Questions

As The Perfect Storm Approaches, Most Americans Are Partying Instead Of Preparing

March 27, 2019February 25, 2019 by Michael

I can’t think of a time when Americans were more apathetic about getting prepared, and yet this is exactly the time when the urgency to get prepared should be at the highest. Earlier today, my wife Meranda and I were discussing the fact that every single element of “the perfect storm” is coming together just as we had anticipated. One by one, the pieces are all falling into place, and I share the most recent things that my research has uncovered with all of you on a daily basis. Unfortunately, most Americans are absolutely convinced that there is no reason to get prepared for hard times because everything is going to be just great. In America today, most people either believe that the future is going to be totally wonderful or that the future will be totally wonderful once we get rid of Trump. Because so many of us have adopted one of these false narratives, most Americans are partying instead of preparing, and that is going to mean big trouble when things really start going haywire.

Are you familiar with “the rule of three”? I just looked it up on Google, and this is how it is defined…

“You can survive for 3 Minutes without air (oxygen) or in icy water. You can survive for 3 Hours without shelter in a harsh environment (unless in icy water) You can survive for 3 Days without water (if sheltered from a harsh environment) You can survive for 3 Weeks without food (if you have water and shelter)”

Of course these numbers are not exact. For example, many have gone without food for more than 3 weeks without serious problems. But in general, this is a pretty good guideline for survival.

Sadly, if a major emergency were to hit this country tonight, most Americans would be completely unprepared when it comes to even the most basic essentials. In fact, one survey found that only 39 percent of Americans have any sort of an “emergency kit” whatsoever…

When it comes to being prepared for an emergency, 39% say they have an emergency kit, while another 39% have a non-perishable food stock. A little less than one-third (28%) of people have stockpiles of water, and one in four people (25%) have an evacuation plan.

Of those who have an emergency kit, the most common items to have in the kit are: a first-aid kit (86%), flashlights or other light sources (83%), food (65%), water (63%), and blankets (62%).

Those are depressingly low numbers.

So what are all of those people going to do when things hit the fan and the government is not there to rescue them?

Needless to say, a lot of people will really freak out when they can’t get what they need.

But as long as things are relatively “normal”, this astounding lack of preparation will not be a problem. And right now, Americans are acting as if things will be “normal” for the foreseeable future. In fact, most of us are partying like it’s 1999 all over again. According to CNBC, U.S. consumer debt just surpassed the four trillion dollar mark for the first time ever…

As of this month, outstanding consumer debt exceeded $4 trillion for the first time, according to the Federal Reserve.

Relatively strong holiday spending, particularly in November, and increasing credit card debt added more than $41 billion in outstanding balances at the end of 2018, according to LendingTree, a loan comparison website, which analyzed the data from the Fed.

We are spending money as if there is no tomorrow, and that would be fine if tomorrow never arrived.

Of course we really shouldn’t be spending money so wildly anyway, because many of us are already completely drowning in debt. For example, auto loan delinquencies are already far higher than they were during the peak of the last recession. The following comes from NBC News…

At least 7 million Americans were in serious delinquency on their car loan — 90 or more days behind — at the end of 2018, according to data released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

That’s 1 million more than at the end of 2010, after the recession.

And student loan delinquencies also just shot up to the highest level ever. We have never seen anything like this before in modern American history, and yet the party continues to roll on.

For now.

Unfortunately, all parties eventually come to an end, and the end of this one is going to be particularly painful.

When disaster strikes, most Americans are going to be out of resources very, very rapidly. One survey found that 78 percent of all American workers are living paycheck to paycheck. That number is a little higher than other figures that I have seen, but everyone agrees that a solid majority of the country is barely scraping by each month.

When things get really bad, I honestly don’t know how most people are going to make it.

A number of years ago, a survey asked Americans how long they thought they would survive if the electrical grid went down for an extended period of time.

Nearly 75 percent said that they would be dead before the two month mark.

Hopefully you are more resourceful than that. But without a doubt all of us are going to stand a better chance of surviving what is ahead if we make some basic preparations. In particular, I would encourage everyone to stock up on some emergency food and make sure that you have a Berkey water filter. It’s isn’t rocket science, but if you choose to do nothing because you have blind faith in the system, then you and your entire family could find yourselves in a world of hurt when things start getting really crazy out there.

If we had made different choices as a nation, we could have had a very different future.

Sadly, our self-destructive behavior continues to get even worse, and a day of reckoning for America is fast approaching.

About the author: Michael Snyder is a nationally-syndicated writer, media personality and political activist. He is the author of four books including Get Prepared Now, The Beginning Of The End and Living A Life That Really Matters. His articles are originally published on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News. From there, his articles are republished on dozens of other prominent websites. If you would like to republish his articles, please feel free to do so. The more people that see this information the better, and we need to wake more people up while there is still time.

7 Strange Questions About The Brussels Terror Attacks That The Mainstream Media Is Not Asking

March 22, 2016March 22, 2016 by Michael

The horrific terror attacks in Brussels, Belgium on March 22, 2016 are going to reverberate in our memories for years to come, and perhaps that was the intention. Terror attacks are designed to create fear and to get attention, and these attacks have definitely done both. On Tuesday morning, two huge explosions ripped through Zaventem Airport in Brussels as travelers were getting ready to board their morning flights. You can view some raw footage of one of the bomb blasts right here. Just a short while later, another huge explosion was reported at a metro station just yards away from the European Commission headquarters. At this point, CNN says that at least 30 people have died and about 230 people are wounded as a result of these bombings. But what was the real motive for these attacks? The following are 7 strange questions about the Brussels terror attacks that the mainstream media is not asking…

#1 Why would Brussels be such a prime target for terror attacks?

