Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Collapsenet Launch Delayed - Collapse Proceeding

May 10, 2010, 2100 PDT -- If I were a part of the old paradigm I'd put spin on it. But I hate the old paradigm. I hate spin. The bottom line is that we thought we had our s--t together for a launch on Wednesday May 12 but we missed a few things. All in all, the 12 people who are part of CollapseNet (seven of them unpaid volunteers) have achieved miracles. But these are tough times for a group of wonderful people from four countries and four states to come together and make something like this happen. Except for me and my attorney Wes Miller (our Chief of Staff), and Chantelle Noelle (our CFO), none of us knew each other or how each other worked, or talked or thought before attempting this. Yet what we've put together is something really... useful right now; a rare thing. Some of you are helping us beta test and that input is also making a difference. Thank you. We have developed our own software, purchased services, Incorporated, established accounts and invested many hundreds of hours to make CollapseNet come to life. It will soon. And the next time I give a launch date it will be a good one.

We have come this far on about $15,000 in donations and $6,000 I have raised from speaking engagements over the last three months. -- We have to launch so I can have a job and make some money. Still no income from the film for me so, like all too many people these days, I'm (still) living on the edge. You get used to it.

Tomorrow I leave for a seven-day tour of Vermont with my publisher Chelsea Green and am going to meet some wonderful people there who are thinking about leaving the Union. I'll have five appearances and a bunch of media interviews. Am I for secession? Against it? -- I am resigned to it... either as a voluntary act or an ad hoc reality as collapse proceeds. The next stage that's coming is political collapse which I believe will be triggered here when the nation realizes how bad the Deepwater Horizon leak really is and how it has been misled. As one commentator noted "Deepwater Horizon is the Three Mile Island of deep water oil exploration". No more deepwater drilling and oil prices will spike for sure. -- Or, it might come when Freddie and Fannie ask for another $50-100 billion, even as the Gulf coast's foreclosure rate goes exponential and banks continue to fail. It might come in a massive cyber attack. Name your poison. It might come with an attack on Iran. There's plenty of crisis around and we all know it. Pity the poor fools who are looking to buy houses now when they'll be worth half as much in a year. It's Darwinian deselection now. I can guarantee that the Pacific Northwest and California will balk at having their resources sent to bail out an unrecoverable Gulf Coast. I predicted that regional stress right after Katrina and Rita when I only saw another big hurricane hitting as a result of climate change. Deepwater Horizon is much, much worse.

I do not have to tell you all that we're out of time. With the leak from Deepwater Horizon spewing at least 25,000 bpd and out of control -- and with the EU's "nuclear" bailout move having shot its wad in just one day, the writing is clear. It's as clear as Japan's near-to-imploding economy behind a debt that's worse than Greece, with no IMF or EU to fall back on. It's as clear as the explosives residue from a North Korean torpedo found on a sunken South Korean warship. It's as clear as the tail-wagging-the-dog bs propaganda about Times Square terrorists from Pakistan. It's as clear as China's superheated, about-to-implode bubble coupled with its tectonic social problems. It's as clear as the mass of forward-hedged oil purchases from a few weeks ago that blasted through the record of June 2008. My guess is that the actual depletion rate may be as high as 12% I do not know if we have days or weeks until the wheels come off. There can be no more bailouts. Oh, governments in Europe and the US might have to try and sell them, but I agree with the IMF assessment from a few months ago that said another round of bailouts would trigger massive civil unrest. And what we're seeing now is new bailouts cutting into the banking system and bond spreads triggering a rise in rates and... inflation... Inflation.

Like I said in a scene that didn't make the final cut of Collapse, The final blow to industrial civilization "will happen no later than the summer of 2010."

Today I got down on my knees and I prayed to my God. Mankind tends to pray at times like these to whatever God they know. I pray a lot anyway, for strength, guidance, balls and wisdom. All I asked for this time was that we have enough time to launch CollapseNet and to see it take hold. I asked that the winds be at our back and for every possible blessing. I did that because not a one of us is doing this out of a purely selfish motive.

