Posts
(This is an old post, posted at minion's some time ago )
Another question from leftofcentralfl in Mnionreport:
08-19-2007
Quote:
QUESTION: What mistakes do you think most people make preparing for what you and your countrymen have gone through?
I wouldn’t call them “mistakes”, I don’t hold the SHTF Bible so all I can give is my humble advice which may be correct or not, so all I can tell you is “ I wouldn’t do that if I were you”, and depending on how sure I am , add a smartass grin smiley.
There’s simply some preparations that make little sense if you think about it, others that I’ve seen that just wouldn’t work, in spite of all the speculations.
a) Maybe the one that rubs me the wrong way the most concerns retreats. It’s also something many survivalists consider the summit of their preparations. A self sufficient fortification-ranch, with the nearest neighbor several miles away.
Isolated farms or retreats are targeted and are often victims of robbery and in some cases extremely violent home invasions. You may have 6-10 able men you are counting on to defend it when TSHTF… “when TSHTF” …so they aren’t there right now? Then you don’t have them, nor will you have them when you need them, most likely.
The isolation works to the attackers favor, who often take their time having their way with everything and everyone inside the house.
The “away from everything” theory just doesn’t work when taken to the field. Happens here and same happens in Africa where ranchers and farmers have to fight rebels, rogues or whatever they are calling them these days.
They’ll find you, they’ll know about you one way or the other. You cant hide simply by living a gas tank away from the city. If there’s a road that reaches your place, you are fair game, doesn’t matter if it’s a dirt road in poor condition. You get there with a car/truck? So can bad guys.
You are obviously safer from small time robberies or pickpocketers and snathcers, but you are more vulnerable to the worst kind of criminals. Not that living in a city or suburbs makes it MUCH safer, but I’d rather live here where I live now than in a farm house any day of the week. People can somehow organize to hire security, talk to the police. Yes, most people border idiotic and are pretty clueless, but it’s better than being alone with no chance of even trying to convince people.
I’m not talking about living in a large city being the best option, I’m talking about living in a small town or community, looking for safety in numbers but avoiding the problems of a metropolis.
I definitely would choose a house in a small town or subdivision near a city, rather than a far away retreat.
Rather than looking for the ultimate self reliance retreat in the middle of nowhere, look for a subdivision where you have enough land, where you can keep a small orchard and some small critters if you want, a place with a basement where you can build a NBC shelter as time and money allows. That’s what I’d look forward to if living in US.
b) The barter items thing is also pretty strange. I don’t see how it could possibly be a smart idea to buy goods to sell or trade after a crisis, surely not in the quantities suggested by some people. Beats me, are they going to set up a shop in their garages and sell everything? Would you buy food an other supplies from a guy that sells it with no possible way of verifying the conditions under which the food was kept? How much of a profit could you possibly make , comparing to having saved that same amount of money in gold, for example?
I don’t understand it and I don’t know of anyone that made a profit by doing this. Yet, people stock up on TP and many other cheap, easily obtainable items thinking that it will be “worth it’s weight in gold” after the crisis. Newsflash: if it’s cheap and easy to produce, it will keep being that way AFTER tshtf.
Some guys advice to “invest” in such goods, tools, food and supplies for after TSHTF. No, no , no. 200 or 500 bucks worth of tools rusting away in the shed is not an investment. Its’ 200 bucks worth of tools for which you don’t have any use. That’s not an investment.
An investment generates money, while products rotting away in some basement does nothing for you.
c) Forgetting about their financial security. I’d worry about REAL investments. Buying real estate that will provide me with a steady income on the longer run, an investment portfolio divided in a couple of reliable ( or as reliable as any organization can be) that will slowly grow, most of it set on minimum and medium risk investments, and not falling for the promises of high risk ones.
Money is so important, I cant begin to explain it. When prices skyrocket beyond the limits of superinflation, money does not turn into toilet paper as many survival experts predict, it become cherished, more valuable to you than ever. You have to turn yourself into a discriminating shopper, always looking for the best possible price, sometimes shopping in different branches of supermarkets so as to find the better deals and avoid those “hot” items grocery chains slip without you even noticing.
My father is visiting right now, handling business, and one thing he told me when I asked how did he see things going on here, he used the words “cheapskate” and “miserly”.
He said something like“ People count coins over and over, by the cent, and spend maybe 10 minutes thinking about spending every cent. They also look kind of shabby, untidy, I can’t explain it. Even the guys running around downtown with suits look bad”
I explained that his overall perception was indeed correct, mostly because the average person here uses clothes until they wear out, there’s not that much money left for looks, not getting haircuts as often as they should, shaving.
Yes, the fall on the purchasing power of people did affect the average person ( at least most of them if not all) and you can see it on the streets.
d) Not all places are equal in terms of crime, but if something like this happens in US, I’d worry about being armed at all times, and learning how to use it to defend myself.
Again, not talking about waiting for the end of the world to bug in and pull the shotgun out of the firing ports, just go on with your life but do so armed.
Most people here don’t see things this way.
The anti gun campaign is very strong here, and the majority of “sheep” see guns as evil objects, even though rape, crime and violence is smeared on their face every day. What can I say, most people are pretty stupid.
Those of us who go armed in this country are a reduced minority. After a few words, we recognize each other at the range or at gunshops with a knowing nod, knowing that most people, even among shooters , don’t share our opinions.
