Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin
A Digest of Urban Survival Resources
For Independent Minded People!
ISSN
2161-5543
"Economic
power is exercised by means of a positive, by offering men a reward, an
incentive, a payment, a value; political power exercised by means of a
negative, by the threat of punishment, injury, imprisonment, destruction. The
businessman's tool is values; a
bureucrats’ tool is fear."
-- Ayn Rand
-- Ayn Rand
From The
Smiling Dog Saloon Files
In
This Issue:
1.
Protecting yourself if the dollar collapses
2.
Garden with garbage
3.
Haggling 101
4.
Handgun training
What to do if the dollar does collapse…
This week’s vote did one
thing for those of us that are preparing --- and that is it bought us more
time. More time to prepare, save up, learn some skills, buy a
little more ammo, etc. This entire debate on the budget and looming
default issue will rear its ugly head in only a matter of months from
now…Congress is great at kicking the can down the street!
An annual budget deficit of over $1 trillion, annual
trade deficit in the neighborhood of $728 billion, an official national debt of
$16.7 trillion, and unfunded liabilities of $123 trillion.
And all liabilities are being carried by an economy
generating $15.6 trillion each year in gross revenues (gross domestic product,
or GDP).
How much longer can we continue to carry such enormous
liabilities with such low income? Will we reverse the trend? Or will the dollar
collapse under the weight of so much debt?
Purely as a matter of basic arithmetic, the betting has
to be on a dollar collapse, at least eventually. It’s a matter of far too much
debt and ongoing liabilities against too few resources.
The collapse of a nation’s currency is not an unusual
event in history. In fact, it’s even more common in the past 100 years or so
due to the advance of paper currency that is not backed by physical assets. For
example, Roman coins continued to circulate as money well after the Empire
collapsed because of their silver content. No country in the world today uses
silver as a currency, or permits the redemption of currency for a certain
amount of silver or gold. A nation’s currency then is entirely a product of
how well the nation functions.
That being the case, a currency can collapse based
ultimately on uncertainty.
Here is a short
list of factors that could cause sufficient uncertainty to result in a dollar collapse:
A run on the dollar by foreign entities…
>The government opting to print money to cover an
out-of-control budget
>A significant increase in inflation.
>The U.S. loses a significant war
>The emergence of a currency that replaces the dollar
as the international reserve currency
When we talk about currency collapse – or in our case a
dollar collapse – we’re actually talking about several possible scenarios.
In one instance, a dollar collapse could be a significant
decline in the purchasing power of the currency. For example, a doubling of
general price levels in a two or three year period would mean – in reality –
that the value of the dollar has fallen by 50%.
A more severe version could be that we have an annual
inflation rate of 50%. The dollar would continue to lose value in either
scenario, but faith in the currency will decline along with it.
A Dollar Collapse is Not Inevitable
No discussion of
a dollar collapse would be complete without considering that it may never
happen. Here are some reasons why:
The dollar is
the world’s reserve currency – there is no suitable replacement now or even on
the horizon. This allows for much greater currency distortions.
We have been
experiencing a very slow dollar collapse for the last several decades. As dysfunctional
as that is, it is also entirely possible that it could go on for many, many
more years. Let’s face it – we’re kind of used to it.
The country
might have a shift over to greater financial responsibility – the debt problems
don’t necessarily have to be eliminated as much as we need to start heading in
the right direction.
The development
of a new technology, or a combination of several, could unleash a wave of
economic growth and capital formation that would minimize current imbalances.
A major war. For
whatever reasons, nations seem to better tolerate hyperinflation and crumbling
finances during war time.
A dollar
collapse is far from certain. Any of these conditions – and a few others –
could prevent it from happening.
How
to Protect Yourself During a Dollar Collapse
When you
consider the circumstances that can either cause or prevent a dollar collapse
it is absolutely clear that it is completely beyond our control at the
individual level. Whatever the outcome, all we can do is prepare and try to do
our best to live within conditions as they are. Here are some suggestions on
what you can do if a dollar collapse were to occur (remember, not saying it
necessarily will):
1.
Put your trust in God.
It is
regrettable – but true – that we may never put our trust completely in our
Heavenly Father more than when it seems as if the walls are collapsing around
us. And that is exactly what a dollar collapse will look and feel like. No
matter how bad things get, God can guide us through the worst of it in ways
that we can’t imagine. This is a good time to remember that God is bigger than
our problems, even
if they’re at the national level.
2.
Develop hands-on job skills.
Most discussions
of a dollar collapse center almost exclusively on how to preserve your investment
portfolio (or savings) from
the collapse. But most of us will have a far more basic problem – how will we make a
living? Traditional jobs will disappear quickly, so think of skills
that will enable you to either grow, build, or fix things. Growing
food, generating power,
repairing cars and computers, or even building (very) inexpensive homes will
enable you to barter. Needs will be basic so the possibilities are pretty wide
open.
3.
