Survive- The Economic Collapse

by Piero San Giorgio

pierre e. trudeau

  politician

  /1919-2000/

  <
  morpheus

  _the matrix

  /1999/

  <
  cus d’amato

  boxing trainer

  //1908-1985//

  <
  laozi

  philosopher

  //6th century BC//

  The ideal preparation for the economic collapse is living full-time in your SAB. For most people, this is impossible because of urban habits, employment, etc.

  If you are stuck in a large city and must leave for your SAB suddenly, it is clear that you must stock most of your supplies in it in advance. Other than false alarms, you will only have one chance to travel to your SAB. In fact, in this world of real-time news on television, blogs, and social networks, the panic effect can occur quite quickly. Shops and supermarkets could be empty in a few hours, and the roads will be quickly filled with out-of-gas refugees.

  We have seen what level of alert allows you a timely and coordinated departure. In general, when D-Day comes, whatever you have is what you will have for good. This is why you must begin preparing now—later on, it will be too late.

  Do you have time to prepare? The answer is that it is impossible to know, but that it is better to be even a little bit prepared than not prepared at all. Does preparation require a lot of work? The answer is: yes! All the more reason to get started right away. In fact, you will notice that even if you devote all your time and an unlimited budget, you will not be able to accelerate the preparations indefinitely. You must allow time to understand what is happening and what you must do. You will need time to educate yourself about the courses you have chosen. As I like to say: one woman can have a baby in nine months, but nine women cannot have a baby in one month.

  There is no single pattern or ideal model for creating and organizing your SAB; each SAB is established as a function of the needs, budget, constraints, and peculiarities of its creator(s). For instance, one celebrated actor has invested 10 million dollars in a luxury bunker to protect his family from the arrival of extraterrestrials! Little green men or not, do not fall into the trap of excess comfort, for once you get used to it, it becomes a need rather than a want. Many people say to me that having a car is a necessity in an SAB. In reality, we have constructed our lives around cars, which is part of the problem!

  Financial Preparation

  Money is the nerve of war, and you will need means to finance your SAB project. You must also ensure that your savings and investments are as safe-guarded as they possibly can be in the coming economic tumult. Remember the chapter on the end of the financial system and the destined collapse of paper money? If you figure in increasing inflation, you can see that your savings could literally be reduced to nothing. Financial analyst Pierre Laurent summarizes this situation perfectly when he says, “Today, the only strategy that allows you to preserve the value of your patrimony consists of investing in gold and silver bullion, raw materials, energy, agricultural land, and all tangible assets unconnected to the dollar and based outside the U.S.” I should add “and unconnected to the euro, and the yen, and all other currencies that are created by their central banks without any real collateral!”

  I would also add that in the near future, investors will flee the markets for real values. At any moment, we could see a panicked movement toward gold. Above all, avoid government debt. Finance is an industry that is well adapted to periods of maximum credit and debt expansion, which benefits (at least in the short term) the stock, bond, and real-estate markets. But in the coming decade, people will seek real value, and not assets backed by all sorts of dubious debtors. So avoid stocks, bonds, and shares in general, especially those of banks and financial firms. Also, stay away from mutual funds, hedge funds, and everything that is not liquid—you must be able to withdraw your assets rapidly if necessary. I also advise you against liquidities in the form of paper money or savings accounts that could be lost when the bank goes under.

  Here are some principles for building a sound financial legacy in an age of crisis:

  Save as much as you can and get out of debt. Do not contract any new debt. Reduce your costs, especially fixed costs, and try each month to set as much aside as possible.

  Convert your cash and liquid assets into gold bullion—at first, in the form of ingots, of whatever size you can afford. Keep them in a secure place, like a safe. Once you have established a hoard, another part of your estate can serve to buy more gold ingots that you deposit in a bank that offers a serious guarantee of its stocks of gold through regular inspections. Make sure that, if the necessity arises, you will be able to withdraw this gold in 24 or 48 hours.

  Regularly buy silver coins with the cash surplus from your income. These coins, like gold, will not merely be a hedge against inflation, but can serve as everyday money more easily than gold ingots.

  Sell your secondary or vacation home if it cannot be converted into an SAB, and do it before it is no longer worth anything because of demography (aging populations), because of the crisis, or—very soon—because it is impossible to take those low-cost flights to get there.

  If you are thinking of moving in two or three years, sell now and rent while you wait to move. A good trick for avoiding having to move is to sell your house to a real-estate company and rent it back from them.

  Develop a skill that will never be obsolete: medicine, gardening, plumbing, electrician, etc.

  Think of developing a second job from home, or alongside your principle job. Do not necessarily think big (though you never know), but a second source of income could be very useful.

