This article was originally published by Chris Martenson at PeakProsperity.com
It seems as if Mother Nature is waking up. Either she’s trying to send humans an important warning, or perhaps she’s just out to kill us all.
Massive storms across the globe, earthquakes, and collapsing ecosystems all combine to remind us that we are indeed intimately connected to our planet’s natural systems. And that our well-being rests on staying on Mother Nature’s good side.
Well, Mother Nature has seemed pretty pissed at us of late. Her recent punishments should be taken as a disciplinary wake-up call: It’s time.
It’s time to prepare, everyone. Way past time.
And it’s time to recognize that there are multiplying failure points across the many systems we depend on for our way of life — both natural and man-made. For example:
- The wealth gap between the rich and the poor is now grossly obscene and yet still growing wider.
- Our industrially-farmed soils are being depleted of their nutrients.
- Species are going extinct every single day.
- Global oil consumption ticks higher every year.
- Stock price overvaluation is about the highest it’s ever been.
- Bonds have never been more expensive (i.e. yields have never been lower) in all of recorded history.
- Debt levels have never been higher (both globally and, in most cases, locally).
- The planet’s population continues to explode (7.5 billion today, 10 billion by 2050) while key resources deplete at accelerating rates.
Only the foolish, or the seriously self-deluded, would think that these observations and trends will be consequence-free.
Which means we have to begin doing things very differently. We have to change who we are, the actions we take, the investments we prioritize, and even our most fundamental values and priorities.
However most people simply will not prepare, not notice, and not change anything until they are forced to by crisis. And even then, some will resist any notion of change until they’ve lost everything.
The recent destructive hurricanes have been literally and figuratively instructive in this regard.
When To Stay And When To Go
The first lesson we learned from the hurricanes was this: Stay if you can, leave sooner than everyone else if you cannot.
Evacuating has a host of problems for those caught up in the exodus. Traffic jams, lack of fuel along the route, and having to drive for many hours only to end up in a distant hotel in a town probably not ready for a massive influx of people are just a few of the stresses. Living out of hotels and away from your job is also very expensive, especially for a nation where more than 75% live from paycheck to paycheck.
As the people of the Florida Keys learned with Irma, once you’ve evacuated, you’re then unable to return until authorities have decided you can, creating enormous stress for people who want to check on their properties and (possibly) pets left behind, put tarps over damaged roofs, etc. The lesson many claimed to have learned from that experience was to not evacuate in the first place.
After reading enough accounts of people who regretted evacuating, coupled to the relatively low loss of life even in places like Dominca that took the full brunt of a Cat 5 hurricane where people live in less-than-ideal structures (flimsy, wood frame, tin roof affairs), it would take quite a lot for me to decide to not ride out a storm.
I’d have to have some special mitigating factors to impel me to evacuate — like tall trees next to my house, being in a flood plain or near a flimsy dam or dyke, or having special needs people under my care who might need electricity or other services to remain alive.
I’ve never sat through a Cat 5 storm, so perhaps I’d change my mind if I ever did. All reports are it’s an extremely terrifying experience: loud, violent, and seemingly endless. But I’m pretty confident that I’d choose to wait out a Cat 3 or lower in my house.
That said, I’d have a pre-arranged and well-defined evacuation plan in place, just in case. The experiences shared below have convinced me of the high value of doing so.
Getting Prepared Beforehand
We’ve had several PeakProsperity.com members write in who were in the direct paths of Harvey and Irma and came out from the storms OK. One best practice they shared in common was they were already fully stocked with emergency provisions well before the hurricanes even began forming way out in the Atlantic. These were folks who had prioritized being prepared for *whatever* future disaster might arise.
Despite this, they still experienced some surprises. No matter how well prepared you think you are, reality has a way of exposing your overlooked weaknesses.
Here’s an account from one of our readers (Rector):
We live south of Corpus Christi and Harvey just missed our area. We began the usual fire drill of preparing for the hurricane, but it veered north just in time. Bizarrely the follow-on weather was delightful – sunny, crisp, and breezy – while the rest of the gulf coast became an apocalyptic nightmare. As I watched the news I was painfully aware of how close we came to being flooded, displaced, and disrupted.
As a card-carrying member of the Peak Prosperity Preparer’s Club – I came to the realization that Chris articulated – nothing can prepare you for this kind of Black Swan event. No matter what – losses will occur. My takeaways after being grazed by the Harvey bullet are (so far):
1. Be prepared to accept refugees. Family members are on the way (I think). At this point they are without resources and fractured. Dad is a cop and cannot leave Houston. We are happy to accept them into our home – but it wasn’t exactly planned. In a wider emergency the same might happen and I will say yes then too. I need to expand my preparations for the likelihood of more people camping out with us. Turning everyone away outside of a pandemic scenario is not an option (really). What’s the point of all this anyway if you can’t help people?
2. Being 5% prepared is WAY better than zero. As I watch people in Houston it has occurred to me that I need a boat. I live on a body of water which has flooded before and will flood again. I built my home well above the flood plain – but Harvey just made a joke out of that math. As I watch people wade in chest deep water while others float by in boats; I’m buying a boat. Today.
3. Being prepared is great! I needed to do NOTHING to get ready for the hurricane at my home. Turns out that was really helpful because my time was spent getting other people and places prepared. All of my employees (save one) asked for the day off (to get their homes ready) leaving me alone in my preparations. Thankfully I didn’t have to waste time at the gas pump, ATM, or the grocery store.
4. Evacuation plans are a real priority for me now. With four kids my mental default position has been to “hunker down”. “We don’t evacuate for hurricanes here” has been the attitude because we are prepared and have always done well. Harvey has demonstrated this is NOT ALWAYS POSSIBLE.
I will now focus my considerable prepping energy to developing a viable evacuation strategy. Not an overland hike in ghilli suits – but a real strategy to get this group of people somewhere else quickly and safely. Routes in every direction. A list of destinations. Checklists for packing, securing, and evacuating. Documentation, asset relocation, etc. I am even going to develop a plan to go into Mexico. I had a day and a half between threat presentation and expected landfall. Some events may present even less time.
5. I need to be able to execute a plan at less than 100%. As luck would have it, I pulled a muscle at CrossFita week before and would have needed to do all the above while limping around in pain. I represent the lion’s share of muscle power for the family – but can they execute in my absence or incapacity? Hmm. . . not ready for that.
6. It is possible for two bad things to happen at the same time. The financial crisis could begin, North Korea could strike, or any of the other crap I worry about could commence at any moment. WHILE LIVING IN A FEMA SHELTER because I hadn’t planned on evacuating. Am I ready to execute trades, etc. while in that shape? Hmm. . . not ready for that either.
I am thankful that we were spared the apocalypse but it has (again) identified holes in my plan that are the result of false premises. Challenge yours because you just can’t make this stuff up.
Rector
So many lessons packed into that experience! Huge thanks to Rector for sharing that all with us. The part that really caught me and made me rethink my entire levels of preparation centered around just how unprepared I would be if I had to completely bug out and leave my home behind.
Harvey (and Katrina) showed that sometimes you have to do just that. So has Maria, which is going to leave parts of Puerto Rico without power for possibly several months, maybe as long as half a year.
Would you be willing to live without power in a tropical climate without power for 6 months? I wouldn’t. Just keeping food from spoiling would be a hard challenge, but just one of many — including sleeping without A/C or fans (or rather trying to sleep I should say).
The other important lesson to take from Rector and other like him is that if preparing beforehand is comparatively easy. But during a crisis? It becomes very hard and sometimes impossible. Another reader account, this one from Morpheus who was in the direct path of Irma for time, confirms this:
I live in Palm Beach City Florida and right now both the US and European forecasting models have a Cat 4/Cat-5 eyewall slamming right into my house.
Maybe not as bad as a currency collapse, but it will be worse for me. Anyways, to make a long story short, we think that we are well prepped, at least we thought so.
But crisis’ of this magnitude get you to think even deeper than you normally would. And boy o’ boy, I wish I had thought deeper.
We’re better prepped than 99% of the population out there but now all that procrastination over the years is grating on me like sandpaper.
Ohh the easy things that I could have done a month ago, 6 months, a year ago.
