Realcent.org

...will your opinion change about financial collapse/SHTF predictions?

I really thought after last Dec 21st that that would be that with this "end is near" mentality. If anything, what's being predicted for Sept 23/24 is even more catastrophic, and it's from so many different sources; CERN, the Shemitah, Jade Helm and so forth.

If nothing MAJOR happens, it'll only be a matter of months before some new SHTF scenario is manufactured, and frankly, I'm tired of it. Am I embracing the Nomalcy Bias? Not quite. I'll still stack and a few other common sense things, but I refuse to give credence to the "sky is falling" pov anymore.

it's easier to manipulate people if they can keep them in fear

The math is inevitable. The timing is not.

Plan for the future, however live for today. There will always be another crisis. Nothing wrong with prepping just don't obsess or let it control you. Leading up to Y2K my wife and I prepped to provide for a short term disruption of normalcy. We went about normal activity and tried to balance life. Y2K was a non event. Our preps were well used and we maintained our peace of mind throughout. IMO balance prepping with living and you will be better off than most of society if things get tough.

wheeler_dealer wrote:Plan for the future, however live for today. There will always be another crisis. Nothing wrong with prepping just don't obsess or let it control you. Leading up to Y2K my wife and I prepped to provide for a short term disruption of normalcy. We went about normal activity and tried to balance life. Y2K was a non event. Our preps were well used and we maintained our peace of mind throughout. IMO balance prepping with living and you will be better off than most of society if things get tough.

those are wise words.

Just saw a video on youtube where they talked about the percentage of money spent on different things during the hyperinflation in Weimar Germany. How about these numbers...

YEAR: 1912-1913
RENT: 30.2%
FOOD: 30.3%
HEATING & LIGHTING: 4.8%
OTHER: 34.7%

YEAR: 1923
RENT: 0.2%
FOOD: 91.6%
HEATING & LIGHTING: 3.6%
OTHER: 4.6%

The two numbers that really jump out to me are rent going down from 30.2% of expenses to just 0.2% and food going from 30.3% to a whopping 91.6%.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbUIlH0stSc

The title of the video is Preparing Americans for Hyperinflation.

68Camaro wrote:The math is inevitable. The timing is not.

Well, I gave it a month (and then some) beyond the predicted "doomsday" and pffft! The Chicken Little's of the world can find someone new to peddle their cataclysms to. This is NOT a repudiation of simple preparedness, emergency supplies and whatnot. That still makes sense.

68Camaro wrote:The math is inevitable. The timing is not.

Except the math is constantly being skewed. The debt clock gets paused, unemployment figures are not an accurate reflection of those out of work, etc. How can the math be any reliable indicator when the Feds use Common Core to calculate it?

A month? - wow, who said anything about anything being resolved for sure in a month? You'll see some pundits in blogs with definite days (end of 2015, end of 2016, mid 2017, etc). But no one that I recall on this forum has made such a proclamation with certainty. For 7 years I've been mentally assessing risk like a doomsday clock. It moves back and forth, but the most definite statement I've ever shared is my personal belief based on the rate of decline and general trends in history that I don't see this going past 2020, but even in that I realize there is a chance the balls could stay in the air for even a few more years after that. There have been a couple of potential tipping points over the past 8 years where, short of a major behind the scenes adjustment by TPTB, everything would have come crashing down, and when those signals appear I move to a greater state of alert because the risks are higher for that duration.

But no, the math is always right. The presentation of the math can be distorted and stretched and lied about, and that is what TPTB are doing to keep things going, but there is truth in real value, and there is an inherent ability in people to assess real value. Eventually enough of the population will wake up to the fact that (like the Emperor in the fairy tale) TPTB have no clothes (no matter what they say) and it will come crashing down. (Or earlier, if there is large-scale war or a non-economic catastrophe.)

I've seen so many doomsday predictions come and go in my life time, I no longer give any credence to those made to a specific date. But to the big picture, the Empire will fall, the ability of the planet to sustain the number of humanity growing will tip, a ball will drop, perhaps many.