Even among “gun people” we have our important share of “Zumbos”, elitist hunters who think that firearms are hunting tools and shouldn’t be used by the lesser “civilians” for self defense.
e)Not trying to bore anyone to death here or anything, but going back to the issue of money. It’s so important to be financially set. Rather than spending tons of money on junk you wont ever use invest it smartly. Rich, unprepared people will suffer after TSHF… only in your wildest dreams. Money buys everything, including expensive food, medical care, security and relocation if needed.
When the economy collapses a big chunk of what used to be middle class ( 50% as minimum, more for sure) ends up being poor. It doesn’t matter how much guns you have, doesn’t matter if you can start a fire with a couple popsicles sticks or build an atomic bomb with a Snickers bar and a paper clip. Skills are of course important but you finances affect everything.
If you are middle class do everything you can to improve, climb way up the ladder. No I’m not talking about making more money than Bill Gates, I’m just talking about something every determined middle class person can achieve , no need to be a freaking financial genius. Make sure you climb your way up to the upper middle class, because once the pyramid starts sinking you don’t want to be below the 50%.
If you are really serious about financial security, diversify your real estate and other investments in different countries. My father did this and it made all the difference in the world. The man is my hero.
When you see serious trouble in the horizon and survivalists are thinking about bunkering in their cabins, you simply go on vacations to check out that little apartment or house you bought in Costa Rica for a bunch of pocket change a month. If Zombies take over or China invades, you can look for a job there, or live like a king thanks to the income you receive from that other apartment you have in France, a place in a small town near a mayor University, which you rent to students each year.600 Euros a month will allow you to live comfortably in Costa Rica, and most countries in South America. And the best part of all this? If nothing EVER happens you just have a few properties here and there that are constantly generating money for you, in case you want to retire early or if you ever have a health problem or any other issue that puts you out of the job market. Again, a couple of properties here and there inst’ such a big deal, most people can achieve that with a bit of effort, its’ just a matter of priorities.
f)The lack of reality based preparations. Some people focus on preparing for something that will never happen, preparing for getting up one day and walking into Mad Max’s world. This is of course, not a smart idea. Not only are you forgetting about the other, more likely possibilities, but you also ignore that you’ll have to go trough them before it reaches to a road warrior point, if it ever gets to that.
People that have thousands and thousands of dollars in tools, equipment, and maybe spent hundreds of thousands more building the ultimate retreat, but don’t have a penny invested anywhere. When asked they‘ll say that it will all be worth nothing when TSHTF.
Hopefully, this person will have several years worth of food along with all the other stuff he’ll rarely get to use, so at least he wont starve to death. But is eating all you aspire for in live? Not to mention what would happen if he got sick/robbed/place burns to the ground/hurricane/flood destroys it and suddenly needs the money he said he would never need.
Prepare for a broad spectrum of possibilities. So you’ll have your food and supplies for short and medium periods of time where supermarkets may be closed due to looting, riots, lack of supply , etc and you have others plans in case things get worse or you are forced to get out of there.
Something like what happened here happening in US? Don’t go nuts, shooting the neighbor’s kid for crossing over to your yard to pick up his frizzbe. Just adjust to the situation.
Once the first few weeks are over and people start calming down, just be more careful out there, don’t throw away money on stuff you don’t need and try to keep a generally low profile. It’s also important to do well at work, because people get fired like crazy during those times, companies trying to reduce expenses or not needing you any more for lack of production.
During these times is when your investments kick in. Not only do you have a place to exile to if things don’t go back to normal or they don’t fit what you expect in life anymore, you also have a form of income that is out of the circle of your local economy. Let’s say the dollar looses ½ it’s value, you still have your apartment in France or wherever the heck you want to invest, pumping in Euros that are now much more valuable, probably compensating for the local inflation, so weather you decide to leave or stay, you have the means to go either way.
FerFAL
.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Body Armor and real world use for it in the city
I’d like to take this opportunity to somewhat try to clarify a few things and explain what my country is like.
Argentina is not a devastated wasteland were looters roam the ruins and people live in a post apocalyptic world.
This is a country in many ways similar to any other country, downtown Buenos Aires looks like any large European or American metropolis, with a few differences of course but similar none the less.
Busy yuppies going about their business, cabs, malls, hotels, lots of shops and restaurants, what you’d expect in any mayor metropolis.
There are differences of course, the city is much more dirty. There no control over pollution, and cars are in awful state compared to 1st world countries. Make more noise and fumes.
For some reason, women (and men) are unusually slim and good looking, people here are 98% white, and of course, this is south America, there’s a Latin flavor to it all. So its in some ways and odd and unique combination tourists quickly appreciate.
Buenos Aires.
What I mean is, even with certain incidents of social unrest now and then, roadblocks protests, some incidents getting out of control and erupting in burning and lootings of stores or train stations , people are no different regarding most aspects. Job, school, education and culture ( still higher than the average Latin American) . One of the differences being, people here do not get their panties twisted if there a protest or even some social unrest, it takes a LOT of social unrest to disturb the average Buenos Aires citizen, given everything we’ve went through.
What would otherwise cause a nervous brake down to a tourist not used to it, is a minor inconvenience for us.
Then yes, you have suburbs and even many parts within the city of Buenos Aires that are simply disastrous. Places like villa 31 (shanty town) just a few blocks away from the down town capital district of Buenos Aires, and thousands of other places that are what you’d imagine in your worst, 3rd world south American rat hole.
No sewer, illegal electricity connection or no power at all, and so bad even police need to go in there with the military as backup.
Argentina is better described as a country of strong contrasts. You have fancy Puerto Madero with it’s world class hotels, restaurants and entertainment, and across the river you have Avellaneda and Docksud where cops have been known to shoot people first and don’t even bother to ask questions later and dump the bodies on the river to avoid paperwork, and people still live all across the country, both good and bad neighborhoods.
