your place they all came over here. wonder what they taste like?
REAL maple? You lucky dog! Now I’m jealous.
Now, what kind of moron would red thumb a comment like this? Maple syrup…really? You 4 have gone a bit overboard., trying to censor Macs site.
If your new wilderness area creates the need for any jobs, they’ll probably be govt ENFORCEMENT jobs.
It won’t even be that. The claims of employment due to a new wilderness or some such thing are entirely bogus. The numbers are made up from thin air.
The truth is, no one knows if a park or forest will create one job or a hundred, or lose one job or a hundred.
What is a fact, is that the losses are local, and the gains are out of the area. The city folk coming to visit the cool new wilderness won’t even stop for a meal in the community, they wouldn’t be caught dead in such a place, it’s not cool and they need to get back to the vegan café in the city.
#32000 acres of the kings forest to harvest goodies from? 🙂
Just don’t get caught, the “wilderness” designation means no vehicles, no logging, no hunting/fishing, etc. No access other than by foot. It is such bullshit. This is supposed to be public land, our land. But the assholes in DC keep shutting us out of more and more of it every year, and putting more and more armed agents/guards/rangers everywhere. They will eventually make for good moving target practice.
Mailguy,hope things get better soon for you,hell,hope things get a bit better or at least not worse for all of us.
i will pray for you mailguy, and i will also pray for it to rain PITCHFORKS, so we can all pick one up and start marchin’…BTW….i been prayin’ about obama too, yet he still lives. oh, and get that money out of the market and into a money market fund or gold or ANYTHING but the stock market!….in the last crash i had it WORSE than a divorce….i lost half my MONEY, and still had my WIFE! LOL good luck to you…..
@ Maliguy,
Sorry to hear about your condition. Listen, miracles do happen every day. I know it has got to be difficult, but you can put your faith in God. Clear your mind of the negative and try to focus on the beauty all around you. You pray and we will pray. Try to keep moving forward and soldier on.
Stay Strong in your mind and in your heart.
Mail guy,
I am sorry to hear you are facing all this.
I pray you may have comfort and strength.
Take care.
KY Mom
So from my vantage point in michigan i worry when i see 100$ car leases.
Last time i saw that i had to move to find work in another state.
Car companys loose big at leases under 150$ month
Hyper competition is here and now in car industry, kinda like pads pods and asorted gadgets
25 for each buyer….corporate greed
I buy and sell stuff online. There’s a huge difference between now and 2008. Back then, I could sell expensive things (up to $500) and there was never a credit card problem. Now it’s common for people to put an item in their cart and their credit card is declined. Even for items for $100 or less. Stuff sold a lot faster than too. There was also a lot more used stuff for me to buy on eBay to sell on my website. People were buying a lot more new stuff and selling the old stuff on eBay. It was a lot more common to have $1000 in sales for one day and to have $1000 in income for a week. Now both are a lot less common although I’m still doing well.
That is why you will continue to see “soft” prices for items that used to cost a lot more (i.e. luxury items). But necessities will continue to rise.
When things get bad, people sell their toys…..and don’t buy new ones.
The law of supply and demand is still in effect.
i buy a lot of stuff too, always been a horsetrader…lately i see things are REALLY cheap out there, yet they STILL don’t sell!
yup, we’re lookin’ at the BUTTCRACKOFDOOM!
Screwed, blued and tatooed…
Curious read from 2017….
http://www.larryobrien.net/my-worst-fear/
In parts of the country real estate prices are inching upward, DJIA looks healthy at 16,000+, and the unemployment rate at 6.7%. Some people take those as signs the economy is roaring back to life but scratch beneath the surface and these positive signs are nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
I have encountered an alarming number of people who tell me their employer is reducing hours from 40 to 28 in order to avoid paying the high cost of health insurance. I have also seen a disturbing trend of companies closing offices or store branches. Your typical recent college graduate is lucky to get a job as a food server, barista, or minimum wage part time retail job. It’s obvious that people falling off the back end of unemployment benefits are still unemployed even though they are not included in the official rate.
Lame stream media can put a happy face on it all they want but I don’t know anyone who’s buying the story.
Obama voters believe it—hell, most of them don’t have any idea what’s going on in the workforce anyway. They’re the same people who still think obamacare is great.
au contraire!…i know LOTS of people that buy the party LINE!
