note: edited/updated July 2019

Second post in a 4-parts series. Make sure you read yesterday’s post to more fully understand today’s post.

So how exactly do you identify who in a post-collapse is what type of person in today’s world?

Well, not real hard in some situations but it can be challenging and very tricky in others. So it is best to start with what type of person is now as to what they are likely to be when the stuff hits the fan.

Yes, this is generalizing people in broad categories; while in reality each person is different and unique.  Not all people may fit these generalized descriptions, but it is a starting place.  Here is a good start on identifying folks and what they look like today to know what they will look like in “grid-down”…

Sheep – This category will be the largest category of people, I am thinking upwards of 80%, maybe more, of all people. This is a pretty easy category to recognize now. Almost to a person those that will become sheep are the basic liberals and Democrats; anyone who is a big supporter of the government (that includes most Republicans and Conservatives). Obviously, anyone who currently receives government handouts will continue that mentality and expect to continue to receive those handouts…disaster or not. Also, this category will contain almost all of your neighbors, fellow church and community members. Virtually all academics (all grade levels, including college professors) and many doctors are in this category. Some people, such as doctors and academics, may start out thinking they are herding dogs or owner/masters, maybe even sheepdogs. But will soon be relegated to sheep status due to lack of survival skills and proper preparations. So don’t let current profession or academic status fool you.

The sheep are not a bad thing!  Sheep can be very productive after a disaster has hit because there are plenty of tasks and chores that need done; sheep are perfectly capable of performing work.  They can also perform supervisory responsibilities.  But do not expect the sheep to stand up on their own to defend themselves or others, for the most part it is simply beyond their capability. These “sheep” are your fellow citizens and probably family members as well. And….regardless…if you are a sheperd or sheepdog you have some responsibility to care for sheep.

Predators (wolves) – This is also a fairly large category of folks, probably somewhere in the 10% range. They are also likely to be easily recognized. They are low-lifes now and will be low-lifes post-disaster.  They are the criminals of today with rare exception. One notable exception will be someone who is otherwise a “sheep” in today’s world but sees the benefit of being a predator once it becomes clear that it gives them power.  There are far more male predators than female predators. But the true Alpha or Beta female predators are seriously dangerous and ruthless. Sexual predators abound…even dressed in Dockers. They try to leverage their resources to take advantage of people for physical gratification. However, should trickery not work they will resort to outright violence to get their sexual gratification and other needs met.

Herding Dogs – This is a somewhat tricky category due to their close resemblance to sheepdogs. This category represents about a 2 – 4% of the population.  Herding dogs will generally be Type A personalities but not strong leaders. They are more likely to be along the lines of a Beta male/females in today’s world. Many military, current and former, will probably fall into this category. Same would be true for law enforcement officers. Position in the food chain will not usually determine herding dog status or not. For instance, a deputy sheriff from a small county department is more likely to not be a herding dog, but a sheepdog. Whereas, LEOs from large police departments and state LEO agencies, or any all federal agencies, will almost certainly be herding dogs.

These folks attempt to sound noble and will probably be very convincing but their herding instincts are there and can be seen in their current daily jobs/activities. Those negative herding traits usually display themselves quickly when dissent is voiced or their authority is challenged. Herding dogs will not tolerate having their authority challenged, especially by anyone they see as a sheep. By default they do not like sheepdogs due to the sheepdogs’ closer relationship with and dedication to the sheep. The loyalty of sheepdogs is also seen as an inferior trait by herding dogs.

Herding dogs try and control sheepdogs by whatever current authority they have. Herding dogs respond to command authority in today’s world, readily accept being told what to do, and rarely (if ever) question authority. They will only feel secure and safe when they are in control of the situation and in control of others. A common way to identify a herding dog is to listen for, “Hey I don’t make the laws I just enforce them.” or “I was just following orders.” Both statements show intense weakness of character and lack of ethics.

SheepDogs – This can be a tricky category of folks to identify in today’s world. Sheepdogs are a very small percentage of today’s population; maybe less than 1%, maybe much less. Failing to recognize sheepdogs in today’s world is due mostly to two reasons; 1) many sheepdogs in today’s world are low-profile, you simply don’t see them act as a sheepdog, 2) some of today’s herding dogs are actually sheepdogs but that sheepdog characteristic won’t manifest itself until the “owner/master” of today disappears after grid-down. Some sheepdogs in today’s world are looked at by sheep as “extremists”, “nuts”, “kooks”, “tea party members” or similar labels. Some sheepdogs are seen as, and labeled as, “heroes.”

Liberals and Democrats in general hate the concept of sheepdogs because they embrace, and far prefer, herding dogs. Liberals, democrats, and republicans love sheep, they want everyone to be sheep with the exception of herding dogs (if they can control them). And yes, some liberals and Democrats, and most Republicans, see themselves in the roles of herding dogs and owner/masters; all Progressives do…99.999% of politicians do as well. And that is why they have a natural enmity towards sheepdogs.

Most sheepdogs will keep to themselves until they are needed. Not always, but normally, they are the person helping to change a tire on the side of the interstate, they are the person carrying groceries for an old lady, they are the ones helping mow an elderly neighbor’s grass or shoveling the snow off their walks. The reason I said “not always” is because predators will use those acts of apparent kindness and helpfulness as a tactic to engage potential prey (i.e. social engineering). The difference is a sheepdog does it because it is the right thing to do, a herding dog does it because he was trained, or told, to do it.  And a predator does it because it is a way to gain access to prey.

Owner/Masters – This is an easily identifiable group in today’s world. Mostly they are politicians, community leaders, media celebrities and heads of businesses (mostly large corporations). They tend to be rich and include all of the country’s elite old-money families, and most of the new-money families as well. However, they can also be low-level bureaucrats and mid-level government employees. These are people who currently have some authority and feel they are entitled to special treatment and especially being able to control others.

For the most part:

• They expect special treatment; most of the time they demand it.
• They are used to having their way, either through paying for it or intimidating for it.
• They feel that they are superior in intellect and capability to everyone else.
• They generally drive the fancy cars, live in expensive big house, and take extravagant vacations.
• They lust for power and money; and want as much of both as they can acquire.

With some exceptions doctors and academics will start out in this category but will soon find themselves lumped in with the sheep. Probably the largest identifiable group of people in today’s world that will become owner/masters are some military leaders, some law enforcement leadership, and most of all – politicians at the federal and state level. Many politicians at the local levels will be in the category but by a smaller relative percentage compared to federal and state politicians.

Generally, these folks already have a power base of one kind or another. They actively engage in expanding their existing power base any possible way they can…usually through money. One of the “groups” that are the most dangerous are unions, particularly unions that have been known for violence such as teamsters, miners, and pipe-fitters…to a lesser degree public employee and police.

Shepherds – This is the rarest of person in today’s life and especially after “grid-down” has occurred. They are a small fraction of 1% of the population Most people will be mainly concerned with survival and that means securing resources and power. Shepherds are not interested in either. They focus, almost exclusively, is and will be protection of a flock. There will be no desire to be exalted above the sheep, any indication to the contrary will indicate that you are actually dealing with an owner/master NOT a shepherd. Shepherds will recognize sheepdogs and appreciate them and be grateful for their support. Shepherds also are generally able to recognize herding dogs and the inherent danger they present. Shepherds most likely try to convert herding dogs into sheepdogs. They will probably be successful to some degree in this and exhibit great patience in this effort.