Most Americans don’t understand how important the city of Brussels is. For one thing, it is the headquarters of the NATO alliance, and defense ministers from 49 different nations met there last month to discuss a potential ground invasion of Syria.

Secondly, it is also the unofficial capital of the European Union. The following comes from Wikipedia…

“The European Union has no official capital, and no plans to declare one, but Brussels hosts the official seats of the European Commission, Council of the European Union, and European Council, as well as a seat (officially the second seat but de facto the most important one) of the European Parliament.”

Over the years Brussels has become a key symbol for European integration, so if you wanted to conduct an attack that the entire European Union would feel, Brussels would be a good choice. And many European leaders are already coming out and declaring that the attack on Brussels was an attack on Europe as a whole…

French President Francois Hollande said Tuesday’s attacks in Brussels that killed at least 26 people struck at “the whole of Europe”.

“Through the attacks in Brussels, the whole of Europe has been hit,” Hollande said in a statement, urging the continent to take “vital steps in the face of the seriousness of the threat”.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said: “We are at war. Over the past few months in Europe, we have endured several acts of war.”

#2 Was Donald Trump right about Brussels?

During an interview with Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo earlier this year, Donald Trump specifically pointed to Brussels as an example of what he wanted to avoid in this country…

The Republican presidential front-runner said Brussels, the capital of Belgium, had been particularly transformed. Belgium has been home to a number of recent terror plots, and was linked to the November attack on Paris, France, that left 130 people dead.

“You go to Brussels — I was in Brussels a long time ago, 20 years ago, so beautiful, everything is so beautiful — it’s like living in a hellhole right now,” Trump continued. “You go to these different places. There is something going on.”

#3 Why are there some Islamic ghettos in Brussels that are considered to be “off-limits” for non-Muslims?

Of course this is not just true in Brussels. All over Europe there are sections of major cities that have been completely and totally taken over by radical Muslims. In Belgium, the rapid growth of the Islamic community has some politicians dreaming of turning that nation into a Sharia-compliant country within just a couple of decades. The following comes from Infowars…

These ghettos, which are in fact large areas of Brussels, are considered off-limits to Europeans and radical Muslims will likely comprise the majority of the population within 20 years.

“I think we have to sensitize people, make them understand the advantages to having Islamic people and Islamic laws, and then it will be completely natural to have Islamic laws and we will become an Islamic state,” a Muslim politician from Brussels, Redouane Ahrouch, said to a reporter in 2012. “In Belgium, of course!”

“I am for the Sharia. Islamic law, I am for it. It is a long-term struggle that will take decades or a century, but the movement has been launched.”

#4 Does 3/22 have special occult significance?

There are some people out there that are suggesting that it was no accident that these attacks happened on 3/22. And without a doubt, we have seen other events of this nature fall on dates that have special significance for the occult. I do not know exactly what to make of all of this, but we do know that 322 is extremely significant to the Skull and Bones Society at Yale University (of which George W. Bush and John Kerry are members)…

#5 Why did Barack Obama spend less than a minute talking about the terror attacks in Brussels during his speech down in Cuba?

You would think that something this historic would deserve more than 51 seconds, but this is precisely the kind of behavior that we have come to expect from Obama over the years.

#6 Is it odd that the mainstream media so quickly reported that ISIS took full responsibility for these attacks?

It is entirely possible that ISIS was behind these attacks. But it is also entirely possible that these attacks are being blamed on ISIS by other parties with ulterior motives.

What we do know is that a “bulletin” supposedly from the Islamic State was posted on Tuesday which took full responsibility for the bombings. The following comes from WND…

“Islamic State fighters carried out a series of bombings with explosive belts and devices on Tuesday, targeting an airport and a central metro station in the center of the Belgian capital, Brussels, a country participating in the coalition against the Islamic State,” the bulletin said. “Islamic State fighters opened fire inside the Zaventem airport, before several of them detonated their explosive belts, as a martyrdom bomber detonated his explosive belt in the Maelbeek metro station.”

#7 Will the terror attacks in Brussels be used to justify a ground invasion of Syria?

These attacks have produced a tremendous amount of outrage in the western world, and already many prominent voices are calling for a U.S.-led invasion of Syria in order to finally put a permanent end to ISIS.

In fact, a former top adviser to Hillary Clinton started calling for a Syrian invasion within just hours of the attacks…

A former adviser to Hillary Clinton on Syria, Frederic C. Hof, now a Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, has called for invading Syria in the wake of the deadly attacks in Brussels.

“For the better part of a year, one clear recommendation has been on the table: assemble an American-led, coalition-of-the-willing, professional ground component—one top-heavy in regional and European forces—to enter eastern Syria to close with and kill ISIS. Engaging the Syrian opposition at all levels, consistent with an executable civil-military stabilization plan, can produce an administrative structure for an ISIS-free eastern Syria. Killing ISIS in Syria can ease the migration crisis and hasten the demise of this murderous band in Iraq. And it can demonstrate to the credulously stupid that linking up with losers will be a one-way trip to self-destruction,” Hof writes.