A long time ago (the 1970s) I met LAPD's top bomb expert, a guy named Arleigh Mcree. I had been invited to a training day with SWAT and the bomb squad. Arleigh was always a jovial guy who could booby trap a toilet seat pretty well. He was wearing a T-shirt which said, "If you see me running, follow me."

I think I speak for all of us at the moment. I'm scared but I'm not running. You are my lifeboat, the only one I have.

MCR
**************************************************************************
From Jenna Orkin

Economy
'The Rescue Package Has Bought Nothing But Time'
Recovery is real, but doubts linger
Or: "Some Look Down; See Abyss Beneath Feet"
Jim Rogers: The euro will now dissolve
Beijing property prices collapse
Gold explodes as everyone bets against paper currency
Spain joins austerity bandwagon
Greek workers call for May 19 strike
Jumping off the austerity bandwagon already?
If Greece Is Bear Stearns, Will the UK Be Lehman?
Canaries in Coalmine: China, Asia, not Participating in Euro Bailout Lovefest; Beginnings of China Credit, Real Estate Bust
JPMorgan Chase Warns Investors About Underwater Homeowners Walking Away - from Elizabeth Miller
Woe is Us
Legendary pessimist Marc Faber says that the United States shares the same dire economic problems currently bedeviling Greece.
Schwarzenegger Warns Of "Terrible Cuts, Absolutely Terrible Cuts" Coming In California
Cuomo Says Investment Firm Knew Madoff Was Cooking Books But Didn't Move Clients' Money Congress Set to Probe Stock Market Flash Crash
Gold surges as investors seek safety
Funny Money Flood
This is real funny money, if you get our drift; not the Bernanke kind but honest to goodness counterfeit 50's and 100's.
Pothole poetry
Thematic rhymes on Twitter about abysmal road conditions in UK.

Oil Leak
BP Relief Wells Bring Risk of Bigger Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
U.S. agency lets oil industry write offshore drilling rules
BP's Dispersant Strategy on Spill Veers Into Uncharted Science
Gulf spill provokes worries of 'unbelievable' damage - from Rice Farmer
U.S. to split drilling royalty, safety roles
Factbox: The spill and its impact
A New Look at National Security: Oil, Ferilizer and Energy
White House Aims to Use Deepwater Disaster to Push Climate Bill
ABC Reporter Turned Away from Oil Spill Command Center
Patches of Oil Wash Ashore
Rig witness recalls rain of mud
U.S. to split drilling royalty, safety roles
What offshore miners know
Spill prompts worries about Arctic
US oil spill impacts Korean economy
Oil companies pass the buck for giant spill
Oil Conspiracy Theories - CNN

Terror/Intelligence
Clinton: Pakistan Officials ‘Harboring’ Bin Laden - from Rice Farmer
Military Expanding Obama’s Gitmo in Afghanistan
Syria and Russia talk nuclear power
Japan to build navy base in Gulf of Aden - from Rice Farmer
Would Pakistan give Saudis nukes?
Judge: FBI Can View Evidence in Webcam Spy Case
NYPD Told to Manipulate Crime Statistics
Pentagon Bans Four Journalists from Guantanamo
Is Mossad Responsible for Delaying Iran's Nuclear Capability?
And if it is, is that news?
Peak IP Addresses - from Luis Mora
Inside USA - America's new racial tension
Black/brown divide.

Environment/Science
Rising sea levels threaten Taiwan
Gray Whale Spotted on Wrong Side of World
Swiss Artist Catalogs Mutant Insects Around Nuke Plants
Could Another Icelandic Volcano Erupt Soon?
Climate Change Is the True Crisis - from Elizabeth Miller
Bees make nests of colorful flower petals
U.S. obesity task force urges action
Obese respond by jogging to freezer.

43 comments:

RanD said...

Truth of the matter is that collapse is both precisely disciplined & directed precisely toward concrete change, whether everybody sees & knows that it is notwithstanding. Does that mean we should all just roll over and play patty-cake? Absolutely not.

Bill said...

There will be change - that we can count on. MR has given us a heads up now it is up to all of us to take action or suffer the consequences.

Lenny said...

