The following article has been contributed by the ever insightful and always informative Daisy Luther of The Organic Prepper. Daisy is the author of several books, including her latest The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide to Whole Food on a Half-Price Budget.
Did you hear the news? “Greece Says No to Further Austerity Measures!” Did you shake your head and say, “Wow, the nerve of those people refusing to cut their expenses in the face of all that debt”?
I’m no financial expert, but I don’t think that tightening up the budget was really what they were turning down.
I think that they were turning down the opportunity to continue under the tyrannical rule of the EU. They were breaking free.
What they were actually turning down was another series of huge loans that would put them further in debt and further under the oppression of the European Union loan sharks. They said no to another entity controlling their finances and destiny. Collapse or survive, the voters loudly stated that the Greek people want their country back.
This weekend
I wrote about independence: it comes from not requiring anything that another person has to provide for you. And I believe that is exactly what the Greeks decided this weekend when they voted to discontinue allowing foreign entities to control their financial affairs, regardless of the cost.
So here’s the big question:
Is this
the collapse of Greece
, or is it a new beginning for the place where civilization actually began?
It will get worse before it gets better
The banks aren’t going to take this lying down. Already, the access of banking customers to their money has been strictly limited. The banks have been running on electronic funds for more than a week now,
only allowing small withdrawals and online banking to take place.
This was in preparation for the very vote that occurred. Now that the Greeks have refused bailout money, a bail-in is going to occur, right from the customer’s accounts to which they have been denied access.
Mac Slavo of SHTFplan wrote:
With the very near possibility of collapse, amid a shortage of cash and short term money, banks in Greece are poising themselves to “bail in” during financial emergencies by seizing customers bank accounts…
…It should be a stark reminder who will carry the costs of failure – the people. Once again, it is the public who bears the losses, and the private clubs who enjoy the profits.
There’s more. The country runs almost solely on imports. More than half of their food and nearly all pharmaceuticals are brought in from other countries. Fuel and other supplies come from far away. With the ban on monetary transfers outside the country, they can’t pay for more imports and the shortages have already begun.
People are unable to access life-saving medicine. They can hardly even acquire aspirin. Store shelves are bare as Greeks rush to purchase as many staples as possible while there are still a few things in stock. It seems to me that the kiss of death for a country would be to stop providing for its own necessities because that simply gives too much power to others.
Watch and learn what an economic collapse looks like
We are getting a bird’s eye view of an economic collapse. This is Economic Collapse 101, so I hope you’re taking notes.
What are the things that stand out in your mind the most? Here are the two major takeaway lessons that I see:
1.) Any money you have in the bank is not actually yours.
2.) The inability to produce is going to be a death sentence.
This is not the first “bail-in” we’ve seen. A couple of years ago, Cyprus “taxed” deposit accounts and helped themselves to half of people’s savings in order to salvage the system’s debt. Laws have been passed in both
the United States and
Canada making “bail-ins” legal and the first probably course of action should the S hit the F.
There are a lot of similarities between the United States and Greece.
We are encouraged to put all of our wealth into the hands of others through checking accounts, savings accounts, direct deposits, automatic withdrawals, and retirement funds. This means your money is just sitting there, safely tucked away for the rainy day on which the government and/or banking industry decides they need a bail-in – with YOUR hard-won savings.
Secondly, our debt is astronomical. We are a country that has been running on a deficit budget forever, since the late 1700s. Our nation was built on debt. But since 2008, the debt level has increased so astronomically that continuing on this course is highly questionable. We are riding on a bubble that has gotten so large, it’s going to pop, and bursting of it will be dramatic.
Finally, statistics in 2011 showed that we produce about 80% of the food consumed here in the United States. That’s the good news. The bad news is that since then
foreign trade agreements have seen that number plummet. What’s more, our society is consumer-driven and it relies mostly on imports that were made with
slave cheap labor overseas. Because of this, we could easily find ourselves in a similar position as the Greeks should everything go down hill in our own economic situation.
