Author of The Blackout Book and the online course Bloom Where You’re Planted
(Sept. 10, 2020) Back in January, when the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to catch globe attention, Selco wrote an article stating, “It’s not the virus you need to worry about. It’s the system.”
Virus or illness on itself might not be a problem in its essence, but the impact that it brings to the system and people might be so huge through the media that it causes the system to stop working in the normal way. So you could find yourself in a collapse not necessarily because of a huge pandemic, but because of the reaction to it.
Another case might be the simple unwillingness from the system to admit how bad the situation is in order to stop the panic when folks realized the truth.
So, what might bring the system to collapse might be a real pandemic or a reaction to the pandemic (which might or might not be controllable) or simply the government’s poor or late response to the pandemic. (source)
As things were just beginning to unfold, the article took a lot of heat on social media, with people saying Selco didn’t understand how things would go because he is not American and doesn’t know how things work here. Whoops. I guess that’s rather embarrassing in retrospect.
Because here we are, seven months after Selco wrote his warning, and our system is indeed falling apart.
Our system is failing in many ways.
It’s indisputable that our system is now failing in numerous ways. Some of these things directly relate to the virus and the subsequent lockdown, while others are tied to the nonstop riots that have been going on in some areas for more than 100 days. The riots began after the death of George Floyd when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck until he suffocated.
From the economy to the justice system to the infrastructure, our system is grinding to a halt in a variety of manners that stand to completely change the American way of life. Let’s take a look.
The economy
As predicted, our economy took a massive hit when government-mandated lockdowns closed the doors to many businesses. Despite billions of dollars in relief (much of which went to large businesses in an act of crony capitalism), the new economy has been nothing short of disastrous.
Millions of jobs are gone and are never coming back. Millions of small businesses have fallen. Corporate landlords aren’t getting paid rent and mom and pop landlords are being forced by the CDC (that’s right – the Center for Disease Control) to house people who can’t pay their rent, while still maintaining their mortgages.
Obviously, this trickles down to the average American who just wants to go to work and pay his or her bills. If you’ve lost your job, you are now in a heated competition for the few jobs remaining. The effect on the economy was “swift and severe” according to a paper published by the Brookings Institute. Now that the CARES Act financial assistance has run out, more and more families are being pushed into desperate levels of poverty. (If this is happening to you, please check out this article for essential advice on surviving this situation.)
But it goes even further than that – in a puzzling turn of events, our country is running out of coins. Many stores no longer give out change that is less than a dollar. You can choose to donate your change digitally to the charity of the store’s choice or get it back on a store loyalty card. Many people are concerned that this is a push toward a cashless society, something that would cause even more day to day financial problems for people who are already struggling. (And this is not as far-fetched as it might seem – it’s happened in Venezuela, too.)
Consumer inventory
And what about the folks who do have money? Well, spending it might be harder than it used to be.
Remember when the first hints of a looming lockdown occurred and store shelves across the country were emptied? And remember when all the shortages were blamed on those selfish hoarder preppers? And remember when they said if you would just buy for the next few days or for the week all the inventory would quickly be replenished because the supply chain was A-OK?
Yeah. I remember that too. And guess what?
Store shelves are still pretty spotty in many parts of the country. Some places still have limits on how much meat or toilet paper you can buy. If you go to your local Target, it’s difficult to find things like bedding and certain cleaning supplies.
Food plants continue to close due to outbreaks. Canned goods are still in high demand. (source) And what is affecting us even more is that we still aren’t getting the shipments from China that we used to receive. When all of this began, I posted a list of essentials that we were getting from China which might affect our supplies, and unsurprisingly, many of these items remain difficult to find.
When you can find supplies in your local stores, you may find that the selection of options is far more limited than before. This is pretty startling, but something that I noticed when I spent several months abroad was that most other countries don’t have chicken cut in 12 different ways or 47 different brands of laundry detergent. What feels like a “shortage” to us is somewhat normal elsewhere and this is something you can adapt to fairly well.
At the same time, limits on purchases make it incredibly difficult to stock up for the future, and you can also expect to see fewer and fewer choices in the months ahead unless something happens to change the situation dramatically.