…don’t those people vote for it, even if they don’t buy it?
They vote to get a free phone, food, housing and whatever else they can get for free. Screw you is their motto.
They don’t care what O does, long as they get their “fair” share.
Let’s take a poll here.
Tapped out? Thumbs up.
Tapped in, i.e. prepared with money left over? Thumbs down.
thumb down…for now.
Lots of real people in this position…a hell of a lot more that don’t have a clue.
“don’t go down without one helluva fight”
take care of your own [extended] family and you can all put your thumbs down here!!! (fundamentals always prevail, even in stock markets and even in socialized countries – just takes a loong time)
Hmm, my logic wasn’t so well thought out with the way I arranged the poll. Still, though, good to see a majority of “thumbs down”, which hopefully that means most here are “ready”.
actually, the RESULTS show SOME are paying attention!E/A…
Unfortunately for most, they have been warned over and over again to not pile on the debts and to change their ways. They have also received endless amounts of bailout cash, either in the form of record low interest rates, mortgage relief, low-cost loans etc. When it goes down, they will not have any more excuses: they got a break and they blew that break.
As I have written before, we are heading into the Great Bifurcation: you are either on the good side of that (no debts, working), or the bad side (lots of debts and/or not working). It will be similar to the Great Depression: the chasm between those still solvent and working and those unemployed, in debt and poor, will be vast. Third world levels of income and wealth difference. The government will try and help the poorest but will find it increasingly harder to get the money to do so. Each time they jack the taxes on the working population, the political blow-back will be severe. The government will continue to try and print and borrow, but this will also become more expensive and the volatility it creates (geopolitically and domestically) will act as a break on how much the government can do. Just look at the paralysis in Congress.
We are heading into a long-term slump that will not end until massive change occurs, both in policies and in how people behave and live their lives. The year 2040 will be the next time the US thrives again for most people.
The United States…….as it exists now….will not be around in 2040.
Walt
Shit I’ll be 86 years old then (If the the Good Lord willing)
Walt can we hope for a better USA? I hope so for my grand kids and great grand kids.
Sgt.
Walt neither will I. Trekker Out.
I expect a complete economic collapse. I expect 90% of Americans to die. I expect the collapse in the next year or two. America as we know it today won’t be here in 2020.
my sentiments EXACTLY, born a cat!
The govt/banks/corps don’t give one single shit about the poor…they give a shit about keeping the division pendulum swinging until they can burn it all down and be held harmless…and have exactly what they want.
Don’t let them have any of it.
In the same vein:
If you love something set it free…if it doesn’t come back, hunt it down and kill it.
It you can’t take it with you, destroy it on your way out.
It’s interesting. We now have our two single adult children( both working) living with us because rents have gotten so high, they can’t afford to live elsewhere. But they are helping us here on the farm, so that’s a positive. I think the American Dream is about to crash. Get your seat belts buckled…
The farm? That IS an American dream as far as I’m concerned. Have you seen the grocery bill lately? If I had more than 1/5 acre, more like 5 acres, I could save a boatload!
Mouse,10 acres,mostly wooded,my dad has 600 though,really a lot of pasture there along with woodlands,trying to get him to get it rolling on a farm basis,no luck so far but then he is considering selling and literally moving out of Us,expat thing.I am away so much a garden doesn’t work for me,this year neighbor is going to when around let me handle some gardening chores and get a little of the bounty,I helped em out with wood this winter when their heating system went south,neighbors in this area do help each other a lot even though we are spaced well apart.
Thing about a little bit of truck farming if you can, now that you have some labor. Good money in local produce.
55, at least you don’t have to fight your way into some shit neighborhood to find them and fight your way back out.
That is what I am looking at to get my grandkids…unless I am lucky enough to get there early. Thank God they are only an hour away.
I know not the norm last few decades for most part but multi generational families living in 3 family houses/farms ect. really not a uncommon thing in this country for a long time,nice you had folks you could trust to help each other out.I would say as long as everyone has a little “private “space,we all need it now and then,not a bad thing.I also expect more families and just groups of friends to group up in living arrangements to get by,not a bad thing again but would be nicer if just done by choice and not economic neccesity,enjoy today/prepare for tommorow.
