The Glade 4.0

There are a few distinct paths this whole thing can take through its course.

One would be with wild riots all over that sparks near national martial law. Instant dictatorship. Perm 1970's stagflation living conditions likely result.

Another would be an attempt to merge with other economies under an IMF directed one world currency which would likely capture 15 of the G20, all of them if China jumps in to preserve its dollars. Prolly see a .75 cent on the dollar for the new currency (at the request of US and Chinese nuke arsenals) and that would be the beginning of a long slow decline as any semblance of rights flies out the door. Could spark rebellion which would see UN troops brought in. Potential for 1900-1930's living conditions for a while.

Or we could just see a long slow decline with the bottom not dropping out of the dollar but the US slowly fading as other currencies take their place and we start regressing in standard of living compared to the pace of the world.

We could see radical political change that causes massive unrest of the left as unions are neutered and states and the Federal Government slash programs left and right and people are forced to adapt to a find work or charity or come close to dying. We exist at a 1980's -1995 standard for a while as we deal with high prices and our current unemployment rate. In about 10 years when half the nations debt is paid off and currency is backed by a mixed metals platform we start to rapidly accelerate like we did 70 years ago.

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

December 2012, it is what the Mayan Calendar is warning us about. A reset of the world, including the economy.

Or not.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Elmo:

When did you become such a fantastic optimist. Your senarios are all heavenly compared to the reality of where we are inescapably headed.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Barring a nuclear exchange (and even then) we won't be going to a stone age living.

We have roads and electric infrastructure and an educated populace with access to lots of resources and machine shops in people's back yards.

The worst I can see it getting is about six months of fending for yourself, the worst of it the first month while people are still relatively well fed and medically sound and capable of violence. After that society will reset and start to come back. It would require direct oppression (Our government or the UN) to keep us from coming back online.

I don't know your planning scenario but I've moved past the survive threshold and am now planning my "get me back to having weekly D&D sessions with friends scattered over a 40 mile radius and no one thinks it unusual or unaffordable".

I have my food, I have my gear, I have my knowledge and land, I have my guns and friends...now lets hurry up to getting back to where we can go out for some crappy Olive Garden that our dates think is awesome.

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

And this smug response is why you were asked for your definitions up front. So was this yet another Lex attempt at being the smartest guy in the room?

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A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ~ John Stuart Mill

He knows better.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Of corse our government will act against us. And as they do they will conscript those who have not, as they will be willing to take from those who have, all in the interests of preserving the system.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

What if our currency reaches the amount of useless that the Zimbabwean dollar reached?

In 2008 the conversion rate was 19,393.94 Zimbabwean dollars to the $1 USD. In 2008 a single Egg was around 35 billion Zimbabwean dollars.

The country eventually abandoned the money, preferring other countries currency to its own, which is what it finally took to stabilize their market.

That would affect most of us in our day to day living. the US went into an uproar when the EU went to one standardized currency... think of the explosion that would be caused by having to abandon our precious USD....

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

So predictable..

People around the globe are working really hard to continually make things better. You guys can use whatever bullshit economics you want but you know you all have less than a 10% chance of being right (conservatively, probably actually less than 2 or 3%). The economy will not shut down. At most it will get slightly worse, and then likely much better.

Believe whatever you want. Your preparation and survival are not my problem.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Where's the Wikipedia page on the impending collapse that is so bound to happen? Surely there would be a large page about this momentous future event. Is it a huge secret that only you know about?

Well that blurb of retardation means officially puts you on ignore. Good god. If someone writes about it on interweb (not a forum, but a community-generated webpage which is totally different) then it's a fact eh?

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There's a Wikipedia page for everything relevant that is scientific and/or predictable.

I'm sure you'll be just fine. Again, your personal feelings, denial in the face of hard logical conclusions, and ultimately, your survival are not my concern. I'm not interested in being more concerned about other people's wellbeing than they are.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Look. Just please explain why there is not a Wikipedia page for this? Are you the only enlightened one? Do you understand that even ridiculous things like the technological singularity have serious Wikipedia pages?

Yes for the 3% who might be "prepared" there is another 97% who are very interested in **** going all Thunderdome on us. Some say (and I believe this) that a massive correction is coming, and it will happen faster than the controls in place can compensate. More controls will just kick the can a little further and make the correction that much worse.

As to wikipedia not having a page on it, have you looked at Instructables? How about the How To page? They've got it.

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A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ~ John Stuart Mill

If there isn't a Wikipedia page on it, then it's either highly unlikely or obscure. So I just disagree on this level.

Disagree with that? That the economy is worse than the government propaganda machine wants you to believe? Do you even keep track of how much money you spend on incidental purchases, Lex?

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Don't feed him anymore. He can't even be bothered to check wikipedia for this. Typical lex mode.

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A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ~ John Stuart Mill

I find many of your predictions laughable. I predict that things will continue to stabilize, with sectors of the economy worsening. There will be serious financial problems, followed by austerity, followed by minor unrest, followed by stability.

People will not starve in this country in any significant numbers, and everything will eventually be just fine.

But I also predict that certain individuals will continue making doomsday predictions indefinitely, regardless of conditions. They will latch on to real weaknesses and real problems and extrapolate these to the entire economy and social structure. This will go on forever.

Troll Lex is troll.

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

Whose predictions?What sectors of the economy are stabilizing? What metrics are you using to determine stabilization? What changes have occurred in these specific sectors to indicate stabilization?What inclines you to believe austerity will be seriously considered as a policy measured?

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Some folks will thrive, some won't. As long as marginal performance is the average, the averages will decrease.

My lifestyle has steadily increased, as has my retirement nest egg. It's like this recession - if you have a job it's not been an issue, but if not, it's been terrible. I've still seen worse depths, but the length seems greater. I blame the attempted solutions for that.

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In time, this too shall pass.

When economy collapses, the only things people would highly value are medicines, food and guns... get them while they are hot =P