Our Economy: Grim or Not So Grim. Depends on Who You Ask

 

Poor Man Survival

Self Reliance tools for independent minded people…

http://PoorManSurvivor.net

 

ISSN 2161-5543

A Digest of Urban Survival Resources

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.  >Thomas Paine

 

Grim Economic Picture – You Need to Prepare

 

There are jobs if you are qualified, are reliable and don’t do drugs and are willing to accept less money… Right now, half the country makes $27,520 a year or less from their jobs.

 

During my recent “island” trip I had dinner with a long time business associate who publishes business journals and is active in economic development in his region.  For a decade I also owned several business journals, trade shows and was also active in promoting economic development and small business.

 

My friend had attended a dinner with 250 business owners in attendance and the topic revolved around their inability to attract a qualified, reliable workforce with skills sufficient to operate 21^st Century automated production.

 

Too few applicants had the necessary math skills or proved reliable.  They all agreed that they could train personnel to operate robots and other automated technology but more than 50% of prospective employees could not pass a drug test.

 

There are plenty of jobs being offered by this group but their inability to find workers has meant some of these manufacturers are not able to add a third shift.

 

Everyone agrees too that our government at the state and federal level puts up to many obstacles and roadblocks with a non-stop onslaught of rules, regulations and red tape – most are screaming:  ENOUGH ALREADY!

 

On the other hand, there are many who have given up looking for a job, often older workers who were previously let go in favor of cheaper, younger help had been inclined to start businesses, but many of these people are frustrated in this effort because of government regulation and other related costs or they find they cannot compete with bigger businesses.

 

Short sighted politicians who apply knee-jerk and band-aid remedies lack long term thinking skills in order to resolve the issues our nation faces, allowing other nations to surpass America.  Political greed and incompetence is the usual cause of societal collapse and there is no shortage of it in our country at every level of government.  Congress, in particular, has a history of self destructive policies that at best, kick the can down the street.

 

Also, the percentage of working age Americans not participating in the labor force is up to 37.2 percent - a 36 year high.

 

A recent TV news report interviewed returning military veterans who expressed their disgust with our leaders essentially asking, “Why did we serve – only to come home to no jobs, and a lot of broken promises and failed leadership from fat cat politicians, most of whom never served a day in their life?”

 

WHAT RECOVERY?

 

On the other hand many find the employment picture grim.  The Fed recently announced it will no longer peg interest rate decisions to any particular unemployment number.  Previously their position had been when that rate fell to below 6.5%, that will trigger them to pursue a tighter monetary policy.

 

It has become obvious our official unemployment figure fails to paint an accurate picture of joblessness.  The Fed chairwoman, Janet Yellen said she “wouldn’t dream of raising the federal funds rate target” under current labor conditions unless inflation became a greater threat…even though it was announced today that inflation IS taking a bigger chunk from citizens.

 

Everyone knows that our actual rate of workforce participation is at its lowest rate since the late 1970s!

 

Further eroding trust in government numbers – the reported unemployment rate gets suppressed by the inclusion of hypothetical jobs in a government run charade known as the “birth-death model.” 

 

The potential for extreme social unrest is at dangerous levels, especially if the government ever stops with food stamps and other handouts for low income citizens.

 

·         Our economy operates with 1.7 million fewer jobs today than when the recession began in 2008

·         More than 20% of US households do not have a single person who is employed

·         The number of citizens who receive some kind of government benefit now exceeds the number of full time workers in the private sector by more than 60 million

·         Only one in four Americans has enough cash on hand for emergencies lasting six months of expenses in the event of a job loss or other emergency

 

In the last 14 years alone, tuition costs have more than doubled – The value of a degree is in doubt!

 

A Government Which has Failed its People – Will You Survive?

 

For more than 200 years we’ve been the land of opportunity but a breakdown in common sense and shortsighted policies among the political elite and the bureaucrats who support them has created a dangerous cocktail of economic barriers, a breakdown in the rule of law and poorly administered public schools has allowed our nation to fall behind.