The message is clear: Even for those who think they are well-prepared, a true emergency can shine a harsh light on your shortcomings. The best time to prepare is as far beforehand as you can manage.
The vast majority of people will ignore this message. Take this story that made the rounds during Irma:
Like many Floridians racing to buy food and supplies before the arrival of Hurricane Irma, Pam Brekke found herself miles from home today, desperately hoping to score a generator.
According to ABC affiliate WFTV-TV, Brekke, a Sanford, Florida, resident, had spent days waiting for empty shelves to be restocked and searching for a generator.
She said today that she’d traveled more than 30 miles to Orlando to a Lowe’s Home Improvement store that had received a surprise shipment of a little more than 200 generators.
Within two hours, however, the generators were sold out and Brekke, who had been next in line, was empty-handed.
A heartbroken Brekke then began to cry. Ramon Santiago, who had gotten one of the generators but had not purchased it yet, noticed and insisted that she take his.
“She needs the generator,” Santiago told WFTV-TV. “It’s OK.”
Brekke shared with Santiago that it was her ailing father who needed the generator to power his oxygen supply.
(Source)
A heartwarming story to be sure, and we can all applaud Mr. Santiago for his actions, but it’s also an instructive tale that reveals the extent to which many people fail to think through their plans until forced to.
An imminent hurricane should not be a required prompt to begin thinking about scoring a generator. Look, if I had an ailing parent that required electricity in order to survive, hurricane threat or not, you can bet I would have back-up power already on site and thought through. Hey, sometimes the power goes out. Hurricane, blown transformer, or errant squirrel. It’s insane to think it will always be available, uninterrupted, 100% of the time.
So while this story had a happy ending, it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
People should be prepared to take care of themselves through any reasonable and foreseeable emergency. Some are. Most are not.
Preparing in a rush while an emergency is approaching or underway is difficult, and not advised. In Puerto Rico, this was immediately apparent even before Maria landed:
“This storm promises to be catastrophic for our island,” said Ernesto Morales with the U.S. National Weather Service in San Juan. “All of Puerto Rico will experience hurricane force winds.”
Puerto Rico has imposed rationing of basic supplies including baby formula, water, milk, canned food, batteries and flashlights.
(Source)
That is, once a disaster is on the way, it’s too late to stock up! Don’t get caught having delayed too long.
Preparing Is A Selfless Act
The entire topic of “prepping” seems to have gone dead over the past few years. But, trust me, it’s going to come back into style again soon.
Right now, many people have a negative reaction to the idea of ‘preparing’ and denigrate it as some sort of loony act. This is really just a psychological evasion, a coping technique that allows them to ignore their own lack of resilience.
We all expect our corporations and governments (federal state and local) to be ready to easily predictable emergencies, and we get quite irate when that proves not to be true — even though most of us have taken zero steps in our own lives to prepare for these “easily predictable” events.
This passage from our book Prosper! provides our views on what it means to prepare responsibly:
Selfless, Not Selfish
Another objection we hear to the prospect of preparing and becoming more resilient is that those actions could be seen by others as being selfish. Instead we see them as being selfless. Those who are not prepared when an emergency strikes are a drain on critical resources, while those who are prepared can be of assistance.
To be among those who can be in a position to render assistance, or at least need none of their own, means that your prior acts of preparation have selflessly removed you from the minus column in an emergency and placed you on the plus side. Anyone who has flown in an airplane is familiar with this model. During the emergency-procedure review prior to takeoff, you’re reminded to put on your oxygen mask first before assisting others or your own children. The reason for this is obvious: if you lose consciousness, then you’ll be of no help to anyone and become a burden on others.
The first steps toward preparedness usually involve addressing your own needs or those of your loved ones, but many people then go beyond that and prepare for others who may not be able to do so, or have not done so, or maybe even will not do so.
But let us put an important qualifier on that: preparing before a crisis hits is responsible and selfless, but trying to accumulate necessary items during a crisis is an act of hoarding. We do not and never will advocate hoarding. Responsible preparations begin long before any trouble appears. Anything else stands a good chance of making things worse, not better, and may earn you some enemies.
The news has been full of stories of how people behave when scarcity strikes, and these are often quite distressing tales of bad behavior and fragile civility. People in Boston fought over bottled water just hours after a water main broke in 2010. Nasty fights, too, given that the water main had broken just hours earlier.
In Venezuela, as of the writing of this book, desperate people are attempting to buy anything and everything that might remain in the stores as their national currency devalues by the day. Looting and violence are on the rise and hunger and hopelessness are taking hold. This has brought forth all sorts of stopgap government-mandated counter measures that are typically making things worse for average families.
In the process of becoming more resilient, time is your most valuable asset. Be aware that many things that are easily available now may be difficult or impossible to obtain later. Now, before any big crises have hit, it’s very easy to pick up the phone, or click a mouse button, and have the big brown truck of happiness roll up to your doorstep a few days later with your purchase.
Everything you could ever want to buy is currently available and stores are abundantly stocked (in most countries). However, we can imagine a large number of possible futures where such access to consumer goods and desired items is either much more restricted, much more expensive, or even impossible. For those without monetary resources, some of your most important assets—such as Social and Emotional Capital—require no money at all…but will take time to develop.
Preparing beforehand — and thereby being in a position to help those around you in the event of an emergency — is selfless. Preparing in the midst of a crisis, grabbing what you can, is selfish.
Why Bring All This Up? The Coming Financial Storm
The recent hurricanes are merely reminders that sometimes things happen that are out of our control. They remind us that risk still exists.
Our longstanding view is that there’s a financial storm coming. One that is going to be larger and more destructive than all the others that came before.
Just as the hurricanes in the Atlantic basin were fueled by ocean temperatures a full 1.5 degrees warmer than average, the coming financial storm will be fueled by the most excessive pool of “hot money” created in all of history.
In 2016, the stock market had convincingly rolled over and formed a very reliable head-and-shoulders top indicating an approaching correction. In response, the world’s central banking cartel (led by the ECB and Bank of Japan in this case) went on the most aggressive money printing spree the world had yet seen, flooding the markets to drive prices back higher. Here’s what happened to the Dow Jones industrial average in response:
While that “rescued” the stock market, it has only served to drive it to a higher level that will be far more destructive when it finally corrects. Such ‘help’ always turns out to have come with a long-term cost far greater than the short-term benefit.
History shows that every bubble experiences a final blow-off top phase. They all do, whether the object of fascination is a railroad, swamp land in Florida, tulip bulbs, or today’s financial assets.
The final spurt on the above monthly chart of the Dow certainly looks like that moment of central bank panic of 2016 has finally resulted in the blow off-top we’ve been looking for. One that has been long in coming.
Another feature of bubbles is that they require prices to depart wildly from their underlying fundamentals. Well, we need look no further than small cap stocks in the US, which have just hit a brand new record high as earnings have been in terminal decline:
Yes, Virginia: stocks hitting new highs as earnings expectations hit new lows is very telling. It means that the crazy liquidity experiment of the central banks now has a life of its own. It’s crazy for stocks to be behaving this way, especially since this is our third (and biggest) asset price bubble in 20 years.
Stock prices now shrug off the risk of nuclear war, despite the escalating saber-rattling between the US and North Korea. They are also immune to the increasing trade tensions between the US and China, and a host of other generally deteriorating geopolitical trends.
In short, they are in bubble land and are now in search of a pin.
The situation is now so obvious that even “mainstream” media outlets like MarketWatch are reporting on the dangerous repercussions of the Federal Reserve’s behavior:
“I’ll admit that it feels a little surreal that this Federal Reserve with its addiction to manipulating markets is actually trying to kick the habit. The unwinding of the balance sheet will dominate markets for at least the next two years and cements our outlook for higher rates,” said Bryce Doty, senior portfolio manager at SIT Investments, which manages some $7 billion.
(Source)
I suppose it’s gratifying to finally see in print the same things we’ve been saying for years: The Federal Reserve and rest of the world’s central banking cartel are addicted to manipulating markets. But the world eventually catches up.
At the same time it’s a little unnerving to see these ideas going mainstream, because that means we’re much closer to the end of this experiment than the beginning. All it takes is a critical mass of people to lose faith in the central banks for things to really get started to the downside.