Hey Mr Ruppert,
Thanks for the update. I've been using your warnings and insights to guide my financial decisions for ten years. You live in the real world and describe it accurately.

elite-proxy said...

I've checked the new site that is being launched and I have a question. What kind of SEO/backlink work is being done? I realize the site is new, but are you guys focusing on keywords/SEO so as to make sure the website pops up in the SERPs when people go looking for keywords? I am by no means an expert in the field but would be happy to contribute if interested. I think it is important that the website is coming up at least on the first page or at very least second page as to best spread the word and help people out.

Nik said...

Thank you as always for your insightful analysis of the unfolding collapse. I do take issue with your suggestion that buying a house today is a fool's game. My opinion runs (with reservations) counter to this, for the following reasons:
1) Inflation is not by definition a given, but it seems safe to say that our financial leaders have made the decision that currency devaluation is our best long-term hope to escape from debt. Once the dollar is worth half (or less) of what it is today, a mortgage will cost you that much less, but you can be sure that rents will go up up up in an inflationary spiral.
2) Yes, home values still have farther to fall, but ALL values have farther to fall (this includes gold). Nothing can be as valuable as it once was (with the exceptions of consumables, such as food, water, oil, for which demand can only increase).
3) In many areas home values have dropped so much already that a 30 year mortgage on a single family home is comparable to or cheaper than paying rent.
4) The historical precedent for land ownership as a path to political, social, and economic power is overwhelming. It is really only in the modern (read: oil based economic) era that renters have had any significant power at all.

I think there are better and worse places to buy today, of course. Buying anywhere in the suburbs is a surefire way to lose money long-term. But market conditions are such today that I think there is a strong argument to be made for buying a home in the city (or country) within your means.

agape wins said...

5,12,10; 11:50pm.
!There were two errors, proofread twice & still missed them!

"Jenna posts many distractions almost every day, the goal is to change the way money, Conflict, cooperation, Manipulation by the powers! "Should have ended powers works!

Unless YOU/we each of us decides "I" will not be controlled/ by "Things", money(Paper, Metal, or Bits), Energy, One's relative Position, or intelligence; fear of the WRATH of god, and/or Torture; which all come under the name of FEAR, NOTHING/NADA will change! The same old/same old will bring about Armageddon/HELL FIRE; CoLLapse, in the final sense.
MCR in the past stressed the need for change, but left the change factor open. Only a Total break, realignment will work!
The attempt during WWI failed because of a lack of a extreme position be a few!
Likewise the several attempts at Energy exchange/money reform have been put down by TPTB, again by lack of backbone/determination.

"Who gave them that POWER? LAZY YOU & ME, look in the mirror, not down the street."
Puttering around in your garden will not cut it, it will take more than a little skin of your back--or a few "coin" for a Blog.

The second lapse was "Collapsenet", instead of Collapse.
Or maybe it was/had a dual meaning, as it generated some responses!
"I pray that Collapse is more disciplined, & directed toward concrete Change."

Again it will take more than Gold, Carbon Credits, a "new World Currency; or all your "Survival" hording. Plan on losing EVERYTHING including,
possibly the coat of your back(shoes off your feet)!!


Think Watts;

http://tinyurl.com/y9cphg2

Rodney King;

http://www.fragmentsweb.org/stuff/photking.html

Chicago Fire;

http://tinyurl.com/28qnvyl

Or Hiroshima;

http://tinyurl.com/26aam5p

Choose your poison, where do you see a garden, or somewhere to trade
your gold, or Carbon Credits?

Because of advances in fire safety, plus a lack of improved water mains, a major fire calls for a reduction in water usage, or/& water main shut down! now look for riots, uncontrolled fires, overextended equipment, lack of resources, & manpower, prohibitive cost of rebuilding,
diminishing resources for rebuilding; for the foreseeable future!

For Sebastian and you other Secessionists, Isolationists, imagine out of control wildfires(however started), without trained crack "Smoke jumpers", & their Slurry bombers!

"businessman said...To think that people are going to collectively behave better towards each other under the stress of collapse, I believe, is wishful thinking."

