Before we begin, I just need to make it clear that I’m no political analyst. I’ll try to look at things from a survivalist perspective and do my best to avoid turning this piece from an educational article into a rant.
One of the debates the prepping community tries to unravel is the mystery of how it will happen and when it will happen.
Fiction and reality TV shows have propagated the idea that there’s a huge event that’s about to happen to the U.S. or the entire world and that we all need to be in a state of critical emergency until that happens.
Do I believe this is possible? Definitely. But there’s another theory, one that’s less “sensational” and it says that the brown stuff has already hit the fan. We’re already in the midst of a slow decline into chaos and anarchy and many can’t see it or are in denial.
So let’s shut down the TV, put down the fiction books, and look around. The clues are there, so let’s look at them one by one.
The U.S. Debt And The Inevitable Economic Depression
An article on Forbes points out that as of 2015, the U.S. national debt is 18 trillion dollars. That’s two and a half times bigger than what it was in 2004.
As the article explains, one reason debt got so high was because people stopped saving money for the things they wanted and started thinking more about purchasing using monthly payments.
On one hand, we have the average, uneducated consumer that lives paycheck to paycheck, but manages to buy the latest iPhone.
On the other, we have greedy bankers eager to loan money to anyone because that means profit.
And it’s that pursuit of profit, without taking into consideration the long-term impact, that is making this worse with each passing day.
I’m still baffled as to why the Government doesn’t say a word about the national debt and its inability to at least reverse the trend. To this day I still have no clue as to how exactly are they going to pay it.
Prepping for an economic collapse is not easy, but there are simple things you can do to be ahead of the pack when the decline starts to accelerate
In the article (see previous link) you can learn more about what to do in addition to your preps (such as having a bug-out bag, a bug-out location and so on).
The Gun Grab Race
By now it’s pretty obvious that most of the shootings that took place in recent U.S. history were done with illegal weapons. And, yet, the Government is still trying to restrict the use of guns nation-wide.
It seems pretty obvious to me that this restriction will cause illegal gun usage to increase, which will also leave most law-abiding preppers unprotected.
Let’s not forget that just eight days after the Sandy Hook shootings, The Nation’s Gun Show started and people flocked to buy their guns. Why? Because when lunatics run around with guns, people feel the need to protect themselves.
And that’s fine, but when you restrict guns, you essentially take them away from those who are only using them to protect themselves. Criminal gun owners are often not affected.
Sure, if there were no guns AT all, no lunatic would ever be able to get his hands on one, but that’s not the case, is it? Let’s not forget that criminals LOVE gun-free places because they can walk away unharmed after they’ve done their deed.
What if all guns are indeed banned and there’s no way of legally getting one? iIt’s time to consider Alternative survival weapons, of course. Slings, spears, bows, etc. There are plenty of options out there to choose from.
Children Living Below Poverty Line
Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, East St. Louis, Cleveland. Each of them has taken a critical economic hit and no one seems to know how to bring these cities back above water.
An article from 2011 gives some frightening stats about the percentage of children living below poverty line:
53.6% children in Chicago, 52.3% in Cleveland, 48% of children in Cincinnati.
Things haven’t changed much since then, as you can probably imagine. A nation-wide study published by The Guardian concluded that more than half of all public school students live in poverty.
Is Anything Good Happening in America?
Of course! The prepping community is one of them. There are good people in every country who are making significant contributions to health, science, technology, and so on.
Only problem is, they have to fight those who are on the dark side. And I’ll give you two examples.
The medical industry is full of scammers. Many of them will sell you pills for anything even though you’ve got plenty of natural remedies to choose from. They even sell you stuff that doesn’t do squat for you and can safely be considered a dud.
Nevertheless, there are significant advances being made in the field of medicine, which means that there’s a continuous struggle between right and wrong.
And let’s not forget the energy sector. Power and oil companies are doing everything they can to stop green energy advancements. But see, and this is key, this is where most people fool themselves. Just because things are advancing, doesn’t mean they can’t get worse. A lot worse.
As long as there’s human greed, there will be people who can’t care less about the world as long as they can make money.
An EMP would wipe out all electronics, so one thing I like to keep in mind is that good things are fragile and need to be protected. This includes your loved ones and your preps.
What Can You Do?
There are lots of things you can do. In fact, there are so many things, I don’t even know where to begin. Let me put them all inside a list:
- get out of debt
- learn to live frugally
- learn basic survival skills, then move on to intermediate and advanced skills
- start a food and water stockpile
- move out of the city, at least to the suburbs if not to the countryside
- make like-minded friends
- prepare for a job loss (one thing you can do is work for yourself instead of others)
- get into shape
- go off-grid
- learn to fix things around the house on your own instead of calling someone else or even paying someone else
Final Word
Total collapse or slow descent into chaos? I think I’ve made my point. If you don’t believe me, go to Greece and ask its citizens.
You’ll find that, although nobody’s bugged out into the woods yet, the country is full of “zombies” willing to do anything for a few bucks to feed their families.
If something like this happens in the U.S., it’s going to be Greece on steroids because the fate of the U.S. economy is going to be that of the entire world.
However, be advised that a total collapse CAN happen. There’s a good chance and prepping is like an insurance for it. Just remember how quickly things unfolded during the financial crisis of 2007-2008
What’s your opinion? Is the world in the middle of slow decline or should we expect TSHTF to hit quickly with brute force?
My dad was military. My grandfather was a cop. They served their country well. But I don’t like taking orders. I’m taking matters into my own hands so I’m not just preparing, I’m going to a friggin’ war to provide you the best of the best survival and preparedness content out there.