Houston – We Have a Problem
June 13, 2011, Submitted by: Ken Tweet
Set the stage:
The ‘S’ has hit the fan. The dollar has collapsed and is now worth just 30% of what it could purchase just 6 months ago. The reasons for the collapse are not relevant any more. Most people don’t understand why it happened, and are now truly in dire straights. They are just trying to survive.
The DOW has dropped to 5,000 and gold is now $5,000 an ounce. Unemployment has soared to 35%, and those that are still working are sinking fast while food and energy prices skyrocket. Nearly all traditional investments have gone bust. Most people are in despair having lost what savings they had along with the value of their 401K retirement plans. The crash of 2008 is miniscule in comparison to what has just happened.
Many major cities have fallen into chaos. There aren’t enough police to hold back the rioting and roving gangs of desperate humans – many of whom were just ordinary blue collar working folks just 6 months ago. Now they are congregating in numbers in search of food, fuel, and supplies – just to stay alive and survive. Even some of those working in law enforcement within these large population centers are not showing up for work, being more concerned to secure their own families safety.
The government in a desperate attempt to thwart off the raging populace has begun rationing food supplies and are attempting to re-establish food supply distribution channels (most drivers have stopped hauling due to extraordinary fuel prices and the risk of being attacked for their haul). What supply chains remain into the city regions, are being attacked by organized groups and gangs, while the supplies themselves mostly do not make it to their destination.
You live within the urban sprawl of a major city region, and although not located within city limits, you are surrounded by many thousands of others who themselves are hurting badly while trying to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads.
Burglary is now blatant, even during the daytime. Groups of 5 or more will surge their way through an area or neighborhood and break through homes mostly without resistance, while residents fear for their lives and freely give up what supplies that they have.
As the various groups of thugs and gangs slice their way through the chaos and desperation, they organize and grow in numbers to larger and more sophisticated forces. The government has underestimated the threshold at which desperate people will do what they must to get what they need. It is out of control.
You are caught in an unimaginable horror. A horror not even conceivable in your mind just 6 months ago.
Does this sound like something that could only come from a novel? Do you think it is ridiculous to consider something like this actually occurring where you live?
Think again.
Yes, this is a doom-and-gloom scenario, purposely to make you think. It is human nature to be set in your ways and to assume that things will remain as they are now, at least within some reasonable variation, plus-or-minus…
While it is true that often times ‘things’ remain in a similar state (more or less), there are also times when abrupt change will occur after having reached a tipping point or threshold of some kind. If caught unaware or unprepared, these abrupt changes can hit you like a train.
Many people know in their gut that the economic situation within the US and some other countries of the world are teetering at their limits of debt service, having borrowed extraordinary sums to keep their systems going. Having read quite a lot of information from many different sources on this general topic during the past several years, and although I am not a financial or economic expert, I do know that despite what we hear from the mainstream, we are definitely at risk for some economic hardships beyond which we’ve ever experienced in our lives.
Things may not come to this, but then again, they may. Are you the type of person to stick your head in the sand? Or are you the type of person to take precautions and learn to adapt to an extreme situation.
This article offers no solutions, but instead is purposed with the hope of having you consider that things ‘could’ change, and change for the worse. The first step to recovery is admitting that there is a problem. And as heard from the crew of Apollo 13, ‘Houston, we have a problem…’
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This is exactly the type of nightmare that could occur at anytime and has throughout all of human history. People tend to forget the horrors of what happens when their secure little worlds go to the toilet. Humans become too relaxed and forget about the horrors of what happened before and allow it to happen again, and again, and again, and again. An everlasting cycle of not learning from the past and doomed to repeat it. A good kick in everyone’s complacency.
Anyone that thinks this story is not possible should look at many of the past events that people thought was not possible, like Fukushima for one. Everyone should consider being prepared for something like this, get ready, and be most grateful if something like this does not happen right away. Also be grateful that they have been made more ready for when something does happen similar to this, even in the future a few years down the road.