What you get to see as a tourist is mostly good, but taking into account the entire country, you’ll have a hard time finding a single spot that I truly safe from the harsh reality of Argentina, in terms of security.
This is not Mad Max or the postman, ok? It’s people going through their daily lives facing VERY complicated financial and political times, still suffering the effects of the 2001 economical collapse( and we will suffer it for 10 more years to come, at least) and dealing with extremely high crime, in some places it can only be described as rampant and out of control.
And crime brings us to body armor.
Good question SED, thanks.
Fantasy: You strap on your webbing and armor, go scrounge the remains of what was once a city, looking for some canned food left behind by looters and the subsequent zombies that came after, with your faithful dog “Dogmeat” running along your side. O yes, don’t forget the leather jacket and sawed off shotgun.
Reality: First start by accepting that Fallout is just a RPG and Mad Max was a fun movie, but there’s no connection with reality whatsoever.
Situation; Crime is a problem, it’s a HUGE problem. You try not to worry to much or else you go nuts but you can’t stik your head in the sand an pretend nothing is wrong, at least I can’t.
Before I go own, I’d like to say that this is what I do, in no way can this be considered common practice for Argentines, just like you cant consider common practice for the average American Six Pack Joe to make a risk assessment analysis of his personal situation, become proficient in armed and unarmed self defense, stock up food, have savings in case SHTF, worrying about investments, and have an emergency contingency plan.
What I personally determined was that there were certain situations I couldn’t avoid that, given current events, were very risky and based on what happens to others, there a much bigger possibility of getting targeted by criminals and , maybe involved in a gunfight.
Moving large amounts of cash for some reason, receiving payments of large for real estate transactions.
Sometimes encountering possible clients, or even meeting people to sell your car, these are all situations you can’t avoid that involve a much higher security risk.
Body armor is not something a lot of people think of. Even people that carry guns, most of them don’t own or consider they need body armor.
But as violence gets worse, as the possibility of a gunfight gets closer and you hear about neighbors, people you know getting shot, you have a much better picture.
You understand how ridiculously stupid it is to think that you’ll get into gunfights, carrying a gun yourself for such an event, but for some mysterious reason you wont be the one getting shot.
Granted, if things are SO bad you need to use BA ( body armor from now on) every day, you better start using it and find a way to get out of there because it’s certainly not safe, but hey! You still need to use it until you get out of there, don’t you?
I use mine only on certain situations, like the ones described above that are known to be particularly dangerous. Moving large sums of cash around, meeting people I simply must meet but I’m not so sure about them, when going to bad parts of town for reasons I can’t avoid.
There are all situations that are typically dangerous so I take the extra caution of wearing BA.
Also, my BA is in my closet ready for use ( only one side closed, the other one left open for putting it on fast) so if something goes “bump in the night”, or there’s trouble of any kind, I get my gun and flashlight an put my BA.
Other situations where you might want to wear BA: For example while evacuating the city for any given reason ( Katrina) when violent encounters are more likely, or wearing it during times of civil unrest, lootings and outbursts of violence, protests gone out of control, etc.
Just like your firearm or your fire extinguisher, BA is the kind of “insurance” you need to buy before you need it.
What kind of BA?
Soft body armor by bulletproofme.com. Good people to do business with, specially if you are on a tight budget.
Soft boy armor can conceal under regular clothes. Level II BA is an ideal balance between concealabilty and protection. Will stop most handgun rounds, except for FMJ 9mm submachinegun ammo (higher velocity) and 44 magnum. You’d need III-A for that kind of protection.
But if you are worried about that kind of threats, maybe hard body armor (plates) is better for your situation.
Level II-A, II and III-A is soft body armor, flexible material, more comfortable and will stop most common handgun caliber but will not stop rifle rounds, which will zip righDrt through it ( unless you have exotic armor such as Dagonskin, made by Pinnacle)
Level III and IV( stops armor piercing rounds) are hard armor plates, this stop rifle rounds.
In my situation, rifles are not that commonly found being used by criminals. Happens but its not that common.
Ideally, get good level II armor and then get some armor plates.
If things turn ugly, you’d be glad you bought it.
Even in much more common home burglaries, taking a couple extra seconds to put on BA can make the difference between life and death.
FerFAL
Argentina is not a devastated wasteland were looters roam the ruins and people live in a post apocalyptic world.
This is a country in many ways similar to any other country, downtown Buenos Aires looks like any large European or American metropolis, with a few differences of course but similar none the less.
Busy yuppies going about their business, cabs, malls, hotels, lots of shops and restaurants, what you’d expect in any mayor metropolis.
There are differences of course, the city is much more dirty. There no control over pollution, and cars are in awful state compared to 1st world countries. Make more noise and fumes.
For some reason, women (and men) are unusually slim and good looking, people here are 98% white, and of course, this is south America, there’s a Latin flavor to it all. So its in some ways and odd and unique combination tourists quickly appreciate.
Buenos Aires.
What I mean is, even with certain incidents of social unrest now and then, roadblocks protests, some incidents getting out of control and erupting in burning and lootings of stores or train stations , people are no different regarding most aspects. Job, school, education and culture ( still higher than the average Latin American) . One of the differences being, people here do not get their panties twisted if there a protest or even some social unrest, it takes a LOT of social unrest to disturb the average Buenos Aires citizen, given everything we’ve went through.
What would otherwise cause a nervous brake down to a tourist not used to it, is a minor inconvenience for us.
