Before And After

The "shut your pie-hole" red flags are starting to flap in the wind. 

I think we've reached, or are close to the time when Nanny is unable to provide for the Dependent Class.  Those that have provided for themselves will be further chastised so that public opinion "justifies" the further degradation of your property rights.

It's already well underway via "progressive" taxation.  Earn more, pay WAY more.

Have more of anything than some bureaucrat thinks is fair, and they take it away.  Economic justice.  Social justice.  Food justice?

I think it's time to shut the hell up about the specifics of our preps.  Continue to encourage folks to prep, but keep your prep details to yourself.

Before:  "You're just a paranoid freak for storing all that food.  All that ammo makes me think you're one of those militia nuts!"

After:  "By order of the Federal Food Fairness Agency, we're seizing that food - you're just a selfish hoarder.  We'll take the ammo as well."

Let's say we're 18 to 24 months behind Europe in melting down (I hope we have that much time).  That puts us right around the time of our next national elections.  Austerity will be the buzz word of the election.

In the intervening time between now and then, the Federal Reserve will print up its QEII funny-money, further devaluing the dollar - so what you have will buy less.  The FedGov and states will raise taxes and fees - just like they've promised.  But it won't be enough.

Something will have to give, and the Safety Net will develop a nasty, gaping hole.  More and more people will fall through the gap, and they'll be pissed off, just like they are in Ireland right now.

The first wave of Irish protests were largely peaceful, but when bellies start going unfed, that will change.

Here, too.

Before:  "Gold?  Silver?  Really?!  I keep my money in an FDIC-guaranteed bank and sleep very well at night, thank-you-very-much.  My 401k rocks!"

After:  "Brother, can you spare a dime?"

The WikiLeaks guy has announced that he has some internal documents about some large, too-big-to-fail bank.  Corruption is the buzz word he's using.  Supposedly, the covers are going to be pulled back on the warm little bed we made for the big banks.

There's been a lot of "chatter" lately about Bank of America.  Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are trying to put failed loans back on the bank - billions of dollars worth - and the inside scoop is that this will overwhelm the finances of the bank.

I had a customer come into the PM store this past week, and he told me he was unable to take out the amount of cash he requested.  His bank is Chase.  He wanted $5000, but was limited to $2000.  The next day, he was able to get the other $3000.

They didn't give him a reason, or say any policy had changed.  They just said he couldn't get the money when he wanted it.

He now has another $5000 in silver.

Before:  "You 'make' water and fire?  Freak!  I turn a knob and run the stove for hours.  I let the sink faucet run while I'm taking a shower and watering the lawn.  What century do you think it is???  The 1800's?"

After:  "My child has dysentery from drinking dirty water.  Can you help?"

I made a preps run on Tuesday.  50 lbs of sugar ($25), 20 lbs of salt ($10), 20 lbs of pork shoulder ($35), 2 lbs of dried onions ($7) and two dozen one-pint Mason jars ($16). 

Some added peace of mind for under $100.

The pork was ground and home canned.  Ground meat is my favorite style of canned meat, as its texture is most like the meat when freshly cooked.  Chunked beef, pork and chicken are OK - and have their place - but ground meat is my favorite.

I want to build up my sugar and salt stores, in particular.  The salt for use as a preservative.

Before:  "A medical bag?  You have a medical bag in your home?  If I scratch a finger, I go down to my Primary Care Physician - zero co-pay, of course - and get a band-aid.  Who do you think you are?  Doctor Quinn?"

After:  "Get in line, ma'am.  ObamaCare County Hospital is full-up.  We should be able to see your child sometime today.  Tomorrow at the latest.  He sure is a sound sleeper..... he's just asleep, right?"

Please, work on your skills, folks.  Know how to do for yourself.  Could you stitch a wound?  Could you keep it clean?  Would you know when to stitch and when to leave it alone?  Do you have the materials needed to stitch and maintain the wound?

Can you preserve food "pioneer style" - just using salt, smoke, vinegar or moving air?

How to make homemade vinegar.
Preserving meat on the frontier.
Preserving fish.
Canning/pickling vegetables

Accept The Challenge

Loose Lips Sink Ships.  Heed the warning.   Protect what you've got - assume someone else wants it.

I was feeling all smug last night as I looked at my food, supplies and equipment storage.  Man, I'm on top of this!

Bad place to be.

I teach in my introductory firearms class about acquiring the Skills, Knowledge and Attitude for safe firearms use.  I explain that Attitude isn't a cockiness - it's an outlook.  You have confidence that you can apply your skills and knowledge to safe gun use.

I NEVER want to get cocky - about guns or preps.  When you're feeling all full of yourself is when you get smacked upside the head.

There is always more to do, always more to learn.  There are no days off in the job of life.

We have no way of knowing what will happen in the future.  Our knowledge and inquisitiveness can be used to evaluate new information and project what will happen, but we don't know for sure.  So we develop new skills and plan for contingencies and different scenarios.

Real preppers keep building our stores of knowledge, skills, supplies, equipment, food and money.  We continually move towards our perceived "perfect prep" - knowing full-well we will never get there.  We're flexible and are able to adapt as the environment changes.

Our head is always "on a swivel"  - taking in and evaluating new information, and applying it to our lives.

Our attitude keeps us on track!

Image via SemperToons.com

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Copyright 2010 Bison Risk Management Associates. All rights reserved. Please note that in addition to owning Bison Risk Management, Chief Instructor is also a partner in a precious metals business. You are encouraged to repost this information so long as it is credited to Bison Risk Management Associates. www.BisonRMA.com