Education
One of the first casualties of the lockdown was the education system. Most schools simply gave up and didn’t continue the school year after the March lockdown. Colleges and universities turned to distance learning. Graduations were held virtually, if at all.
The new school year looks a lot different too. The schools that have reopened for in-person learning have stringent – and somewhat unsettling – social distancing policies. Many schools are only open for distance learning via Zoom or other online portals. (And don’t even get my started on the privacy issues this has unlocked – not to mention the overreaction of at least one school so shocked at the sight of a Nerf gun in a boy’s room that they called the cops and suspended him.)
Some schools reopened only to close again within a week when a new outbreak erupted. Huge outbreaks are occurring at universities as (big surprise) students party without a lot of regard for social distancing. Many colleges are fighting this by offering as many classes as possible in an online format. This is causing many families to question why they’re still paying the same exceptionally high prices for the education as they did when everyone spent time in the classroom, used campus facilities, and had the benefit of an active social life.
The postal service
The US Postal Service has been losing money hand over fist for years. After the COVID pandemic, it lost a whopping 2.2 billion dollars in the second quarter. In a recent Senate hearing, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testified that they could not guarantee the ability to deliver mail-in ballots for the November election in a timely manner.
And it isn’t just the mail-in ballots that are a problem. There have recently been massive delays with the mail. These delays have led to mailed prescription drugs arriving late to patients who depend on them, thousands of dead baby chicks, and shipping delays that are causing unprecedented issues for small businesses that mail products to customers – and 70% of small businesses use the USPS regularly.
Many have blamed changes made by Postmaster General DeJoy, who donated to President Trump’s campaign, for the crisis.
The new leadership of the U.S. postal service has come under fire from lawmakers and advocates who worry that a slower mail system will affect the presidential election in November. But the impacts could disrupt everyday life for Americans in many other ways.
The U.S. postal service, which has suffered from financial troubles for years, has lost billions of dollars amid the coronavirus pandemic. But last month, new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy issued a number of orders aimed at cutting costs within the agency. Those changes include eliminating employees’ ability to log overtime and barring workers from making extra trips to deliver late-arriving mail. DeJoy’s changes have been blamed for reported widespread mail delays.
“Let me be clear about the reasons behind our restructuring and the need for our plan. Our financial condition is dire,” DeJoy said in a memo sent to USPS staff on Thursday, NBC reported. “Our critics are quick to point to our finances, yet they offer no solution.” (source)
Regardless of the specific cause, it appears a reliable postal service has been yet another systemic casualty. One recent video even came to light of massive bags of mail simply being dumped in a parking lot.
The legal and criminal justice system
After the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, the country erupted. Protests were widespread. The organization Black Lives Matter reached peak popularity. The movement was quickly co-opted and groups like Antifa and the Occupy movement took over. Protests soon turned into violent riots that saw cities across the country turn into battle zones.
The unrest has lasted for more than three months and shows no signs of slowing down soon. Armed conflict has broken out in numerous cities. In fact, a demonstration promising to “lay siege” to the White House is planned for later this month through the election.
This goes hand in hand with calls to defund the police in many of the cities where the protests/riots are taking place. Massive budget cuts have already occurred in Minneapolis, New York City, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Oakland, Portland, Philadelphia, Hartford, Salt Lake City, and Seattle, just to name a few cities. (source) It’s important to note that some of these cities have been the sites of extreme upticks in violence, looting, destruction, and arson.
And it isn’t just the criminal justice system breaking down. The court system in general has been on hiatus. Family court closures have halted divorce and custody hearings. Civil suits are at a standstill. Once the courts reopen, the massive backlog will mean even further delays.
The wheels have simply stopped turning.
The election
The upcoming election is the next broken element of the system. This year hardly feels like an election year in the first place.
Many people are hesitant to vote in person due to the virus. The postal service has said they may not be able to get ballots to people on time. Big rallies are a thing of elections past. We have yet to see a presidential debate between the candidates. We probably won’t know who won on election night. In fact, it could be weeks before a winner is announced, and even then, it looks as though Biden and Trump are both intent on questioning the outcome if it isn’t in their favor.
