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Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Crisis Meltdown Greece - Sheep, Sheepdogs, and Wolves

Hello All,
Please consider the following article for your website, newsletter or blog.
In this I look at what is taking place in Greece and showing it as a foreshadow of things to come here in America.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me.
In His Service,

Ray Gano


Crisis Meltdown Greece - Sheep, Sheepdogs, and Wolves

By Ray Gano

Crisis Deepens; Chaos Grips Greece
Greece protests: Riots erupt in Athens, 3 bank workers killed
ATHENS—Greece's fiscal crisis took a new turn to violence Wednesday when three people died in a firebomb attack amid a paralyzing national strike, while governments from Spain to the U.S. Took steps to prevent the widening financial damage from hitting their own economies.
In Spain, rival political leaders came together Wednesday with an agreement that aims to shore up shaky savings banks by the end of next month. Banks in France and Germany, which are among Greece's top creditors, pledged to support a Greek bailout by continuing to lend to the country. Investors, meanwhile, are pouring money into bonds of countries seen as less exposed to the crisis, from Russia to Egypt.
Anxiety over the Euro-zone economies sent the Euro down to about 1.29 to the dollar, its lowest level in more than a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for the second straight day, losing 58.65 points, or 0.54%, to close at 10868.12.
If you have not been paying attention to what is going on in Greece, you need to be.
Why?
Because this is a foreshadow of things to come here in the US.
Here is a new acronym you need to learn. SHTF = Shcumar (crap) Hits The Fan.

Folks, many people out there have bought into the Hollywood scenario of the apocalyptic world of Mad Max and the Thunder Dome.  

When the SHTF, we are not going to resort to being Will Smith in "I am Legend" world.
You know what is going to happen?
Life will go on as soon as the main crisis slows down.
What people do not realize, it will be a completely different world from the one you used to live in.
Those who have prepared will make the transition, those who don’t will fall by the way side and become a casualty of the crisis.
Everyone is worried about EMP, or a Nuke attack and zombies. Can these things happen? Sure, well not the zombies, but the odds are pretty high to possibly not happening at all.
But the odds of a financial crisis hitting this country is very good. In fact I am going to say that it isn't a matter of "IF", it is a matter of "WHEN."
One of the greatest teachers is history.
It is a teacher we often ignore.
Scripture says…
Ecclesiastes 1:9 (KJV)  The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
What we are seeing in Greece is a repeat of history. This is the same thing took place in Bolivia, Zimbabwe and in Argentina  just in the last decade.
Folks, a financial crisis is here, the masses just don’t know it yet.
It isn't zombies that you will be fighting, it will the crime, the high price of everything, sporadic water services, sporadic electricity, all the while everything is breaking down around you and nothing getting fixed or replaced.
Again looking at history and those countries that have come before us we see what will take place.
But out of all of it, it is the crime that will sooner or later be like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Again history and just knowing the sin nature of man will show this to be true.

When the SHTF,  you’ll feel a real, urgent need to increase your security habits and find means of self defense.  Problem is that the million or so other people that live in your general area will have the same real urgent need.
Wanna get a gun, the shelves will be empty. That or the cost will be so high that it will be basically impossible. Those who are prepared will have already taken their personal, family and home security into consideration and have already acted. This is why I highly encourage you to get a Carry & Conceal license now. On top of that, take at least some basic fundamental classes on how to handle the weapon and even some close quarter tactics. They are out there, call your local gun shop owner and they can usually hook you up.

What about any sort of home alarm system, security system, even automatic lights. You will see the prices go through the roof. But not only because the money you are using is basically worthless, but the fact that you are now competing against the million or so masses who are looking for the same things you are. Those who are prepared have already set this up as well.
When the SHTF you will not be able to make ignorant mistakes, they will cost you in money and God forbid, possibly your life if you are too foolish.
People will naturally be divided into three groups. There will be the "sheepdogs" and there will be the "sheep." The third group, they are the wolves. It is the wolves who the sheep and the sheepdogs will need to contend with. 

What About a Job and Food?
Like during the great depression, people will be job hunting for months, even years. Competing for a job will become an art form of its own. Monster and the classified adds in the newspapers will be a joke. Those who are prepared will already have friends of friends, networks and abilities to help secure a much coveted job.
In fact, just getting to and from work will be an exercise in logic, tactics and nerves of steel. You will have riots, roadblocks, fires, carjacking, kidnappings, shootings and looters to contend with. That's just to name a few of the obstacles.
Grocery stores will have very limited supplies and when they do, getting in and purchasing food will be like walking the gauntlet. You will be on alert getting to and from your car with pepper spray or other means to keep the wolves at bay in hand.
Once inside you will have to contend with the prices being 200%, 300%, possibly even 700% higher.
Do you know that today it costs 32 billion Zimbabwe dollars just for a dozen eggs?
But that is not all.
The banks are going to be closed and when they do open they will limit how much you can withdrawal.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the equivalent to our own Fed Reserve has fixed the daily withdrawal limit at Z$100 billion. Folks, that is roughly US$1.25 per day for individuals. Newsflash -  that doesn't even cover the average day to day cost of living for people. Not to mention that they are living in the world's most inflationary country on the globe today.

