How long do you all think the duct tape will hold?

[68Camaro]

OneBite - an excellent method of describing the thought process that many of us have gone through. If you were raised with love of country, one actually goes through the various stages of grief before arriving at the other side of this.

I ask mySelf simiilar things, and liken this to the latter stages of the typical Ponzi scheme (which this is) in which those closest to the scheme and who are most in the "know" do their best to prolong the scheme as long as possible - to both maximize profit as well as to ensure that they get theirs out before it all comes crashing down.

There may be those involved with this that (with both rose-colored glasses as well as grim determination to attempt to prove a prideful point gone wrong) may not have anything actually financially invested in this other than hubris. But the real powers behind this are in it for money, power, or both.

[Jonflyfish]

"I suppose it's possible. Maybe I am crazy. Paranoid. But so long as I'm setting aside something of value - even something that may one day be worth a quarter of its value today - aren't I doing more than the vast majority? I mean 43% of Americans have less than $10,000 saved for retirement. Americans!" I sit and stare at mySelf for a while and let that sink in. "Self, I could be wrong. But I'm going to be prepared even if I am wrong. This currency will spin apart some day, perhaps generations from now. If I prepare and train mine well enough - they will come out of it on the other side stronger. I hope I am wrong, Self. I love this country. I don't want to see her torn apart. But I don't want to wake up in the middle of it. I will prepare now for what I hope never to see."

OBAAT- That is quite poetic! It grabs the core fibers and grips tight. 43% have $10k and the median for all is approx $50k. Most will sadly become insolvent in a flash. Unfortunately, it won't matter if they use it all to buy preps or hold it all in fiat. Either way, it won't be enough. Sadly, central planners are counting on it. The duct tape will last just long enough to bring the masses to feed out of the hand and it has already started...

Cheers!

[68Camaro]

=8-O When Jon starts talking like I'm thinking then I know the future is not looking good...

[agmoose]

One Bite...........as others have said - poetic. Honest. Real.

I think many of us are like that, we are leading fairly normal lives in suburbia, but we see the train rollin down the tracks....so we're getting out of the way.

[IdahoCopper]

I left the big city in 2006. I am in my redoubt, Twin Falls, Idaho, no realized local need to leave. However the world news is getting pretty scary. The more I learn, the more inclined I am to sell ALL of it, buy a sailboat and just GET OUT of the USA.

My reasoning is that the USA is the "big Enchilada" when it comes to the TPTB and their plans. Overthrowing the USA is paramount to total domination. I know that if I wait too long, leaving will no longer be an option.

I know firsthand that a 20 or 30 year respite-to-death in Oceania is much better than being a USA chipped monkey, destined for burning in a FEMA camp.

[theo]

I suppose I understand the instinct to leave before things get bad, but it doesn't sound realistic to me.

1. You can settle in Belize or someplace similar, but how long will it be before the local government turns to oppressive or is taken over by a larger country. Also the U.S. will likely blamed (perhaps justifiably) for the crisis. Given that, how popular do think American expats will be with the locals?

2. You can go to sea, but if the storms don't get you the pirates will. Also anytime you go to a port for provisions you run the risk of the local government siezing your boat.

Things might be tough in the U.S. but at least here you will have the home field advantage.

[neilgin1]

I left the big city in 2006. I am in my redoubt, Twin Falls, Idaho, no realized local need to leave. However the world news is getting pretty scary. The more I learn, the more inclined I am to sell ALL of it, buy a sailboat and just GET OUT of the USA.

My reasoning is that the USA is the "big Enchilada" when it comes to the TPTB and their plans. Overthrowing the USA is paramount to total domination. I know that if I wait too long, leaving will no longer be an option.

I know firsthand that a 20 or 30 year respite-to-death in Oceania is much better than being a USA chipped monkey, destined for burning in a FEMA camp.

God love ya, Idaho...i'm in my redoubt too, in fact i'm getting ready to mow a hay field, not a finer way to spend the morning. What i write bears NO judgement on you, but i was born American, and i will die on this soil, whether in bed or field, it matters not.

John Mellencamp said it much better than me: "Small Town"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CVLVaBECuc&ob=av2e

Hank Williams Jr as well , said it better than i EVER could, "a Country Boy Can Survive"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4s0nzsU1Wg

and Josh Thompson says it pretty good too in "Way Out Here"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0sYnro_3Rc

so all them euro, and beltway one world commie, socialist, nazi fonks, that think its going smooth sailing just rolling up into this good green land, America, that good men have shed their blood from Valley Forge, Bastogne, Chongjin resevoir, Khe Shan, Helmand province, are going to be in for some tough sledding, if they think folk are just gonna roll over like a puppy wanting its belly scratched.

so as not to end this post on a down note, what gives any of us this git-n-go is what Kip Moore wrote about in "Somethin Bout a Truck"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YfNFR6gh2E

WE AINT LEAVING. Courage, brothers, neil

[IdahoCopper]

What we need is 20,000 ninjas to strike the 10,000 people in real control, and do them all in a 2 hour window, all around the world at the same time. That is likely the only way to wrest control from TPTB. After all, those families have been in the driver's seat for what, 500 years or more? Erase them down to the last newborn, and see what happens on the other side of that re-set.