Once they do, we predict the financial turmoil will take on a life of its own and we’ll all be damned lucky if that doesn’t spread into wider and more destructive geopolitical conflicts.
In Part 2 — Crisis Preparation: What To Do, we detail out, point-by-point, the most important steps concerned individuals should take now — before another disaster arrives — to safeguard their investment capital, their property, and the personal security of their families.
Because whether caused by Mother Nature or man’s own recklessness, we are due for more crisis. Don’t be caught unprepared.
Click here to read Part 2 of this report (free executive summary, enrollment required for full access)
Dam if you don’t buy this Market, dam if you do! Tic, tic, tic.
“People Are Going To Start Dying” – Puerto Rico’s Battered Hospitals On Verge Of Failure
“In the days since the storm, the island’s residents have awakened to an altered reality. Food is in short supply. The island’s electrical grid is down and may remain so for months. Motorists and pedestrians queue for blocks trying to secure scarce fuel to power vehicles and generators.
Cellular service, internet, and email have virtually disappeared, hurling a modern society into a bygone era; radio has become a primary source of information.”
“For hospitals across this region, the challenges are mounting. After the power went out, back-up generators at some hospitals failed quickly. Other hospitals are running critically low on diesel. Fuel is so precious that deliveries are made by armed guards to prevent looting…”
“Medical staffers are also running low on gasoline for their daily commutes to work. Puerto Ricans are queuing as long as seven hours at the island’s few functioning filling stations.
“How will they (hospital staff) keep coming here if they don’t have gas?”
“Fuel is just the beginning. The cardiovascular center was “in shambles,” Gonzalez Cancel said. Without air conditioning, the walls of the operating room were dripping with condensation and floors were slippery, he said. Most patients had been discharged or evacuated to other facilities, but some patients remained because their families could not be reached by phone.”
“Making matters worse, the difficulties facing Puerto Rico’s hospitals may just be the calm before the storm. As supplies continue to dwindle and the island’s strapped finances hinder the recovery effort, the precarious situation facing Puerto Rico’s hospitals will probably worsen before it gets better.”
ht tp://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-25/people-are-going-start-dying-puerto-ricos-battered-hospitals-verge-failure
Direct link…
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-25/people-are-going-start-dying-puerto-ricos-battered-hospitals-verge-failure
if you are right with Jesus-then you are prepared for anything.
North Korea minister says with US declaration of war it can shoot down US bombers in international airspace
ht tp://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/north-korea-minister-us-declaration-war-shoot-us-50077010
Direct link…
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/north-korea-minister-us-declaration-war-shoot-us-50077010
buy bitcoin now! before it drops to zero
I really don’t feel we have long before all life on earth ends…. we can prepare and do the best we can, but I doubt seriously it will be enough. I’m not a pessimist– just a realist.
Also, prepping sounds cool– I’ve tried the best I can under extremely austere circumstances. However, I also know that material stuff will only take you so far. This should be one’s priorities for survival: Wisdom, knowledge and then material supplies– good vehicle, guns, ammo, water filter, etc.
We are all going to die. But the darkness won’t last for the people who accept Jesus Christ. They will awaken to everlasting life. The lost will awaken to everlasting damnation. No brainer choice. Far too many will mock this until it’s way past too late.
Amen! Hey, is it just me or does the sky not seem as bright since we had the last eclipse…coloring seems kind of dingy and burnt looking to me…maybe just me…but wondering if anyone else has noticed this?
God Bless.
I’ve thought that, too…
@Menzo, Agreed. There isn’t any straddling the fence, the choice is yours………
Thank the Everywhere spirit im not a brainwashed Christian all life on earth will not end. Its not gonna be a extenction level event. And nobodys gonna be raptured or go the heaven. Its a big deal but its happened before. lots of times. It occurred during Noahs flood and again during the time of the Exodous. Its a shifting and possible Reversal of the Earths Magnetic Poles. Its a end of an age. Not a extinction level event. And most will die. If you are not healthy enough both mentally and Physically and cannot embrace a stone age existence. If you cannot become a killer. Your chances of surviving are between slim and none. Actually its a exciting time to be alive on the planet. The end of an age. I will be quite the adventure. Just a well embrace it because you cant do diddly squat about it.
If that is so, then why did God direct Noah to build the Ark and only he and 7 others survive: or the cloud by day or fire by night in the desert or the spreading of the red sea and Moses and several million walked across on dry ground?
All life on earth will not end but the days has been shortened, if not, no flesh would survive and Jesus will return to stop the killing and destruction of the world by Stan using man.
Noah and the ark is a big made up story. No way to bring two of everything on a wood boat. Every culture has some legend about a flood. And mans DNA is so diverse no way that we all decended from 8 people. Havent you ever senn the results of inbreeding? WHy are you so gullible that you believe bible lies that defy logic and Physics.
“If you cannot become a killer.” Say what???
Atheistic materialism, as worked out in communism,, MURDERED over 100 MILLION last century, per the Black Book of Commuism, Stephane Courtois, et al, Harvard Univ. Press.
Some existence. Or not.
Relative to faith (not religion), your choice is your own. No one is pushing you – or Zeus/Apollo/CSS – to do anything. The only thing I am saying – or more precisely, inquiring about – is whether you have done your due diligence. I hear zilch about that, just ad hominem invective, and how “brainwashed” Christians are, when in fact people such as me became Christians AFTER being brainwashed with your atheistic materialism, then had the intellectual honesty to review ALL the facts fairly and impartially. I have seen ZERO references to a SINGLE thing you, or CSS, have done on your side.
I’m sorry, but when someone doesn’t have the courage or intellectual honesty to even LOOK at the others, side, I know, ipso facto, of a certainty know where the brainwashing has occurred. And this is very sad..
When a real SHTF WROL situation occurs. If you cannot kill the varmits who will come after what you and yours need to survive. you will not survive. I was forced to go to church and sunday school as a child. Threatened with hell because I refused to be baptized.
I am truly sorry you were forced to go to church. But that does NOT address the fact as to whether a God exists or not. And Hell is simply separation from God, albeit permanent. I am only asking that you consider the claims of Christ Himself, nothing more, nothing more at all. The gospel of John is 21 chapters – maybe 30 pages or so. Have you read it? Have you done your due diligence? Who, exactly, IS this person of Christ? Don’t answer me. Don’t go to church. Just go direct to the source the tells, from His own lips, who he was, is my suggestion. And my prayers go out to you as I write this…
As to Noah’s flood, one question. Why is it in dozens, if not hundreds, of oral accounts of extremely diverse cultures across the planet?
TEST,
You are the man I aspire to be! Thanks for your strong stand and ability/desire to articulate the Truth. You are all in my thoughts and prayers.
Louisiana Eagle
Jesus has been AWOL for 2000 Years. You have been stood up and fleeced. Some never realize it. All you religious cult freaks have been Raped by your faith. And too stupid to admit it. Religion causes brain damage. It drains you of any rationalization or reality or independent thoughts. Keep dreaming idiots. God does not love you. Its all fraud. One of the biggest frauds out there. And the Bible is the “book of excuses for low IQ idiots.”
God Bless you CSS…May you find him.
One day with The Lord is a 1000 years on earth. Jesus has been gone only two days, to prepare a place.
Our time is not God’s time.
AWOL for 2000 years. Tell me, who was William Wilberforce, and what did he do? You don’t know, do you. AWOL? My wife and I, on our OWN dime, adopted a young half black, half Mexican young man and put him thru his certified nursing assistant schooling, specifically because the Spirit of Christ is alive and well in many people today.
I could go on, but won’t. Truth is, you mock because you have not done the requisite research the intellectual honesty demands, and you are truly afraid that you might be wrong. And that, mon ami, is the truth.
wow Crack–more than I doth pray for you.
I will add my prayer to theirs.
May you come willingly to the feet of Jesus and give yourself to Him.
~in peace
Good post Grandee. I will take a moment now, too, do so the same for him.
Will be praying for you!!!
Hey Menzo. Show me even one person who was granted Everlasting Life.. John 3-16. Zero thats how many. You all die. Your religions crap is a fraud. The sooner you awake out of your religious drunkededness stupor the sooner you get you life back. Stupid sheep get fleeced.
