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Sunday, April 5, 2009

Reply: My book will be ready before Easter Holidays

Don Williams said...

Ferfal, You had asked us for suggestions a week or so ago. If it is not too late, I have one.

Which is that you point out some higher level truths because they support your specific experiences.

One truth is that no matter how bad a collapse occurs, there will still be a government. Probably more dictatorial and with money/power more tightly concentrated than in good times. 7000 years of recorded history shows this. The US government's plans to ensure it retains control even after a major nuclear war --the Continuity of Government Plan -- shows this.

If you have government then you will have money and Gold will still be valuable. Your house will be seized and sold at auction if you can't pay taxes. You or your relatives will be imprisoned if you can't pay your fines or debts. You or your relatives will die if you can't pay a good doctor.

No matter how bad it gets, the local power elite will have police to protect them and those police will have the power to arrest you.
Survivalist fantasies of Mad Max anarchy will never happen -- because even if anarchy does occur it will be shortlived as some strong man will seize control. With a planet of 6 Billion people, there is no way to isolate yourself.

Gold will have always have value because the local elite will want it -- to use for exchange with more distant elites, if for nothing else. During the Cold War, the US Government stored huge piles of RED-colored Dollars in an underground bunker at Culpeper, Virginia. If nuclear war ever occurred, they would declare the Green Dollars worthless and illegal and would make the Red Dollars the new currency. In part, to render any private hoards worthless so as to ensure continued Government control of the economy and the currency. To make the Red Dollars have value, the Government planned to require that Taxes be paid in the Red Dollars. This was planned even after the worse holocaust imaginable.

Look at the Main AM stations of the US Emergency Communications Network -- the chain of radio stations that would be used to control Americans after a nuclear war. Almost all of those stations are located just outside major cities -- about 10 miles away from target zones. Far enough away to survive but close to the cities. Because the primary goal of the US government was always to reoccupy the cities --even with the danger of fallout --because a civilization's WEALTH and capital lie in the cities --NOT in the rural countryside -- and the power elite knows that.

America's Founding Fathers succeeded in their revolt against the British Government in 1776 -- but the first thing they did after victory was create a new government. Because if you don't have a government you are an undisciplined mob and the some strong man or faction will conquer you.

You, Ferfal, need to realize that Americans are --to some extent -- Educated to be ignorant. We are indoctrinated to believe some things that do not hold up to scrutiny. The idea of democracy, for example. The Two US political parties received over $1 Billion in the last election, very little of that money came in as $25 checks from the little people, and Congress works for the people who donated that money, not for the common people who merely have a vote.

Yes, different countries have different cultures, governments and varying degrees of income inequity and corruption. But some truths apply to every human society that ever existed. One truth is that the strong do what they will and the weak suffer what they must. Another truth is that there is one law for the rich and another for the poor.


Thanks Don, I think you'll like the book a lot.
A large part of the book is an attempt to ... reprogram... the person reading it.
Not only getting rid of childish BS notions regarding survival fantasies that never occurred, ever.
But also help the reader get rid of indoctrinated BS, concepts we’ve had installed in our brains since we were kids, how a government cares about the control of the mass, and how that may not be well... in your best interest.

FerFAL

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We can attempt to define what will happen in terms of history. What happened to Argentina seems to fit well, yet the U.S. is a very different country. Travel the world to understand the differences. The collapse of the Roman Empire fits as well. There it was total. States may attempt to break into regions and become somewhat or entirely autonomous.
In this region, about half the motor fuel consumed is pump and refined.

A Mad Max scenario is very unlikely in the rural parts, but more likely and only temporary, lasting weeks or months in the big city. Think Katrina. We should also consider that a 'collapse' might also not be catastrophic. I suspect the 'collapse' will either be in the mildest form or more severe. Why? Our economy and society is the most sophisticated and fragile in history, and the country is far larger and much more diverse than Argentina.

In any case, the ability to get by without an economy gives one peace of mind. Much higher prices for necessities are a given. Planning for the worst is the best policy as I would rather have 'it' and not need 'it', than the other way around. We are in uncharted waters and can only guess.

I believe our small rural community will do just fine with the real threat to peace coming from those who escape the Big City and those who would impose their will upon us. Yes, "strong men" will rise to the occasion and most will be tyrannical in their approach. It is natural for such men to seek power and control. In this area and region, independent and freedom loving people abound. Tyranny would be short lived at best.

A Nony mous