So much wisdom in the above posts. It takes a long-term time frame to look at it all properly. Wheeler goes back to Y2K, 68Camaro to ''08 or thereabouts. The Native Americans (I like 1st Nation, as the describing words from Canada) are credited with saying you need to look at a situation with the next seven generations in mind. Add the entire planet to this concept and I believe such long term strategic planning should be humanitarian law. Part of our problem is most all people can't look beyond their next paycheck . . . that is if they are getting one.

Monitoring without obsessing. Staying aware or alert. Prepping but living. Hoping for the best while making allowances for the worst. All say the same thing. But God help us if we are using the Common Core to calculate it. I nor anyone else can tell you when the shat will hit the fan. It typically takes a couple to a few hundred years for an empire to fall. When a populations grow exponentially to the point of being more than their habitat can support, they tend to crash dramatically. No doubt there will be several water fall drops of humanities standard of living. Some short, some dramatic depending on the situation.

It is interesting to see how our govt. prepares for the civil unrest they expect to have to deal with when it happens. When it really gets bad, be rest assured they will be less concerned for the common folk than they will for maintaining as much of the status quo as can be salvaged. I mean, the corporate military political system we currently have (and the elite running it) will do all in it's (their) power to survive. Having worked in the offshore oil industry, I feel safe asking you for example, that if resources were stretched thin and it was a choice between saving say New Orleans or the Gulf Coast oil industry? You would know which it would be.

Communities becoming self-sufficient and self-reliant for human/planet sustaining needs, coming together and working together on a regional level is a good starting point for helping to assure they abide. And this is something that can be started and expanded regardless of the current economic or crisis situation.

How fortuitous it was to have stumbled across this just now so this is now edited to add this: http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~varanus/Everybody.html
Sums up a lot of reading in five paragraphs. I am very familiar with three of the authors listed (Brown, Heinberg and Diamond) but have yet to read any of the suggested save the one page by Nee, just now.

The quickest way to decimate a population, proven time and again throughout history... is disease. I have not the slightest doubt
that will occur again.

beauanderos wrote:The quickest way to decimate a population, proven time and again throughout history... is disease. I have not the slightest doubt
that will occur again.

This is exactly why I will never get the annual flu shot.

One year the TPTB may introduce a 3 or 4 month "poison" of some kind that kills all who got the shot.

Its the most insidious way to cull the herd.

IdahoCopper wrote:

beauanderos wrote:The quickest way to decimate a population, proven time and again throughout history... is disease. I have not the slightest doubt
that will occur again.

This is exactly why I will never get the annual flu shot.

One year the TPTB may introduce a 3 or 4 month "poison" of some kind that kills all who got the shot.

Its the most insidious way to cull the herd.

I think it more likely that an inoculation would prevent those whom "they" wanted to preserve from falling ill, as they let the rest fall by the wayside.
How hard would it be to have two different formulations of a vaccine?

Just to be clear, I wasn't saying that anyone on this site was expecting doom and gloom. RC is a rare oasis of common sense, as the posts above me show.

I was pointing solely to what seemed to be a confluence of specific predictions that centered on Sept 24th/25th. Hence the 4-6 week window I gave it. Of course there will always be doomsdayers who make fresh predictions when the calendar year turns, that's par for the course. But this seemed to be more concentrated, maybe even more so than the Mayan calendar Dec 21st nonsense.

beauanderos wrote:The quickest way to decimate a population, proven time and again throughout history... is disease. I have not the slightest doubt
that will occur again.

Both the edited addition to my initial post and I, agree with you Ray. I wash my hands about a dozen times from the start of to the end of a football practice/game day. Glad I am over another season.

coindood wrote:Just to be clear, I wasn't saying that anyone on this site was expecting doom and gloom. RC is a rare oasis of common sense, as the posts above me show. ...

Thanks for clarifying; I read a bit too much into your note. Not that you have to agree with anything, but your reply was gracious.

johnbrickner wrote:I've seen so many doomsday predictions come and go in my life time, I no longer give any credence to those made to a specific date. But to the big picture, the Empire will fall, the ability of the planet to sustain the number of humanity growing will tip, a ball will drop, perhaps many.