  Ask yourself: what do you know how to do? What are you good at? What competence and knowledge do you have that can be used? Be aware that it takes at least 10 years to get good at a trade. Consider training to become an installer of solar panels or wind turbines; go back to school to become a doctor or veterinarian. Think about trades that do not involve dependence on distant suppliers or require transportation and electricity; consider the kinds of trades and crafts that existed in the 19th century. Use these new abilities to generate revenue.

  Prepare Yourself to Be Resilient

  Preparation for surviving an economic collapse can be compared to that for a long voyage, in which you do not know the destination nor the time of departure. Initially, it is crucial not to get depressed or burdened with anxiety.

  The best way of starting your preparation is to do what is easiest and quickest first. Then it becomes a matter of making your life fit your ideas. Preparation is the prudent and non-selfish act of an adult who wants to control the risks in his life—it is not the antisocial act of a recluse or paranoiac. At this stage, you know a lot. You must simply continue your mental and physical preparation.

  We can add a few more ideas:

  Understand from the start that whatever you do will be insufficient, but that it is infinitely better than not being ready at all. If you are 10 percent prepared, this is vastly better than being 0 percent prepared. It is better to be ready one year early than one year too late.

  Acknowledge that you cannot foresee everything, even with unlimited funds, time, and consultants. It is impossible to foresee everything, know everything, cover all possible eventualities, etc.. However, it is necessary to get started and prepare oneself.

  Whatever the subject, the goal, or the know-how involved, try your
best not to depend on a single source. In turn, you will be truly resilient when you can rely not only on yourself but on your family, your friends, and your community.

  You must realize that you will not succeed in keeping 100 percent of your present way of life and comfort.

  If you don’t act for yourself, who will?

  Be realistic, align your thoughts with your actions. Do not spend your money on useless things (convertibles), but make room for little pleasures (music, food you like, etc.).

  Set short- and long-term goals for yourself. Make lists and cross out what you have already accomplished. It will bring you psychological relief when one of the goals is reached.

  Start with something simple and easy, but do it! It can consist in buying a week’s worth of food and putting it in your cupboard, taking courses, gathering information over the Internet, etc. By doing things little by little, you will gradually learn everything while correcting your errors.

  Even if you like preparing by yourself or in small groups, make yourself available to others in your community—share with them your experiences, ideas, etc. Of course, to help others you must first help yourself. It’s like an oxygen mask on a plane: they tell us to put our own on first, before assisting our children and neighbors. And you don’t have to be an expert to share your experience. A community is strong and resilient because each member has these qualities. Start with your own project, then help your close family, then your friends and neighbors. Next, all together, influence local political authorities . . . then regional and national.

  Whatever happens, it is better to face problems surrounded by friends and people who respect each other, who are bound by love, admiration, confidence, and friendship. Like Greek warriors in a phalanx, you must be solid, advancing arm-in-arm. To this end, you must be able to have confidence in others, and that confidence must be merited. Conversely, your comrades must be able to have confidence in you, and you must deserve it. As with respect, to be worthy of it, you must earn it. Do exactly what you say you are going to do. Alas, we live in a cultural era where it is acceptable to have excuses for everything (not getting up in the morning, arriving late, not keeping deadlines, not caring about the consequences, etc.). This will be unacceptable in an SAB, and if your attitude is undisciplined, you will be quickly marginalized or suffer severe punishments.

  Remember that no tool is useful without training. Whether a rifle or gardening shears, if you do not know how to handle it correctly, it will be of no use to you. Worse, you could become a danger to yourself or others!

  Appreciate old technologies. The tools of yesterday—which worked without electricity and were close to indestructible—are precisely the ones you need. Modern gadgets work fine . . . until they wear out, or you have no more electrical current, batteries, or gasoline.

  Don’t be afraid to work up a sweat! Learn to do things by yourself, including making and repairing the tools you use. It is quite possible that the only person available to construct a palisade, repair a barn roof, shovel manure, work in the garden, and clean clothes will be you, and no one else.

  Choose your friends carefully. Associate with doers rather than talkers. Hard work will be necessary, so choose persons who share your moral principles and philosophy of life. Drop the dishonest, complainers, the lazy and incapable. Find those among your friends who have useful abilities, those who share your desire to pull through, who are serious enough to stick it out and contribute to the well-being and survival of the group.

  Be flexible. Do not become infatuated with your SAB plan. If it doesn’t work, change it and find an alternative. Have a Plan B. If, for example, you plan to establish an SAB on an island in order to benefit from the excellent climate and extraordinarily good conditions for food production, wine, seafood, fish, etc., but then must evacuate the island because of increasingly frequent storms and rising sea levels, it would be to your benefit to have reflected on another survival plan. Take the example of a person unable to reach his SAB; perhaps, he has thought to establish a cache with a minimum amount of food, water, and gasoline somewhere. This will let him hold out long enough to resume his journey via another path.

  Be frugal and remember your grandparents’ (or great-grandparents’) way of life before the World Wars. At the time, people made use of everything and squandered nothing; they were still happy and found joy in the little things in life. Take inspiration from their wisdom.