Walt, 2040? You’re an optimist.
I never said that the USA would last until then.
I said that in 2040 the USA would not exist in its present form.
Some further explanation is probably in order here….
The USA “may” still exist. But it will be in name only. It will bear no resemblance of the USA of today. Of course, the USA of today bears almost no resemblance of the USA of 1960.
Think about that for a while, and if you are old enough you will realize just how many liberties we no longer have today that we had back then.
I’m not saying that our country was perfect in the ’60’s. it certainly wasn’t. And I think we have made some progress in some areas. But on the whole, this country has gone backward when it comes to liberty. In fact, I will go so far as to say that we no longer live in a free country. We are only “relatively” free.
Those who are old enough and can remember understand what I am saying.
And we are not losing our liberties at a steady pace. Our loss of liberty is occurring at an exponential rate.
Another way of putting it, is that we are on greased skids headed toward tyranny.
People gave up on mortgages. Banks deon’t hardly lend anymore. They revamped the credit (FICO) system after the 2008 debachle. Now anything negative on your credit kills your score, and on top of that your score has to be higher now. Albeit, loans were given out to freely to people on minimum wage and buying 150K house….but now they have gone on steroids in the other direction.
And the credit collection agencies are allowed way way way way too much leniency on how they fuck you either purposefully or by ignorance…really doesn’t matter does it? And credit reporting agencies are hosed up too on how they do business and what they are allowed ot get away with.
I know, I have been painstakingly fighting this for a long time now. I just got into the 600’s a week ago. I have very little debt comparatively speaking to most. My debt to income ratio is very small and I have been paying a company to help me with this for a while now. It is unbelievable what you have to go through with this and most wouldn’t have a clue or even believe it unless they go through it themselves. It used to be that medical debt and student loans weren’t looked so badly on…now, HA! they screw you badly. And most things on your credit report aren’t right at all or aren’t right exactly. A few student loans (what a sham that racket is) and a few medical bills that are old and unpaid can hose you up for a very long time. The system was not right before 2008, and now it is really screwed up and unfair.
It is ridiculous with everything I am doing that I am not well into the 700’s. I have made 6 figueres for the last two years and all I have for past bills reporting to credit agencies are a few small medical and a student loan….all together less than 16K. I owe 6K on car, van is paid for, two credit cards with small limits to build credit are in perfect shape, so is car. Yet I can’t get close to a score to buy land and build a home…even with little debt to income.
I can’t even begin to describe how maddening and depressing this is for us.
They are telling us now that I need to get more credit cards….wtf?? I like not having a lot of bills and working on savings and preps. But never in a 100 years will I be able to save enough money to buy land and build….the F’ing system is rigged!!
BJ, back in the 90s I tried to get access to credit for a few things and was turned down even with co-signers. The economy was good during the 90s and credit was supposedly easier to get back then. I had to give up on a few dreams because of it. I don’t even give a damn about credit anymore.
I remember getting a mortgage in the mid 90s and was happy to get a 8.0% loan!
seems crazy now, but it was hard to qualify .
Remember Agenda 21? You ain’t SUPPOSED to own property in the long run…why would they let you buy it now, only to have to force you off of it later?
Eh,millions being “forced off”,that would be a interesting time in the country.
think about the last “housing bubble” bursting and you’ll see that it has recently happened once already.
MILLIONS we thrown out of their own homes…MILLIONS.
well, im a consumer..and im tapped out, im also fed up..and sick and tired..along with disenfranchised when it comes to what this country is supposed to be and what we have for a government
Right there with ya. Not sure about the tapped out thing. Seems like it. We have some PM’s to live on depending on where the prices are and such. We live so simply now that I don’t feel tapped out but I sure wouldn’t go blow what I have. I can’t imagine living with debt over my head. It’s been close to 20 years since I had debt. Praise the Lord for that!
Our economy has been tapped out for years. Like me some people I don’t use the CC just to make it to the next pay check. Some people have to.
The only reason I’m using my CC is to buy preps. I haven’t bought anything for just shits and giggles in three or four years.
With the price of fuel, car insurance, med insurance, taxes, parts for my vehicles. Just to name a few. Who the hell can spend money on anything else.