Last month, I received quite a bit of criticism for suggesting that we could be on the verge of World War 3. But the truth is that Saudi Arabia and Turkey remain absolutely committed to the removal of the Assad regime, and now these Brussels terror attacks have conveniently shifted sentiment in Europe and in the United States in favor of a ground operation in Syria.

The current ceasefire in Syria is on the verge of completely falling apart, and if an American-led coalition does invade, that could very easily spark a major regional war. The Russians, the Iranians and Hezbollah are not just going to sit back and watch as the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their allies march to Damascus and remove Assad.

I keep trying to warn people that 2016 is the year when everything changes, and I have a feeling that these terror attacks in Belgium are going to turn out to be exceedingly significant.

Our world is becoming more unstable with each passing day, and sometimes all it takes is a little shove to set us on a path that we never intended to go down.

I don’t have all the answers, but unlike the mainstream media, at least I am not afraid to ask the hard questions…

50 Shocking Questions That You Should Ask To Anyone That Is Not A Prepper Yet

January 16, 2013 by Michael

Share this list of shocking questions with everyone you know that needs to wake up. Sometimes asking good questions is the best way to get someone that you care about to understand something. When I attended law school, I became very familiar with something called “the Socratic method”. It is a method that has been traditionally used in law schools all over the United States. Law professors will bombard their students with questions, and the goal is to stimulate critical thinking and allow students to discover the answers for themselves. Many times those of us that can see what is happening to this country get frustrated when we try to get others to see what is so apparent to us. But instead of preaching to them, perhaps asking questions would be more helpful. When you ask someone a question, they are almost forced to think about what you just said and come up with a response. And without a doubt, the fact that America is in decline is undeniable. Those that would choose to blindly have faith in the system are foolish, because it is glaringly obvious that the system is failing. Our economy is heading for collapse and the world around us is becoming more unstable with each passing day. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the number of preppers in the United States is absolutely exploding. Some estimates put the number of preppers in the U.S. as high as 3 million, and the movement continues to explode.

So exactly what is a “prepper”? Well, the truth is that there is a tremendous amount of diversity among the people that fall under that label.

To me, you don’t have to move to Montana and store 500 cases of MREs in a nuclear fallout shelter to be considered a prepper. I believe that anyone that can see a very serious crisis coming and that is taking steps to prepare for that crisis would be considered a prepper. You might be living next to one and never even know it. Many families have converted spare rooms into food pantries or are taking survival training on the weekends. Others have renewed their interest in gardening or have started to invest in precious metals. As far as I am concerned, anything that you can do to become more self-sufficient and more independent of the system is a good thing, because the system is rapidly failing.

Perhaps you are reading this and you are thinking that people who are “preparing for disaster” are being rather foolish. Well, I encourage you to read the list of questions that I have compiled below and come to your own conclusions.

The following are 50 shocking questions that you should ask to anyone that is not a prepper yet…

#1 Why are sales of physical silver coins breaking all sorts of all-time records? The U.S. Mint is on pace to sell more silver eagles during the first month of 2013 than it did during the entire year of 2007.

#2 Why has Germany announced that it will be moving gold from New York and Paris to its own vaults back home? Is this a sign of a breakdown in trust among global central banks?

#3 Why is China systematically hoarding gold?

#4 Why have billionaires such as George Soros and John Paulson been hoarding massive amounts of gold?

#5 Why are billionaires buying up so much ranch land up in Montana?

#6 Why is Russia warning that we are rapidly approaching a global “currency war”?

#7 Why has Barack Obama chosen this moment to launch an all-out attack on the Second Amendment?

#8 Why does Barack Obama want doctors to ask their patients questions about firearms?

#9 Why is there an incredibly severe nationwide ammunition shortage all of a sudden?

#10 Why has a bill been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that “would ban Internet or mail order ammunition purchases“?

#11 Why are gun control advocates such as Piers Morgan pushing for us to become more like the UK when the UK actually has a much higher violent crime rate than we do?

#12 Why was a Forbes article that made a connection between the use of psychiatric drugs and the mass shootings that we have seen in recent years almost immediately taken down from the Internet?

#13 Why does the federal government want to start putting “black boxes” in all new motor vehicles?

#14 Why are some U.S. states now using computers to predict “future crimes“?

#15 Why are “black-clad federal SWAT teams” raiding farms and ranches all over the United States?

#16 Why are we all being trained to spy on one another?

#17 Why are highly advanced facial recognition cameras being put up all over the United States?

#18 Why have police departments all over America begun to deploy unmanned surveillance drones in the skies over our cities?

#19 Why are schools all over America beginning to require students to carry IDs with RFID microchips in them wherever they go?

#20 Why are more Americans not outraged that nearly 400 TSA employees have been fired for stealing from travelers since 2003?

#21 Why are Americans not more outraged that TSA goons are manhandling the private areas of our women and our children in the name of “national security”?

#22 Why is an elderly survivor of the Nazi occupation of Austria, Kitty Werthmann, warning that America is heading down the exact same path that she experienced?

#23 If the economy is in good shape, then why are more than one out of every four U.S. workers with a 401(k) raiding those funds in order to pay current expenses?

#24 Why does the Federal Reserve continue to insist that the economy is “improving” when it obviously is not?

#25 Why can so few Americans explain how money is created in the United States?