The archenemy of the shepherd is the owner/master. If a latent owner/master is a member of the shepherd’s flock they will probably do one of two things; 1) make a play to unseat the shepherd from their leadership position, 2) try to bring in outside influence or bargain with a neighboring owner/master to overthrow the shepherd.

Shepherds’ behaviors and action should never be confused with any form of cowardice. A shepherd will be ferocious in defending the flock and will do anything within moral and ethical bounds to do so. A shepherd who has been a sheepdog, especially a trained sheepdog, is especially competent and able to defend the flock. A shepherd must be cautious with their own ego and desires. Should a shepherd begin to place his own needs and wants above the welfare and needs of the flock they can quickly slip over into the category of owner/master. And they will likely turn into a very capable and brutal owner/master since the moral and ethical foundation will have been removed. Rare (extremely) will be the shepherd who converts to an owner/master.

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note: edited/updated July 2019

Have you ever given much thought to the type of people there will be after an emergency or disaster occurs?

I have, and better yet over the last 40 years through my work as a first responder I have seen them first hand. I’ve also worked with them.

And even better yet, have you ever thought much about what label to put on people after a “grid-down” event? Yup, right again, I have. And that is the point of this series of posts – What kind of people will there be after “grid-down.”

Maybe a more fair question would be…How people act now influences how they will act after grid-down?

Based on what I’ve seen firsthand I have put a lot of thought into this unique phenomena and how it might affect survival. I mean, come on, the biggest threat you will face after a “grid-down” will be violence. But violence will come from people. So you have to understand people to understand the violence part.

I believe the “types” of people will breakdown into a short list of categories:

• sheep,
• shepherds,
• predators (wolves),
• sheepdogs,
• owners/masters,
• herding dogs.

The trick is trying to figure out which category people fit into and who is the most dangerous. Based on that challenge I did a little reflection on my experience with emergencies and disasters and how people acted during them. Then I compared it back to what I knew of them before the emergency or disaster. That way I think we can make some general assumptions of what people are like now and project/guesstimate what kind of people they may become, or how they will act, after grid-down.

Let me describe what I think are the personality attributes of people after grid-down:

Sheep – These are the folks are easily identified, they are the folks who are basically lost, unprepared, and having no clue what to do.  Or they may be folks that are prepared in many ways but not prone to be leaders. Either way, they will be seeking assistance, direction, and leadership. They will start out benignly and humbly requesting help of any kind and will wait for someone to take care of them and their family. They will not be able to take care of themselves and will panic easily. They will also be easily manipulated and controlled. They will have a breaking point. But by then, most will be mostly useless (unless constantly led) and of little threat or danger. A small percentage of this group will become dangerous and must be considered as such in direct proportion to their capability to be so. Example: access to weapons. Their greatest weakness will be Normalcy Bias.  Many will be useful, they will be good people who just didn’t have it together in terms of preparedness…or unable to be leaders in their own right..  These sheep can become productive resources in the right group setting with strong and constant leadership.

Predators (wolves) – These folks are also easy to spot. They will typically be armed and demanding. They will prey on anyone that they can dominate or overwhelm by surprise, numbers, or superior power. They will have no scruples, morals, or ethical base. They will simply feel entitled to what others have that they themselves lack, or simply want. They will have no reservation to humiliate, hurt, maim, or kill. At first they will act fairly independently but will quickly form packs/tribes with a clear hierarchy that is strictly and violently enforced. Some wolves will have true predatory skills while others will be purely “posers” and “wannabes” trying to act the part. The later will be quickly crushed, and survivors probably assimilated, by the true predators. All predators will be dangerous regardless of their current weapon status. If lacking weapons they will use cunning, deception, and subterfuge to gain any weaponry they may need or want. Or lacking that level of finesse…they will simply take weaponry by any means available. For the most part their greatest weakness will be their Competency Bias. That will not be true for the upper level predators that will have skills, experience and intelligence. Hence, they will actually be competent…and deadly.

Sheepdogs – These are folks who will be prepared for emergencies and disasters. Although their level of preparedness will probably vary widely from minimal preparations to multiple-years worth of supplies and appropriate gear.  Some may only have their skills vs. supplies & gear but will quickly assume the role of sheepdog because of inherent desire and skills. These folks will be honest of heart and have a true desire to help and protect the sheep. The “help” may manifest itself in feeding, medical assistance, or protection. While sheepdogs may be reluctant to share their supply of food, they will always step up when sheep need to be protected. Sheepdogs have been known to attack large packs of predators even when highly out numbered and have given their lives to

protect the lives of their flock. Sheepdogs will be neighbors and community members that have a strong sense of family and duty. They will most likely be Christians and feel a God-given calling to help take care of people. Sheepdogs will be highly drawn to shepherds and allow themselves to be led by those shepherds that they trust. Sheepdogs will be naturally opposed to owner/masters and will rebel against them. Sheepdogs will generally be tolerant of herding dogs to a point. Sheepdogs will tend to feel that they can change a herding dog into a sheepdog with enough work and being a good example.  However, should a herding dog show too much aggression a sheepdog will not hesitate to attack a herding dog to defend the flock or the shepherd.

Herding Dogs – While superficially herding dogs might be appear to be sheepdogs, there is a significant difference. Sheepdogs live, eat, and sleep with the sheep; they are part of the flock.  Herding dogs work for the sheep’s owner/master and respond to their master’s commands. Those commands are given for a specific intention…to strictly to control the flock of sheep. The herding dogs circle the sheep and move them by acting much as a predator would; which in-turn makes the sheep respond to the non-verbal body language of the herding dog (i.e. threat of violence). A herding dog is actually a predator who is so highly trained that they won’t kill sheep (normally) but will not hesitate to “nip” (i.e. light bite) the back legs of the sheep. Herding dogs are also known for a game called “sheep tag.”  Herding dogs will run among the sheep biting them and then run

off.  To them, sheep are little more than “chew toys.” Herding dogs are not known for protecting a flock, they are there to control the flocks movement and behavior. And they don’t respond to the needs of the flock and rarely repel approaching predators on their own. They only respond to commands given to them by their master/owner.  Herding dogs will view sheepdogs with contempt and disgust. Herding dogs will see sheepdogs as beneath them in status. Herding dogs will view sheepdogs as lacking skills & intelligence and not living up to their potential. Herding dogs and sheepdogs will be natural opposites and will have open conflict with one another. Herding dogs may/can change allegiance from a flock to a violent pack of predators.  Should an owner/master not provide enough incentive (or strong enough leadership), a herding dog could be easily persuaded to join a predator pack who promises greater rewards. Should the right set of circumstances present itself, a herding dog could betray an entire flock to a predator pack. A herding dog sees sheep as just another animal, beneath them in status and not truly worthy of anything other than to be controlled.  They have virtually no allegiance to the sheep other than as a means to gain rewards from the owner/master.

