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Whack!

The next case of $120 oil, assuming we get there before the industrial economy falls into the abyss, will be brutal for an already over-stretched American consumer. Banks are falling like dominoes on a mule cart over the bumpy terrain of declining energy supplies. When will the lights go out?
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A Typical Reaction

Occasionally when people talk to me about my new life in and around the mud hut, their conclusions include one of the following statements: (1) You’re selfishly wasting your talent as an excellent and inspiring teacher. You should be teaching at the university, saving students, instead of preparing for economic collapse. (2) Don’t be silly. The United States cannot suffer economic collapse.
My responses go something like this:

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Preparing for Collapse at the Mud Hut

I've dug trenches (requiring only a strong back and a weak mind, so it's the perfect job for me) in which to install water lines, and even installed a
frost-free hydrant
near the chicken coop and duck house (I'm a plumber). This morning I laid
laid tile atop a counter
in the outdoor kitchen (I'm a mason). I've built several awnings for tools and shade, along with a few structures for animals (I'm a rough carpenter). And we're growing considerable food, planted from seed, in our own garden beds and also in a neighbor's field (I'm a sharecropper). My two favorite titles, then, are Professor Emeritus and Sharecropper.
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Politics and personal responsibility

I’ve long recognized the two-party, one-ideology basis of American politics, and I was calling Barack Obama a neoconservative long before it was popular to recognize him as the Teflon President 2.0. But even I can hardly believe this tidbit from a guy I thought was pretty damned smart: From the I-cannot-believe-this-is-happening camp, Obama is appointing a Monsanto man as food safety czar. Welcome to Farmageddon, land of the free.

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When — not if — TSHTF

As I’ve said and written too many times to count, the Greatest Depression is just getting started. The stock markets have experienced a bear-market rally analogous to the 48 percent rally of 1929-1930. But contemporary unemployment figures indicate serious structural damage to the industrial economy, and even mainstream pundits have started to figure it out: “Most of the jobs lost will never come back.”
Duh.

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Investing in Durability

Durability has always been a wise investment. Now is the perfect time to make a personal investment in durability, for myriad reasons. For one thing, most sellers still think fiat currency is valuable.
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