Religion is one of those brainwashing frauds that make the weak and gullible think they still have a chance. Idiots fall for that crap everytime!!
Don’t be too hard on them. They are brainwashed from a very young age. they are forced against their will to attend sunday school. Punished if they even think about questioning the logic of the dogma being taught. And it soon becomes their core concept. They see signs their religion in everything and everywhere. They can somehow use the bible and apply it to anything and everything. They need the religious crutch to make life bearable. It becomes a Pig Headed core concept that is very hard to overcome. Some people cannot be Hipmotized and some cannot be brainwashed. Some famous person stated you can take person who is very rational , prudent, fiscally responsible and has very high intellgence and applies those traits into his work and everyday life and their is one exception and that is their regigion. and they abandon all those admirable traits and believe without question and gleefull empty their pockets and believe the most fanciful stories. That pig headed religious dogma don’t make them bad folks. They are simply brainwashed fools.
We get your insults, just not your point. And it is hypnotized, not “hipmotized.” If you are going to insult people’s intelligence, mon ami, at least use a spell checker would be my suggestion.
I was forced to attend nothing, and was raised not believing anything other than some vague civil religion, if even that. I became a Christian as an adult after objectively examining the evidence. I would guess, like most atheists, you have examined exactly zero evidence that doesn’t stroke your own presuppositions – but you tell me, if I am wrong… however, first tell me exactly what sources you have examined.
As it turns out, it appears that you have not thought through matters very deeply. While indeed there is that need to believe you cite (and this need always ends up in religion, not actual faith that is seen in a personal relationship with Christ – those two things are diametrically opposed), there ***is also an equal and opposite need to NOT believe.*** Who wants God’s clammy hands on my autonomy? Who wants anything contrary to one’s own will?? Those two needs cancel out each other, at least relative to anything other than human religiosity.
We continually get insults on this site from people such as yourself, who cannot tell me a SINGLE book from the other side they have examined. In contrast, I cannot even begin to go through the atheist writers I have had to read over the year while doing university, including graduate degrees at Univ. of Illinois and Univ. of British Columbia. Friedrich Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell, CEM Joad and Anthony Flew (both later believe in God, interestingly), Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, you name it….
The ad hominem invective gets very tiring. Let us know when you have shown the intellectual honesty to read even a single book by, e.g. Lee Strobel, CS Lewis. Tell us when you get the courage to even look at, e.g., Dr. John Lennox’s site, http://www.johnlennox.org/ (as noted above, Lennox is Professor of Mathematics (emeritus) at the University of Oxford and Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College, Oxford. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Said Business School, Oxford University. J Warner Wallace – yet another former atheist – has a book called Cold Case Christianity that is compelling reading. Question is, why are you afraid of cracking even a single book like this??
Finally, religion – which even the legal system has agreed to being the case – is anything that tells us where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. Atheism fits the bill just a well – we came from slime, we are here for self actualization, and are going to oblivion.
But please. Cut the insults, at least until you show us you have done an iota of due diligence. We await your reply.
As a functioning, thinkin adult at the age of 40. Having been exposed to many “types” of cristianity, I thought I would prefer the Carl Sagan reality.
But then God changed that for me (thanking God). He came after me, not the other way around.
Didn’t want anything to do with religion or their god.
It’s very hard to resist the Holy Spirit when He is set on your heart. It can be done, but it takes a mighty hard heart to do it (think pharaoh).
So your brainwashing analysis is faulty.
Exactly, Grandee. Despite my typos above, it is hard to take these frantic atheists seriously when they complain about “brainwashing” yet refuse to look at even the slightest smidgen of something that might challenge what is, in fact, their own brainwashing. I will stand to be corrected, but if these folks above are like the other atheists I know, they absolutely *refuse* any intellectual honesty or broad reading of other opinions. If that is the case, then their constant cry of “brainwashing!” is – sadly – nothing more than psychological projection. I have challenged them to tell us a SINGLE book that is at odds with their worldview. Nary a word back. That tell it all, doesn’t it!
For me, it was hard to be “brainwashed” after eight years at very secular universities. In fact, Dr. MacMurray at U of Illinois while doing my graduate work, once revealingly lamented to me at we were talking in front of the library – and after pulling As in his class – how he was frustrated that all his very best students seemed to be Christians and conservatives. Too bad he didn’t ask himself the simple question: “Wonder why?” Similarly, the CSSs and Old Guys here do that same. They mock, they insult… but they never state any cogent reasoning as to why, and they never, ever can tell us any reading of the other side they have ever done.
Methinks the lady doth protest too much said Shakespeare in Hamlet. Turns out human nature STILL hasn’t changed much, has it!
Our dear atheist friends never, ever seem to have a cogent answer to any of the points brought up, just mere ad hominem. That is itself says a massive amount, and in a back-handed way, proves my very point – that we are all (I, myself, included) are fallen creatures. I will bet even money that CSS has had some very difficult and bad things done to him, and (quite logically) asks himself “Where was God?” If this is true for him, or for you reading this, it is simple enough to simply say “God, if you really ARE there – and I’m not saying you are – I need your input as to how to process the evil that was done to me. Please talk to me.”
Why not do this permutation of Pascal’s Wager? Say it as honestly as you can, and then if there really is a God, see what happens. After all, it’s just an experiment, right?
why don’t you Christians follow the advice & instruction Jesus gave at the sermon on the Mount? I never said I was a atheist or did not believe in the Everywhere spirit. I stated I wasn’t a gullible stooped Christian. I simply don’t believe the lies printed in the bible. I don’t want something for nothing. We all have free will. My soul is mine and I will make all the decisions that effect it. And I would be plenty happy with just desserts. It would be ok with me if everyone including me got what they deserved and deserved what they get.
“why don’t you Christians follow the advice & instruction Jesus gave at the sermon on the Mount?”
I’m confused. If you don’t read the Bible, how do you know what is in it, other than perhaps hearsay?
“I never said I was a atheist or did not believe in the Everywhere spirit. I stated I wasn’t a gullible stooped Christian. I simply don’t believe the lies printed in the bible.”
That is good. What or WHO is that “everywhere spirit?” Is he/it knowable? It is personal, or impersonal? Can we have a relationship with Him (or it)? If so, how?
“I don’t want something for nothing.” Your very breath this moment is a gift. Every minute on this earth was given to you for free.
“We all have free will. My soul is mine and I will make all the decisions that effect it.” The Bible agrees with you here. Good point. Make your choices after being FULLY informed.
Old Guy,
There is no such thing as “my soul is mine”! There really is not a 3rd or a 4th way. Those ‘poor souls’ who have rejected God’s rule have fallen down the slippery slope of darkness and become the captives of the “Prince of Darkness”. You can’t really pull yourself up by your own straps or by your hair. You need someone outside of the hole/trap you find yourself in to throw you a lifeline.
Louisiana Eagle
Religious dopes are mostly hypocrits. Biggest sinners on the planet. From Rape of little boys in the church to molesting women behind the cloak. And when they get called out for their traits they call their accusers Athiests. I an neither Athiest nor Religious. Religious idiots aka low IQ believers of everything. Just like the 3ews when we call them out of their crimes we are called anti-semite. It another excuse and refusal to take responsibility for their ineptness. You are a bunch of weak lost soles grabbing onto anything for ego massage claiming some friggin ghost lives you and will save you. Not!! How pathetic and shallow and lack of self confidence you have. Religion is for lazy people who refuse to take charge of their luves and buy a weekly lotto ticket that somehow makes them think they get a seat at the table in heaven. Your corpse will rot in the ground like every other humanoid that ever existed. Thats a real fact you need toa accept. The truth!!