#26 Why has the U.S. dollar declined in value by well over 95 percent since the Federal Reserve was created?

#27 Why is the U.S. national debt more than 5000 times larger than it was when the Federal Reserve was created?

#28 Why isn’t the mainstream media in the U.S. discussing the fact that the U.S. dollar is in danger of losing its status as the primary reserve currency of the world?

#29 Why don’t more Americans know about the quadrillion dollar derivatives bubble?

#30 Why did the U.S. national debt grow during the first four years of the Obama administration by about as much as it did from the time that George Washington took office to the time that George W. Bush took office?

#31 Why is the middle class in America bringing home a smaller share of the overall income pie than has ever been recorded before?

#32 If the U.S. economy is producing a healthy number of good jobs, then why are we spending nearly a trillion dollars a year on welfare?

#33 If the U.S. economy is not collapsing, then why has the number of Americans on food stamps grown from 17 million in the year 2000 to more than 47 million today?

#34 If America is still an economic powerhouse, then why have we lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities since 2001?

#35 Why are we losing half a million jobs to China every single year?

#36 Why were one out of every ten homes sold in the state of California last year purchased by Chinese citizens?

#37 Why has the percentage of men with jobs in the United States fallen so dramatically? Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs. Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

#38 Why are so many Americans poor today? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 146 million Americans are either “poor” or “low income”. Why is this happening?

#39 Why does the U.S. government have a website that teaches immigrants how to sign up for welfare programs once they arrive in the United States?

#40 Why has the number of gang members living in the United States risen by an astounding 40 percent just since 2009?

#41 Why does approximately one out of every three children in the United States live in a home without a father? Can such a society prosper in the long run?

#42 Why are our supermarkets being flooded with genetically-modified foods when a whole host of studies have shown that they are potentially dangerous to human health?

#43 If the economy has “improved” during the Obama years, then why are hunger and poverty still absolutely skyrocketing in the United States?

#44 Why are more than a million public school students in the United States homeless?

#45 Why are more than 50 percent of all children in Detroit living in poverty? Detroit used to be one of the greatest cities in the entire world. How did such prosperity turn into such desolation?

#46 Why did a violent riot break out at an event where government-subsidized section 8 housing vouchers were being handed out in a suburb of Detroit earlier this month? Is this the kind of unrest that we can expect to see all over the country when things get really bad?

#47 Why are cities all over the United States making it illegal to feed the homeless?

#48 Why is the UN trying to take control of the Internet?

#49 Why have global food supplies sunk to their lowest level in nearly 40 years?

#50 Why is global power concentrated in so few hands? According to the Swiss Federal Institute, a network of 147 mega-corporations control 40 percent of all the wealth in the world, and in a previous article I described how just six obscenely powerful corporations completely dominate the media industry in the United States. Is it good for such incredible power to be concentrated in the hands of so few people?

Please share this article with as many people as you can. It only takes a few moments to share an article, but the person on the other end that reads it might have their life changed forever.

Do you have any questions that you think should be added to this list? Please feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment below…

14 Questions People Ask About How To Prepare For The Collapse Of The Economy

August 7, 2012 by Michael

How in the world is someone supposed to actually prepare for an economic collapse? What should you do with your money? How can you make sure that your family is going to be okay? How can you prepare if your resources are extremely limited? These are the kinds of questions people ask me all the time. Once people understand that the economy has been collapsing and will continue to collapse, then the next step for most of them is that they want to get prepared for the storm that is coming. So where should someone get started? Well, the truth is that no two people are facing the exact same set of circumstances, so preparation is going to look different for each individual. But there are certain core principles that we can all benefit from. For example, when a financial storm is coming that is not the time to be blowing thousands of dollars on vacations and new toys. You would be surprised at how many people there are that claim that they have no extra money in their budgets and yet somehow have plenty of money to run down to Wal-Mart and buy a big stack of DVDs. When times are difficult, each hard-earned dollar becomes much more precious, and we all need to start getting into the habit of making the most out of our limited resources. The seemingly endless prosperity that we have all been enjoying for decades is coming to an end, and most of us have absolutely no experience on how to deal with truly hard times. If you are under the age of 60, it might be a really good idea to read a book or two on what conditions were like during the Great Depression of the 1930s. There is a lot that we can learn from our own history.

Another key characteristic that we will all need in the years ahead is flexibility. Anyone that has spent any time in the military knows that very few plans ever work out perfectly. As the global economy breaks down and the world becomes increasingly unstable, conditions are going to change rapidly. What might work really well in one situation might be the exact wrong thing to do 6 months later. If you are not willing or able to adapt to dramatic change then you are going to have a lot of difficulty in the years ahead.

Many people refer to me as a “doom and gloomer” because I run a website called “The Economic Collapse” and I am constantly pointing out that the entire world is heading for a complete and total financial nightmare.

But I don’t think that it does any good to stick your head in the sand. I believe that there is hope in understanding what is happening and I believe that there is hope in getting prepared.

It is those that are completely oblivious to what is really going on that will be totally blindsided by the coming crisis. When they finally realize what has come upon them many of them will totally lose it.

From my little spot on the wall I am trying my best to warn people so that they can have a chance to be prepared for what is coming.

I am not spreading doom and gloom.

I am spreading hope.

