What I Learned During the COVID Crisis

My husband thinks I have lived my whole life preparing for a lockdown. I have plenty of activities to do: books, puzzles and sewing. Because both of our parents were children of the depression they always had a well stocked pantry. We followed their leads. Over the years there have been times that pantry help make ends meet. This has been another of those times. My husband and later myself were sick in January and the beginning of February and I was not paying much attention to what was happening in China. By the time I started connecting the dots I began calling my children and telling them to prepare. They sort of believed me. With my more recent phone calls they have listened to my advice. I started looking at closures of food processing plants and called them to advice extra purchases. This time they listened and hit the stores before the shelves were empty again.
I feel like we haven’t done to badly. Were we totally prepared, no. But we are more knowledgeable for when we have future lockdowns. And my opinion is we will. I think the government will decide they need to do this again in the fall. I have started making my summer and fall preparedness plans.

What did I learn?

I learned Americans trust their government far too long and far too much. That the protesters did have it right years ago.

I remember one guy who protested against going on the plane with his unit to go to some kind of war and thought he was wrong. (This was in the ’80s and I forgot what war) I talked to him on the phone knowing they were monitoring him from the brig. I did not know him but was with friends who did know him.

God bless him he was right. So are the protesters now with this Wuhan virus. Your government is almost always wrong and will continue to be till we start hanging them for treason.

If you don’t do this they’ll hang you one day. Right now they only arrest you over a rule. Can’t wait till you break the LAW and they start hanging YOU.

BTW, because it’s only a rule arresting you means they are kidnapping you. An act punishable in your Bible with death.

So who is really breaking the law? Your liberties? Your livelyhoods turning us all into lived hoods?

I spent yesterday visiting my mother for Mother’s Day. Leaving this morning I saw one of the headlines in the local newspaper that said social distancing was not based on scientific facts/information. I have seen other articles that admitted that the social distancing was pulled out of the air. I have read lots of different information from doctors who warn about the problems with wearing the face mask.

My parents are in their 80’s and my dad has dementia. My parents do a lot of drive thru because my mother doesn’t have enough energy to clean, take care of my dad, etc. He can’t drive and demands to go shopping in various places. Don’t judge elderly people. It would be nice if someone who would be around to help clean, shop or cook for them. My parents don’t have the energy to garden anymore either. They have free will to decide to go out to eat. Someone died to ensure they had the rights as adults to make decisions on what and where they wanted to eat. Not to be controlled like slaves and told they have to stay home. Taking away their rights will lead to everyone losing their rights and freedoms.

What did I learn? I saw the food shortages last year due to all the world wide crop failures, droughts, wildfires, etc. I started buying 50lbs bags of wheat berries, oats, corn, etc. I put them in glass jars and vacuum sealed them. I started canning meat. I ordered extra garden seeds, etc.

I realize that I need cloth napkins to save paper towels for draining grease off food. I need more ammo. I need more clothes. With the solar minimum hitting, I need wool clothes. I need more rain water entrapment. I need a bigger green house. I moved to my bug out location 12 years ago. I go days and weeks without seeing anyone but my husband, but I am still not ready.

For the record I have read many articles on this so called virus. This is easy since I don’t own a TV. I am 62 years old. I will not wear a mask. My choice, my decision. No I could not go shopping at HEB or go into some of the gas stations to pay cash. However, other stores had no problem with me not wearing a mask when I paid cash for gas or food. I vote with my dollars not to be a slave. Oh and some HEB in other areas did not force me to wear a mask.

Great article Daisy.

Unfortunately, I think our troubles are just beginning. I would agree with Gerald Celente, Doug Casey, Michael Pento, Brandon Smith, and many others who feel that we have now entered “The Greatest Depression”. I, like them, seriously doubt that there will be a V-shaped recovery, or even a U-shaped recovery. Millions of jobs are now gone, and will stay that way for a very long time…possibly a decade. The United States did not begin to truly recover from the Great Depression of 1929 until World War II.