Shepherds – These folks will be few and far between.  They are of high moral and ethical character. They will be leaders of sheep. They will also be the leaders of sheepdogs. They will have the ability to change some herding dogs into sheepdogs, but that will rarely occur due to the natural instincts of herding dogs. Shepherds will understand predators and not hate them. Shepherds will protect the flock from predators to the point of freely giving their lives. Shepherds will naturally draw sheepdogs to them. Sheepdogs will see the leadership and “goodness” in a shepherd and want to serve him while following their instinct of protecting the flock. The sheepdog will see that a shepherd frees them up to concentrate on what they do best – protection. Shepherds will “serve” their flock. The will make decisions that in the best interest of the flock and not for the gain of the shepherd himself…or for the benefit of sheepdogs. Shepherds will be those folks who will gain close-knit followings of sheep and sheepdogs who are committed to not just surviving, but thriving.  Some herding dogs will be drawn to shepherds but will rebel against the nature of the shepherd’s leadership, preferring to control the sheep vs. lead the sheep. For those of us that are believers, we have a great example in The Good Shepherd

Owner/masters – These folks will be those that have a sense of entitlement to leadership. They will feel it is their right, even their duty, to lead sheep. They will voice that they are doing their best to protect the sheep from harm and danger but their true intentions will simply be to control and manipulate. They will make decisions primarily serving their own gain. And any benefit to the flock will be secondary, even accidental. However, the owner/master will take great efforts to make the appearance of what they do is completely for the benefit of the flock. When pushed they will be ruthless with all members of the flock. They will have no trouble sacrificing flock members for their own gain or protection. They will be “pretty boys” and the like. They will use flowery speeches and quote learned men; they may even use scripture verses to justify what they do. But all that they do will be for their own benefit. Owner/masters will readily identify herding dogs and elevate the perceived status of herding dogs to control the flock…ruthlessly if they have to. They will reward herding dogs with special privileges such as food, liberties, and sexual partners. They will provide them with higher quality food, tools, weapons, and living accommodations. Additionally, the owner/master will provide a sense of “purpose” to the herding dogs. They will touch the herding dogs’ sense of duty and work ethic. They will manipulate the herding dog to think they are as noble as a sheepdog…maybe even superior.

An owner/master will naturally not like sheepdogs; they will see them as competition for leadership. They will see in sheepdogs everything that they, as owner/masters, are not. They will try and change sheepdogs into herding dogs. If that is not possible they will try and ostracize them. Should that fail, the owner/master will use whatever means necessary to remove the sheepdogs from the flock. And that will include an owner/master killing the sheepdog should the sheepdog be seen as a big enough threat by the owner/master.

So there are the basics of how I see people will fall into the basic post-disaster caste system. I have seen it on smaller-scale disasters (i.e. hurricanes, floods, wildfires, etc.) over the last 40 years or so and I have no reason to believe anything different would happen after a major “grid-down” experience. Actually, I think the likelihood of this caste system occurring increases in direction proportion to the scale of the disaster.

So what do you do with this information? Where is the value? What does it all mean?

It makes the difference between life and death in all probability. Yeah, that dramatic.

I wrote a series on Situational Awareness (SA) and this information on post-disaster types of people is directly related to good SA. If you don’t know what kind of people to expect then you are likely to get sucked into a bad situation or worse.  In the next post I will cover how to identify the different post-disaster personalities

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See Content Use Policy for more information.

Talk about an interesting 3 weeks…wow! A lot going on and time for me to share a few thoughts. I hope you liked the title of the post…I will change it to a “SitRep” in a few days to be in the same category as others that I’ve already posted. So here goes…

First, THANK YOU!!! Ya’ll have been amazing since my return to writing on the website. I’ve received a whole bunch of emails and comments letting me know that a lot of you are glad I am back and writing again. Yes, a lot of what I am doing is resurrecting existing articles but I am also trying to better organize the website…and write some new material as well. And yes again, Escape from Home (sequel to Escape from Tucson) is coming along quite nicely. It should start to post online as soon as Escape from Tucson is completely posted.

Second, it was my original intent when I started the website to provide hardcore, no BS, preparedness information. And that goal has not changed. However, I do want to add to that just a bit. Based on some of the amazing stories and information that you guys have sent to me, and, based on some relatively recent promptings in my life, I want to add …”become better people” to that goal. I will explain later more of what that entails. But for now, we have to be great preppers to survive…but we have to be good people to thrive. More to come…be patient.

Now, I will break this post into four basic areas; the Good, the Bad, I’m ugly, and Summary. Like I keep mentioning…if you aren’t willing to read the entire article, then don’t read anything from this point on! And since I am writing the article I am going to start with “the Bad”…

The Bad –

Recently I wrote the article “Stay the Course!” and I enjoyed writing it. And someone posted it on another website that I frequent. A number of folks liked it, two people really didn’t like it. They found exception with two pieces of economic information. They evidently aren’t real familiar with me, my writing style, and my research. They commented that the information I provided “didn’t sound right” but they failed to provide anything to contradict what I stated. And that is because they couldn’t, although they never said that part…they just couldn’t find information to contradict my statements. But, they made it very clear I wasn’t qualified to voice any valid opinion. OK, that’s their opinion 😉

As I continued to read their comments I realized it was essentially a couple of Trump worshipers not appreciating me not falling in line with their agenda. That I am proud of! As mentioned previously I no longer am a follower (i.e. worshiper) of anyone in politics. I believe in, and will only support, principles. Politicians/people will come and go, principles don’t change. If a politician supports a principle that I believe in then we’re good. If they change their position later…then I am done with them. And that also means I don’t vote “for the lesser of two evils” any more either. Evil is evil whether it is “lesser” or not.

Then later on the same website, I saw another post…it was a HUGE list of all the wonderful accomplishments of Trump’s Presidency. It was amazing! No, not the list itself, but the clear evidence of “Trump worship” on display. But, let’s be realistic…I don’t care if he reduced some federal department regulations…since he has grown the federal debt by an astonishingly huge amount. I don’t care if a couple of FBI leaders have retired (or been fired) if the agency is still rotten to its core. I don’t care if he has rolled back some restrictions on the coal industry if he has had HUGE annual federal budget deficits.

Sorry, maybe I haven’t made myself clear, let me try again…

• The Trump Presidency hasn’t balanced the federal annual budget.
• The Trump Presidency hasn’t reduced the federal debt.
• Actually, the Trump Presidency has grown both at an alarming rate.

So, what does it matter if the coal industry can produced a little more coal if we are tanking the USA through budget deficits and debt?

Now the “wall”…oh yeah…the wall. Some of the hard factual details regarding the wall are not available, or are not clear. We do know there is just under 2000 miles of southern border. We also know that there is less than 700 miles of “border fence”…and yes, that is a vague term. Some of the “fence” is pedestrian fence (meant to keep out people) but much of it is vehicle fence (designed only to keep out vehicles). And some of it is 4-wire and 5-wire cattle fence. Yup, the stuff you see along the Interstates. However, all of that is not my point. So what is my point?

The Republican House of Representatives, the Republican Senate, and the Republican President Trump are responsible for the wall not being built. The Democrats, while not being helpful, are NOT responsible for the wall not existing, not being funded, and not being built. Yup!!!!! It is the fault of the Republicans!!!! The Republicans controlled the House, the Senate, and the Presidency for two years and the Republicans FAILED to get the wall built or even funded. So, still not clear on the point I am trying to make? Make sure you don’t get caught up in the BS being spewed, and that you see situations for what they actually are.