 

Our survival depends on our ability to reinvent government to once again serve its people as opposed to special interests.  The immorality and financial follies of the political elite are undermining our country. 

 

Since 1999 I have urged folks to get ready, to learn new skills, to stockpile food, cash and goods for barter.  It never hurts to be a Boy Scout.  Develop your own network with like-minded people, small farmers and local canneries [Where I lived in AZ local LDS families operated their own cannery] and take advantage of the many training resources we’ve written about in this letter such as the Red Cross, community colleges, libraries, co-ops and others.  You can find plenty of resources at our main site [most are free] at: www.PoorManSurvival.com

 

Yours in freedom,

Bruce ‘the Poor Man’

 

Got a News Tip or Resource to Share With the Poor Man?

Send it to:  PoorManSurvivor@Gmail.com

A Shallow Planet Production

 

The solutions to surviving the war on the Middle Class can be found in our new e-book.

 Discover life-saving ways in which you can survive and prosper during The End of the Monetary System As We Know It. This is the information that your financial advisor, your doctor, your police precinct and your government hope you never discover…plus learn how food is your best investment!

http://www.poormansurvival.com/Pages/WaronMiddleClass.aspx

Show me the jobs, Who's Upset over Economy-Everyone!

Bruce’s Poor Man Survival Bulletin
You choice for urban survival resources!
http://www.PoorManSurvival.com




In This Issue:

Wealthy suburban moms now scrimping
Different prices if you pay by cash, credit or debit
I Want Your Money-movie trailer
Foxfire Books now available on CD ROM
US is now a global sweatshop-show us the jobs!
Stuff you do not need to stockpile
Guest Interview-lack of confidence in gov’t=rising gold prices



The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.
- Tacitus, A.D. 56-120


Show us the jobs-you cretins!

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is back over 11,000, corporations are flush with $2 trillion in cash, growth has held up for more than a year, and interest rates are at record lows. But none of that does much to cheer the average voter.

Why?

It’s simple really and to paraphrase a popular movie “Show us the jobs!”

Since the mid-1980s in my weekly politically incorrect newspaper column I’ve slammed Wall Street and their penchant for shipping US jobs overseas. The catch phrase I penned back then still applies…burger flippers can’t afford your $40K automobiles.

Two Americans and a British-Cypriot economist won the 2010 Nobel economics prize Monday for developing a theory that helps explain how many people can remain unemployed despite a large number of job vacancies…most Americans would like to know where these job vacancies are located.

As the Poor Man has written before, the government is the single biggest obstacle to job creation and entrepreneurism in this country…Congress passed and the president signed 125 bills into law in 2009. Your tireless federal regulatory predators busy -they issued more than 3,000 new regulations!

Regulations considered in recent years have included energy-efficiency standards for clothes washers and pool heaters, SUV emission rules and the Consumer Product Safety Commission's designs to regulate escalators (safer than unregulated stair steps, by the way) as a "consumer product."

The year's Federal Register - the daily depository of federal regulations - already tops 61,000 pages. According to research conducted for the Small Business Administration by economists Nicole V. and W. Mark Crain, annual off-budget regulatory costs exceed $1.7 trillion, an amount equivalent to more than half the level of the federal budget itself and on a par with the stratospheric annual deficit…Red tape and the Global Marketplace has turned into the global sweatshop!

<<<>>>


News, Tips & Resources for the week

Coming Soon: Different Prices if You Pay by Cash, Credit, or Debit

As a result of federal law suits and a new consumer protection law, sellers will soon be able to charge depending on how you pay. Pay with a rewards credit card, the price will be higher. Use a plain vanilla credit card, and you'll pay less. Use a PIN number with a debit card, you'll pay less, but not as low as paying with cash. Pay with AMEX, get charged one price. Pay with MasterCard, get charged another. What is certain to happen is price confusion because retailers are not likely to post all the prices that apply to each item. Welcome to the era of fuzzy pricing.

