leave now or never

LEAVE NOW OR NEVER
Here’s a few fun filled facts that should fill you with fear and loathing but will rather most likely just prompt you to blow out your cheeks in exasperation, sigh deeply in resignation to my unending paranoia and completely ignore me. I should be used to it but instead I just resolve to try harder in the vain hope that one day one of you, the sole remaining survivor of all my readers, shall claw his or her way into my grand dwelling furnished with the skulls of my enemy, clad only in rags from your long and arduous journey, throw yourself at my feet and beg the privilege of worshipping me, as my words alone were responsible for your survival through the sudden collapse of western civilization. I realize this hope might be in vain, but we all need a goal in life, however silly it might seem to others. It isn’t the destination, but the journey that matters ( as long as we are engaged in grand and wise thoughts, here’s another- remember, no matter where you go, there you are ). Ready? In the year 2000, domestically 800 oil rigs produced our 6 million barrels of oil. In 2008, we needed 1800 to produce 5 million.

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If you doubt the world population is using more energy as it grows, listen to this. In 2000 China and the low income countries used 2.0 kilotons of energy. The U.S. used 2.3. In 2005 we were still using 2.3 as the low income countries plus China consumed 2.8. In that time period the global consumption went from 9.8 to 11.2.

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In 1945, the US had a national debt as percentage of GDP of 1.8%. In 2007 that had risen to 3.4. In 2002 the Dollar Index was 120. In 2008 it was 77.

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Here’s one that should really grab your attention if you want to figure out the future cost of your silver coins. In the year 2000 we imported 15% of our silver. In 2006, we were importing 65%. Care to guess that we are running out of that precious metal ( and remember, convention film for photography has been largely replaced by digital during that time, so we were using far less silver in that sector ).

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Here’s two jokes for you. How do you pick up women in Waco, Texas? With a dust buster. Guess who they found in Jeffrey Dahmer’s freezer. Ben and Jerry.

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I recently came across a small news blurb on the worse ten places to retire. Nevada was one of them, once again proving how out of focus the mainstream media is. If you thought that retirement was all about collecting Social Security in a crime free city, basking in perfect weather conditions, sure, they might have a point. But since our future will NOT have Social Security but battling city states that clash over control of the remaining fertile soil, Nevada is a great place to get away from all that. Anyway, one of the typical “throw-away” comments was that a lot more people would have moved out of these states except they were stuck there. Sure, for ten years Nevada has had a net increase in population, but that was only because of the huge increases of suckers moving to Vegas during the start of the decade. But just counting the last few years, the U-Hauls are driving out of the state as fast as they can be rented. If we still have a census in 2020 we will be a lot lower in population. Today’s pertinent question is, do you want to be stuck where you are?

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Long ago I decided to stay in Nevada. This was due to many factors, not just its survival potential during a collapse ( I know 99% of you turn your nose up at a herding rather than farming strategy, but for me it makes sense ). But I knew Carson City wasn’t were I wanted to stay. Even in the five years I was there, far too many Yuppie Ass Sucking, Anal Probing, Fat Balding Marshmallow Puke Scum were selling out in California and moving to the place. Carson has some of the most agreeable winter weather in the Great Basin, so it was attractive to them. Our fragile little dears couldn’t be expected to experience any actual discomfort now, could they? As you might have been able to deduce, I’m not overly fond of Yuppies and await the collapse with great anticipation, if only so as to be able to exterminate as many of the species as possible. I left there for Elko in 2008, and even then I was nervous as hell that I waited too long. I bought land up here in 2005 but allowed myself to be suckered into staying in that little Hades Waiting Room for several years. My point is that I was damn lucky things held together long enough that I could move. Will you be so lucky? My answer, based on strenuous research and impeccable logic is that, no, you can’t possibly be as lucky as I was. Simply put, Baby Jesus doesn’t love you.

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You can’t count on luck in your survival plans. Ask yourself, can I survive were I am? It is that simple. No, you can’t control all variables. As I’ve said before, you could live in a very small town of just a few dozen people, and if they find out you are the only one prepared you are as good as dead. But some places place you at far worse odds than others. Sacramento needs grid power to keep the levees functional, a city on the prairie without nearby forests needs petroleum for wintertime. L.A. needs a full snow pack from the Sierras and power to pump that water over the pass or millions die of thirst. Now, you might be able to bug out ( I’m not particularly fond of that strategy, looking at my 330 mile journey from Carson to Elko on only one of two roads to be fraught with danger as brigands/police checkpoints or gasoline disruptions cut me off, but you might have a better potential journey ). All well and good. But past a certain distance, that strategy starts to suck no matter what. What if, in a period of only, say, a year, your location lost its major employer, your state went broke, your house lost more of its value. This is our current reality, not the need to escape an incoming nuclear attack. We aren’t suffering a decades long collapse, nor an hour long one. Bugging out assumes a non-functioning society, and a long slow collapse presupposes you can ignore and adapt.

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But if we are in for a waterfall collapse, a short period of gentle sloping disorder, followed by a sudden fall off, you will experience a period where you are constrained by the failing economy and lose everything before you can do anything else. Think of the old people that lose their house. The county jacked up their taxes to unbelievable levels like six to ten thousand bucks a year. They didn’t respond quick enough, the county sold the obligation to a private collection agency, and they lose their forty year old house and are homeless, as their Social Security payments are frozen without COLA increases and Medicare cuts backs. I thank the loyal minion that passed on that tale to us, and remind you this is just that start of the economic collapse. What good would storage foods and semi-autos, or a country lot a thousand miles away done for these folks? They are stuck where they are by current conditions. If you foresee the need to leave, do it while you can. As the Cold War crowd said, better two years too early than two minutes too late.

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My e-mail is jimd303@netzero.com
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Anyone can submit a guest article. No minimum word length, no writing skill necessary ( just get the idea across ). You retain copyright ( this must be your original writing ) and I’ll just use the once. I’ve yet to turn down an article, just don’t use the N Bomb or libel another that can sue me. Send by e-mail ( please, label as “guest article” so I can find it easily later ). Payment will be your removal from my enemies list.
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