Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin
A Digest of Urban Survival Resources
For Independent Minded People!
ISSN 2161-5543
In
This Issue:
1. Mid-wage jobs vanishing, what to do
now
2. Shipping container homes
3. Why Americans are so easily fooled
The whole aim of
practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be
led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them
imaginary. –HL Mencken
MID-WAGE JOBS" DISAPPEARING
Another study confirms a trend we've been seeing for years -
"mid-wage" jobs are shrinking. Lower-paying jobs are growing.
Some experts refer to this as the "hollowing out of the
workforce." Others call it the "disappearing middle class."
Regardless, it's a triple whammy.
Whammy One: Wages and salaries have been stagnating since the 1970s,
while the cost of living has continued to rise.
Whammy Two: Your job with a "stagnant" salary disappears, and
(if you're lucky) you replace it with one that pays much less.
Whammy Three: Billions of people would be happy to work for a fraction
of the value of a week's food stamps. And the Internet, for better or worse, is
bringing them closer by the day.
What to do? Well,
there are no panaceas, but here are three options:
1.
Start a side business. Doesn't matter what, the point is to develop
additional sources of income. Sell crafts on Etsy. Start a blog and monetize it
with Google ads. Start a dogwalking or errand-running business. Embrace
self-employment, which used to be active in our DNA but has been put to sleep
by schools and other bureaucracies. Defy them.
2. Boss your life. Throttle back on purchases to prevent debt
from commandeering your life choices. Remember, despite what the media says,
we're not "consumers." We're self-determining individuals. We're the
Boss. Act accordingly.
3. Focus on your goals and the steps to reach them. Don't worry about
"macro" economic trends and other things beyond your control. As
Epictetus, the stoic philosopher who was born a Greek slave, said, "First
say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do."
Hire a free tutor for your kid at KhanAcademy.org – They offer more
than 3,000 educational videos.
PM’s
Compendium of Useful Resources
Could a Shipping Container Become Your Second Home?
Shipping containers look pretty dull from the outside. And they're
nothing to write home about on the inside either... but they've got lots of
potential. And, I have three big reasons you might want to consider one for
your home away from home:
They're tough: Made from steel, shipping containers have a super-strong core
structure. They are probably much stronger than your primary residence and
almost surely way stronger than your typical cabin in the woods. They can be
stacked eight high on a ship and not even hurricane-strength winds will topple
them over. That means a tree could fall on your second home and you would
hardly see a dent. A hailstorm or windstorm? No big deal. You, your loved ones,
and your belongings will be safe inside. Plus, they are very hard to break into
without heavy-duty industrial tools.
They're affordable: On a square foot basis, a shipping container is really cheap compared
to the price of a cabin or a house. You can purchase one for $3,000 to $5,000
depending on size. Delivery costs for the container will vary depending on
location.
They're versatile: Once you have your shipping container, you can use it as-is for storage or you can start altering it to turn it into a comfortable living
space. You can run power and even running water into the container. You can
have doors and windows installed, build a deck on the roof... whatever you
like. A lot of people are opting to use multiple shipping containers to build
their primary residence, because the cost-savings is so significant. Just
imagine the savings of purchasing one or two containers and making modest
improvements... it definitely puts a second home in easier reach.
What You Should Know before Purchasing a Shipping Container
Shipping containers are about 8 feet tall and 8 feet wide. They come in
two typical lengths – 20 feet and 40 feet. Respectively, you get 150 to 300
square feet of floor space per container. On a cubic-foot basis, that's 1,200
to 2,400 c.f. Depending on your needs, calculate how many shipping containers you'll
need to build your second home. For example, you could outfit a 40-footer for
living space and use a 20-foot unit for storage.
An estimated 17 million shipping containers exist in the world today.
To locate and buy one or two, do a search for a Certified Shipping Container
Dealer.
The other thing to look for is any twisting in the body of the
container. It should be perfectly square and sit flat on a level surface. If
not, it may have been damaged, leaving it structurally unsound and incapable of
connecting properly with other shipping containers, which will limit your
design options.
It's usually most cost-effective to buy a very basic unit and then make
improvements to it on your own. Paying extra up front for things like
insulation doesn't usually save you money in the long run. It may save you some
hassle, though, so consider your options carefully.
BUILDING A TINY HOME
There are builders and architects in many regions who specialize in the
design and construction of tiny structures. A list of these is available on the
Web site of the Small House Society (www.SmallHouseSociety.com). Reputable
providers include Alchemy Architects (www.WeeHouse.com), Historic Shed
(www.HistoricShed.com) and Rocio
Romero (www.RocioRomero.com).
Alternately, you can purchase plans for tiny homes online from
companies such as Tumbleweed Tiny House Company (www.TumbleweedHouses.com) and Ross Chapin
Architects (www.RossChapin.com), typically for
$100 to $1,000. Provide these plans to a local builder, or erect the structure
yourself—putting up structures of modest size is within the abilities of many
skilled do-it-yourselfers, assuming that they have professional plans. Consider
hiring pros to handle the electrical and plumbing.