If you can not put aside your animosity, work jointly at peace with those around you, whatever your differences, you are "Doomed"!

MCR"s latest gem; " none of us knew each other or how each other worked, or talked or thought before attempting this. Yet what we've put together is something really... useful right now; a rare thing."

Shit, or do something Thoughtful. I repeat---.

Please-"If you insist in taking your animosity past the end, stay away from me, I will have none of it!!"

jeyeykei said...

MR says that this is going to be global in terms of domino effect. Here in the Philippines, nobody would give a damn with what is happening economically outside the country. Is this because we are "too poor" to care? Pls. enlighten me.

Unknown said...

this is probably published somewhere but I can't find it . . . .how do I make a donation to CollapseNet?

Gustav said...

People - reality check...

I am a guy, currently surviving my 4-member family on one paycheck. I did a giant leap this year by RENTING a plot of 12 by 35 feet of land, where my wife and I are now, for the first time in our lives, cultivating some crops. It's all in early stages, but we are steadily picking on how to cultivate various crops. Perhaps we will be able to rent more space later this year.

The questin I have for all of you - do I really stand a chance? How can I secure my family's future if I can not invest in gold, silver or land, like the authors of this blog and all the rest of you are suggesting should be done? Is there ANY way for a normal guy from the masses to make that crucial leap - to security/sustainability? I am a homeowner - the appatrement has been paid-off - but it's value is not enough for me to sell it and buy a farm somewhere in my country.

Are there any people here on this blog, that have the same predicament, as I have, or has this blog become a community of those, who are allready "in the safe zone" and are just patting each other's backs?

I REALLY need some ideas, advice, directions in wich someone with my "portfolio" can make it through next 5 to 10 years?

Otherwise, my time following this blog is allready wasted...

...

greetings,
Gustav.

DaSaint said...

It looks like the solution to the oil spill problem has been found. Now it only needs to be implemented:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5SxX2EntEo&feature=player_embedded

Unknown said...

How can Mike not have made any money on such a remarkable film?

That film completely and utterly changed my view on the world, and myself, a few months ago. I've been utterly consumed in this whole thing. It's like someone suddenly switched the light on.

I also pray, Mike. You gotta have hope, right? I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Logan McDermott said...

Interesting blog post from John Kerry talking about a new piece of legislation. He doesn't reference peak oil directly but it's close enough:

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-a-environment/97463-transforming-our-power-sen-john-kerry?page=3#comments

Elmo said...

@: Cleanup Plan

QUICK! Everybody grab a rake and meet me in Oklahoma!

Elmo said...

"Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland away;
Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air.
You'd better watch out!
There may be dogs about
I looked over Jordan, and I've seen
Things are not what they seem.

That's what you get for pretending the danger's not real.
Meek and obedient you follow the leader
Down well trodden corridors into the valley of steel.
What a surprise!
A look of terminal shock in your eyes.
Now things are really what they seem.
No, this is not a bad dream.


~Waters

v said...

Seymour Hersh Describes "Battlefield Executions" by U.S. in Afghanistan

AFGHANISTAN'S POPPY FIELDS & US MILITARY SUICIDES

GrTz,

V

F.Kamilov said...

Hillary Clinton seems to be making very authoritative comments regarding OBL being in Pakistan nowadays, after the Time Square incident...I wonder what's up, whether she's preparing the ground for an attack...

And Pakistan might well supply the Saudis with nuclear weapons when needed. As with the Anglo-Saxons, and perhaps more so with Arabs, Pakistan has a servant-master, client-patron relationship - and Pakistani people literally drool when Arabs or "whites" appear before them. They were close cohorts in the Jihad against the USSR, and the Arabs employ millions of menial Pakistanis, own huge hunting lodges in Pakistan, and donate liberally to Pakistani charities and no doubt grease the pockets of the appropriate slavish and obsequious Pakistani individuals they deal with, with "baksheesh". They have also supplied free oil, oil on discount/special terms to the Pakistanis in times of need. Most of all, the Saudis have what all Pakistanis look up to so reverently - Mecca.

Unknown said...