Consumer Reports testing show most multi-vitamins the same
Our tests of 21 multivitamins at two outside labs-including leading brands, five for seniors, and six for children-will allay some of those fears. All but one of the products we tested met their label claims for key essential vitamins and minerals, and none contained worrisome levels of contaminants such as arsenic or heavy metals. Most of the pills we tested also passed the U.S. Pharmacopeia's dissolution test, which involves immersing them in a simulated stomach-acid solution to determine whether they'll dissolve properly in your body…the Poor Man is a strong believer in the use of a daily vitamin.

Doing Good: directory of 800 stores that donate to the charity of your choice when you purchase online. Visit: www.IGive.com

Weed through political campaign BS with this non-partisan group:
www.FactCheck.org

Public Records Locator
Find property records, foreclosures, sex offenders/fugitive reports, government salaries (that will be an eye-opener) and more at this useful site:
http://PublicRecords.onlinesearches.com


I Want Your Money-Watch the trailer

Politicians seldom listen to the people as we’re merely serfs, working to provide for them and their corporate masters so I plan on seeing this movie asap…I Want Your Money. You can watch the trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wty7974IKg


Learn How To Be An Internet Entrepreneur
Listen in on a three-hour conversation between internet marketing legend Corey Rudl and mentor Dan Kennedy, discussing advanced techniques for becoming an Internet multi-millionaire. Discover what 95% of Internet marketers are doing wrong, and learn the $10,000-a-month matchbook trick.

Learn more here...
http://www.increasebrainpower.com/a35.html
Note: Save yourself some money and skip the "Registration Backup Service." Just make a copy…years ago, in another life, I used to be on the same speaking circuit as Kennedy-you’ll benefit greatly from his material.


Wealthy Suburban Moms Becoming Frugal too…
"Someone told me you've gotten your monthly grocery bill down to $315," she says. "You have to tell me how you did it!"
The thrift is inspired by the body blows of a changing economy. In March 2009, member Sandra Wiiki lost her work-from-home job as a designer with a company that supplies interior plastics to Ford. Joy Behringer lost her position as a manager for an auto-related company in 2008 at the end of her six-week maternity leave. Her husband Jeff was out of work for 15 months until he found a new management job in June. Pamela Anderson, who helps run a local flower shop that her husband has owned for 31 years, has been coping with a steep downturn in business since 2008, when they lost a lucrative corporate account with Chrysler. Deschaine is scrimping to cope with the slow growth of her husband's graphic-design business.

Frugality First
While the moms spend plenty of time on traditional subjects - rambunctious kids, traveling husbands, visiting relatives - their conversation also embraces a topic that an earlier generation of Grosse Pointe ladies would have carefully avoided: living with less money. "More than ever, part of your responsibility for your family is being aware of your budget," says club president Gabriela Boddy, a former industrial engineer who left her job by choice. "People don't want to waste the money that is so hard to make these days."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20101010/us_time/09171201961900


Money for Gold Companies Tested

An investigative TV consumer report reveals that consumers wanting to convert old gold jewelry to cash may only get a tiny fraction of the value of the gold in those items. [video]

Weekend Project: YouTube Downloads, Mashups, Screencasts, and More
So you've read our DIY guide to viral video, and you've been keeping tabs on the Internet's latest in Viral Views. Now you're all hyped up to start making some videos and mashups of your own, but there's just one catch: You wouldn't be caught dead in front of a camera. Fear not, we have a few tools that can help.

Here’s a fun little free clip we made using some of the tools outlined below:

The Poor Man made a quick Search Story video using Google’s YouTube free creator-check it out…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF7BmtgZISo

Make Simple Mashups With YouTube Doubler
Usher's song "Papers": Not funny. A goat yelling in a vaguely human manner: Not funny. Playing the two of them at once with YouTube Doubler: Hilarious.

