Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin
Your choice for urban survival resources
http://www.PoorManSurvival.com
In This Issue:
1. Wake me up when the revolution starts
2. Simple, at home hydroponic gardening
3. Houston-You can’t feed homeless without a permit
4. Unseen taxes you pay every day
I have seen the truth and it doesn’t make any sense. --Unknown
Are you better off now than a year ago-seeds of Revolution.
I believe President Reagan asked this question of the American people a few decades ago when he announced that government is the problem. As you’ll see by some reader comments I have excerpted in this issue, the answer is a resounding NO.
In the last issue I coined a phrase about what has become of much of the middle class, now calling them the Whittled Class as just about everything associated with the American Dream has been whittled down.
No longer, as was once an expectation, do we envision that our children will do better than we have. Upward mobility is vanishing. In classic political theory, America now has all the seeds of revolution growing.
The financial fragility of the middle class cannot be overstated. It’s become a cliché but many are just a couple of paychecks away from insolvency after losing a job, rising prices, falling home and stock market values, and over extended debt obligations.
Income inequality increases social discontent and fuels distrust in the government. Since the time of Aristotle, social historians, political scientists and economists have concluded that a country is ripe for revolution when the following risk factors occur:
>>The distribution of wealth and the health of the middle class are adversely affected.
>>Impacts of recent economic or political shocks.
>>The lack of satisfaction of rising expectations.
>>The perception of unfairness with the distribution of wealth.
>>The history & efficacy of social and government institutions are in question.
Loss of confidence is speeding up. The deter -
ioration is now visible. More and more Americans
are expressing disapproval and apprehension
about government and politicians.
Many of these indicators are present in the current system. Income disparity has never been higher. There is a growing class of “have-nots” in this country with many having lost their home, their jobs, their investments - through no fault of their own. These people played fair and are now hurting and there is no salvation in sight.
The Wall Street policies of off-shoring jobs, first with the Budweiser crowd, then with the Starbucks crowd corrupted the American Dream.
From 2000 through 2007 real median income per household fell by an average of $1951 but prices increased and the economy expanded. The ‘trickle down’ theory was mainly tripe. The ‘rising tide’ did not raise all boats! Many of us are now living a 2nd hand life.
We are entering a time of extreme financial stress in America. The federal government is broke. Most of our state and local governments are broke. Record numbers of Americans are going bankrupt. Record numbers of Americans are being kicked out of their homes. Record numbers of Americans are now living in poverty.
Is it possible to restore trust in the government? Is it possible to restore trust in the cartels which have decimated our country? The seeds of revolution are here. We may be down, but does this mean we’re out? Could it happen? I don’t know.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the price of food increased 50 percent faster than the overall rate of inflation during 2010.
This Week’s Roundup
Simple, at-home hydroponic gardening
Hydroponic systems have been around for centuries. The Aztecs designed floating rafts covered with dirt in which they planted food crops. The dirt was taken from the bottom of the lake so it was loaded with nutrients and the roots of the planted crops would dangle into the lake for water…it’s actually something which could put a lot of people to work-growing food at home for consumption & resale. You can find simple kits for sale on eBay as well but…(at the very least, you can buy some Chia home herb gardens)!
Here are some resources to use.
http://www.hydroponics-at-home.com/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Hydroponics---at-Home-and-for-Beginners/
Could you use a secure, closed area for your tools and storage and another backyard space that you can use as a studio, workshop or kid's playhouse? There are free, do-it-yourself building plans may help.
At 10 x 16 ft., this handsome building is large enough for most backyard needs. It has an interior partition so it serves double duty as a storage shed and an all-weather multi-purpose room.
A free illustrated step-by-step building guide, by Joseph Turini of Popular Mechanics Magazine, includes an isometric drawing showing all building details.
See a photo, read the original June, 2002 magazine article, download the drawings and get started on your project >>>
( http://www.todaysplans.net/use-popularmechanics-free-backyard-barn-plans.html )
Pre-built Solar Modular Homes…wish the PM had seen this prior to getting the cabin built! As a rule of thumb, 50% of the cost of going solar lies in its installation, not an easy DIY project…you do need a qualified electrician. Pre-built homes can lower that cost.
http://www.scrapbookscrapbook.com/DAC-ART/modular-kit-houses.html
http://www.solarvillagehomes.com/turnkey/
http://www.otherpower.com/modular.html
Ever use a pair of cheap, Chinese made scissors? They’re crap.
I inherited several pairs of Fiskar scissors, made in the USA & they’re great!
http://www2.fiskars.com/
Bag Balm-not just for cow udders…very useful for dry, cracked skin, especially on your foot.
The Unseen Taxes That You Pay Every Day
You might be surprised - even the price you pay for a loaf of bread is 50% taxed!
A remarkable honey-pot of taxes…how governments gouge us.
