"The living will envy the dead", and "The informed will envy the ignorant". I agree, it seems highly unlikely this could last even another 5 years, let alone 25.
Its the haves against and destroying the have nots (and everything in between.) When is a full blown civil war starting? It feels like the majority in this country are on seditives, in denial and,or deflated …the rest are busy grifting, grabbing, and being immoral. I observe a lot of “I got mine, fuck you”.
I too, am watching everything collapse around us and I wonder why the majority of the people aren't running around like chicken little crying that the sky is falling.
I'm trying hard not to do that and I use my podcast once a week to express my anxieties as I watch the empire burn.
I have lost hope for it all and I'm just going to push to keep a roof over my head and food on the table until I can't anymore. I'm also continuing to work on my dual citizenship as a way to give myself a positive spin. Something positive to work on with a fuzzy deadline.
We don't know how much longer we have and that in itself is scary enough. I hope some of us will survive to pick up some of the pieces when the ashes of the U.S. empire stop falling.
You pretty much echo my thoughts, Terrance. I'm in my late 60s and expect to see a good chunk of the collapse. I started thinking about this decades ago. The signs were there, but unless you read a lot of science fiction and dystopian fiction, they were hard to see.
Back in the 90s, I gave us a century at most. I've gradually chipped away at that as things developed. I suspect we have maybe 15 years left as an advanced civilization, barring the miraculous. I think we're going to see a Civil War II in the US pretty soon. I suspect there will be another world war at any time. It will happen very quickly. Things are too volatile for there not to be one, and I hope don't live to see it. I live in a city that is a likely second strike target in a nuclear war. The general arc of events now compared to history indicate to me that we're in a moment far more dangerous than many understand.
We're gradually buying up canned vegetables and fruit as sales come up. Nonperishables. Things like that. I've been pointing out the shortages and signs to my wife. They're still subtle enough that most people won't pick up on them yet. We've taken certain other...precautions. As much as preppers think that running out to the rural areas is a solution, I don't think it's a secure as they think. We live in a small city in the Missouri Ozarks. That will do for us.
We're not leaving the US because we think that our kids and grandkids will need us.
Although I am working on a dual American/Canadian citizenship, it's going to take a couple of years for all of that to work its way through Canadian immigration.
Meanwhile, like you, I preparing for the worst by stocking up on non-perishables and other survival items.
I'm also reluctant to leave the U.S. My kids are mostly self-sufficient so I'm not too worried about them. I do have two I'm a little concerned with though. We'll see.
As for location, I live a couple hours south of D.C. so if they do start lobbing nukes, I am close enough to catch the fallout. If things get that bad, before they start firing, I plan to be very far north of here with my RV.
You and I are close in age and you're right. We'll be watching the end of the empire from our front porches someday in the next few short years. It would take a huge turn around to bring the U.S. back from the fiscal brink it's on right now and I don't see that happening in our lifetimes. Especially now with Trump taking us backward to the 19th century.
My biggest fear is another civil war. When that happens (and I have been to countries overseas that had experienced this), all of the rules get suspended. Chaos reigns and a lot of people die. As for another global war, I would argue that we're already there. This time, it just looks different because everyone thinks that a global conflict would look just like the two wars in the 20th century. The wars around the globe we're experiencing right now are expanding slowly so it's not dawning on people what's going on. Give it a couple more years at the most, and there will be more expansion of the current conflicts. I hope I'm wrong but I don't see Israel backing down anytime soon, and the eastern EU countries are frothing at the mouth to fight Russia. Africa is a hot mess that could also expand easily enough, and the U.S. is looking for any excuse to start a dustup with China, using someone else's military and U.S. hardware.
The signs are all there, if someone wants to look.
I'm more concerned with the recession that's coming over the next six to nine months. There's no longer any doubt. How bad that gets will determine my survival choices for next year and beyond. Stay safe out there. Things are going to get rough very soon.
To add to the speed of the collapse, which is largely being ignored, I'm noticing that select supermarket prices are jumping up, and for the first time, sections of the shelves are empty for several days at a time. Missing items reappear for a time, but the prices don't go down.
This issue may be due to a local distribution problem, but it has not occurred outside of natural disasters before. There is no news of this in the media, but people must notice it. Any day now, I expect a run on toilet paper for no apparent reason. In the absence of information, panic is a constant threat.
That’s been happening around here too. Things go away and no one that works in the store can say why. Toilet paper sautéed with butter and asparagus and served with a nice white wine can go a long way toward easing the pain.:)
The supply chains have been "optimized" so that they are perilously thin. Just enough, just in time, won't be when demand and distribution become more erratic.
The ultra capitalist optimizers have forgotten a critical aspect of inventories. As a buffer.
Well.. these problems are temporary and small compared to the big picture. There could never be enough inventory for that. Perhaps islands of self sustainability will develop. Minus the Chef Boyardee of course.
I am grateful to you, Michael, for speaking/writing the truth of what you are feeling and thinking. I pray that you find ways to stay on this side of the Great Divide so that those of us who need to see our own feelings and thoughts written down can be (oddly) reassured by the Truth you tell. Keep breathing, Brother - and GO OUTSIDE!!!!!
Not crossing the line just yet. I go to the park every morning to listen to birds, watch beavers and otters play in the creek, and listen to the sound of water tumbling over the rocks. Thanks for the encouragement.
>>> I’m not nearly the person I imagined I was.
Right there with ya Michael, if that's any consolation. We're in fugly mode from here on in...