Then yes, you have suburbs and even many parts within the city of Buenos Aires that are simply disastrous. Places like villa 31 (shanty town) just a few blocks away from the down town capital district of Buenos Aires, and thousands of other places that are what you’d imagine in your worst, 3rd world south American rat hole.
No sewer, illegal electricity connection or no power at all, and so bad even police need to go in there with the military as backup.
Argentina is better described as a country of strong contrasts. You have fancy Puerto Madero with it’s world class hotels, restaurants and entertainment, and across the river you have Avellaneda and Docksud where cops have been known to shoot people first and don’t even bother to ask questions later and dump the bodies on the river to avoid paperwork, and people still live all across the country, both good and bad neighborhoods.
What you get to see as a tourist is mostly good, but taking into account the entire country, you’ll have a hard time finding a single spot that I truly safe from the harsh reality of Argentina, in terms of security.
This is not Mad Max or the postman, ok? It’s people going through their daily lives facing VERY complicated financial and political times, still suffering the effects of the 2001 economical collapse( and we will suffer it for 10 more years to come, at least) and dealing with extremely high crime, in some places it can only be described as rampant and out of control.
And crime brings us to body armor.
I cannot find the address to ask you a question so I will do it in this comment section. You once wrote of the importance of buying body armor. Do you and your family wear/use body armor on a daily basis? Is a level 2 armor sufficient? Thanks.
SED
Good question SED, thanks.
Fantasy: You strap on your webbing and armor, go scrounge the remains of what was once a city, looking for some canned food left behind by looters and the subsequent zombies that came after, with your faithful dog “Dogmeat” running along your side. O yes, don’t forget the leather jacket and sawed off shotgun.
Reality: First start by accepting that Fallout is just a RPG and Mad Max was a fun movie, but there’s no connection with reality whatsoever.
Situation; Crime is a problem, it’s a HUGE problem. You try not to worry to much or else you go nuts but you can’t stik your head in the sand an pretend nothing is wrong, at least I can’t.
Before I go own, I’d like to say that this is what I do, in no way can this be considered common practice for Argentines, just like you cant consider common practice for the average American Six Pack Joe to make a risk assessment analysis of his personal situation, become proficient in armed and unarmed self defense, stock up food, have savings in case SHTF, worrying about investments, and have an emergency contingency plan.
What I personally determined was that there were certain situations I couldn’t avoid that, given current events, were very risky and based on what happens to others, there a much bigger possibility of getting targeted by criminals and , maybe involved in a gunfight.
Moving large amounts of cash for some reason, receiving payments of large for real estate transactions.
Sometimes encountering possible clients, or even meeting people to sell your car, these are all situations you can’t avoid that involve a much higher security risk.
Body armor is not something a lot of people think of. Even people that carry guns, most of them don’t own or consider they need body armor.
But as violence gets worse, as the possibility of a gunfight gets closer and you hear about neighbors, people you know getting shot, you have a much better picture.
You understand how ridiculously stupid it is to think that you’ll get into gunfights, carrying a gun yourself for such an event, but for some mysterious reason you wont be the one getting shot.
Granted, if things are SO bad you need to use BA ( body armor from now on) every day, you better start using it and find a way to get out of there because it’s certainly not safe, but hey! You still need to use it until you get out of there, don’t you?
I use mine only on certain situations, like the ones described above that are known to be particularly dangerous. Moving large sums of cash around, meeting people I simply must meet but I’m not so sure about them, when going to bad parts of town for reasons I can’t avoid.
There are all situations that are typically dangerous so I take the extra caution of wearing BA.
Also, my BA is in my closet ready for use ( only one side closed, the other one left open for putting it on fast) so if something goes “bump in the night”, or there’s trouble of any kind, I get my gun and flashlight an put my BA.
Other situations where you might want to wear BA: For example while evacuating the city for any given reason ( Katrina) when violent encounters are more likely, or wearing it during times of civil unrest, lootings and outbursts of violence, protests gone out of control, etc.
Just like your firearm or your fire extinguisher, BA is the kind of “insurance” you need to buy before you need it.
What kind of BA?
Soft body armor by bulletproofme.com. Good people to do business with, specially if you are on a tight budget.
Soft boy armor can conceal under regular clothes. Level II BA is an ideal balance between concealabilty and protection. Will stop most handgun rounds, except for FMJ 9mm submachinegun ammo (higher velocity) and 44 magnum. You’d need III-A for that kind of protection.
But if you are worried about that kind of threats, maybe hard body armor (plates) is better for your situation.
Level II-A, II and III-A is soft body armor, flexible material, more comfortable and will stop most common handgun caliber but will not stop rifle rounds, which will zip righDrt through it ( unless you have exotic armor such as Dagonskin, made by Pinnacle)
Level III and IV( stops armor piercing rounds) are hard armor plates, this stop rifle rounds.
In my situation, rifles are not that commonly found being used by criminals. Happens but its not that common.
Ideally, get good level II armor and then get some armor plates.
If things turn ugly, you’d be glad you bought it.
Even in much more common home burglaries, taking a couple extra seconds to put on BA can make the difference between life and death.
FerFAL
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Charity during and after the crisis
There’s been a few questions around the various survival and prep forums, as well as a few questions dropped in the comments section here that could also be related, about how one would handle refugees, beggars and overall charity after TSHTF.
It’s been years since this because a problem here so I’ll just tell how things happened in my country and how I’ve been handling these kind of situations.
With a large portion of the middle class turning poor and the already poor people becoming derelicts, the amount of people roaming around begging increased tremendously.
It’s not just people outside supermarkets begging for some food, they go home to home, stop you on the street.