Yes, for example, Dr John Lennox, Professor of Mathematics (emeritus) at the University of Oxford and Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College, Oxford who is also an Associate Fellow of the Said Business School, Oxford University, is an “gullible idiot.” CS Lewis, called by many the most brilliant man at Cambridge 60 years ago was an “idiot.” John Newton, who wrote more on religion than physics was an idiot. Going back in history people like Faraday, Bacon – all idiots. CEM Joad, famous atheist philosopher became a Christian later in life, and philosopher Anthony Flew – do you even know who he is??? – became a theist before his death, largely thru interactions with Dr. William Lane Craig, whom you also know nothing about, right? Please correct me if I am wrong. Of course, Dr. Simon Greenleaf, who is the man mainly credited with providing the US with what constitutes rules of evidence in a court of law, when challenged – as a non-Christian Jew – to examine the evidence for the resurrection, ended up becoming a Christian and penned the famed The Testimony of the Evangelists, which I assume you also have not read, correct? Please tell me if I am wrong.
Sadly, the more I go through life, the more I see that psychological projection is one of the sad things affecting people’s lives. I will believe you, CSS/Apollo/Zeus the first time you can tell me even ONE book you have read on the subject that examines the other side of the equation (e.g. Lee Strobel). I have spent a lifetime reading Bertrand Russell, Camus, read the Qu’ran twice, and constantly read the other side. Why don’t you? As CS Lewis once said, as an atheist, you can never be too careful in what you read… you might just find some facts that upset your atheist apple cart.
You constantly come on this site and insult people. Why? Are you afraid you might be wrong?
Well I never asked anyone to die on some cross 2000 years ago for my sins. I want full credit for all of my deeds good and bad. I don’t care what you think. My give a durn is broken. I am very aware of my soul. I do have a religion however I do not practice it. I live my religion. Its not necessary for everyone to believe as I do for me to be confident and secure in my belief.
Never stated I haven’t read the bible. I do know impossible things and out right lies when I read them. I don’t care if you are ignorant of the every where spirit. Its not necessary or important to me for you or anyone else to share my spiritual beliefs. Think and do whatever you want you are the one who must live with it. I rebutted because its not gods wrath. Its a End of an Age magnetic Pole shift. Its not the end of all life or humans. Likely caused by a planetary alighnment. Its not mans fault. It cannot be mitigated by man. Its something that happens from time to time and would still be happening even if man had never existed.
The thief on the cross who died along with Jesus. Jesus said he (the thief) would be with Him this day in paradise.
Quod erat demonstrandum. CSS, you appear very, very angry at a God that doesn’t exist. Remember, in a world without God, there ARE no moral absolutes. Period, end of story. So quit your being angry at God, or saying it is all wrong. There is, and CAN NEVER BE, “right or wrong.” There is nothing to be angry about, simply because there is no right or wrong (as as the existentialist Camus wrote, a finite point without an infinite reference point has no meaning).
Moreover, if there is no God, why would you trust your brain’s own conclusions? Remember, your brain ultimately formed by *chance*. There IS no other logical alternative, per your evolutionary presuppositions. So, not only have you no basis to say something is right or wrong, you cannot even trust how you GOT to that conclusion.
This is all basic logic, and what has caused numerous atheists like you to actually THINK. The very fact that you rail against a God proves, ipso facto, that there indeed are moral absolutes that you can never efface. This is what led CS Lewis to abandon his atheism, and I suppose the famed philosopher CEM Joad, as well as the late Anthony Flew.
Truth is, if history is any guide, CSS, you will cuss me out, but NOT answer the question. So which I say again, quod erat demonstrandum.
Sorry Test. How can I be angry at something that does not exist? Thats just another refusal for you to look inside youraelf for being misguided.
The religious excuses mount as they have no proof. Just blind faith in hocus pocus. The Bible is the Harry Potter book for adults. Falacy and fraud. You have to be a real dope to believe that babble. I read the Bible and saw plain as day the fraud and inconsistanxiea and contradictions. Lime who would want to worship a Jealous God. Many dooes still do today.
I believe in preparedness, too. However, remember the story of Mel Tappan, the father of preparedness. If you don’t know him, or his story, google it. I also lived through the 1970s, when the end was certainly coming. It didn’t. We did come pretty close tho! There were a number of close nuclear calls (google Vasili Arkhipov, or another one with Stanislav Petrov).
The crux of the story is, IMHO, that there will be small crises, large crises (e.g., Cascadia fault, maybe not Yellowstone, bu a place like Paektu?), small wars, large wars (does Kim have EMPs? Will India and Pakistan go at it with their nukes), with a larger number of close calls. Financial crashes ALWAYS happen – that is only a matter of time. Of course the world will one day indeed come to an end, including an Armageddon and the return of the Lord.
All your comments are really good,but when it does eventually happen I’m going to struggle with the gun and ammo a bit, no guns available here in UK,but hopefully I can acquire one somehow,thanks
uk watcher, The UK has guns, don’t sweat it. Just raid your local mosque. Plenty there……..
Probably going to wait until its90% wipeout before I venture out ,if I can survive that long,thanks liberty will take your advice onboard
Check out the new Mannarino interview on USA Watchdog. Dude nails it.
Eyes wide open people. It’s coming. SOON.
Thanks for the heads up. Will definitely check it out!
I also saw this Mannarino interview. Pretty good
Prepare for everything!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFNBUs7O-h4
“Soon darkness will cover the whole earth”.
Darkness only covers half the earth. Its called nightime. The other half received light from the sun which is called daytime. Do you dopes ever study astrology? Like I said Religion causes brain damage. This is a perfect example why Religion people are low IQ.
Think you meant astronomy. No worries.
Yeah astronomy. Planatary rotation and orbit around the Sun. Wanna worship something. Be a Sun worshiper. The sun provides you more than any Bible that was written by a bunch of drunk monks looking to control the masses dir their mortal ruler by using fear. Thats why they call themselves God fearing, but some how he loves you. Thats some pretty twisted shit for sheep followers.
I get a kick out of them. There is some disaster that destroys their property . And they state thank god? What? Thank God for letting what you worked for getting destroyed? I thought he was so powerful he could do anything. He must not love you because he let you be smote by disaster. And when questioned about this the answer is that its all part of Gods plan. You don’t know gods plan.Thats being kinda stoopid and dumb. And In case you don’t know Being Stoopid is way dumber than just being stupid.
Maybe some will live, but it won’t necessarily be those with the most material goods…
“Soon darkness will cover the whole earth. Chaos”.
P.S. Napolean, in an interview, was asked about how lucky he happened to be. He said it wasn’t luck… he said that he had learned long ago to go by his intuition.
He recounted a time when he and his men were spending the night in an orchard and he awoke before dawn, with the clear feeling they were in danger. He said he thought about how the enemy, in studying maps, might figure out the orchard was a good place to hide. Suddenly, he roused his men and they moved. Half hour later, the whole orchard was bombed to smitherines by the enemy. Since then, he said, he always paid attention to his gut feeling/intuition. Sometimes it didn’t work out but the vast majority of time, it saved his behind.
I always read Martenson. However, in some areas he is just plain, and egregiously wrong, particularly when it comes to his Malthusianism. One example: According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of food produced each year gets lost or wasted. That’s almost a third of the all the food produced in the world.
If you think that we are running out of land or that somehow people are a plague on this planet and should be wiped out, as the Georgia Guide Stones would suggest three times the current population of the world could fit in the state of Oklahoma. Oklahoma has an area of 69,903 square miles. One square mile will accommodate 278,784 people if each person is allowed 100 square feet. At that rate the state of Oklahoma could accomodate a 19.49 billion people— almost three times the earth’s current population of 6.4 billion.
There are a whole LOT of unknowns, but a mathematical model developed by a team from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and the CEU-San Pablo University, Spain, thinks there could even be a population DROP to 6.2 bn.
