I are not a economonist. I do not play one on teevee. I am, by training and inclination, an historian. I spent most of my 30- year working career as a librarian (got the Master's in that) in various university and government libraries.
As Bob Dylan said, you don't have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing. What this nation is doing economically is simply unsustainable. That which cannot be sustained will eventually break down. Don't ask me when, I don't know. I am convinced the question IS when and not if however. The oft-repeated deprecation of precious metals is one example of how far afield we have come. Gold and silver have been money for as long as humans have had a concept of such a thing, yet so many people these days have absolute confidence in a financial structure based on fiat currency that only dates back to 1913. The Fed is not the first national bank to hold sway in the United States, nor is it the second... . It might be instructive to examine the history of the previous national banks in the US, not to mention the history of EVERY fiat currency regime that has ever existed. Forewarned is forearmed after all.
My suggestion for the most valuable place you can invest current "dollars" (such as they are) is in the space between your ears. No, I don't mean going to college for some useless airhead degree. I mean learning practical, useful skills that have an application in your life and that of others around you. Find a useful aptitude you have and pursue it. Learn to garden, and to preserve the excess of your harvest, accumulate the tools necessary to be successful. Learn to raise and keep small livestock, to run a smokehouse, to salt meat, to milk a cow and churn butter by hand. Take a Red Cross first aid course, then go on through your EMT training and become a paramedic. Learn what makes engines tick and how to repair them, build your toolbox and spare part supply to the point you can do most of your own mainenance work. Learn basic carpentry, plumbing, electrical work (most community colleges offer homeowner level classes), and along with the skills invest in the necessary tools. Learn what makes PCs and networks tick, how to set up and troubleshoot connections and software, some programming basics, and invest in the hardware and software to keep learning more. Turn an existing hobby into something profitable or at least potentially so. Look for things that you can do to save money, and educate yourself to find places to put those savings, places that can grow them for you instead of shrinking your purchasing power through inflation. And so on, ad infinitum.
Understand something. NOT ONE of us has any guarantees, not for the next minute, hour, day, week, month, year, decade- no promises, nothing to count on at all. I have had some personal experience with how your world can get yanked out from under you in a major way, no one has to convince me. I am an absolute believer that I might not see tomorrow's sunrise- I know it might not be in the cards for me. So for all that stuff some of you are taking for granted, you better begin getting over it while you have some time to rearrange your thought processes. That will be the thing that turns lots of people into piddling lumpen masses when things eventually do go sideways for whatever reason the ball gets kicked off- being surprised by it. Prepare to be surprised, you don't walk the street in Condition White, why should you live the other aspects of your life that way?
America used to pride itself on rugged individualism, do-it-yourselfishness, being capable and willing to lend a hand to a neighbor. Seen much of that lately? DONE much of that lately? Likely more people here on a percentage basis do than in many virtual communities, just because of the demographics involved. But DON'T rest on whatever laurels you have. Get up and go, expand your skill set, learn something you didn't know and equip yourself to do it well. That's the best place you can invest- in yourself and your skills and tools. Everything else is at best a poor second.
Yes, I happen to agree that being out of the city is a good idea. But your location won't help if you don't know how to get along there. I understand that complete self sufficiency is a happy romantic fantasy, that's why I think it is necessary to get a looong head start in order to build a place for yourself as a valuable member of your community. The idea that you will buy some remote acreage, build a vacation cabin, visit it twice a year, and then go there to live the life of Robinson Crusoe Reilly if "TSHTF" is the stuff of novels and movies. It ain't gonna happen. And having buckets of precious metals, ammo, freeze-dried miracle chow or anything else will not buy you a place if you haven't already earned one by what you ARE and what you KNOW.
Enough of a rant for tonight, busy trading days get me really wound up (good thing they are unusual around here).
lpl/nc
