American Blackout: Why is Nobody Helping Us?

"Why is nobody helping us? What are we supposed to do?"

The line above is from National Geographic's "American Blackout". The teen girl uttering the words is confronted with the reality that she and her companions are indeed on their own, with no government or other help coming to her rescue during a national disaster. She looks more like a lost 4 year old in this candid moment, despite the character being of college age. You can see that this is the first time she's ever been without the psychological and sociological aid from her "Big Brother".

The program starkly depicted the fact that Americans have become a child race, dependent on our Nanny government always being there to assist us. Most folks have zero preps. If we've seen anything from Katrina and Sandy (localized disasters), it's that you're on your own for a least a few days following a destructive regional event. What would happen if a national blackout occurred? I suspect the producers of the show at NatGeo decided to end the blackout at 10 days, as taking it any further along would've lost the family-friendly Sunday night tv rating they needed to build viewership.

I think the toughest thing will be the need to shoot others in defense of your family. "American Blackout" gave us a hint of the violence that would result once Americans had missed the critical nine meals that separates our society from chaos. As law-abiding citizens we have so many inhibitions against killing that it takes weeks of Army basic training to overcome the innate and learned inhibitions against lethal violence. The old Soviet Military intelligence bureau took the anti-killing re-socialization training used by all military units to an even grimmer high. Victor Suvurov, an ex-Soviet spy, tells us he was trained to kill dogs and cats with his  bare hands for practice. Apparently, he used his thumbs on their eyes...

Food, water, medicine, self-defense for at least a few weeks are MANDATORY!

Note: have a good old-fashioned mechanical can opener. I have an industrial one. Electrical can openers aren't any use with no power. Cans are wonderful, but it's a bitch to open one with only a rock or knife.

Rick

Anerica 2050. What Will We Build? Part 5.

I am an historian, not a psychic. America in 2050 is just a nice round date. I believe that our destiny lies reliably in the past. If you want to know where we're going, we have to look at where we (and Western Europe) have been.

Nanny State: Path To Revolution

The recipe for a social and political revolution is fairly simple. Have a large percent of the population of a country in perpetual poverty, with a tiny rich minority holding the majority of all wealth. Insure the middle class is small and powerless. Mix in rising expectations with too slow progress, and a lost war or declining power and respect for social/religious/political structures (like caste systems, the Catholic Church, or the King). Finally add a spark, and voila, we have a full on 'blood in the streets' revolution.

The French Revolution in 1789 and the Russian Revolution in 1917 follow the above pattern pretty closely. The mass of society willingly participated, because they had little to lose and everything to gain by overturning an established order that largely excluded them from power and confined them to a tenuous periphery.

Today in 2012 in America we can view Middle and Near Eastern revolutions on our flatscreens nightly. The Libyan dictatorship has fallen, along with Egypt and soon to follow Syria. Iraq and Afghanistan are boiling under the surface, and are likely to erupt once the American military presence has withdrawn. Certainly these world events are cause for grave concern, but my focus is drawn to a much closer arena...America.

The civil rights struggles and riots in the late 50's and 60's were nothing less than a partially successful revolution. An oppressed underclass (African-Americans) rebelled at the second class citizenship that they had endured since the slaves were freed in 1865. "The long, hot summer," was something Americans heard a lot about that as the summer months approached in 1968, and it filled them with dread. By 1968, just the word "summer" was conjuring not just beaches and vacations and re-runs on TV, but also what were almost universally known as "race riots," events that today, with more circumspection, we call "urban rebellions." Large swaths of Los Angeles were devastated in summer 1965; much of Newark and Detroit (and Buffalo, and Milwaukee, and Minneapolis) went up in flames in summer 1967. By the mid-70's, however, they had largely petered out.

Why did the civil unrest end abruptly? Answer: They were paid off!

The Nanny State

America of 2012 is a semi-socialist country where over 48.5% of all households contain at least one person who receives some form of government aid. The social and economic safety net has reached an extent where our national deficit (including monies promised in the future), is estimated at $100 Trillion dollars, or over $300,000 per American citizen!

Many complain about the bloated government-sponsored entitlement programs, but few consider the relevance of the timing of their creation. Social Security was rolled out during the Great Depression. The Food Stamp program was introduced in 1964, as was the lesser known Job Corps (free trade school education for poor, urban youth). Welfare too was dramatically expanded in this decade, and the era of the "government cheese" stories were born.

One way to look at the expanding social and economic programs above is to say they were merely responses by a receptive government to a petitioning electorate. Another, less naive way to explain these expensive programs, was that they were simply bribes paid to the restless underclass to cease their troublesome activities! Current precedents are Arab Kingdoms like Saudi Arabia pouring oil money into the streets to keep their populations docile and obedient. The USA did much the same in the 60's, and has only accelerated the process to our 2012 America where the government is always expected to be there when a citizen is hurting...like a good Nanny! And who would ever rebel against an entity that supplies food, housing, and the other basic needs of life?

Finally, the fiat paper dollar is the last refuge of a controlling American state. If you rebelled centuries ago, the King's head might end up in a basket, but your money was still good. Anyone in any country would've been all-to-happy to take your gold or silver coin, even if it had the face of a very dead sovereign upon it. Not so with the fiat paper dollar of 2012!

The paper dollar of 2012 is reliant solely on the 'good faith and credit of the USA'. That's it, brothers and sisters. No gold or silver is available to back these 'promises'. If you rebel against the government of the USA and win, then every dollar in your pocket instantly reverts to their inherent worth...zero! If you actually succeed in throwing out the bums, you become penniless. All your hardwork over all those years was for nothing more than to build a supply of greenbacks to feed your homeless campfire!

How's that devious method for keeping your slaves loyal and peaceful?

