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Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Why So Many of Us Feel Like a Stranger in Our Own Country


 

Poor Man Survival

Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…


 

ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

 


Things have changed so much that I often feel like a stranger in my own country.

This was a sentiment I encountered at every Trump rally I attended in 2015 and 2016 and something many of my friends and I have spoken aloud over the past two decades.  Is it the typical sign of getting old or are things really changing that quickly or both?

My good friend Larry commented on the AI series I wrote last year and sudden move by advertisers to incorporate robots into so many TV ads, especially for the likes of Verizon and driverless vehicles…something we both find odd.  In the case of driverless cars we each think they will likely be geared to older folks who no longer drive and to millenials who can’t afford a vehicle and might not have drivers license and often don’t see car ownership as something they can afford [after all, vehicle ownership isn’t pushed by Madison Avenue any longer-leasing is].

SIDEBAR:  It is nearly impossible to traverse web news or popular media today without being assaulted by vast amounts of propaganda on artificial intelligence (AI). It is perhaps the fad to end all fads as it supposedly encompasses almost every aspect of human existence, from economics and security to thought and art. According to mainstream claims, AI can do almost everything and do it better than any human being. And the things AI can't do, it will be able to do eventually.

The globalist establishment has long held AI as a kind of holy grail in centralization technology. The United Nations has adopted numerous positions and even summits in the issue, including the "AI For Good" summit in Geneva. 

The following is by Timothy Carney.  It appeared in the Feb. 19th issue of the Washington Examiner.

How the Collapse of Communities Gave Us President Trump

“When I was a kid,” 80-year-old Bob Garrett told me in Rock Hill, S.C., during the 2016 election, “it was really great to be an American, and it’s just disintegrated over the years. … It’s not the same America.”

This sense of alienation from one's own country turned out to be one of the best predictors of Trump support.

Compared to other white, working-class Americans, Trump’s working-class supporters were 3.5 times more likely to feel like a stranger in their own land, a survey by pollster PRRI found. That’s an extraordinary correlation, stronger than almost any other indicator PRRI could find. Even support for deporting illegal immigrants was less correlated with Trump support.

It tells us something not just about Trump supporters, but about what ails so much of working-class America.

While some old guys in MAGA hats complaining about cultural changes may have meant something like “too much rap music on TV” or “women don’t know their place,” there were also plenty more valid reasons to lament cultural shifts.

Marriage, for instance, is retreating in the working class. Americans are increasingly segregated by income and education. And the working class is increasingly falling away from church and organized religion.

So all those liberal critics who said Trump’s election was more about culture than economics? They were right. More precisely, though, Trump support was about cultural alienation. People turned to him to fill a void left by the erosion of civil society.
 
 

Trump’s base

“Trumpism,” commentator Alex Wagner suggested after noticing how Trump rallies resembled religious revivals, could be “endowing certain Americans with a sense of solidarity and support that were once found in institutions like the church (or marriage).”

This is clear when we focus on the early GOP primaries to sort out who was Trump’s early core support.

In one poll taken midprimaries, when Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was the last viable challenger, Trump led among GOP voters by a margin of 37 to 31. But among GOP voters who were “civically disengaged,” Trump led 50 to 24.

“Outside of your family,” the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy asked people in 2016, “who would you turn to first if you needed help with” child care, finances, a ride to an appointment, advice on raising a family, and other matters for which people often turn to their neighbors, their church community, or other institutions that play an intimate role in their lives.

Maybe you rely on a next-door neighbor for a ride, but for life advice you turn to a church friend. Maybe you turn to work colleagues for financial advice. For some matters, people replied, “I just rely on myself.”

Trump voters, as compared to Cruz voters, or supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, answered, “I just rely on myself” the most.

The center also asked a few questions about social and family life and used the responses to group voters into two categories: socially connected and not socially connected. Trump voters were significantly less socially connected.

There’s plenty more data like this, charting loneliness and social disconnection to Trump’s early core support.

Community strength depends directly on trust. When people like Robert Putnam talk about “social capital,” a big part of it is how much you can trust others and how much trust other people put in you. When asked, “Would you say that most of the time people try to be helpful, or that they are mostly just looking out for themselves?” Trump’s core group of supporters, according to pollster Emily Ekins, was most likely by far to say, “People are looking out for themselves.”

Cultural commentator Emma Green described Trump’s base, and the Trump-era base of the Republican Party, as “voters who are becoming more disillusioned with and detached from political and communal life.”