What everyone should realize is that this little story seems like a quite reasonable chance of happening, just look at the economy. This might not be the event, it could be Israel deciding now is the time. The Ring of Fire could finally build up enough stress to rip the West Coast with mega earthquakes. Anything could happen. Most everyone has insurance already for the car, home, life. What would be so wrong to have some additional insurance in preparing for the dangerous world we live in?
I like the insurance analogy. That is exactly what preparedness is about. You hope you never need it, but if you do, you’ve got the ‘insurance’. Defining the ‘insurance’ while analogous to survival preparedness is a long story though. There are basic insurance policies (so-to-speak), intermediate, and the ‘advanced’ policy. Your preparedness and skills will support you up to the point directly proportional to the magnitude of the disaster.
@ken; Oh, I love it. The insurance analogy. You so hit the nail on the head. I meet (online not IRL) so many people that whine about the cost of prepping, not realizing that the cost of prepping, while not exactly a low one time fee, is insurance on their lives at such a relatively low cost, that it make me want to scream. What! Spend $3000.00 on prepping, are you crazy? Now granted I don’t have 3 grand to throw away and neither does the average joe and jane. But these same people spend some thousands of dollars a year on home insurance, every year, hundreds to thousands on auto insurance, every year and yet have LED TVs in darn near every room in the house, a driveway full of late model cars, eat out 3-5 times a week….ad nauseum and yet they “can’t afford” to prep. They can’t afford to drop 2-3 grand on prep supplies and another few hundred every year to keep it up and add to it. Well said. The Ultimate Insurance Policy. Can you afford to not prepare? That is the question.
This is technically called “the normalcy bias.” 1923 Germany….. 1,000,000,000 German Marks became worth $1.00 US. Still got my grandfathers bills from those days back in the old country…
Again another eye opening article, nice scenario, yet the scenario is AKA the truth and is unfolding everyday. From what I’ve seen and heard the past few months, I’d say that we will be in some serious trouble by end of October. Just a word from myself… I work for a LARGE BANK in America, just two weeks ago we had the “Big Wigs” fly in from out of town and had an all staff meeting. So let’s just say it’s now mandatory to take unpaid hours off per work week and if not, they can and will “let you go”, losses up the “ying” and over 15 people have been layed off the past two weeks also. My strong advice, that I myself are taking, (PULL YOUR $$$ OUT OF THE BANK ASAP!!!). Looks like there’s another Bankruptcy on the horizon and fast….not trying to scare anyone but I have a little bit of insight….God Bless and Be safe..:-)
Thanks for the inside information. In today’s very high speed world of trading, things could go real bad, real fast. The point at which enough faith is lost in the system, it’s all over.
Doesn’t it always get you when companies lay off employees and then give their ceo and board of directors a hugh bonus! And then expect the remining employees to work twice as hard for the same or less amount of pay, or being told that they too would be layed off!
And the big bankers loan out money to foreign countries knowing that they could never pay it back with the huge interest rates they charge!
Have you seen any of those videos other sites have posted which shows looters (dozens of them) going into clothing stores and liquoir stores and grabbing and running out the door? Now just imagine what would happen if the shtf!
I have experienced the ‘bonus’ scenario that you describe. Often, these ‘exec’ types and CEO’s will cycle themselves through different companies, perhaps a year or two at each – while hacking away at company expenditures, all the while motivated to get a huge bonus themselves for doing so. The company stock goes up, because the bottom line improves – but the company suffers, the country suffers, when you look at the big picture what is going on. The middle class has been under attack for years. There is little or no regard or respect for borders, patriotism, or community. It’s all about GREED. Period. It’s killing us. The fat cats have gotten plenty fat, while the middle class have been stripped down. Problem is, most of the middle class have fallen for the big lie and are in debt up to their eyeballs – slaves to the very system they despise.
@Ken; What you say is true. I tried to warn people for 16 years now. They put the “debt handcuffs” and “slave chains” on themselves! I was laughed at and was told I was foolish for cashing out my 401k (2005), cashing out my retirement account (2007), buying gold, silver, multi-years supplies of food, guns, ammo, becoming a retiree farmer on 22 acres. I don’t owe any money, I have retirement money coming in, I have a paid for POS van, and a paid for home and land. I’m happy. Don’t worry, be happy! Now I can laugh at them but I don’t. It’s not funny, but it isn’t my fault!
