Another Great Depression is on the Horizon

This Country has changed; it has changed in the 10 years. It seems to be headed on a course of it’s own destruction. Out leaders are not Statesmen and more they are out for themselves and do not have the good of this great Country in their mind anymore. They are partisan to the point of apathy on the part of the voter. The way they spend money is a shame, they will lead us into another depression or worse.

What a difference that 40 years can make. The first picture was taken during the first depression. Look at the men in line dressed up n suits and ties, lined up orderly. Now look at the second picture, it is National Guard troops standing guard over rioters arrested or at least detained during the 1968 riots. What a difference 40 years makes.

We see it happen almost yearly in the news. People rioting in the streets, breaking windows setting cars on fire and looting. The generation we are a part of right now, does not have a fraction of the character that earlier generations had. It is typified by the "ME" generation and has even spread into the army, thier moto is you can be an "Army of One". All that people tell you "need to look out for number one". One of the better example is people reation to the two blacks out that happened in New York City,

The next time we are tested as a Nation, i believe we will fail. We won't stay civilized as we did in the past. Look at the pictures carefully, the people standing in the bread or soup line. They are clean shaven, have their suit and ties on. They are making the best of a very bad situation. The people of this generation have been lied to and taught we come from animals and now the kids that have come out of the public school system believe it. They act like animals because they have been told they come from animals. You need to think about how, if another depression or worse comes, how you will react. The trust of this website is to help you prepare for something like that financially. Getting out of debt is a very important step. Then having a set aside amount of food and supplies for you and your loved ones, would be the next step. If you have looked at the section of the Website called "The Great Depression", you have seen a few stories of what people did to make it during those bad times. None of them went and robbed liquor or TV stores and stole. They worked their way through it. The following are hobbies you could do now, and would be excellent jobs or services for the coming Badtimes.

Practical skills to learn, hopefully you can become a Jack-of-all-trades.

Auto Mechanic Anything mechanical through gas and diesel motors. This would not only allow you to understand how to work on and fix cars now, which will save you a lot of money. But in the future it would allow you to help others stay mobile, it might bring enough money to make the difference between living hand to mouth or living a semi normal life. But it will keep you mobile, being able to get around and go to work.

Small Engine and or Generator Mechanic Look around you, our lives revolve around small engines and electrical motors. Buy fixing them instead of running to the store to buy another, will make you a very handy person indeed. This society has grown into a throw away society. If or when Badtimes do come, you won't have that option anymore. It will be similar to in the depression, you will learn to make something out of nothing or you will do with out.

Butcher Anything to due with butchering and treating the hides and differing type animals. This is a useful skill to have, it may not be a skill sort after right away. But as society settled down butchering and handling hides will be a sought after trade.

Chemist Again a chemist will be a very useful person to have around. You will have to fabricate and make things. This person would have a whole host of useful knowledge on what chemicals do what and how they react to other chemicals.

Cook And also canning and food preservation Could lump them in with the butcher but i won't. Canning is a art and food preservation will be critical. Food will be precious and hard to come by. Letting it go to waste like we do now a days will be unthinkable. Having the tools and the knowledge will not only be useful to your family but a lot of other also.

Doctor, Dentists, Emergency Room Nurse, Paramedic or EMT

All these professional have a trade that will be sought after and will have no problem making it in the Badtimes to come. That is as long as they are not all congregated in one place. As long as they have not specialized to the point of being useful. Remember specialization is for insects

Veterinarian Animals will become valuable. So keeping them healthy and alive will be critical. Animals will keep you alive will keep you in other types of food when you sell them for surplus. This is "barter" you can go to the other parts of the website to learn more about it. But animals will be in short supply and will be sought after, but again keeping them alive will make you a popular and well taken care of person.

Farmer, Gardener Again Food will be one of the most sought after and traded commodity. Being able to produce when others can't will only come with practice. It will take study and preparation. You will have to provide your own food that is something that you don't want to trust to anyone else or depend on anyone else for.

Botanist, Herbalists and Homeopaths Once the prescription medications are used up. It will happen quickly in some areas. After that using herbs and medicinal plants will be the only answer. Someone with these skill will be more sought after then doctors at some point.

Gunsmith, Reloading hobbyist The number one defense and food gather tool. So being able to fabricate ammunition and being able to keep it in working order will be a priority.

