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17 Signs That Most Americans Will Be Wiped Out By The Coming Economic Collapse

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,

The vast majority of Americans are going to be absolutely blindsided by what is coming.  They don't understand how our financial system works, they don't understand how vulnerable it is, and most of them blindly trust that our leaders know exactly what they are doing and that they will be able to fix our problems.  As a result, most Americans are simply not prepared for the massive storm that is heading our way.  Most American families are living paycheck to paycheck, most of them are not storing up emergency food and supplies, and only a very small percentage of them are buying gold and silver for investment purposes.   They seem to have forgotten what happened back in 2008. 

When the financial markets crashed, millions of Americans lost their jobs.  Because most of them were living on the financial edge, millions of them also lost their homes.  Unfortunately, most Americans seem convinced that it will not happen again.  Right now we seem to be living in a "hope bubble" and people have become very complacent.  For a while there, being a "prepper" was very trendy, but now concern about a coming economic crisis seems to have subsided.  What a tragic mistake.  As I pointed out yesterday, our entire financial system is a giant Ponzi scheme, and there are already signs that our financial markets are about to implode once again

Those that have not made any preparations for what is coming are going to regret it bitterly.  The following are 17 signs that most Americans will be wiped out by the coming economic collapse...

#1 According to a survey that was just released, 76 percent of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.  But most Americans are acting as if their jobs will always be there.  But the truth is that mass layoffs can occur at any time.  In fact, it just happened at one of the largest law firms in New York City.

#2 27 percent of all Americans do not have even a single penny saved up.

#3 46 percent of all Americans have $800 or less saved up.

#4 Less than one out of every four Americans has enough money stored away to cover six months of expenses.

#5 Wages continue to fall even as the cost of living continues to go up.  Today, the average income for the bottom 90 percent of all income earners in America is just $31,244.  An increasing percentage of American families are just trying to find a way to survive from month to month.

#6 62 percent of all middle class Americans say that they have had to reduce household spending over the past year.

#7 Small business is becoming an endangered species in America.  In fact, only about 7 percent of all non-farm workers in the United States are self-employed at this point.  That means that the vast majority of Americans are depending on someone else to provide them with an income.  But what is going to happen as those jobs disappear?

#8 In 1989, the debt to income ratio of the average American family was about 58 percent.  Today it is up to 154 percent.

#9 Today, a higher percentage of Americans are dependent on the government than ever before.  In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that gets direct monetary benefits from the federal government.  So what is going to happen when the government handout gravy train comes to an end?

#10 Back in the 1970s, about one out of every 50 Americans was on food stamps.  Today, about one out of every 6.5 Americans is on food stamps.

#11 It is estimated that less than 10 percent of the U.S. population owns any gold or silver for investment purposes.

#12 It has been estimated that there are approximately 3 million "preppers" in the United States.  But that means that almost everyone else is not prepping.

#13 44 percent of all Americans do not have first-aid kits in their homes.

#14 48 percent of all Americans do not have any emergency supplies stored up.

#15 53 percent of all Americans do not have a 3 day supply of nonperishable food and water in their homes.

#16 One survey asked Americans how long they thought they would survive if the electrical grid went down for an extended period of time.  Incredibly, 21 percent said that they would survive for less than a week, an additional 28 percent said that they would survive for less than two weeks, and nearly 75 percent said that they would be dead before the two month mark.

#17 According to a survey conducted by the Adelphi University Center for Health Innovation, 55 percent of Americans believe that the government will come to their rescue when disaster strikes.

Just because you are living a comfortable middle class lifestyle today does not mean that it will always be that way.

If you doubt this, take a look at what is going on in Greece.  Many formerly middle class parents in Greece have become so impoverished that they are actually dumping their children at orphanages so that they won't starve...

Scores of children have been put in orphanages and care homes for economic reasons; one charity said 80 of the 100 children in its residential centres were there because their families can no longer provide for them.

Ten percent of Greek children are said to be at risk of hunger. Teachers talk of cancelling PE lessons because children are underfed and of seeing pupils pick through bins for food.

If the U.S. economy crashes and you lose your job, how will you and your family survive?

