So, according to Alan Greenspan and every other prominent economist, everything's gonna get quite a bit worse before it gets better. If you own a house, expect its value to fall. Your retirement funds have already shrunk faster than a buzz-killer shrinks one of those other assets we have. What else can be taken away from us American middle-class people?
The answer is, pretty much everything.
So, what kind of survival strategies should we be crafting. First, survey your network of friends and family. If the worst happens, and you lose your house or can no longer afford your condo or apartment, whom might you move in with?
Communes and collectives were a distinctive feature of the "60s," which mainly occurred in the "70s." It's time to recreate these joint households, where a group of adults share expenses and the work of supporting the group.
Grow your own food! Here in San Francisco, it is quite easy to grow enough lettuce in a small garden to sustain a family year-round. Not all climates allow this, but most allow seasonal growth of enough vegetables and fruits to sustain a family for several months.
The extra produce can be canned for eating in wintertime.
Hunt and gather. There is still plenty of wild game and collectible foods on our continent. Berries, mushrooms, fish, deer, flowers and seeds of many types are edible and readily available.
Buy chickens. They lay eggs.
Shop for bargains. Buy day-old foods. Downsize for a while. Check out Chicken giblets. Eat cheaper. Wear used clothes. Take public transportation. Bide your time.
Everything familiar will come back again, if you can be patient. But now is not a time to be silly. This is the time to be smart.
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1 comment:
Communes and collectives?! This old world has seen just about every form of commune tried. As you know from personal experience, they don't work. Ever. Nearly 300 years ago Ben Franklin observed, “Fish and visitors smell in three days”. Humans do not live well in herds.
Destruction of the family nucleus, accelerated in our lifetime by misguided welfare schemes, political pandering through the creation of class envy, and our generation's irresponsible “anything goes” attitude, will introduce a new dimension to any long term down turn of our economy; violence. As a city dweller you might first consider moving back to rural America where a larger portion of the population still have sound values.
In difficult times families can, and certainly should, take care of their own. But don't kid yourself, people of weak moral judgment get real ugly when they're hungry. And those with no moral values don't require hunger to be dangerous. It will be shocking for many to find how close our urban communities are to anarchy even now.
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