What can we do to prepare for a Greek-style collapse?
The answers can be found by observing the goings-on in Europe.
1.) Get your money out of the control of others. It’s probably obvious by now that the phrase “money in the bank” no longer rings with the same certainty that it used to. Your money is ONLY yours if you hold it in your hand. Your retirement and savings accounts
can be plundered. We watched it happen in Cyprus and we’re about to witness it in Greece. Keep enough to pay expenses like mortgage, property taxes, etc., and put the rest into different types of assets. Hold precious metals and tangible goods.
Learn more about financial strategies for preppers HERE.
2.) Prep by stocking up on things that may not be available tomorrow. Right now, the
folks in Greece are learning the same difficult lesson
the people in Venezuela have learned. Shortages in necessities closely follow economic crises. Now is the time to stock up on tangible goods like food, seeds, ammo, and personal items.
Learn how to build a pantry on a budget HERE.
3.) Start producing. It’s time to channel your grandparents and learn to provide for your own basic needs. Self-reliance is the key to surviving an economic collapse. If you don’t already possess these skills, learn to garden,
preserve, sew, and build. No matter where you are, there are steps you can take to produce things for yourself.
Check out this roadmap to self-reliance.
4.) Learn to be less reliant on public utilities. We’re already seeing this happen in cities like Detroit, where thousands are living without running water. I’m not suggesting that you invest in expensive generators – because it’s unlikely, should an all-out collapse occur you’ll be able to acquire fuel to run them. You need to learn to live with less energy. Invest in renewable items like solar lighting. If you can, have a well installed on your property. Learn to stay warm and cool without electrical power. This is not about the grid completely going down – it’s about that moment when your budget is so tight you have to make a choice between keeping a roof over your head and keeping the lights on. Being able to greatly reduce your usage could mean the difference between being able to afford your power bill and sitting there in the dark.
5.) Be prepared to defend your home and family. As the situation becomes more critical, you can expect chaos to ensue. First, there are the rioters who pillage and destroy as part of the mob mentality. When everyone is focused on survival, you can’t expect cavalry to arrive in the form of 911. Secondly, as supplies become more difficult (or impossible) to acquire, it’s a pretty sure bet that people will want what you have. We need only to
flash back to any number of “Black Friday” sales to see what a determined mob of shoppers looks like – and those folks aren’t even hungry.
Here’s how to get prepared to protect your supplies, your homestead, and your loved ones.
When collapse is the question, self-reliance is the answer
The Greeks have chosen to take back their power, now that they are on the eve of complete economic devastation. They’ve voted not to be dependent on hand-outs from the European Union, because they’ve learned the hard way that with those handouts comes a life ruled by others. Of the two paths available to them, both are rocky, but by turning down the latest bail-out, it appears that they’ve finally had enough of the manipulation and control. They just said no to debt slavery.
As every prepper knows, we can’t expect to be rescued. Waiting for FEMA, 911, or welfare is not the answer during a crisis. We can learn a lot from what’s going on in Greece. It’s the height of arrogance to think it can’t happen here. We can wrap ourselves in the American flag all we want, but it’s not a magical protective garment that somehow insulates us from the results of our tax-and-spend economy.
Being gloomy isn’t my thing, but I predict a serious financial crisis for our country in the months ahead. Since the beginning of this year,
I’ve been writing about our impending economic issues. Watching the situation unfold in Europe only makes me feel more certain that our way of life is about to shift dramatically.
As long as our society has more dependent people than self-reliant people, we are on a clear course to economic disaster. There’s still time to insure yourself against a future of hunger and desperation. But don’t wait. If you try to make a bank run when the intentions to raid accounts becomes clear, you’ll have missed your window. You’ll be standing there in the long lines with everyone else, watching your life savings vanish into the government’s pockets. If you try to stockpile as the shelves become increasingly bare, you will be battling everyone else who has just realized that restocking isn’t going to happen.