People in places

This data helps explain a discrepancy among various polls and studies trying to define and explain the Trump base. Some studies seemed to prove Trump voters were perfectly well off. Others concluded that economic distress really did drive Trump support.

What distinguished these two classes of studies? The studies that found no or little connection between economic woe and Trump support were polls of individuals. Those finding that economic woe predicted Trump support were studies of places.

As a Washington Post headline aptly put it: “Places That Backed Trump Skewed Poor; Voters Who Backed Trump Skewed Wealthier.” It was suffering places more than suffering people who backed Trump.

The story of how we got Trump, then, is the story of the collapse of community. This is also the story behind our opioid plague, our labor-force dropouts, our retreat from marriage, and our growing inequality.

The core Trump voters weren’t the people dying of opioids, obviously. They weren’t even necessarily the unhealthy ones. They weren’t necessarily the people drawing disability payments or dropping out of the workforce. Trump’s core voters were these people’s neighbors.

Trump’s win, specifically his wins in the early primaries, is best explained by his support in places where communities are in disarray.

Trump’s core supporters were, with their votes, largely casting a vote that America was not currently great, and that the American dream was dead. By this, what they mostly meant was that the path to the good life had been shut down. And while they probably wouldn’t have said it this way, they saw things this bleakly because of what was most immediately surrounding them: communities that had lost the connective tissue that ties individuals together and is indispensable for raising a family and getting ahead.

This alienation had a political dimension, as well.

Political alienation

I saw my first sign reading “The Silent Majority for Trump” at an early Trump rally in Rock Hill, S.C. The claim to be part of “the silent majority” is a clear cry that one feels disenfranchised, one feels stripped of a political voice.

Some liberal critics will respond, Yes, old white men no longer run the show, and that makes them bitter. This isn’t totally false, but if we sneer too much about the white guys who lost their privilege, we miss that there is a real poverty here when it comes to cultural connection and the political life.

“People like me don’t have a say in what government does” is a bleak sentiment in a democracy. Trump’s core supporters were the most likely to strongly agree with this statement. A full 25 percent of Trump’s core supporters in one study by pollster Ekins “strongly agreed” with that dour sentiment, compared to less than 15 percent of those who got behind Trump only later, in the general election.


 

 

Getting Fire And Water Forever.
 


 


Five Companies Now Control 80% of America’s Contracted Spying

   Revelations from Edward Snowden about the NSA and spying on Americans have become even worse…In this century, a mini-version of the military-industrial complex has evolved and taken hold of Washington; something the late Eisenhower warned us about in his 1961 farewell address.  There are now 17 distinct [official] US intelligence agencies which spy on us and/or each other.  Not all of that surveillance is kept in-house either…it’s outsourced to contractors.

Among those, most of it goes to just five firms you’ve likely never heard of [or would never associate with spying –and they like it that way- such as:  Leido, which recently purchased the Information Systems & Global Solutions divisions of Lockheed Martin; Booz, Allen Hamilton, CSRA, SAIC and CACI International.

There is another, one that I’m the majority owner of but I am not at liberty to divulge its name…and we’re not based inside the United States.

The government now spends $16 billion annually so that approximately 45,000 contractors with security clearances who work alongside the CIA and NSA and other agencies can analyze signals, track terrorists and listen in on foreign leaders.  The armies of spies do listen in your phone calls, read your e-mails, track your spending, parses your messages and track your movements…enjoy your day and tell your grand kids what privacy used to mean in what used to be the land of the free.


Here’s my idea for a new bill

 

Since term limits never seems to gain any traction perhaps we should entertain the idea of zero pay for elected officials after their third term in office…give them their office, expenses, health insurance while in office and a living allowance only=much like our Founding Fathers and see how many decide to remain in office.

 

Here’s another idea I have…

 

Perhaps we need to resurrect a new version of ‘war’ bonds, perhaps calling them “government bailout bonds” to help pay off our national debt and/or to help pay for our massive deficits and proposed new spending projects since fewer foreign nations are buying our debt!


Yours for a more secure future,

Bruce ‘the Poor Man!’


Final Notes…

Contributors and subscribers enable the Poor Man Survivor to post 150+ free essays annually. It is for this reason they are Heroes and Heroines of New Media. Without your financial support, the free content would disappear for the simple reason that I cannot keep body and soul together on my meager book sales & ecommerce alone.