America 2050

The social program bribes are already falling short in America 2012. Social Security is admitting to projected future shortfalls. Unemployment is high and likely to remain so. The dollar is weak, and with further QE (Quantitive Easing, or money creation out of thin air) it must continue to grow weaker based on simple supply/demand economics. Eventually between now and 2050 the US dollar will ultimately fail. When that happens the social net bribe will fall to pieces. The poor will form the majority of the populace, with the very rich occupying the tip of the new economic pyramid. The middle class will be virtually erased, and their stabilizing social and political power dramatically weakened. The America of 2050 will be a second or third rate power, eternally on the verge or in actual blood-stained revolution.

Of course, there is one possibility to forestall this revolutionary state - military run or supported dictatorship. Shooting thousands of people does make quite an impression on rebels, at least for a while. However, we need look no further than an exploding Arab world to know the end results of playing that heavy card!

Rick

America 2050: What Will We Build? Part 4.

I am an historian, not a psychic. America in 2050 is just a nice round date. I believe that our destiny lies reliably in the past. If you want to know where we're going, we have to look at where we (and Western Europe) have been.

There are many articles on 'Fiat Money' and its history. I urge you to read them. I'm seeking brevity, not comprehensiveness.

Future Economy - The Death Of The Fiat Dollar

The Founding Father's of America disagreed on many things. The extent of federal vs. state power, slavery, taxation, the form or our republic, how to give the smaller states some voice without being unfair to large ones. However, there is one thing they all agreed upon. Silver and gold constituted money - and paper fiat currency did not.

Briefly, gold and silver have been valued as money by humans for over 5000 years of recorded history. Whenever governments have tried to get around precious and scarce gold and silver as money, disasters inevitably followed.

The Roman denarius, a coin the size of a modern nickel and made of pure silver, was accepted throughout the known world two millenia ago. As the Empire shrank geographically and the size and expense of government grew, the coin was secretly diluted by substituting base metals for silver. Toward the end of the Rome, the denarius had only a thin silver wash and was universally shunned in commerce.

Why did Rome destroy the denarius? Because they wanted money to spend without increasing taxation on the already overtaxed Roman citizens. So, they tried to produce more money without the inconvenience or political repercussions of increased taxation - or the bother of mining and refining more silver. They didn't have any other choice. Paper money wasn't to be invented for over five hundred years, rendering impossible the kind of instant digital and paper money creation we take for granted today.

No, the money magic act we see today had to wait until the Chinese invented paper money in about 806 A.D. Then, the Mongol Empire in the 13th Century used their power and influence to spread it around Asia and Eastern Europe like an STD. The citizens called it 'flying money', as the slightest breeze made it fly away. At first the paper money was backed by gold and silver and the economy expanded. Eventually, however, the government decided it needed more money without the bother of taxation, and the massive printing of notes began. Within two hundred years paper money had become worthless.

Flash forward to 2012. It's been nearly a century since the first modern paper fiat currency was printed in 1913. 'Fiat money' isn't some under-powered Italian car blocking the passing lane. It means that it's money and worth something solely because the US government says it worth something. It's no longer backed by gold or any other real asset. In the last one hundred years the paper dollar has lost 97% of its purchasing power! It's lost 72% just since 1972, when Nixon severed our last connection to the gold standard. The term inflation has been an unalterable part of our lexicon, and it seems axiomatic today that things are likely to cost more tommorrow than they did today.

In America 2050 our money will be very different. In 2012 we are nearing the endgame collapse of the fiat money lie. Our National Debt exceeds $100 Trillion dollars if you include all the money we owe as well as all the money promised in our ever growing "Nanny State" social net.

Prices will fall in deflation, as we have seen. History in Weimar Germany and Austria (as well as many others) tells us that inflation and hyperinflation will then follow closely behind. Paper fortunes will be wiped out overnight. The US money supply will continue to grow because like an addict's addiction, one fix followed by another and another, growing steadily larger to avoid painful withdrawal symptoms.

As prices rise and the middle class melts away like an ice cream cone in the hot sun, riots and unrest will occur. The US Government will be called upon to "do something". History tells us they will have the following options available to them:

1. Implement Price and Wage Controls -  Nixon tried this in the early 70's to combat stagflation. It was voluntary and an abject failure. History tells us when price controls are not enforced, they're ignored. When they are enforced with heavy fines or even jail and death sentences, they likewise fail because factories would rather close than sell their products for below market prices. Goods simply disappear from the shelves. Yes, the price is low and government controlled, but the products are nowhere to be found. In Austria in 1922-1923, a thriving black market cropped up selling anything you could want from sausages to work tools, at a marketedly higher price than the state-mandated one.

The "good" part about this idiotic non-market based strategy is that the government can claim they are actually doing something. It's just the speculators and the big companies who are evil - deflecting blame from them onto the companies struggling with rising raw material costs.

2. The other strategy is more effective, but much less popular. To stop runaway inflation by tightening the money supply and raising interest rates. Increased taxes on businesses and citizens, while slashing government entitlement programs follow. Paul Volcker in the 1980's used some of these methods effectively to recover from the excesses of the Carter years. However, he had a mouse-sized problem, and in 2012 America has a Godzilla-sized monster to handle!

This latter strategy will NOT be employed by any US government, at least not without a major revolution or crash - changing the very structure of our political structure and the "democratic process". At this terminal stage they have no choice but to continue with the former choice, and keep the money machine pumping.

In the America of 2050 many rich will have lost everything they had in paper stocks and dollar denominated assets. The Middle Class will be reduced to a butcher, baker, candlestick maker type form. A large poverty-level workforce and an unemployed underclass will be present, always on the edge of desperation and a never-ending source of political and social rebellion.

We will have a money supply grounded in gold, silver, and other sources of real wealth. The economy will be forced to contract as it has been artificially bloated with easy money and credit over many decades. Prices will become stable, but the standard of living could easily revert back to an 1850 level of sustainability.

America 2050. What Will We Build? Part 3.

