No Leaf Clover

Post-Economic Collapse, Argentina 2001

"And it comes be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel....is just a freight train coming your way."

I've seen a lot of naysayers and offhand critiques deriding the MAndrosphere for "fantasizing about the collapse" or calling it "Doomsday Porn." Many folks have made statements claiming they can't wait for it to all come crashing down, so the rebuilding can begin.

It seems we have a dichotomy of generalized opinion on a potential economic collapse of Western society going on...those who can't wait because they are confident in their abilities to survive societal upheaval, versus those who believe it can never happen, or that it might happen, but even if it did, there is nothing we can do, so live and let live, whatever may come, will. I don't adhere to either viewpoint....since I'm a conspiracy-theory realist and cynic, I already know the collapse is coming, it is deliberately engineered, and it will be accomplished to achieve an abominable and inhumane agenda - total population control.

This viewpoint is considered crazy, delusional and paranoid. I'm fine with that.

Just call me Cassandra.

My only answer is to say open up your eyes and LOOK.

How can you not see that our current society is unsustainable? We are a society that is perpetually taking on new debt to simply service the debt we already have.

$15,064,816,000,000- The U.S. GDP in 2011. The debt as of Jan 1st, 2012 is 15,170,600,000,000. United States now owes more money than its yearly production (GDP).

We cannot keep up this charade in perpetuity. The bill always come due, and perpetual debt-spending by a Government to keep the lights on eventually results in bankruptcy and the lights getting cut off.

Thanks to immersing myself in the Shit-Hits-The-Fan-Prepper-Sphere, I discovered a slew of first hand accounts of what an economic collapse in a modern country looks like - Argentina in 2001.

In 2001, I was a daily reader of both national and local newspapers and periodicals, as well as a daily watcher of Tell-A-Vision "news." I don't recall any reporting whatsoever about Argentina's economic collapse and subsequent descent to third-world, hellhole conditions. Of course, we had other world changing events that dominated the headlines back then...

Anyhow, looking at what happened in a formerly prosperous, "first world" society, the parallels we are seeing in the rest of the "first world" to the events leading up to the Argentinian collapse of 2001 are foreboding.

You think it can't happen here? Think again.

 One man's account describes it like this:

“How can I prepare for an economic collapse?” is one of the most common questions I get. It usually takes me a second to start to explain how complex such a question is. It’s like asking an auto mechanic, “Say, how do you build a car?” or asking a computer engineer, “What’s all that stuff inside my laptop?”

I do have some first-hand experience in this matter, though. The economy in my country, Argentina, has gone through various crises, but none as large as when the economy collapsed in 2001 after a decade of apparent prosperity. The currency devaluated, and Argentina defaulted on its USD$132 billion debt, the largest default ever. The middle class took to the streets after bank accounts were frozen, and the president was forced to resign, escaping the presidential building in a helicopter.

That's all it takes to get the catastrophe ball rolling.

The Government simply declares a default, the banks freeze all accounts, and the basic necessities of living that everyone has become dependent on acquiring from our Just-In-Time distribution Supermarket and Big Chain Retail suddenly start doubling and tripling prices as panic hoarding kicks in and the shelves are emptied in a matter of hours.


In my lifetime, I've seen the store shelves here in Hawaii get emptied several times...two hurricanes, a pending tsunami and an earthquake all kicked off a frenzy of grocery hoarding and mile long lines at gas stations. In all of those instances, order was restored and "normalcy" of our current corporatist consumer-driven society resumed in a matter of days.

But when (not IF, but WHEN, as a default is coming. It is inescapable. Maybe tomorrow, maybe 10 years from now...but make no mistake, it's coming,) USA Inc. defaults, the dollar crashes, the bank accounts of the masses get frozen and the grocery and hardware stores get emptied, the "return to normalcy" is not happening.

It's going to be much worse in the US than what happened in Argentina.

For the Argentinians, the freezing of bank accounts instantaneously cast the entire middle class into poverty.