Free:  Economics in One Lesson - Something the ‘new’ Democrats should read!


 


People need to become more self-reliant, not more dependent on government.

How to Survive the War on the Middle Class

 Download here:

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Additional Resources

Rosefield is a classic traditional cabin, which can be built for less than $6,000. The cabin is open plan, which has the advantage of making it far easier, cheaper and quicker to build than more intricate cabins with separate rooms. This particular plan also includes a detailed cabin assembly diagram and step-by-step instructions which includes a foundation guide.  [282sf’]


 

Social Chaos Survival Guide: Savvy Precautions To Make You Self-Reliant


 

A Smoking Frog Feature, Shallow Planet Production

Monday, February 25, 2019

Sideline Money-making Gigs I’ve Had Since I Was 11


Poor Man Survival

Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…


ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

 


Sideline Money-making Gigs I’ve Had Since I Was 11

   I grew up in a lower middle-class family.  We didn’t have much money and we were not given allowances.  In those days I shoveled snow, cut grass and raked leaves for neighbors to earn extra money.  That’s what kids did.

There was a country club for the wealthy tucked away at the end of our street however and for a kid, it was an adventure to hike around.  Before long I was retrieving golf balls that I found along the roughs and sand traps and bringing them home.  Almost all were in perfect condition and expensive brand names.

I cleaned them up and stored them in a box.  One day my father discovered my treasure and offered to sell them to his golf buddies for me.  At that age I had no idea just how expensive these little balls were.  I was delighted when I got wads of cash from my Dad.  I tore down to the country club in search of more ‘treasure.’

That became my first business.  The next year as a result of my mother’s friendship with the gol pro’s wife, I got a job as a glorified gopher working inside the proshop and remained there until age 18.  During those summers I managed to get my hands on a lot of ‘surplus’ golf equipment the rich club members no longer wanted either free or very cheap and turned them around at a very nice profit to friends of my Dad or to the golfing members at my school.  By the time I was 16 I averaged $200 a week profit-not bad for a kid!

During the winter I usually made extra cash as bus boy at a local pancake house [sometimes they even let me cook, something I enjoyed and it was a skill that I enhanced and it would come in handy later in life for another successful business that I owned].
 
 

My First Government Run-in

My first car was a Kharmann Ghia or what I called the ‘poor man’s Porsche.  It was made by VW and mine was a convertible and I thought the VW was a great vehicle as parts were interchangeable for several years which made repairs cheap and easy.  Before long I was buying and repairing VWs [primarily ‘cosmetic’ repairs and then reselling them.]  In those days one could even get a cheap paint job at the old Earl Scheib for $29.95!

Once could buy VW parts new at a local store or even cheaper or at a junk yard.  

At 16 I sold five VWs at a tidy profit in one year before I got a letter from the state [of OH] telling me that if I sold anymore I would have to obtain a dealer’s license!  That put an end to my refurbishing business.

I was learning more about free enterprise during this time as I became the local president of Junior Achievement, something my Dad had been a leader of and had taken me to for the previous few years.

After high school I elected to join the Navy before going to college…

   Throughout my college years I supplemented my GI Bill by working as a bartender, bouncer, cook or other part time job to put myself through school without debt as my family wasn’t in a position to help with tuition.  One little venture netted some extra cash for us, but it took some doing.  Park n Swap was a huge area flea market in Phoenix at the time and my weekend destination.

Since I had been studying Native American culture I was pleased to find two Navajo men at the market who made their own jewelry. After spending several weeks talking to one vendor I purchased a large amount of handmade silver and turquoise pieces at a wholesale price.  On my next return trip home to Cleveland to visit family I partnered up with a buddy who would resell this lot to shops at an area which catered to the area ‘counter culture’ and could appreciate such hand crafted Native American work.

Long story made short:  my friend was more interested in getting wasted and it fell to my own Dad to resell the jewelry [had to give my Father credit, he unloaded it quickly and at least made a small profit for us, while keeping a few pieces for himself for his trouble…indeed, he wore the ring that he liked until the day he passed]!  I learned a lot about Native American turquoise jewelry that year and even more about friendships and business partnerships…although I have to admit, the summer prior to moving to AZ, this friend had worked with me in a summer house painting business that I owned which was very profitable! [Again, I had to thank my Dad for the use of his station wagon that summer for our painting business].