Maybe you’ve already noticed an increasing number of people begging or panhandling outside supermarkets, grocery stores and gas stations.
Tip: Just wait until it gets worse and managers notice clients don’t feel comfortable there anymore. They’ll have security kicking them out before they get close to the establishment.
On the street, even if you are a charitable person, you really do NOT want to get used to stopping and listening to any beggar you come across. Not only will you be loosing a couple hours of your day when the amount of beggars increases, most of them with very tragic stories, but you’ll also turn yourself into a favorite target of any criminal that is just looking to distract you while an accomplice hits you over the head or stanches you bag/purse/pack/briefcase.
But what about people going door to door?
As things gets worse this turns into something you have to deal with, you just can’t avoid people standing at your door and start ringing the bell.
Here’s where fact and fiction part ways.
In an ideal world, we would all hand out some kind of help to these poor souls, at least a bit to each as long as we can afford it.
Fact: Even Bill Gates can’t afford the endless line he’d face at his door front once the word gets around that a particular charitable person is willing to listen to their troubles and offer some help.
Old people, kids, cripples, sick, people with true heart braking stories, they show up almost on daily basis at the door. Add to these sincere people, those that are just bums or addicts looking to make some coin, or the dedicated con men that send kids around asking for money.
You do not have time to help everyone. There’s so many of them, just listening to half of them will take most of your weekend.
The way I handle it?
Most of the time I don’t even answer the door if I don’t recognize who’s out there.
I want to spend time with my family when I’m home, not answer the door all day.
In some occasions, when there are kids, I offer them some food.
If they refuse the food I know that they are not that hungry and more than likely the money isn’t even for them, but for some addict parent or relative that exploits them.
I should mention here as well, that as the old saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. So IF I answer the door, I’m doing so armed, and talking through the grating metal fence, since many times kids are used as bait for grownups to brake in.
I usually end up with boxes of chocolates and sweets neither of us actually likes, and that’s what I usually end up giving away to the kids. Either that or some pudding cake, or some other food they can eat right there, before getting home where the parent will more than likely take it away form them for himself or to sell.
If I helped a kid one day and the following they other show up, I either tell them that I can’t help or I don’t even answer the door. That way I avoid a reputation and the constant bagging that would come along with it.
This is a touchy issue and religion and the “Christian thing to do” comes into play, but unless you realize how many desperately poor people are out there, you really don’t know how impossible it is, to help everyone.
Once you realize the magnitude of the social poverty, you understand like I do that you can’t help everyone.
It’s much better to refuse this kind of begging that could get out of control, and find other ways to help if that what you want to do.
Once or twice a year, I take the clothes we don’t use anymore to the small local Catholic church.
There they make sure the most needy families get what they need, and the charity is distributed much better among those that need it the most.
So, watch out who you answer your door to, don’t open it unless you have another barrier (tall fence) or else deal through a window, give out charity only occasionally, NEVER give them money, no matter what story they come up with ( need meds for my dieing son among others I’ve heard) and if possible give away food that can be eaten right away.
FerFAL
It’s been years since this because a problem here so I’ll just tell how things happened in my country and how I’ve been handling these kind of situations.
With a large portion of the middle class turning poor and the already poor people becoming derelicts, the amount of people roaming around begging increased tremendously.
It’s not just people outside supermarkets begging for some food, they go home to home, stop you on the street.
Maybe you’ve already noticed an increasing number of people begging or panhandling outside supermarkets, grocery stores and gas stations.
Tip: Just wait until it gets worse and managers notice clients don’t feel comfortable there anymore. They’ll have security kicking them out before they get close to the establishment.
On the street, even if you are a charitable person, you really do NOT want to get used to stopping and listening to any beggar you come across. Not only will you be loosing a couple hours of your day when the amount of beggars increases, most of them with very tragic stories, but you’ll also turn yourself into a favorite target of any criminal that is just looking to distract you while an accomplice hits you over the head or stanches you bag/purse/pack/briefcase.
But what about people going door to door?
As things gets worse this turns into something you have to deal with, you just can’t avoid people standing at your door and start ringing the bell.
Here’s where fact and fiction part ways.
In an ideal world, we would all hand out some kind of help to these poor souls, at least a bit to each as long as we can afford it.
Fact: Even Bill Gates can’t afford the endless line he’d face at his door front once the word gets around that a particular charitable person is willing to listen to their troubles and offer some help.
Old people, kids, cripples, sick, people with true heart braking stories, they show up almost on daily basis at the door. Add to these sincere people, those that are just bums or addicts looking to make some coin, or the dedicated con men that send kids around asking for money.
You do not have time to help everyone. There’s so many of them, just listening to half of them will take most of your weekend.
The way I handle it?
Most of the time I don’t even answer the door if I don’t recognize who’s out there.
I want to spend time with my family when I’m home, not answer the door all day.
In some occasions, when there are kids, I offer them some food.
If they refuse the food I know that they are not that hungry and more than likely the money isn’t even for them, but for some addict parent or relative that exploits them.
I should mention here as well, that as the old saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. So IF I answer the door, I’m doing so armed, and talking through the grating metal fence, since many times kids are used as bait for grownups to brake in.
I usually end up with boxes of chocolates and sweets neither of us actually likes, and that’s what I usually end up giving away to the kids. Either that or some pudding cake, or some other food they can eat right there, before getting home where the parent will more than likely take it away form them for himself or to sell.
If I helped a kid one day and the following they other show up, I either tell them that I can’t help or I don’t even answer the door. That way I avoid a reputation and the constant bagging that would come along with it.