In short, it’s going to be a huge bone of contention that is likely to escalate the violence discussed above for weeks, if not months. We could have the fifth contested presidential election in American history. (And I’d say that isn’t just a possibility, but a likelihood.)
If an already divided country can’t agree on who won the election, would that be the final nail in the coffin of our system?
What can we do?
A lot of these are “big circle” things that are out of our personal realm of control. We can’t do anything about imports from China, we can’t stop the riots in Seattle, we can’t fix the postal service.
But we can focus our energy on getting as prepared as possible for what promises to be a bumpy road ahead. And we must also stop focusing on a system that is broken to solve our problems. Selco wrote:
Do not forget one basic fact: you as a prepper/survivalist, at your core, most probably do not trust the system.
I am not saying you hate it, but you just do not trust it completely.
So, watch the news and announcements. Help if possible, obey if possible (and if it makes sense) but always keep in mind that the system at its core has a very basic obligation: to keep that system running. If that means the system has to lie to you or let’s say, bend the truth, it will do it, because to the system you are an individual, and the system is machinery that needs to run.
So, keep some common sense, and trust your gut instinct. (source)
Pieces of the system are tumbling over like one domino after another. Every stressor added is knocking out more of the system as time goes on.
Do you think the system is fixable or do you believe it is broken beyond repair? What do you foresee for the rest of the year? Share your thoughts in the comments.
The post office was inevitable as it’s been propped up by .gov for years and President Trump has already stated that would be no longer.
The covid lockdown should have helped as they stayed busy because deliveries were through the roof. They work OT and 6 days a week so regular their personal bills count on it. It’s been that way 20+ Years that I’m aware of.
So much of what is failing and being discussed is only happening in certain places because of certain things. I won’t get into it because we all know what it is.
Life is so normal in the other parts of the country it’s not even funny.
There are lots of changes and yes some things are failing. You’d better adapt or you will fail too.
I’ve been through this before on a smaller state scale in the 80s. If your job ain’t back by now it ain’t coming back. Reasons be damned because that’s not important as you go hungry. Change you job, locale or whatever you’ve gotta do. For me I worked at the bottom in fast food for 6mths then took work that required moves. It wasn’t permanent.
I’m hearing a lot of excuses over inconvenience:
You want to go to the lake but all the public facilities are closed. If your into preparedness but can’t field a makeshift toilet your in need of work.
You don’t wanna vote cause of covid but shop, go to church, etc etc etc.
hogwash
If you live in a school district of liberal idiots well that’s on you. It’s kinda like a HOA you get what you get cause you did it. Only you can fix it.
Trust the system? Doubtful anyone here does as it should be. The however is it doesn’t excuse you from being adaptable.
As far as the civil unrest yup you’d best get ready cause the politics are in motion and it’s coming. But it the meantime I’m taking my grandkids to gymnastics.
Thank you Daisy and Selco for you commitment to truth in an era of untruth. I completely agree, the system is collapsing. The only thing i can add is the need for all reading to CONTINUE TO PREPARE. There is still time to do so. Since February, when we started prepping in earnest, our family has rifles, handguns, ammo, food, and CCW license w/ training. Our plan is to move out of our central Florida suburb for 10 acres of land we own in rural Mississippi within six months. I left my job in July so to homeschool my two kids in a bible based, American values centric curriculum. The sacrifices have been real, but the choices are clear: survive or die, live free or live as a slave. WE CHOOSE FREEDOM.
NO ONE IS COMING TO HELP YOU. What ever you want/need to do to prepare DO IT NOW while you can.
Now turn to Jesus, the REAL one while you still can.
amen…well said..it is time to step up the prepping.
Gol-lee, don’t know if I can stuff another thing in! Focusing now on organizing, honing skills and creating a “good will” atmosphere in the neighborhood.
Methinks, we are only just beginning to fray around the edges. But I am expecting things to fall apart at the seams after the election. So much rests in our general confidence in The System. Most people are plainly not going to be resilient enough to survive if times get any tougher. People in the cities will devour one another, hopefully not literally.
I find it hard to believe things are just accidentally falling apart. There have been too many hints from the shadows about a “reset”. Think about all those systems Daisy mentioned that are failing. There are people who have already re-imagined those for us. They are waiting until there is enough pain that people will be begging for their “reset”.