So now what?

Well, let’s see…in the last two+ years:

• Loss of billions to the US economy from the trade war with China, especially in agriculture.
• Huge annual budget deficits.
• Massive increase to national debt.
• Plummeting stock market (2018 – 2019).
• Skyrocketing mortgage rates.
• Skyrocketing Treasury Bill interest rates (national debt servicing).
• Skyrocketing US Total Household Debt.
• Skyrocketing Corporate debt.

And also, remember me talking about pension funds for the last several years?

The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (US Govt agency responsible for pensions) states just to rescue part of the teamster union pension fund they estimated to currently need close to $100Billion and upwards of $700Billion long-term. Then there is the most recent…Sears and their 90,000 pension recipients that will need rescued.  The recent strike by Los Angles teachers union just about bankrupted the school district. That single school district has 60,000 employees in their system…and that doesn’t include retirees. If the district would have met the teacher demands that school district would actually have gone bankrupt. As it is…1/2 of the school district funds go to pay pensions…1/2!!!

For the PBGC to cover the currently nearly insolvent pension funds…it would cost TRILLIONS of dollars! Yes, that is trillions of dollars that government doesn’t have. So excuse me if I don’t get excited over Trump having rolled back vehicle emission standards…when he hasn’t fixed the pension problem…or even talked about it.

Let me cover my outlook…I only focus now on “macro” issues. I am referring to those issues of sufficient magnitude that can affect the entire country in a significant way. Economic examples would be; national debt level, annual federal budget deficits, public/private/debt levels, stock market trends, etc. “Micro” information is no longer important to me. It is far too easy to get caught up in minutia and lose track of the big picture. Commonly referred to as: “Can’t see the forest for the trees.”

So what am I saying?

Well, that is just part of the picture…the economic part. There is also the political part.

We are in terrible trouble politically. As I mentioned in my “Stay the Course!” article, the current political environment is sad to be sure, but it is also dangerous. Let me explain why…

Trump is a very polarizing figure. If you are one of his faithful followers (approximately 22 – 25% of US population) then you think Trump can do no wrong. However, about 55% of US disapprove of Trump. And on any given day 60% of Americans feel we are on the wrong track as a country. And that doesn’t bode well for Trump…or American politics as it relates to the upcoming Presidential election.

As I stated in my “Stay the Course!” article:

“Now that Democrats have regained control of the House of Representatives we are going to see a full- on press to remove Trump from office…after (or as) they attack a long list of his associates and family. Can they remove him from office that way, even using “impeachment”? Probably not, actually, in all reality…no. But, what happens if they can’t remove him via Congressional action? But, that is not my biggest fear…What will the Democrats do if Trump is reelected? We know that Democrats are the party of intolerance, bias, bigotry, hate, extreme violence, and war mongers…so what would be their next move after a potential lost election? Yup…in my way of thinking we have had a soft coup taking place for over two years now. We are going to see that become far more active for the next two years. And may even get worse than that during that time. But, if Trump is reelected…look for a hard coup to remove him from office.”

We, as a country, are in a “no-win” situation regardless of the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election. And I am dead serious about that.

If any Democrat wins we are looking at the likes of Sanders, Harris, or any number of Democrats who are now openly self-identifying Socialists and Communists…and spouting Marxist ideology.

And now that rolls back into the economic aspect…what do you think happens to those financially shaky pension funds with the likes of Sanders as President? Yup, the pensions get absorbed by the US government and become part of the Social Security funding. Doubt me?

Kamala Harris has called for Medicare for all!  And, one more part…she also advocates for the elimination of all private health insurance. Yup…government health care. And government health care is socialism/communism. And lest you doubt…60% of Democrats view socialism favorably. The Democrat Party is now the party of extremist ideology…and it’s ALL bad!

So under a Democrat President, House, and Senate you can expect; 1) socialist health care system, 2) socialist pension system, 3) HUGE increases in all forms of taxation.

You may think that we could survive that…really? The “Medicare for All” would cost tens of trillions of dollars over the next 10 years (some estimates go way higher than that). There would be trillions more for rescuing the private pension system over the next 10 years. And then there would trillions more money sucked out of the private economy through increased taxes. And then…the “ripple effect” to the job market as health insurance companies go out of business, and then the associated loss of jobs from money/capital being sucked out of the private sector via taxes. What would that do to federal benefits going to the newly unemployed, etc.?

I am telling you…based on “macro” information…the country is on a financial precipice. And, based on the increasing violence and extremism of the socialist/communist/Marxist Democrat Party…we are looking into a political abyss as well.

So what falls first and when? I have absolutely no idea when it will all collapse. But, I can tell you this…you look back over the last 60 years…we are ALREADY falling, we’ve gone off the cliff, we are somewhere in the dark abyss. We just haven’t hit the bottom yet….but we will.

So that concludes The Bad…thankfully!

The Good –

A couple of weeks ago I had lunch with one of the best people alive on the planet. I mean it…this guy is one of the best men I have ever personally known. He is a spiritual giant, a terrific and loving father, a great husband, giving beyond imagination, and spiritually in-tune like few I’ve ever known. And I had the honor of having lunch with him. And yes, I paid for his lunch.

We talked for well over an hour and we touched on about every major topic you can imagine. The specifics of that conversation are not the point of this comment. The point is…he exists. Yes, his very existence proves that there are some amazing people in this world, good people, spiritual people, people going about making this world a better place. Some of them put their lives on the line to do it. And there are a lot of folks out there doing the same thing…living their lives making this world a better place.

A couple days after that lunch I took my tractor to a community that needs a bunch of work done on their back-country roads. They live so far out in the country that the county will not maintain their roads, and if the residents don’t maintain them on their own…well, they get darn near impassible. I worked all day on the roads putting in ditches and making the road bed more stable, as well as smoothing out many ruts. Once again, that is not the point. The point is…as I was leaving I noticed that day someone else with a tractor had worked on another part of the roads improving those as well for that small community.

And here we go…we, as individuals, have to work together regardless of anything else around us…especially in spite of the government. We have to take care of ourselves, our neighbors, and our communities. Many folks already do that. Also, many people I know donate financially to very worthy causes, others donate their time/talents/efforts. And then there are the truly amazing folks that do both. We need to do that…and do more of it!

What does that have to do with emergency preparedness? EVERYTHING!!!

If we don’t have the heart or conviction to help our families and to help our neighbors and to help our communities…then how do you think we are going to do during emergencies, disasters, or grid-down events?

Yes, I understand that your primary duty is to your family. I get that, I know that. But, does that mean to the exclusion of your neighbors and community? I think not.

There is so much incredible good in the world today. It is often easy to have all of the good overshadowed by the evil of politics, criminals, rotten people, and whatnot. But, we have to look past the evil, see the good…and make sure we are doing our part to add to the good…and that we have no part in the evil.

And then when the time comes and we experience an emergency, a disaster, or a grid-down event we will be ready, willing, and able to be an asset to our families, our neighbors, and our communities. And I am telling you point blank…40+ years of experience tells me one thing…you can’t survive on your own for long. You have to survive and thrive through shared efforts of family members, neighbors, and community.

