The BIG QUESTION

[Clevis Hitch]

dear god, finally a thread more irrational and stupid than the religion and political threads.....

So what if there was an earthquake? I just want independance. Read that as non-dependance upon,the now convention,of electrified/refrigerated/instant hot water/ soft triple-ply flush-and-I-don't-care-where-it-goes-world.
You green people out there are so concerned about carbon foot-print bull, that you don't realize. What if you don't have your german diesel/made in mexico car to go to the tickle-the-keyboard job. What if there was no job?
The biggest thing is this. What if you lost your job to the recession/depression? What if there was an interruption of services brought on by..... . What if? You don't get your latte' in the morning from fru-fru corporate company with the cool muzak and the poly-unabsorbated/bi-phenyl chloro/styro/opti/digital coffee shop.
What if?
Your world would come crashing down. In a matter of days you could be reduced to hunting alley cats in the parking lot out back with a broken pool stick that you stole out of a burned out building .
If the banks crashed would you have money?(I could tell you a story about "unrealized debt")
If marshal law was declared could you cope(I could tell you a story about the difference between unarmed,whiney liberals in the street, carrying picket signs, crying about how unjust the world is. And then I could show you some die-hard, I spent 20 years in the military defending this country and I'm not going to let the Amerika that I love,bled,and watched my friends die for, go the way of(insert failed country/state here)
If there was a natural disaster Could you purify your water? How long can you go without refrigeration. When I was in Homestead after Andrew, I saw gun play over bags of ice. How long can you keep food? Do you know how to salt meat? Do you know what kind of salt to buy? Do you know how to store dry goods? Do you own a autoclave/canner? Do you know how to use it? How about a chain saw and axe? I recommend the stihl 180, change the bar and chain to the .050 because the chain will last longer. Have you studied these things? Do you know?Well, do you?
Theres a verse that says," My people perish for lack of knowledge"

[pigsteak]

short answer, no.

but this reminds me of a game my uncle played with me as I was growing up. I was an inquisitive kid, and I would say "what if the water hose breaks...what if grandma doesn't fix us dinner tonight...what if my dog gets sick from drinking unfiltered water...waht if....what if...what if......"

my uncle would mock me and say "I know...what if?...."

my point..I dated a gal years back who "worried" about everything..had a contingency for every possible scenario..and she lived her life preparing for the worst.. I should say wasted her life, because life is rarely lived outside of the present moment we have.

o yeah...that same uncle had a bomb shelter built in his back yard during the USSR/USA proliferation....I think it makes a good fruit cellar nowadays....

thing is clevis, the world isn't even close to the black and white picture you paint....not even close.

btw, I don't drink coffee.

[Clevis Hitch]

I'm unemployed. I lost my job six months ago. In the last five years I have been put out of business twice. I have been bankrupt once and if I could declare again, I would. I have lost everything. There alot of people just like me. Ten percent and growing. There is no change in the forseeable future.
The economy is in shambles. The reason for this is because of monetary policy. The rules of making money have to change before the economy can get better. Yet the goverment refuses to address the situation. Telling everyone that we can pull out of this by fiscal spending. Impossible.
Its almost as if the G'ment wants to kill the economy. There are alot of people who think that that is what is really happening. That the G'ment is setting up a New World Order. A socialistic society that give all power to the G'ment. These unelected czars that have been put in place are the undercarriage of a new class of bureaucrat. One that is unelected and outside of the the power of congress. Scary stuff.
I'll paint you a picture like this. You lose a third of your income, Your house is in jeopardy of being reposessed and ten percent of your kids move back home. You have to spend more and more money on security because of your neighbors. So what does the g'ment do? They go shopping for a Ferarri! The biggest entitlement program in the history of Amerika, Healthcare. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns!
So your tickle-the-keyboard job may or may not be there for you in the future. If the economy keeps on going the way it is going then You may find yourself in similar staits. So try not to sound so smug in your comfortable lifestyle.

[toad857]

thing is clevis, the world isn't even close to the black and white picture you paint....not even close.

that's what i was thinking. kind of a silly series of generalizations.

[Clevis Hitch]

I tell you what. You just sit calmly in your cubicle and don't worry about a thing. You just let me ask a few questions and I'll be out of your hair. In fact, don't even bother posting to this thread. I think even reading it may be too much for you. Don't worry about a thing.

[pigsteak]

clevis,

I am sorry to hear about your job loss. truly. never easy making ends meet when the job goes south. I think you and I agree on more than you think we do. I am a fiscal conservative at heart, but the past two presidents think spending more taxpayer's money is the answer.

for ten years I dug holes for a living..no kidding, dug holes by hand with a shovel for ten years, actually more. after busting my back and sweating hard every day to make ends meet, I decided to make my situation better and went back to college. that my firned, was my style of forward thinking. I didn't ask for a handout, I did what I could to make my situation better.

I just quit my current job because I got a new job..I hustled to put my self in a position to land this new gig, so I guess that is my style of self reliance and making it.

My wife and I bought a house half the size/price we could afford, so to not be wrapped with a high mortgage. that's my style. we save over 15% of our gross in retirement accounts. zero debt on credit cards. two cars completely paid for. we decided to not have kids to live our lifestyle of climbing and travel. our goal is to retire at 50, which is less than 10 years away.

for me, your style is based on fear, waiting for the evil empire to get you in its clutches. for me, life is about being proactive, staying ahead of the curve. about being responsible with debt and finances. about planning ahead with funds. if we both(me and the missus)lost our jobs right now, we could live for over two years with no unemployment, albeit it would deplete our savings.

so I guess you and I are the same when it comes for preparing for the future. we just have decided to take different routes to get there.

do I keep spare batteries in the house in case the power goes out? of course.

do I stock up on freeze dried and canned foods? nope.

It is clear the frustration of your current situation, plus your honor and service to our country in the military, plays into your current mindset. I suppose we all are formed by our situations, so hopefully we all are able to manage/cope if/when the time comes.

[Yasmeen]

I tell you what. You just sit calmly in your cubicle and don't worry about a thing. You just let me ask a few questions and I'll be out of your hair. In fact, don't even bother posting to this thread. I think even reading it may be too much for you. Don't worry about a thing.

Deal. All except for the posting to this thread part.

[Clevis Hitch]

I was in the construction industry and So is my whole family. I don't know what to do beside what I am doing. As far as the whole survival aspect of this. Its just me expecting the worst. I've had a lot of starting over in my life. I am at the point now that I can see the bottom. the only way from here is up.
Given what I know about the current political climate and what I know about economic and free market forces. With the obvious goverment agenda and the direction this cuntry is going I only see trouble.

[Clevis Hitch]

Right now, I'm going to go climbing. In the rain and mess. Maybe I'll feel better after

[michaelarmand]

Hope you have fun climbing Clevis. On the job topic - stay optimistic for yourself. Even if the governments irresponsible fiscal policies harm us - your hard work and skills will always be useful. I am getting my bathroom remodeled currently, I talk with the contractors a lot. They are still signing contracts and have not been hit too hard, but they are really hesitant to hire people or expand. I think that is how a lot of businesses are - doing ok but scared about the future.

At the federal level I think some fiscally responsible, pro-business changes are needed to clean all this up.