Will you and your family end up homeless and totally dependent on the government for your survival?

Get prepared while there is still time.  If you do not know how to get prepared, my article entitled "25 Things That You Should Do To Get Prepared For The Coming Economic Collapse" has some basic tips, and there are dozens of excellent websites out there that teach people advanced prepping techniques for free.

So there is no excuse.  You can trust that Ben Bernanke and Barack Obama have everything under control, but as for me and my family we are going to prepare for the giant economic storm that is coming.

I hope that you will be getting prepared too.

 

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Tue, 06/25/2013 - 20:01 | 3692850 Moe Howard
Moe Howard's picture

Let them eat coal. Or charcoal briquets.

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 20:10 | 3692867 They trynna cat...
They trynna catch me ridin dirty's picture

I'm not worried about the fluoride heads as they refuse to listen to reason.

What I am worried about is the fact that when the SHTF they are going to come for those of us who have prepared and try to take what's ours.

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 20:14 | 3692873 slowsmile
slowsmile's picture

A few quotes by Alexis De Tocqueville from the 1800s, describes it well. He really had a handle on it for sure;

 

"Americans are so enamored of equality, they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.” 

 

"I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run."

 

“There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle.”  

 

“Everybody feels the evil, but no one has courage or energy enough to seek the cure” 

 

"A democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it. "

 

"In a democracy, the citizens get the government they deserve."

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 05:48 | 3693852 Seer
Seer's picture

Goes to show that it never WAS right in the US.

I have a problem with De Tocqueville in in that he was more of an aristocrat living off of others than really contributing anything that mattered: yeah, we got some great quotes, but...  From Wiki:

He argued that the importance of the French Revolution was to continue the process of modernizing and centralizing the French state which had begun under King Louis XIV.

So, he blasted the "dumb" Americans and promoted a more centralized form of state.  Power corrupts.  How smart was he in not understanding That?  I'd further wish to know if he had any concept of math/physics- how would the "intelligent" rulers tackle the problem of perpetual growth on a finite planet (which way back then wasn't yet exhibiting obvious traits as it is today)?

It's good to be king, if just for a while
To be there in velvet, yeah, to give 'em a smile
It's good to get high, and never come down
It's good to be king of your own little town

Yeah, the world would swing if I were king
Can I help it if I still dream time to time

[Tom Petty - It's Good to be King]

De Tocqueville was an elitist, plain and simple; right about a lot of things, but an elitist.

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 20:20 | 3692883 Minister of Bre...
Minister of Bread and Circuses's picture

#2 through #4 are not totally honest. The survey cited asked about cash savings, not total savings. People may have further savings in other assets. I'd like to know. Too bad they bungled the survey.

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 20:31 | 3692903 Hongcha
Hongcha's picture

"Maybe I'm a racist. But if I am , at least it got me ready for the collapse."

Well, I am now.  The last few years have opened my eyes.  I have a few new tenets along that line - Forced / coerced / legislated / encouraged integration is unnatural and does not work; birds of a feather should flock together; the races are not equal.  I have become firmly convinced of it.  Surprised me but it feels right.

I am no one-toothed inbred waterhead from the sticks ... just an unassuming white man who can no longer buffer the facts from himself.  I bet there are a lot more like me.

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 21:02 | 3692963 andrewp111
andrewp111's picture

There has been so much intermixing that very few races are "pure" anymore in the USA.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 05:57 | 3693861 Seer
Seer's picture

Yep.  That's what the "Indian reservations" are for...

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 22:20 | 3693210 Ocean22
Ocean22's picture

Agree.

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 23:13 | 3693404 Savyindallas
Savyindallas's picture

Sorry,  -you think the white race is superior? Europeans killed 100 million of their own in wars last century. White Globalists have killed tens of millions since then in our senseless wars-now focused on Muslims. Colonialism killed another hundred million in the centuries before. You're Asian? Mao killed about 40 milliuon Chinese  -Pol Pot killed millions of Cambodians -the Vietnames killed a lot of their own too. It goes on and on.  

