For what it's worth

Wednesday, the stock market took a 280 point tumble. No idea what Thursday is going to bring. If I did, I'd most likely have some money in that game. In the long run, it's all going down the drain, but in the long run we are all dead anyway. Timing is everything.

Now the market could fall into the basement. On the other hand, inflating currency could raise up the numbers, but the money won't be worth anything. I'm not in the market, and I'm not qualified to give advice about it . . . as if anyone is.

While the market itself doesn't affect me directly, if it collapses, everyone is affected. There would certainly be a time of chaos and panic. Interesting times. Few of us really want to live in interesting times. Oh, it might be fun to contemplate, but when things don't get back to normal in a few weeks, and chaos becomes normal, it's no place to raise the kids.

I just finished listening to Michael Ruppert's "The Lifeboat Hour" on the Progressive Radio network. He still sticks to statement that the financial situation will definitely unravel during the month of July. His reasoning is that corporate reports will have to show the economic disruptions caused by Japan's problems. Personally, I've first hand reports about the difficulty getting certain parts from Japan. There might be something to Ruppert's warning.

In the very short term, I'm more concerned with my local weather. In the North Country of NH, we've had 3 hailstorms in as many days. We used to go years without a hailstorm. My lovely wife has seedlings ready to go in the garden, but we don't dare put them out. Golf ball sized hail and tender plants don't mix well. We've flooding and bridges have been washed out. Now I know weather isn't climate, but conditions weren't like this when I was a little kid. Bad weather around the world has made agriculture a tricky business.

Agriculture has gone the way of industry. Everything uses the "Just in Time" model. It's terribly efficient when production matches consumption exactly. No money tied up in granaries and warehouses. Unfortunately, an efficient system is a fragile system. When Japan is unable to supply parts and equipment, assembly lines around the world shut down. When the crops don't come in, someone's going to go hungry.

For years there have been warnings about the dangers of our world wide economic system. Of course, those warnings fell on deaf ears. The system has had enough slack to absorb a few shocks. Can it survive the big ones facing it now? There is reason for concern.

Could we be facing the end of the world as know it? Let's just say it's not a 0% chance nor a 100% certainty. What harm in some preparations? A 30 day family supply of food and water would put you ahead of 99% of the people out there. Even if there are only temporary disruptions, do you want to be one of those disrupted?


-Sixbears