If you wait to prepare, you may be sentencing your family to a life of desperation. Once it all starts to crumble, it will happen fast, and it will be too late. We are witnessing our future. What will you do to prepare for it?
Also From Daisy Luther:
San Andreas for Preppers: 12 Essential Survival Lessons from the Movie
12 Bad Strategies That Will Get Preppers Killed
Lock and Load: Are You Prepared for Civil Unrest?
You’ve Been Warned: Why You Need to Be Ready for Total Grid Failure 
“Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.”
-Edmund Burke
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” -Benjamin Franklin
I too am watching what is happening in Greece.
Re: “It’s time to channel your grandparents and learn to provide for your own basic needs. Self-reliance is the key to surviving an economic collapse.”
Agreed! Here is another useful source.
How to Survive Hard Times – website with lots of useful information.
http://grandpappy.org/indexhar.htm
~~~~drool~~~~
Regarding item #3, consider signing up for classes on pressure and water bath canning, and food dehydrating through our local county extension office. Right now is the time of year that those kinds of classes are offered. They also offer classes on making soft cheese, bread, salsa, etc., and etc.
Tomorrow, chicken broth with the waste meat on the backbones.
Also canned 12 half pints of blueberries for my teas. yummy!
I can see to many peple hyperventalating, relax. No one can tell what’s going on. If we have learned anything in the last few years it’s that none of the talking heads know any more than we do. You want an extra bag of rice, fine, but don’t go overboard; keeping your head is far more important than the rice.Sorry to interupt with this post but I can feel people getting to worried, use brains not emotions,
Can you please explain that concept to my wife ? LOL
TPTB are nothing but spoiled rotten kids. If they can’t have it their way they will try to kill you or your Country.
I have already learned from the Greece. Most of them haven’t PREPPED and now they are doing what they can to get through the hell TPTB are going to put them through.
Just heard that Food and Medical supplies are being held off coast and over the boarder. Also heard that TPTB are going to try and pull off Cou de tau. We will see!
Man I love this site when people try to help people.
Keep Prepping. Buy your Silver and Gold. It was going to go up like a rocket!
AIM SMALL MISS SMALL
Sgt.
Remember to rat hole a big wad of Dollars Yankees for last minute shopping. I keep bundles, each containing $500 in 50’s, $300 in 20’s, $100 in 10’s, and $100 in 5’s. Being able to make change will be important.
Stock up BIG on Gold and Silver NOW. I have a member of our group who owns a coin shop. The wife unit works for him, so I get a kinda inside scoop..bullion orders are now being delayed. What used to be a 2 day turnaround is now at least a week.
The premium on 90% is going up, and it is harder to get the denomination you want.
Last week he received a large gold order the bullion group had included slabbed coins in order to meet the quantity requested…WTFO???
Fortunately (depending on which side of the fence you’re on) A lot of people are still selling over the counter, a lot due to being hard up, but also people are selling as the price is currently low and they are worried about it dropping more…Foolish monkeys…
My biggest problem is that my place is turning into a blivet!!!
Man it’s going to be spectacular!!!
——————————————
Russia Celebrates Independence Day By Flying Strategic Bombers 200 Miles Off California Coast
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/06/2015 – 23:00
As Americans stared heavenwards at the sound and fury of incendiary devices lighting the dark to celebrate their independence from an over-taxing monarchy, there were other fireworks going off in the skies above Alaska and California. As Fox News reports, two pairs of Russian bombers flew off the coast of California and Alaska – forcing the Air Force to scramble fighter jets to intercept both flights, according to two senior defense officials who did not confirm if the bombers were armed. As Free Beacon adds, it was the second time Moscow dispatched nuclear-capable bombers into the 200-mile zone surrounding U.S. territory in the past two weeks
———“nuclear capable bombers”…!
Dear Russians,
Washington D.C. is NOT in Washington State.