Look for the good around you in your life…and add to it!

The I’m Ugly –

It has become very clear to me that there are a few folks who like the way I write and they appreciate my messages and information. And some of them even find value in what I have to offer.

It is just as plain to me that there are folks who don’t believe me, don’t trust what I present, and don’t think I am credible. OK…fine…I can accept that and have no problem with it. To them…I am sorry you feel that way…and please don’t worry about it. Read what you want, complain all you want, and do nothing with what I have to say if you want. But, I plead with you to still be a prepper and prepare for future emergencies, disasters, and grid-down events.

For those of you still reading and thinking I have value to offer…I commit to you to never BS you! I will give you opinion to be sure. But those opinions will be based on the facts and signs as I see them. If I find out I was wrong about something I will tell you so. And, I will not change how I write to avoid those people who would be offended by what I have to say, or how I say it. You see…I can’t control if a person is offended or not, they are the only ones who can choose to be offended.

Summary –

We live in perilous times…as you already know. Economically and politically we are unstable to say the least. We have many evil people around us, and evil is flourishing at an astonishing rate. We also have some amazing people in our lives that have the light shining brightly in them. A tremendous amount of wonderful and incredible good is being done every day around us.

As preppers we must continue to prepare to handle emergencies, disasters, and grid-down events. They do happen, and more will happen. The grid will come down one day…it will be daunting to say the least. We have a God-given responsibility to be ready to protect our families, neighbors, and communities for the ill-effects.

Please, I plead with you, to continue to prepare…follow that still small voice as you do. Open your hearts to doing more…especially for others.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to be part of this journey with you. I appreciate it beyond what you imagine. We can and will survive…and thrive…no matter what comes.

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“Stay the course!” John Gresham Machen, a 20th century conservative Presbyterian theologian, first uttered those words. And I can’t help but put them into a post this morning…an important and timely post at that (IMHO).

Over the last few days I’ve been getting ready to head back to our off-grid retirement property to do some work for a couple of weeks. I was wrapping some stuff up yesterday when I receive two emails within an hours’ time of each other. And that started my wheels turning…and that spells BIG trouble for ya’ll coz then I gotta write 😉

So let me tie a couple of things together:

1. Obama was a great boon to preppers and Constitutionalists.
2. Trump is a great boon against preppers and Constitutionalists.
3. We are far closer to a collapse now, under Trump, then we ever were under Obama.
4. We must remember we are preppers and stay the course!

Man, I had to take a break after just wring that first little bit. In my head was a full-load of information and opinion that was just dying to cascade out. And that was not the right approach. So, I went and got a donut, enjoyed it and a glass of cold milk, and thought my collage of thought. This is the result of a truly delicious donut and some special events…

DISCLAIMER: If you are not going to read the whole article, then don’t read any of it past this point.

Yesterday In the space of an hour I got two really incredible emails. One shared with me that through my website and books they found God and His church. They shared with me some very personal and wonderful events that had taken place in their life…and that it all started with this website. Wow! I was thrilled and humbled to hear such fantastic people pass on that level of accolades to an effort such as this website. The second email from a really nice guy who is very successful; successful in both a spiritual way and a temporal way. He had asked me a couple questions about some finances and prepping. In the process he shared some personal financial information that he said he did because of his trust in me. After my reply to him he shared a couple of compliments about the website and my books. He was very kind. But it was his last sentence that gave me pause, “It seems that less and less people are as involved in ‘preparedness’ since Trump got in, BIG mistake in my opinion.”

I gotta tell you…their emails were well-timed and truly appreciated. And, it also got me to thinking. This post is a direct result of that.

First thing I wanted to do from that thought process was reactivate the “SitReps” and I have done so <click here to see more>  And I will continue to recover more of those as time permits. The reason? Perspective on where I am coming from and background for the things I currently write…such as this post…and future posts.

Now let me start tying things together…

1 – Obama was a great boon to preppers and Constitutionalists.

As is well documented and well known, Obama is a hard-core Marxist, globalist, Progressive…among other things. During his time in office it was made clear, absolutely plain, that he hates the Constitution and all the founding principles of this country. And I am grateful for all of that! Why? Because he woke up many, many people to the awful state of our country. He rallied Conservatives, Tea Party activists, pro-gun rights advocate, and many others to the cause of rights, freedoms, and liberty…and prepping. Without Obama far fewer people would be as prepared today as they are. Without Obama far fewer people would be far less informed in regards to how easily it is to lose rights, freedoms, and liberties…and how close we were/are to losing our country.

2 – Trump is a great boon against preppers and Constitutionalists.

Yup, you read that right. Since Trump’s election many preppers simply stopped, or significantly reduced their prepping for emergencies, disasters, and grid-down. Almost exclusively they did so because they thought Trump was some kind of White Knight, a savior, some miracle worker, a hero…oh boy! The cult of personality worship. The unfortunate facts are such that we are way closer to a collapse of our economy, our government, and our country under Trump than we ever were under Obama. My FAQ – 5/29/2017 post that went up on 1/14/2019 outlined some pretty damning facts against Trump. Let’s review them for a minute:

The federal debt has grown approximately 2Trillion dollars since Trump has been President. Shameful! And it is growing at record rates!!!

• 09/30/2018 21,516,058,183,180.23
• 09/30/2017 20,244,900,016,053.51
• 09/30/2016 19,573,444,713,936.79

The annual federal budget deficit is skyrocketing under Trump!! And Trump’s budget deficits are growing and the trend line is looking horrible for the American economy and especially middle and lower income Americans.

• 2017 $665billion
• 2018 $779billion
• 2019 $984billion (estimated)

Income taxes are at record levels. Never, in the history of our country have there been higher federal income taxes. And here is the sad part…as % of total income taxes collected corporate incomes taxes are going down and personal income taxes are going up…way up. And to further make things worse…income taxes as a % of GDP are going way up as well. That means collectively average citizens are paying far more out of their paychecks to the federal government than ever before and it is growing at an alarming rate.

So let me summarize that: While Trump has been President the federal debt has increased substantially, annual deficits are at records highs, and income taxes being taken from individuals is skyrocketing. Does that sound like a good thing?

I spent about an hour researching our current situation as a country as far as (public, private, institutional) debt is concerned. Then I went into delinquency rates for private debt. I produced a bunch of charts and graphs to present…then I decided “Nope!” I am not going to clutter up this post with a bunch of graphics. But let me share this for 2017 – present: all areas of private/institutional debt are up substantially, all areas of public debt are up dramatically, all areas of delinquency/default for private debt are up markedly. And all while Trump is President. It is clear that on a macro level, based on absolute fact, while Trump has been president we have become far more financially and economically unstable than under any other president in the history of the United States.

Non-financial moves by Trump:

• Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh is a big-government, police-state believer. He believes in “national security” over individual rights, freedoms, and liberties.
• Trump administration has not supported the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment has suffered several defeats in appellate courts and Trump administration has not defended the Second Amendment by taking those cases to the Supreme Court. The Trump administration has announced plans to ban bump stocks which is a direct blow against the Second Amendment.
• Trump has not shrunk the size of the federal government.
• Trump has not built the wall as he promised.
• Trump has not worked to eliminate or reduce abortion.
• Trump is a raging narcissist, he is nearly perfect in his own eyes and will tell the American public that at every opportunity.
• He opposes the Constitution when it doesn’t suit his purposes. He is a huge believer in Civil Asset Forfeiture even though it is a direct violation of the Constitutional provision of “due process”.