And I want to make another point. Generally, things are going to be getting progressively worse as the years roll along. As I have written about before, I believe that the economic collapse is not a single event. Rather, I see it as a series of waves that will be punctuated by moments of great crisis.

So advice about preparation is going to be different depending on whether you are talking about the short-term or the mid-term or the long-term. Hopefully you will keep that in mind as you read my answers to the questions below.

The following are common questions that people ask about how to prepare for the collapse of the economy….

#1 How Do I Get Started?

When the financial crisis of 2008 hit, what was the biggest danger for most Americans?

The biggest danger was that they would lose their jobs and not be able to pay their bills.

During the last recession, millions and millions of Americans did end up losing their jobs.

And because many of them were living paycheck to paycheck many of them also ended up losing their homes.

You do not want that to happen to you.

So what I am about to say next is not considered to be very “sexy” in prepper circles, but it is absolutely crucial advice.

You need to have an emergency fund saved up that can cover your expenses for at least six months.

That way if you lose your job or your business goes under you will be able to keep going for a while as you figure out what your next move will be.

These days it takes the average unemployed American nearly 40 weeks to find a new job, and it will likely be even worse in the next major economic downturn.

So make sure that you have plenty of cash saved up just in case. If you are currently living paycheck to paycheck you are extremely vulnerable.

#2 What Should I Do With My Money?

I get this question a lot.

People always want to know where they should put their money.

Well, my first piece of advice is always to build an emergency fund. See #1 above. Most people do not have one.

After that is done, I am a big believer in not putting all of my eggs into one basket.

Sometimes people will tell me that they are going to take all of their money out of the banks because they don’t feel safe having their money in them.

Well, if you stick all of your money in your mattress, what happens if there is a fire or what happens if someone robs you?

That is why I believe in spreading your risk around. Having money a bunch of different places is a good thing.

But one place I would not put it is in the stock market. If you were fortunate enough to catch the recent rally you should get out while the getting is good.

If you have blind faith in the stock market you are going to be deeply disappointed eventually. I do not have a single penny in the stock market, and a couple of years from now that is going to look like a very wise move.

#3 Should I Invest In Precious Metals?

A lot of people that write about the economic crisis in this country really advocate investing in precious metals because they tend to hold value over time (unlike fiat currencies).

I like precious metals myself, but if you are going to invest you need to get educated so that you know what you are doing. If you go in blindly you are likely to get burned at some point.

In addition, you need to be prepared for wild fluctuations in price over the coming years. There will be times when gold and silver absolutely soar and there will be times when they drop like a rock.

So if you are going to play the game you need to be able to handle the ride.

#4 Should I Get Out Of Debt?

Many that write about the coming economic collapse say that you shouldn’t even bother to pay off your debts because the financial system is going to collapse anyway.

I don’t see it that way.

I don’t believe that our banks are going to totally collapse and suddenly go out of existence.

Not in the short-term anyway.

So I believe that it is actually a good idea to get out of debt. When financial troubles hit you don’t want a horde of bill collectors coming after you.

There is a lot of freedom that comes with getting out of debt, and in this environment it is wise to become as independent of the system as possible.

#5 What If I Don’t Have Any Money To Prepare?

In this kind of economic environment it is no surprise that I get this question a lot.

Many families are just barely scraping by each month and they do not have much money to put into anything.

And I can definitely sympathize with that.

However, I would say that there are very, very few families out there that do not have anything that can be cut out of the budget.

The truth is that American families are experts at blowing money on really stupid stuff.

In general, I recommend that all families do what they can to reduce their expenses.

The smaller of a financial footprint you have, the better off you will be and the more resources you will have to help you get prepared.

Also, now is the time to be looking for ways that you can increase your income.

For many Americans, starting a side business is a way to bring in some extra cash. Yes, this will cut into your television watching time, but now is not the time to be lazy.

The time you spend working hard now while the sun is still shining will pay off later.

Don’t be afraid to work harder than you ever have before.

#6 Should I Rent Or Buy?

This is a question that I also get a lot, and it really depends on your situation.

If you rent, that gives you a lot more flexibility. You can move for a new job or a new opportunity without having to sell a house. And you get to avoid a lot of the expenses and hassles that come with being a homeowner.

If you buy, you get to “lock in” your housing expenses for many years. In a highly inflationary environment this would potentially be very beneficial. And interest rates are very low right now.

In addition, it is going to be really hard to rent a really good “prepper” property. If you are looking for a property that is away from the big cities where you can grow your own food and become more independent of the system, then in most cases you are going to have to buy such a property.

But if you do buy, it is going to be much harder to move if something does happen and you need to go somewhere else.

#7 What About My Health Condition?

Over the next few years, our health care system should continue operating at least somewhat normally. But the truth is that our health care system is in horrible shape and it is not a good thing to be totally dependent on pills and doctors.

Even if economic conditions were perfect it would be a good idea to learn what you can do on your own to improve your health. But this is especially true as we move into a time of great economic instability.

#8 Should I Be Storing Food?

Yes.

However, even though the United States is experiencing a historic drought right now, I do not believe that there will be major food shortages in America this year or next year.

Down the road, however, is a different story.

And your food dollars are never going to go farther than they do right now. As I wrote about the other day, this drought is likely to cause food prices to go up substantially, and so the food you store now might end up being twice as valuable a few years from now.

In addition, you never know when a major disaster or emergency is going to strike so it is always good to become more independent of the system.