I am an historian, not a psychic. America in 2050 is just a nice round date. I believe that our destiny lies reliably in the past. If you want to know where we're going, we have to look at where we (and Western Europe) have been.

Future Economy

The US economy is going through massive change. Manufacturing is no longer the province of the US as it was following WWII, when the US made products for a world looking to rebuild. We were owed by the world, and the US dollar's power and value was unquestioned. "Sound as a Dollar," was a common saying, and the speakers did so without the hint of a sarcastic smirk on their face.

In 2012 America unemployment is high, indeed, much higher than the US government manipulated low ball numbers of 9 or so percent. These number don't count those who've lost their unemployment benefits, who've given up after years of futile job searches, and the massive amount of underemployed. Yes, a job as a Walmart associate counts as a job at $22,000 per year. But it can't hope to replace the income that this now overqualified person earned at his previous employer. Cases of people accepting jobs at tiny fractions of their previous salaries are now commonplace. In these cases, despite the Obama Administration's claims, do not a true recovery make. Our Walmart worker has a job, but he's not buying the goods and services he once could afford. If he's lucky he's scraping by paycheck to paycheck, and not falling back on credit cards and other loans to make ends meet.

Today's America makes virtually nothing it consumes. Our economy is 4 times larger than Germany's, but Germany's share of global merchandise exports is actually higher than America's (9 percent vs. 8.5 percent) in 2009! The other key measure -- little known in popular discussions of manufacturing -- is export intensity, the ratio of a nation's exports to its total manufacturing sales. The global average export intensity is twice as high as that of the United States, which ranked 13th out of the 15 largest manufacturing countries in 2009, higher only than Russia and Brazil. Meanwhile, the leading EU countries had export intensities 2.5 times to 4 times higher than America's. Comparisons of the value of manufactured exports on a per capita basis are even more dramatic: they are higher in Spain ($3,700), Japan ($4,000), Canada ($4,600), and Germany ($11,200) than in the United States ($2,400).

China has become our merchant of choice. In fact, Walmart, the largest retailer in America, claims that 70% of all products they sell as made in China. As a result, China has now become the supplier of cheap manufactured goods to the US. In exchange we give them paper fiat dollars that are backed by nothing other than the "Good Faith and Credit of the USA". In the past they held those dollars in Chinese banks, effectively giving us their products for free. However, rumors abound now that they are quietly spending their hoard of paper dollars on natural resources, gold and silver, mines, real state - anything to divest themselves of a rapidly depreciating piece of green paper. The resulting dollars are dumped back into the US money supply, fueling inflation through basic supply/demand economics.

Of course, in this process the US surrendered it's status as the lender to the world to the largest debtor nation on Earth. We also dismantled the manufacturing base that won WWII and offered a middle class existenance to millions, in exchange for cheap coffee makers!

America 2050 - Economy

It's hard to find a precedent in the past for a nation that has risen as high and fallen as low as the USA must by 2050. I could look at the 18th and 19th English Empire and the shrunken corpse remaining after WWII, and get an weak idea of what the future may hold for America. Once the sun never set on the English Empire. They ruled the seas and were a commanding presence in any world political event. Today they are at best a third rate power excluded from the councils of the powerful. Their economy putters on, but growth of all kinds, population and economic remains static. Like Egypt, they find themselves eternally looking to the past for their source of glory. The USA will likely be in a similar, if not much worse state, in 2050. After all, the America Empire was the largest to date in power, wealth, and prestige, if not landmass. It's only reasonable to assume that her fall would break records as well.

The erosion of the middle class is likely to continue. Jobs working as a barista at Starbucks, or a retail clerk, will never pay the wages to build a middle class existence as heavy manfacturing once provided in post WWII America. Multigenerational family living will replace the nuclear family ideal, and renters will overwhelm buyers as the most economically feasible option. America of 2050 will resemble pre-WWII US infintely more closely than the post war boom version!

Already China is showing its economic, military, and political power around the globe. They're providing Europe with loan guarantees, buying mines and resources in South America and Asia, and pointedly warning American warships to behave themselves in the Taiwanese Straits. It appears we even need them for space exploration, as the Obama Administration announced that they need Chinese help to send a manned mission to Mars!

China is certainly a shoe-in for the next world Superpower. Other Asian nations such as India are sure to gain ascendance as well. America will confine itself to our shores and coastlines, and do our level best to avoid angering our Asian friends. Maintaining a bloated military policing the world is very, very expensive. By 2050, such an extravagance will seem an absurd to a struggling once-great power. Perhaps out of the profound darkness everywhere else, this anti-imperial reality will supply a renewed glimmer of hope that one day the descendants of the Founding Fathers may indeed create the 'City on a Hill' once envisioned by our Founding Fathers! A country that spreads its light by a silent, shining example, not through the miltary interventionist policies that have sought to control the world, but instead has only bankrupted our country!

Rick

America 2050. What Will We Build? Part 2.

I am an historian, not a psychic. America in 2050 is just a nice round date. I believe that our destiny lies reliably in the past. If you want to know where we're going, we have to look at where we (and Western Europe) have been.

Baby Boomers - The Big Elephant in the Room

80 million Baby Boomers are starting to retire. Born between 1945- to the mid-1960's, they are a major part of our consuming economy. They have invested in stocks, started businesses, were famous for outrageous work ethnics, and paid taxes - a lot of taxes.

The problem now is they're retiring and expecting all the dollars that America has promised them for Social Security, Medicare, and other programs. Born in 1961, I receive my Social Security statement every few years. I always read them, but they're never quite real to me. I just can't imagine ever getting back any of the money they've taken from me for this program per se.