Want a shocker, a loaf of bread costs Z$100 billion, meat sells for Z$450 billion a pound. (about US$5.60) and a half-gallon of milk costs Z$200 billion (about US$2.50). These items are all fixed priced by the government by law too. If they weren't the cost would be astronomical.
In Zimbabwe, local shops that are open associate a fee just for using Z-dollars, and although these fees differ, most charge about 15% commission for cash.
Why? Because the hyperinflation is so bad that within 24 hours, they have lost money due to prices going up higher and higher.
Those who have prepared have protected their wealth by putting it into silver, gold, jewelry, hard based assets. They may even have other hard currencies on hand like the Swiss Francs, Chinese Yuan or other currency that has not lost value in the worlds economy.
 They in turn can trade these items in and will be able to afford food to feed the family, gas to go to work, and other day to day expenses and not have to worry to much about the bank limits set upon them.
People, you have time right now to decide who you will be. Take this opportunity so that you can prepare for this situation now. 

Life will go on after the SHTF, but it will be the end of the world as you know it and be an entirely different world the next morning with new rules and new attitudes.  
Those who have prepared now will have the upper hand and be able to transition. They will have already seen the writing on the wall for a while now.  These people will be the sheepdogs
Here is what they have already done…
They have purchased food and have a well stocked pantry - they see food as an investment.
They have provided means to protect themselves, their family, their home with as many means as possible.
They have chosen to be the "sheepdog" instead of being the "sheep."
They blend into the crowd, walk with a purpose and completely alert to their surroundings before they even step outside their front door.
They prepared knowing that this situation was coming not only because they have learned from history, the bible told them also told them too.
There is nothing new under the sun.
The key is will you take the time to learn and be a sheepdog or will you ignore it and become one of the sheep.
The wolves will be out there and you will have to learn how to contend with them either way you look at it.
Take the time now and learn from Greece, Zimbabwe, Argentina and the others. It is not a matter of "IF" it is only a matter of "WHEN."

....

Thanks Ray, very well written article. It was just last week that sugar here was limited to 2 or 3 packs per family in most supermarkets (some didn't even have sugar at all). Now things are back to normal. These things happen every now and then, no one goes crazy, but I do remember a time when this  would have been unthinkable. As you well say, you end up living differently and have a hard time pinpointed exactly when it happened.
Price changing within 24 hs? Try minutes instead. Its crazy, watching supermarket employees running around with pricing guns, not even bothering to remove the old price, just sticking the new one on top! The price would change (increase) several times each day.  
As Ray says, preparing the basic supplies makes a big difference. Having a % of your savings in precious metals, a gun and the knowldege to use it, and most of all, the mind set to deal with all this as just a fact of life. 
These things happen, you just learn to roll with it.
FerFAL

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't underestimate the Wall Street power elite. They have the most to lose and will likely have any number of tricks up their sleeve to keep things humming.

Of course things will ultimately collapse, but they have the means to keep the balls juggling for another decade or more. Underestimate their tricks at your own peril.

Only the return of Christ will solve this dilemma. You are quite fortunate to be located outside of the U.S.

Ryan said...

Great post!

gaga said...

Zimbabwe allowed the use of the Euro and US dollar and inflation stopped, dead. Infact it was slightly negative.

Anonymous said...

Great article. Thank you. Webster Tarpley recently provided excellent reasons for his conclusion that the dollar can hyper inflate within 6 to 12 months. Other credible are vague and some placed it at about 12 to 18 months. The list of variables is long and it is more likely than not, impossible to predict the 'when'. Some whom had hoped an official revaluation and debt settlement between nations and currencies, now believe that would be no longer possible as the bankers are loosing control.

Tarpley is both an economist and historian and uses precedent from both in context with the current. To believe that the great and mighty bankers are more omnipotent than their predecessors is an assumption. Of the 3,800 fiat currencies that have existed, all have failed. The only fiat currencies that have not failed, are in various stages of failure.

I'd rather be too early rather than too late.

a

DaShui said...

Hey FerFal!

I saw 2 days ago in the WSJ the government wants to issue aluminum coins. The article said according to polls most Americans[ 80% ]still believe we have a gold standard. I think they are gonna be in for a surprise soon, when they can't afford any gold on the typical salary.

Anonymous said...

Hey FerFal, I had a question. I'm a lifelong survivalist and I've been warning people about what's happening in the U.S. and what's likely to come, for decades. Almost everyone brushes it off. All different types of people: young, old, different ages, political persuasions, etc. I've always felt that a collapse here is imminent precisely because nobody believes it can happen. The brainwashing by the elitist media is basically complete. I marvel at how people walk around only caring about sports, fashion and their downloaded music. My question is this: What happened to similar sheep in Argentina after the collapse? What happened to all the fashionistas and trendy club hoppers (and most people under 40 in general) who had absolutely no survival sense, survival knowledge or survival resources? Did they basically perish? I'm not trying to by dramatic, but I cannot for the life of me see how people who've spent their entire lives just trying to be hip and trendy could possible survive a collapse, with the mindset that's needed in order to do so.

rick@rickety said...

Here's a $100 trillion dollar banknote I just bought for $3:

http://www.rickety.us/2010/04/one-hundred-trillion-dollars/

There are some astronomical numbers to go with it, like 89,700,000,000,000,000,000,000% annual inflation.