I encourage everyone to learn how to grow a garden. Yes, your space may be limited, but there is actually one family that produces 6000 pounds of produce every year on just 1/10th of an acre right in the middle of Pasadena, California.

If they can do such extraordinary things with their little plot of land, why can’t you try to do what you can with what you have?

#9 Should I Be Storing Water?

It is always good to have some water on hand in case disaster or emergency strikes.

And you should be rotating whatever water you currently have on hand because you don’t want water sitting around indefinitely.

But what is much more important is to make sure that you and your family have access to a source of water that you can depend on if disaster strikes and the grid goes down.

In a previous article I discussed a report put out by the American Trucker Associations entitled “When Trucks Stop, America Stops” that detailed just how incredibly vulnerable our water supply really is….

According to the American Water Works Association, Americans drink more than one billion glasses of tap water per day. For safety and security reasons, most water supply plants maintain a larger inventory of supplies than the typical business. However, the amount of chemical storage varies significantly and is site specific. According to the Chlorine Institute, most water treatment facilities receive chlorine in cylinders (150 pounds and one ton cylinders) that are delivered by motor carriers. On average, trucks deliver purification chemicals to water supply plants every seven to 14 days. Without these chemicals, water cannot be purified and made safe for drinking. Without truck deliveries of purification chemicals, water supply plants will run out of drinkable water in 14 to 28 days. Once the water supply is drained, water will be deemed safe for drinking only when boiled. Lack of clean drinking water will lead to increased gastrointestinal and other illnesses, further taxing an already weakened healthcare system.

So yes, water is definitely something you should be accounting for in your preparations.

#10 Other Than Food And Water What Other Supplies Will I Need?

Anything that you use on a regular basis or that you would use in an emergency situation is something that you should consider storing up.

For example, if you could not buy any more toilet paper from the stores, what would you do?

Basic things like that are often overlooked by many preppers.

In a previous article, I listed dozens of things you may want to consider storing. Preparation is going to look different for every family, but hopefully that list will give you some ideas.

#11 What Happens If The Power Grid Goes Down?

This is a very important consideration – especially if you live in a colder climate.

Some people have a backup generator for such circumstances.

Others have set up wind and/or solar systems for their homes.

Alternative energy solutions are great if you can afford them, and they will enable you to become much more independent of the system.

But not everyone can afford to put in solar panels or a big wind turbine.

So do what you can with what you have.

#12 Should I Leave The Big Cities?

A lot of people ask me this, but there is no easy answer.

In this day and age, a good job is like gold. It can be really, really tough to give up a good job and move to the middle of nowhere.

But without a doubt, society is starting to come apart at the seams and I do expect rioting and major civil unrest in our major cities at some point in the future.

In the end, you need to do what is right for you and your own family. Nobody else can make this decision for you.

#13 Should I Get Some Self-Defense Training?

America seems to be overrun by psychopaths and sociopaths these days, and in such an environment being able to defend yourself becomes more important.

When criminals come to your home, they are not going to sit down and have a debate with you. They are not going to care what your political outlook is or if you sympathize with their plight.

The criminals are simply going to do what they came there to do unless someone stops them.

So yes, some self-defense training may come in very handy in the years ahead.

#14 What Should I Do If My Family And Friends Won’t Listen To Me?

This is another very common question that I get.

What should people do if nobody will listen to them?

Well, you just have to do the best that you can. If they won’t listen now, just keep planting seeds. Keep sending them articles that are packed with statistics and information that show why an economic collapse is going to happen.

In the years ahead we are all going to need our families and our friends because communities will endure what is coming much better than “lone wolf” individuals will be able to.

No matter how hard you prepare, at some point you are going to need the help of someone else.

So don’t be afraid to reach out to others.

If nobody among your family or friends will listen to you at the moment, you may have to prepare on your own right now.

In fact, you may have to do extra preparation because at some point it is probably inevitable that your family and friends will come to you for help.

That is the perspective that my wife and I take. We are not only preparing for ourselves. We are also preparing for the family members that may have to depend on us someday.

Nobody said that preparing was going to be easy.

But beyond any physical preparations, I also believe that it is absolutely crucial to prepare mentally and spiritually.

The times that are coming are going to be incredibly challenging. They are going to require a great deal of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual strength.

If you are a “lone wolf” that believes that you don’t need anyone or anything, then I feel sorry for you and I honestly don’t know how you are going to make it.

None of us have all the answers.

I know that I certainly do not.

I have just written nearly 3000 words, but after I post this article I know that some of the great visitors to my site will post ideas that I never even considered for this article.

We can all learn from each other. Most of the people that I have met that think “they know it all” are some of the most clueless people that I have ever come across.

I never want to stop learning, and hopefully that is the case for you as well.

If we work together, perhaps we can all make it through the horrible, horrible times that are coming.

112 Questions To Ask Yourself In 2012

January 17, 2012January 17, 2012 by Michael

The beginning of each year is a great time to evaluate the direction of your life and to ask yourself some very important questions. Often we get so busy just living life that we lose our perspective. It is important for each of us to take time once in a while to reassess how our lives are going. It is also important for all of us to reassess the direction that our nation is heading in every so often. The truth is that America has gotten badly off track. We have abandoned the principles which once made this country great, and this country is literally falling apart all around us. Hopefully the questions below will not just get you focused on our problems. Hopefully they will also spur you to think about solutions. Both individually and as a nation, we are in a lot of trouble. We need to start asking better questions and we need to rediscover the things that once made America the greatest nation on earth. If we are willing to humble ourselves and change course then there is hope for us. If not, then the road that we are currently on will only lead to national disaster.