The old joke says that nothing is certain in life but death and taxes, and medical science has done a lot to forestall the former. Although nobody enjoys paying taxes, most people probably do not realize how they permeate our daily lives. Simply put, one way or another, we pay taxes on almost anything and everything we do-Get the rest at:
http://finance.yahoo.com/taxes/article/111918/the-unseen-taxes-that-you-pay-every-day?mod=taxes-advice_strategy
Dozens of packages that we buy in the supermarket have been reduced in size by up to 20%. For example, there are now 2 less slices of cheese in a typical package of Kraft American cheese, and there is now 9 percent less toilet paper in a typical package of Scott toilet paper.
Economic mobility—the ability to move up or down the economic ladder within one’s lifetime or across generations—is fundamental to our country’s national spirit. The Economic Mobility Project helps the public and policy makers better understand the health of the American Dream and seeks to forge consensus on policies that will ensure the Dream remains a reality for generations to come. Advised by a diverse group of respected thinkers from across the political spectrum, the project identifies underlying factors that aid or inhibit movement up the economic ladder and publishes research and analysis that inform the economic debate
For more information, visit the Economic Mobility Project Web site.
Beginning in the month of March, the U.S. Postal Service will begin shutting down up to 2,000 post offices across the United States.
Reader’s Write…
“The recent Scottsdale antique car auction had bidders paying anything just to secure something that wasn't greenbacks. Cars that seemed pricey a year ago at $50K were going for twice that. To me, that means the big money is scared; they have lost faith in government, the Fed and our ability to manage our future.”
“I have been keeping an eye on things since I stocked shelves at the grocery store here in Elyria, Oh. We used to sell pasta 3 lbs. for $1 as an advertised special about 2 years ago. Now it goes for $1 per lb. Apple juice was advertised for 99 cents for a 64 oz. bottle. You'll be lucky to get it for $1.59 now. I could go on... Things used to go up here and there by 5 to 9 cents at a time. Now they jump 59 cents at a time...and this is just the beginning! It is truly shocking...I reckon' ya better say yer prayers my friends.”
Why government doesn’t work-Can’t feed the homeless without a permit!
A Houston couple was told to stop giving food to the homeless as they didn’t have a permit. They had been feeding up to 120 people nightly using donated food prepared by volunteers.
“It’s a social holocaust”
“…after Meyers lost his job as a Las Vegas Strip bartender and nearly eight months after he exhausted his , it has come to this: a careful inventory of a life's possessions and the hopeless embrace of a future as a middle-aged homeless man.”
The riots in Egypt threaten to send the price of oil soaring into the stratosphere. On Friday, the price of U.S. crude soared 4 percent. A 4 percent rise in a single day is pretty staggering.
Spoof on Obama- ‘Casey at Bat’ - thanks Frederick for sending this!
http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/obama_at_bat.html
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No Cook Tomato Sauce
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Using a food processor or blender, add..
-tomatoes, onions, garlic, green pepper, celery & a touch of horseradish.
Blend and cook for pasta dishes.
All over the United States, local governments have begun instituting "police response fees". For example, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has come up with a plan under which a fee of $365 would be charged if police are called to respond to an automobile accident where no injuries are involved. If there are injuries as a result of the crash that is going to cost extra.
101 Things to do until the Revolution Begins-Parting Shot
Brother, Can you spare a dime?
--Popular song from the Depression
America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards…but Joe Biden tells us to be patient, prosperity is just around the corner!
Back in the day, about 11 years ago, there was a popular book by Claire Wolfe called 101 Things to Do Until the Revolution which proved a humorous, interesting read. Used copies are around on Amazon, but none cheap. This tome has been “updated” and those copies are even more expensive…reaching almost cult-like status. Below you can at least read some excerpts or order the full copy.
Read excerpts from the book here.
http://www.conservativeforum.org/authquot.asp?ID=1373
Don’t Shoot the Bastards…Yet
http://billstclair.com/lodge/BooksShoot.shtml
As our friends at Whiskey & Gunpowder write…
Nearly all the problems we face are caused by governmental intrusions into many aspects of our personal and economic lives — intrusions by federal, state and local governments. Regardless of the good intentions that the welfare and military socialism statists have in justifying their use of compulsory government powers, what America needs is to cut the shackles of State-imposed dependence, restrictions, regulations, taxation, all those policies of moral relativism that involve violations of the Rule of Law: theft, trespass, denial of Due Process, and other acts of State-initiated criminal aggression.
Freeing Americans includes repealing all forms of intrusive presumption-of-guilt regulations and restrictions that are in place having nothing to do with whether any individual is suspected of any crimes against others. Regulations are before-the-fact demands by the government that presume the individual and one’s business guilty, in which one must submit one’s private personal or financial information to the government to prove one’s innocence. Government regulations and arbitrary restrictions are literally searches and seizures by the government of information that is none of anyone else’s business, and effect in the stifling of everyday citizens’ growth and prosperity.
http://whiskeyandgunpowder.com/how-to-replace-austerity-with-freedom-independence-and-prosperity/
Yours for a peaceful revolution, the Apostle of Action, the Poor Man! Please share this with others.
http://www.PoorManSurvival.com
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Don't Get Caught With Your Pantry Down-New 11th Ed.
http://tinyurl.com/PMBasics
Free Money assistance for women, businesses, more.
http://hop.clickbank.net/hop.cgi?poorman11/mlesko
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