Economic Survival

I've been thinking for some time on how to survive this crisis that is upon us. I present my opinion with the admonition that they are a work in process.

The opinions and perspective may not make sense unless you understand the background of the problem that I hope to address. I have tried to roughly encapsulate it all in one post - Behind the Curtain.

We are facing the culmination of a plot laid more than a century prior by wicked conspiring men and carried on by their offspring and adopted newcomers to the present day. The central focus being to enslave mankind. The only hope lies in the mercies of God and His revealing to us the end of the story via Revelations. Due to Revelations we know they will fall into the pit they are digging for us.

That said, how best can we survive the attempt to implement this plot....the digging of the pit? Especially in light of the fact that they plan to exterminate most of the earth's population to sustain their idea of the future (sustainable development)?

In Marine Corps boot camp they do an exercise called log drills. Log drills teach teamwork.

Alone not one person is capable of overcoming the challenge of lifting those telephone poles...but as a team they are easily moved about. Each person has to put forth effort and pull their own weight in conjunction with the other members of the team.

Now to apply this to our dilemma. In this case the log represents debt and economic survival...I believe even physical survival. In order to overcome this obstacle we need to pull together and unite into families, extended families, groups, neighborhoods, and communities.

Take a few minutes and think about everything you own or assets that you have access to....maybe a lawn mower, washer/dryer, computer, house, garage, etc. Are those assets under utilized? Put that thought in the back of your mind and over the next couple of days pull it out occasionally and reflect upon the "stuff" at your disposal.

For myself, right off hand, I have 3 vehicles of which only two get driven on a regular basis. Nothing wrong with the third one....just an older car that is paid for. A washer and dryer aren't things one would normally consider but are they run at 100% capacity every day? If you pooled resources between several households could you free up some capital to invest in other needed areas?

Think about your family members and close friends. If you were to pool your resources together....What could you accomplish?

The principle to keep in mind is self sufficiency or independence. Combining resources should be a tool to improving long-term independence of the individuals - not enslaving or subjecting people to the voice of the majority.

Look around your house at the food you have on hand. How long could you survive on what you have in your house? The grocery stores have maybe a week at most without resupply. Even the little mom & pop stores out in the country (town's with less than 1500 people) get a truck at least once, if not twice, a week. The big box chains like Walmart get trucks daily. If there is a hiccup in the supply chain and those trucks stop rolling....How long do you have?

What if its limited to certain areas like Mexico for example or even closer to home like the State of California? Do you have a means of acquiring fresh fruits and vegetables?

Now look around your neighborhood, a 5 mile radius, a 25 mile radius, and a 100 mile radius...how are others prepared? Do they have food storage on hand? If things got tight where do you need to watch your back? Who's got your back?

What would happen if the welfare checks stopped coming for a week, a month or even permanently? What neighborhoods would erupt? What is your proximity to those neighborhoods?

Here's one state's suggestion on emergency preparedness...
http://www.codeready.org/

Food storage and other emergency preparedness items are the tip of the iceberg in terms of your ability to survive the coming storms. No one can survive the storm alone! Even with a house full of guns n' ammo its a very long shot...no pun intended!

You can go 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. Are you prepared to deal with a range of possible scenarios effecting those three items?

I put forth that the only way to survive is by being a part of tightly knit communities or groups of people. Whether this be family, faith oriented, or on the community level....there was a reason in the old West that they traveled in wagon trains. We are headed into a new wild West scenario.....its the natural progression of a decaying society.

Now is the time to get your wagon train together and figure out where you are headed and how you can circle the wagons.

Now for the challenge or hurdle to this proposal...selfishness. This isn't a time for me-me or I-I. This is time to pull together and unify. This isn't easy. Broach the idea with some close friends or family members....watch the issues surface...What's in it for me? What do I get out of it? How is this fair? You want me to sacrifice for you?



Co-ops have been utilized back to the 18th and 19th centuries. A cooperative is defined as - an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. It is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit. A cooperative may also be defined as a business owned and controlled equally by the people who use its services or who work at it. Cooperative enterprises are the focus of study in the field of cooperative economics.