Of course, any money I might collect in the future isn't really my money coming back to me. Social Social Security, starting taxation in 1937, has been called one enormous pyramid-scheme, taking money from many and giving it back to a few. Today, about 16 people pay SS taxes for the benefits for 1 retired person. By the time the last Baby Boomer retires, the projected ration will be 2 people paying to support 1 retired Baby Boomer! All government BS aside, that means that SS taxes will have to either to increase by many times, benefits will be reduced or put off to further advanced ages, or money will be paid to retirees that will be so inflated as to be virtually worthless. Keep in mind that retirees are promised a certain amount of dollars per month, not what those dollars will actually buy! Therein lies the government's hole card.

The most likely result will in the future will be more of the same, to an extent. Benefits will be delayed and taxes will slowly rise. However, will future generations sacrifice 80-90% of their paychecks to support Baby Boomers?  If they're voters, I think not. The short fall will come from more money printing until the dollar becomes virtually worthless. Current deficit projections that include financial commitments the US Govt. has made to Baby Boomers and others reveal an astronomical figure of $100 Trillion dollars! That works out to $300,000 owed by each of the 325 million Americans today!

A Baby Boomer will get his $2500 monthly check, and buy one or two days worth of food with it. It's the only solution. The government keeps it word, and the younger taxpayers don't throw them out of office for impoverishing them. Every pyramid scheme has it's balloon popping moment. Bernie Madoff had the Great Recession starting in 2008, and America will have the Baby Boomers to burst the bubble of lying promises that our government has made.

I believe the America of 2050 will have fewer benefits or social programs available. Clearly our debt cannot continue to climb forever. Sooner or later a default, or more likely dollar creation will push us into Hyperinflation as it famously did for Weimar Germany, Austria, Hungary, Argentina, Iceland, and numerous other countries. People will work until death or sickness overcomes them, they will move in with their children, and the standard of living will be more meager than today.

The America of 2050 will undoubtedly still have a tiny amount of very wealthy living high in their guarded castles. But the destruction of the dollar, and the other social programs propping up a middle and the lower classes, will have been severely curtailed - taking the stabilizing influence of middle class working stiffs with it.

Rick

America 2050. What Will We Build? Part 1.

I am an historian, not a psychic. America in 2050 is just a nice round date. I believe that our destiny lies reliably in the past. If you want to know where we're going, we have to look at where we (and Western Europe) have been.

Normalcy Bias

Many people reading my articles and watching my Youtube videos at rickpyle1 sometimes email me or leave comments expressing their exasperation with their friends and family. They want to know how they can't see the economic disasters looming and the dramatic changes in American lives that will most certainly be a reality in 2050. The answer is the normalcy bias held by many of our fellow citizens.

The normalcy bias is an irrational and illogical belief which states that since in the lifetime of the individual nothing catastrophic or devastating has ever occured, then nothing profoundly negative will ever occur in the remainder of their life.

The prosperity enjoyed by post WWII America has been a time of prosperity unparalleled in the history of humanity. We have had recessions, foreign wars, and some political turmoil. However, millions have not been executed without trial in purges, our money has not become abruptly worthless, wars have not devastated our homeland, millions have not been held in concentration camps or died of hunger lying in street. Many other countries including Germany, Japan, Russia, and China cannot make such claims.

America 2050 will have no "get out of jail free card" from the horrors described above. Like all investor prospectus point out, "the past performance of a stock is no guarantee of future results".

Rick

And Obama Fiddled as USA/Rome Burned!

Well the super committee failed to come up with a lousy one trillion dollars in cuts over ten years. Keeping in mind that we already owe at least 15 trillion (and actually a lot more)!

Don't be fooled by the partisan bickering either. Neither Dems nor Repubs want a deal...and neither does Obama. They're all only interested in getting re-elected. The Republicans want to say they held the line on taxes, and the Democrats will say they kept all the health and other giveaways intact.

...And Obammy fiddles while USA/Rome burns!

The USA is not the first, but is arguably the longest true republican form of democracy in history. Did you ever ask yourself why? Because the inherent weakness of this form of government is the partisan bickering that inevitably occurs, followed by bankruptcy (give the people free stuff and they'll vote for you), and eventually chaos, civil war, economic collapse, leading to a dictatorship that rises and restores order. Of course, pesky things like individual freedoms quickly go by the wayside in the name of the restoration of law and order.

Don't say it can't happen here! Two years ago I wrote an article about how the USA could have its debt rating downgraded...and commenters said I was an alarmist nut! Well, we all know I wasn't crazy now, don't we?

Rick

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

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Un-Safe Deposit Boxes!

Most of us think that one of the safest places to store our valuables is in a safe deposit box in a bank. Who can blame anyone for thinking this - banks after all, have the best 24 hour security and alarm systems. However, recent tragedies such as the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center brought to light that a safe deposit box may not be the safest place to hide your cash! In both of these terrible tragedies, hundreds of people’s safe deposit boxes and their contents were destroyed irretrievably.

To add insult to injury, the contents of a safe deposit box are seldom insured. The only thing that can indemnify your belongings is, of course, your homeowners insurance policy. But, the caveat is - you are not supposed to be hiding cash in a safe deposit box, and thus, it is not insured. Sadly, many people found this out the hard way in the two tragedies mentioned above. The FDIC (or CDIC in Canada) only insures the deposits in accounts held in banks, but not the contents of safe deposit boxes!

With the current unprecedented global economic crisis, it is becoming obvious that more and more people are desperately searching for ways to safely hide their cash and valuables. What makes this even more tense is that banks are failing daily. A recent 2008 Pennsylvania Department of Revenue survey of 687 safe deposit boxes found that 172 had “cash or coins.”

More cautions against hiding your cash, gold, and silver  in a safe deposit box are:

• In the United States, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security could get a warrant to access your safe deposit box if the bank tips them off due to what they might perceive as “suspicious activity”, which could literally be anything, like too many regular visits. Other nations likely have similar legislation.
• The often abusive IRS can often freeze assets merely based on suspicion of probabilities, until the courts clear the accused.
• Creditors can seize your assets with your banks help.
• If you declare Chapter 7 Bankruptcy your deposit box assets can be confiscated.
• Various laws allow state governments to declare your safe box valuables "abandoned", permitting sale of your assets at an auction with proceeds going to the robber-state.
• Bank failures and/or "Bank Holidays" like in FDR's era can throw your safety deposit box into a gray area. Federal laws closing banks can put your wealth just beyond your reach when you need it most, during unstable economic, political, or social disasters.