Added Benefit…
Homeowner’s insurance, property taxes, home décor expenses and heating
and cooling costs will be slashed dramatically as well. Expect discretionary
spending to drop, too—with less room to store possessions, tiny home dwellers
tend not to waste money on things that they don’t really need.
Find sideline income and business resources and…
Take a test to find the small business that's right for you
Plus dozens of useful resources you can put to immediate use!
Dump the car lease to save money. Trade in a car with a monthly payment for a
cheaper, fully paid one; it also costs less to insure. If you can, get by with one car to save cash.
The Nanny State Updates…
Black Hawk helicopters' war games in downtown Minneapolis
US Special Operations Command decided that downtown Minneapolis would
be a perfect location for military games involving Black Hawk helicopters and
dozens of troops.
Low-flying Black Hawk helicopters conducted military training exercises
in downtown Minneapolis Monday night, hovering majestically outside of
apartment windows of surprised local residents.
In April, Black Hawk and Little Bird helicopters flew past skyscrapers
in downtown Chicago for a similar urban environment training exercise, rattling
some windows of downtown offices. Witnesses of the largely-unexpected event
reported men hanging out of the windows, while carrying automatic weapons.
High school & college kids can get
discounts by registering at:
StudentUniverse.com/deals or StudentRate.com
The Parting Thought- Can you read?
Aside from insidious bureaucrats and corporate-owned
politicians, the third element in the demise of America is the electorate who
have collectively, been dummied down.
They swallow the government by the people sham hook, line &
sinker…from our ongoing series on How to Take America Back from
Dysfunctional Politicians.
Why Americans are Easily
Fooled
Americans don't read.
Indeed, most Americans haven't read a book since they left high school.
42% of college graduates have not read another book after graduating, 80% of US
families did not buy or read a book last year, 70% of US adults have not been
in a bookstore in the last five years, 57% of new books are not read to
completion, and most "readers" (to use the term loosely) do not get
past page 18 in
the last book they purchased. So, it should not be surprising that the
average American reads, and I posit, understands at an 8th
grade level. Stefan Molyneux breaks down the jaw dropping statisticts on the
decline of the American intellect in this video.
It is the
fundamental theory of all the more recent American law...that the average
citizen is half-witted, and hence not to be trusted to either his own devices
or his own thoughts. --HL Mencken
Most Americans will tell you straight-faced that the US is the
"land of the free", even though it has more people incarcerated
nominally and as a percentage of its population than any other country in the
world. They will insist that America is the "land of opportunity"
even as one-fourth of the work force is employed in jobs that pay less than
$22,000, the
poverty line for a family of four, half are on the government dole, and most of
those will die virtually
penniless.
These are fools. And voters.
Jim Karger's cathartic release on the lesser of two lessers, the
“choice” for President of the USSA, Barack Romney and Mitt Obama…
“And we will know what America gets when we wake up November 7, 2012.
There will be celebration and there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
And it will all be for nothing…
Because nothing material will change, regardless who is elected. On the
economy, foreign policy and civil liberties, you could put the differences
between Obama and Romney in a thimble and have plenty of room to spare. Their
positions on the most critical issues in America are not materially different
but equally devastating.”
The financial crisis was caused by excessive utilization of debt. In
order to correct these imbalances, the country needed to undergo a deleveraging
and reversion back to a country of savers. Savings equals investment. Instead,
our “leaders” have reduced interest rates to 0% and have gone on an
unprecedented government borrowing and spending spree. Savers and senior
citizens are punished, while gamblers and speculators are rewarded. Anyone who
thinks about this strategy for a few minutes will realize it is asinine and
fruitless.
It seems one thing Republicans and Democrats can agree on though is
that spending money they don’t have will have no negative consequences (“deficits don’t
matter” ~Cheney).
Watch our short slide show on why voting is a
waste of time…
Excerpted from the Dollar Vigilante…
Jim Karger is a lawyer who has represented American businesses against
incursions by government and labor unions for 30 years. He has been the subject
of many feature articles, including, "Outlandish Labor Lawyer Gets No
Objections From Staid Clients," published in The Wall Street Journal, and
most recently was featured in an article entitled, "You Can Get There From
Here," published by the American Bar Association. In 2001, he left Dallas,
and moved to San Miguel de Allende in the high desert of central Mexico where
he sought and found a freer and simpler life for he and his wife, Kelly, and
their 10 dogs.
Today, Jim takes a handful of assignments each year, and speaks
regularly to industry associations and employers on issues involving government
regulation, over-criminalization, and privacy. His website is www.crediblyconnect.com
Learn how we can take back America from dysfunctional politicians-without firing a shot! Or will Americans get what they deserve because they lack the cajones to act?
http://poormansurvivorblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/taking-back-america-from-dysfunctional.html
“Until the next revolution”, the Poor Man
Follow us on
Facebook
Twitter
Keep our services free, visit our sites…
Check our Resources
New self
sufficiency books added weekly
A Shallow
Planet Production
No comments:
Post a Comment