Please make a note of it!
Speaking of silver, saw this a few minutes ago at Zerohedge…
“And while the US Mint rarely issues press releases to confirm such adverse matters, moments ago this was confirmed by Bloomberg:
•U.S. MINT SAYS 2015 AMERICAN EAGLE SILVER COINS SOLD OUT
When will the Mint restock and resume sales?
•U.S. MINT PLANS TO RESUME SILVER COIN SALES IN TWO WEEKS
In other words, no orders until August.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-07/us-mint-runs-out-silver-same-day-price-silver-plunges-2015-lows
Right!!! This was a great article and I heard the same about food and meds. I think they are going to try and use those items to pressure the Greeks into submission. I bet Putin and other BRICS step in and help before that. It is interesting and the collapse may have begun in front of our eyes.
A buddy of mine is/was a full bird colonel in the army and three years ago he said his briefing all said watch Greece, and that Greece was the powder keg for real economic trouble. But army Intel (and I am an army vet) tends to be the worst of all the military Intel units…..
Keep your powder dry,
JJsan
Call it the “Revenge of the FED”. These are NOT random events. No one should believe they are.
Putin is not going to do, cannot afford to do, shit for Greece.The Russian auto industry has lost hundreds of millions of dollars, and Russian companies must repay Western loans with DOLLARS, which are almost twice as expensive as they use to be against the Rouble.
China has DOLLAR RESERVES which they can use to buy Greek oil & gas leases. Greece will sell these assets or partner with China once they exit the Euro Zone, repudiate or freeze their debt, and restore their own fiat currency.
Its a brave new world, and the NWO is tightening the noose. Engage.
“Russian companies must repay Western loans with DOLLARS,”
Whats stoppin them from sayin FU ?
All loans and repayment agreements are only as good as a handshake in the end .
I have never understood how a paper contract to repay a loan is any different than paper money or paper gold .
What prevents default ?
Ya cant hold your money , ya aint got money, whatever it is.
Are we gonna send repo men to russian ?
take out the space between the T’s
read the story, than read the comments .. theres a lot more awake people than we think .
and plenty of interesting view points
With you In Arms
EOS
A situation like Greece is why I have 65K rounds of ammo. That and 5 years of tiolet paper, paper towels, trash bags, Ziploc bags, a water purification system……. and enough wood to heat my house for 3 years.
Now, THAT is money in the bank.
Even at today’s depressed price of silver, a $1,000 bag of real money runs close to 4x that….and the premium is about 5 bucks over spot now. (APMEX)
Little behind you on ammo….only about 40k rounds.
Little ahead of you on TP….about 10 years worth.
And just finished up cutting my wood this morning for heating season 2017-18.
A little deprivation might bring people back to their senses. There are many on this site that are well prepared. I am 15 feet above sea level so if those big waves come. That’s Life.
Greece is way different than the USA and if we have bank holidays or the government starts confiscation of items. The people will become most violent. Home invasions will begin as food becomes scarce. I mean to tell you also it will be the food many have grown very accustomed to. So the shelves will not have to be completely empty for home invasions to start.
If you have to stay in place and defend, I hope you have the material to reinforce your home. I am a firm believer in sand bags and some type of body armor. Make a plan and use a Checklist.
There are people who are better prepared than me. I have made my plan and will make adjustments but it is all I can maintain. Remember some is better than none.
Zero to thirty days people will be stressed. Thirty to sixty days people will be in shock. Sixty to ninety days people will freak out and many will begin to die.
Lots of variables to consider.
Praying we all make it!
HAVE A HAPPY DAY!
SGT USMC 1966-72
I bet 25%. LOL
Very good point. I bet you can get at least 25% finding Greece on a North America map. If you look just West of Commyfornia you will find it. I think?
Damn made me laugh my ASS OFF!
Sgt.
Aint that a sweet thing to do ?
Now that long term food storage, solar power and water needs are handled, I am going to jump into canning. And when I say canning, I mean glass Ball jars and lids.
How many here have tried this? Do I really need a pressure cooker for starting small? Can I just boil them in a big pot with the same effect? Is it true most pressure canned things last at least 1 year, some much more?
Anyone got a link to a primer?
Yes and No on the pressure cooker. As you read up on this you will find that you can also find you can use your fridge.
I just got done using some tomatoes we canned in 2010, and they tasted as good as what we canned in 2014.
I’ve started drying everything from Tomatoes to Bananas to Onions to Potatoes, to Beans, just to name a few. I like dehydrating better than canning I use less room in storage.
Sgt.
This book covers EVERYTHING and then some.
I recommend highly, be safe.
ht tp://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=ball+jar+canning+book&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=52320543185&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3718946288322813639&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_7xgrmrn27g_b
Pressure canning is the only way to can low acid foods (which most are) and meats. We even can bacon when we slaughter pigs in the fall. We have a thousand or more jars, and many thousands of lids + a case of Tattler lids.
Stock up on jars, lids, and rings, now. When everyone jumps on the canning wagon, good luck finding the stuff.
Paraffin, too.
Thought ya
Might like to
Go to the show
To feel the warm thrill of confusion
That space cadet glow
Tell me is something eluding you sunshine
Is this not what you expected to see
If ya wanna find out what’s behind these cold eyes
You’ll just have to claw your way through this disguise
*Cue Waiting for the Worms*
Would you like to see
Brittania rule again
My friend
All you have to do is follow the words…
Looks like it’s about Germany’s turn to be on the receiving end of the crap they pulled twice in the last century.
Have fun with that, Kaiser. I’d suggest we help you out but that’s a big ol’ NOPE to that one.
“I’m no financial expert, but I don’t think that tightening up the budget was really what they were turning down.
I think that they were turning down the opportunity to continue under the tyrannical rule of the EU. They were breaking free.”
Has the author ever been to Greece or ever read the news at all? The Greeks themselves are saying the contrary: that they want a debt relief, but want to stay in the Euro zone.
And no-one has ever talked about leaving the European Union (EU). Why on earth would they? They get hundreds of millions in various direct political transfers and subsidies every year!!! The drama is about debts.
Before joining the common Euro currency, Greece was more or less a third world country. Under developed, thouroughly corrupt but cheap tourist resort for the richer countries. When I visited in 2000 or 2001, all the cabs were 20 year old clunkers. By corrupt I mean both the oligarchs as well as “grass root” citizens. The goverment and bureaucrats cheat, but so does everybody else. Subsidies, pensions for dead people and no building is ever finished (to avoid taxes). Ever tried to get a receipt at a restaurant or cab?
They even cheated their way (with aid from Goldman Sucks) into the Euro! For a decade they’ve borrowed cheaply and the infrasturcture is in better shape than many so called rich countries. (When I visited Greece again in 2009 all the taxis were brand new Mercedesis, but still no receipts.)
But they spent the money with no reforms and now can’t pay back. Again! In 2012 they already had a haircut plus new loans. Both from IMF, ECB but also quite a lot from fellow Euro zone countries, i.e tax payers. But no reforms; the Greek government budget has just kept growing despite all the talk about austerity. Corrution possibly worse than ever. Now, only 3 years later, they are defaulting again. But this time the rest of Europe is fed up.
Although my country (and others too) were/still are hit by the recession, and have to borrow far too much ourselves, we actually had to borrow even more to lend to Greece without interest! And my country already has among the highest taxes on earth and has already had real austerity measures: increase of the retirement age, cut down on already low military expensis (despite a long border with Russia), deteriorating roads and school buildings and ever larger school classes etc.
We pay higher taxes (on income, gas, cars, spirits, VAT) than the Greek, have a higher retirement age and my personal share of Greek loans is some 3000 Euros. That’s 9000€ for my family in losses if the Greeks default. And I did not lend voluntarily to an already bankrupt country. Our politicians did. After they were forced by bigger players. Please do not call me a loan shark!