Hopefully, we can be gray enough and prepped enough to stay off everyone’s radar. That’s where we hedge our bets.
All things decay. It doesn’t matter if it your home, your computer, your body, your society, your thought process or your nation. ALL things decay.
The only way to avoid this is by constant renewal and repair, but as a rule, our society has become lazy and careless, so the decay is allowed to continue.
Perhaps at some point, we’ll pick up the renewal and repair, but by then the job will have gotten out of hand and the nation will collapse from within. It seems to be the same pattern that all nations follow.
Bummer of a post – I know. At least we can all focus on preventing decay in our own little spheres of influence. Keep yourselves mentally, spiritually and physically sharp! Don’t let yourself get dull – keep honing your strengths AND work hard on those weaknesses.
George Floyd died of a fentanyl overdose, as confirmed by the coroner’s report.
Otherwise, great article.
Just keep stacking, kids.
LMAO….Right Is that all you got from this article ? Well, let me put it to you in (idiot proof–you) terms. Your entire world is crumbling around you, and there is nothing you, or anyone like you can do about it. You, nor your DNA will have a future. Captivity awaits…It is in Scripture, so look it up. Enjoy your long walk, off a very short cliff Gentile.
This kind of talk is what you’ve gotten from YOUR scriptures Yahudah@1959?
He stated a fact. Then stated “great article”.
Simmer down.
The problem is not in what we see, but in what we don’t see.
The pandemic only brought this to some peoples attention.
This has been coming for a long time and was planned long ago. Not the Virus so much, but the overall decay of the system.
It will not be the virus that takes us down, but political upheaval. A contested election result or a dis satisfied group willing to fight, rather than accept life as we know it.
This is being engineered by outside forces, to destroy this the world, not just this country.
Never lose sight that this is a world wide problem of a crumbling system, not just a national one.
Selco has recognized the problem and its probable result, but fails to identify the source or the scope of the current problem. These two things are of great importance.
All our ” SHTF” survivors, have lived in countries that received outside aid and imported goods ( including weapons and ammo, medical supplies, gasoline, etc) during their “SHTF”. Venezuela is a perfect case of this.
In a world wide event, this will not happen.
So the “solutions” that they suggest, are not really relevant in the long run.
SHTF would become the “new normal” for many, many years, if not forever.
So for all the people prepping for a 6 month or even up to a 2 yr SHTF scenario, will be under prepared. As for those thinking they will Escape what is coming, by sailing away or moving to another country, the simplicity of that escape plan goes out of the picture, in a world wide event.
So this is not an “if it will happen”, it is a “when will it happen” and what will be the final event that triggers it, question.
Chances are that we will not know for sure until it occurs, only then can we look back and say that this or that, was the last straw.
Trump did not kill Herman Caine, he had stage 4 cancer unfortunately. Just wanted to put that out there because of the things I have heard after he attended the Trump rally. I am concerned that things will get more violent just before and after the election and the states with the violence will not ask for help. If it gets totally out of control then Marshal Law may have to be imposed in order to save lives and businesses. This will have a major impact on what happens in the future. This is my worse case scenario besides all out civil war.
United Satanists of America. It is a satanic system. Every thing is a lie. Everyone is being brainwashed. Total enslavement to the system.
And yours is better?
Simple; we are in Lockstep. We were warned. The World Economic Forum tells us what the plan is, as does the United Nations.
https://non-toxic-home.org/f/rockefellers-lockstep-full-audio
So as usual good information and a reminder that all this has been predicted. What I was not prepared for that we are getting how is the Antifa fire setting here in Wa state on the west side of the state. The eastern side alwas has wildfires but this year more and worse than any year recorded. We have as of 9/9/20 had two arrests for intentional setting of fires, one has done severe damage north of me and the setter of that fore has been arrested, one was caught yesterday in the cat of setting a freeway median on fire, luckily he was seen by
LEO and pursued, fire did not jump the median to a populated area. This offender was arrested prior in the Seattle riots as a felon in possession of firearms, stolen firearms at that. Our great justice center here ( sarcasm intended) released him, his current bail for the fire is a whopping $1000. Wondering where he will start the next fire, Antifa threatened to ” come for the suburbs next” there have been 6 other fires if as yet undetermined origin in this area. So the unrest I believe is taking on a whole different face and need to be acknowledged. Setting fires during a red flag event with record winds, in heavily populated areas, in conjunction with fires started from trees down on lines,,,,
Much harder to stay safe in this, but… we are now on alert and watching, fire setters will not be tolerated as that in my book is direct attack on me and mine.