Things to keep in mind when storing valuables in a safe deposit box:

• Read your homeowner’s insurance policy and if in doubt, get legal advice on any ambiguities.
• Read the safe deposit box contract thoroughly!
• Take photographs of all of your valuables and place them in waterproof plastic bags, even multiple layers to keep the elements from doing damage to them, should natural or man-made disaster strike. Bank vaults are normally designed to be fireproof, but not waterproof, so if you are in a flood prone area (like the Red River in the Dakotas) you might want to think about this.
• Do not store original copies of documents you require immediate access to, such as receipts, wills, funerary directives, etc.
• Find an alternative to hiding your valuables in a bank.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

The Lead (rhymes with) Head Survivalists!

It never fails. Everytime I read a blog on hyperinflation, economic collapse, gold and silver trading, or survival preparedness involving food and medicine, some moronic toad scralls a message boasting how his guns and lead is all he'll ever need. The implication, of course, is that when things get tough this armed grasshopper will just murder his way to food and any other necessity that he needs to survive! 

Leaving aside the obvious anti-social and immoral nature of the plans of such a marauder, I thought I'd just like to examine such an extreme course vs. more conventional preparedness methods from a purely objective viewpoint.

Firstly, lets look at a hyperinflationary economic crisis. Studying examples like Yugoslavia, Argentina, and the Weimar Republic we get a pretty clear picture. In all three of these instances, sporadic lawlessness did occur in cities resulting in food riots, theft, armed robbery, truck and car hijackings, and increased assaults and murder. However, while rising disorder definitely impacted the lives of the average citizen, police and military were usually available for deployment to restore order with a few days to several weeks. Armed criminals were quite often arrested or shot. Neighborhood watches supplemented the law enforcement in the absence or delayed response of the authorities. Curfews tended to dampen down crime, and shoot-on-site anti-looting laws made things quite hot for the sneak thief.

In the country, small communities also kept eyes out for strangers and warned out the shadier types. Of course, instances of robbery and violent crimes did occur in the remote communities as well. However, lingering bands of outlaws were rare in rural environments due to the difficulty of concealment in the small town environment. Reports of thieves being shot and killed were not infrequently reported as well, discouraging stand-out criminals.

In both these cases armed criminals did prey on the populace, but by no means did they get away with their activities for long. Indeed, most were usually caught or shot on a fairly regular basis, cutting down the number of extended crime sprees.

However, it is the breakdown of society event or "Mad Max" scenario, that the Lead-Heads really begin to salivate like rabid dogs. They theorize that in the absence of law and order theirs guns and ammo will be king, as they meerily roam about the countryside robbing, raping, and pillaging to their black-hearted content. My response to this assertion finds its roots in the Christian Bible, "those that live by the sword, die by the sword". Now, I'm not necessarily implying that God will strike these miscreants down. No, I'm just observing that a life of violent crime preying on a populace that is sporadically armed as well, is just a really high-risk way to make a living!

Vietnam Vets tell us that the average infantyman carried 100 rounds of M16 ammo. The reason they didn't carry more is that most fire fights ended before the soldier could fire more than one hundred rounds. Either the enemy was killed or fled, or the American soldier was dead or in retreat. I see no reason that the mathematical logic of guerilla combat in South East Asia should not be applicable to roving bands of rogues in post-apocalyptic America. They'll also never know just who or what type of resistance is waiting for them around the next copse of trees. Add a lack of medical care and antibiotics for the wounded law breakers to the equation, and death rates even from flesh wounds will inevitably prune back their numbers severly!

I recommend that proper preparedness include food, water, medicine, survival gear, gold and silver, as well as self-defense guns and ammo. If the key to the whole exercise is indeed SURVIVAL, however, I just suggest that the guns and ammo portion of the plan should get as little combat use as possible.

Rick

Junk Silver for the Apocalypse?

In the preparedness world there is a very vocal segment that believes that TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it) or SHTF (**it hits the fan) will happen any day now. Some see pandemics and plagues, others see Earth Axis Shifts, Mega Tsunamis, Super Volcano Eruptions, Giant Asteroid Impacts, Nuclear War, and even an avenging God as the key players in the extinction of human society. They hold these apocalyptic beliefs so fervently that all prepping actions they take are with the absolute worst case scenario in mind. As such, they talk endlessly about food, water, self defense, medicine and seeds, sarcastically dismissing precious metals like silver and gold as valueless shiny things that you "can't eat".

Now, I'm not saying that big disasters can't happen. The recent earthquake in Japan is just one reminder that we humans live at the mercy of our very geologically active planet, and not the reverse. However, in the last 6000 years of recorded human history mankind has suffered some pretty big kicks to the chops, but has always recovered eventually. We're not immortal, but we're pretty darned resilient. History has proven that much. As such, I always feel a little insulted when TEOTWAWKI extremists assume a human extinction event is not only inevitable, but likely to happen tomorrow or the following day at the latest! They further point out the absurdly obvious conclusion that silver and gold money while pretty handy and valued ever since man started building the first cities in the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley millennia ago, will most certainly be useless when billions are dead and starvation is universal. No kidding, really?!

As far as gold and silver being worthless in a complete and total apocalyptic "gotterdamerung" case, what knowledgeable person could disagree? In a true "Road Warrior" lawless state, food, water, seeds, guns and medicine will most certainly be king, not silver or gold pocket change. However, I like to examine all the percentages before I commit my scarce funds.