So much wisdom in the above posts. It takes a long-term time frame to look at it all properly. Wheeler goes back to Y2K, 68Camaro to ''08 or thereabouts. The Native Americans (I like 1st Nation, as the describing words from Canada) are credited with saying you need to look at a situation with the next seven generations in mind. Add the entire planet to this concept and I believe such long term strategic planning should be humanitarian law. Part of our problem is most all people can't look beyond their next paycheck . . . that is if they are getting one.

Monitoring without obsessing. Staying aware or alert. Prepping but living. Hoping for the best while making allowances for the worst. All say the same thing. But God help us if we are using the Common Core to calculate it. I nor anyone else can tell you when the shat will hit the fan. It typically takes a couple to a few hundred years for an empire to fall. When a populations grow exponentially to the point of being more than their habitat can support, they tend to crash dramatically. No doubt there will be several water fall drops of humanities standard of living. Some short, some dramatic depending on the situation.

It is interesting to see how our govt. prepares for the civil unrest they expect to have to deal with when it happens. When it really gets bad, be rest assured they will be less concerned for the common folk than they will for maintaining as much of the status quo as can be salvaged. I mean, the corporate military political system we currently have (and the elite running it) will do all in it's (their) power to survive. Having worked in the offshore oil industry, I feel safe asking you for example, that if resources were stretched thin and it was a choice between saving say New Orleans or the Gulf Coast oil industry? You would know which it would be.

Communities becoming self-sufficient and self-reliant for human/planet sustaining needs, coming together and working together on a regional level is a good starting point for helping to assure they abide. And this is something that can be started and expanded regardless of the current economic or crisis situation.

How fortuitous it was to have stumbled across this just now so this is now edited to add this: http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~varanus/Everybody.html
Sums up a lot of reading in five paragraphs. I am very familiar with three of the authors listed (Brown, Heinberg and Diamond) but have yet to read any of the suggested save the one page by Nee, just now.

John,
thanks for the link. EVERYONE should read it. I am thinking specifically of a couple of foodborne issues that people are, for the most part, unaware of. CAFO's confined area feeding operations, rely heavily on antibiotics in their feed lot ops... as a result bacteria are becoming resistant to it. MRSA and VRE are two instances of diseases becoming widespread that were never a problem before. Bugs are becoming superbugs, and ultimately, mankind will pay the price. Whether it be a pandemic virus introduced artificially from some group with an Agenda 21 perspective, or nature induced, the day will come when another Spanish flu raises its head, and sure as diarrhea you can bet that a flock of black swans will dive on the pile at that same time. I shudder to think of the fallout from an EMP, real and figurative. No power, core meltdowns worldwide of nuclear reactors when back up diesel generator coolant backup systems run out of fuel. Won't be a nice place to live in the aftermath, regardless of how well prepped you were. I'm old, have less than one fourth my expected life span remaining... but I feel sad for those who are younger with families.

So... given that the likelihood of an individual re-directing the global train of doom is near zero, what specific positive steps can an individual take to improve the odds of their family surviving a pandemic? (Apart from creating a self-sufficient bunker in the mountains supplied with 30 years of staples and becoming a hermit.)

I'm fishing for things that I haven't thought of already.

68Camaro wrote:So... given that the likelihood of an individual re-directing the global train of doom is near zero, what specific positive steps can an individual take to improve the odds of their family surviving a pandemic? (Apart from creating a self-sufficient bunker in the mountains supplied with 30 years of staples and becoming a hermit.)

I'm fishing for things that I haven't thought of already.

Walmart has boxes of surgical masks, they don't cost much. I bought 2 boxes, but I can't remember where I stored them.

IdahoCopper wrote:

68Camaro wrote:So... given that the likelihood of an individual re-directing the global train of doom is near zero, what specific positive steps can an individual take to improve the odds of their family surviving a pandemic? (Apart from creating a self-sufficient bunker in the mountains supplied with 30 years of staples and becoming a hermit.)

I'm fishing for things that I haven't thought of already.