Before the COVID-19 crisis, we already knew that the U.S. stock market (and other financial assets) were extremely over-valued as indicated by the Shiller CAPE ratio which was near all-time highs due to the incessant liquidity injections and endless money-printing from the Federal Reserve, resulting in the inflation of stock prices via corporate stock buybacks…while the wages and standard of living of average Americans were stagnant. We were already at the end of the economic cycle before the pandemic. Parking lots were overflowing with unsold automotive vehicle inventory. The bubble was simply waiting for a black swan to arrive, and arrive it did in the form of COVID-19 and government lockdowns. There are myriad theories as to the how, why, and w.h.o. of this pandemic (no pun intended). Many of the theories are plausible, but it makes little difference from the standpoint of the average individual now attempting to navigate this mess and provide for their family. Protests to re-open the economy, and more importantly for the preservation of Freedom and Constitutional Rights, while valiant, are far too few, and the economy will likely re-open far too late after likely resurgences of the virus and re-lockdowns.

From the perspective of a global monetary reset, China and Russia have been stockpiling gold for a decade, and are ready with the Saudis (who worked to destroy the nascent American Shale Oil operations in 2014 by opening the supply floodgates and collapsing oil prices) to move away from the petro-dollar as the world reserve currency and replace it with the Yuan. In addition, other European Central banks have been racing furiously to repatriate their gold from U.S. vaults in the past decade in anticipation of the “Great Global Currency Reset”. Even the Dutch Central Bank, in an unprecedented statement made in Oct 2019, opined that if the entire system collapses, gold would be needed to ‘start over’.

Now, a couple of months into the COVID-19 pandemic, we are going to start to see hundreds of thousands of home foreclosures and economic dislocation on a scale far worse than 2008/09, where total unemployment was far less than it is now at Great Depression levels. We are still in the ‘deer in the headlights’ phase and many people continue to entertain the fantasy that a quick recovery is possible. That is a pipe dream. Look at the current unemployment numbers compared to 2008/09. There is no comparison. Even if all the malls in the country were to re-open tomorrow, no one would have any money to spend in them because their jobs and income have been eviscerated.

As a result of these developments, I am now prepping harder than ever before at this last opportunity, as I see we are either already in, or are quickly approaching, a time of great crisis in America as espoused by Strauss-Howe’s Generational Theory in “The Fourth Turning”.

Having been recently laid-off, like 30+ million other Americans, I am looking at personal bankruptcy and having to move back in with my parents who are already retired. With no jobs and no employment prospects for the foreseeable future, what other choice do people have? The Federal Reserve is out of ammunition, as has been noted by many others. Rates are headed towards negative territory by January 2021, something heretofore unheard of in America, which was once a mighty industrial and economic powerhouse. Repatriation of overseas manufacturing operations (if it occurs at all and is not simply shifted to India) will take years. And firing up the money press, just as they did to put out the fire in 2008/09, will push us ever closer to the Weimar-style hyperinflation which some financial analysts such as James Rickards have been warning us about for years. In Germany in 1923, at the height of their hyperinflation, a loaf of bread could be purchased for 4 million marks. So I have been pleading with my extended family to buy as much non-perishable food as they can now, while they can still afford it. So they will not starve. Unfortunately, as educated as they are, they simply cannot see something like that ever happening here.

For many, no matter their position on the political spectrum, watching big business again benefit from massive bailouts, and small businesses and dreams again destroyed after being cut off at the knees so recently in 2008/09, will simply be too much to bear…and there will be a growing frustration and anger among the general populace which will likely lead to civil unrest. We were already on our way to the Second Civil War in this country due to the extreme political divide as was finally recognized by the MSM in The Atlantic’s December 2019 issue “How to Stop a Civil War”, and in my opinion, COVID-19 and its attendant economic collapse will only serve to amplify those frustrations to a level that will completely boil over. All the elements of Michael Snyder’s “Perfect Storm” for an American Collapse will be present.