Gustav,
You didn't say where you live. Are you in the US or Europe or what?

I know many people in your predicament here in my town. We are all members of the Transition Town movement (TransitionUs.org) These friends of mine are also getting by with no money to buy gold, land, etc. What we have done is we have started two community gardens in our suburb - one is at a church where they have empty land (an acre) that could be cultivated permaculture style (no till, no tractors needed). Another is on the property of a Grange, which is an old organization promoting community and agriculture.

I think investing in your local community this way, using your labor and/or extra money, is the way to go. Joining a Transition Town movement, if there's one in your area, will afford you community support around this topic, education on self-sufficiency skills you will need, and the possibility of larger community food projects such as the ones I described.

Make sure your kids are going to learn skills in school they can use when they grow up, such as how to grow food, survival skills, carpentry.

Take some of your free time to read up on any of the above or take a class in appliance repair, carpentry, straw-bale home building. These are all skills you will need. For example, what if you had to build your own greenhouse? Would you know how? Would you have the tools you need?

I don't know about you, but food is the #2 expense in my family behind my mortgage. If I could reduce that expense by 50% or more by growing my own, that would help me in hard times.

Hope this helps. Hang in there. You're not alone.

gamedog said...

Food and Ethanol Shortages Imminent as Earth Enters New Cold Climate Era

Todays Sunspot number: 0

What's that comedians name used to knock on his head going "hel-lo...HEL-LO..." ;)

Robert said...

Reply to Gustav,
"I REALLY need some ideas, advice, directions in wich someone with my "portfolio" can make it through next 5 to 10 years?"

Whatever you lack in material "stuff", you can make up for with skill sets which you can barter with.

For example, knowing how to grow vegetables as you are now learning will be very valuable.
Learn some basic carpentry, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, first aid,etc,etc,etc skills.

The list is endless. People who know how to keep the basic systems running are going to be an essential asset to their communities.
You will be taken care of!

It is not required that you have any money or "stuff".

Further, tradeable skills are something that can never be confiscated or stolen from you.

Good luck! RM

Stephen said...

Gustav - You've already accomplished an important step in formulating a goal of acquiring land. The next important thing you can do is develop a plan. Put down any small steps you can take in that direction. For example do you know of any neighbours friends, community groups with similar aspirations (collapsenet may help with finding such connections). If a few of you join together you could combine resources/energies/labour and start a small community garden or farm. There may be already something like that near you. Such people will also be knowledgeable about potential opportunities for you. Keep your mind focussed on the goal and you will be amazed what turns up.

I'm in a similar position, really want to start a small farm, but no money for land. However with the goal in mind, my wife and I were looking to move, we found a house that allows some adjacent land to be rented from the local council for a small price. This provides just the thing to get started. Next step is to join a small farming organization that gives help and advice to people like us. Good luck!

dalex said...

Gustav,
Nice to hear that you're getting some gardening experience; I hope you enjoy it.
This blog does not provide magic answers for anyone; it does, however, give us a better picture of the world situation than we would otherwise have. Everyone must weigh the benefit vs. time consumed, and determine if the effort is worthwhile for them.
I don't know if this will be any consolation to you, but (essentially) nobody participating here is "Secure and prepared" for the future -- mostly because nobody knows what that future holds. The best we can do is to make educated guesses, and use whatever resources are available to us, to deal with those expectations. My suggestion is to accept that you will never feel "Comfortable," but can still have solace in being several steps ahead of the poorly informed masses.
I don't know what limitations you have (work, family, etc.) but all kinds of doors can be opened if you decide what you want to do, and start moving toward those goals. (For example, networking with like-minded people, discovering land owners who need assistance or want to form cooperatives -- there are many possibilities.) Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open for those opportunities.
Rural living may or may not work for you, but here in the U.S., people who think they cannot afford to buy a "Farm" CAN often buy a foreclosed (newer) mobile home with an acre or two of productive land. I've seen many decent deals priced from $40,000 to $70,000.
You may have more time and ability than you think; just keep moving forward...
Good luck!

Sebastian Ernst Ronin said...

