Notes from the edge of civilization: Nov. 12, 2023
Getting prepped, financially and physically. Plus, why your bank may be out to get you.
All signs indicate that Americans are not feeling very good about the economy. In a November 2023 Bankrate poll, 50 percent of U.S. adults said their overall financial situation is worse than it was three years ago when elections took place. More than two-thirds of registered voters told CNN in a poll last week the economy will be extremely important to their vote next year. More than 80% of registered voters in a New York Times survey published November 5 said they would rate the nation’s economy as only fair or poor.
John Rubino, a financial analyst and author, sees the country headed towards a currency crisis in the coming years. In a recent interview with Collapse Life, he explained why he thinks this and gave practical advice on how to prepare both physically and financially for what’s ahead:
“When your currency becomes less valuable, and the price of things go up, you wish you’d stockpiled. If food is incredibly expensive, you wish you had some land you could grow food on, you wish you had socked away a lot of rice and beans… In other words, you wish you had prepped. The preppers, the people who once had this aura of ‘right-wing crazies’, are turning out to be the people who had the best lifestyle for being ready for what’s coming.”
As John mentioned, while ‘prepping’ was once considered the domain of tinfoil hat-wearing bunker dwellers, the idea of getting ready for a coming disaster is going mainstream.
“Disaster preparedness, once the province of fringe groups and so-called preppers convinced doomsday was at hand, has a new face,” the Wall Street Journal reported last month. “Surveys and rising sales of prefabricated disaster kits indicate that Americans are more apt to keep emergency supplies on hand than they were a few years ago.”
Prepping is more than having freeze-dried food in the pantry. It’s about thinking ahead, playing out potential scenarios based on your own risk profile, and putting a few strategies in place to protect yourself. It’s also about getting your financial house in order, as Peter Grandich told us a few weeks ago. Getting healthy is a prep. Making sure you have fire extinguishers in your kitchen is a prep.
A really good place to start, if you’re new to this concept, is this Emergency Preparedness Checklist from theprepared.com.
They lay out 6 basic steps to prepping:
Build a solid personal finance and health foundation
Get your home ready for two weeks of self-reliance
Be able to leave your home with only a moment’s notice (“bug out bags”)
Prepare for emergencies that happen away from home (“get home bags” and everyday carry)
Learn core skills and practice with your gear
Share and recruit while continuing to learn and going beyond the basics
As you consider your financial preparedness, it’s important to be clear-eyed about the institutions that hold your money. Five banks have already failed in 2023, and Kiplinger reports that many banks are closing branches faster than they’re opening new ones.
What’s even more concerning, perhaps, is the increasing number of customers who are waking up to find their banks have broken up with them, with little explanation and no recourse. We took a look at this alarming phenomenon this week.
In support of prepping for your personal health, we have a great discussion lined up with the feisty Dr. Meryl Nass, whose work fighting the anti-health globalist organization, the W.H.O., is nothing shy of enlightening. Stay tuned for the full interview next weekend. Here’s a tease until then. Enjoy!
1. Build a solid personal finance and health foundation ... Massively important both.