 


Books, Storage Wars, Auctions

My Love of reading since elementary school led to an accidental profit center for me.  By the time I had met my current wife I had accumulated nearly 10,000 volumes in my personal library and an 18,000 sq. ft. mansion to go with it which featured a lot of bookshelves.  I had worked in the publishing business for much of my life and traveled extensively in the United States and overseas and visited used book stores and antique shops at every opportunity to satisfy my collection.

Even though a divorce had cleaned out most of my personal assets [and a former business partner cheated me on the sale of the publishing venture I owned] thankfully, my ex didn’t have any interest in books.  I was pretty broke at the time after losing so much and was forced to start selling off parcels of my antiquarian and first edition book collection.

eBay was at its beginning and I took a chance and listed a first edition hardbound copy of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged which I might have paid a dollar for.  I was floored when it realized slightly more than $100!  Knowing I had so many first editions and signed editions in my collection I knew I had ‘found money’ lying about!

Between eBay, other sites and antiquarian book dealers that friends had introduced me to, I began selling in earnest and started making a very nice profit and learned more and more about what to seek in books.  Over nearly twenty years I’ve made thousands selling my personal collection and more from additional books that I picked up along the way via auctions and thrift shops, garage sales and the like.  [Goodwill and Salvation Army used to be good sources, but no longer as they now bypass their retail customers, effectively cheating them, and sell directly online now].

Another blow to selling books is that fewer people, especially younger folks, actually crack a book today.  It’s reported that those under 30 seldom read one book a year!  I did find one, somewhat viable alternative market that is still profitable…how-to books, especially vintage material.  Recently, for example, I sold a signed edition from 1950 of a book on raising pigeons by a man famous in that field.  I found it for a dollar at a flea market and it sold for $39.

Overall however, like any other niche, bookselling soon peaked and sales fell.  Finding books became increasingly difficult, especially at thrift stores due to the reasons mentioned above [indeed, most ‘junk and collectible’ hunters have given up on the above thrift stores to which they now refer to as:  illwill and starvation army!  In reality, they truly are no longer thrift stores as most tell me they can buy new items, such as clothing, cheaper at WalMart

[NOTE:  Another small niche which has since peaked…once my book inventory was nearly gone and my health was failing, I sold my book related domain name for $4,000 and a few others which I had reserved, but for quite this much money.  Domain name selling still takes place, but it too is harder to do as people jumped all over this niche and reserved names by the thousands in hopes someone would want that name & would be willing to shell out large dollars for it…it has become somewhat of a bigger gamble].

It seems every niche gets over worked such as the one made popular by the TV show Storage Wars.  This southern CA program follows several entrepreneurs around who bid on abandoned storage units and hope they find treasure inside, enough to recuperate the often ludicrous amounts of money they pay out for these units. 

Either Californian’s are idiots for what they pay for these lockers or the rest of the nation just doesn’t go along with their trajectory -- I’ve attended 100s of these auctions in the Great Lakes areas and very rarely have I seen such prices realized. Now I know the cost of living in CA is significantly higher in the high-tax state of CA and perhaps that is why bidding prices are so high.  The exceptions are when vintage vehicles, motorcycles, snow mobiles, jet skiis or such are visible. 

Can you make money doing this?  Yes!  Like anything else, it is in large part the luck of the draw and bidding LOW!  The old adage of buy low, sell high applies to nearly every business.  The one exception seems to be Starbucks.  It has always amazed me that people pay big bucks for crappy coffee…Dunkin’ Donuts offers a much better product in my opinion, but I guess some younger people in particular, who have little money, feel a little boost to their ‘status’ when they swill this cup of rust.

I seldom attend these auctions because I am lazy and no longer own a truck or suitable outlet for selling or storing large amounts of goods…but it does cross my mind.  The reason is because of a skill I picked up in AZ.

As a means of learning a new skill and increasing my knowledge base, I attended an auction and appraisal school in AZ for several weeks*.  It proved worthwhile and I have earned dozens of times its cost back.  In fact, I drove out there with a mini-van filled with antiques which we sold at the auction school and came back with a load of horse tack for resale!  The appraisal skills I learned allowed me to earn fees from bankruptcy courts, the Phoenix Police, the IRS, insurance firms and others!

While living in AZ we rented booth space inside a large upscale antique mall which did well for us and periodically set up at an area flea market to sell antiques and collectibles and even held garage sales at our 5-acre mini-ranch to earn extra cash.

