Posts
Long time watcher of your youtube channel and reader of your recent
book here.
I live in one of the countries you recommend as a good location to
relocate to- Australia.
I was wondering what you would suggest in terms of maximising quality
of life in the event that I would have to relocate away from my
country to different places which may have even worse problems.
I think this may be a possibility in the future due to some disturbing
trends in my country:
– Cost of living pressures, particularly housing and utilities, which
were already quite extreme in Australia, have been getting steadily
worse over the last 18mo or so, and are far outstripping median (not
mean) earnings.
– Unemployment/underemployment is underreported and steadily rising.
– Disturbing “anti-terrorism” laws have recently been passed which
criminalise journalists and whistleblowers, and facilitate intensive
mass surveillance.
– It is illegal to carry any item, be it lethal, less-lethal or
improvised, for personal protection from criminals. It is also illegal
to possess body armour.
If you are very wealthy this is still one of the very best places in
the world to be. If you are not, not so much. And the laws chafe.
Chris-
Hi Chris,
The first thing I would advice anyone considering relocating is that there’s no perfect place to live. Even in some of the best countries and specific areas you can live in, there will always be something that could be improved or that is better elsewhere. Even the best places to live in have their problems, and you’re bringing up one of them which is cost of living. Nice aint cheap, and the cheap places aren’t nice. Of course, you can find cheap and pretty nice, think Portugal, or you can find nice and not that expensive, Spain comes to mind, or many States in USA for that matter. What I’m trying to say is, even in a nearly perfectly balanced location that scores well in most important categories you will find something that bothers you to some extent. All the issues you bring up in your email are true. The cost of living in Australia was already pretty high and I can see how that’s a problem. Then again, most of the other things you mention are happening around the world as well, not just Australia. Privacy and personal liberties are globally under attack and other than USA, most countries have pretty restrictive laws regarding weapons.
Here’s some advice that may help you and others that are considering leaving countries that while not perfect, have a lot going for them:
*If the cost of living is a problem, rather than relocating try adjusting your budget some so as to make the most of it, cutting expenses wherever possible. Changing jobs, working to get a promotion or getting more training so as to get a raise is also a possibility. If you’re retired or otherwise capable of moving, maybe even move to a smaller, cheaper to live in town, State or province.
*When it comes to weapons and self-defense, know your laws well so as to know what you can or cannot carry. People often assume things are banned or forbidden when they are not. When it comes to improvised weapons, no country has any law regarding those. A rock that you pick up, a hockey stick or baseball bat that you take when playing such sports, an umbrella or even a pen that you have in your pocket they can all be used as improvised defense tools and no country has laws preemptively banning ordinary objects.
*In your case, consider New Zealand. Its another excellent country to live in and it scores well on some of the things that bother you such as weapons and cost of living. The gun laws are one of the best in the world and cost of living is 25to 30% cheaper than in Australia. Again, not perfect. New Zealand also has its problems but it would see that it could be an option to consider.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.
8 comments:
In the event of a real SHTF event I would expect China to take countries in the South Pacific. Australia is prime for them having exactly what they need, lots of land and low population. New Zealand too. Sorry but if the West capitulates the bad guys are going to be unrestrained.
Comment here from an Aussie regarding weapons. I know in Queensland you're allowed to carry a multitool if it's used in your everyday work. Pretty well anyone needs to cut paper, open parcels-evelopes at some time. I carry the Leatherman Charge TTI for this reason, and it has a quite decent blade. Sure I'd rather have a Glock, who wouldn't? On the other hand, the gun and concealed carry situation is about the only thing I do like about the idea of living in the US, it wouldn't be enough to make up for the negatives for me. I agree about the cost of living here though, especially housing.
Question: The SHTFPlan sister website, Daily Sheeple, talks about getting DC to DC converter for crises. I think you alluded to this years ago, Fernando, when you talked about dirty power in Argentina: Sheeple states "...consider getting a DC to DC converter. This piece will adjust any given voltage, into a higher or lower voltage. I’m betting that this gadget will be far more overlooked than the power inverter, which is typically made to turn 12 volts DC into 120 volts AC. What most folks don’t consider however, is that the sources of energy that will be made after the collapse will be made from improvised parts, and will be highly irregular. Whereas you can buy a solar panel or generator right now that produces something close enough to 12 volts (which is pretty standard), the improvised parts of a post collapse generator aren’t likely to produce the more typical 12 volts that most power inverters are designed for."