Save up all the money you can now.
Even in a
currency collapse, having
money saved will be an
economic virtue. At a minimum, you’ll need to have cash available to cover
living expenses until you can figure out how to make a living. You may also
need cash in order to help you retool to make your living. Of course, depending
on if there was a partial or whole dollar collapse, this advice may or may not
come in handy.
4.
Have some money in precious metals.
When it comes to
currency collapse, putting your money into precious metals is a default
recommendation. I’m not completely convinced this will turn out to be true, but
between gold and silver you might want to go with
silver. It’s lower value will make it more practical as a barter asset. Just
remember that a currency collapse will cause all types of distortions, some of
which can have a negative effect on precious metals. Buy some, but don’t overdo
it. Precious metals alone are unlikely to completely insulate you from the
fallout of a dollar collapse.
5.
Get closer with family, friends, church, neighborhood and community.
Crisis always
brings us closer. We may not feel as much of a need for people and involvement
during times of prosperity, but they’re God’s blessing in a disaster. We’ll
need people and community to help and to be helped by, to barter with, and to
entertain ourselves in ways we can no longer afford to.
What are your thoughts on a dollar collapse? Likely, unlikely,
impossible? And if you think it is possible, what should we do to prepare for
it? Leave a comment!
PM’s
Roundup of Useful Resources…
Like Rourke says, he might be stating the obvious here,
but it sure beats a tent for a variety of reasons in most cases: “A huge topic
on many preparedness sites and forums revolves around shelter. Obviously if you
are bugging in your house is your preferred shelter. If heading to a retreat then
that…
Continue reading Excellent
portable survival shelter you already have….and don’t even realize it (link)
Duct tape is such wonderful stuff! Just be sure to
purchase the good-quality brands and not the off-brand garbage sold at places
like Wally World. Note: I’ve also heard that 100-mph tape is like duct tape on
steroids but I’ve never tried it: “Modern duct tape, the kind easy to tear by
hand yet strong…
Like most things, it’s apparently not that difficult to
make your own Calendula salve, something that works great for small cuts and
rashes: “For the last two spring seasons I grew calendula flowers in my herb
garden. Calendula is said to be a premier antiseptic and healing agent, and so
it makes sense that we…
Continue reading Make
Your Own Calendula Healing Salve (link)
The Nanny State-We love our government
The adoption of military gear by local police departments
across America – some call it the “militarization” of American police – has
been going on for a while. Now, observers ask whether this trend might have
repercussion which should make citizens uneasy. Police department receive the
equipment for free – all they have to do is pay for the shipping. The gear
being sent to local police includes planes, helicopters, armored vehicles,
grenade launchers, assault rifles, bullet-proof helmets, night-vision goggles,
and more. A few sheriff departments ordered tanks.
The
Parting Thought – Nothing to worry in the land of the free!
After two days and more than 500 rounds in the Massad Ayoob Group MAG20 handgun training class, the results spoke for themselves.
By Corrina Peterson
EDITORS NOTE: I had my initial firearms training during my days in the service and with several repeat refresher courses from licensed instructors. Well worth the time and effort and the reason I’m sharing this article with you…
Recently, I had the privilege of attending the Massad Ayoob Group's
MAG20 Range class, taught by Master Instructor David Maglio near Saukville, WI.
After two days and more than 500 rounds, the results spoke for themselves.
Three components in particular made a huge difference in my shooting.
The first was a small but critical adjustment in the angle of my off-side wrist and resulting placement of my thumb on the frame of the pistol. This minor shift in grip position took the feel of the gun in my hand from "awkward" to "natural extension of my arm." It also seemed to cure my pulling shots low and to the right on the target.
The first was a small but critical adjustment in the angle of my off-side wrist and resulting placement of my thumb on the frame of the pistol. This minor shift in grip position took the feel of the gun in my hand from "awkward" to "natural extension of my arm." It also seemed to cure my pulling shots low and to the right on the target.
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The next was a training technique called the Blind Swordsman Drill,
done while not even holding a gun. The instructor had us assume our stance,
extend our arms with simulated grip toward the target and close our eyes for
30 seconds or so. When we opened our eyes, if we were still on target, we had
identified our "natural point of aim." We made note of the position
and used it from then on.
If, upon opening our eyes, we were off target, we pivoted our body until the aim was back on target and closed our eyes again, repeating until we found our natural point of aim. The difference this made in accuracy was remarkable. Evidently, this is a technique known and used by many successful competitive shooters. The third was a live-fire trigger pull exercise, called the Exemplar Drill. The instructors had us assume stance and grip on the handgun, but then they pulled the trigger to fire, first with our trigger finger on the frame, then with our finger on the trigger under theirs, and finally us pulling the trigger with their finger over ours so they could feel what we were doing. This essentially isolated the effects of recoil from any movement created by the student's trigger pull.
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1 comment:
Thought provoking to say the least, especially in light of current events in Washington
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