I’m still going to buy my Food, Water, silver, brass, lead, and copper and that is only thing I’m spending money on. In turn the Dinner I went to has laid off two of the employees. A couple other places the wife and I would go to are now closed.
The only thing I can say is PRAY PRAY PRAY PREP PREP PREP.
AIM SMALL MISS SMALL
Sgt.
Howdy, Sarge. I don’t even have a credit card and have always refused to have one. I won’t sacrifice other things to pay off credit card debt. As long as I can get something with cash, I’m just fine. My prepping is continuing until the last minute. Credit? Who needs that? MOLON LABE braveheart
Hey Sgt,
A retired LEO and vet here too. I am with you, and I have three credit cards that I don’t use. Several places where I used to go are now closed up. The ones that are surviving are the ones that cared about their customers and treated us good in the good times as well as the bad.
I have said it before, we need to prepare well, but we also need to live life. Do a movie night with the spouse and kids (even if it is a DVD rental night), go for walks and enjoy your life!! Do things to keep your morale up! Use discretion, don’t be excessive but don’t sit in your house in your Rambo underoos, eating a can of beans that you opened with a P-38 can opener and heating it over a candle….. we might all be doing that soon enough in the future. Why start early unless it is a training day. 🙂
Keep your powder dry,
JJsan
“Rambo underoos” LOL That was funny…
Guys,time it right and max out those credit cards on preps,that extra large tent,that extra scope ect.Fuck,we are unwilling investors in bailing out banks and corps.,a final stick it to em in order plus a few extra items to make the “transition” in this country easier on you/friends/family,hell,even throw a few bones to strangers that you see doing the right thing helping others.I know the timing a bit tough but you get any of the no interest for a year on goods you really want and could pay off just before year say go for it,it falls apart,well,bill collectors just a distant memory.
I’m prepared with money left over and still prepping. I’m not in any kind of debt whatsoever so I can buy more preps at one time than I would be able to otherwise. VRF, I agree with you on being disenfranchised when it comes to what kind of country we should have and the type of government we have. That’s all going to change one of these days. MOLON LABE braveheart
back to the CT thing..and their “fear” of us
So… the Branford Police were exposed by this loudmouth Peterson. Now they realize their position on confiscation is not popular, so they want Cinque to save their butts? Nonsense!
As usual, the police are simply looking to save their own bacon. The attitude of confiscation is still there – they just want us to THINK they have seen the light. If they have REALLY had a change of heart, why isn’t the department urging legislators to repeal the law? Why does an apology that includes their commitment to NOT enforce such a law have to be negotiated? Nope. Sorry, the Branford Police are still fully committed to “kicking in doors” – they just want time to regroup. This isn’t a policy or rights issue for them. This is a PR issue.
I don’t want violence in this country any more than the next guy – but I do not see how we are going to avoid it as long as these scumbags continue to insist that the United States Constitution be ignored? There can be ZERO COMPROMISE when it comes to our God-given rights which are simply guaranteed by the Constitution, not provided by it. Until these anti-liberty pukes figure this out, violence looms. And a righteous violence it will be!
this story is NOT over..not by a long shot..we need to hammer down hard and not let them up to breathe ..this is USA wide..all of us gun owners need to support CT’s non compliance with a tyrannical law that is no law at all
just because this story has moved down a page or two or that the Main stream media is ignoring it..its not gone away..
we need to hit it hard and right now while their bellies are soft
sorry about the soap box guys but I gotta put it out there
If you want to blame someone for this mess, don’t blame the police department or individual officers. Put the blame where it belongs; squarely on the shoulders of the liars and reprobates who masquerade as our legislators. They know damn well that these laws do nothing to protect people, nor will they prevent another Newtown Hoax. All they care about is grandstanding so they can pretend they did something substantive. All the meetings that many attended last year in Branford to try and take a rational approach to dealing with gun violence by focusing on mental health issue and criminals were a complete waste of time. Now they have created a nightmare. Any first year law student knows that there is nothing worse than bad law. Its estimated that 75% of the gun owners in Connecticut have refused to comply with the law. Now what? Even a dumbo like their governor can figure out that making felons out of countless thousands of otherwise law abiding citizens isn’t exactly smart or the fact that they couldn’t follow thru financially on this bogus law..how do you arrest, file, adjudicate , than house all of these new criminals on a bogus law against the constitution when financially they cant even do it, every politician, and every law maker and judge and cop should be reminded that these are illegal laws but they do have consequences, and these consequences lay directly on their backs when the calling comes.
