Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The Day After the Bubble Pops





Recently I was listening to the podcast from James Turk linked up over at peak prosperity. Most of it was a repeat of ideas I have heard before and agree with but one statement rung out very strong this time.

And as result, the wrong kinds of wealth today, that's mostly financial assets are valued and pursued. And just like those bubbles from centuries ago, when the current asset boom goes bust, the value of paper wealth will vaporize. 

I would take this a bit further and say that not only will the value of paper wealth vaporize but so will the ties that bind any contract or government promise.

Apparently Turk and someone else have a new book out titled "The Money Bubble: What to do Before it Pops" Which sounds interesting and I will more than likely look to get a copy but judging from the article the same advice applies..... Buy tangibles.

I think there is a little more too it than that.

You must have a plan in place now that allows you to produce something. Either foodstuffs, a skill in demand or something over and above all the physical goods and tangibles in the basement. Probably of more importance than being productive is that you also check your ego at bubble popping time. No matter how important, demanding, dangerous or needed you feel you were before the bubble burst your value is going to be reassessed with the rest of the financial world the day after the bubble pops and that value will be called "Current Market Value".

If any part of your survival plan rests on payment of or the delivery of funds for actions that happened before the bubble pops than you might as well write them off now and forget about them.  When rules change by necessity so do commitments. Remember some of the least binding contracts or commitments come from governments and organizations because no one's personal honor is on the line in those instances if they are broken.

In a scenario such as this the first few weeks will be the hardest. During that time everyone who has a stash of some kind, be it beans, bullets, cooking oil or condiments will think he or she owns free tickets to heaven and will not part with them easily. After a few weeks of sucking on ketchup packets however these attitudes will change and a new economy will emerge and that is what you must be prepared for.

Paper shuffling, human resource management, data entry, well I doubt these are going to be skills with any sort of current market value no matter how important you think they are today. After the bubble pops you need to know you present a marketable skill or product that the consumer will want and need and there are many skills out there to choose. From gun smithing to goat herding pick one now.

Seriously I don't care if you are retired. I don't care if you worked your butt off day in and day out and feel you deserve something you were promised. Unless you can go grab the person that promised you something by the neck you ain't gonna get it after the financial collapse.

Get a skill or acquire the tools/resources you need to offer something now while the getting is good. Don't whine about it. Don't complain. Just do it. If I am wrong you haven't really wasted anything but if I am right you will find a new piece of mind and sense of importance that may be more appealing for you personally in the long run.

It's one thing to be successful in a government controlled society. It's an entirely different accomplishment to survive and thrive under the rules of mother nature. If you can accomplish that you have something to be proud of and a gene pool contribution worthy of continuance. 

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!


19 comments:

  1. You have put very well what keeps going through my head when thinking about what will happen. Having a background in archaeology, I used to try and figure out how people in my area survived over the last 200+ years. The first settlers weren't here making money, they didn't bring10 years of food with them so there you have it, their bubble burst when they traveled into an enemy infested frontier with only tools and a desire to be away from the king's laws. They worked together with like minded settlers and didn't waste time yipping about diversity but instead unity.You have to have help and give help.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sf - I would imagine just like around here they produced what they could to survive and then took the surplus to trade for the things they couldn't produce when the and where the get togethers happened. I know there are actually several small forts scattered about the countryside or places where the forts used to be that held weekly market type affairs.

      People better be prepared with something marketable is all I gotta say.

      Delete
  2. You have me thinking again, damn you

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't know if I'm correct but I'm going with a "value added" mindset. I can't raise bees via city code but I can go out to a local beekeeper and buy up a bunch of beeswax. I can clean the beeswax and use it either a carrier for essential oil salves or to make real bees wax candles. With my disability this seems to be the most logical idea. I can't grow wheat but I can turn wheat into bread with a few stored ingrediants. Most of the barter things I'm working on are this type of value add sort of thing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MASR - I would invest in a solar wax melter if that is one of your plans. You can then render/melt the wax down and even melt the wax into candle molds without an outside energy source. All you need to have is the temp above about 80 and sunshine.

      Delete
  4. Well said, that's why we're expanding animals at The Compound. Shortages of food and access to food will be very limited until a new system and/or currency is set up. Besides being able to feed ourselves.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Izzy - Exactly. Those who can produce stock animals will be in extreme demand.

      Delete
  5. My blogger friend Ann writes this: The stock market keeps going up because… the Federal Reserve is pumping at *bare minimum* $85 billion dollars per month into the markets. There is no “there” there. It is a bubble of such epic proportions that there is no historical analogue anywhere, ever. And it isn’t just the U.S. central bank that is doing this. Europe, Japan and China are the same story. Oh, and apparently your Crack-addled Sodomite Leader is going to roll out “Tax-deferred Treasury Bond Retirement Accounts” in the big speech tonight. In other words, the government will be stealing your wages DIRECTLY instead of going through the middleman ruse of 401(k) accounts, as many of you have learned of late. Remember Barnhardt Axiom #2: If you can’t roll around on top of it whilst wielding your assault rifle, then sweetie, you don’t really own it, and you never did. #TOLDYA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MB - The fed has admitted to 85 billion in bond purchases although they say they are tapering. That doesn't count being the last resort t-bill buyer as well. As they pump up the banks who are not loaning they are investing it. And why not at 0% interest it's free money. So yep the market is the biggest bubble out there and what's worse is that is what is actually keeping pensions and such even partially funded. Let the market take a dive and well it's game over.