3 – We are far closer to a collapse now, under Trump, then we ever were under Obama.

Financially it is clear (and fact based)…we in danger of a financial/economic collapse under Trump…far more so than under Obama.

In areas other than financial collapse the same is true, but for some strange reasons. All Democrats and many Republicans (maybe most) hate Trump. And yes, I mean hate. Now that Democrats have regained control of the House of Representatives we are going to see a full- on press to remove Trump from office…after (or as) they attack a long list of his associates and family. Can they remove him from office that way, even using “impeachment”? Probably not, actually, in all reality…no. But, what happens if they can’t remove him via Congressional action? But, that is not my biggest fear…What will the Democrats do if Trump is reelected? We know that Democrats are the party of intolerance, bias, bigotry, hate, extreme violence, and war mongers…so what would be their next move after a potential lost election? Yup…in my way of thinking we have had a soft coup taking place for over two years now. We are going to see that become far more active for the next two years. And may even get worse than that during that time. But, if Trump is reelected…look for a hard coup to remove him from office. Yes, we are than unstable.

Note of significance: I spoke a fair amount about the coup against Trump in early 2017. But, it has change somewhat…it has gotten worse. The biggest move to make it worse is Jerome Powell – Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Only going into the briefest of details, he is a; 1) globalist, 2) Progressive wing of the Republican party, 3) close friends of the Bush dynasty, 4) liberal education, 5) shady background in investment banking, 6) rabid believer in high government debt, 7) close confidant of Barack Obama, 8) voted for quantitative easing, 9) supporter of the socialist Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, 10) extreme environmentalist, and super rich (100+million dollars). All in all…no friend of our Constitutional Republic…and another member of the group trying to overthrow Trump.

4 – We must remember we are preppers and stay the course!

Here really is my simple message…everything up to this point was to make my case. If you were a prepper and went to sleep after Trump was elected…WAKE UP!!!  Please wake up to our awful condition and restart your prepping efforts to whatever degree you can. If you are not a prepper and reading this article…START PREPPING!!! If you are a prepper, had your eyes open, didn’t fall asleep, didn’t fall into “Trump Worship”, and you see what is happening now…Stay the Course!

Why am I so worked up?

Those emails really struck a very deep cord in me. That maybe, just maybe, I can make a difference with a few folks. And maybe that difference will be enough to help them and their families not just survive in life, but thrive. And in what may lie directly head coming at us at full speed…well, maybe I can help some folks be ready for that too…again, not just merely to survive, but for them and their families to thrive.

For those of you who have shared with me what my books and this website has meant to you and your families…Thank you! Thank you very, very much. I appreciate that feedback more than you possibly know. I commit to you, to everyone, to do my very best in presenting hard facts, great opinions, and the absolute very best prepping information I can.

Thank you again!

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Pretty broad question, eh? Maybe I should clarify the question a little bit…

When will you be ready for a “grid-down” event?

I hope all of you can answer “I am ready now” but realistically that probably isn’t true for any of us. Why is that? Basically I don’t think any of us will ever be ready for something along the lines of an actual grid-down.

Yeah, I am talking about a TEOTWAWKI scale event for the most part. And why don’t I think any of us are ready now or will ever be ready?

Let’s look at what readiness might look like –

1. We have all the means necessary to protect our family from any form of violence that might present itself. Breaking down “means” equates to, enough guns, ammo, magazines, optics, tactical gear, and training. Do any of us have all of that in-place right now? Do we have enough “area deniers” to protect those areas of our home or property that we might not be able to handle with guns alone? Bars, nets, and boards for the windows? How about some kind of perimeter protection? Do we have an agreement with our neighbors to mutually support each other?
2. We have all the means to provide our family with medical care and prevent sickness. Again, enough medical supplies and training to meet all of that requirement? What about medicines? When it comes to more advanced medical care, are we well enough trained for things like bullet wounds, delivering a baby, and maybe taking out a ruptured spleen.
3. We have enough communications capability to keep our family members in communication with each other and our family in touch with the outside world? Do we have multiple redundant communications systems like emergency radios, handheld and mobile Ham radios, or even FRS/GMRS radios? Do we have ways to charge batteries for all of those radios? Do we have any of those radios hardened against an EMP?
4. We can form an organization within our family, neighborhood, community, or church congregation to meet the needs of a grid-down. We can expand or merge that organization with other families, our neighborhood, our church congregation, or even wider. Do you know the basics of organizing effectively?
5. We can provide safe drinking and cooking water for at least a year. Do you have at least three ways to provide filtered and purified water for your entire family for at least a year? Do you have 1 – 2 months of water stored right now? Can you transport it if needed?
6. We can provide sufficient shelter against the elements (hot and cold) for multiple years. Do you have an initial shelter to protect your family? If that shelter becomes unusable do you have the tools, training, and materials to make another shelter capable of withstanding the elements (hot & cold)?
7. We can provide enough food for our family for a year and we have enough heirloom seeds to garden for two years. Do you have enough pantry food, including spices for 90 days? Do you have enough salt, wheat, oats, sugar, and other basics of life to last your family until other sources of food can be located or grown? Do you know how to garden? Can you transport those food items?

Wow! That was a reality check for me. I have been prepping a very long time. And I’ve been blessed with sufficient financial resources to acquire a long list of prepper items. And, on top of everything else, I have been in a career where I have better exposure and training to these kinds of issues than most. All of that and…I am still lacking.

Of the seven areas I mentioned above we are solid in 4 areas. In the medical area we are good on supplies, decent on training, and lacking on the more advanced stuff. In the water area we are fine on the filtration and purification side, but lacking on the supply side. Well, unless we count our neighbors large pool. And while we are good on food, we are lacking in available garden space. So overall I would say we are kind of not ready…kind of ready.

Then on top of that I do have to look at our “location” situation. It sucks! Our town would rip itself apart if we had a grid-down. We already have a large gang population. And I am not talking about some amateur gangs, I am talking about the big guys like Aztecas, MS-13, etc. They all use this city as a transportation hub. The only reason it isn’t crazy right now…they have to keep a fairly low profile to keep the drugs and illegals moving through to other parts of the country while keeping law enforcement off their backs.

Our location also affects our water supply issue as well as our gardening capability. That means we would probably have to bugout if times got really bad. Fortunately we have a place we can go to, but we would also have to leave a fair amount of our preps behind if we only took one vehicle. That sucks, but we have everything organized to do that. Given enough warning we could cache a lot with no problem.

So, I pose the question again, but I will make it personal…

“When will we be ready?”

We can’t personally resolve the garden and water issue. I am not sure that we can really resolve the medical issue unless we move close enough to some kind of medical facility or closer to more highly trained folks.

Then again, will we be able to handle all of the potential violence that may come our way? Probably not on our own. Probably “yes” with some help.

How long will our rechargeable batteries last? Can we put together a large enough group of people to handle grid-down? Can we be organized well enough? What about a drought year for gardening, or two years, can we store enough water?

Well, as I combine honesty and a solid reevaluation together…the answer would probably be…never.