The following are 112 questions to ask yourself in 2012….

#1 Are Barack Obama and Mitt Romney really the best that America can come up with?

#2 Right now the nations of the world are 55 trillion dollars in debt. How long will it be before this system of debt totally collapses?

#3 What things in life are you truly grateful for? Do you ever take time to thank those that have been so good to you?

#4 In 2012, when you add the maturing debt that the Italian government must roll over to their projected budget deficit, it comes to 23.1 percent of Italy’s GDP. How in the world is Italy going to be able to handle that in this economic environment?

#5 What do you feel like you are missing in life? Are you actively looking for those things?

#6 According to a survey conducted by the National Geographic Society, only 37 percent of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 can find Iraq on a map of the world. What does that say about our education system?

#7 Do you give more than you take? Would you rather serve people or be served?

#8 Why were gun sales in the United States at record levels as we entered 2012?

#9 What are you afraid of? Are those fears rational or irrational?

#10 168 million emails are sent every single minute. Are we rapidly getting to the point of information overload?

#11 Do you care enough about other people? Do you spend more time thinking about yourself or thinking about others?

#12 Why are there 18.5 million vacant homes in America today?

#13 Did you spend enough time with your family last year? Will you spend enough time with them this year?

#14 The number of Americans on food stamps has increased by 20 million over the past five years. What does that say about the state of the U.S. economy?

#15 Is your family prepared for what is about to happen to this world?

#16 Why do the poor in America just keep getting poorer?

#17 After you are dead, what will people be saying about you? Will they miss you or will they be glad that you are gone?

#18 Why have 10 million more Americans fallen below the poverty line since 2006?

#19 What do you need to change about yourself?

#20 Should we all be concerned that doctors in India say that “incurable” cases of tuberculosis are showing up in India?

#21 Who do you know that could use some more love?

#22 Why is the Department of Homeland Security scanning Facebook and Twitter for “sensitive words“?

#23 Is your country a better place because you live there?

#24 Why is the FBI building a massive new biometric database?

#25 What do you think your life will be like ten years from now?

#26 40,000 new laws went into effect across the United States as 2012 began. What does that say about the culture in this nation?

#27 If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, who would that be and why?

#28 What did Mitt Romney mean when he stated that he wants to “eliminate some of the differences, repeal the bad, and keep the good” in Obamacare?

#29 What is the best piece of advice that you have ever gotten? Are you still following it?

#30 Is it a good thing that the wealthiest 10 percent of all Americans have 56 percent of all the wealth?

#31 What books do you need to put on your reading list this year?

#32 About half of all Americans are now either living in poverty or are considered to be low income. So are we still a “wealthy” nation?

#33 What are the things that you do that waste the most time?

#34 Why aren’t more Americans concerned that the trade deficit is increasing again? This is one of the things that killed the Greek economy and it is most definitely sucking the life out of our own economy. Could it be that most Americans have become so “dumbed down” that they don’t even know what a trade deficit is?

#35 What would happen to you and your family if you suddenly lost your job?

#36 How is Germany able to build twice as many cars every year as the United States does?

#37 Have you done anything worth remembering lately?

#38 Why is the average age of a vehicle in America now sitting at an all-time high?

#39 If you only had one day left to live, how would you spend that day?

#40 How stupid are the American people for piling up 700 billion dollars in credit card debt?

#41 Is there anything that is worth giving your life for?

#42 If Obamacare is so great for working people, then why are so many unions requesting (and getting) Obamacare waivers from the federal government?

#43 Do you believe that you can be a hero?

#44 Why is the government allowing genetically modified mosquitoes to be released in the United States?

#45 What is one great decision that you can make right now?

#46 Why is Mitt Romney taxed at a lower rate than most middle class Americans are?

#47 If someone gave you one million dollars today, how would you spend it?

#48 Who decided that it would be a good idea for TSA “VIPR Teams” to set up thousands of internal checkpoints across the United States every year?

#49 What is the number one thing on your Bucket List? Why haven’t you done it already?

#50 Why is the federal government spending billions of dollars to militarize local police departments across the United States?

#51 If it was possible, would you want to live forever?

#52 Should we be concerned that 30% of all Americans get arrested by the age of 23?

#53 Where would you rather be than right here right now?

#54 Why did the D.C. government pass a new law that protects the rights of rats?

#55 Which is greater – the number of people that you love, or the number of people that you hate?

#56 Are CEOs really 243 times more valuable than the average worker is?

#57 What will your legacy be?

#58 Is the massive swarm of earthquakes that New Zealand is experiencing a sign that the “Ring of Fire” is becoming more active?

#59 What would your plan be if there was a major volcanic eruption on the west coast of the United States?

#60 If 63 percent of all mortgaged properties in the state of Nevada are still “underwater”, then how in the world can anyone claim that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the housing crisis?

#61 Why is the federal government arresting people who produce raw milk?

#62 Is the world on the verge of an absolutely nightmarish water crisis?

#63 What are you really good at? Are you using that skill to make a difference in the lives of others?

#64 Why is the U.S. government giving nearly half a billion dollars every 12 months to an organization that performs about 300,000 abortions a year?

