By Daisy Luther
The government of Venezuela is playing Monopoly, but it isn’t the kind with those little plastic hotels.
They’re controlling essential goods like food, and putting the retail establishments of the country out of business.
According to a UK Telegraph report, the government is now forcing farmers and food manufacturers to sell anywhere from 30-100% of their products to the state, as opposed to stores and supermarkets.
There’s a pattern in collapses around the world
As countries around the world collapse, it’s very important that we take note of the ways that governments take steps to control their people. While no two countries have exactly the same situations, there are some very distinct patterns that we can identify, and this can help us to prepare for a similar scenario if it were to happen in the United States.
Products are already nearly impossible to acquire in Venezuela, with their mindblowing 64% inflation rate, and now those supplies will be even more limited.
There are 7245 government-run stores, mostly in cities. There are more than 113,000 privately owned stores. What are the ramifications of this?
- The government will control the prices
- The government will control the dispersal of the goods
- If you don’t live in the city, you may still be forced to go there to acquire supplies
- The already day-long lines to purchase goods will get even longer
Venezuela has made preparedness illegal, with strict laws against “hoarding,” and they’ve even instituted a fingerprint registry for the purchase of food and supplies, so that no one can quietly stock up for the future. Meanwhile, the government of Venezuela vehemently denies there are any problems whatsoever while simultaneously rationing electricity.
You must prepare ahead of time
We’ve all heard that quote about controlling the people through controlling the food. It’s happened in many government takeovers, including the Holodomor in the Ukraine and the communist takeover of China. Once the government takes over the distribution from the farms, it only goes downhill from there. (In my book, The Pantry Primer, I discuss several government-instigated famines in more detail.)
If you wait until draconian measures are being put into place, you’ve waited too long. The time to prepare for economic collapse and overbearing governmental controls is well before they happen.
Yesterday I wrote about the state of North Caroline forcing people to register their backyard chickens. While some people thought I was being silly in my concern about this, when you consider the situation in Venezuela, is it really crazy to NOT want the government to know about your chickens? What do you think would happen to those registered chickens in a situation like the one in Venezuela? Would you really want the government to know you had self-reliance measures like this in place? Discretion is essential.
If you haven’t already begun to prepare for a long-term economic crisis, it’s time to get started. Economically speaking, things aren’t great here in the US, despite the soothing propaganda from the White House.
As we recently learned watching the Greek collapse unfold, having supplies and being able to meet your own needs is essential to surviving.
Here are a few resources to guide you.
- You need to develop a preparedness plan.
- You need to build a food supply.
- You need to build self-reliance skills.
- You need to prepare financially.
- You need to learn about natural remedies.
Are you watching the situations in Greece and Venezuela? How do you think a similar scenario would play out, here in the United States?
ty Daisy
Good post, Daisy. 🙂
For the record, even though I said I understood the reason for the registration, I didn’t think you were silly in your post about chicken registration. I understand your side of the argument, too. I wish I knew what a good compromise would be to keep government’s nose out of our business and also be able to deal with any disease outbreaks effectively.
But you’re right. As much as I want to believe that they only want to know where a disease outbreak orginated and to stop it from continuing to spread from that source, government can really only be expected to act like it always does. Things that start out with a great idea and the best of intentions… and then they end up being subverted by government, because people love power and control. And once they have it (power and control), they never give it back. They just keep trying to get more and more of it.
Several years ago, I ended up researching the Ukraine Holodomor. After hours of articles and videos, I was horrified. “Uncle Joe Stalin” sealed off the border, required internal passports, and every single farm was searched for food so effectively using metal prods, that no food remained. His intent was to starve the rebellious Ukrainian farmers to death; he was successful. One father saved the potatoes by burying them in the doorway making sure the ground was hard enough to evade the prods. In the spring the family ate rotten potatoes. The police? military? would watch to see if anyone was cooking by the smoke coming from the chimney, and then close in on them with their “contraband.” One older man told of a police? horse had defecated while the rider was at his house. He and another boy saw corn grains in the pile. After the man and horse left, the one boy picked out some edibles and tried it. They both ate what they could. Grass was a common meal. They weren’t considered starving until they ate their children, and from what I understand, it did occur.
No amount of food preservation would have worked. The best move would have been for them to have escaped earlier, but maybe even then it was not possible. If I remember correctly, there was a divide, as the non farmers were against the farmers as well (for causing trouble?) and did not help the starving.
Food control on any level, even how it is grown and processed, works, but unfortunately, it doesn’t mean it bodes well for those who have no control.
We are living in a new paradigm, and it doesn’t look like a walk in the park.
With the millions who died during that time, one can only pray that it will not happen again on any level.
excel post 🙂
There is already an executive order in place where the U.S. Government can take/confiscate all food, buildings, any form of transportation and force relocation along with labor of citizens in case of an emergency….
Heck the government already redistribute wealth from those that do, to those that will not get off their able bodied collective rears… so those that believe this “could never happen” in America are ignorance fools.
6 months later and Venezuela´s response to food shortages? Grow your own food at home…
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/money/2016/01/21/venezuelas-response-to-food-shortages-grow-your-own-food-at-home/?intcmp=hplnws