Ocean temperatures, Chris? A famed study by Kegwin of marine radioisotopes in the Sargasso Sea (please look it up, Chris) published in Nature shows that we are indeed above the temps during the Little Ice Age — BUT WE ARE TODAY STILL BELOW THE 3,000 YEAR AVERAGE TEMPERATURE. And while there have been – including the recent two – six Cat 4 hurricanes since the early 1960s, in the same period of time prior to 1960 there were FOURTEEN. Any word on that, Chris?? Farley Mowat, the noted Canadian leftist and Greenpeace activist, wrote in his book West Viking (written while we were still in the global cooling scare) that there were probably at least dwarf forests growing in Greenland when the Vikings arrived in 985 AD and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History reports “… Erik the Red discovered two areas of southwest Greenland which were suitable for farming, with grasslands and small stands of alder and birch.” You will note that it is too cold today for any type of forests to grow in Greenland, and there is zero ability to farm, unless modern technologies are utilized – and even then, crop selection is very minimal. Mowat also reported the Arctic pack ice was much less in that Viking discovery era than today. Dr. Fred Singer writes that when the Vikings first settled Greenland, they grew vegetables, and it was warm enough to allow the population to grow to 3,000 people and by 1100 AD the place was thriving enough that they had their own bishop and twelve churches. Nature reported in a 2010 article that clamshell studies also confirm Norse records. Meanwhile, the Archeological Survey of Canada has also noted around “A.D. 1000, a warmer climate resulted in the tree line advancing 100 kilometres north of its present position.”
Even assuming Martenson is right about ocean temps (what temps?
Where? How deep?) the #1 hurricane forecaster in the world William Gray, emeritus professor at the atmospheric science department at Colorado State University Colorado State Univ in an article in Science noted in the 10 Nov. 2006 issue that “The best theory and modeling still indicate that ocean temperature has only a minimal direct effect on storms.”
Professor Mojib Latif, a leading member of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and who leads a research team at the renowned Leibniz Institute at Germany’s Kiel University told the UK’s MailOnline, he has “developed new methods for measuring ocean temperatures 3,000 ft beneath the surface, where the cooling and warming cycles start. He and his colleagues predicted the new cooling trend in a paper published in 2008″ and warned of it again a few years later. (I havent’ checked the past few years for an update). He also noted a significant share of the warming we saw from 1980 to 2000 and at earlier periods in the 20th Century was due to these cycles – perhaps as much as 50 per cent.
I like a lot of what Chris does, but his incessant Malthusianism, which HAS NEVER played out in reality, is the one black mark on his otherwise excellent body of work.
Stop picking on OK lol…that would be awful!
Take a knee you cry babies, just bend over while you’re doing it.
One other thing. While I always try to listen to Martensen, one of his videos the other day he was talking about the absence of bugs and critters where his retreat is. I just got back from a drive to Colorado, and my car was absolutely COVERED with bugs. My backyard in a very suburban area is utterly infested with chipmunks, racoons, skunk, squirrels, the occasional coyote, possums, deer can’t get thru my hedge, but are everywhere else. I have no idea what he is talking about about.
And more on the ocean temperature thing: As WUWT notes, “Reasonably complete temperature samples of all the ice-free oceans to the depths of 2000 meters (about 6600 feet or about 1.25 miles) have only been available for the past decade or so. Those new sensors were deployed as part of the ARGO program in the early 2000s and did not have complete coverage of the oceans until about 2003. The U.S. National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) uses those temperature samples for a number of datasets, including their vertically averaged temperature data for the depths of 0 to 2000 meters.” Read more on the subject of ocean temps at https://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/01/22/ocean-global-warming-is-not-actually-global-at-all/ In fact, I HIGHLY recommend you all look at wattsupwiththat.com, perhaps the #1 site around exposing the scam of BIG GREEN MONEY global warming.
I remain respectful of Chris’ overall body of work, but remain unimpressed, and disappointed, by his seemingly slavish adherence to everything Malthusian.
This is a very good article I have just read,very interesting and informative,I have been prepping in UK for about four years and have never really had to use my preps in a emergency,that doesn’t mean we don’t have emergencies here because we do floods,terrorist, but thankfully none have affected me yet.but hey no one is amune because sooner or later it will.I normally just prep my my closest family ,but I know others will need help as well and if I can I will help.I know I can never have everything I need until something happens ,but that maybe too late,but I try.as for financial security i try not to get into debt ,but its hard not too being in in a manipulated money world,but trying to support my family isnt easy in this crappy country.
Good luck to all you people who are suffering in storm hit areas and do what you need too in the future Prep and Prep more.
Sometimes just a life changing event happens. When honeys plant closed after 21 years, those preps came in handy when money got really tight. One of many things to prep for.
Take care
Sorry might have commented same thin twice,but hey,prep,prep,and prep more
Medical supplies need to be high priority. Dirty water and mosquitos will give you malaria and diarrhea. One time I got a stomach bug and shit myself silly and lost too much fluids well I became dizzy and knew I was fucked. I said honey take me to er. I’m the last person to run to the hospital. When I arrived I passed out went down hit my head off the wall got skin ground off cus of the fall. When I woke up there were people standing above me. They put the collar oround my neck cus they said I hit the wall on my way down. There was nothing wrong with me except life threatening dehydration. I got 2 bags of Iv and a cat scan to make sure I didn’t fracture my neck or mess up my grape. Average folks can’t get Iv drip bags. But it would be nice if they could. Any medical skills or gear you can get will save lives. Hospitals will be full of infectious diseases people. They will take people in order of priority when they are overwhelmed. Nurses and doctors will not show up to work. Your gonna need to know how to handle shit yourself and wanna stay away from filth viruses and bacteria. Just being honest your chances of surviving a calamity are low. All you need is mrsa resistant to the most powerful antibiotics and your dead. Food water shelter defense are immediate needs but medical care can be an immediate need too. I know most people focus on guns ammo cool web gear bugout bags and just have a little blowout kit which will do nothing for you in an outbreak.
If you get disentary eat some pancakes that contain a liberal amount of Ditaomaciate earth.
If you don’t get killed in the first part of the shit then your more likely to get it in the second wave(disease \ infection ) as you suggest medical supplies are a must,even if its just to get you through the pain.
Most of us in this household are trained in first aid,and some are going to be trained medics soon . so I hope this helps us ,and others of course.got some fair medic supplies and still building,because as we know help will not come ,no matter how many times we dial 911,999 . sorry forgot to mention I have heard it can take up to four hours for a ambulance and 24 hrs for the police,that’s in normal times.
Thanks stay lucky
I live on the West Coast of Florida. We got the ‘brush-by’ from Irma. Lots of trees down, some roofs and other house pieces parts ripped off here and there, flooding…. what we here think of as the ‘usual’. And we were incredibly lucky being a bit north of Naples/Ft.Myers. Many lessons learned, many shortfalls of “being ready for SHTF” uncovered. Everything in the article above struck home. Nothing like 70mph+ wind gusts and hearing that damned tree in your own backyard go “CRACK” @ 2 a.m. I found that the number one thing in any plan is to NOT panic. To use my head and do what I can, when it was safe to do so. There are so many little errors that can be made. Example- watch out for ‘rafts’ of fire-ants and swimming snakes. We all tend to think that ‘it’ is going to hit us in an obvious fashion – some EMP, financial or civil breakdown; but, when one looks down and sees a snarling swarming mass of little red devils all waiting on their signal to “bite now!!” – you begin to understand just how sudden and out of the blue a disaster can strike.
I just want to say Heed these lessons! We live in Ft Myers FL Irma’s eye went right over the house. We never thought to evac and felt we were good to go …until we really start to look at our prep. We hadn’t gotten around to getting that generator to run our deep freeze – which since we buy our meat in bulk through a rancher really can’t go without power! Its one of those Smack My Head moments. We got one and gas cans because Smack My Head – really!? We are tent and primitive campers and we somehow totally procrastinated the power needs.
Luckily!our power restored early and I was able to offer the generator to be used by a coworker in Naples. It really does feel good to help because you were ready.
We also thought about storm surge and began thinking of new plan – a “vertical evac”. We are also going to fix up my dad’s old fishing boat. And buy some battery powered fans because good luck sleeping!
I’ll tell you truth, you think you’re prepped but your best bet is skills and relationships.
God bless???
I forgot to add Faith in Christ! That is your best prep for eternity ?????????⚡?
You could worship your magic 8 ball and get the same results that religion provides you. Trust me on this. Like I said, show me just one person who got everlasting life. Until the srop spreading religious fraud and false hope.