I’ve auctioned off private estates, antique arms, antiquarian document and book lots and other specialized items over the years, all earning some handsome commissions.  Because of a move back home to assist family during their health challenges [and eventually my own heart attack], I no longer engage in such auctions except for twice a year.

What I do now is use the service of an area auctioneer that I’ve known and trusted for more than a decade to consign items to which I’ve acquired from area flea markets, thrift stores, garage sales, etc.  I participate in his monthly online auction.  I also consign items I no longer want or items which didn’t sell on eBay or items that are too large to ship. We sold off my Dad’s collection of antique pellet rifles and pre-1930 rifles through this auctioneer as well.  I average $250 monthly net return from this.

Creating something you can do from home and without incurring a lot of government oversight and interference, especially in the beginning, are some of the criteria I look for.  When I was on the board of directors and speaker at the Council of Smaller Enterprises [COSE] and its annual Entrepreneurship Conference, the number one obstacle indicated by participants to starting a business was our own government!

Finding a niche you like that makes money can be a challenge.  If you can make it a family enterprise,  so much the better.  I would encourage you to start it as a part time venture to test the water.  For the most part it has been my experience that regardless of what you launch, it appears successful, you will have a host competitors in no time.  I’ve seen that [and friends of mine have also] in today’s cut throat marketplace where it is very difficult to create and/or maintain a unique selling proposition.

Developing several sources of income has always been the smartest advice I’ve ever received…something to do with never putting all of your eggs into one basket theory!

P.S.  I’ve received many awards for business over the years including the Presidents’ Award for Entrepreneurship and have been profiled in Nation’s Business, Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc., and others…that flame was sparked my Dad who got me started with Junior Achievement at a young age.  I later conducted their program at area high schools where I lived in OH.  It is a worthwhile program to introduce young people to.  


Further, I find it ironic Democratic candidates are pushing socialist ideals while slamming capitalism YET Communism China has been sidelining it providing massive subsidies to its free enterprise industries such as robotics, cell phones, electric car and other industries [and military] in its goal toward world domination and to surpass the United States by 2025…and US citizens and industry such as Apply and Facebook are helping them to achieve their goals!  Another reason why US industries MUST resume making goods in this country again.

An economics professor once told our class that when a nation ceases producing goods, that usually indicates the end of its reign.

*[I’m a strong believer in self-improvement.  When I owned my publishing and seminar business I took a college class on business contract law for para-legals so I would have a firm understanding of contracts. This was helpful in the business world as you can imagine.

I launched my publishing concern after reading an over-priced manual geared to small business owners which supposedly would help them market their businesses better.  It motivated me to write a better tome which I self published.  It sold 50,000 copies [pre-internet days] and developed additional profit centers by way of workshops and a profitable newsletter AND it generated a lot national publicity for business.

  Later, I took our state’s real estate licensing course and exam not to be an agent but to have a full understanding of the law.  Both came in handy as I engaged in several purchases of personal real estate, fixer-uppers and some speculative ventures.  As one might gather, I am ambitious and willing to learn what I can to further myself rather than always be in a position to rely on others and pay for their services].

Freedom Self-Reliance Action


Support hero pups!

If you have a Visa or Amex gift card in any amount consider donating it to the nonprofit Project Paws Alive [ProjectPawsAlive.org] – they’ll use the gift card to fund supplies for active police, fire, rescue and military K-9s.  Send them to:

1193 SE Port Saint Lucie Blvd., Ste. 289, St. Lucie, FL 30017

 

Burton Morgan helped encourage and champion my publishing venture.  Now deceased, his group still encourages others:


 

Perhaps we need to resurrect the use of ‘war’ bonds to help pay off our national debt and/or to help pay for the many new ‘projects’ being suggested by socialists.

 


Few people realize that you can actually make money as a prepper. They think prepping is just a way to prepare for potential disasters (or merely a hobby for the super-paranoid).

 

Well, it is, but at the same time, you can earn a decent amount of money as a prepper. In fact, there are multiple ways to make money as a prepper, to the point that it’s not unrealistic to make a few hundred extra dollars a month…if not a few thousand, depending on your circumstances.

 
Here are the top ways that you can make money as a prepper...



 

 


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Yours for smarter living,

Bruce ‘the Poor Man’

 

 

Additional FREE Resources


 

Living Frugally In Suburbia
You live differently than your neighbors.