Walmart has boxes of surgical masks, they don't cost much. I bought 2 boxes, but I can't remember where I stored them.

A couple years ago with the last scare, I picked up a case of latex gloves and a couple boxes of masks. If anything ever strikes, you'll want to have access (while in public) to some type
of portable 1:100 bleach container with which you could dip disposable wipes to disinfect any surfaces you are about to touch. ie grocery cart handles, door handles to buildings, your vehicles.
Remember that currency carries a lot of germs as well. Perhaps money laundering will become a good thing in the future? Maybe beef up your medicine cabinet and first aid kit (add some
syringes and drip lines and bags of saline... these expire and will need rotation). Any meds you might need try to stock up in advance. As they tell us constantly at work, the best preventative to
the spread of infection is CONSTANT washing of hands. Ultraviolet will still show germs glowing... so spend 40 to 60 seconds washing your hands. It's actually supposed to be a six step procedure.

Not sure if there is some way to beef up your air conditioning system with filters against anything airborne, in case you are confined to quarters.

68Camaro wrote:The math is inevitable. The timing is not.

THAT'S IT!!

right there....well spoke, nice wisdom R, n

johnbrickner wrote:I've seen so many doomsday predictions come and go in my life time, I no longer give any credence to those made to a specific date. But to the big picture, the Empire will fall, the ability of the planet to sustain the number of humanity growing will tip, a ball will drop, perhaps many.

So much wisdom in the above posts. It takes a long-term time frame to look at it all properly. Wheeler goes back to Y2K, 68Camaro to ''08 or thereabouts. The Native Americans (I like 1st Nation, as the describing words from Canada) are credited with saying you need to look at a situation with the next seven generations in mind. Add the entire planet to this concept and I believe such long term strategic planning should be humanitarian law. Part of our problem is most all people can't look beyond their next paycheck . . . that is if they are getting one.

Monitoring without obsessing. Staying aware or alert. Prepping but living. Hoping for the best while making allowances for the worst. All say the same thing. But God help us if we are using the Common Core to calculate it. I nor anyone else can tell you when the shat will hit the fan. It typically takes a couple to a few hundred years for an empire to fall. When a populations grow exponentially to the point of being more than their habitat can support, they tend to crash dramatically. No doubt there will be several water fall drops of humanities standard of living. Some short, some dramatic depending on the situation.

It is interesting to see how our govt. prepares for the civil unrest they expect to have to deal with when it happens. When it really gets bad, be rest assured they will be less concerned for the common folk than they will for maintaining as much of the status quo as can be salvaged. I mean, the corporate military political system we currently have (and the elite running it) will do all in it's (their) power to survive. Having worked in the offshore oil industry, I feel safe asking you for example, that if resources were stretched thin and it was a choice between saving say New Orleans or the Gulf Coast oil industry? You would know which it would be.

Communities becoming self-sufficient and self-reliant for human/planet sustaining needs, coming together and working together on a regional level is a good starting point for helping to assure they abide. And this is something that can be started and expanded regardless of the current economic or crisis situation.

How fortuitous it was to have stumbled across this just now so this is now edited to add this: http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~varanus/Everybody.html
Sums up a lot of reading in five paragraphs. I am very familiar with three of the authors listed (Brown, Heinberg and Diamond) but have yet to read any of the suggested save the one page by Nee, just now.

GOOD words Johnny B....wisdom. fondly, n

68Camaro wrote:So... given that the likelihood of an individual re-directing the global train of doom is near zero, what specific positive steps can an individual take to improve the odds of their family surviving a pandemic? (Apart from creating a self-sufficient bunker in the mountains supplied with 30 years of staples and becoming a hermit.)

I'm fishing for things that I haven't thought of already.

you know what I think is the best "prepper" (I loathe that word btw) show on TV is today? "The Walking Dead"...its is so MUCH more than just a "zombie apocalypse" show...in so many ways, its both a metaphor (Black Thursdays anyone?....you'll see some "zombies")
and mythology how to cant your thought processes......Your mind is your most powerful weapon, a firearm, or silver coin is only an extension of your mind AND soul....here's a few clips, may God be with you all, n.