Wednesday, November 23, 2011

I Really Wish That I Could Completely Discount This Mentality

From the CBS station in St. Louis:

WEBSTER GROVES, MO (KMOX) - A chain of three stores that sells survival food and gear reports a jump in sales to people who are getting prepared for the “possible collapse” of society.
“We had to order fifty cases of the meals ready to eat to keep up with the demand in the past three months,” said manager Steve Dorsey at Uncle Sam’s Safari Outfitters Inc. in Webster Groves. “That’s not normal.  Usually we sell 20 to 30 cases in a whole year.”
The fact is, American society is in fast collapse, and the politicians either do not get it, or are afraid to sound like alarmists by pointing it out.  You could almost get the impression that Washington does not care whether the society collapses or not.

9 comments:

  1. It doesn't have to be 'collapse' of society.
    It's just prudent to have extra food on hand, as survivors of tornadoes hurricanes and the recent power outages in New England can attest to.

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  2. It has become clear that some sort of dislocation will occur in the foreseeable future. However, there remain significant questions about the nature and duration of that dislocation. Will it involve merely the truncation of the welfare state, or will the dollar collapse like the assignat? Will men of good will rise to the occasion to prevent widespread civil disorder, or will our "entitled classes" run riot, destroying public peace and much of our physical wealth? Will infrastructural facilities such as water and electricity continue without disturbance, or will we have to learn to live without those things for a protracted interval?

    The prudent man plans for the worst while he hopes for the best.

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  3. I've begun thinking that a violent insurrection will start next November when Obama loses the election. With the disturbing trends of liberal inspired violence that have been on a sharp rise in the past 3 years, his supporters will at the very least riot...so stocking up on food and ammunition is only prudent at this point.

    Rich Vail
    pikesville, Maryland
    The Vail Spot dot Blotspot dot Com

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  4. Bitter clingers have been going this way for a decade.

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  5. Funny you should mention Uncle Sam's. It is a block away from my sister-in-law and her husband. I've shopped there a few times.

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  6. There could be some kind of massive economic disruption, but the underlying physical plant is basically sound.

    Barring really stupid policies by the ruling elite, I don't see TSHingTF in a big way.

    Mind you, gross stupidity by the elite is entirely possible, and could push negative-sum struggles over resources into a death spiral.

    Add the possibility of a serious breakdown due to a CME impact, or a EMP attack by some terrorist gang, and prep for global disaster starts to look pretty reasonable.

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  7. We're seeing the start of riots in this country by those for whom the upcoming collapse will be particularly painful... and there will be an upcoming collapse. Is no one watching what is going on in Europe, or in China? Is no one watching what is going on in the US?

    Do we think the small but vocal crowd that is promising to respond with violence to any challenges, real or perceived, and that has done so in several cities, is really just bluffing? These people really do not believe in private property or individual liberty, and they're okay if they have to scramble a few eggs to make their utopian omelette.

    Here's what's scary: we are in about the same situation as Europe. The only reasons we haven't seen overt failure is because we can print our own money to buy our T-bills when no one else will (QEI and QEII, and the proposed QEIII). No other country has the money to buy $1.5T of US national debt year after year. The dirty secret here is that China has, by and large, stopped buying our debt. Instead, WE are buying our debt. What happens when the curtain blows open and everyone starts to realize we are flat broke? That is going to happen when we run up against the debt ceiling yet again, and that will happen before the next presidential election. Obama screwed up... he should have asked for more $$ the last time the debt ceiling was raised. (He really should have cut spending, but the Dems and many Republicans are inherently incapable of doing so until someone else comes along and cuts the gov't credit card in half.)

    There's a hard rain coming. I think it's going to fall next year, before the election... and it will affect the election... and I hope I'm wrong but I think there will be a lot of civil unrest during that time. Be prepared.

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  8. You could almost get the impression that Washington does not care whether the society collapses or not.

    They DON'T care, because they intend to stay in charge, and have provided for themselves whatever happens to the rest of us.

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  9. I have thought of gardening as a way to combat food prices. I'd want a low-maintenance and preferably self-pollinating crop. Thought about Methley plum trees - they fulfill the latter, but I'm not sure how much care fruit trees require. Same goes for tomatoes - I could string 'em up all along the south chain link fence.

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