Already happening! About six weeks ago, at 7:30 in the evening, wife and I were watching TV. Wife thought she saw a movement through the open bedroom door and went to investigate. there was an intruder sitting on the bed! “What are you doing here?” my wife asks. “Nothing.” says the intruder and keeping his head down and turned away from my wife departs through the door into the garden which was left open as it was a warm evening. Wife calls me but intruder was gone over the garden wall. Called police who claimed it was probably a junkie looking for quick cash. Luckily my wife saw something before this bozo pocketed her wedding rings on the bedside table.
Result. Movement detectors installed outside. Pickaxe handle parked behind my chair and wife firmly instructed to call me before investigating anything strange. Just hope the money spent on the alarms turns out to be a good investment.
I am only as strong as the group of humans is around me, and that group of humans is only as strong as I am.
I think if you take the majority of middle class people in this country and toss them into this situation they are going to spontaneously form bonds and communities.
Your scenario has strong undertones of isolation, which is a human phobia and common to many survivalists. I think you should check that, or at least be aware of it. Remember. As much as we celebrate the individual we weren’t able to fell wild beasts by working alone. When humans form a team there is nothing that can stop us on this planet except for mother nature. Even the greatest predators are rendered harmless. Remember this.
I have faith that if the shit does hit the fan, people will group together and watch each others backs. Our strength is not in having the foresight to well equip an individual but having a well organized and skilled group. It is in every bodies best interest to work together, and im sure there will be graphic, probably brutal examples to illustrate this.
Get to know your neighbors, be that person that knows the people around you. If you really consider that this scenario is a possibility, those same people might be the ones who guard you while you sleep.
Very true. Humans naturally congregate together. Leaders stand out (both types: good and bad and in-between) and people take sides. This is exemplified in the article when remarking how gangs will form, which themselves will organize further. On the ‘good’ side of things, success and survival will definitely depend upon working together. Unless you are truly well isolated and truly self sufficient within your own small unit or family far away from the chaos.
Yeah, but won’t there always be people who cannot take the pressure of a collapse and flip out and go bonkers and kill other people or themselves? Or if they can’t find food, kill people and eat them (see the movie “The Road”).
I forgot to add, many people are on some type of mediciation and without it would go nuts.
@ lone survivialist. On top of people losing their medications during chaos, Grandma and Grandpa are going to lose their oxygen and other breathing aids that they depend on. People are so dependant on modern society to live, IF and when it collapses there are probably going to be fatalities of 10% or higher during the first 2 weeks just from the cause of losing the conveniences that everyone depends on. This is why I cannot emphanize enough just how urgent it is that those who want to survive must be ready to not only deal with the everyday BS that plagues us, but also to be ready to some degree for the awful times of not having anything modern around for a long time if ever again.
A question to you (lone survivalist), don’t you and those around you feel this gnawing urgency of getting ready for something?
Big difference between the twenties hyperinflation, the thirties depression, the forties war and contemporary life. The western cities are completely dependent on provided energy in the form of fuel for vehicles and energy for cooking and heating homes.
Cooking fires were by kerosine, coal and wood.
My fathers family were hunter gatherers during the thirties depression i.e. grew there own food in the garden and shot rabbits for meat. (Rabbit shooting was done by horse and cart)Coal was “borrowed” from the large stockpile that the local power station burned.
My mothers family lived off their farm with no electricity.
These alternatives are not available to today’s modern communities. I doubt that in the city of four million where I live there would be more than 20,000 woodstoves.
Today’s communities are no longer the survival of the fittest – they are the society of the handout.
I would suggest there would be a large population die off very quickly.
(My grandfather handed out ten .22 slugs to each son. They were each expected to bring back ten or more rabbits).
I cashed in a small insuranse policy some time back and bought supplies with some of it, I was merely trading one kind of ins for another. That’s the way I see it. Like any insurance you don’t want to use it but you sure are happy to have coverage if you need it.
Hi all, when the Agentinian currency went bust, a nation was bought to its knees. Suddenly millions of people are left with worthless assets and prospects of no food. Rather than turn on each other , they turned to each other and began growing their own food on whatever land was available. Overnight the country turned itself around and as far as I am aware are now the largest exporters of organic veg anywhere in the world.These people triumphed in the face of adversity and survived.