 
 

14 Frugal Food-Rescuing Tips from Grandma
These depression-era frugal tips still work today!

 

8 Simple Ways to Put More Money in Your Pocket
Have more money without working harder!


 
Knowing When and How to Stockpile Groceries
Stocking up could save your grocery budget!

 

Emergency Preparedness on a Budget 
Affordable ways to prepare for an emergency.

 


Contributors and subscribers enable the Poor Man Survivor to post 150+ free essays & free reports that I provide annually. It is for this reason they are Heroes and Heroines of New Media. Without your financial support, the free content would disappear for the simple reason that I cannot keep body and soul together on my meager book sales & ecommerce alone.  You can make a donation at top of this page via PayPal.

Find survival related books here!

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 A Smoking Frog Feature, Shallow Planet Production

 

Thursday, February 21, 2019

PM's Self Reliance Tools: A positive jobs report is only one part of the pic...

PM's Self Reliance Tools: A positive jobs report is only one part of the pic...: Poor Man Survival Self Reliance tools for independent minded people… www.poormansurvivor.net   ISSN 2161-5543 A Digest of...

A positive jobs report is only one part of the picture


Poor Man Survival

Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…


 

ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

 


A positive jobs report is only one part of the picture.


On January 4, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics released its December employment figures, causing much rejoicing in America. A total of 312,000 new jobs were created, far surpassing the estimated 176,000 jobs. Wages were found to have grown 3.2 percent over the same time last year, again beating the 3 percent increase economists predicted. That year-over-year jump tied with October for the best month since April 2009.

This was positive news for the U.S. economy, coming amid growing concerns of a global recession setting in. After a week of terrible losses, new life surged into the stock markets. Many declared that the U.S. could push aside fears of a recession.

But while the job numbers were very favorable, they are only one part of the economic picture. Add a few more pieces to the puzzle, and the real picture of America’s economy appears.

A Few More Puzzle Pieces


Here is the first piece: One underreported fact from the December job report was who is being hired. The majority were workers 55 years and older. In contrast, the number of people in the prime age group (ages 25-54) decreased by 11,000. This says a lot about America’s financial situation. More and more Americans of retirement age are returning to the workforce, most likely because they can’t afford to retire. This also explains why wages increased more than expected.

Those of retirement age lack sufficient savings for retirement, and younger Americans are not saving for retirement. Data released last year by the Federal Reserve found that 4 in 10 adults couldn’t cover an unexpected expense of $400, and would have to go into debt or sell something to cover the cost. While this is an improvement from 2013, when 50 percent of adults couldn’t spare $400, it still shows how unprepared people are for even a small financial hardship. The most recent study on the issue found that 78 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, up from 75 percent the previous year.

Here is the next puzzle piece: Not only are Americans without savings, they are maxed out on debts they cannot pay. The same Federal Reserve report found that more than one fifth of adults are unable to fully pay all their current month’s bills, which means they are stuck in an ever worsening debt trap. Consumer debt in the U.S. continues to smash records. Credit card debt, along with student and auto loans, are at all-time highs.

This is a problem from the personal level all the way to the federal level. In 2018 the U.S. government added an additional $1 trillion to the national debt, bringing the total to nearly $22 trillion.

This has some people worried, like Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who said the government will soon have “no choice” but to face this issue. But most, including President Donald Trump, seem unconcerned. On January 8, he tweeted that he longed for interest rates to return to zero percent so he could have something to “play with,” like the last administration had, implying that he would add even more to the debt.

House Democrats also appear unconcerned with reining in spending. Now that they control the House, one of the first things they did was vote to revive the “Gephardt Rule.” This rule makes debt-ceiling increases automatic each time Congress passes a budget that would blow through the debt limit. But they have made the rule even worse.

As Conservative Review explained, “Obviously, Republicans control the Senate and are unlikely to cooperate with a Democrat-passed budget resolution from the House, so any Democrat budget will not become law under a concurrent resolution. To that end, for the first time in congressional history, Democrats are deeming just the House-passed resolution (without the Senate) as if the debt ceiling law was suspended for that chamber, thereby shielding their members from taking a separate vote” (January 3).

Thus, whatever budget the House approves can exceed the debt limit. It doesn’t need the Senate’s approval. With the new rules, the government need not worry about a balanced budget or having to fight to raise the debt ceiling to cover ballooning expenditures. There’s nothing to hold the government accountable for its spending. It can run up the debt as much as it wants.