Machinist, Blacksmith, Welder Someone that can make something out of nothing. Take a broken chain and fix it so it is safe to use. Some to take a pipe of scrap nothing and turn it into a useful product that someone wants. Fabricating parts that can not be bought anymore.

Oil Refinery technician or someone that understands fuels and more importantly how to preserve what fuel you have and how to produce more The world or more importantly your community will need someone to produce gas or diesel fuel methane or maybe biodiesel. Someone will be sort after to help get the machines running again on some type of fuel.

Solar / Wind / Hydro Power technician These will be the fuels of the a Badtimes future. But you will have to have raw materials, like batteries and solar panels available to make them work. Wind power can be fabricated fairly easily existing supplies and form of hydro power can be fabricated. But neither of those will generate large amounts of power. Know and supplies will make these trades useful.

Electrician, Plumber, Hvac These skill are fairly easy to learn the basics of. But it will be critical to have experience with them or a very simple and minor thing could cause big problems. But diagnosing the problem with these trades is over half the battle. Stock manuals and how to books.

Security This will be a critical in some areas. Some areas you will have to post guards to keep people away from your live stock and gardens. Just posting two people for 6 hour shifts, will tie up 8 people a day.

All of the skills have there place and each could take a page by them selves to explain the benefits of each of them. I believe they and will be a sought after skills. Also consider that there will sought after trades also. I believe you can get equipment now that will be sought after also. When Badtimes start you won't be able to run down to the Home Depot and get tools then. So having them now only makes sense. Also people like well drillers that don't need electric to run there rigs will be worth there weight in gold, if they have solar pumps or hand pumps on hand. Think about how times will be changing. People will be trying to fence in their yards, if you have a post hole digger on a tractor that could dig a bunch of holes and can stretch the fencing. Think about what you would need if you had to live off the land around your home. Then it would give you an idea of what trades and equipment will be valuable, when Badtimes come. So now when times are good would be the time to try and learn these skills. Robert Heinlein had a famous quote about specialization:

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

Everyone should be able to change the oil in their car and other equipment, it is basic, but it will make the equipment last a lot longer if you do. It gives you a skill and practice with tools.

You should try to get out of debt. On the front page of the Website are several resources that can help you do that. If you are debtor it, it will take longer to get ready. The worst thing that could happen to you would be that don't prepare now and be forced into a camp or a "stadium" like what happened to the poor people in New Orleans a few years ago. The second worst thing i can imagine is that you have a place prepared and supplied and you lost it to the bank during Badtimes, because you owed mortgage and

could not pay the bank.

Get ready now, while you can. There are many good resources that could help you get ready. We have an associated Website and Forum (actually 5 Websites and 3 Forums) but they can help. A few books to start your reading list might be:

Encyclopedia of Country Living (Ninth edition), by Carla Emery (Sasquatch Books)

John Seymour's books The Guide to Self-Sufficiency and the The Self Sufficient Gardener

Steve Solomon's Book Gardening when it Counts - Growing Food in Hard Times

There are other books that could be recommended on different subjects.

So what can you do. Don't go out and buy a bunch of stuff, stuff won't help. You need to attempt to get out of debt. You need to acquire a piece of property, free and clear, and start to improve it. One option i have heard floated on the net by several people is using your present home and the equity in it to purchase your retreat and supplies. That way if something happens you could abandon your home (with the mortgage) and head for the retreat. I can not recommend that, although it might be an option for some people.

So you have done some reading, you won't be able to read it all, but read enough to get you started in the right direction. What i mean is read enough to know that you don't what to buy a lot n the middle of a large city to retreat to. The land you purchase should outside the city, fairly inaccessible. Have a water source and farm able land. How much? I would rather have 5 acres paid for and have supplied then

100 perfect acres that you can't afford and that you might be able to buy in 10 years.

This coming Depression will turn our world that we know and will turn it upside down. If you have a job you will be fortunate. You will see your buying power will decrease to the point of almost nothing. In Nazi Germany at one point they needed a wheel barrel load of money to buy one loaf of bread. You think that can't happen today, it is happening today, one of the places is in Zimbabwe Africa. They have an inflation rate and it is still over a thousand percent.

It can happen here. Here another good article on the coming depression.

Well now it is up to you, you need to decide what you want to do. We have a forum to discuss these types of things and that will help you prepare. Come by and take a look. It is called Survival Talk.

Hope to see you there.