For the record, on May 10, 2010, Michael C. Ruppert stated: “Am I for secession? Against it? -- I am resigned to it... either as a voluntary act or an ad hoc reality as collapse proceeds.”

Finally, two of the three political ships passing each other blindly in the night bump up against one another. The personal vindication is minor. The political watershed traversed by Ruppert’s statement is major.

To the Vancouver Chapter of the first Green Party to be founded on the NAmerican continent was presented a motion, to be forwarded to the Executive. In part, the motion called for the recognition and creation of a new “eco-state” to be called Cascadia, comprised of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. The motion left eyeballs rolling and failed.

I am vindicated because the motion was dated November 20, 1985. Had the motion passed at the Chapter level, I was prepared to move it at the Executive level, upon which I sat. My tolerance for political ineptitude and save-the-world, liberal moaning and hand-wringing held for another year before I resigned and slipped into a 22-year political hiatus. I was convinced that I would not live to see the crisis.

I am further vindicated that the folks in Vermont whom Ruppert will meet are finally thinking in terms of creating a secessionist party to carry the secessionist mandate, and realizing that Peak Oil is the driver and not merely one of several social adjuncts. On a second and somewhat pitiful note, a frightened and vain gesture of intellectual theft can be left to gather dust. We know who proposed the creation of a North American Secessionist Congress and who did not. In time, the necessity for thinking in terms of a regional Novacadia to compliment the latent Cascadia may actually trump a juvenile and limited state identity. I wish Dennis Steele God’s speed in his quest to make an honorable showing with his bid for the Vermont Governorship.

I am vindicated to have been thoroughly smoked on a Post-Peak Oil platform in my 2009 bid for the leadership of the Green Party of Nova Scotia (after the 22-year hiatus from Green politics). The successful platform was “Inclusivity.” It would seem that Greens are not yet prepared to admit that they have been co-opted hand-over-fist by the very globalists they so stringently oppose. They are not prepared to admit that Green politics in NAmerica is spent. In spades am I vindicated by the enormity of votes cast against my candidacy.

In 1986 I did not think I would live to witness the collapse of industrial civilization. What a grand instant it is in which to be alive, to breath, and to actually see.

Most recently I am vindicated to have been deleted twice within two weeks by the nefarious data-miners of Facebook. It would seem that the Renaissance Political Party of North America ruffles feathers. What is of no danger does not run the threat of getting flushed down the memory hole. The third demographic ship of political transformation heaves in the night, awaiting its due course to contribute towards the re-invention of a Post-Peak Oil Occident.

For all that is finally coming into the secessionist play, a Samoan proverb may be pertinent: The grasshopper flies about, but the kingfisher watches him.

Weaseldog said...

Gustav, there is no safe zone.

Don't believe anyone that tells you there is.

I haven't invested in gold or silver. I can't afford to. I have stepped up my efforts in gardening for food. I'm learning new skills.

As best I can tell, my strategy should be to keep an eye on current events, so I'm not surprised by anything, while readjusting my life, so that I can do well with much less.

I cannot predict with any sort of certainty, what I'll need in ten years or what obstacles I'll face and what opportunities I'll have.

So I worry about the near future. I work to anticipate problems, and make sure that I am as prepared for them as I can be.

In the mean time, I live my life.

Colin said...

Gustav, you are not alone my friend. Nobody here knows how this is going to shake out for anyone. All you can do is prepare with what you have. I'm planning for a time when the electricity goes out and there is no more fuel available. A time when I lose the modest house I can barely afford.I found a great little camper which I outfitted with a small wood stove, so when I lose the house, we still have a home. I learned to cook using dutch ovens and small stoves. Learning to forage safely and hunt. I learned to tie fishing nets, sew leather, make things with my hands and I practice these things often. I am also in my second year of gardening. Thankful for the time to make mistakes because I have and will. My point is, keep doing what you're doing. Aside from the stove, none of the above preparations cost me anything but time practicing and honing skills. Keeping your family fed and warm and safe is the only thing to worry about. Granted its a lot, I have a wife and son and what is beginning to show its face is scary, but I BELIEVE that we will make it through, everything else is just preparing for how. Small tribes or villages will be crucial and will form whether we plan for them or not, but get to know your neighbors, that will help ease the fear. I have talked with all my family about the coming events and most simply can't be bothered with the facts and dismiss it as gloom and doom. Its sad for me, but they have to cope in their own way, mine is not to be gloomy and doomy, but to prepare because I need to survive for my family. You are not alone. And if your in Wisconsin, you've got a friend closer than you think.