So my last-minute preparations, before all of this comes to pass, has been a very heavy focus on topping off my existing supply of canned goods and rice buckets with canned meats, vegetables, and fruits of all kinds — just as reports of the culling of chickens, cattle, and pigs and plowing fields under were coming in. Every penny of my unemployment check is going towards the purchase of these preps and I am paying nothing further to my creditors (except for my auto loan), all other accounts will be settled in bankruptcy, as my family will need these preps to survive. My credit will be ruined, but my family will be able to eat. I will then have a 24-36 month supply of food by the time the 39-week unemployment period runs out. In one month I will walk away from my apartment lease and relocate to my parent’s home out of necessity. Fortunately I will have a place to land, whereas millions of Americans won’t, and we will see tent cities and destitution on a scale that many would have thought previously unimaginable. The desperation of the miles-long traffic queues we have recently witnessed at the food banks nationwide is just the beginning. The sheer number of people who had no preps and are absolutely broke just trying to keep a roof over their head and cannot afford food, combined with the forced destruction of livestock and crops resulting in food shortages in the coming months, will be catastrophic for our country and may possibly lead to famine and starvation.

In addition to all of this, after reading Selco’s first book one year ago, I saw similar signs and patterns that led me to believe we were heading towards another civil war here in America. The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic will accelerate this process. So comparable to your purchase of plywood for the windows, I instead purchased chicken wire to deflect molotov cocktails (as recommended by a study of military manuals) while still enabing defenders to return defensive fire from within a house, in addition to black-out curtains, acrylic sandbags for fortification of firing positions, and T-posts and rolls of barbed wire to create tanglefoot and wire obstacles to slow down intruders.

I have also topped off with a few thousand additional rounds of semi-automatic rifle, shotgun, and pistol ammunition, knowing that if you run out of ammunition in the middle of a war…you are dead. I completely agree with Selco’s concept of “Big Circles” and “Small Circles”, and that protecting my family and forming a neighborhood defense force against looters and roving gangs will be our primary concern as the collapse steepens and resources become very scarce or non-existent.

I started prepping lightly in Y2K, when my Sister and I first filled up the bathtub and empty milk jugs with water. LOL. A good first step, and probably the most important! Since that time, Hurricane Katrina, region-wide blackouts, and the Great Recession of 2008/09 led me to start prepping more seriously. I have had all of my basic preps in place, at a serious level, for about 5 years now, in the basement of my parent’s house if ever SHTF. And now it has, and my emergency plan is in place. 300 gallons of treated water in 55-gallon food-grade drums in the basement. An initial 1-year supply of canned goods and non-perishables like rice and noodles (expanded to 24-36 months as described above). A library of printed books and manuals in ziploc bags to prevent rain damage. Several VHF, UHF handheld two-way radios to allow neighborhood defense teams to communicate. Ham Radio, shortwave, batteries, flashlights, camping equipment, fire starting equipment, wood-burning g-stove, all-weather clothing, printed and laminated Google satellite view of the neighborhood as a tactical map for area operations and defense, Iodine pills, etc. And of course, when I first read the news feeds about the pandemic in Wuhan in late January, I purchased boxes of N95 masks, P100 full-face respirators, gloves, sanitizer, beach and medical products to protect my immediate and extended family. I was the first to wear the full-face respirator at work on February 25, when the first few cases in the U.S. started popping up, and non-prepping coworkers thought I was nuts. One month later people were stopping me in the grocery store saying they wished they had a full face respirator like mine, that I was well-prepared, and where could they get one.

I’ve been on the fence about purchasing heirloom seeds, with their limited shelf life in the absence of refrigeration or freezing. Given the choice between a couple hundred dollars of seeds or more canned goods, I have chosen more canned goods. How can a garden be planted, tended, and harvested during a war?

If and when the war starts in certain areas of the country, and then spreads, cities and suburbs will be in complete chaos, and my goal for myself and my family will be to simply try and survive the war. Just survive. I’ve read Selco’s two books front-to-back. Of the entire library of books I have on survival, these two books are the most important. Because they will, in my opinion, help me to prepare my mind for what is coming so that I do not ‘freeze’ when it happens. The shock from the coming war and chaos is going to take a tremendous emotional and psychological toll on people. I feel these two books have helped me to prepare my mind for that shock, through learning about Selco’s experience in the Yugoslavian civil war.