Historically, we've had numerous cases of rampant inflation and hyperinflation in the last 100 years of civilization. On the other hand, we've had zero mega tsunamis, a few widespread plagues since Ancient Rome fell, one dinosaur level asteroid extinction strike in the last 65 million years, one super volcano eruption 75,000 years ago, and zero axis shifts and nuclear wars. Statistically speaking, therefore, we should be a lot more worried about inflation and hyperinflation than any of the other known human-impacting events. Junk silver coins (pre-1965 USA dimes, quarters, halves) plainly won't help you if a Mount Everest-sized rock traveling 10 times faster than a speeding bullet splashes next to your oceanview villa, but during hyperinflationary times these shiny coins have saved many thousands in Weimar Germany, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Argentina, Iceland, and Zimbabwe, etc., when their paper fiat money crumbled to dust.

Conclusion: Most definitely have emergency food, water, seeds, guns and meds. In my mind, that all goes without saying. However, trust in gold and silver as the American dollar is openly and systematically undergoing devaluation leading to ultimate destruction by our so-called leaders. Inflation is already here, and hyperinflation is a vicious beast whose hot breath can already be felt breathing down our collective necks! First things first, I say!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

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SHTF Survival First Aid

Many accomplished survivalists are well prepared to defend themselves and their families with a variety of firearms and a cornucopia of ammunition. They also tend to have food, water, generators, and silver and gold for trading. However, one major area of survival is often neglected - Health/Medical/Dental/First Aid. This sector may often be ignored, but it's at least as important as self-defense and food.

I'd like to offer the following suggestions for your medical preparations:

• Adventure Medical Kit - a good first aid kit is crucial. Unfortunately, many of the kits on the market today are composed of substandard materials with gaping holes in important first aid categories. My favorite manufacturer is Adventure Medical for quality contents at an affordable price. They also include a rugged, water-proof pack that's easy to transport.

• Medical Info: The Adventure kit includes easy-to-use water-resistant First Aid instruction cards and A Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness & Travel Medicine. I recommend you purchase the SAS Survival Guide pocket guide. It's a complete survival guide with a good health section that's water-proof and fits in any pocket.

• Add ons: Den-Tek Tootache Kit and CELOX First Aid Temporary Traumatic Wound Treatment. A toothache when no dentist is available can be extremely debilitating. The Den-Tek kit allows anyone to quickly supply a pain-killing temporary filling. The Celox wound treatment causes quick clotting of bleeding wounds to prevent excessive bloodloss.

• Painkiller & Antibiotics - Over-the-counter painkillers like ibuprophen and Tylenol are must haves for any survival kit. Antibiotics can save a life in the case of a bacterial infection. If you have an understanding doctor you can get your prescriptions from him. If not, get some fish! The antibiotics in pet stores for fish are the same meds that are manufactured for human use. Buy The Pill Book to read more about what diseases each medication treats and recommended dosage regimes. Note: Never self-prescribe medication while there are doctors available to consult. Obey all State and Federal laws.

• Red Cross First Aid Course - Take a first aid class from the Red Cross. A little knowledge will go a long way in saving lives when the SHTF!

Rick
Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

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How to be Prepared for Hyperinflation!

You're part of the 1% of Americans who have the vision to see that hyperinflation is coming to America, most likely within the next few years. Believe me, you've already taken the most important step which any twelve stepper would second - you agree the US HAS A PROBLEM! Our country has become a SPEND-A-HOLIC!

The next steps you take could mean the difference literally between life and death for you and your family. My recommendations are as follows:

Firstly, take stock of your financial situation. What monies do you have available that you can put towards preparation. Include any non-precious metals collectibles you own (stamps, numismatic coins valuable due to rarity or condition, antique items, baseball cards, old comics etc.,). How much could you get for them if you sold them on eBay? Be realistic, please. Remember most collectibles took a serious value hit during the present recession. Sell these items ASAP. During hyperinflation the masses can't afford to eat properly. History tells us that during times of extreme national stress like economic collapse, items not related to basic survival revert to their inherent worth...nothing! Owning the first Superman comic book ever printed is cool, but a starving man won't trade a sandwich and a glass of clean water for it when the SHTF (..it hits the fan).

Secondly, divide the money into two groups on a 50-50% basis. Half the money should go for food & water, fuel, medicine, and self defense. The other half should go towards the purchase of junk silver coins (pre-1965 US dimes, quarters, and halves) and American Silver Eagles.

Long term storable survival foods like MRE's (meals ready to eat) and freeze dried foods made by Mountain House are the best. I like the MREdepot for Class C MRE's and you can find more info here on Mountain House foods. Water is the most important item of all, and it is very difficult to stock adequately. If you have a well, make sure you can still draw water if the electricity is out. Wilderness water filters and purification tablets are good to have as well. Camping fuels can be stored easily for cooking purposes. Keep over-the-counter pain killer pills well stocked, and web chatter says fish antibiotics are made by the same companies that make human antibiotics. I really can't say about this last point - but always obey the law. The defense part of the equation is necessary to defend your family should lawlessness breakout as prices soar and food becomes harder to get. A good selection of rifles, shotguns, and Glock pistols that you can shoot along with a healthy ammo supply is best.

Lastly, your remaining 50% should be spent building up a supply of silver for trading purposes. Both silver and gold have been used as money for 5000 years. In previous national hyperinflation experiences these precious metals have allowed owners to preserve their standard of living while others starved and froze. If you have a large amount of funds available for this purpose, you might want to buy American Gold Eagle one tenth of an ounce gold coins as well as silver. Keep the gold and silver in a safe and/or hidden away where you can get at them. Safe deposit boxes won't do you any good if the banks are closed by government mandate.

The above information is just the Reader's Digest version of what you need to know. See my other blog articles for more information and do your due diligence.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

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Gold or Silver for Survival Trading?