This is a touchy issue and religion and the “Christian thing to do” comes into play, but unless you realize how many desperately poor people are out there, you really don’t know how impossible it is, to help everyone.
Once you realize the magnitude of the social poverty, you understand like I do that you can’t help everyone.
It’s much better to refuse this kind of begging that could get out of control, and find other ways to help if that what you want to do.
Once or twice a year, I take the clothes we don’t use anymore to the small local Catholic church.
There they make sure the most needy families get what they need, and the charity is distributed much better among those that need it the most.
So, watch out who you answer your door to, don’t open it unless you have another barrier (tall fence) or else deal through a window, give out charity only occasionally, NEVER give them money, no matter what story they come up with ( need meds for my dieing son among others I’ve heard) and if possible give away food that can be eaten right away.
FerFAL
Friday, October 24, 2008
The crisis and the loss of freedom
The news about our government taking over our privately owned pension funds reminded me of something I meant to write about for a while now, and its something Americans know well.
I’m talking about freedom here.
We, as South Americans with a totalitarian government that considers Fidel and Chaves buddies, are loosing our freedoms at high speed.
Freedom of speech has suffered greatly, specially after Mr. Kirchner handed over the presidency to his wife.
Reporters are simply afraid to say or write the truth, with only one news channel making some weak attempts to speak up.
They are threatened with censorship based on a newly created institution, the “Observatorio de Discriminación en los Medios”, something that translates into the “Media Discrimination Observatory”.
BS aside and cutting to the chase, if the govt. doesn't like what a person, tv channel or paper says, it gets censored by this institution, claiming that such remarks are “discriminatory” .
As usual, fear is one of a governments greatest tool. Put enough fear into people and they’ll do or approve anything.
Just look at what happened now with the 700 billion rescue.
Why was it finally approved? Because, as GWB said(speach on CNN), the alternative would be far worse.
People believe this and are willing to sacrifice a bit more in order to avoid greater damage.
When Obama becomes president, how much freedom will you be willing to give up to him, in order to supposedly avoid greater damage?
Because of what happened in 2001, we gave our president “super powers” in order to help get us through the crisis. It gave him, among other things, a certain margin to work independently without the approval of congress on certain cases. Supposedly this is an emergency, desperate measure and the president will willingly give up his superpowers when there’s no need for them any more.
Seven years later and the current president still holds these "super powers", and isn’t even considering giving them up.
Among the many measures taken by our government, one of the most aggressive and bold was it’s anti gun campaign.
The project shamelessly accepts that the mission is to reduce the amount of weapons among the population, and ultimately ban, destroy or confiscate any gun civilians may own.
Be very aware guys, to these subtle and sometimes not so subtle losses of civil rights.
FerFAL
I’m talking about freedom here.
We, as South Americans with a totalitarian government that considers Fidel and Chaves buddies, are loosing our freedoms at high speed.
Freedom of speech has suffered greatly, specially after Mr. Kirchner handed over the presidency to his wife.
Reporters are simply afraid to say or write the truth, with only one news channel making some weak attempts to speak up.
They are threatened with censorship based on a newly created institution, the “Observatorio de Discriminación en los Medios”, something that translates into the “Media Discrimination Observatory”.
BS aside and cutting to the chase, if the govt. doesn't like what a person, tv channel or paper says, it gets censored by this institution, claiming that such remarks are “discriminatory” .
As usual, fear is one of a governments greatest tool. Put enough fear into people and they’ll do or approve anything.
Just look at what happened now with the 700 billion rescue.
Why was it finally approved? Because, as GWB said(speach on CNN), the alternative would be far worse.
People believe this and are willing to sacrifice a bit more in order to avoid greater damage.
When Obama becomes president, how much freedom will you be willing to give up to him, in order to supposedly avoid greater damage?
Because of what happened in 2001, we gave our president “super powers” in order to help get us through the crisis. It gave him, among other things, a certain margin to work independently without the approval of congress on certain cases. Supposedly this is an emergency, desperate measure and the president will willingly give up his superpowers when there’s no need for them any more.
Seven years later and the current president still holds these "super powers", and isn’t even considering giving them up.
Among the many measures taken by our government, one of the most aggressive and bold was it’s anti gun campaign.
The project shamelessly accepts that the mission is to reduce the amount of weapons among the population, and ultimately ban, destroy or confiscate any gun civilians may own.
Be very aware guys, to these subtle and sometimes not so subtle losses of civil rights.
FerFAL
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
More Q&A
Sorry for not showing up for a while. Family, work, new baby and all. :)
Well, the worse thing is reaching a point were you allow your kids to live their lives, but dont risk themselves too much.
As always security is the worst problem we face. It really is out of control, getting worse and worse, but how do you make a teen understand he’s not inmortal?
Education is also a big problem. In public schools, they are discussing giving classes on Saturdays, to catch up with all the lost classes due to strikes, etc.
If you want a good education here, you need to go private. Home schooling isn’t popular, it’s not legal to home school in this country. Kids must attend schools, no matter how bad or dangerous they are.
In our current dictatorial government, the Catholic church is under severe attack, they accuse priests of everything and there a not so subtle campaign against them.
Evangelical churches, cults and satanic rituals have grown inmensely in popularity ( mostly satanic “macumba” rituals) among the poorest population, it’s VERY popular.
People are desperate, and the more desperate, the better easy solutions look. RCC offers no easy way, but others offer quick solutions. Money, love, revenge, they promise everything and people buy that BS
We pay for a private health service, about 400 USD a month. Most companies also offer employees health packages.
Public health is of terrible quality, good people (docs and nurses) but not nearly enough resources and people like in public Hospitals like flies.
If you can afford it, health is her is quite good, nice rooms, variety of professionals to choose from, but even though some hospitals are down right luxurious, do not expect the level of development found in first world countries. I learned that first hand when my son got ill. The small hand held machine that could have diagnosed his problem (lactose intolerant) was nearly impossible to find, since there are only two in the country. Why? According to them, because it’s too expensive ( 10.000 USD). So no matter how fancy hospitals such as Swiss medical, Trinidad Palermo or Matter Day look, it’s mostly “make up”, on certain levels.
No you don’t tip doctors, you just need to have a private health plan of some sort. That alone will cover 90% of what a person may experience. The other 10%? Better move back to USA or Europe because medicine is much more advanced there when it comes to important, less common illnesses.
But if you want plastic surgery or LASIK, Argentina has very competitive prices. :)
My brother is going through a divorce right now and yes, it’s as bad as in USA, probably worse. Here laws benefit the mother even more, and will benefit her instead of the father unless the evidence against the mother is very solid.
Boy, we named him Dante. :)
No , no way.
Today, a few days after the question was asked. The government took the retirement plans away form the people. “Nationalized” them over 30.000.000.000 USD. Stolen from the people, that alone proves how fragile the law and financial security is in this country.
Try reading some of the earlier posts, there’s some signs to look for there.
It’s not really math, I mean, these days any country can go under within 24 hs. , it’s past time of reading signs, the world is already in a very fragile economical situation.
All I can say now is try to have your savings in solids, money at home or real estate, because banks and stocks sure aren’t safe.
All I can say is I’m not surprised. We are loosing quite a bit of money with this, the government is stealing from the people again, but there’s nothing we can do. All this gets directly discounted from your paycheck, so even if you know this could have happened any time, there’s no way to avoid it.
Watch out for these socialist-communist BS, it happened here and you’ve seen what’s going on in USA right now, never say “It wont happen here” because you just never know. And Obama sure looks like someone who could buddy up with Chavez, Evo and Kristina, a nice unified socialist, big government, all across America.
I’ve always liked brick and mortars better for solid investment. The bricks aren’t going anywhere and once the crisis is in full throttle, people simply cant afford loans to buy so demand for rent goes up a lot.
At least in my experience, rent has gone up side by side with inflation, so if you have a property that provides you with money, you can count on rent rises compensating for inflation. The trick is to have a good contract that allows modifications as time goes by.
At first brokers cried and panicked when I even suggested this, after a while it became common practice and today I’m not renting a property without this closure.
That way I ensure the purchasing power of those colorful pieces of paper with pictures of dead folks. ;)
Where to go? Heck I don’t know. I’m still counting on USA recovering from all this mess, if not I have Europe to go to, with my family in Spain. End of the world? Argentina is probably a good place is the rest of the world goes down. But until that happens, there’s other much better places to live in. That of course is my personal situation. I suggest having a couple of safety net countries just in case. Family, friends, anyone that is willing to take you and your family in until you find a job and manage to settle. Doesn’t sound easy and it isn’t , but people do that all the time, you simply cannot talk to another person in this country without finding out that they have either family or very close friends that did just that. ( mostly to Spain or Italy, where people have distant relatives or friends that already moved there).
Take care.
I don’t have that much in it and I’m not planning on staying here past a few more months after 2009 January.
I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes, knowing I’m stuck here for the rest of their lives.
Lol!:)
A bit of both. :) No, just had a lot of things to take care of lately, with the baby and all, and work that I couldn’t do while I was at the hospital with my wife.
But this pension thing is something to worry about, not because of what I personally loose, but because it’s a huge red sign of trouble in the horizon.
FerFAL
“I'd really like to read a thorough post of your thoughts about specific issues that parents face in a situation like the collapse in Argentina. Oh, and in light of the baptism--are there any specific issues with the Church in a collapse? Attendance up, down, crimes against parishioners en route or against the clergy, etc.?
Thanks—“-B
Well, the worse thing is reaching a point were you allow your kids to live their lives, but dont risk themselves too much.
As always security is the worst problem we face. It really is out of control, getting worse and worse, but how do you make a teen understand he’s not inmortal?
Education is also a big problem. In public schools, they are discussing giving classes on Saturdays, to catch up with all the lost classes due to strikes, etc.
If you want a good education here, you need to go private. Home schooling isn’t popular, it’s not legal to home school in this country. Kids must attend schools, no matter how bad or dangerous they are.
In our current dictatorial government, the Catholic church is under severe attack, they accuse priests of everything and there a not so subtle campaign against them.
Evangelical churches, cults and satanic rituals have grown inmensely in popularity ( mostly satanic “macumba” rituals) among the poorest population, it’s VERY popular.
People are desperate, and the more desperate, the better easy solutions look. RCC offers no easy way, but others offer quick solutions. Money, love, revenge, they promise everything and people buy that BS
Anonymous said...
“How much money does the cesarean section cost and who pays it? Any insurance?
Could you tell us something about the quality of the hospitals?
Do the doctors require tips?-
How are the laws regarding divorce in your country? Could your wife divorce you and take money, house, car, and children away and claim alimony, like it is so common in the US and Europe/UK?
I would be grateful, if you could answer some of these important questions.”
We pay for a private health service, about 400 USD a month. Most companies also offer employees health packages.
Public health is of terrible quality, good people (docs and nurses) but not nearly enough resources and people like in public Hospitals like flies.
