Poor
Man Survival
Self Reliance
tools for independent minded people…
ISSN
2161-5543
A Digest of Urban Survival Resources
The one who dies with the most toys...still dies.
- Unknown
- Unknown
Everything is a Lie. Everything
"The whole drift of our
law is toward the absolute prohibition of all ideas that diverge in the
slightest form from the accepted platitudes, and behind that drift of law there
is a far more potent force of growing custom, and under that custom there is a
natural philosophy which erects conformity into the noblest of virtues and the
free functioning of personality into a capital crime against society."
-- H. L. Mencken
-- H. L. Mencken
One of our partner sites surveyed their readers about why Americans are
so disillusioned about our elections and government in general. Their responses mirrored what our readers
said when we had our full blown Poor Man Survivor site and in recent
conversations I’ve had with people across the country who have expressed
sentiments such as “I can barely make it on $45,000 a year-everything in
this country costs so damned much now compared to just a few years ago…car
insurance, mortgages, car payments…who the hell can afford a new car?!”
The government, at every level, continues to push the cost of living up
for everything we do through inflation and red tape…there is a new regulation
or law which we pay for and the bottom feeding bureaucrats and politicians
either don’t care or they are too stupid to see it. After all, they vote themselves non-stop
raises all the while denying COLA raises for Social Security recipients or for
our military…it’s criminal that we need to have fund raisers for our wounded
military because the government won’t properly take care of their needs!
For example, residents of Flint, MI are forced to pay for water they
cannot use and get sick from [we live nearby and our water rates were jacked up
more than 1200% as a result] – government extortion at best…activists are
coming out of the woodwork pointing fingers at the governor [they seem to
forget the water was polluted by area manufacturers and local politicians led
the charge to change the water system] and others.
“Our
current malaise,” Douglas K. writes, “is due in large part to our loss of
confidence and respect for our government and for those who govern.
“There
exists a nearly a total loss of confidence in our government, and the average
person is angry -- mad as hell, and isn't going to take it anymore.
“But
sadly it's an unfocused anger because it's very difficult for a social order or
a society to function that has no vision, no confidence and have learned that
nothing in governing is as it seems. Government itself is unfocused.
“Everything
is a lie. Everything.
“I sometimes think that we are living in a second medieval age,” writes the
veteran Washington journalist Sam Smith, “in which the strong have enormous
power but can only exercise it behind moats and in heavily walled castles
because, in the end, they are truly scared.
“The
rest of us live in villages on farms owned by the lords but in a culture that
still retains some of the traditions, freedoms and values the elite no longer
experiences. We are victims, but also models and preservers.”
Many Americans already live a serf-like existence, says the urban
studies scholar Joel Kotkin.
“Housing
now takes the largest share of family costs,” he explains this week in The
Daily Beast, “while expenditures on food, apparel and transportation have
dropped or stayed about the same. In 2015, the rise in housing costs
essentially swallowed savings gains made elsewhere, notably, savings on the
cost of energy. The real estate consultancy Zillow predicts housing inflation
will only worsen this year.”
The Baltic Dry
Index has fallen below 300 for the first time ever, and export numbers are way
down for almost every major exporting nation…
The
phenomenon is worst on the coasts -- where land-use regulations have served to
limit the housing supply, especially single-family homes. Cities are
increasingly home to only wealthy elites and inner-city poor. The dwindling
middle class is confined to ever-more pricey rentals…
On a national basis, the homeownership rate
sits near its lowest point in 30 years. And among homeowners
who have a mortgage, 14.4% are still underwater -- owing more money than the
house is worth.
“The middle class will have little chance to acquire any assets for
their retirement and increasingly few will choose to have children. Imagine,
then, a high-tech Middle Ages with vast chasms between the upper classes and
the poor, with growing dependence — even among what once would have been
middle-class households — on handouts to pay rent.”