      I read the reports that Obummer was going to announce the IRA grab but haven't seen yet where he actually did it.

      Delete
    2. From the dictators speech..
      Let’s do more to help Americans save for retirement. Today, most workers don’t have a pension. A Social Security check often isn’t enough on its own. And while the stock market has doubled over the last five years, that doesn’t help folks who don’t have 401ks. That’s why, tomorrow, I will direct the Treasury to create a new way for working Americans to start their own retirement savings: MyRA. It’s a new savings bond that encourages folks to build a nest egg. MyRA guarantees a decent return with no risk of losing what you put in. And if this Congress wants to help, work with me to fix an upside-down tax code that gives big tax breaks to help the wealthy save, but does little to nothing for middle-class Americans. Offer every American access to an automatic IRA on the job, so they can save at work just like everyone in this chamber can. And since the most important investment many families make is their home, send me legislation that protects taxpayers from footing the bill for a housing crisis ever again, and keeps the dream of home ownership alive for future generations of Americans.

      You can read the speech here...I prefer reading rather than listening to the demon...
      http://nicholasstixuncensored.blogspot.com/2014/01/obamas-state-of-union-address-i-will.html

      Delete
    3. I didn't see Nicholas' post on that but thank you for pointing it out!!!

      Sounds like some flag waving useless gig to me prolly why no one was up in arms about it.

      Delete
  6. PP - i couldn't agree with you more but all seriousness aside for just a moment -
    "After a few weeks of sucking on ketchup packets however...`-
    oh bahahahahahah! oh bahahahahahah! i think that is the funniest thing i have read in a long time because it IS sooo true.

    anyway, back to seriousness - yes, i completely agree that when that bubble pops, a whole new way of doing business will arrive and you must have something to contribute. a skillset, a trade, knowledge - something that other people will want. the ability to grow enough food for yourself and your family and perhaps a surplus to barter, trade or sell.

    i think the one thing that is going to really affect people is when they realize that they must learn to eat seasonally and locally. for people who live in southern climes, it won`t come as too much of a shock but for people who live in northern climes - i think that alone is going to do a lot of people in! and it is something that isn`t referred to on most prepping, survivalist sites.

    anyway, great post! and like you say, if you waste the next year of your free time learning a valuable skill and the bubble doesn`t pop - oh well. now you have a valuable skill under your belt.

    your friend,
    kymber

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kymber - Yeppers. I would also add that most people, even those who grow some of their own food, have no clue just how much more they will need to grow once the trucks stop moving. Six months of nothing but beans will take their toll too I imagine :)

      Delete
    2. oh i soooo agree about 6 months of beans and nothing else! that is where the creativity needs to sneak in - before you start canning your tomatoes - how about canning all of the dandelion greens in your area? we have gabillions of dandelion greens in the spring - can 'em, dehydrate 'em and freeze 'em. elderberries anyone? how about collecting pine needles for future use??? it's not just about growing your own food - it's about finding your own food, finding it when it's in season and learning how to preserve it for times when there is only moldy turnip and cabbage left.

      SPROUTS ANYONE?!?!?!? sorry for the yelling but why is that most people don't know about sprouting seeds???? sooo full of a variety of vitamins needed in the winter months. ack. sometimes i go off on rants. i know that you understand.

      ALL YER HONEYS ARE BELONGS TO ME. never. gets.old. buddy. it just never does - bahahahah!

      Delete
    3. Kymber - That is some good advice and something we all need to think about. I didn;t know dandelions would store all that well.

      Delete
  7. An excellent post as usual Preppy. Makes me take stock of what I can do now or could do in a year. Make cheese? Reasonably well. Grow stuff? Okay at that too. Can do bees and some basic poultry (not now mind you, but I am capable). Need to expand my selection - unless harp playing and swordsmanship are considered useful after the bubble pops...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TB - Won;t take long if things go far enough for a bit of swordplay experience to be useful. Prolly more knife type work like the musket period over broadswords I would imagine.

      Delete
  8. "Seriously I don't care if you are retired. I don't care if you worked your butt off day in and day out and feel you deserve something you were promised. Unless you can go grab the person that promised you something by the neck you ain't gonna get it after the financial collapse."

    FWIW, I agree with this completely and had this been the way other posts and comments were presented, well.... some unpleasantness would have been avoided. It just seemed that you were grinding another ax simultaneously along with the sentiments above in my comment.

    Just so you know....

    ReplyDelete

Leave a comment. We like comments. Sometimes we have even been known to feed Trolls.