Be safe everyone and prepare for more to come, bumpy ride indeed.
FEAR is the driving force through all of these scenarios. The fear is coming from our government leaders and specifically from the President and his enablers. As peppers we already knew this virus was deadly but it has been shown now that are President actively downplayed this information to the public because “he didn’t want to alarm them”. The problems we face in our country and in the world have always been there. Nothing that was pointed out in the article as always been in play. The new catalyst has been the lack of willness to upkeep the structure of our government by incompetent leaders who have allowed a incompetnt President to do what he wants. We are doomed because we focus on the wrong values we are in leaders. As for justice, please! There has always been a two tier system. People need to take one day at a time to maintain their sanity.
You’re wrong about the President, and you need to use spellcheck.
Another interesting twist on jobs not coming back was addressed in an article I read this morning. If you’re able to work from home, and you can work from anywhere you can get a cell or internet connection, what’s to stop your employer from outsourcing your job to a place where labor rates are cheaper? I hadn’t thought about that twist! This makes another case for multiple streams of income.
Well, I think what you are seeing is the decay rotting away exposing the strong part of our country can “breathe again”. Back bigger, better and stronger!!
We can’t breath very well here in Oregon. Its like Armageddon out there. We are hitting a level 600 on the Air quality meters. I think anything past 150 is hazardous. This sucks.
I keep hearing about people out of work and I moved this year and found 2 jobs quickly, one I quit for a better paying job. I work for Amazon and we are hiring people almost daily. It pays enough to survive on and has good benefits and discounts on things like cell phones and auto insurance.
Why people are not employed is something I do not understand.
Now the future who knows what will happen. If things get worse and the country takes a huge dumb, fall and winter are not ideal times to bug out and live off the land. That is my fear, starting over and not having things in place, but I know I am better off than most people with what I have stocked up.
The Economy – Up till CV19, the US economy was doing reasonably well, unemployment was low. If you had a 401k, 529 plan, you were doing well. Granted some jobs are not the greatest, and wages have not kept up with inflation and the cost of living, but that has been going on since the late 70s or early 80s.
Then CV19 hit and everything went out the window. At the onset, based off what the so called “experts” knew at the time, their predictions and models had something like 2.2 million dead here in the US by the end of the year. According to Johns Hopkins website, we are at 190,895 as of this post. Or 3% per 100,000. Of those, the majority dead are over 65 and had other health issues. Those under 50 have a 99.97 survival rate.
Shutting down the economy/society seemed like a good idea . . . at the time. Now, the continuing lockdowns, one wonders. Notice how you almost never hear the term “Flattening the curve” in MSM anymore? Now it is about the number of cases being reported, as if with each and every new case there is more dire pain and suffering. Most are asymptomatic. Did not even know or felt like they had it, but got tested as someone else who did show S&S did. And those who present with S&S, say it is like a mild flu. There are the one offs, requiring hospitalization. MSM likes to put those front and center.
Meanwhile, the continued lockdowns are causing more pain and suffering for people than the virus itself and not just economically.
Consumer Inventory – Yep. We did stock up in early Feb. Well, we have a well stocked pantry anyways, but we got a few extra items, like bread flour, yeast. Stores here still have holes in their inventory. I am expecting more shortages if the election goes badly, which it most likely will.
Education – I feel bad for the teachers to have to of had to transition from a in-person classroom to distance learning. Reading about various reporting about school systems demanding parents sign waivers for parents to NOT listen into what is being taught to their children was alarming. If I had children in school, I would home school them.
Universities charging full price for distance learning is a scam. The attempt at control of students whereabouts via app or forced isolation is borderline totalitarian.
The Postal Service – That has been on going for years if not a decade. It took some time after the initial MSM hysteria, but some good information came out later (and not in MSM) about how long the woes at the postal service has been going on.
Legal and Criminal Justice System – Yep. It needs work. It could be better. Those police officers (re: Floyd case) have been arrested, and charged. It is up to the prosecution and the defense to prove their respective cases in a court of law, and for the jury to decide.
Peaceful protest, by all means. People have their right to exercise their 1st A right.
The subsequence violence that follows the peaceful protests, usually after dark, committed by those dressed in all black clothing, only undermines the peaceful protest.
The Election – That is going to be a hot mess no matter who wins. Will it lead to a Civil War as some are predicting? Magic 8 Ball says, “Future uncertain.”
Back in 2012, there were those who were insisting Obama’s re-election would also lead to a civil war. Or in 2016 that Obama would stage a false flag operation, declare martial law, null and void the election and install himself as El Presidente for life!
Neither of those happened.
2012, those on the Right shrugged their shoulders and looked forward toward 2016.
2016, no martial law. Trump won to more than a few surprised.
The difference between 2012 and 2016 was the immediate movement to “Resist!” “Not MY President!” “Never Trump!” And not by some tin-foil hat wearing loon from a cave in Idaho. But from Clinton. From Hollywood celebrities. From deep state actors. From Big Tech CEOs. From MSM.
People were in hysterics that there was a white supremacist, fascist, racist around every corner! These malcontents would go around in a uniform of some color, raising their hands in some kind of salute, chanting some kind of slogan, and accosting or assaulting anyone who disagrees with them!
Well . . . yes. That has happened. Just not the way anyone expected. Instead of “brown shirts” they wear mostly or all black. They raise their fist and they have a slogan. They do verbally shout at and sometimes assault those that disagree with them. They tend to throw stuff at the police.
But they sure as heckfire are not Trump supporters. Quite the opposite.
Go figure, eh?
Personally, I think we need a third party, and might vote that way come November.
What I do know is that the so called “news” coming out of MSM makes my teeth itch.
What Can We Do? – Realistically, not much on a individual level. Prep, and keep prepping sensibly. Do not rule out possible disruptions in our JIT/BAU system, especially the food system.
Keep your head, and keep calm.
Agree with every word, and your level-headed thoughts.
America’s best day are in the rear view mirror. The takers are growing faster than the makers, the cancer of political correctness has spread to all parts of the system, the left has infected the so-called “education system” turning it into an indoctrination factory and the average American is fat, dumb and happy as long as they get their sports back or their daily dose of drama on Facebook or some mindless television show.
Left wing democrat run cesspools like Chicago, Portland, NYC, Seattle can burn to the ground for all I care. The citizens voted in the mayors, city counsel and policies now they are reaping the harvest they sowed. Unfortunately they will flee these democrat dumps for conservative areas and then vote for the same policies that ruined the cities they left as they are too stupid to learn from their mistakes.
Hi Daisy,
There is no such thing as a “pandemic”. Germ theory with respect to the so-called virus is a lie.
TPTB plan on poisoning the water supply in round 2 of the coronavirus. This will kill many. All blame will be put on the nonexistent virus. They also have 5G in place. This will be used as well.
MD and MIT trained researcher Dr. Andrew Kaufman tells the truth about Germ Theory. Please investigate his eye-opening research for yourselves.
“…The riots began after the death of George Floyd when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck until he suffocated…”
Fact check: George Floyd, a serial felon, died of a fentanyl overdose while resisting arrest and was not “suffocated” by the officers. The bodycam video shows Floyd acting erratic and saying that he “couldn’t breate” minutes *before* he was placed on the ground, at his own request. The toxicology report showed a fatal level of fentanyl and other drugs in his system.
See: “New Court Filings of Autopsy Examiner Say George Floyd Likely Died of Overdose, Not Strangulation”, The Minnesota Sun, Aug 27, 2020
Astute as always Daisy! I would add also … dont let the current situation overwhelm you. Work on what you can as you can. We just paid off a major debt source and that is a huge gold star in the book thought my preps may not have grown as I liked.
Look at all progress and even bigger win in harder times!!
It is the USA governors who gave the green light to Antifa and Black Lives Matter to riot, pillage, burn and destroy private and public property and even murder. Yes the governors. The governors who shut down their states in violation of the US Constitution in the name and cover of a virus. The example of lawlessness starts with tbe governors who should have been stopped by the executive and judicial branches of the federal government by invoking the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution. If the governors can behave lawlessly and recklessly deciding who gets to work, who doesn’t, what business get to be open and how many customers are allowed and close churches. Why wouldn’t Antifa and BLM go on a rampage. No one has stopped the governors, why would anyone stop them.
The Postal Service has been “losing money” ever since they were required to fund retirement at a rate that NO public or private company is required to do. End game was union busting. Giving junk mail a substantial cost break isn’t helping them either.
Perhaps if “I don’t want people to panic” had been straightforward and factual, we wouldn’t have so many covidiots coming down with the virus, spreading the virus and worse yet, being a super spreader. And the sheeples fell for it hook, line, and sinker. IMHO, as with AIDS, until people they deem important are affected, they won’t care on iota. To those who bemoan the “debt” on our grandchildren (remember, same folks who cut revenue), the future healthcare costs from those who recovered from COVID-19 are likely to be unlike we’ve seen.
Time to weed out bad employees from any sector – cops, doctors, lawyers, programmers, financial advisors, bankers, firemen, nurses – the list goes on. We should no more defund LE than increase their funding (military sucks down too many federal dollars and my local sheriff continually needs “more money” despite telling us he knows how to live within a budget).
No simple answers to complex problems. Corporate profits are now the priority – meaning salary, bonus, and stock dividends to the big boys/girls and institutional investors – and that is well over 50% of our country’s problem.
What doesn’t collapse may not have much legitimacy before it retreats into the shadows.
For instance: How legitimate do your regional educational systems look these days?
Also: How legitimate does getting shaken down for shekels by police for various bureaucratic mal prohibitorum offences look these days?
Eventually it becomes abundantly obvious just how much systemic illegitimacy you’ve been putting up with over the years.
This is the more relevant form of collapse, the form that Selco was pointing toward, the form that causes preppers as well as those less survival-inclined to stop trusting the State as well as institutions and organisations.
These things that once were worthy of trust may continue to function as literal zombies, sucking whatever life they can get out of anyone who continues to trust them.
But doing so amounts to a costly coping strategy in the face of evidence demanding a completely revised view of current and future events.
More to the point: Are you behaving like a co-conspirator?
Are you still holding to luxury belief systems created during more prosperous times?
Do you have luxury political views that won’t survive calamity?
Have you practised “kindergarten fairness” in times when you should be less childish?
That hesitance to say no means you recognise that you should say yes.
I disagree. The system worked as it was designed to work. It’s your illusions which were shattered. The US system is designed to protect rich, white men. Rich, white men did very well in this “crisis”. Black men don’t matter. Minorities don’t matter. Little people don’t matter. Women don’t matter. Education doesn’t matter. And health care doesn’t matter. That is the system.
Go ahead and blame Covid for this, but all it did was lift the veil. Once it’s gone, America will just go back to what it was, a violent, will-fully ignorant, racist nation run by and for rich white men.
Fascinating reading how things are unfolding in the US. I feel like we are a few months ahead of you in the time line. We too have gone from one drama to the next. Half the country on fire, then floods, then the cooties hit. Shortages of canned goods and rice and t.p., of course. Now we have curfews in some areas, mandated masks in some areas, with little old ladies arrested in a park for being outside without masks, and a anti cootie shot possibly to be mandated as well. They can do that here, its democratic (but its against the law to NOT vote, lol) but with socialist leanings. (Seriously, I was in labour and got a fine for missing an election!)
School starts in Feb here and was closed by the end of March and went back end of June. Most shops only allow contact-less payments, no cash allowed, which has been a real push for some time in Aus. All those who lost jobs, even part time and casual jobs, business owners who could prove 70% loss of income, are receiving ‘Job Keeper’ payments, and it is generous. Those already on unemployment got it boosted to the same rate. So much so, that no one wants to look for work, and with no work, how can you get ahead? What happens when the govt decides everyone can live on half or one third that amount? And now the food and supply chain are interrupted not only externally, but internally as well because no one wants to work in the fields when you’re getting paid to do nothing.
