Crisis Preparedness

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

When we look at the world today we can see that preparedness, being prepared and equipped to deal with any kind of crisis, is very important. The world in which we live today, being overly dependent on technology, especially the electronic kind, can easily be brought out of its equilibrium.

The next financial crash is only around the corner especially considering the way that many banks are back playing the same ponzy schemes that they played last time round and there are many economists and others who predict that the next crash is already on its way – probably just a year or a couple away – and that it will be worse than the last and probably worse than the Great Depression even.

But, unlike when the Great Depression hit, the majority of the people today live a life that is so far removed from reality that they do not have the skills and also not the mental frame to do things for themselves. They have to learn this from scratch and while today we have all the knowledge we – the majority at least – do not have the practical skills. Some cannot even cook from scratch let alone be capable of growing their own food, know where to get wild food, or now to make this or that they need or want for themselves.

Many people who are more or less self-appointed and self-acclaimed experts in the field of preparedness always suggest that people should have gold and silver coins as means of cash/currency. That is utter baloney as nowadays gold and silver, unlike in the days of the Great Depression and even still after WW2 are not recognized (as currency) and thus are absolutely useless. They offer no means of and for barter whatsoever. Gold and silver in whatever kind of coins are just a way for you to waste your money. In addition to that if those coins are not old currency coins how can you be sure, if they come from some “wild” mints, that they actually have the gold or silver content that is being claimed?

Your best bet is not gold and silver coins but skills and tools to perform jobs or produce goods that other want and need. Knowledge and skills are the key here. And knowledge must be more than just theory.

In times gone by people always prepared for the unexpected and for lean times and that not just by having some cash under the mattress or such place. They canned, the preserved food in other ways, and they knew how to make things from almost nothing. Today most do neither and do not have the skills either.

Cash under the mattress is not going to be an option anymore today where the coins and notes are changed in design every five minutes – well, almost – and the old version being no longer legal tender within a short space of time. All done in order to make us dependent on the state and its agencies. Therefore it will have to be other supplies – and especially skills – that you have to make it possible for your to live well enough after such an event and which also provide a means of barter with other, perhaps.

Theoretically, properly prepared there is no reason to fear a crisis nor is there any need to get into a panic and tiswas, when it happens. I did say theoretically, for the world today is not the world of the 1920s and 30s when people still had proper community and also knew how to do things.

Books on the various subjects of preparedness, homesteading, gardening, survival, and the many crafts and whatever, are good to have as a reference library but they are not something that you would want to go to when the proverbial already has hit the air moving device but you want to learn from them, and ideally also from live teachers, and acquire the knowledge and especially the practical skills well before well before any such event.

In the event of a crisis, which, more than likely will be a global one, you cannot rely of the state or other body for help. You have to know how to help yourself and you can only rely on yourself.

You may have the skills, the knowledge, and the provisions. Others that don't, however, are the danger; a danger to you, your loved ones and your survival. In a crisis you also cannot rely on the state and its agencies to protect you from any marauders; in fact the state and its agencies themselves will become a threat to you and your freedom.

So, thus, when it comes to protection from marauders it would appear that you will be, in the event, more or less on your own. The agencies of the state, as I have just said, will not (be able to) protect you and therefore you will have to do that yourself and you may also need to protect yourself and your loved ones from the very agencies of the state.

© 2017

Cameron predicts new economic crisis

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

In mid-autumn 2014 the British Prime Minister David Cameron stated that the Euro zone is teetering on brink of new third recession and he may, in fact, not be far off this. The fact is that, despite what they are telling us, the economy is not doing very well at all and also not in Britain.

It is being suggested to us day in day out that the economy is on the up – in Britain at least – and that we have lower rate of unemployment for decades. That may look fine on paper but the reality, alas, is somewhat different. Many of those that have “found” jobs and are off the unemployment register are in part-time or very low-paid employment only and thus have very little purchasing power.

The only way, and they are hard at work on that one, to grow the economy, is to have another lovely big war or why does anyone think has NATO started a new cold war against Russia?

The austerity drive to “reduce” public spending definitely is not helping the economy to grow one bit. In fact it is having the exact opposite effect especially as so many public sector employes have faced job losses and those that retained their jobs pay freezes, which actually amount to loss in income due to other costs rising, and now, after a year or two having been given a miserly one percent increase in their wages the talk is of yet more cuts and more pay freezes.

At the same time they, and not just Britain, waste Billions on armaments and new aircraft carriers (that will not have any aircraft for them as the one that is supposed to fly from the, the new US-made F-35 has still got problems even getting off the ground properly, literally), a Trident replacement and also a ring-fenced foreign aid budget of Billions upon Billions. All of this could get the economy at home working nicely. Then again the perpetual growth economy is (1) not sustainable and thus (2) has to be abandoned. On the other hand such monies would do nicely for the health service and social housing.

What, as it would appear if we look at it without blinkers on, we are really heading for is not just a little third recession, and not just the Euro zone but all of us, but a full-blown Depression more likely greater than that so-called Great Depression of the 1920's/1930's but the powers-that-be do not dare to even suggest such a thing openly, not even by way of a warning.

Why not?, you may ask, but the answer to this is very simple. It would put the proverbial feline amongst the columbidae and cause panic because, unlike in the 1920s when the Great Depression struck, and even though it was bad for people, they knew, in general, how to make do and how to make and do things for themselves. Not so people in today's entitlement culture who believe that government – or someone – has to do this or that for them and that the government – or someone else – is responsible if they have problems.

Our parents, grandparents and their parents were much more capable of handling many of such things and problems as they did not have the entitlement mentality that the powers-that-be have brainwashed the population with. They knew how to look after themselves, their families and also others in the community and in turn everyone looked after one another. Today most people do not even know their neighbors and often do not want to get to know their neighbors either. Sharing and helping each other, thus, is no longer being done, in most cases, and community does not exist in all but name.

The next Great Depression is coming and it, more like than not, will be worse than the one in the 1930s and it is time – high time, in fact – that we all got back to some sense in our lives and got to know one another and learned to help where help is needed once again without expecting a reward in return.

© 2014