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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Doom on us



Timing is everything. I was pretty sure the 2008 financial collapse would happen. I did not know it would be in 2008. If I could time that sort of thing exactly, I'd be rich. I'm not.

However, I'm not eating out of dumpsters and living under a bridge. That's something, anyway.

On the drive home the guy on the radio said we were in the 5th year of a Bull Market. How's that been working for most of you? One of the weird things is listening to “financial experts” going on and on about how this is not really a bubble.

One thing that certainly hasn't happened is an increase in wages and benefits. Personally, my income has gone down during the last five years, not up. It has reached the point where I may actually have to do something on the income side rather than on the conservation side. It's not a pressing problem, but one that could be.

While I think of myself as being self-reliant and prepared, I can fall into the same trap that other people do. A prepper can see more potential problems and prepares for them. There, he thinks, problems solved. Then he can relax and not worry about anything.

That's fine if the prepper has prepared for the right disasters, at the right time, for the correct duration. My preps are pretty good for ice storms, blizzards, floods and other natural disasters. They are a huge help during times of personal financial difficulty. How'd I'd fair in a total world financial collapse? Not sure. How about something completely out of the blue? Zombie aliens riding ebola asteroids?

Sure, you say, that could never happen. Maybe not, but given enough time, something weird always happens. Like the markets, we don't know exactly when the storm will hit.

Don't think of your preps as solutions to specific problems. When some weird disaster hits, don't try to fit it into your list-of-things-prepared-for. Recognize that this is something different. It may have features of some more comfortable challenge, but will need a different response. At that point your preps are just one resource, and not the most important. A nimble and flexible mind is the most valuable tool.

-Sixbears

10 comments:

  1. I know, them alien reptoids riding dinosaurs got me worried too . . .

    Completely agree about thinking you are prepared and having something completely out of the blue crop up. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill caught everybody offguard - I had never heard of anyone mentioning that scenario before.

    A big one is getting incapacitated medically. A simple slip in your household or car accident and suddenly you are dinged up seriously. Having a great spouse to share the bad times is of great comfort, not a good time to be single.

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    1. It's good to have people around who can help with medical issues. Just not being alone is a huge safety factor.

      . . . those darn alien reptoids . . .

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  2. If one is on daily medication, there is no way to stock pile that, although I use the excuse that I travel a lot and thus I get three months worth of pills at a time.

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    1. We are planting and gathering herbal substitutes for my wife's conditions. It's been really hard to get even a couple of months worth of pills for her.

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  3. There are so many disaster possibilities no one could prep for all of them. Just think about what CONgress does to us every week...
    Myself the one disaster I must deal with is hurricanes and if my home is not flattened by one I will get by. I want enough stored food and solar power to charge batteries with so I can have some lights and communications available. I want to be able to stay home for the first few weeks or months when FEMA is trying to force feed the unprepared MRE's and the tribes get very angry!

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    1. Anything you can do to stay free of the FEMA system is good. My in-laws were stranded for a month when hurricane Rita hit TX. They were not very prepared back then. Better now.

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  4. I reckon that some preps are better than none. I couldn't prep for everything, though. Probably not everyone could!

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    1. There's always the unexpected disasters. Of course, we want food, shelter, clothing and security every day, so concentrating on that is good.

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  5. 5th year of a bull market! In a bull market dividends are usually booming but they're not. Low or zero interest rates make the stock market one of the few places to 'make' money despite the risks involved.
    Increasing interest rates, and they will, not only increase the overheads of these companies but will also encourage individuals to put money into safer investments.

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    1. Not much of a bull market, is it? I think they've backed themselves into an "easy money" corner. Raise rates and/or tighten supply and the market crashes.

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