#65 What is the meaning of life?

#66 Why are so many Planned Parenthood executives earning well over $100,000 a year?

#67 How can you make tomorrow better than today?

#68 While the TSA is groping millions of Americans at airports every year, rampant sex trafficking is going on in virtually every major American city. Isn’t it time that we admitted that our allocation of law enforcement resources is very seriously flawed?

#69 How can you make next week better than this week?

#70 One recent survey found that only 29 percent of people would describe themselves as “very happy”. So what does that say about the state of our country?

#71 Do you consider yourself to be good? If so, how did you determine that?

#72 If we are on the verge of a global recession, then why is the stock market still so high?

#73 What would happen if government spending was cut by 50 percent?

#74 Is the euro going to eventually fall to parity with the U.S. dollar?

#75 If the euro fails, what will Europe do? Would national currencies make a comeback or would a new “European currency” be created?

#76 Are we getting dangerously close to a war in the Middle East?

#77 What would happen to the price of gasoline if foreign oil supplies from the Middle East were suddenly cut off?

#78 Is Germany going to just stand by and watch Greece default?

#79 Is it likely that your eating habits will send you to an early grave? If so, why not make this the year when they change?

#80 Why aren’t politicians from either major political party doing something to stop the massive flood of blue collar jobs that is pouring out of this country? Don’t they care about average Americans?

#81 Why do we spend so much time on things that simply do not matter?

#82 Since 1971, consumer debt in the United States has increased by a whopping 1700%. Is that a sign of a nation that is going to be prosperous in the long run?

#83 Does the U.S. need a new major political party?

#84 The U.S. debt problem continues to escalate. During the Obama administration, the U.S. government has accumulated more debt than it did from the time that George Washington took office to the time that Bill Clinton took office. Very few of our politicians seem alarmed by this. Are we the stupidest generation in American history?

#85 Does the U.S. need a new Constitutional Convention?

#86 When we finally see the U.S. economy collapse, who will be in better shape – those that have spent years preparing or those that have not prepared at all?

#87 Are you so afraid to fail that you simply do not even try anymore?

#88 We are facing the most horrific retirement crisis in U.S. history. Right now, more than 10,000 Baby Boomers are turning 65 every single day. So where in the world are we going to get all the money we need to pay them the retirement benefits that we have promised them? Isn’t the Social Security system essentially one gigantic Ponzi scheme?

#89 If people started following your example, would that be a good thing?

#90 According to one Gallup survey, 7 out of every 10 Americans believe that religion is losing influence in the United States. Is that good for America or bad for America?

#91 Do you ever do anything that is outside of your comfort zone?

#92 The U.S. dollar has lost well over 95 percent of its value since the Federal Reserve was created, the U.S. national debt is more than 5000 times larger than it was when the Federal Reserve was created and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has a track record of incompetence that is absolutely mind blowing. So what possible justification is there for allowing the Federal Reserve to continue to issue our currency and run our economy?

#93 If you lost everything that you currently own, would your life be over?

#94 If the European financial system is going to be just fine, then why is the UK government preparing feverishly for the collapse of the euro?

#95 When you meet someone for the first time, do you tend to instantly love them or do you tend to instantly judge them?

#96 If the one thing that almost everyone in the Republican Party seems to agree on is that Obamacare is bad, then why is the candidate that created the plan that much of Obamacare was based upon about to run away with the race for the Republican nomination?

#97 Do you feel like you are truly alive? If not, what can you do to change that?

#98 Why have we allowed the “too big to fail” banks to become even larger?

#99 Who are you living your life for? Does the answer to that question excite you or depress you?

#100 One recent survey found that 77 percent of all U.S. small businesses do not plan to hire any more workers. So where are all of the jobs for the “economic recovery” going to come from?

#101 As you have gotten older, have you also become more loving?

#102 Since 1964, the reelection rate for members of the U.S. House of Representatives has never fallen below 85 percent. How stupid can the American people possibly be? They keep sending the exact same Congress critters back to Washington D.C. over and over and over.

#103 Do you treat others the way that you would like to be treated?

#104 According to a recent Pew Research Center analysis, only 51 percent of all Americans that are at least 18 years old are currently married. Back in 1960, 72 percent of all U.S. adults were married. Without strong family units, can America survive?

#105 Do you prefer to forgive those that have hurt you or do your prefer to hold long grudges?

#106 According to an analysis of Census Bureau data done by the Pew Research Center, the median net worth for households led by someone 65 years of age or older is 47 times greater than the median net worth for households led by someone under the age of 35. So why are so many young people so broke?

#107 Do you tell your family and your friends that you love them or do you just assume that they already know?

#108 According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 36.4% of all children that live in Philadelphia are living in poverty, 40.1% of all children that live in Atlanta are living in poverty, 52.6% of all children that live in Cleveland are living in poverty and 53.6% of all children that live in Detroit are living in poverty. How bad are things going to be when the economy gets even worse?

#109 If Bill Gates gave every single penny of his fortune to the U.S. government, it would only cover the U.S. budget deficit for about 15 days. How in the world can we justify putting so much debt on to the backs of future generations?

#110 How do you want the story of your life to end?

#111 Will the years ahead find you cowering in fear or will they find you enjoying greater adventures than you ever dreamed of?

#112 If you had the opportunity to tell everyone in America one thing, what would it be?