In defense of religion. 1st – it a right guaranteed by the Constitution. And for any right to exist, there must be a higher authority than anything created solely by man. 2nd – all belief relies on ‘faith’. Faith is a mental and emotional acceptance that has little to do with any logic or science. Faith is the taking in of an idea by an individual and accepting it to be true regardless of proof or lack thereof. 3rd – As you asked Holly to ‘trust’ you – so does faith on the same basis……. no knowledge or proof that your words are valid anymore than the ones someone believes in (i.e. your ‘magic 8=Ball as an example). 4th – to live without the internal guide given by faith is to live without hope. For to only accept what is proveable leaves no room for speculation, attempting to find something no ‘in the box’ of the contemporarily proveable. Rather, to adhere to a code of behavior and conduct that is greater than simple animal need and perhaps – just perhaps – grants the person a sense of morality. For without a structure within to hang one’s life and actions upon it would be only a tooth and claw existence mankind would live. Again – faith gives one a support for living a more caring, altruistic life in general. So please – if you do not believe in naught but your own thoughts and opinions – fine. That is also your right. But never attempt to denigrate the same right(s) you demand for yourself when displayed by another. To do so would be a terrible hypocrisy.
Faith is sometimes all we have, when things seem hopeless, we may have nothing but faith to pull us through, i feel sorry for people who have no faith, they at some point will be left alone and with no hope. Personally i will chose faith and hope no matter how small sometimes it is still there.
And when We regress into a SHTF WROL society. that’s what it will be a tooth and claw existence. faith and hope are not the same thing. Its possible for self reliance and Know How to replace faith. Many hunters go out and have faith that they will bag some game. Other folks go out knowing they will be successful because they used Know How and Self Reliance to stack the odds to guarantee success. When I plant a crop I hope it matures and gives a fair yield. And I do many things like pest control and fertilizer irrigation ect that stacks the odds in favor of a good harvest. Without Know How you will never be successful. You might want to obtain a copy of the book Titled Know How to Be Rich Today. And maybe you will stop equating money with wealth.
Faith is nothing more than a set of beliefs absent of any facts or proof. I like certainty in my prepping plans and will not depend on hopey wishy faith as a plan or prep. You got to take life by the balls and be in charge of your own destiny by getting facts and proof to balance the odds in your favor. Not sure why religious folks Prep at all if they believed they will be saved by their faith. Maybe they are not too faithful if they prep. Faith is not insurance. Its fraud. Faith is not more than dumb luck and hapinstance.
Who do you put your hope in?? Mine is Jesus Christ!!
Well said.lottery win more likely if you ask me,than a well overdue visit from our alien origins,or god whoever appears first ,hahaha
As I said before, you wake up with Mother Nature every morning. Don’t sell her short.
If you do not have the covering of the Creator and our Lord and Savior, you are absolutely NOT prepared for what is coming as the collapsing Police State hell on earth of Lucifer worshipping New Babylon America faces Judgement.
It seems to me that most people on this site
prepare for surviving or even prospering
(Gold and silver prices) in what may be a relatively
short term event, some prepare to go back and live
like they were in a pre-civilized tribal community,
or we have prepared our souls
for the end of times.
Everyone here a unique perspective.
I’m a mix of all of those,
short term survival, tribal community, and
salvation. When the SHFT hits, What I think
I will miss the most is cold beer, because
I think I have most else everything covered
to one degree or another.
Black swan events on the other hand are by definition
impossible to prepare for.
Aloha.
Black swans are not bad if we can eat them.
I can brew my own beer. and by placing it in the spring its cold enough on a hot day.
Im the same on all of that except the beer, living out here in the middle of this big bathtub you are sorta mental to not be prepared though, i just know how fast everything disappears from something as simple as a shipping strike. You have a war or terrorist attack and its going to be a real problem, maybe 3% of the people have gardens or means to produce food, it wont be pretty, and shit happens.
Irma actually spared west central Florida, it could have and was projected to be much worse. At the shelter I watched the CNN feed there that noted that the storm had lost the southwestern part of the eyewall, from about 5 to 9 on a clock face. CNN sucked otherwise with no local updates. Got discouraged with a band of what looked like a band of gypsies begging food off myself and other people, so I left to sit in the car at 8pm and sat there as the worst of the storm approached. I decided to drive home at 3am about 10 miles away, not a soul on the streets. I must say from my observation the storm did not bring any winds or gusts above about 65 mph. We got a break here.
Keep an eye on this report also. “In June, Rand Paul also introduced an amendment to the “indefinite detention” provision of the NDAA, added in the 2012 version, that allows the military to imprison American citizens without trial. That bill, S.1300, was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary in June, and lawmakers have taken no further action”. You had better read that again. Martial Law lite by stealth is now in committee, see how they run? It is the little bites that add up all hidden in military funding bills. There is much business being done in the shadows of government and at this point the people still hold the power but their grip weakens. Their dream of a Constitutional Republic FUBAR. There is little time left, it should not be wasted.
We are THIS CLOSE to a collapsed economy and the dicks are still bickering about Obama
care. At this point, who really gives a fuck. Houston, Florida, Puerto Rico bankrupt and
destroyed. Underfunded pensions. Cities and states going bankrupt one after another.
Everything is falling apart. Personal debt. Government debt. Central banks debt. All at
record levels. MSM dicks and leftists bickering about confederate statues. Really?
Somebody tell these motherfuckers to get their priorities straight. Dickheads bickering about some football ape taking a knee during the national anthem. Are we losing our
fucking minds? This country is about to fall flat on its ass and become the laughingstock of the world. Do you think Japan, Germany and the rest of the UN will take up a collection to
ease our suffering. Hell no. They are going to kick us when we are down. Its over.
Florida is not Bankrupt. Not wven close. We are flush with reserves. Florida runs off of Sales Taxes and vacation hotel taxes. And FL residents are Tax Exempt from any State Income Taxes. Get your facts before opening your Piehole.
Betcha florida asks the federal government for funds to help with the hurricane disaster. Fleecing tourist is a really parasitic vocation. Florida used to produce citrus and winter vegetables for most of the country. now its a state full of parasites fleecing snow birds retirees and tourist.
Florida WILL ask the federal government for money.
Tell that to Mr. Puffy-Chested CSS.
Yup, Fl is just like Hawaii in that it relies on a completely unsustainable model for all its income, its not if but when, and its bullshit anyone who believes their state is flush, they may well balance a yearly budget but what is their unfunded gov retirement liability?
The un funded pensions will be a huge huge problem, theres only so far into ones pocket the states can stick their fingers until it causes problems, were getting there.
Hello GS. Thank you for bringing this up. To be clear, S1300 as introduced by Senator Paul, is a proposed amendment to the NDAA that would PROHIBIT the un-Constitutional indefinite detention of persons by the United States so it would be, I believe, a very good thing. All bills drafted by Senators and Representatives are referred to the appropriate sub-committee as the natural course of action. This one, unfortunately, with no co-sponsors or popular clamor by the citizenry to defend their liberty, will die un-ceremoniously in the pile at the sub-committee. As you pointed out, the people still hold the power but their grip weakens. Alas, the distracted silent majority remains silent as their rights are slowly stripped away.
I could have stayed with two-years worth of food storage, portable solar, Ham radios, etc., but I’m on record for saying I would evacuated Irma on Wednesday morning because I experienced Hugo in SC where I got in my town get killed and am prepared to drove a few hundred miles to spend a week with friends. I work from home and my wife doesn’t spend vacation days as soon she gets them so has at least three weeks accumulated at all times. Any associated costs would have been more than covered by the preservation of assets in our caravan if the damage was substantial. Otherwise piece of mine is worth the cost of a vacation.
As far as economic collapse is concerned I’m as prepared as I’m gonna get. My mortgage free off-grid cabin can provide it’s own heat, meat, water, and power. I have the paltry real estate taxes for longer than the US has been a country. I married someone with lots of debts so we keep everything separate. If she loses her job her fancy home and new car could go back while not being a community property state my “vacation home” which is held in trust anyway and paid off Jeep would be safe from creditors.
That being said preparing is not a selfless act if one has not prepared to share SOME of OUR resources no matter what greedy people tell themselves. Anyone using the excuse that they might need something one day to not help someone today that thinks they are selfless is lying to themselves. “… Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” Luke 3:11
What about separating the wheat from the Tares and burning the Tares? Does helping a Tare with empty flasks go against Gods will? Foolish virgens burn . Like it or not.