YouTube Doubler lets you play two YouTube videos simultaneously. Just plug two video URLs into the corresponding fields, use the 'Start (seconds)' fields to choose where on each video's timeline you want to begin, and get mashing…get more tips and resources at:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/207217/weekend_project_youtube_downloads_mashups_screencasts_and_more.html?tk=nl_wbx_h_crawl2

Get 21 Cutting Edge Strategies for Protecting Your Privacy
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bxv8umI4Tf6lYTk3YTEyNTQtYWNlYi00MWM3LTlhZGYtYzIwOWQ2MWJmMjc0&hl=en&authkey=CP2LsZQF

>>>

“No other country comes close in terms of the amount of resources controlled, seized, transferred, and destroyed by lawyers and judges than the United States.”--The Economist



Who’s upset over the economy? Everybody, everywhere
Anger: It's the defining political emotion of this . It's boiling across the country, much of it directed at President Obama and the congressional Democrats over the way they have handled the economy. Not far behind is dissatisfaction.
The combination, detected in a new ABC News/Yahoo! , spells trouble for Democrats three weeks out from the election. Angry people, analysts say, go out and vote. Dissatisfied people tend to stay home.
With the recovery stalling, unemployment stuck at 9.6 percent and the housing crisis entering a dangerous new phase as bungled paperwork and outright fraud force a halt to foreclosures across the country, there's plenty to get upset about.
More at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_exclusive/whos-upset-over-the-economy-everybody-everywhere


"It is said that power corrupts,
but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible.
The sane are usually attracted by other things than power."
-- David Brin
(1950- ) Author

Stuff survivalist should not stockpile
From time to time I see discussions on the forums about gear and supplies that survivalist should invest into – like a berkey water filter, mountain house foods, or long term food storage items. For the sake of discussion, lets talk about stuff you should not invest into.
Before investing a lot of money into a project, there are some things to consider. The first consideration is “can you “really” afford it? It would be nice to have half a million dollars to drop into 1,000 acres in Alaska and a 2 story cabin. But the fact is, most people can not afford such luxuries. Next, do you really “need” the supplies? Or, are you buying the supplies just to have them?

Gold – As of today, October 5, 2010 the price of gold is $1,333.95 per ounce. For the average working middle class family, who is struggling to pay a house note, electric bill, insurance, buy food,,,,,, forking out $1,333 for an ounce of gold is out of the question. In a lot of cases, that $1,333 would pay1 or 2 house notes. Having a place to live is more important then trying to buy gold in these tough financial times. If your one of the lucky few that money is not an issue, then maybe buying gold is right up your alley.
If gold was at $400, and a family had some extra money they could invest, then sure, maybe buy some gold. But if you buy it right now, how much higher can the price go before it starts to go back down. I see buying gold right now, as the same thing as getting into a pyramid scam. The people that got in early make the most money – the people that get in late lose the most money.

Meals Ready to Eat – the good ole MRE is not a top pick for a survivalist food. Sure the military hands them out by the case, but the military also has plenty of money. Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.survivalboards.com/2010-10-05/stuff-survivalist-should-not-stockpile/


Guest interview excerpt from the respected Weiss Group…

"Is the recent rise in gold prices an indication of a lack of confidence in the government?"

…asked voters what they think about the economy and we found that most voters do not believe or do not accept Washington's claims about the recovery.
Only 38% say the economy is recovering slowly but surely. Meanwhile, 58.3% say the economy is already sinking into another recession or is still in a long-term recession.
Martin: Peg, one of our readers, is apparently in the latter group. She writes:

"We are not caught in a recession. We are caught in a growing DEPRESSION, and our big houses are the home to our extended families — like the Waltons."
Here's another reader in that camp, who writes:
"A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose your job. And the only reason the folks in Washington think we have neither is because they and their neighbors across the aisle still have their jobs."
He says his intent is to help fix that particular problem come November. Plus, we have a question from Steven for you:

"John, what actions of the existing government are most disliked by the American people?"

John: We asked voters very specific questions about that. We asked, for instance: "If someone is having difficulty meeting their mortgage payments, do you think the government should provide financial assistance to help them avoid foreclosure, or not?"
Only 27.5% of likely voters said "Yes, help them avoid foreclosure." But double that number — 55.1% — said "No, don't help them." In other words, for each voter who said yes, two people said no!
We also asked voters about bank bailouts: "If another big bank fails, do you think the government should bail it out or let it fail?"
More than 80% said "let it fail." Only 6.6% said "bail it out." So for every voter in favor of bank bailouts, there were 12 voters against the bailouts.

THROW-THE-BUMS-OUT" sentiment is not strictly the domain of Tea Party supporters, is it? For example, I have some interesting quotations here submitted by folks who are not Tea Party supporters. One person quotes Will Rogers who said
"Congress is the finest body of men money can buy."
Another quotes Benjamin Franklin who said
"No man's life, liberty or fortune is safe while our legislature is in session."

For more information and archived issues, visit http://www.moneyandmarkets.com


What is the best thing the government can do to stimulate the growth of business and the economy?

"Constitutional law requires that any rule, regulation, law, statute pass Constitutional muster by protecting the public health, welfare, morals or safety. Most regulatory schemes are self serving and do not meet that Constitutional requirement. Reduce the regulatory mess in this country."
- Keith Allison

"Lets cut the huge, unproductive government overhead. Squeeze the bloated and overcompensated civil service. Stop federal government spending financed by borrowing. Get entitlement costs under control (Obama Care, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security). Otherwise these programs will engulf discretionary spending and wipe out national defense and security budgets. Keep taxes low by retaining the Bush tax cuts and resisting attempts to expand the public sector through additional local, state, and federal government taxes. A healthy and growing economy should generate all the tax revenues that government needs. We could use another Hoover Commission to streamline and rationalize government and make it more efficient. It seems like the larger the government gets the greater the bureauracy grows and the less that actually gets done (less from more). Stop the push toward European style socialism. The Europeans came to America because it was better to live and work here than where they were in the old country. Americans are not moving to Europe to live under socialsim. Let's quit the war against capitalism and implement policies that let us thrive and provide the things we need for our high standard of living. Stop stonewalling energy production here in the U.S. Stop harassing the domestic automobile industry. Open up international trade to reduce foreign tariffs or other barriers and sell more goods and services worldwide. Elect government officials that know how our economic system works and what government can do to make it work better." Thanks to Caroline for sending these to us!



Parting thoughts and an offer…


Coming soon… Poor Man got rights to the Foxfire …Affairs of Plain Living, Eliot Wigginton, editor

A tremendous book series published since 1969 about rural Appalachian skills such as making moon shine, building a cabin, smoking meat, handling snakes, planting by signs and a whole bunch of useful stuff. These are from microfiche files and I have the first six books on CD ROMS now ready to ship…For subscribers the cost for the next 30-days will be only $4.95 shipping included…you would expect to pay $10 each for used copies on eBay plus postage.

I’m also including three bonus PDFs

Book of the New Alchemists
Village Technology Handbook
Hydroponics Guide

These bonus books provide additional resources from drilling a well to growing stuff indoors…they make a nice compliment to the FoxFire series. If you wish to pre-order-PayPal account to send us $4.95-use our PayPal address of:
PoorManSurvivor@yahoo.com

Finally, if you purchased the Poor Man mega-deal package recently, you may have found a problem opening or finding the entire file for Poor Man III…let me know & I will send you the file in a zip format (226 files are compressed)…Win XP & 7 have a free unzip utility built in, but if you don’t have one, get a free program Zip Reader 8 at:
http://www.tucows.com/preview/367355

Microsoft is ending its free blogger and we’re migrating some of our content to WordPress and may have to migrate our downloadable Docs to Google…as a test, we uploaded the free 21 Cutting Edge Strategies to Protect Your Privacy to Google Docs so test it out by downloading the free file! Most likely, we’ll be transferring our other files there too in the coming weeks…work never ends!

Your Contrarian, muckraking Poor Man!


Raise Funds for Your Group, Save on Eco Products, Advice
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Don't Get Caught With Your Pantry Down-New 11th Ed.
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