So remove education, tick
cashless society, tick.
universal basic income, tick
kill small and corporate business, tick
mandated anti cootie meds…just picking up the pen to tick that too.
We all by now know WHAT is happening. Few seem to understand WHY it is happening. I don’t mean to get a ‘preachy’, but I often think of the message contained in a Bible verse…. “Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.” I believe we can change “city” to “nation”, certainly. Many believe, as I do, that the Lord stopped “keeping” this nation some time ago. No use listing the sorted details. We all see it around us daily. If in doubt as to where we are as a nation, as a society, take a look at the recent trailer Netflix is running on their latest offering of garbage titled “Cutie”… if you can stand it. It is a true reflection of what this society has become.
I’ve been a “prepper” for a long time. Years, actually. To paraphrase an old country song, I was a prepper before prepping was cool. I’ve got most all the bases covered by now. Some better than others. One prep I really need to pay more attention to is my spiritual prep. Ultimately I believe that we will all discover that is by far the most important one. Far more important that the firearms, stockpiled ammo and food, or the PMs. All of that later can only take you so far.
We are witnessing a struggle that has actually been going on from the dawn of time. I never thought that in my puny momentary existence that I would see the culmination of it all. Looks like I might. We all might.
As far as covid goes, it might be real. It has been proven 12 ways to sundown that it is not in any way as bad as TPTB are saying.
This leads me to the conclusion that this whole thing was engineered to destroy our economy and bring in socialism and one world government.
My big question: What are we going to do about it?
what we are witnessing is not riots, or a pandemic or even any real split in the political life of americans but the results of years of social engineering through the media. an arm of the strategic intelligence platform. it’s a war. as alex jones has said for years….”a war on for your mind”.
the quickest way to change a society is through war. and just as we have been conditioned to think of war mongers as those who preside over tyrannical regimes projecting military might and dressed in uniforms, we also only think a war is fought using tanks, jets, bombs, and guns. both of those anachronistic images in our minds have given way to powerful people wearing fine clothes and promoting “democracy” and “fairness” while trading national and personal sovereignty for austerity and welfare.
until humanity wakes up and smells the bullshit, we are fucked.
Can it be fixed? Certainly. Very difficult in today’s contentious times and out of control spending to see that happening. My thoughts are to prepare as well as possible because that is all I have control over and most importantly put my trust where I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is warranted, in my Savior. My gut says difficult times ahead and I hope I’m way off.
Daisy,
You and Selco are right about what you saw coming to America. We took our Chevy suburban in to be worked on in March. It took until September to get it back because the parts were from China. We are thinking about buying a new house and trying to get a mortgage. There’s huge delays due to everyone trying to buy a house at the same time. No doubt those who can move to a safer neighborhood are doing it. Security is high on our list of things to do: gates, security cameras and such. We are all better off by listening to you guys so thanks.
The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.
Frank Zappa
I don’t think this system or any other system will be fixed. I pray for 4 more years of Trump because I know what the left is all about. I see it everyday . But, I know there is coming a time when the only thing we can depend on is ourselves and our God. Good luck to all!
Stay stay and prepared!
Don’t be distracted by this joke of a Presidential campaign, it’s all a ruse…Biden/Harris don’t stand a chance. We are once again being set up, this time to think that once Trump prevails, we’ll begin to see a return to “normal,” and that this nightmare we are currently living through will end. Hardly. When, not if, President Trump is reelected in a landslide, literal hell is going to break out all across this once enviable nation.
And this is precisely why the powers that be actually don’t want the Biden/Harris ticket to win in November. Why else would they have such a feeble, incompetent candidate teamed with a radical, unlikable running mate? Because they want them to lose bigly blame it all on those racist, misogynistic, yada yada This way the elitists can continue to easily agitate and rally the unhinged minions to wreak total havoc in their unending quest for what they perceive as “justice.” Hold onto your hats y’all, it’s gonna be a wild ride.
2020 says we are crumbling. 2024 says hold my beer.