And now Greeks voted “democratically” that they don’t want to pay back. But they insist on staying in the Euro zone, hoping for both debt writedowns AND NEW LOANS to spend!!! There is another reason too. They would do even worse with their own currency.
Why? Because they only have two industries; shippping owned by the rich (don’t pay taxes) and tourism (use cash as much as possible, i.e. pays very little taxes). And government. A weak currency would not really help, as they have nothing to export, but their imports would soar. They even import most of their food! As their tourist hotels are normally well booked anyway, a weaker currency would only lead to less income!
I’d happily kick these abusers out of the Euro zone and EU (and take the losses before its too late), but the banks can’t do that without going under and thus it won’t happen.
I do not wish ecenomic hardship on anyone, but then I’m also not responsible for the well being of any people who think they can get wealthy by voting for stupid promises. And I honestly don’t know what would save them. Their competitors from Eastern Europe have far lower wages and are used to work hard. Greeks can’t even compete for simple restaurant jobs. At least all the waiters I saw were British, Scandinavian, Dutch etc (mostly hard working students), but never Greek…
Thank you , a point missed by the author.
And corruption, woah boy !, I have had first hand conversation with a recently immigrated (legal) greek.
He told me that paying off officials was standard day to day BS ! Fraud and graft are the rule of the day .
Seems without cleaning up the corruption , there can be no solution.
The US is gettin there !
I think there will be some hard economic times ahead as the west continues its decline but not a collapse.
Stop worrying.
Prepare for something more realistic – like a flu pandemic or terrorist attack on the power grid or other vital utility.
God bless:)
You will eventually get burned by your own ignorance.
I’m realistic about what the Bible says about “seeing the trouble ahead” and preparing for it and then trusting in God. We who read the Bible know where all this upheaval is leading. The end times are here. I’m realistic about the hard times that are coming, it’s out of our control, I can prepare, and I trust in God (because He promised and He is faithful).
Never heard of George Green & Pete Petersen. Are they independent reporters or government insiders? What makes these two guys to be a credible source, that is if you are able to disclose their background or not. -thanks-
She gave everyone a hard time, from the store manager to the security guard to the arresting officer who took her away.
She complained and criticized everything and everyone throughout the process.
When she appeared before the judge, the judge asked her what she had stolen from the store.
The lady defiantly replied, “Just a stupid can of peaches.”
The judge then asked why she had done it.
She replied, “I was hungry and forgot to bring any cash to the store.”
The judge asked how many peaches were in the can.
She replied in a nasty tone, “Nine! But why do you care about that?”
The judge answered patiently, “Well, ma’am, because I’m going to give you nine days in jail — one day for each peach.”
As the judge was about to drop his gavel, the lady’s long-suffering husband raised his hand slowly and asked if he might speak.
The judge said, “Yes sir, what do you have to add?”
The husband said meekly, “Your Honor, she also stole a can of peas.”
HCKS.
Voting for this or that will not matter to the bankers that run the world.
They own your ass, too. Or do you think those trillions of FRNs .gov pigs say you owe WON’T be latched to your butt? Dream on serf. They will tax you until your ass is raw to get their penance from you.
It is how the debt system was set up and it will only die, screaming and clawing, when the hydrocarbons are no longer cheap and plentiful.
Keep your eye on the fracking defaults and the per capita energy use to find out when the collapse happens. The world economy is based on cheap energy… not fiat paper.
Now thats interesting…….
Just got some info from the electric co-op here.
It would seem EVERYBODY is using less to offset increases due to restrictive EPA regs put on electric providers.
In short since demand has fallen , why build more EPA compliant power facilities?
It would seem the Agenda21 blueprint is pushing forward.
BTW – Michigan is losing 9 coal plants this year !!!