Raoul Paul-The End

[DRumsfeld2000]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End

An associated add on to this thread:-

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/big-re...g-here-what-do

[bart]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End

...
The liquid assets of the entire world is around $60 trillion - if I recall bart's numbers, as is the entire world's GDP.
...

Not sure how you're defining 'liquid', but here's my most recent world assets best guess picture:

[BadJuju]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End

How worried should I be about social collapse?

[bart]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End

...
The goal of Ka-Poom Theory is to know how to ride out those three to five years. It is also to think about what happens if we are not so lucky as we were last time to have FDR and Winston Churchill. In that case all bets are off. Anything could happen.

Indeed... and one take on identifying a real statesman:

"Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day."
-- Theodore Roosevelt, April 19, 1906

[bart]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End

How worried should I be about social collapse?

One take - worried enough to do some real CYA (Cover Your Ass) activities like having extras of basic stuff on hand or 'in storage', smart hard assets and something for self defense.

Think of them as a non-FIRE insurance policy?, and be happy if none of them are used.

[BadJuju]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End

Thanks, bart. This is pretty scary stuff. =(

[bart]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End

Thanks, bart. This is pretty scary stuff. =(

Very much so on conditions being scary. Having basics etc. like I mentioned on hand does help hold it in check - or at least they do for me.

[jburke4]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End

Sadly i only have a k-98 bolt action and 40 oz's of gold to see me through. On the up side i'm 61 and in poor health.

[lakedaemonian]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End

One take - worried enough to do some real CYA (Cover Your Ass) activities like having extras of basic stuff on hand or 'in storage', smart hard assets and something for self defense.

Think of them as a non-FIRE insurance policy?, and be happy if none of them are used.

We've done just that for years...with a strong emphasis on a deep and wide pantry/household consumables.

Didn't need the "gold n' guns" regardless of how nice they are to have, but we did actually need the food, water, water storage, water purification, communications, spare petrol/diesel(check insurance policy on household storage limits), generator, chest freezer, evacuation plan(even though just tsunami false alarms), etc. during our two quite nasty quakes in the last two years.

It made what was quite difficult for many, quite a bit easier and far more convenient/comfortable for our family, friends, and neighbours.

Insurance Policy is a great way of looking at it....

But I can't stress enough how a well organized and resourced pantry, all by itself, can provide a lot of cost savings and convenience for the average family even if the world is guaranteed to live happily ever after for the next 1000 years. Buying food/household necessities in bulk when they are heavily discounted can save a lot of money and time to the store. It's one habit I will be eternally grateful to my parents for instilling in me.

[bart]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End

Yep, you got it LD. Insurance is what it is, at root... or for other geezer types like me, the "Be prepared" Boy Scout motto also applies.

A long time friend in Alabama is one of those over-the-top preppers - and his whole neighborhood benefited when those huge tornadoes came through about a year ago. Amongst many other things, his generators saved $1000s of dollars of food for many since power was off for days. And a few cold pitchers of margaritas and propane powered BBQ setups sure did help attitudes in the area too. ;-)

Funny thing about food storage & rotation, it's a pretty good "investment" too - very roughly, at least a 10% "profit" per year... and whoever heard of insurance you can eat? ;-)

[lakedaemonian]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End

Yep, you got it LD. Insurance is what it is, at root... or for other geezer types like me, the "Be prepared" Boy Scout motto also applies.

A long time friend in Alabama is one of those over-the-top preppers - and his whole neighborhood benefited when those huge tornadoes came through about a year ago. Amongst many other things, his generators saved $1000s of dollars of food for many since power was off for days. And a few cold pitchers of margaritas and propane powered BBQ setups sure did help attitudes in the area too. ;-)

Funny thing about food storage & rotation, it's a pretty good "investment" too - very roughly, at least a 10% "profit" per year... and whoever heard of insurance you can eat? ;-)

Exactamundo.....

While I'm pretty dark at times about humanity in general......and have seen folks go off the rails in rather unpleasant ways across a few disasters of different flavours....overall I've seem some great responses too...far more than I ever expected.

Strong bonds between neighbours....strong streets....strong local communities...with strong defined as positively engaged with one another...is probably the best glue to keep folks from blowing apart at the seams...at least that's been my experience.

So I would strongly encourage folks to spend just as much time investing in relationships with neighbours and their local community as investing in a pantry full of awesome and the odd bit of other insurance.

Although on that note, one of the most positive AND negative aspects of living through a significant and lasting crisis is learning about people's TRUE character and integrity.

When times are good, almost everyone is "nice" or perceived positively. It's only when people are put into the fire and left there...THAT's when people's REAL(as opposed to nominal ) character and integrity is seen.

I have to admit to losing a few friends/acquaintances...as well as gaining newfound respect for others.....no matter how good of a judge of character and integrity you think you are....I reckon a big enough crisis will still leave you surprised about some folks in both directions.

And with that 10% in post tax dollars, the return is even better compared with a gross untaxed return from other asset classes.....too bad ROI can't scale up 100X then we'd be talking some serious money!

[Fiat Currency]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End

...THAT's when people's REAL (as opposed to nominal ) character and integrity is seen.

LOL - nice one.

[astonas]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End

So I would strongly encourage folks to spend just as much time investing in relationships with neighbours and their local community as investing in a pantry full of awesome and the odd bit of other insurance.

A good reminder, that. And a pleasant way to spend some time.

[reggie]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End

Strong bonds between neighbours....strong streets....strong local communities...with strong defined as positively engaged with one another...is probably the best glue to keep folks from blowing apart at the seams...at least that's been my experience.

So I would strongly encourage folks to spend just as much time investing in relationships with neighbours and their local community as investing in a pantry full of awesome and the odd bit of other insurance.

Although on that note, one of the most positive AND negative aspects of living through a significant and lasting crisis is learning about people's TRUE character and integrity.

When times are good, almost everyone is "nice" or perceived positively. It's only when people are put into the fire and left there...THAT's when people's REAL(as opposed to nominal ) character and integrity is seen.

I have to admit to losing a few friends/acquaintances...as well as gaining newfound respect for others.....no matter how good of a judge of character and integrity you think you are....I reckon a big enough crisis will still leave you surprised about some folks in both directions.

Having been in disaster zones myself, I've found the vast majority of people to be calm, supportive, and caring. But here's an example of the institutional narrative we're all supposed to buy into, so that we'll ultimately turn on each other while living in a chaotically controlled society run by algorithms based in complexity theory.

Strong Strong-ties (as opposed to technologically mitigated strong weak-ties) based upon 1-to-1 human relationships, trust and co-operation are extremely difficult to infiltrate, measure and therefore manage via cybernetic systems.

[bart]

Re: Raoul Paul-The End