Glad to know I’m not alone. :)
"The living will envy the dead", and "The informed will envy the ignorant". I agree, it seems highly unlikely this could last even another 5 years, let alone 25.
Its the haves against and destroying the have nots (and everything in between.) When is a full blown civil war starting? It feels like the majority in this country are on seditives, in denial and,or deflated …the rest are busy grifting, grabbing, and being immoral. I observe a lot of “I got mine, fuck you”.
I too, am watching everything collapse around us and I wonder why the majority of the people aren't running around like chicken little crying that the sky is falling.
I'm trying hard not to do that and I use my podcast once a week to express my anxieties as I watch the empire burn.
I have lost hope for it all and I'm just going to push to keep a roof over my head and food on the table until I can't anymore. I'm also continuing to work on my dual citizenship as a way to give myself a positive spin. Something positive to work on with a fuzzy deadline.
We don't know how much longer we have and that in itself is scary enough. I hope some of us will survive to pick up some of the pieces when the ashes of the U.S. empire stop falling.
You pretty much echo my thoughts, Terrance. I'm in my late 60s and expect to see a good chunk of the collapse. I started thinking about this decades ago. The signs were there, but unless you read a lot of science fiction and dystopian fiction, they were hard to see.
Back in the 90s, I gave us a century at most. I've gradually chipped away at that as things developed. I suspect we have maybe 15 years left as an advanced civilization, barring the miraculous. I think we're going to see a Civil War II in the US pretty soon. I suspect there will be another world war at any time. It will happen very quickly. Things are too volatile for there not to be one, and I hope don't live to see it. I live in a city that is a likely second strike target in a nuclear war. The general arc of events now compared to history indicate to me that we're in a moment far more dangerous than many understand.
We're gradually buying up canned vegetables and fruit as sales come up. Nonperishables. Things like that. I've been pointing out the shortages and signs to my wife. They're still subtle enough that most people won't pick up on them yet. We've taken certain other...precautions. As much as preppers think that running out to the rural areas is a solution, I don't think it's a secure as they think. We live in a small city in the Missouri Ozarks. That will do for us.
We're not leaving the US because we think that our kids and grandkids will need us.
Although I am working on a dual American/Canadian citizenship, it's going to take a couple of years for all of that to work its way through Canadian immigration.
Meanwhile, like you, I preparing for the worst by stocking up on non-perishables and other survival items.
I'm also reluctant to leave the U.S. My kids are mostly self-sufficient so I'm not too worried about them. I do have two I'm a little concerned with though. We'll see.
As for location, I live a couple hours south of D.C. so if they do start lobbing nukes, I am close enough to catch the fallout. If things get that bad, before they start firing, I plan to be very far north of here with my RV.
You and I are close in age and you're right. We'll be watching the end of the empire from our front porches someday in the next few short years. It would take a huge turn around to bring the U.S. back from the fiscal brink it's on right now and I don't see that happening in our lifetimes. Especially now with Trump taking us backward to the 19th century.
My biggest fear is another civil war. When that happens (and I have been to countries overseas that had experienced this), all of the rules get suspended. Chaos reigns and a lot of people die. As for another global war, I would argue that we're already there. This time, it just looks different because everyone thinks that a global conflict would look just like the two wars in the 20th century. The wars around the globe we're experiencing right now are expanding slowly so it's not dawning on people what's going on. Give it a couple more years at the most, and there will be more expansion of the current conflicts. I hope I'm wrong but I don't see Israel backing down anytime soon, and the eastern EU countries are frothing at the mouth to fight Russia. Africa is a hot mess that could also expand easily enough, and the U.S. is looking for any excuse to start a dustup with China, using someone else's military and U.S. hardware.
The signs are all there, if someone wants to look.
I'm more concerned with the recession that's coming over the next six to nine months. There's no longer any doubt. How bad that gets will determine my survival choices for next year and beyond. Stay safe out there. Things are going to get rough very soon.
To add to the speed of the collapse, which is largely being ignored, I'm noticing that select supermarket prices are jumping up, and for the first time, sections of the shelves are empty for several days at a time. Missing items reappear for a time, but the prices don't go down.
This issue may be due to a local distribution problem, but it has not occurred outside of natural disasters before. There is no news of this in the media, but people must notice it. Any day now, I expect a run on toilet paper for no apparent reason. In the absence of information, panic is a constant threat.
That’s been happening around here too. Things go away and no one that works in the store can say why. Toilet paper sautéed with butter and asparagus and served with a nice white wine can go a long way toward easing the pain.:)
Same here in SW MO.
The supply chains have been "optimized" so that they are perilously thin. Just enough, just in time, won't be when demand and distribution become more erratic.
The ultra capitalist optimizers have forgotten a critical aspect of inventories. As a buffer.
Well.. these problems are temporary and small compared to the big picture. There could never be enough inventory for that. Perhaps islands of self sustainability will develop. Minus the Chef Boyardee of course.
I am grateful to you, Michael, for speaking/writing the truth of what you are feeling and thinking. I pray that you find ways to stay on this side of the Great Divide so that those of us who need to see our own feelings and thoughts written down can be (oddly) reassured by the Truth you tell. Keep breathing, Brother - and GO OUTSIDE!!!!!
Not crossing the line just yet. I go to the park every morning to listen to birds, watch beavers and otters play in the creek, and listen to the sound of water tumbling over the rocks. Thanks for the encouragement.
I so love knowing that you enjoy being outside with the beasts!
Please give them all my Aloha!
I shall