Wigging Out

My wife is getting a wee bit wigged out these days when I start talking about the Apocalypse. Odd, since she was the one who suggested I start this blog.

And just for clarity's sake - I don't mean Apocalypse in the Biblical sense. I mean gridcrash. I mean massive economic depression or civil disorder on a grand scale. We stare so many imminent crises in the face that they’re tough to list. Let’s try, though!

1. Economic Depression




1. Oil - with oil prices only going one way in the long haul and with global supplies shrinking and demand rising, we’ll go through the last half of the world’s oil a lot faster than we went through the first half. Oh, yeah. We’re way past Peak Oil.


2. Inflation - Such a rise in energy costs will definitely increase inflationary pressures, leading to a whole list of woes. Add to that the housing market bust and credit crunch and the dollar has had better days.


3. Debt! – The United States has become the biggest debtor nation in history. Ever. Let me clarify that a bit… Shithole-istan is less of a debtor nation than the U.S. Fucking Mexico looks at us and goes, “Holy frijoles, look at those guys, amigos. Hide your wallet!” Oh yeah – and debt relative to income in this country hasn’t been this high since – you guessed it – the Great Depression! So chin up, America! We’re #1! We’re #1!


4. Manufacturing Job Loss – America used to be a manufacturing powerhouse the likes that the world had never seen (until China). Now with all of those jobs just about gone (and I mean all of them) what are we going to do? We can’t all be in service jobs. Somebody has to make something in order for the economy to work.


2. Global Warming




1. Too little, too late – we may have gotten started too late to reverse this, especially considering the developing world has no touchy, feely reservations about cutting down rainforests or burning coal and oil. Plus idiots in this country still insist on driving alone to work in a giant, gleaming SUV.


2. Weather Pattern Changes – It looks like a symptom of global warming is a massive change in things like hurricane strength and frequency but most importantly, global rainfall patterns…


3. Water Shortages – Atlanta. Right now. Need I say more? Now imagine a massive drought strangling Southern California or Las Vegas.


3. The Dumbing Down of America




1. Not a Cliché – I am certain that literacy rates in the U.S. are much lower than supposed. I think this for a number of reasons. Chief among them is the fact that people that would be counted as literate I would count illiterate. You’ve all gotten the email(s) from a coworker where the purpose or gist of the email was completely inscrutable. These people can read, sure, but they aren’t capable of stringing together a coherent thought in written form. Don’t act like you don’t know someone (or many people) like this. Many of these idiots have college degrees!


2. Failing Education System – Most public schools in rural and inner city America are in critical condition. Many suburban schools are in serious condition. Fewer and fewer kids are graduating and going to college, especially considering the constantly rising cost of college.


4. Gridcrash




1. Energy shortages – due to the short-sightedness mentioned above, we may not have the political and social will to implement the changes in our energy infrastructure on the scale and with the speed needed to avoid critical shortages in energy including regular brownouts and blackouts.


5. Civil Unrest




1. The Final Symptom – Once enough of the above situations manifest themselves, people will get fed up on a scale that we haven’t seen in many decades in this country. If any one of the above situations gets too far out of hand we could see riots, famine, and widespread migration. Never mind if a combination of situations should go too far afield...

Looking at all of this I choose to prepare. This is what makes her a bit uneasy. I tend to be right about things on the macro level.

For instance, I was at this bar with a friend of mine in February 2003 and he asks me, “So what do you think about Iraq? What’s gonna happen there?”

To which I replied, “Well, we’re invading. That part’s fait-accomplis. You don’t mass that much men and equipment just for show. They’ll cross the border for sure. Now as far as the war goes, we’ll sweep aside Saddam’s army like it was nothing. The occupation is what’s gonna kill us.”

Another example – we have a friend who’s a real estate agent. We were at some party (maybe a kid’s birthday?) about two years ago and I said, “Hey – what do you think about the housing market? I mean, wages aren’t nearly matching the rise in housing costs. When’s this bubble gonna burst?”

“Bubble!? There’s no bubble…” (N.I.N.J.A. loan)

The point is that Stacey may be getting nervous because she’s afraid I’m going to be right again. She sees me stocking up on non-hybrid seeds, ammunition, manuals on everything from organic gardening to wilderness survival to edible and medicinal plant guides. I don’t know. The last time she and I spoke about these matters, she had a real nervous look in her eyes.