Snapshots From Around the Globe


When you put these pieces together, a clearer picture emerges. Yes, jobs are being created, but that in itself doesn’t prove the nation’s financial soundness. What gets reported in the news is just a veneer of prosperity covering up a panoply of financial problems. The majority of Americans are unprepared for even a small economic crisis. The federal government isn’t ready either. The reality is that America’s economic dominance is waning, and quickly.

Consider these stories, all of which broke in the second week of January:

  • A study by the Standard Chartered Bank said that China is likely to become the world’s biggest economy sometime next year, surpassing the U.S. China is already the largest economy by some measures, but now it is ready to surpass the U.S. in all parameters. By 2030, it expects America to fall to third, with India hurdling into second place.
  • The Bank of England’s governor, Mark Carney, shook the financial world by stating that the U.S. dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency was about to change. He stated, “[U]ltimately we will have reserve currencies other than the U.S. dollar.” He pointed to the Chinese yuan as an alternative. While nations that could be considered enemies of the U.S. have worked to discredit the dollar, it is surprising for a U.S. ally to question its hegemony.
  • Russia, which discloses financial data with a six-month lag, announced that in the second quarter of 2018 it had dumped $101 billion in U.S. holdings, exchanging it for euros and yuan. Fifteen percent of Russia’s total holdings are now in Chinese yuan, up from 5 percent at the end of the first quarter. This puts Russia’s yuan share at about 10 times the average for global central banks. Its total holdings of the currency account for about a quarter of the world’s reserves in yuan, according to International Monetary Fund data.
  • At the end of December, China increased its gold holdings for the first time in two years, adding 1,853 metric tons. China is just the latest nation to begin hoarding gold. Last year, Hungary increased its gold reserves by 1,000 percent, while Poland made its biggest gold purchase in over 20 years, raising its holdings to a 35-year high.

Add these pieces to the puzzle, and a more serious picture emerges. The strength of the dollar is being questioned by America’s allies, while hostile nations are pivoting to the yuan. Meanwhile, nations are hedging their central banks with gold, a tangible asset. The U.S. dollar isn’t backed by gold. So why would these nations increase their holdings unless the see a need to return to the gold standard? The only reason for that would be if the dollar collapsed.

Look at the Cause


While the markets celebrated the December jobs report, a much bigger picture needs to be examined. America’s economy is not flourishing. In fact, it is in decline and under assault.

What is the cause of all this economic trouble? Is it just poor fiscal policies in Washington? Or are there deeper issues?

Historian Niall Ferguson described the phenomenon of our irrational attitude toward living within our means and rational thinking in this week’s Sunday Times, writing, “We no longer live in a democracy. We live in an ‘emocracy,’ where emotions rather than majorities rule and feelings matter more than reason. The stronger your feelings—the better you are at working yourself into a fit of indignation—the more influence you have.

Final Thoughts…

For the past several months, the housing market has been in steep decline with sales cratering in December by 10.3 percent-Housing prices are falling in many areas of the country but lag (as they tend to do) far behind the more immediate indicator of sales. The Fed's increasing interest rates have translated to higher mortgage rates across the board. Without low interest rates corporate buyers are leaving the market, resting the fate of housing on normal consumers who clearly do not have the capital or credit.

Auto sales have been dismal, posting declines through the end of 2018 into early 2019, with 2019 expected to be the worst year overall. Once again, with rising interest rates, major purchases have become less appealing to the average consumer.

Retail sales have now posted the worst December numbers since 2005. Retail sales are often presented by the mainstream media as the end all argument for economic recovery. Yet they fail to mention the problem of consumer credit, which has ballooned over the past several years to record highs. In our unstable economic environment, low interest rates fuel debt, debt fuels credit and credit (instead of savings) fuels consumer purchases. Without low interest rates, the entire house of cards comes tumbling down.

I also find it interesting that while retail sales are crumbling, consumer debt continues to rise. If consumers are taking on more debt, where is that money going if not into purchases? My suspicion is that new debt is being taken on in order to pay off old debts.
 
