Catacomb Resident Blog

Economic Collapse

07 August 2022

What does a depression look like?

Think about what the word itself means -- to depress ("squish downward") normal economic activity. It should draw a picture that money isn't flowing like water any more. There is a slow down of exchange in goods and services. That's the general principle.

Next, keep in mind that this is an engineered collapse. Any government policy will interfere with the normal process at the best of times. However, the powers that be have no intention of making things better; they want us to suffer. They want large numbers of us to die. That's the whole point; they want us to be so terribly unhappy that we cry out to them to save us.

At least, that's how they imagine it. Some of their game is already known, but I can assure you that they have some surprises. Their moral depravity is hard to estimate. We cannot guess some of what they'll do. Thus, there will be some unexpected elements in how it all plays out. They will be looking for diabolical ways to interfere with anything we try to do to relieve the suffering. They have already put in place a lot of regulation to prevent us doing much in the first place.

For example, you can look around and see that all those small businesses with their handful of employees have been reduced in number. Economic activity has been centralized into fewer and fewer hands in the first place. The quarantines got the process started. Anyone who was running on the edge was pushed over that edge by all the inexcusable shut-downs mandated by the federal government. Some businesses have tried to make a comeback, but there are new regulations along with indirect regulation, like banking policies that have changed.

And do I need to mention how everything we once made for ourselves was off-shored long ago? When the big corporations gained control of a majority of all economic activity, they shipped all production overseas. Instead, factory workers all got jobs in transportation and distribution, if they were lucky. But with the coming depression, fuel prices have already begun to rise painfully. Thus, transportation is collapsing, and regulations are tightening to make it worse. Already, the major hold-up in unloading freight from the ships is a new raft of regulation that hits the process from all sides.

On top of that, banking has begun squeezing all the different angles of the process, by refusing to insure, refusing to offer short-term carrying loans that shipping requires, making the transfer of funds more expensive and difficult, etc.

Finally, a huge amount of our economic activity is now being shipped off to Europe, particularly to Ukraine. No, it's not being sold; it's been given away for free. Do you understand how this shreds the local spending government agencies used to do? Do you see how that means our government-owned infrastructure is ignored? That money is not coming back; it's not an investment. It's a black hole.

The price of credit is going up. That's the Federal Reserve's answer to inflation. We've been taught that this is how to slow down an overheated economy; they complain that the dollars are flowing too fast. Where? It's all taking place in upper levels of the economy, not down here where we live. So, we are being priced out of the credit market.

The economy can be turned around. However, it requires seizing it back from centralized control. It would mean states governments becoming bold enough to fight back against the federal policies. It means coming up with a way to restore local production of food first, then other goods later. The effect is worse than a general war from invasion. It's our own federal government attacking us and destroying everything for the past 160 years; the Civil War never actually ended. It continued through secret policies and economic controls.

Lately, even what food we produce locally has been attacked with over a hundred fires at food processing plants.

Here's what I expect. Keep in mind that some of this will happen right away, but a lot of it will take time, more than year. Anything shipped in from outside the US will pretty much stop showing up in the grocery stores. Anything requiring substantial processing will stop showing up in the grocery stores. I've already mentioned in previous posts how agriculture will have to shift from massive single cash crops back to a variety of consumer foods. It will take a while, so shelves will be empty. Stores will close. This will have knock-on effects that cause other businesses to collapse. The ones that fall first will be those already too close to the margin of profit and not enough cash reserves.

As you might expect, all of this will hit the bottom layers of society first. As you might further expect, they are the ones most likely to react first, and it won't be pretty. Stores in their neighborhoods will close first. Rough neighborhoods will get rougher very quickly (as they already have in some parts of the US). When the flow of money slows down, those on the margin get hit first. There will be less and less surplus cash to let slip away into luxury services and things you don't actually need.

Maybe you've read about how carpooling was a big deal during the 1970s Oil Crisis. It will be worse this time, as folks will struggle to find ways to get around. Lots of bicycles will appear on the streets, and fewer motorized vehicles. And more bicycles will be stolen. In some places, cyclists will need to pack weapons routinely. In other words, preserving cash will become more and more important against the other things in life that we value.

This is why wise advice has been warning you for years to buy now things you will surely need later. Buy things you know how to use, like tools and equipment. Think about stuff that doesn't require a lot of power to operate. Have some canned and dry goods stored up. There will be a long period while the economy transitions back to local trade.

Yes, it will vary across different locations. States whose governing officials are on top of this will see an early turn-around on the worst effects. States with usable resources will do better, because they can trade more easily for stuff they don't have. States that honor the 2nd Amendment will do better because petty crime will be too dangerous. States with a strong conservative culture will see people with a stronger will to overcome the problems.

Don't get lost in dystopian movie imagery. It won't be like that for the most part. The people you are dealing with haven't been living with extreme poverty long enough to come up with crimes that work well in a collapsed economy. On the other hand, immigrants from the Third World will be ready to act. Yes, the globalists knew this would happen; it was part of their reason for unchecked immigration. It's supposed to be a nasty experience. Remember: The globalists really do hate us.

But the main point is that the flow of money will slow down. Barter will happen a lot more often. You will quickly learn to redefine the difference between "luxury" and "necessity". And it will almost certainly mean the end of the globalist agenda, because some parts of the country will simply revolt against it in one way or another. The moralistic scolding will end quickly. But it won't be as much of a cultural revolution as you might expect. Younger generations are a large unknown; will they have the will to adapt? The Internet they take for granted could quickly turn into a luxury. The cellphone industry may not survive, but it will take a very harsh change in context for folks under 50 to let it go.

And then we'll get past it. America will never be the same; the US will come apart. In just five years, the world will be so different you won't recognize it. The grand international banks will lose a lot of power, because the only way for us to survive is states creating their own local banking systems, and most likely their own currencies.

Oh, and if you've ever actually lived in relative poverty before, you already know how to handle what's coming. It's those who were born middle class that will suffer the worst. The biggest question you need to pray about is whether you are in the right place for His miracles to work in your life. Some parts of the US will not suffer nearly as much.


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