I know it is often really tough for preppers or survivalist to stay the course. The signs and directions can be so obvious but the pace getting there can take so long that you often question if it is even worthwhile to prep. Believe me I know.
Sometimes you wonder if you are prepping for yourself or for the great great great grandchildren you will never meet.
Many of us manly types lose our testosterone as we get older than the next thing ya know we are being carted off to an old folks home in Florida so family members can have easier access to the shopping centers and all our years of prepping go up in smoke.
Ya that was a shameless potshot let's see if the target notices.
Well Ladies and Gentlemen, friends and patriots I am here to tell you even if you happen to live near wealth redistribution central (IE Washington) or one of it's well to do satellite cities and cannot see how the very life is being sucked out of fly-over country with your own eyes, the chart at this link should tell you all you need to know.
U.S. Total Gasoline Retail Sales by Refiners
If you can find a month with less total retail gasoline sales on the chart that is lower than December 2013 my hat's off to you.
I don't think that chart has done anything but decline each month since April 2009 if I am not mistaken.
The bottom is falling out of this cheap energy, big government, Multi-Cult love fest fast. Just in time deliveries and cheap abundant food are soon going to be much more shaky and expensive. Your prepping and self sustainable efforts are not in vain as that chart clearly shows.
Our government can screw with some numbers. They can pay the cheerleaders to scream recovery and pretend all is well but our economy runs on fuel and that's one number they cannot change.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!
that chart coinsides with the ever shrinking retail sales.
ReplyDeleteYet weren't they exclaiming Retail sales were up again this last X-Mas season?
DeleteIf "they" is the MSM, then yes, but we both know the news is cooked before they air it. The news that Walmart, Target, Sears, and many others is not good at all. Shrinking sales, expanding inventories and all that jazz.
DeleteMatt - Oh I know. I saw over at Zero Hedge where several people proved the MSM were lying I just wasn't sure if "They" ever changed their tune or adjusted it down is all.
DeleteYa lot's of retail places are announcing closures again. It's happening as we speak and still so many people fail to see it.
Most people don't read anymore. All they do is watch TV. If they are like me and live in a good area, they wouldn't know how bad it is in most other places if the MSM is their only news source.
DeleteMatt - I agree there. People just refuse to read. It's sad really.
DeleteI wish the collapse would come on if it's coming. I've been ready since the late eighties. I feel like a Methodist waiting on the rock when the sun sets, having sold all my worldly goods, and the world doesn't come to an end. >:-(
ReplyDeleteHarry - It's been coming. It is happening everyday. It just doesn't happen all at once. Sometimes we get a bigger step down than usual but mostly it is just a long stairway down with thousands of small steps.
DeleteNumbers like this latest chart show prove there is no real way to reverse the decline either.
To quote those great philosophers of rock, Aerosmith: "Something's wrong with the world today, I don't know what it is." Honestly, I am surprised that so many people continue to believe the economic news. It's like they can accept the information that they see on their own, as if their eyes were lying to them.
ReplyDeleteTB - Well I think there are still a large number of people who have it pretty good yet. Those in the Beltway and in other places just don't see it. Kinda like the French nobility in the early 1700's
DeleteYou might be waiting for a while for a sudden collapse. Personally I think it will be more like the decline of an old castle. First the mortar loosens in the joint, but no one repairs it. Then stones start to fall out, but the party is in full swing. Then key stones start to slide out and windows and doorways collapse, the party goers say they didn't want to go out anyway and they spent all their cash on booze anyhow. Finally generations later entire walls smash down whilst scavangers take away anything useful. The descendents of the castle builders sit dumfounded about how the fell so low!
ReplyDeleteCurrently our walls are wobbling, most of the keystones have gone.
It's time to look for a new castle, one built yourself because the owners of the current one are still in party and spend mode and will be for some time.
Ro - I agree. We have been goign through a slow collapse for at least five years now. When you compare what was to what is it is easy to see the difference as you say between the mortar and where the rocks used to be.
DeleteIf you count the plateau phase you could go back to 1973 or the early 1980s.
DeleteOur local TV news just said how unemployment numbers are down and it is a national trend, it was happy time at the TV station. Of course she didn't explain how they manipulate the numbers to show a decline in people out of work. One day people will wake up and wonder what happened, nobody told us!
ReplyDeleteSf- Now didn't unemployment numbers recently have an uptick? So much information seems to be counter other info these days.
DeleteOne thing for sure, there isn't any reason to sit around and worry about the inevitable. Keep your head down, prep, and live. Preaching to the choir is a waste of time. If people aren't aware of the current situation we classify them as 'bait' and throw 'em to the wolves. People, such as Harry and yours truly have been in this prepping business for over forty years....imagine how many screams of 'the skies falling' we've heard. With that in mind, this country is finished as a world leader and the collapse has been taking place for years. I just find it sad.
ReplyDeleteStephen - Yep it's been going on for years. The one real problem I see is that the longer they let the slow slide go on the worse it's gonna be when it does take the old hockey stick dive.
DeleteWhat they've all said - and +1 to Stephen.
ReplyDeleteRP - Yep :)
DeleteThe wise can be found on this blog and some others. My boys are working 11 1/2 hr days at a company that cans food. Someone is buying this stuff. They can name brand and the company's private label brands. The big question is can the next President and Congress turn things around??
ReplyDeleteRob - Interesting. I imagine food is about the only thing still being purchased at the same level more or less. That may explain all the overtime.
DeleteJust catching up from being out of town. The job hopping index (forget exact title but WSJ gave it prominence the other day) also shows that the economy, even adjusting for bad weather, has been stagnating.
ReplyDelete