What?????   Yeah, we will probably never be fully prepared. And, I would go out on a limb and say the same for you and your family.

So why are we are preparing at all?

Because we know we have to. Yup, it is that simple. There is just a bit more to it, but I am going to hold that for the end of the article.

What about the “gaps” in our preps?

It is easy to find the more glaring gaps if you go about it systematically. And the best way to do that is prioritizing. And the best way to prioritize is to use the “layering” method. To learn about layering read the multi-part series “Layers” < click here to read >

As you read through each of the layers articles you can acquire those items that meet the most immediate need. That means meet the most immediate need in each of the basic areas. Then meet the medium-terms needs in each area and then finally the long-term needs.

That gives you a very systematic way to go about it and how to spend your money wisely at the same time. But, I would suggest you avoid the frustration of never having enough.

So, will you and I ever be ready for grid-down, SHTF, or TEOTWAWKI?

Yes, we will.

Why?

Because we are working on it and we have the mindset to accept that events like that could happen. And since we can visualize it our minds, we can be more flexible, adaptable, and less prone to Normalcy Bias. And if you have read through my Situational Awareness articles then you probably have many, if not all, of the tools you will truly need. I say that because I’ve seen people in high-stress, life and death situations, enough to know that surviving is almost all mental.

Avoid complacency!

What I mean by that is don’t just count on your “mental” when it hits the fan. Your “material” preps will be needed as well. So stay the course, be organized in how you go about acquiring your preps, look for gaps, and keep going forward. It will pay off!

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I absolutely love mornings like this one! Here in the desert southwest it is in the 50’s, moisture in the air, sunny with high clouds, and nice enough for nothing more than a light jacket. On top of everything else that is wonderful about this morning…I ate a maple covered glazed donut from my favorite bakery as a snack. For breakfast I had green chile cheese grits. What a great morning!

So what the heck does that have to do with prepping and you? Maybe nothing…maybe a lot. The point is all of the enjoyment this morning helped clarify a number of things I had been thinking about lately. I’ve been trying to figure out where we are headed…as individuals and as a country…the future.

It is easy to talk about the past, it is a “known” and the outcomes can be checked, verified, and judged. The future is a totally different animal…we don’t know for sure what is coming or what the outcome will be. However, we can speculate, predict, and opinionate. That can provide a path/plan for ourselves, our family, our congregations, and maybe even for our community.

Why not use it as a plan/path for our state or country? Well, my opinion is such that I don’t believe we, as individuals, have enough influence to make that kind of change. Now, if you are one of the elite power brokers then you may have that kind of influence. Me…well, I am not one and I don’t personally know anyone that is. So I stick to what is realistic for me…myself, my family, my congregation, and maybe my community.

Anyone that has known me for any length of time knows I am a huge history nut…and I also have strong political opinions. What I’ve been working on for the last year or so is how to combine all that, my opinion(s) of the future, and use prepping as a solution. I have finally arrived to the point where I have my thoughts in order. Well, at least enough to start sharing them with you. However, you have to leave me a little room to modify any statement I may make. I might make a mistake when writing what I think, or I could just be wrong and have to correct myself later. Please allow me that luxury.

First step for me was to identify the main areas of the future that I believe will have the most impact on us as individuals. I believe those areas are (in priority order):

1 – Technology

2 – Money

3 – Morality

4 – Politics

Let me stop you right now and give you reason to pause…DO NOT READ FURTHER!!! Well, unless you are willing to read it all. If you only read the next part and not the last part you may become depressed. If you read to the end…there is amazing hope and light!

1 – Technology

All the main technologies are advancing far faster than our ethics. The ability to acquire personal information is virtually limitless and the individual’s ability to even understand what personal information is being collected and how it is exploited is severely limited. The two are on a collision course; acquisition and exploitation. The NSA collects, and has been collecting, all electronic communications for 20 years or so. Banks (and related financial institutions) collect all private and business financial transactions in painstaking detail. Social media collects all our opinions and views related to every aspect of our lives.

All of that data is available to the government, almost all of it is available to any corporation. And it is all being exploited for one purpose…to anticipate an individual and then control their choices and actions. And that exploitation comes in only two main flavors…lust for power and money.

As the future continues to unfold we will find ourselves bombarded more and more with ads for products and services. Those ads will be based on our personalities and our weakness (or susceptibility) to have our choices directed. That will control everything from what toilet paper we buy to what political candidate we vote for.

Paralleling the personality weakness based ads controlling our purchases will be government’s ability to control our actions. For decades we’ve seen computer AI based software direct policing decisions in major cities. Several years ago we witnessed a robot used by a police department to kill an armed suspect. Now we have seen where some cities are employing AI controlled robots to patrol city sidewalks. We are already finding ourselves subjugated to technology and it will only get worse…far worse.

Technology is all about data, the more data that a company or government controls, the more they can exercise control over its people. China is a perfect example. They employ the most advanced facial recognition software in the world. They collect and collate every piece of data from every citizen’s daily activity, including their every movement in public. And here is the scary part…they use all of that data to assign “social credit” to each citizen.  It began implementation in 2014 and is expected to be fully operational for every citizen by 2020. Some of the infractions that degrade a person’s social credit score include bad driving, smoking in non-smoking zones, buying too many video games, and posting fake news online. Some of the areas that adversely affect you for those infractions as your social credit score deteriorates:

• Controlling your ability to travel…locally or abroad.
• Controlling your Internet access, and access speed.
• Controlling where you or your children attend school.
• Controlling what jobs you are eligible for.
• Controlling access to hotel bookings.
• Being publicly designated in the media as a “bad citizen.”

And who is partnering with the Chinese government to perfect and implement that technology? Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Microsoft among others. And FYI…Google is a major player in US Government implementation of technology.

As we more deeply involve ourselves in technology as individuals we transfer power from ourselves to both corporations and the government. Technology is the single most threatening issue that empowers and facilitates the following three.

2 – Money (currency/debt/budget/inflation/Federal Reserve)

We have never been in a more precarious position financially than now. Individuals and governments have never been in more debt than right now. The monetary systems of countries have never been less firm than they are now. The global and national financial systems have never been more easily manipulated than now.

In 2008/2009 we saw a single company’s financial crisis ripple throughout the world’s finical system to the point that it nearly collapsed the entire global financial system. Only the immediate implementation of socialist policies by a Republican President stopped it. And the follow-up to those policies by both Democrats and Republicans was a broad implementation of additional socialist and crony capitalist polices clamping firm governmental control over every aspect of an individual’s financial choices and capabilities.

We’ve seen huge swings in the stock markets over the last few years. Those swings are almost exclusively at the hand of AI powered trading programs by large trading firms. And the stock markets are way down over the last year transferring vast sums of capital from main street individuals to Wall Street tycoons.

We have no underlying fundamentals that our country’s money is based on. In other words…there is zero actual value to our dollar. It used to be gold and silver, but that is no more. It is based solely on the ability of the federal government to tax. And with the government $22,000,000,000,000 (yes, 22 trillion dollars) in actual debt, there is no feasible course for the federal government to tax itself back into solvency. It is only a matter of time before our monetary system is found with no confidence.

