Monday, November 10, 2008

Time For Some Serious Talk...

I, for one, believe we are in for an upcoming nightmare the likes we haven't seen for many, many years.

Not a military strike from abroad brought on by the dictates of whatever madman is in charge this week, not one caused by the striking of some mega comet or meteor hurling through space that suddenly decides to make Earth a target, not even one caused by Mother Nature after deciding that she has had enough of the wanton rape and destruction mankind has managed to put together over the course of several decades!

Now don't get me wrong...in my opinion, these nightmares are coming, but are not the most immediate threats we face. The most immediate problems that we are going to have to work on and survive are the ones we brought upon ourselves by unbridled greed and corruption in high places, and the willingness of most onlookers to turn a blind eye while at the same time holding out our hands for a small slice of the pie. It's time for a change of attitude, like it or not!

To put it bluntly, times are bad. Even more importantly, they are going to get a lot worse before they get better for a lot of people. If you don't agree, just look at the national news and some of the dire predictions made by folks that study these things. let me give you some examples here...

The nation's unemployment rate surged to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October. Friday October 7Th, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate jumped sharply from 6.1 percent in September to a rate that exceeds the 6.3 percent peak of June 2003 after the downturn that followed the 9/11 attacks and the dot-com bust. 10 straight months of payroll job cuts have left more than 10 million Americans unemployed.

And on Friday, two more banks were closed. The 46-branch Franklin Bank was closed in Texas, and the 4-branch Security Pacific Bank was closed in California.

If that isn't enough proof of what's going on, look at the rise in cost at your local food store. Look at the number of large companies closing so many stores just before Christmas, like Best Buy that is set to close 220 stores before the holidays. Folks, this is the second largest electronics retailer in the United States!

I know that a lot of people think that the recent drop in gas prices (.48 a gallon nation wide in the last two weeks) is a positive sign. If you go back and look at the price of gasoline over the years, you wonder why the price always seems to become more reasonable just before a major election. For the same reason that local and county roads and improvement projects always seem to coincide with local and county elections.

There are some spots where business is booming. Gun and ammunition sales are reaching record highs, interest in rural land for sale has reached astounding proportions, survival and disaster supply companies are running low on some stocked items, with many items being completely sold out. Do you think that this is all the doings of a bunch of crazy, doom-spouting, militia joining, anti-social types? Or maybe it's just that many more people are starting to get the message that living in a big city that is totally dependent on the safety of the transportation infrastructure and the timely reactions of an often unseeing and uninterested government in times of disaster and need is NOT the best place to be!

You know what my plans are. I'm moving to my own little patch of nothing in the desert. There is nothing there...no water, no electricity, no stores, no neighbors and the only improvements will be the ones I add myself. Not for everyone, but just what I'm looking for, ya know?

Now, let's have another cup of coffee...and I'll draw you a map of how to get there, just in case!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I won't tell you again of your gift with words, etc , but why don't you submit this as a political (what's the word I'm looking for?..."my opinion" type thing...not commentary...).
Hopefully, I will be home earlier today and I will call you.
And, thanks for the info. I didn't know Best Buy was closing.
More land, huh?

Lydia said...

Hi Jim,

Great post and very true. I don't watch the news or read the paper but still can see all this in my surroundings. Prices of food, utilities and shelter have become so burdensome for so many people. In order to survive they have been forced to use credit, but we know credit only goes so far, right. What happens next?

The price of gas is down only because of the current market conditions. It will change as the market changes.

But, I am an optimist and after reading your blog almost daily, I feel that you are also.

Some of us will survive this period in time unscathed, while others will not. This is a small area where I live and already people and businesses are bartering. I feel this will increase in time and spread through many areas. People will help each other survive and get through this.

Well when you make your move just make sure to have internet service, or we'll miss you!

Oh hey!! The ribs were really good! Thanks so much.

lydia

HermitJim said...

Hey Sis...thanks for coming by today and for the kind comments. There are so mny other blogs and the like that say all this better than I, that it would be redundant to post it elsewhere.

Thanks for the thought though!

Hey Lydia...thanks for coming by. People helping their neighbors is a concept that we lost somewhere along the way. We need to get it back, along with a lot of other values we lost or misplaced.

Harsh times call for harsh measures, and like the song says "Only The Strong Survive".

I'm glad the ribs turned out OK, and if you need another Texas recipe just let me know...

Anonymous said...

Hurricane X is off the coast and looming huge. You are right about that and just like I you pointed out the market patterns. People know, the market don't lie.

FYI: I love Gnomes great icon!

HermitJim said...

Hey Jennersen...thanks for stopping by. Many people have paid a lot of attention , some for the first time, to the elections this time around. I don't think that it is all because of Obama, but folks (some folks, that is) are completely fed up with business as usual.Time will tell if the right choices were made or not...but at least a lot of folks finally woke up to the sobering fact that bad things are no longer a fantasy, but are nearly a certainty!

Thanks again for stopping by...

Mayberry said...

Draw me that map! I've got Riverwalker's place, and Michael Boone's.... I'll never have a place of my own, so the more preppers I network with, the better! You couldn't ask for a better hand than me! I know mechanics, electrical, fiberglass, carpentry, and "southern engineering" as well or better than anyone else. Plus, I got several guns and adequate ammo......