In the USA Inc., this will be terrible...but we also have a large poverty class living a virtual, debt-driven "middle class" consumption lifestyle, financed by the entitlement-dependency programs of the Federal Government. We are at a new record of dependence here: New record: 15 percent of Americans on food stamps


When the bank accounts get frozen, and at the same time all the EBT cards that are now feeding 15% of the nation no longer work, The Shit is Going to Hit the Fan and it will be the End of the World as We Know It.

Are you prepared for this? No? It's still not too late...

 

Take the advice of people who have been there and done that.

Here's a condensed version of some excerpts  taken from the SHTFplan blog:

Step #1: Acquiring precious metals (I generally recommend 20% of your savings but each person is a separate case) and a month’s worth of expenses in cash, kept safe at home. Every single Argentine wishes he could go back in time, close his bank account, and put that money into gold. We would all do that if we had a time machine. Since you can’t guess the future, all you can do is estimate what can happen and play the odds in your favor. In the event of a full economic collapse, if you have 20% of your savings in physical gold and silver, that’s a percentage of your savings that is spared. It’s not an investment; don’t go crazy over gold and silver going up or down a few dollars, just be content that it’s not getting any lighter as it sits in your safe. If the economy collapses or even if there’s simply inflation (as there clearly will be), that percentage of your savings in precious metals is safe and will likely go up in price beyond its standard purchasing power as things get worse.


During the first stages of a severe economic crisis, you will see ATMs running out of money fast, and many stores won’t be accepting credit cards. {and EBT-SNAP cards too.}

As the saying goes, “Cash is king” during those times. Your precious metal can be sold to a dealer, but you better keep that stored for now. When everyone is running around looking for an ATM with a few bucks in it, having a month’s worth of expenses in cash means you won’t be one of them. Why not more than a month´s worth of expenses? Because if the economy fully collapses, that paper money will lose its value within hours. It may drop 50%, 60%, or 75%, as happened in Argentina. Who knows? All you know is that as the currency loses value, the value of the precious metals you have stored goes up in proportion. Still, during those first days, a wad of cash gets you what you need.


Step #2: Stock up on food. The more you have, the better. There may be periods of civil unrest like the ones we saw where stores are being looted and closed after that. There may be problems with resupply because of logistical complications. It’s better if you already have 6 to 12 months worth of food in your expanded pantry. Also, keep in mind the food you buy now will be considerably cheaper compared to post-inflation prices.


Step #3: Acquire the essentials by putting together a survival/emergency kit. This will include your typical camping gear: a tent, sleeping bags, a stove (have enough fuel for it in case services are disrupted), first aid kit, medicines, LED flashlights and several spare batteries. Depending on how bad civil unrest gets, there may be problems with the infrastructure. After the economy collapsed in Argentina, the power company simply couldn’t afford the repairs needed, and it hadn’t planned for something like this, either. Rolling blackouts became common, and having LED lights and rechargeable batteries was a blessing. You could easily spend two or three days without power during summer. {Worse for North Americans...power outtages during Winter could be fatal rather than simply uncomfortable in the southern hemisphere's summer heat.}


Step #4: Improve your personal and home security. During the first days after the economy collapsed, civil unrest, rioting and looting was out of control. A state of siege and military law was declared, enforcing curfew hours after 10 pm. This lasted a few months, and for months after that, while order was recovered in the capitol district, there were still occasional revolts and looting. The sense of lawlessness extended way beyond the visible accounts depicted by the TV and general media.

It’s during times like these that you realize you must have means of defending yourself and your family. My advice is to make your home as secure as possible against criminals that may take advantage of the lack of control during the worst of the rioting. After that, a better security plan for the entire family must be worked out. As things get worse, you understand that you can no longer afford to be lax about your personal and home security. Those that are quickly become vicitims. With a more secure home, you may want to consider having a weapon to defend yourself. Certainly not an easy decision, and one you must be extremely serious about. If you have the self-control and maturity to handle one, having a firearm and getting the minimum training to know how to use (it if it ever comes to that) is something you should consider doing.