 
Gallup Poll-Dec ‘18
“Americans were more likely to cite the government as the most important problem facing the US than any other issue.”
One of five Americans [19%] now say some aspect of the federal government is the top problem facing the US – however, only 3% named gun control or guns!
When I was a volunteer for the SBA and speaker and board member for the Council of Smaller Enterprises [COSE] government [at all levels] was named as the number one obstacle for entrepreneurs when starting a business.  The United States continues to drop worldwide in terms of free enterprise and thus job creation…New Zealand and even Singapore is more competitive than America. 
When Pres. Obama was in office, Democrats created more job and business strangling regulation than ever before which is why job creation during his administration was weak.  It has improved under Pres. Trump due to his reduction of regulation.  It can do even better!
“We have too many of our elected officials who have never been responsible for profit and loss, never been entrepreneurs, never been anything to do with understanding where a dollar really comes from.
 
 
 

>>Beijing has made primacy in the wireless industry a national priority. It has taken a whole-of-government approach (including policy, financial, and diplomatic initiatives) to achieve this geostrategic priority for Beijing. The U.S. has started to take diplomatic steps to counter this push. But more is needed – and quickly.

China and the West are locked in a struggle for control of the future of communications technology, the next generation internet, and the flow of information.

The next two weeks may well prove decisive in deciding who wins the future. The Chinese know it and are acting with speed, decisiveness, and commitment. The American government and American companies are far behind and just starting to play catch up.

Our own laissez-faire tendencies and preferences are being used to defeat us. If we don’t take decisive action soon, we will find that the Chinese have occupied an overwhelming position in wireless on the geostrategic map. We will find ourselves surrounded.

 

Here’s my idea for a new bill

 

Since term limits never seems to gain any traction perhaps we should entertain the idea of zero pay for elected officials after their third term in office…give them their office, expenses, health insurance while in office and a living allowance only=much like our Founding Fathers and see how many decide to remain in office.

 


Yours for a more secure future,

Bruce ‘the Poor Man!’

P.S.  A little note to the assumptive twit on twitter who decided to insult me by writing that I sounded like I had a life of privilege when starting my various businesses & had never experienced any hard times…screw you!  Every business I’ve started was via the bootstrap method.  Most were successful but not all.  I was given the President’s Award for Entrepreneurship and have been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Venture Magazine and 100s of others while volunteering with the SBA & at Veteran’s groups [and others] teaching them to how to launch their own small business!

 

Final Notes…

Contributors and subscribers enable the Poor Man Survivor to post 150+ free essays annually. It is for this reason they are Heroes and Heroines of New Media. Without your financial support, the free content would disappear for the simple reason that I cannot keep body and soul together on my meager book sales & ecommerce alone.

Free:  Economics in One Lesson - Something the ‘new’ Democrats should read!


 


People need to become more self-reliant, not more dependent on government.

How to Survive the War on the Middle Class

 Download here:

http://1drv.ms/1d9kfiU

 


Finally, grab an emergency power cell!

Having the Patriot Power Cell on-hand for emergencies keeps your essential electronics up and running in case you need to call for help. 

“The Cell is a workhorse of power — it’ll charge your phone soup to nuts 3 to 8 times… I think of the Patriot Power Cell as “everyday prepared.” Awesome for travel or avoiding inconveniences while saving your bacon in an outage. It’s a MUST HAVE for your survival lineup."

10,000 mAh Battery/Water Resistant/2 LED Flashlight/1.5 Watt Solar Panel/6-Hour Charge Time

Back in stock soon!

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Additional Resources

Most of my readers already know the basics of emergency food storage, but I also have quite a few readers who are just getting started--people who have never used any food storage methods other than their refrigerator. This guide is my attempt to help them get started, and it's also a good refresher for more experienced preppers.


By the end of this guide, you will know the basics of food storage so you can start stockpiling the right foods in the right places to ensure your family has something to eat after a major disaster. You will also know a little about the most common food storage methods, and you'll be able to avoid mistakes that could put your food supply in jeopardy. Remember, this isn't a race to see who can get the most food on the shelf. This is a methodical, lifelong process--not something you can do in one weekend...



 

Rosefield is a classic traditional cabin, which can be built for less than $6,000. The cabin is open plan, which has the advantage of making it far easier, cheaper and quicker to build than more intricate cabins with separate rooms. This particular plan also includes a detailed cabin assembly diagram and step-by-step instructions which includes a foundation guide.  [282sf’]


 

 

Social Chaos Survival Guide: Savvy Precautions To Make You Self-Reliant


 

 A Smoking Frog Feature, Shallow Planet Production