If you check various websites, there is a a DIZZYING ARRAY of choices and possibilities. (e.g, one site at random I checked was http://www.powerstream.com/dcdc.htm ) Do you know **** WHAT one should get?**** I.e., what specs? Input of 6V? 12? 72? Presumably this is for issues where there is dirty power, or as the site says above, for "homemade" power. Thanks
One website talks about getting DC to DC converter for crises. I know you talked at one point a year or so ago about dirty power in Argentina, where this might also be useful: To wit:"...consider getting a DC to DC converter. This piece will adjust any given voltage, into a higher or lower voltage. I’m betting that this gadget will be far more overlooked than the power inverter, which is typically made to turn 12 volts DC into 120 volts AC. What most folks don’t consider however, is that the sources of energy that will be made after the collapse will be made from improvised parts, and will be highly irregular. Whereas you can buy a solar panel or generator right now that produces something close enough to 12 volts (which is pretty standard), the improvised parts of a post collapse generator aren’t likely to produce the more typical 12 volts that most power inverters are designed for."
If you check various websites, there is a a DIZZYING ARRAY of choices and possibilities. (e.g, one site at random I checked was http://www.powerstream.com/dcdc.htm ) Does anyone know **** WHAT one should get? I.e., what specs? Input of 6V? 12? 72? Sounds like a good idea, but where to start!
Friend, Australia has one of the highest immigration programs in the developed world re per capita and is being sold off to China.Think carefully about this. I am planning to leave.The coment about Chinese invasion is correct, only the invasion has already occurred.
A chinese elite isn't that bad, case in point singapore and taiwan, all chinese, and the chinese elite in malaysia and indonesia easily makes them among the most stable muslim majority nations.
Things are going downhill cause of falling birthrates which will increase wealthy inequality and reduce social support services by the government. That means more unemployment, crime and corruption. But Australia is where this is less of a problem due to it's large immigration of skilled labour. But this will put further pressure on lower skilled younger people.
To the joker in the first comment that says China is going to take over countries in South Pacific...oh Plleeeaase stop your nonsense. Frankly, I think the Chinese would much prefer to Wall themselves in & mind their own business, than to act like the USA going around the world bombing 3rd world countries. Yes, the Chinese do indeed go around buying lots of properties everywhere because of new found wealth, and the need to move their money offshore from the hands of their governments. Common, isn't it the same with US citizens or anyone everywhere with some wealth? (legally & morally earned or otherwise). Back in the 80s, didn't the same xenophobic winds arose regarding the Japanese "taking over the world"? LOL. I agree with FerFal's great insight that practically all countries are facing some kind of challenges with corruption, unemployment, threats to personal liberties and so on...Even the safe Nordic countries with excellent social welfare, saner economies and lots of land for "survival" farming still have their fare share of extremists such as Anders Breivik the mass killer. In Switzerland, all their men bring home their assault rifles after their compulsory military service for their countries, and they are a safe country as well, and yet they too are recently unhappy with their rising cost of living and fyi, their society is also not too happy with their governments' immigration policies; so if you love Switzerland, your window to migrate there is closing as well. Personally, I'd say stay where you are now and make the best of your own lives, given that you already have the "home ground" advantage, where you're familiar with the language, the culture, where the opportunities are etc...rather than pack your bags and rush to some Timbucktoo where you know peanuts of the land, no friends, no nothing...if SHTF happens, do you think your chances are better at your home ground or in some Timbucktoo land?
In defence of Australia. Houseing is a lot cheaper in regional Australia compared with the big capital cities.
Regarding guns, they really arnt that hard to get legally, you just got to jump through a few hoops and takes a bit of time and comply with some stupid regulations. Semi auto long arms are out of the equation for most which suxs but apart from that it isn't so bad. Semi auto hand guns are available to target shooters but are restricted to 9mm or 357m or less. the restrictions is the calibre not the power so 357sig or 357 m are good to go but not 45acp.
The law clearly states that anything can be used for self defence here in Australia including guns, but its illegal to have anything in your position with the INTENT of using it as a weapon. So in other words you are quiet entitled under the law in most Australian States that I'm aware of to take your shotgun out and load it if there was for example a riotious mob comeing down your street just so long as you haven't been telling one and all and bosting on face book that you got a shotgun that you intend to use for self defence. Shoot some one in Australia and you probably will have to state your case in a court of law, but this is is the way it is in most places in the world and probably should be. I have taken great interst in insidences of people in Australia shooting attackers in there home and they basically all get off even though some of the examples are very dubious, ie a drug deal gone bad.
As for knives, here in regional Australia seeing people walking around town with a pocket knife in clear view on there belts is a common sight. You can carry a knife if you have a acceptable reason, its up to the police officers discretion to a certain degree, so get your story right and your good to carry.
Post a Comment