A financial disaster (severe hyperinflation, SHTF, TEOTWAWKI, or a complete US dollar collapse) has occurred. Things are finally improving, and law and order is restored to your area. People and businesses are buying and selling again. Some people are using barter, but carrying around a basket of tomatoes while looking for someone with eggs is tiring to say the least. What type of gold or silver would be best to have on hand at this point to make commerce easier?

Let's review junk silver (pre-1965 US coins), American Silver Eagles (ASE's), and Gold coins and their utility in a post-economic disaster trading environment. Junk silver coins like dimes, quarters, and halves can be thought of as singles, fives, and ten dollar bills respectively. An ASE is like a twenty and a ten dollar bill. A gold ounce coin is like a thousand dollar bill.

I believe junk silver coins and ASE's will have the most utility in trading due to their lower value. When you buy food and gas today you usually use lower denomination bills because it's easy for the business you're patronizing to make change. Imagine the look on a convenience store clerk's face if you paid for your twenty dollar purchase with a thousand dollar bill! Chances are he'd turn you away because he couldn't make change. I imagine the same thing would happen after a dollar collapse as well. If you're dead set on having some gold coins, then purchase the one-tenth of an ounce US gold coins. They demand a higher premium than one ounce coins, but at least they're more like a hundred dollar bill - large, but not too big to make change.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Preparing for Hyperinflation

Hyperinflation by definition is 50% or more of inflation per month! The US Dollar is an inherently worthless piece of paper, un-backed by gold, silver, oil, or any object of real value. The moves by the FED to devalue the dollar and destroy it's once lofty reputation for stability are foolish and possibly traitorous. Many citizens of this once great nation are asking themselves what they can do to prepare for the inevitable decline and fall of the US Dollar. I recommend the following list of preparations:

1. Food & Water - Store a least a few months of food and water for your family. Survival food like Meals-Ready-To-Eat (MRE's) and dehydrated foods by Mountain House are ideal. They keep for years and require little cooking preparation.During periods of hyperinflation food and water disruptions will occur, and periodic lawlessness, riots etc., will disrupt transportation of vital foodstuffs. Supermarkets will run out of various foods, and prices will soar. A supply of food and water will keep you and your family off the streets during times of violence.

2. Medicine - Keep a supply of over-the-counter painkillers in stock and a few months supply of any vital drugs you take. If you can find a friendly doctor, get him to prescribe some emergency antibiotics. If not, I've heard of people who buy antibiotics for fish which are commonly available at pet stores and in pet catalogs. I can't say personally, but the scuttlebutt is that the same factories that make "fish antibiotics" also make drugs for humans as well. Do your own research and obey all US laws is the best advice I can give here.

3. Self Defence - If you're an anti-gun pacifist skip this part and pray to whatever god or gods you believe in. Everyone else, buy rifles, shotguns, and Glock handguns with ammo and learn to shoot them. During hyperinflation law and order can break down, at least temporarily. You can't count on the police or 911.

4. Buy physical silver and gold and store it safely at home where you can get at it easily. Safety deposit boxes can be robbed, expropriated by a hostile government, or made unavailable by "bank holidays". Pre-1965 US dimes, quarters, and halves are 90% silver and were once used as real money in the US. American Silver Eagles are also good to have as a trading resource. They are minted by the US Government and are official currency, and contain one ounce of pure silver. APMEX and Ebay are good sources for both types of coins.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Idiots Collecting State Quarters!

I recently heard that about 160 million misguided Americans have wasted their time and money collecting the completely worthless so-called "state quarters"!

It is my hope that this article will enlighten the readers to realize their mistake in purchasing the US State Quarters, and invest their scarce monetary resources instead in an infinitely wiser capacity.

Now, I don't have a problem with some grandmother buying a map of the US with places for each of the 50 quarters. Heck, that sounds like a good geography lesson for some grandkid for about $30. No, my problem lies with the stacks of bricks that amateur "collectors" are buying in some misguided attempt at making an investment for the future.

There are only 2 factors that increase the value of coins over a period of years, and the state quarter possesses NEITHER of these qualities.

1. The coins should be made from precious metals like gold or silver. The state quarter like all quarters made for circulation since 1965 are made from 92% copper and 8% nickel, or worthless base metals. Yes, the "proof" versions do indeed contain 90% silver, but are so severely overpriced that realizing any future profit from them is highly unlikely.

2. The coins must be rare. To date there have been $34 billion worth of these quarters minted for circulation, making them one of the highest minted coins in the history of the world! A thousand years from now archaeologists will be throwing these things away as ubiquitous and bothersome relics, more closely akin to beer flip tabs than valuable relics!

What should you do if you have a hoard of these valueless slugs? Either pay your utility, grocery, or tolls with them, or go to your neighborhood bank and exchange these cheap con items in for paper folding money ASAP. Then buy as much 90% junk silver coins dating 1964 and prior (dimes, quarters, halves) as you can. Check out www.coinflation.com to see the going rate prices for these coins based on the value per ounce of silver. These coins are made from 90% valuable silver, and after the infamous Great Melt of 1980 there are no more than a total of $500 million (face value) still in existence today (compare that with $34 billion in state quarters alone that are loitering about the country at this moment)!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.


Rick

How to ID a Junk Silver Coin

Finding out whether your US coin is 90% silver or not is easy.

1. The first test is to check the date. If your dime, quarter, or half dollar is dated prior to 1965 your coin is 90% silver.

2. Another test is check the reeded edges for the "copper/nickel sandwich". If you see a band of copper around your coin that means it's made of about 92% copper sandwiched in by 8% nickel. Be careful! You have a fake zombie coin on your hands!

On the other hand, if the reeded edges are all silver colored, then you're 90% silver and all good!

3. If you got good ears and a lot of patience, you can try the "ring test". A silver coin when hit makes a clear ringing sound, while base coins make more of a short plink. Sometimes it worked for me, but most often I just ended up dropping the coins all over the floor!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies:

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Best Places to Buy Survival Gold & Silver!