The political class has completely disrupted the American
structure of production, made American workers uncompetitive, snuffed the life
out of entrepreneurs, and burdened the entire nation with a debt obligation the
size of Jupiter. The US economy is not the strongest and most durable in the
world -- it is an unskilled thirty-two-year-old waiter crashing at his parent’s
place and trying to pay down an $80,000 international relations degree.
Parting Note…
The
epicenter of “higher learning” has become, and for good reason, the butt of a
whole lot of hilarious jokes. It’s expensive. It’s divisive. It’s impractical.
That’s because the university of the future, it’s said, will be three things: scholarly,
high-tech and cheap.
The
Khan Academy, for example, a free “learn anything” website, is the poster-boy
for the new virtual-ed movement, and all the proof we need that there’s demand
aplenty for alternative education.
And
this trend is nothing exceptionally new:
“More
than 2 million users watch his videos every month,” a Wired article
reported back in 2011, “and all told they answer about 15 questions per second.
Khan is clearly helping students master difficult and vital subjects. And he’s
not alone: From TED talks to iTunes U to Bill Hammack the Engineer Guy, new
online educational tools are bringing the ethos of Silicon Valley to
education.”
“With
technology pushing the price of instruction dramatically lower, what reason
will there be in the future to shell out upwards of $60,000 a year for the
privilege of being intimidated and propagandized? So Bernie and Obama want to push for free
college…great. It’s already free in
Europe to many students, so what is taking so long for America to catch on?
More Resources You Can Tap
You know you need
to have an emergency fund. Here's how to accumulate one pain free!
Would you like to
be rich? Take your financial destiny into your own hands: Master these money
moves
·
The "Envelope System" In a Cashless Society
Mom used to put her grocery money in an envelope to keep from overspending. Worked great then, but it's out of date now. We'll show you how to update it for today's lifestyle
Mom used to put her grocery money in an envelope to keep from overspending. Worked great then, but it's out of date now. We'll show you how to update it for today's lifestyle
Get your affairs in your order now…
3,612
Legal Forms & Docs
I thought about enrolling
into a pre-paid legal plan via AARP but once I studied the pros and cons, decided
against it…most folks rarely need
anything other than a will, power-of-attorney, medical end of life forms and
the life along with some real estate related matters…therefore, you’ll probably
find this useful:
Files you can use: Fill & Print-in ZIP file [most MS programs have
a free unzip program or search the net for a free program]
Some examples below:
Banking, Collections,
Finance, Business Agreements, Consumer, Corporate,
Formalities, Divorce, Employment, Family, Children,
Child Support, Financial & Investments, Health Care,
Insurance, Legal Utilities, Loans, Marriage &
Partnerships, Media & Broadcast, Non-Profit Organizations,
Business & Partnerships, Power of Attorney, Promissory
Notes, Real Estate Contracting, Real Estate Deeds, Real
Estate Landlord & Tenant, Real Estate Ownership, Technology,
Contractor, Patient, Trusts, Abatement, Credit,
Debt, Independent Contractor, Marketing, Salvage, Damage, Borrowing,
Homesteading, and so much more....
You can customize any form with your logo or business name. Or change wording with your word processor. Upon payment you will be sent a link where you can download the complete file…or for $1.50 additional I will mail you a CD ROM. Go here:
You can customize any form with your logo or business name. Or change wording with your word processor. Upon payment you will be sent a link where you can download the complete file…or for $1.50 additional I will mail you a CD ROM. Go here:
In a recent article entitled
“70 Tips That Will Help
You Survive What Is Going To Happen To America“, readers can find some basic pieces of advice
on how to get prepared for what is coming.
In my opinion, everyone should have an emergency fund that can cover at
least six months of bills and expenses. And now is not the time to go
into debt.
My gift to you:
The Poor Man’s Essential Survival Package
--The Doctors
Protocol: Secrets of Survival
--How to Survive
the Coming Economic Collapse
--Guide to Self
Reliant Living
--Becoming Self Sufficient
for Six Months
--How I Found
Freedom in an Un-free World
Bruce ‘the Poor Man’
Books, Art, Video – the saucy, the odd, the retro,
even the practical…support our vices