There is an indian proverb which roughly says that once everything has been destroyed then you will find that money cannot be eaten!
Cree Indian Prophecy
Unfortunately, I believe that the apparent civility that you describe during the Argentinian currency collapse, would not be the case for much of America. Sad, but true. I have traveled quite a-lot during my previous career, and have witnessed an amazing amount of ignorance, selfishness, greed, and an attitude that it’s ‘all about me-me-me’. Sad.
Where do you get your information that Argentina has turned itself around? Because I read FerFal, he lives there and things are a total mess.
hear, hear.
Complacency is a big ingredient in every disaster, from an airplane crash to a world economy crash. Just don’t remain complacent. I also have used the insurance analogy in being prepared. When you compare the cost, it’s a lot cheaper to be prepared for this if you include the cost of home, health, auto, life etc. While it’s not good to obsess on what-if’s to the point of being sick, it is good to act. My motto is to do what I have control over and turn the rest over to the Lord.
@ Anonymous. It is a wonderful feeling to all work together, it is also an idealist thought that people will and have found to be quite false. Human beings have not evolved to the point of being deeply spiritual sharing working together species. If this was the case then there would not be the extreme class differences in most countries. If people were these work together wonderful beings then after these disasters like in Haiti they would not have these disaster camps and refuges dying from infection that could be cured with a little bit of antibiotics. These countries would not have these massacres by these butchers to unarmed civilians. When pushed people can be as viscous as chimpanzees or other animals, just look at the recent past as proof.
While it is an excellent idea to know who your neighbors are and those people are much more likely to guard your back, that same neighbor could turn against you. The approach that you are suggesting is the same ideal illusion feeling that many people feel when they “say” they have dozens of friends. That person will be stunned when they see those so called friends evaporate when you are to ask them for the barest of sacrifice. Try this experiment and see your so called friends that you think are going to watch your back disintegrate. Cynical you bet, realistic you bet.
It is crazy to depend on everyone that is going to band together and all sing together and form some sort of caring community after the true chaos begins. Maybe in a few hundred years people have developed into this, not now with one unlikely possible exception.
IF you can appeal to everyone’s selfish nature somehow that banding together is in “their” best interest then maybe at first you might have something with the banding together theory. Unfortunately as supplies dwindle people are going to form groups that feel that they deserve what is left more than the other groups.
Isolation may be the ONLY way to survive for you, your family, and those that mean something to you. I sure as hell would not want to be in a large city if everything breaks down. The movies ‘Escape from New York’ or ‘Escape from LA’ are probably very accurate depictions. Anonymous, I tell everyone this, you want to see what life is going to be like after the society collapses for any number of reasons watch ‘The Postman’ with Kevin Costner that was set in the year 2013. This movie is way more stark hard-core realism than fiction to what would REALLY happen after the “collapse”.
Anonymous, I highly suggest you look at New Orleans and try to imagine just how hideous it would have been IF the government never came to aid anyone. Just look at the deterioration that occurred just because the government was “late in response” and how the people in a so called civilized top rated economic country behaved. Try to depend solely on the goodwill of people as a survival plan is like driving around without car insurance that you could afford and having a multi-car crash and hoping that everyone will forgive you and let you go on your happy way. Not on this planet.
The news reflects the increase in general Civil unrest. When and If the Dollar goes it will be a match that was cast into a lake of gasoline; the country and most the world will probably see civil unrest on a scale in the USA not since the early civil war. I Fear for my country, its ability to survive. The article “Just in time technology” was a real eye opener. Imagine when everyone can’t get the things they need. Riots in McDonalds and fights on sub ways will seem more then childish when angry desperate mobs rampage stores and neighborhoods’ looking for food water and anything else they decide they want. I hope to never see that day…like a bad horror movie it will be a nightmare that many will live in and allot more will die from.
Be Prepared.
be informed,
Yes Katrina was disheartening but you have to take into consideration the demographic. I think the moral of that story is that you shouldn’t live around un-educated people who never learned to play with others.
I’m not saying depend on the generosity of others like your metaphor presents. Being a beggar is a terribly weak position. What im saying is cover your bases, so you aren’t a drag on the group you will find yourself in. But also realize that group you may have to sacrifice to join is also your greatest longer term asset.
Its like that old adage about being given a fish vs. learning to fish.
If you take your stockpile and bug out you are going to live as long as your stock pile lasts. If you group together with a diverse enough skill set you will survive indefinitely. It will also give you the greatest chance of living out a somewhat decent life. Imagine being in the woods, isolated, always in fear of your stockpile being stolen. Not ideal.
@Anonymous. I also like the old adage that there are safety in numbers, but you have to be able to trust those that are in those numbers. Like I have said that you will be amazed at those people that anyone has called “true” friends will evaporate at the slightest burden. To form a loyal group you have to appeal to most of those in the group to their own selfish nature and their own preseservation. If you watch the movie ‘The Postman’ this is exactly what happened, smaller groups found some sort of common interest and walled themselves off from other dangerous individuals.
The idea of hiding off is the wilderness will work for some individuals just like it worked for hundreds of years for many so called mountain men. The degree of the severity of what happens is what is going to determine this for many people. If for example society was to collapse because a deadly pathogen got loose it would extremely wise to isolate yourself the best possible way you could.
Let me ask you this, would not you personally consider going to some desserted island or some other far away place if for example some variant of the deadly Ebola or Lassa Fever viruses was infecting everyone? Lets say to add even more horror to this that the germ had a near 100% fatality rate and the way someone died was very painful and ugly at best. Would you and your family not at least try to isolate yourself somewhere to try to wait out this plague? The higher the density of people has always been the quicker some pathogen spreads and usually the stronger the variant of the germ. Case in point the bubonic plague, the black death during the middle ages in Europe. People that lived far away in the countryside had a much lower contraction rate and the strain was not quite as bad as the city.
I totally agree with you on attempting to cover all bases, but unfortunately with any survival motto people really tend not to prefer to even think about the worst case scenario issues in which they may have to do things that they have never considered. Isolation may well be the ONLY way you can survive in certain circumstances. Isolation is not at all a desirable option for most people, but may save you and your family in the very uncertain future. To be able to adapt to live through something horrible you have to first be willing to adapt.
Ok guys,
Gonna put it out there for you, check this out…the low down 101, here it goes… The bank (WF),the lawsuits since the year started 64, the loses, millions so far this year equating to the total loses in $$$ for entire 2010. The plan… outsourcing to the Philippines beg Oct 2011, Employees= pissed off…and during our informative meeting verbatim from the CEO’s ” yeah, we are doing a outsourcing test for a trial run to see how it goes” again, we as a corporation are experiencing loses and we need everyone to pull together and do their part”….”it costs the bank money to keep the lights on and the systems up and running”….they don’t care and have spent Millions this year lobbying against the Credit Card reform act, that in the long run hurts the American people and the banks pockets of it’s pitifully paid employees!! So sad, but true…I’ll keep you guys posted as the stinky brown stuff hits the fan..;-)
I see one point of this little story that I have been watching for a long time, the value of gold and the Dow Jones Index. Today at about 1:00 PM Mountain time the ratio between the DJIA and the price of gold is about 7.75. Last month it was in the 8.2 range. For the DJIA to be 5000 or less and gold to $5000 an ounce, an equal ratio, it would mean the value of the top 30 companies in this country would be in the cess pool rate. The SP 500 is already below the price of gold, with SP 500 companies at 1265 and gold at $1525 or so. Oh we are in such trouble and just like this story, practically no one is able to envision just how much further down the bottom truly is.
Great blog topic Ken. I was going to reply to this thread after reading the posts, but with the addition of the latest guest post that is in three parts, I am going to wait and read the 3 parts before commenting.
I can say that many people seem to have a bad case of wanting to believe in the innate goodness of man and a lack of real life experience. When the masses in urban centers are confronted with a real life survival scenario, I can assure you that it will not be a pretty picture and people who believe everyone will all pull together and they can depend on the benevolence of others will simply become victims.
More later.