There are many pitfalls to face when deciding what and where to buy your silver and gold for investment or survival purposes. It's easy to fall prey to fast-talking sales people and radio, tv, and internet hustlers. Based on my personal buying experiences, and thousands of hours spent researching the topic, I can offer some easy and quick advice to avoid getting cheated out of your valuable precious metal funds.

1. Gainesville Coins www.gainesvillecoins.com
The National Inflation Association (NIA) http://inflation.us/ has rated this vendor number #1 for bullion sales. I've bought gold and silver American Eagles from them by wire at very competitive prices and received a flawless product promptly. Rick's Recommendation: Stick with the Gold and Silver American Eagle coins. Avoid foreign coins like the plague. Americans don't like foreign languages and the precious metal content isn't always indicated.

2. APMEX APMEX Gold and Silver
I like APMEX for their "junk silver" pre-1965 90% silver coin selection. Rick's Recommendation: Stock up on the 90% junk silver. Avoid the 40% clads, war nickels, and proof sets. Competitive prices and good products.

3. Ebay www.ebay.com
What can I say that hasn't already been said? You can get some deals here on junk silver and gold & silver bullion if you're willing to invest the time in locating auctions and being disciplined about your bidding. Make sure to check the seller's rating and look for 100% positive responses whenever possible. Rick's Recommendation: Use the Coinflation.com silver and gold calculator to determine how much you should bid on bullion and junk coins and stick to your guns.

BEWARE: Hyped companies like Goldline International www.goldline.com are targeted to those new to silver and gold purchasing, as well as those who fear another government gold confiscation as happened in 1933. Sales people encourage customers to buy foreign gold coins as "collector items" at prices that are substantially higher than other online competitors. All those radio, TV, and internet ads cost a bundle, and the company's pricing seems to reflect these inflated costs.
Rick's Recommendation: Steer clear of all foreign and collector's coins. They're just code words for spending a lot of money for less precious metal and/or coins that will be difficult to trade. The same thing goes for brilliant uncirculated BU coins, proof sets, first strikes etc. Unfortunately, the Goldline website seems to cater to all these questionable investments to the virtual exclusion of production gold and silver American Eagles.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

Note: I own gold and silver coins purchased from Gainesville, APMEX, and Ebay. My article is based on my purchasing experiences, and your mileage may vary. The bottom line is DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND DUE DILIGENCE BEFORE BUYING ANY GOLD AND SILVER! Do NOT just take my word, or the word of anyone else, as Gospel when making any investment decision.

Why I Hate the War...Nickel!

Why I Hate the War Nickel...let me count the ways!

1. APMEX wants to charge me $21 to buy 20 of you, but will pay me only $16 if I want to sell them back! That kind of depreciation makes me want to drive an expensive sportscar off a dealership lot as a superior investment!

2. You're the ugliest coin on the planet!

3. You perpetuate the stereotype that a nickel might be worth something!

4. You're made from 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese. What the heck is manganese?

5. OK. You helped beat the Nazis and the Japanese by giving up your nickel content for the war effort. But, what have you done lately for the US?

6. People talk about your silver melt price. What crap! No refinery would have them even though it is currently legal to melt these silver nickels! The extra energy costs because of the strange alloy means refineries would rather have 90%, 80%, or even 40% coins any day before touching the old war nickel.

7. Some 1942 nickels have silver in them and some don't! What?! No, I don't want to look at the reverse and look for the extra big mint mark above Jeff's Monticello!

8. Did I mention you're ugly...and your Momma is fat?!

9. & 10. This one is worth two because it irritates me soooo much. I can't tell you how many times I've read some post on a survival site about some knucklehead who got himself a real deal way below the spot silver price by purchasing these coin abominations. Look cheese-head, you get what you pay for! Heck, they should've been paying you to hall these ugly sons of an unknown father and a morally lax mother away to the nearest landfill!

The War Nickel has, and always will, occupy the lowest rung of the silver coin ladder. In a real apocalyptic emergency you will NEVER convince a non-collector that these blackish coins have silver in them. Besides, they're called...a NICKEL! Most people think they have...NICKEL in them!

My advice? Open up your wallet and buy some 90% junk silver dimes, quarters, halves, dated pre-1965 in the USA, and you might actually be able to trade in the future.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

Silver After the Apocalypse

So, the Apocalypse is finally over and things have settled down. The last of the brain-eating zombie packs have been put down, and local law enforcement has been restored. Now what do you use for trading? Chickens, unschucked corn, bales of hay? No, those commodities are bulky, a royal pain. and just not practical. Instead, let's try silver and gold.

Silver & gold have been a medium of currency used in trading societies for 6000 years. The types you're most likely to see coin-wise are the following: Pre-1965 US dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars, American Silver Eagles, and weird, alien items called silver rounds.

Most Americans are blissfully unaware about the state of decay of their once great coinage. After a return to a more primitive trading state, you're going to have to educate your new trading partners. If you follow my primer it will be easy. Just say, "look, Sparky. All US dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars minted before 1965 are 90% silver. Anything else is crap (yes, I'm aware of the Kennedy clads and war nickels...and I hold to my statement). American Silver Eagles (ASE's) have Lady Liberty on front, and the Seal of the USA on the reverse. More importantly, they say on the back 1 oz Fine Silver - One Dollar. They were certified and minted by the US government and are and will in the future be reliable trade coins.

Silver rounds I saved for last. To be fair they contain one troy ounce of silver as well as the ASE's. However, my problem is that they are minted from a wide variety of private companies you're ernstwhile trading buddy has probably never heard of, and there are literally hundreds of versions of these things. Heck, I saw one with freaking Santa Claus on it! Are they serious? How in the heck are you going to convince some poor, uneducated slob that he should substitute "In God We Trust" with jolly old Saint Nick?!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick