 |
 |
|
|
||
 |
wise investments |
|
|
|
Download a PDF of the card here: Text of the Card:After the massive bank bailouts in 2008, some “wise investments” would be appropriate. It appears that the U.S. dollar may soon collapse, thanks to the Wall Street sellout, the swindles of the housing bubble, a fiat currency, our financial overextension in costly foreign wars, and the fact that the U.S. economy, based mostly on “service, entertainment and ideas,” now produces almost nothing of any real value. We were once the world’s wealthiest nation and leading industrial power, now we’re the largest deadbeat borrower of money, dependent on China and other lenders to prop up our economy. This won’t last forever, these lenders will ask for repayment, at which point our government will likely play the only card it has up its sleeve (besides pre-emptive nuclear war): printing up a LOT more money to pay it off. This would cause hyperinflation and the USD will be worth just pennies on the current dollar. The fat-cats taking bailouts now are on their lifeboats, while the rest of us are stuck on the Titanic. Our gutless politicians are their partners in crime, helping them to safety while leaving us to swim. There are grave and unprecedented problems facing our country in the near future, and considering the government’s incompetent, backwards (and iron-fisted) response with smaller-scale disasters like Katrina, Iraq, and 9/11, it would be naive to think that they “have everything under control” or that they even have our best interests in mind. Therefore, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by preparing ourselves and making wise investments for whatever may come. We won’t hear about a forthcoming collapse on the evening news; the government might face a revolution if people became alarmed, so they will uphold the “everything is fine” myth as long as they can get people to keep believing it. In a collapse, everything would change, in ways few of us have imagined: the majority of us could lose our jobs, with millions more formerly “middle-class” people also losing their homes. Oil may stop flowing to refineries, and if shipping were disrupted there would be rampant food shortages (there’s only a few days’ supply of food at the grocery store). Municipal bankruptcies would cause problems with necessities like water, garbage, and sewer service, there’d probably be electrical blackouts, and everyday goods would stop showing up at stores. You can imagine the civil unrest that this might cause because so few people are prepared for this scenario...so please don’t get caught with your pants down, act now. Life in years to come may not be the same life we enjoy today, at least in a material sense, but it can be a lot more rewarding than the work/shop/TV/sleep/die life that most of us now lead. The key to weathering the storm lies in joining together in closer-knit groups of family and community; the solutions will not be coming from the top-down, they will be happening from the ground-up...and that is empowering. This is a friendly nudge imploring you to take stock of what you have, imagine the worst-case scenarios, and learn how you can come out with an advantage no matter what the future holds. All of the things I suggest are things that you can probably use anyway, and most make good common sense. Keep in mind that your money could become worthless, and ponder what a tragedy that would be. If you’re hungry and there’s no electricity, your priorities will change; you might gladly trade your iPhone or flatscreen for a few potatoes. I hope it never comes to that, but please don’t consider it an impossibility, either. Try to stay positive and find strength in your family and community. Things like garden seeds, educational books and stores of food are absolutely essential, and being able to catch/store/filter water will be critical to the survival of many. Knowing a trade and having the necessary tools will be very helpful (unless you enjoy farm labor). Owning an acre or two allows you to grow plenty of your own food, and better relationships with family and neighbors benefit everyone. Insulation and efficient appliances save you money now and allow you to live with much less energy later, while stockpiles of medicine and knowledge of natural remedies can keep many from suffering in the absence of our current healthcare system. Natural building is the way that things can be built in the future, using local, natural and recycled materials instead of concrete, chipboard and drywall. A good bicycle or biofuel setup will help you get around w/o gasoline, stocks of various everyday goods make great barter items in a cashless economy. A different world, but one more in tune with nature and full of fulfilling (and forgotten) experiences. What to Spend Your Last Thousand Dollars On? I’d recommend: seeds, bulk staple foods (dried beans, grains, oil, etc), useful books, a crank or solar LED lantern, a serious water filter, basic hand tools, a used bicycle, and bulk everyday goods. Not guns, gold or freeze-dried foods; none of those will get you very far. Besides, in a crisis, wild animals would soon be hunted to near extinction by our fellow Americans. Recommended Reading/ResourcesClick here for helpful books, videos, websites. Thanks for taking the time to read this, I wish you all the best and hope for the best for us all. |
 |
 |