A group of independents come together to form a business that will benefit all of the individuals. Used predominantly in agriculture in the US it is another viable method of working together to accomplish something individually difficult or impossible.

It is critical that you select individuals or parties that will take one for the team...110% committed to the success and survival of everyone....even if that means they could lose out on one personal aspect or another.

This isn't communism or socialism. Socialism or democracy is really just a stepping stone or transitioning system from a republic to communism or oligarchy. Either way the power to control economic dispersion is placed in the hands of a few. That is not the goal.

The goal is to survive and after that to empower the individual to become increasingly more independent - thereby providing freedom from debt, hunger, weather, etc. Basically the profit from everyone's efforts goes to support the survival of all individuals. When there is excess beyond the survival needs of the group that capital is invested to produce greater benefit for the overall group. The greater the independence of the individuals the greater the ability to weather the storm.

This is nothing new. It has been done in one form or another throughout the ages. Examples abound...Amish, Patels, Mafia, etc.

The Amish have been successful despite archaic machinery and technology. They continue to expand and buy up new farm land for new families. They continue to be profitable.

The Patel's started with nothing as immigrants to the United States and bought a hotel the family operated. As economic success came they expanded out buying more hotels. Currently 1/3 of the hotels in the United States are owned by a Patel.

The Mafia is not a "good" example but one nonetheless that utilizes the family concept to further their aims. Since they are thugs and thieves they must bind themselves together in such a way to ensure allegiance despite their lack of personal character...hence the blood oaths and death squads for those who betray or try to leave. Sure they kill each other in their quests for power and wealth but they band together to prevent outsiders from thwarting their aims and to accomplish their skulduggery.

I'm not suggesting we follow the Mafia model but simply demonstrating that the recommendation is nothing profound or new and ultimately, it works.

This is a big step and requires commitment. The best analogy that I can think of is a marriage. In a marriage two people covenant, meaning a solemn contract, oath, or bond (I define it as a earnest or serious promise made before witnesses)to love and support each other - typically until death. If each person goes into the marriage with the vow to give 110% no matter what the other partner may contribute...odds are that it will succeed. Selfishness in one form or another is the destroyer of marriage 99% of the time.

There are two differences between the oath that the Mafia takes and what a group following my suggestion would take:

1) The goal of the oath - Mafia (wickedness or the selfish acquisition of another individual's property through coercion, thuggery, theft, violence, etc in violation of the law's of the land) vs. economic prosperity of the group through hard work, investment, etc i.e. the trade of labor or services in exchange for payment to which both parties agree to and benefit from the transaction;

2) The outcome of breaking the oath - Mafia (death i.e. blood oath) vs. letting the person leave of their own free will and accord with an arrangement agreed upon at the beginning of entering into the oath i.e. with equivalent of initial contribution, just free to leave, or with some percentage of the groups assets, etc. (something fair, decent, and agreed upon before hand).

To each his own but I believe the goal should be to survive in as decent and wholesome a manor as possible. Is it worth even existing if we don't? Personally, I like to be able to look behind the eyes in the mirror everyday and not be ashamed of what I see.

I believe if we do pull together and unify in the cause of economic survival, freedom, and wholesome living that we will ultimately be the solution for the problems facing us. Ultimately society begins and ends with the family unit.

This time of difficulty is an opportunity to dig deep within ourselves and see what we are really made of. A time to reach out to our friends and loved ones to lift them up and help them overcome the difficulties that are upon them. A time to unite in defense of our economic survival, our freedoms, and our way of life. A time to be smart and profitable with what we have been blessed with.

I'm not one to casually espouse religion....but may I offer this - I know God exists. I know He hears and answers prayers. I know that when the world seems ready to collapse around you and life is coming at you hard and fast...He is there for you. He is simply a prayer away. He should be the first person you turn to for answers and I know He will answer those that sincerely seek His counsel. All that is left then is to follow the direction given....and continue to conduct ourselves on a daily basis in a manor that we are able to continue to receive His counsel to guide us. May God be with you and support you in your righteous endeavors to survive the trials ahead!