VRF- don’t blame the individual officers? Are you insane.? The Officer that said “I am the Master” ( Paul Vance ) and the one who said “I cant wait to kick in your door” (peterson)
your fucked man.
411.com is your friend.
they are both public listings.
Fuck these tyrants.
I guess what I ment by that is…the cops arnt witing the BS laws..( unconstitutional ones as of yet)..yes Pearson needs to be fired, and never allowed to work in a public sector job again, and any cop that thinks his way.
but what I did mean is the hell and fury needs to come down on those that wrote this BS law in the first place..its their door we need to be standing at demanding a full repeal of such laws anywhere in this country.not just one state..ALL states
no other state ever need to fight this type of bullshittery
Now if a cop does in fact try to enforce this law..than all bets are off for his safety ..though, remember he asked for it
VRF,
Most of the guys I know will not enforce this law. But I also know a few who will, and one in particular who would love to do it on civilians or other cops. He is a scum bag, and coincidentally works in the gun unit. I can see him starting shit and lighting a powder keg.
It takes all kinds man.
JJsan
And you feel no responsibility here?
Yup I agree. the officers all hold asd much to blame…even if they personally don’t violate…..they are just as guilty for not arresting their fellow officers that do violate. So their ain’t no “I am a good cop.”
I wish I could think of the saying about being just as guilty adn involved cause you were there and didn’t stop it…..
dang CRS
411.com is your friend. Peterson AND Vance are both in there.
Anyone who has a published phone number is in there.
I am on your side and do agree with you
and yes ..im insane..you’d have to be to tolerate the shit they keep piling up on us…lol
VRF, I, for one, thank you for the soap box and putting it out there because it needs to be put out there. I’m surprised I have any sanity left because of the same tyrannical shit you talk about. Yes, cops like Vance and Peterson need to be put out. They are exactly the kind of cops people complain about at sites like copwatch, etc. It’s reached the point that the public can’t trust law enforcement anymore and that is something dangerous for everyone concerned.
There is nothing .gov can do for the economy. The whole world is in a deflationary spiral. It will only get worse and billions will be liquidated.
The debt based system can only survive by continual growth. Growth is over because it doesn’t work with expensive carbon fuel. The end of industrial civilization is just over the horizon. Wars and starvation are the future.
The “leaders” lie about the situation because there is nothing they can do to fix it.
Look at the cluster fuck in Ukraine. This has nothing to do with freeing the Ukrainian people from Russia. It has everything to do with freeing Crimea of the trillions of cubic feet of NG that are right off their coast in the Black Sea. This is why the Empire will not allow a referendum to stand. They are lying to you. All wars are resource wars. The Bear wants these resources, too.
Hey, Frank…try some Alka Seltzer. It usually works for bifurcation.
Thank you.
God how I hate living in both the Prepper world and the failing world.
My years of prepping have me thinking one way. Scavenging and repurposing. Bills and laws have me thinking another. Some abandoned mobile homes around here with useful stuff. But not going to risk going to jail.
Do I want to live in a post collapse society. NO! I like the technology and creature comforts. But white collar criminals across the world have created the situation where collapse is inevitable.
DAVE -“Do I want to live in a post collapse society”?
How do we know we arent already ?
Somedays i wonder what is real and what is presented to us as real. This economy shoulda folded a long time ago.
I know we are in a continuous decline. We’re talking no utilities or Rule of Law.
I used to buy abandoned houses and things from them like garden sheds. You can go to the courthouse and get the last known address from the tax records and send them a letter. I’ve had people give me old mobile homes just to get rid of them. I stripped them right there, recycled the siding, kept some of the wood and fixtures, burnt what I could, and took the rest to the dump. When all that was left was the frame that was sold for scrap too.
I was once at the property of a burned out mobile home when the neighbor informed me that I was trespassing. “How do you know?” was the only response I needed to give to shut him up.
Seen this on Standeyo.com today and thought I would share.
The Winds of Judgment
A time is coming soon when My people shall need each other as never before. I shall teach you the true meaning of ‘love thy neighbor as thyself,’ My children, for circumstances shall turn dire suddenly and require you to reach out to each other in order to survive. But I shall use those circumstances to bring many souls into My Kingdom.
