In the event of Apocalypse, pull handle

I see a lot of survivalist nut jobs on the boards I frequent, often going on about how they are stocking up on food and guns. They often ask, “What is your game plan?” as if to flaunt what they see as their stable position in and unstable world. What it really amounts to though is saying, “Nani Nani Boo Boo, I’m more prepared than you!”

My game plan?

Brush up on my skills. I would rather be a valuable person than a person with valuable things. You can stock up on supplies and weapons all you like, but if the modern world abruptly collapses into “The Road Warrior”, those things will just make you a target for someone more powerful. Eventually, you can’t pull the trigger fast enough or you run out of ammo. Then their followers will overrun you.

People can easily take away your stuff, but it is much more difficult for them to take away your skills. Someone who can contribute to their community (a doctor who can heal the wounded, maybe an engineer who can fix the machines) will be supported and protected by those people who need them.

The other problem with the survivalist fantasies that spur this hording is belief that the New Dark Age will come suddenly. What they are not counting on is that the descent will take decades, not months. Their supplies will simply be depleted before the end.

I found a pretty good article from a couple of years ago that talks about how wrong the survivalist mentality is.

Market Crash?

Is today the day where the Great American Ponzi Scheme collapses? I say no. One of the key aspects of a dark age is the breakdown of the commerce web. Today a few important strands are breaking as some big banks fail, but the web is still there…at least for a few more months. Currently, I still hold that the real crash will be in February of 09 when the much more tangible sector of the economy, retail, begins to fail after a dismal holiday season.

I can tell you this though, the crash is inevitable. The Elites know it. They are scrambling to gather their wealth before it happens so that when the New Dark Age descends they will be in a position to become the New Aristocracy. But, despite the enormous power they already wield, they cannot stop the crash (nor do they necessarily want to).

You’ll notice I mentioned the “Great American Ponzi Scheme”. “What is it?” you ask. The GAPS, is one of the primary mechanisms that the Elite has been using to transfer the collective wealth of the American middle class into the coffers of those who will become the New Aristocracy. It works like this:

1) First, the Elites convince the middle class to give up the concept of pensions and replace them with 401k plans.

2) At the same time, the Elites buy preferred stock in various institutions in which they have some control over the business decisions made.

3) Using their influence, they get those institutions to artificially inflate their value. For example, banks stuff their books with mortgages - they may not expect many to get paid back, but they still show as a full valued asset on their books.

4) They wait for the 401k plans to use middle class American’s retirement money to buy the regular (not the preferred) stock in those institutions. This is the important step where the wealth is transferred from the middle class to the Elites. Actual capital is used to buy stocks with only a virtual (imaginary) value.

5) Now the Elites can, at this point, sell their preferred stock and cash out. Or, they can just wait. They carry no (or at least a significantly lesser) risk. If the scheme fails, they own PREFERRED STOCK. That is, they will benefit from a bailout while the regular stock holders are shafted. Even if the institution is not bailed out, they are still the ones who get reimbursed during the liquidation of the institution, not the regular stock holders. Either way the capital has been transferred to them.

Now, you might be able to see why conservatives have pushed so often to privatize Social Security. Such an action would allow that money to buy stock in their companies, further transferring the remaining wealth of the middle class to them.