Anthony said...

Anyone seen this? What do you believe?

http://dprogram.net/2010/05/13/russia-proves-peak-oil-is-a-misleading-zionist-scam/#more-37310

Anthony said...

Has anyone seen this? What do you believe?

http://dprogram.net/2010/05/13/russia-proves-peak-oil-is-a-misleading-zionist-scam/#more-37310

peakoildude said...

Gustav,
I take it you're in a city if you're renting a small plot? If that's the case you will not be able to secure a future in a city -even if you had gold/silver or land. You can see your future in Athens today. Yet we all understand it when Mike says you need to stay where you are to have friends and family and more or less a tribe. So do what you can, but nobody is secure in a city. Even rural land in the U.S. for instance resides inside indebted County and Township sections. When the debt implodes, property taxes will increase. You cannot disengage from Fiat Money unless you and your tribe have full control over your resources. As long as taxes are due on property, you will never fully own anything.

Do not worry about gold or silver. Spend time getting into a recession proof job as best you can, so you are not on the front lines with a molotov.
Finally, I hope CollapseNet lives up to its name -Network, because people need to get together so less time is spent talking and more time is spent working. Reading articles is fine, but you won't need to read any news when your city is next to revolt. By then it's too late.

Anthony said...

Gustav - I know it's tough. I'm in a similar situation, in that I have a family of 6, I've had a business fail, but I still have a job -thankfully! We are walking away from our big house, to rent in the country in few hours away. It's a huge step for us.
You are learning gardening skills, that is a good thing.
Some steps you could take: go through your stuff, and start selling the things that you don't need. I sold the two guitars I never played anymore. The antique clock that looked beautiful, but don't miss. I took the money from my sales and bought silver, small amounts at a time, and have built it up over six months. I also squirreled away some cash.
Buy a couple of extra cans of food with each grocery trip, and put it in a closet. I joined a food wholesaler (BJ's, it's like Sam's Club) and it's paid me back through dividends and savings. Reinvest those savings in more food.
Cancel things you don't need. It's called the latte factor. Turn those savings into cash, and make a priority list of items. I've bought a handgun, shotgun, ammo, coleman stove, lantern, fuel, firesteel, etc.
All things that are nice to have anyway, and serve as a hedge against possible disruption of services.
Buy additional seeds, the heirloom kind. Not the Monsanto crap. And get yourself some good reference books, so you can look up how to do something that you didn't know you would have to do before hand.
I hope that helps.

businessman said...

Regarding investing in a home right now...there are so many variables to consider...

Will the location weather Peak Oil well and will it be a location that people will gravitate towards, as opposed to needing to get away from...once the ramifications of Peak Oil really accelerate on us?

So many people have been thinking that they guessed right in buying while the market has been on the way down, thinking they bought at the bottom of the market, and they completely guessed wrong. As a friend of mine who's a very successful real estate investor said to me, "At this point I'd rather just wait until prices have come up at least 10% or more so that I can feel more certain that we've already hit the bottom."

But then again, with Peak Oil, will we have a real estate bottom like we've always had before? Or will we have a complete abyss? When people are struggling for food and energy and just to stay alive, will we have anything close to the demand to buy homes that we've experienced in the past? And with our government being in the process of looking like it's going bankrupt, will the exact same subsidized financing always be available to artificially drive housing values up like we've gotten used to for many decades now?

It's going to be about survival and having whatever resources we have in our hands to buy and barter with for the things that we need.

I have to believe that owning a home and looking forward to paying off a mortgage over 15-30 years is going to be so low on people's priority list, that demand in itself may fall into the abyss...especially if financing as we've known it completely falls off the map, too.