Use the time now to get to know others around you and to prepare yourselves in My Holy Word that you may minister to others when that time comes.
My children, America has long defied Me and rebelled against My commandments, and My people cry out for judgment. This judgment will come and it will be as severe as her turning away from Me has been.
Know that the winds of judgment have begun blowing and more are coming her way. I have long shown mercy to this nation, but I am a Righteous Judge, and its wickedness continues increasing.
Mark 12:30-31:
http://wingsofprophecy.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-winds-of-judgment.html
Zbigniew Brzezinski is an insider’s insider. He and David Rockefeller co-founded the Trilateral Commission. He served as Jimmy Carter’s National Security Adviser. He may as well have been called Mr. President during the Carter years because he ran the US economy into the ground while undermining American sovereignty during the Carter administration. Many suspect that he also controls Obama. He was, after all, Obama’s Russian Studies professor at Columbia back in the 1980′s. We know that he handpicked Jimmy Carter to become the President and many suspect he had a large hand in grooming Obama for the same job. Brzezinski’s close affiliation with Rockefeller makes him a person of interest when it comes to the subjugation, of not only this country, but of the entire planet. Brzezinski is obviously the globalist’s man on the ground and serves the role as puppet master.
Brzezinski expressed even more of a sense of globalist dread and panic during a 2010 Council on Foreign Relations speech in Montreal in which he stated that “the major world powers, new and old, also face a novel reality: while the lethality of their military might is greater than ever, their capacity to impose control over the politically awakened masses of the world is at a historic low. To put it bluntly: in earlier times, it was easier to control one million people than to physically kill one million people; today, it is infinitely easier to kill one million people than to control one million people,” he said.
There can be no other reasonable interpretation, that this is a direct threat against all who oppose being enslaved and eventually exterminated.
http://thecommonsenseshow.com/2014/03/13/slave-labor-camps-are-next/
The world as we knew it many years ago will not be coming back. The beginning of the end came when the gimme-dats elected their inner-city community thug. His sole ambition and purpose in life is to bring this country and all you crackers your come-uppence. In this he is right on script. When his mom and pop, grandparents, all his friends and acquaintances are all commies, what in hell did we expect. Most of the good people on this site saw this coming and did not wait until the last minute to prepare with food and ammo preps. For those of you that are just now starting to get prepared, get crackin. I have a bad feeling that between now and the Nov. elections something bad this way comes. God bless you all and God bless the United States.
Yes it will be like you say an I’ll do my best to shed his/her blood to grease the rails for those who will follow him……….
Make that 20 signs. SPAM sales are looking good.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444358404577606921965843682
Are they not all the same???
All the Same
A Chinese man walked into a pub in New York with his pal. He says to his pal, Man : “Hey! That’s Steven Spielberg over there! God, I wish he’ll come over to say “hi”. Spielberg suddenly walked over and gave the man a punch on the nose.
Man : “Hey!! What’s that for?!”
Spielberg : “You bloody Japanese killed my granddad when you bombed pearlharbour!”
Man : “I’m not Japanese! I’m Chinese!”
Spielberg : “Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, you’re all the same!” Spielberg walks back to the other side. Then the Chinese man calmly walks over to Spielberg and gives him a really heavy punch on the face.
Spielberg : “Wha… !?!” Man : “YOU BLOODY ASSHOLE! YOU SANK THE TITANIC!”
Spielberg : “No,no, an iceberg sank the titanic!”
Man : “Iceberg, Carlsberg, Spielberg, you’re all the same!”
Normally I have something Stewpid or Punny to say but all jokes aside. Look into a DVD series called “Eat the Weeds” – by Green Deane its $120 bucks for a 9 dvd set or 15 bucks per disc but its info that could mean the difference between working your ass off to survive or realizing the world is made of food. Even if you don’t get the DVD’s just reading on the site could make a big difference too. I learned how to make palatable acorn flour for making bushcraft bread today, where to find beechnuts, and how to eat Cat tail shoots…now you can call Bullshit on the phrase “No such thing as a free lunch.” If you gotta run, make the best run you can.
It looks to me like the #13 – “median household income” is racist!