Politically Incorrect Preparedness: Immigrants and choosing where to live

Dear Fernando,
As I don't know how much time you spend reading reader's emails,
therefore, here's the TLDR version:
Which factors to consider in a city A vs city B decision, with a focus
on the implications of the percentage of immigrants.
Now my actual email:
I've read your first book about three years ago and all your blog posts
since then. Thanks a lot for all the thought-provoking stuff and the
triggers based on your real-world experience. I've read several other
books on the topic, but yours finally got me to stock up on water (just
to give one example).
However, there is one topic I'm grappling with for which I couldn't find
your opinion and would like to know it. I saw the chapters/many posts
about city vs. country side. But not much regarding city A vs city B and
any related metrics for such a decision.
With my wife and daughter, we life in Frankfurt, Germany. Its
population is around 750,000, lies in the center of the country, is the
traffic center and thus offers many jobs in a good economic situation.
But my wife was born in Dresden (Eastern Germany) and she would love to
relocate back to her home town.
Population-wise it is sort of comparable: ~550,000. And being an IT guy,
I probably wouldn't have problems to find a job there. But the eastern
part of Germany in general is still much weaker in terms of economy.
What good is my own job if much around us in terms of infrastructure and
general social prosperity level would be lower?
Then there's the geopolitical question. In a general European decline,
what would it mean to be geographically much closer to the even poorer
economies of Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, etc.?
And probably the most sensitive and politically incorrect question is
about the implications of the percentage of immigrants in each city.
Frankfurt is really multicultural and has one of the highest percentages
of immigrants in Germany. Dresden is the opposite, having far less
immigrants. And you might have heard that still the hatred of foreigners
in eastern Germany is far higher than the western part. And to be clear:
I'm not talking about well integrated and/or well educated individuals
who make an effort to be part of and useful for society. I'm rather
thinking of the lower end of the skill spectrum. And be it that its just
"low" due to the fact that the local language is not there to apply any
skill.
Of course there are many more related factors. Where do we want to have
our kid in school? Let her go through the "school of hards knocks" with
many kids from families where even speaking the local language is an
issue, or rather some place else? And all the other "normal" factors,
like where are more relatives, closeness to nature, costs of living, etc.
But now let me formulate my main question(s) related to the survival topic:
- Do you have an opinion about the implications of the percentage of
immigrants in a SHTF scenario?
- Would you consider this aspect when choosing a city to live in?
- What other SHTF-factors do you see and would you consider in
comparison "city A vs city B"?
If you already answered this in your 2nd book, please let me know, as
this is still on my someday/maybe pile.
If you want to publicly answer my email despite the politically
incorrect aspects, please make it anonymous.
My last question is: Do you "need" further questions to fuel future
posts? I've gathered a laundry list of small questions for which I at
least didn't stumble upon answers from guys with real-world experience
during my survival studies. But as I don't want to ask for too much of
your time, I've just sent the question which is most on our minds these
days.
Thanks again for your valuable contribution and for considering our
concerns,
F
.

Hello F,

Thank you for your email. Sorry for the delay in replying. Its been pretty busy around here lately with the holidays and all, hope you understand.
Yes, this is the kind of topic I addressed in detail in my second book “Bugging Out & Relocating”, especially on the second part of the book regarding relocating and choosing wisely taking the most important factors into consideration.

I understand that based on your email immigration is a big concern, and it well should be, but then there’s also everything else to consider. A lot of it will have a great impact on not only your strategic position from a preparedness point of view but also on practical, everyday life quality.
I actually know a couple friend of ours, he’s Argentine, she’s from eastern Germany. I talked with her a lot and I get this impression that people from the east that suffered communism at one point seem more, “hardy”. It’s as if they still remember what tough times and adversity is like.  I’m sure one can’t generalize but it seemed to me that’s the most common mindset in the area. As you say you have more jobs in your current city, that’s also a factor to consider. Not that relocating within the same country to yet another large city would be that big a change.

Preparedness-wise I would say that people from the east are more prepared for adversity having endured it in the past. Then again, a weaker economy is still likely to suffer more during tough times. If such a thing does happen you could move back, although I doubt the German economy will get THAT bad any time soon.

The way I see it its more about what your wife wants than what you need from a practical point of view, and of course that’s important as well. As the saying goes, happy wife, happy life, right?
But also ask yourself, what do YOU want? Do you care much either way? If you don’t then why not make her happy. Maybe she also has a better support network of friends and family back home and that I can assure you is critical for preparedness, and for quality of life in good times as well.
I wouldn’t worry that much about being closer to Poland and other countries that could go through tough times. If anything most immigrants are likely to go right past you and straight to Berlin looking for work. Its all EU anyway, so movement is very much fluid all over the place.
Some of the eastern Europe countries do have rather hardcore criminal elements that are a concern. They are usually involved in some of the more violent crimes and home invasions. Being close to them could increase the risk factor although that has to be taken into account with the other pros and cons of moving there.

Is crime in Dresden particularly worse? Doesn’t seem to be the case.
https://www.numbeo.com/crime/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Germany&city1=Frankfurt&country2=Germany&city2=Dresden
If anything it seems that Dresden is considerably safer than Frankfurt, that’s very good.
Regarding your questions.

- Do you have an opinion about the implications of the percentage of immigrants in a SHTF scenario?

Yes, I do. I’ve been an immigrant myself and I know what its like to have someone look at you funny because you speak a foreign language, not realizing that you probably speak and write better than him! But I also understand that’s not the case with most immigrants.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m probably the least political correct person you’ll come across but I also believe that the majority of those people washing ashore lately are indeed desperate people that just want to survive and have good lives. But I also admit that there are evil people among them, and even among the “good” ones they are essentially very different people, with very different core values of what’s right and wrong compared to Christian/Western civilization cultures.
So yes, I do take it into account and I wouldn’t want to be stuck in a city with a large percentage of “refugees”, no matter how much I may sympathize with the suffering they have endured.

- Would you consider this aspect when choosing a city to live in?

I would. Both for safety, quality of life, even your kids in school. I wouldn’t want my kids going to a school where there’s a lot of people with such different values. One or two I can live with, but I don’t want a pack of them my kids school.

My oldest son had a classmate of muslim/middle eastern background and the kid was problematic, the kind that can only be addressed with violence. Fortunately my son took care of it without getting into too much trouble with the school (his teacher turned a blind eye). But I wouldnt want that kind of people around my kids, especially since you have a daughter that would be at a physical disadvantage. These people have a very different idea regarding the treatment of women.

-What other SHTF-factors do you see and would you consider in comparison "city A vs city B"?

Crime is certainly a big point to keep in mind, but also jobs, unemployment, income, education (how good are schools there?) infrastructure, even pollution. I also look into floods and other potential natural disasters. Being your wife’s home town adds several benefits and that must be considered. She has lived in both places and knows well why she wants to go back.

Hope that helps and by all means feel free to ask any other questions you may have. I’ll do my best to answer them (even if at times it takes a few days :-)  )

Kind regards and good luck!

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”