Paul said...

The Space and Science Research Center (SSRC), the leading independent research organization in the United States on the subject of the next climate change, issues today the following warning of imminent crop damage expected to produce food and ethanol shortages for the US and Canada:

Goes against mainstream AGW doctrine - but a risk is a risk is a risk……

Namaste

Unknown said...

I hope you have the guts to read this MCR and Jenna, somehow only comments prasing MCR make it here these people complain about the "establishment" when they worked for and still live for it so following this blog is a waste of your life.
Those that will survive are already doing what white people are telling each other to do, the people behind this blog cannot create a picture of the future for all you lazy people behind screen anymore than a cook can predict what a new recipe will look like by having the ingredients in front of him, we live in a highly complex system and by definition not a single human being regardless of how many cigarrettes they smoke or how many articles are regurgitated to the mindless populace or even how long they have known "the system" could possibly predict anything, live right or you won't live too long.

A peon said...

Abu Dhabi hotel installs gold vending machine

Jenna Orkin said...

yes, mario the gutsiest thing i've done all day was read your post

Jenna Orkin said...

to the person who wished to donate to collapsnet, i'm told that the procedure at the moment is to send donations to mcrfinaid@gmail.com

thanks!

Sebastian Ernst Ronin said...

If I'm not mistaken, Gustav is in Europe somewhere. That strongly needs to be taken into consdideration re suggestions.

For NAmericans, I strongly recommend visiting the Canadian MLS site and doing a search of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick rural properties, ranged $30K-$50K. You'll be amazed at what you pull up.

http://www.mls.ca

The Maritimes are one of the best kept secrets on the continent. Growing season is limited to one crop, so reasonable gardening skills will help.

Weaseldog said...

Anthony, I've been reading articles about unlimited abiotic oil for over a decade now. An article on it even appeared in Scientific American, though the author had to be cautious and couch it properly as a unproven theory that had no evidence to back it up.

One serious problem with abiotic oil is that at the depths the theory claims it could be found, the heat and pressure would cook oil into natural gas. Oil could not form at those depths. Unless as the theory supposes, it's produced by some unknown chemical process beyond our current understanding.

A second problem is that no verifiable abiotic oil has ever been discovered. All of the oil that has been found so far, has biotic markers. It has biological decay products that give us clues about what kind of plants, decomposed to make it. Abiotic oil would be missing the these molecular fragments.

Lastly on my short list, if abiotic oil were real, it wouldn't really help. It would still take a million years for enough oil to form, to last us one year at the rate we consume it.

And even if we did find a few new Saudi Arabia's, our exponential growth rate would put us back in this same predicament in twenty years or so.

As Jay Hanson puts it, "Our problem isn't so much a shortage of resources as a longage of people."

No matter what quantity of new resources we might find, we'll rapidly expand our appetites, and quickly deplete it.

Unknown said...

Hmm...I had a big, long comment for Gustav but it hasn't shown up yet. I wrote it many hours ago.

Did you delete it Jenna?

Cam Mather said...

It's easy to get discouraged by shocks to our system, but there are steps you can take to make yourself more resilient. "Thriving During Challenging Times, The Energy Food and Financial Independence Handbook" is a roadmap to help you navigate these uncertain times. You can feel helpless and discouraged or you can get busy and take action. www.cammather.com

RanD said...

"...live right or you won't live too long."

Amen.

Peddler on the Hoof said...

weasel- nature bats last. we'll have war, famine, plague, what have you. worked in china. caste system worked in india. we'll get those if anyone's left. unless we all eventually become the new native americans..

FlungPup said...

"The successful platform was “Inclusivity.” It would seem that Greens are not yet prepared to admit that they have been co-opted hand-over-fist by the very globalists they so stringently oppose. They are not prepared to admit that Green politics in NAmerica is spent. In spades am I vindicated by the enormity of votes cast against my candidacy."

Bingo!

I"ll point you to alan watt of cuttingthroughthematix.com

Anonymous said...

How do I join collapsenet?

Looongbeard said...

Hey all, just wanted to see if I could "join up". I'll write something soon.