Crime and insecurity will be one of the greatest threats people all across USA will suffer, and very few will be ready for it. It won’t happen one dark gloomy night after watching the latest horror movie. It will happen in the Walmart parking lot at 3 pm, with plenty of people around (people who will hurry out of the way, pretending not to see anything). You’ll be thinking about what you just bought, that you maybe should have bought Lucky Charms instead of Corn Flakes. That’s when the nice-looking person with two other buddies, all well-dressed (with neat hair cuts, too), pulls a gun on you. Developing a sense of awareness will be the most important part, as well as making the rest of your family comprehend that times have changed and you can no longer be careless regarding security.


Step #5: Embrace a different mindset.When Argentina went through its economic collapse, people handled it differently. Maybe the most common response was denial. The “I can’t believe this is happening “ attitude was pretty popular. Others complained, but you soon understood it changed nothing: It only made you feel more miserable, more stressed, and that was something you could do without. Others just ended their misery. Suicide rates doubled after the collapse, with people sometimes jumping under the train at early rush hour in a desperate attempt to make their misery noticed by others.

What you need to do is become more positive, more active. Be someone who, while accepting those things you can’t change, does something about the things you can. Get involved now, do what I just recommended right now, it will bring you peace of mind. Remember to stay positive and put every problem into perspective. Complain less. You’ll have enough to complain about when inflation gets worse. Soon you’ll understand that material things can be replaced, and you become more grateful for what you have instead of worrying about what you don’t.

It’s essential to keep a positive attitude. Being someone that gets easily depressed will be the end of you as the economy worsens. Problems much worse that what you are used to will be a daily occurrence. You’ll just have to roll with it and learn to cope with the new world you live in. Reinforce your relationships with people. Fight stress by finding a hobby you enjoy, hopefully one that has a practical side as well. After the collapse, lots of people started their own businesses when they realized there were no jobs to be found. It would be better if you get started now, just in case you ever need it in order to earn a living.

These are my recommendations. I know many people could have used such advice back when our economy collapsed. - Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre at TheModernSurvivalist.com

 

 There are some fundamental differences between the state of the USA Inc. and Argentina in 2000-2001, just prior to their economic collapse.

We probably have the most heavily armed populace the world has ever seen. When the SHTF, it's going to be a total warzone once fighting over the basics of survival commences. I have family members who are staunchly "anti-gun" and are utterly opposed to anyone owning guns. They always vote for gun control politicians, and always challenge and question my beliefs and ownership of numerous weapons.

Yet they have food storage and are preparing for possible societal catastrophe (not because they believe as I do, but rather due to past experiences with hurricane preparedness). When I tell them they are just creating storehouses for the looters with guns to come and take it from them when the SHTF, they act like they don't even hear what I'm saying. It's cognitive dissonance at it's worst. Don't let your political ideology get in the way of your preparedness. You think the cops are minutes away from saving you NOW, imagine what it will be like when the cops are in the midst of society wide rioting and unrest?

There will be no one coming to save you.

Ask the Korean C-Store owners in L.A. in 1992 about that.




I also believe the huge segments of our populace that are dependent on Federal Government entitlements to get their daily food are also the sort of people who will in a matter of hours begin looting, rioting, robbery and other such predations on people who may have food stores and other material consumables when the banks freeze, the EBT cards stop working, and the store shelves are emptied.

They already have an entitlement mindset, as well as a healthy sense of envy and covetousness of those in the upper economic classes....and in America, they are already well armed, or one household burglary away from getting heavily armed.

Don't be sheep waiting for the ravening wolves to come to devour you and your family when the time comes and law and order disappears in moments.

Get armed, get trained, and be ready. The financial apocalypse of the greatest economy the world has ever seen is inevitable, and most likely destined to happen within our lifetimes - and probably sooner rather than later.