Poor
Man Survival
Self
Reliance tools for independent minded people…
ISSN
2161-5543
A Digest of Urban Survival Resources
If you buy
what you don't need you might have to sell what you do.
- Irish Proverb
- Irish Proverb
The Future of Sharing
Was it really that long ago, that we used to
brag that the next generation of Americans would be better off than their
parents?
Living comfortably has always, to some extent, relied on owning many goods. But this is becoming less and less the case. A new worldwide “sharing economy," composed of startup ventures whose products consumers rent or share instead of own, is blossoming across the globe.
Some sharing services are already quite famous: Zipcar, Craigslist, and AirBnB, for example. Others are very new on the scene and just starting to gain widespread recognition, such as the book-exchange Web site Paperbackswap.com and the Lego-set-swap site Pleygo. All these services and more get the spotlight in Beth Buczynski’s new book Sharing is Good: How to Save Money, Time and Resources Through Collaborative Consumption (New Society, 2013).
Buczynski examines the collaborative-sharing phenomenon and sees big things in store for it in years ahead: Its myriad services, she says, give consumers everywhere opportunities to enjoy more creature comforts while spending less money and using fewer material goods. It all adds up to a big win for consumers, and for the environment, too—the more we share our existing consumer products, the less we need to mine raw materials and burn polluting energy sources to make more new products.
Buczynski discussed her book and her outlook on collaborative-sharing enterprises in this interview. More at:
How to Escape Duct Tape
When we come across these kinds of tips, we hope to high
heaven that we never have to use them. But better safe (and prepared) than
sorry. If you ever find yourself in a situation where your wrists are bound
together by duct tape, there is in fact an easy way to escape. Here’s the
important trick that Dateline learned:
The original clip from Dateline was taken off YouTube. It
showed how to escape duct tape in a hostage situation. To escape, the
journalist simply raised her hands, tied together with duct tape, over her head
and brought them down quickly in front of her and used the extra force to break
free. I’ve also include another video below that shows an alternative method. I
hope you never need to use these tips but you can definitely break free from
duct tape if the need arises. More at:
The steady derailment of the U.S. financial system
Consumer spending in the U.S. accounts for approximately
70 percent of gross domestic product, though it is important to note that the
manner in which “official” GDP is calculated is highly inaccurate. For example,
all government money used within the Medicare coverage system to pay for
“consumer health demands,” as well as the now flailing Obamacare socialized
welfare program, are counted toward GDP, despite the fact that such capital is
created from thin air by the Federal Reserve and also generates debt for the
average taxpayer. Government debt creation does not beget successful domestic
production…More here:
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Bruce,
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