  Do no take unnecessary risks, of course. However, there are things you will have to risk everything for, such as your family and freedom.

  Be ready to leave quickly, according to the criteria of the alert schedule you have defined. It is better to risk losing a few days’ vacation on a false alarm than finding oneself amid chaos, stuck in a giant traffic jam like all the people who tried to leave New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina and spent whole days on blocked highways.

  Ask yourself if you have confidence in the state, if you think state programs are necessary for your security, especially as concerns terrorism, public health, and agriculture. When the system begins to collapse, you can figure on government trying to show it still has authority and decreeing ever more draconian and authoritarian measures: mandatory vaccines, even population management by microchip implantation, etc. All this is probably destined for failure, for a structure as large and clumsy as a state will not be able to hold together for long in such a crisis. Be discreet and don’t get yourself noticed; this period will pass quickly. In the case of a totalitarian or quasi-totalitarian dictatorship, the only possibility for freedom is to present yourself as a dutiful subject, while maintaining a free spirit and keeping up appearances. In other words, playing along with the Powers That Be, while preparing for the things that may come, may be your only option. Numerous cultures and organizations have succeeded in hiding their membership at the very heart of a society that was hostile to them. Avoid expressing extreme individualism or political opinions contrary to those that are dominant.

  Learn to be in sync with nature and follow the seasons. Be outside in summer to harvest and profit from nature. Spend the winter indoors, amid the warmth of your family nest, repairing whatever broke during the summer.

  Whatever happens, and whatever you do, put some passion into it! You have only one life to live, and you might as well live it in a fulfilling way and alongside great people.

  Vehicles in Your SAB

  People often ask me about the best vehicle to have in case of a crisis or in an SAB. This is not the best way to pose a question. In a future essentially without petroleum, and thus without gasoline, motor vehicles will be rapidly marginalized, and will then disappear altogether outside of a few regions. It is better to count on nothing but your muscular force or animals for transportation, working the fields, etc. Start reflecting now on what a world where one travels on foot, on horseback, by bicycle, by wagon, or on a donkey will mean for you and your SAB project.

  We are not there yet, of course, but you should start to think about several alternatives to gas-guzzlers:

  Bicycles will be the best means of transport once you are in your SAB. They can be equipped with baby seats, carts, or luggage racks. The versatility of the bicycle, especially the mountain bicycle with its stability, allows you to travel quietly. Buy high quality and plan on purchasing enough tools to carry out repairs yourself, as well as basic replacement parts (air pumps, tires, chains, brakes, break-cables, speed cables, etc.)

  Motorcycles, cross-country bikes, and mopeds can be very useful. For getting from your dwelling to the SAB, a motorcycle presents the advantage of letting you laugh at the jammed highways, but with the corresponding disadvantage of not letting you transport very much baggage (ideal if all your supplies are already in your SAB), nor many passengers. Another advantage of the motorcycle is its relatively low consumption of gas. Remember the safety warnings: wear a helmet and dress adequately for avoiding needless injuries in a possible accident.

  Automobiles can also work. But don’t think th
at buying the largest possible 4x4 or SUV will allow you to “own the road”! Besides the cost, you must take several factors into account, such as gas consumption, the availability of replacement parts, and the ease of carrying out repairs in a world without Internet diagnostics. Do not choose the most modern model, crammed with electronic accessories and impossible to repair. Choose a simple, robust vehicle with parts that are easy to make, like the old Mercedes 300D from the beginning of the 1980s, which are highly prized in Third World countries for these reasons. A lot of American vehicles of the 1970s and early 80s had these qualities, too. Whatever model you choose, make sure it has a large trunk and a powerful motor, ideally capable of off-road driving and with good gas mileage. If you are able to have several vehicles, why not also have an electronic vehicle or golf cart that is rechargeable on an electrical outlet? Verify that the power of your electrical generator allows such use. As for propane, bio-ethanol, and other automobile fuel-types, they are a real possibility, and can be taken into account if the fuel in question is easy to make or distill locally. My own choice is to use my current vehicle, a diesel-fuel-powered Mercedes, until it dies, and then plan for a life without a car.

  As for fuel reserves, unless you live in an oil-producing country and have refineries that will continue to function, they will be hard to find. So you must stock up on fuel while there is still time. But be careful—fuels are highly flammable and toxic. Plan on installing tanks for stocking gasoline or diesel, and add stabilizers (Sta-bil©, Motorex©). Also remember to choose gasoline during winter, since the butane level is higher. The latter gives it a lower freezing temperature and makes the fuel last longer. I store and rotate about 200 liters of diesel fuel, and I have stored a few 20-liters jerrycans in some friends’ garages (with their permission, of course), just in case. Furthermore, my SAB has an old central-heating system, which used to run on diesel, and I kept the 3-x-1,000 liters storage cisterns full, so that I can use or trade that fuel if needed.