If you can afford it, health is her is quite good, nice rooms, variety of professionals to choose from, but even though some hospitals are down right luxurious, do not expect the level of development found in first world countries. I learned that first hand when my son got ill. The small hand held machine that could have diagnosed his problem (lactose intolerant) was nearly impossible to find, since there are only two in the country. Why? According to them, because it’s too expensive ( 10.000 USD). So no matter how fancy hospitals such as Swiss medical, Trinidad Palermo or Matter Day look, it’s mostly “make up”, on certain levels.
No you don’t tip doctors, you just need to have a private health plan of some sort. That alone will cover 90% of what a person may experience. The other 10%? Better move back to USA or Europe because medicine is much more advanced there when it comes to important, less common illnesses.
But if you want plastic surgery or LASIK, Argentina has very competitive prices. :)
My brother is going through a divorce right now and yes, it’s as bad as in USA, probably worse. Here laws benefit the mother even more, and will benefit her instead of the father unless the evidence against the mother is very solid.
Anonymous said...
“Boy or girl this time :D !!?”
Boy, we named him Dante. :)
Anonymous said...
Hi ferfal, on this site I found some argentinian ADRs. Would YOU invest in such argentinian companies? Or are there too many problems?
In time of crisis stocks are cheap.
http://www.site-by-site.com/adr/latin/adr_arg.htm
No , no way.
Today, a few days after the question was asked. The government took the retirement plans away form the people. “Nationalized” them over 30.000.000.000 USD. Stolen from the people, that alone proves how fragile the law and financial security is in this country.
“Hi FerFal!
Thanks for your advices. I think it will be very useful, if you talk about the direct signs of the SHTF, before 1-5-10-20 days about the beginning of the crisis.
Thank you for your help against!
almale - middle europe”
Try reading some of the earlier posts, there’s some signs to look for there.
It’s not really math, I mean, these days any country can go under within 24 hs. , it’s past time of reading signs, the world is already in a very fragile economical situation.
All I can say now is try to have your savings in solids, money at home or real estate, because banks and stocks sure aren’t safe.
Anonymous said...
Hi Ferfal,
could you tell me your opinion aout these news:
"Argentine stocks dropped on Monday as bank shares plunged on reports that the government will move to take over $28.7 billion in private pension plans run by banks and insurance companies."
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idARN2052414220081020?rpc=44
All I can say is I’m not surprised. We are loosing quite a bit of money with this, the government is stealing from the people again, but there’s nothing we can do. All this gets directly discounted from your paycheck, so even if you know this could have happened any time, there’s no way to avoid it.
Watch out for these socialist-communist BS, it happened here and you’ve seen what’s going on in USA right now, never say “It wont happen here” because you just never know. And Obama sure looks like someone who could buddy up with Chavez, Evo and Kristina, a nice unified socialist, big government, all across America.
“SlyAce said...Hi, Thanks. :)
Posted in the wrong place before.
Congrats on the baby!
I found a link to your blog and just read the entire thing (I had read some of your materials before). Thanks for all of the effort.
I am an attorney in Dallas, Texas and I am quite concerned with the future of the economy in the U.S. My primary investment theme the past few years has been shorting the stock market, betting on the collapse of the housing and credit markets. While I have done well, I am now starting to worry that the collapse is going to be a bit more extensive than I originally thought. Having a lot of money in a society that is collapsing is not as good as having less money in a stable society. Also, if the U.S. goes down, where can we go?
Anyway, I enjoy your blog and will be sure to come back and see what you think as the credit crisis unfolds.”
I’ve always liked brick and mortars better for solid investment. The bricks aren’t going anywhere and once the crisis is in full throttle, people simply cant afford loans to buy so demand for rent goes up a lot.
At least in my experience, rent has gone up side by side with inflation, so if you have a property that provides you with money, you can count on rent rises compensating for inflation. The trick is to have a good contract that allows modifications as time goes by.
At first brokers cried and panicked when I even suggested this, after a while it became common practice and today I’m not renting a property without this closure.
That way I ensure the purchasing power of those colorful pieces of paper with pictures of dead folks. ;)
Where to go? Heck I don’t know. I’m still counting on USA recovering from all this mess, if not I have Europe to go to, with my family in Spain. End of the world? Argentina is probably a good place is the rest of the world goes down. But until that happens, there’s other much better places to live in. That of course is my personal situation. I suggest having a couple of safety net countries just in case. Family, friends, anyone that is willing to take you and your family in until you find a job and manage to settle. Doesn’t sound easy and it isn’t , but people do that all the time, you simply cannot talk to another person in this country without finding out that they have either family or very close friends that did just that. ( mostly to Spain or Italy, where people have distant relatives or friends that already moved there).
Take care.
Anonymous said...Crap, yes it’s true, and yes it does though not as much as it does to people that have more years into their pensions.
Ferfal, is it true that the private pension funds are in danger in Argentina? If so, does it affect you?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aDuA9V2SI6GY&refer=home
"Argentina's planned seizure of $29 billion of private pension funds stoked concern the nation is headed for its second default in a decade.
The last time the government sought to tap workers' savings to help finance debt payments was in 2001, just before it stopped servicing $95 billion of obligations."
I don’t have that much in it and I’m not planning on staying here past a few more months after 2009 January.
I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes, knowing I’m stuck here for the rest of their lives.
Anonymous said...
Ferfal, are you so silent because of the joy over your new child or the shock that your pension is gone? :)
One can find humor everywhere...
Lol!:)
A bit of both. :) No, just had a lot of things to take care of lately, with the baby and all, and work that I couldn’t do while I was at the hospital with my wife.
But this pension thing is something to worry about, not because of what I personally loose, but because it’s a huge red sign of trouble in the horizon.
FerFAL
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