I am not now, and have never have been a ninja. I do not know any ninjas, I advocate nothing, and I do nothing more than speculate within my right to free speech.

[Jonflyfish]

Twin Falls is a great place. I grew up nearby. However, I would never bug out far from there if I was currently living there. Lots of "spuds" (only the finest russets of course), wheat, oats, barley and an ungodly count of trout and elk. That's all I'd need.
Cheers!

[aaa30040]

I'm reading a good book about the Depression.

The Great Depression: A Diary, by Roth

It is the diary of a middle class lawyer about life in the Depression. I highly recommend it.

But I think our future is more like the last 20 years in Japan. Anyone know a similar book about Japan?

[beauanderos]

I'm reading a good book about the Depression.

The Great Depression: A Diary, by Roth

It is the diary of a middle class lawyer about life in the Depression. I highly recommend it.

But I think our future is more like the last 20 years in Japan. Anyone know a similar book about Japan?

"A Dialee," by Loth

[SilverDragon72]

What we need is 20,000 ninjas to strike the 10,000 people in real control, and do them all in a 2 hour window, all around the world at the same time. That is likely the only way to wrest control from TPTB. After all, those families have been in the driver's seat for what, 500 years or more? Erase them down to the last newborn, and see what happens on the other side of that re-set.

I am not now, and have never have been a ninja. I do not know any ninjas, I advocate nothing, and I do nothing more than speculate within my right to free speech.

HIIIYAAA!!!!! I'm a ninja!

[68Camaro]

That's two ninjas per btb. Seems like ninjas should be able to do better than that!

[Saabman]

Then again....if we built a rather large wooden beaver......

[Engineer]

Then again....if we built a rather large wooden beaver......

Beware of Canadians bearing gifts?

[neilgin1]

reading a pretty good book, "The Fourth Turning" (1997)

a review:
"I picked up a copy of "The Fourth Turning" because to refresh myself on the generational differences of donors. I was hoping to help a colleague wrestle with how to apply fundraising techniques with attention to these cohorts. Having read the authors' 13th Gen a few years ago, I knew this would be an erudite review. I got what I was looking for and much more! "The Fourth Turning" is actually a compelling look at human history, especially Western history since the middle of the fifteenth century!
Howe and Strauss have amazingly taken the most recent 20th century generations (GI, Silent, Boomer, Xer, and Millennial) and found corresponding generations for the last few hundred years. From this, they've developed a convincing rubric of generational archetypes-GIs and Millennials are the "Hero," Silents are the "Artist," Boomers are the "Prophet," and Xers are the "Nomad." Moreover, they've revisited the millennia old theory that time moves through seasons in a cyclical pattern, one that corresponds with the seasons of the year. The post-WWII era was our "High" or spring; the Consciousness Revolution was our "Awakening" or summer; the 80's and 90's was our "Unraveling" or fall; and we're currently headed for our "Crisis" or winter. They chose to label the seasons "turnings" and the time encompassing the four turnings as the "saecula," a label used by the ancients that roughly corresponds to a century.

With an amazing attention to detail, a scholarly eye to history, and a wonderfully readable writing style, Howe and Strauss show the interplay of the generational archetypes and the turnings. For example, they point to the similarities of the spiritual emphasis of the 1960s and 1970s with the Transcendentalists of the 1800s, the Great Awakening of the 1700s, and the Puritan Awakening of the 1600s, and the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s!

"The Fourth Turning" will definitely affect the way you view history as well as the events of today. Though written in 1997, they illustrate "highly unlikely" scenarios that might precipitate the coming Crisis such as: "A global terrorist group blows up an aircraft and announces it possesses portable nuclear weapons. The United States and its allies launch a preemptive strike. The terrorists threaten to retaliate against an American city..."!

While I don't know if we're currently into the Crisis or not, I do know that "The Fourth Turning" is a must read for anyone trying to raise money in today's economic environment. Not only will the savvy fundraiser ferret out ways to frame their case for the different generations, she will also see how different turnings may affect fundraising efforts. If we are indeed heading for a fourth turning, and Howe and Strauss make that highly believable, I think we in the nonprofit world are uniquely situated to help our cultures ride out this winter and successfully enter the spring.

Although full of grim warnings, "The Fourth Turning" is a hope-filled book well worth reading"

http://www.amazon.com/The-Fourth-Turnin ... 150&sr=8-1