It is painfully obvious that the US Gov’t is extremely ill prepared for a large scale situation – just look at TX and or FL. We/you are on your own folks… Be ready, as things are going to pop off before long.
Just a word about all this kneeling: I grew up in a home.without a father. He was a real POS who beat my mom.He didn’t pay child suppory or any other support,so there was little money to pay for luxury.If any of us 4 kids wanted to go to college,we were on our own. We needed to work. So at 18 I joined the military,and got an education there. The military was good to me,few complaints. So,why am I writing this?Because multimillion dolar “athletes ‘are bitching about who the hell knows why,and won’t stand for the anthem. Screw them! They think they have a monopoly on hard childhoods.They’re overpaid spouled brats who need to be taken behind the shed and have the snot beaten outta them.More people are sneaking in to this country because they know its better than what’s behind them. FuCKIN’ ingrates is what they are! I know we are not perfect,but I love this country,warts and all
@Southside, about these idiots kneeling for the National Anthem. There isn’t any other country they could go and get paid the money they’re paid.
I could care less. Kneeling or not? Its childish behavior. I never watch football or sports. Waste of time living vicarasoly through others. Just like politics. I just don’t get hopelessly entangled in stuff that I cant do anything about. So Trump is a big dissapoitmet? That’s not a big surprise. I aint giving worthless stuff any free rent in my head. I like a good argumentive debate. Its kinda fun to yank someones chain on the internet.
You’re Likely A Lot Less Prepared For Crisis Than You Realize
True…
On a bright note Sept 23 came and went and the world didn’t end.
I have to say catastrophic floods and fire are the most difficult to prep for. Preps you store up can be lost forever in a flood or fire. Short of owning two homes, the best you can do is be fully insured.
When I put a new roof on my house, I put the best shingles on, it near doubled the cost, but they have the highest fire resistance and are supposed to stay on the roof with 90mph winds. The standard shingles were only rated to 50 mph. My house is built on land that is above the 100,000 year flood level, but that is still no guarantee. Freak floods happen. I love my basement, I hate my basement. I keep as few preps as possible in my basement, a single broken pipe could ruin everything in that basement. I do have a sump pump, and a generator.
Where I live there were a 100+ houses built by a developer about 25 years ago. In that time two houses have burned to the ground, one by a paint contractor and another by a child playing in a fireplace. There were also two houses with significant basement damage by flooding due to plumbing failures.
It’s a shame building codes rarely provide safe homes from these disasters. California is finally requiring non combustible roofs and exteriors on new homes, the old ones are still fire traps. Florida is now requiring hurricane clips to hold down roofs and other tricks to save houses. They did surprisingly well in Irma. The crappy wood frame houses older than the upgraded building codes are what blew down.
First prep is your castle, and if you live near the big bad wolf, you better have the house made of brick, not straw or sticks.
Eastern NC is under a tropical storm watch as of 5:15 PM. We are to expect tropical storm conditions Tuesday through Wednesday night. It should start to get windy here Monday afternoon, and then the rain will start later.
I might have to take the bird feeder down tomorrow.
Otherwise, I’m ready.
Bird houses and feeders seem like a unselfish act? And that’s not easy?
About the evacuation from Florida. Why did they have three or four lanes of traffic bumper to bumper going North and one lane going south? Why not use 2 of the south bound lanes for north bound traffic?
Not sharing the fruits of my labor. I’ve invested and labored to insulate my family. People who are getting the ebt can build a stockpile too. My taxes pay for their food and all they got to do is put some back. I can’t wait for shtf lazy people will be self reliant or die which is the way it’s supposed to be. Seriously if your getting ebt there is no reason you shouldn’t put together a stash a little at a time. You can use the soda bottles to put water in to store for later. Pickup a gun cheap at a pawn shop or private sale. Nobody should be looking for food at least a month into shtf imo.
I agree with ass hat. you need enough supplies and shelter to be able to set back and endure until the 90% die off is complete. And when you emerge you better be a mean curmudgeon.
Regarding 22 lr conversions for ARs. Rifling twists are . Fast twist for slow bullets. Slow twists for fast bullets. Most 22 twists are 1/12 . Most ARs are 1/8. Slow 22s are best for 1/8. But might not be powerful enough to cycle action. Slow AR twists make bullet less stable and tumble more upon impact of branches or objects. Close range stopping power might be best at 1/12 twist and also better for 22lr. Conversions?
Need a small reverse osmosis water filter . Any suggestions?
Under the counter Reverse Osmosis systems $150 at Home Depot. Well worth it.
Read that AR suppressors dramaticly reduce barrel life. Mabe because air in front of bullet can’t get out fast and crush bullet into rifling? Lube barrel more often? Or get extra barrels?
Noticed OO Buck is 30 cents per round and OOO Buck is 1 dollar per round. Which is better 12 pellet OO or 8 pellet OOO? Is bigger better? You can pull the trigger twice for more pellets? But not more car door penetration?
I found 15 pellet 00 buck, 25% more lead on target, yes it’s available. 00 buck is basically .32 caliber balls. Getting shot 15 times with each pull of the trigger will definitely ruin a bad guys day. For more penetration have slugs, low velocity LE rounds are fine.
Many hunters hunting bear with a rifle, have been killed by the bear they shot, before the bear died. I’ve never heard of a hunter using a shotgun with slugs being killed by the bear they shot.
10 mm glocks seem to be scarse? And will shoot 40 s/w? A 45 glock with conversion barrels ? Thought LEO glocks came with steel recoil spring guides? Does anyone know the advantage to LEO glocks?
Read you can’t eat more then certain amount of MREs at a time something about irradiated food?
Read Huston is a car town. Not much buses. Thousands of cars disabled. Business closed homes unlivable. No place to live or work? No car to live in?Whats next?
I am not brainwashed about anything. On the contrary. I resent most church doctrine because having read the entire Bible at 13 (written by middle east men…who had there own agenda)..much of what some churches teach is not in the Bible at all. The Bible is a good history book…but….you have to remember who wrote it and why it was written. People love to quote passages out of it without knowing what the whole chapter is about. My understanding of the Bible at 13 is much different than at 31 years old….still different at 70. Knowledge and ability to Understand people is a major part of the Bible. The words have not changed in 1500 years, just my understanding.
Spiritual “SUPPORT” is empowering as is the right “ATTITUDE.” The Godliness inside of us tells us “God helps those who help themselves”. (YOU are responsible for yourself, and those who are not ABLE to help themselves. Like babies, old people, etc., who are unable to make choices).
You should not be a crutch for the lazy, self destructive, over indulgent, univolved or ‘hard wired hateful’.
To Test:
You consistently bring up a point in your well researched replies here on SHTF. Read, read and read again! Even the most basic research given our ability to do it in our own home or literally anywhere we like has the ability to illuminate us with everything that is going on in our world. I have often stated to anyone who will listen, “Never before has mankind had so much information available at his/her fingertips and still remained so uninformed!” Don’t take for gospel, “Well I heard the oceans are going to boil and we will all die!” Of course we will all die, that is one of the very limited “givens” that will occur in everyone’s lifetime. If your thing is looking at cat videos, or playing Candy Crush, or anything else out there that catch’s your eye, fine, but don’t walk around your entire life being ignorant of what has already happened and is happening, and the preparing that you should be doing for what is coming! Read, research and do it all over again! Sorry Test, I know I am repeating some of what you already said, but it has frustrated me for quite a long time just how dumbed down our civilization has become!
Prep on everyone!
By the same token, I have found that you can usually find backing for ANY idea on the webs.
Even if stated as fact, often times it’s just someone or some organization with an agenda to promote.
You have to try and separate the wheat from the chaff yourself.
As you go thru life you are not supposed to cut corners or take unfair advantage. And by the same token you should not allow others to do those type things to you. I will do whatever I deem necessary take care of me and mine and everyone else needs to take care of them and theirs. Its that simple.
I am glad to see the mention of a flashlight in this article. You would be surprised how tough things are in a situation where you don’t have light at night… I would also include that you should probably have several flashlights, some that are more lower brightness / longer runtime, and some that are tactical in nature (brighter/strike bezel). Here are some of the tactical flashlights that I would recommend