Others see the potential 2nd U.S. Civil War as the gateway for a foreign invasion by the Chinese and Russians, after America is sufficiently weakened by internal conflict. This has been the position of JR Nyquist and Dave Hodges, which is also very plausible. So you better make sure you have enough food and ammmunition for a double-whammy.

Which brings me to the final point of this comment, and that is, that the United States was only able to exit the Great Depression through the industrial production necessitated by World War II. Gerald Celente has often predicted that the TPTB will start World War III to restart the great wheels of production in the event of an economic collapse, and as a byproduct, restart the growth of their immense fortunes. They’ve done it before. Why not again?

And that next world war will require an entirely different kind of survival as described by Cresson H. Kearny. One advantage of the pandemic in that respect is that people who prepped adequately for the pandemic can use their full-face respirators, Tyvek suits, plastic sheeting and hazmat boots…along with any Iodine pills they may have, to protect against the dust of radioactive fallout. The thought of all of this is far too much for some to bear, including my parents. But I guess that’s what sets us preppers apart from the rest. We are survivalists at heart. We will find a way to survive.

Good luck to all of you, and may God protect and comfort your families and give you the strength to carry on.

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” – Albert Einstein

What did I learn? I learned that our federal government is worse than useless. Not that I had any great faith in them before this but they failed even my lowest expectations! Given the predictions of a strong hurricane season and who knows what else, we really are on our own now.

I learned that I should trust my instincts and jump on things when I see them and not talk myself out of them as being impractical etc or let others talk me out of them. I could have had a large freezer for a great price but I passed that up, not being sure if it would fit anywhere in the house I was getting. As it turns out, it wouldn’t have(would have had to have it in a bedroom!). But I also could have swapped it for a smaller one at some point if I wanted to. I passed up the opportunity to buy some guns at great prices before all of this came down. Wish I’d listened to my instincts and done just that. Even if they weren’t the right ones for me I could have sold them easily now and gotten something better. I need to learn to not listen to people who may mean well but think they know more than they do! Hard as some people mean well but have no clue what they don’t know!

What have I learned, so far (as this is only the end of the begining), is that I am very much ALONE.

So far I have been shocked by the pathetic and submissive behaviour of people I thought were made of stronger stuff.
I have been shocked that my neighbors would report me to the Police for daring to step outside during ‘Lock Down’.
I have been shocked that no one I know personally has even questioned the official government narrative, much less the massive over-reach and crushing of hard won rights.
I have been shocked to find that instead of living within a self-sufficent and resilient town filled with thinking people, I actually live amongst fearful sheep and dangerous communist snitches.

I have learned that I cannot trust anyone, and certainly cannot rely on anyone, in fact if or when the SHTF properly I may have to defend myself from people I previously considered friends and neighbors.

I never realised I was so truely alone.

What I’ve learned is that most people are stupid! They are not taking the necessary precautions and listening to what they are told to do to protect themselves. I live in a rural area outside of a small town in western NY state. I have a post office box for my mail, and every week day when I go to the PO to get the mail, not even half of the people in the PO are wearing masks and social distancing.

I worked for a defense contractor for the last 33 years of my career before retiring. I am very educated in how to deal with a nuclear or chemical attack/accident. What I know the least about is how to deal with a biological threat. Talk about a gap in knowledge! I am prepped for these events, including MAP suits, gas masks, radiometric survey meter (geiger counter), potassium iodate pills, a well stocked pantry, fire arms collection and ammo supply, seeds, etc. I garden, can fruits, veggies, and meats, make my own breads, cheeses, etc. But dealing with a biological threat has pointed out a big gap in my preps!

Hi Daisy, been a while since we posted on SHTFplan 🙂

What have I learned through the controllavirus plandemic? Most of the people I know are still as dense as they were before the event. I’d wager the interesting times have just begun. There are people with agendas, after all; and, everyone surviving an thriving is not on their agenda. Perhaps this precursor is just a wake-up call for those with the eyes to see and the ears to hear.The masses of people will always refuse to face reality if possible. Disregard the nay-sayers about your adventures, you now have experiences they cannot fathom.

Another potential event on the horizon people might want to look into is “the killshot”, a future solar flare…

Good luck everyone.