We are on the brink of total financial collapse…nationally and globally. While I don’t know the timeline…it could be next week, next year, or 10 years…but it is very near. And FYI…Cryptocurrency will only accelerate the collapse and make money more controllable by anyone other than the individual who thinks they own it.

3 – Morality (selflessness/civility vs selfishness/debauchery)

This particular area is one of complete opinion, you either see society and people, as moral or not. I see society as disgustingly debauched, immoral is too weak a term for me. The amount of moral-based criminal activity is beyond comprehension. Pornography is rampant, readily available, infecting children at the pre-teen level now, and destroying one soul after another. The prevalence of sex debauchery is everywhere and touted by the media at every turn.

Civility is disappearing from many areas and aspects of our nation. Just last week teenagers attacked a mother in the presence of her children over something so trivial as playing in a McDonald’s playground. Gangs are shooting young children, illegal aliens are raping and murdering at an alarming rate, drug use is going through the roof, etc.

We are seeing less and less charity work, while a dependence on government welfare programs increases. We are seeing the “me generation” as a mere shadow of what we are witnessing today. It has moved from the “me generation” to “damn right I am entitled to it!” generation.

4 – Politics (tribalism/corruption/incompetence/totalitarianism)

Politics is an evil to top all evils! Why? Because politics has moved to virtually a single motivation…politicians seeking only to get gain over others.  And the “gain” they seek is power and money at the expense of anyone and everyone. With money they can buy power. With power they can extort money.

And in the process we find ourselves with incompetent government workers, politicians unaware of problems and solutions that actually work, and citizens ignorant of who their candidates are and what they do once they are elected. Citizens are, almost to a person, completely ignorant of the founding principles of our country and why they were put into place.

As a result of the above two elements we find ourselves neck deep in tribalism. People don’t want to look at individual issues, to understand the underlying principles, and then implement the right solutions. And because people have become so lazy and ignorant they seek safety and comfort in a tribe. And with their fellow tribesmen they allow corrupt and morally bankrupt politicians to lead them. Why? Almost all citizens act and react based on emotions and laziness. That is perfect environment for the corrupt politicians to march people willingly towards their ultimate goal…totalitarianism.

Whew…that was somewhat painful!

Now that I have gone to considerable lengths to outline my opinion of the areas of most importance to our future…is there an answer, a solution? Of course there is…and it is fairly easy to identify in every issue. Well, easy if you have the right perspective. And therein is the crux of the problems…the “right” perspective.

For the last 15 years I have had the on-going internal debate about politics. I went from not caring, then to just let me live my life, to Republicans vs. Democrats. And at that time the Republicans were clearly the good guys and the Democrats were the bad guys. Then it changed to Liberals vs. Conservatives. Conservatives were clearly the good guys and liberals/Progressives clearly the bad guys at that point. Then it morphed into Republicans and Democrats vs. Libertarians. With the Libertarians clearly being the only good guys. And finally almost two years ago it was cemented in me that it was all about principles, individual principles…not labeled political pigeon holes. That made the most sense…everything boiled down to principles not some weird form of tribalism.

Now that I had it down to principles I could rather easily identify which principles were good, bad, or evil. To me there are only those three categories. However, I did realize that “good” was actually; good, better, or best. Bad was mostly just based on being stupid or ignorant. And evil was clear…imposing something on another to get gain. Both bad and evil being grouped together one respect since they were both at the expense of someone’s rights, liberties, or freedoms.

But since good, bad, and evil are subjective…what to base those judgements on? Ah, then I figured out that maybe it wasn’t subjective after all. Maybe there was a foundation on which to make those judgements that went beyond being subjective. Yup! There is.

Now understand this…all of this is only my opinion. So while the anti-subjective foundation is used as a basis of judgement…it is also my opinion of such. Here goes…there are certain things that are right and wrong…”eternal truths” I call them. And yes, I borrowed that term. But applicable all the same.

For politics it was simple…anything that subverted individual rights, liberties, or freedoms was either bad or evil. Along those same lines anything that strengthened government control, moved power from people to government, was also bad or evil. Anything that strengthened individual rights, liberties, and freedoms was good.

For justice (including the “legality” of something) it was just as simple…anything that forcefully took something from someone else was bad or evil. That is the taking without their permission or full knowledge.

For morality, once again simple…selfishness was bad or evil. Selflessness was good.

It all boiled down to something that simple…period. And don’t forget the determining factor of bad vs. evil isn’t hard to understand either. If something that is “bad” is done to get gain over another person, or to force a person to do something, it moves from “bad” to “evil.”

To further determine what is good look no further than some underlying principles. For example the Ten Commandments cover murder, stealing, and fraud. What a great foundation for any legal system that any sane person can agree on! For the political system of government look at the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights as governing principles.

Just for a moment if you don’t mind: We have the unalienable right to life, liberty, and happiness from the Declaration of Independence. Meaning…the right to a fair judicial system and due-process as the only way a person can be deprived of life. Also to be able to live life unencumbered by government, complete self-determination, and the right to enjoy our property unrestricted by government. The Constitution and Bill of Rights are additional documents to ensure that the above rights are adhered to.

So truly the future is based on good vs. evil. Which do we want…Which do you want?

Solutions?

Now is the time for me to share a few things to get you thinking about your solutions to the above problems…and the overriding solution is “self-sufficiency” in its purest form.

1 – Technology:

• Be, or have the capability to be, as independent from technology as possible.
• Along with that, make sure you can live without technology should the need arise.
• Use technology as an informed consumer. Know and understand that the more you use technology, any technology, the more you expose everything about you and your life to those that would use that information to manipulate your life.

2 – Money:

• Be as independent from money and the financial systems as feasible.
• Along with that, make sure you can live without money and the financial system should the need arise.
• More specifically –
  • Have a manual skill or two that can generate money and/or barter.
  • ZERO debt! (as much as possible)
  • Food storage and capability to produce food.
  • Some stash of precious metals, the amount is up to you and your circumstances. (Yes, lead and brass count as precious metals…to a point.)

3 – Morality:

• Have a clear sense of right and wrong that is based on eternal truths…and stick to it. Do not engage in situational ethics.
• Avoid anything that is bad or evil…don’t embrace or support any of it.
• Find God…embrace religion that is founded on universal and eternal truths.
• Give service as much as you possibly can. Perform big acts of charity, small acts of kindness, random smiles, and don’t expect anything in return. Avoid selfishness at all costs. Make selflessness a life goal.
• Make your family the center of your universe.

4 – Politics

• Deal only in principles…not parties.
• Embrace and support only those principles that are based on our founding documents (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and the Bill of Rights).
• Leave all political tribes, don’t associate with, or support, any political tribe…ever.
• Vote in every election. Vote only for those candidates that best match your morality and political principles.

If I were to sum it up I would have to go back to being self-sufficient in those areas that I outlined. And that is especially true with the morality and political issues. Without a moral base or foundation, you can and will be tossed about by different passing fads. You will potentially get caught up in hero worship. You will look for and then follow anyone who strikes you as a “white knight” but there are no white knights. Don’t depend on anyone to guide you in morality or politics. God is good enough to guide you in morality and you can figure out the political issue if you concentrate on principles and the country’s founding principles and Founding Fathers of our country.

There you have folks…the future world and how to deal with it…according to AH Trimble!

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