Thart being said  -forced integration is insane.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 06:03 | 3693867 Seer
Seer's picture

Greenie for ya!

"Thart being said  -forced integration is insane."

Forced ANYTHING is insane, we ought not accept force, period.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 06:11 | 3693858 Seer
Seer's picture

"I have a few new tenets"

"I am no one-toothed inbred waterhead from the sticks"

Ah, a dumb city-fuck who thinks himself/herself superior?

But, really, I think that all of YOUR "tenets" should bow at your feet.

You're a ring-master at the circus and you're whining about the fact that it's a circus?

I'm kind of thinking that it's not the TENANTS [note spelling] who are stupid...

BTW - I have more than one tooth (and I can spell).

BTW2 - If you meant that you had a few new TENETS (though if that were the case I figured you'd enumerate [best here that I could come up with is that you've embraced racism, which would have then more properly been put as "I have a new tenet"], then, using my best Emily Litella voice- "Never mind!"

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 21:00 | 3692957 goldenbuddha454
goldenbuddha454's picture

Start saving those precious metals like lead, copper, brass, steel etc... you'll need'em!

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 21:31 | 3693048 Promethus
Promethus's picture

Sorry, no sale.

Points one through six say pretty much the same thing, i.e. Americans are poor, in debt, don’t have a lot of money, don’t have savings, and they’re also broke.

To quote surveys of idiots doesn’t help either. To say that 21%/28%/75% of those surveyed believe that they would die in 1/2/4 weeks without the power grid shows how stupid 75% of the people who took the survey are.

We could only wish it was that easy to cull the herd of idiots by turning off the power for 30 days.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 06:59 | 3693968 Seer
Seer's picture

"We could only wish it was that easy to cull the herd of idiots by turning off the power for 30 days."

WOW!  I wish I were superior!

Anyone here ever plug in a bunch of shit answers to a stupid survey?  Naw!

I tend to blame the programmers more than the bad code itself...  I wasn't born understanding how things worked, and I doubt that you were either.  What if some other "superior-thinking" person had turned the power off before you became so enlightened?

Yes, MANY people will die.  I don't know about you, but when such reality strikes, assuming I'm alive, I don't think that I'll be rejoicing it.  It's highly likely that the bad programmers will still be alive- there's some great company, no?

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 21:54 | 3693119 F. Bastiat
F. Bastiat's picture

Regarding the two month number, today's liberals certainly won't survive that long without food stamps or government jobs.

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 23:06 | 3693383 Savyindallas
Savyindallas's picture

Thank the liberals and their globalist masters for that  -it was all by design  -no accident.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 07:11 | 3693989 Seer
Seer's picture

So, if "conservatives" were running the controls of perpetual-growth-on-a-finite-planet it would all be OK?

Further, and I'm just dealing in logic here, what sense does it make for those in power to create instability, instability that in no way can be controlled and could in no way present a predictable outcome?  Yeah, makes perfect sense to me to control most everything and then start poking sticks into the hornets nest.

The ONLY reason that any group of conspirators would embark as you suggest would be because there IS something urgent that is lurking.  How successful are folks here of pointing out to others around them that things are going to blow up?  Rare it would be that anyone would raise his/her hand. I quite often hear of people claiming that they can't even get their spouse to understand.  Those wielding power are staring at millions upon millions of people in which to convey any message to, and there are plenty of groups of people who would look to undermine ANYTHING that might threaten their position of power, even IF it was inevitable.  Go ahead, let's pretend that you are king for the day, tell me how you'd correct things, how about trying just a small group like the bankers?  Or, if you're really feeling kingly, try to convey this concept to the Catholic church (I pulled this one out as an example- one can substitute any other religious organization if one finds this selection not to one's liking).

Identifying oneself as a victim just helps perpetual the real problems... I don't know of ANY group who doesn't purport to be a "victim."  It's all part of human deception...

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 22:39 | 3693279 Adahy
Adahy's picture

Had a fantastic garlic, onion, bean, and potato harvest this last week.  Tomatoes, peppers, squash, corn, melons, etc. are coming along very well.  Great growing weather this year.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 07:16 | 3693997 Seer
Seer's picture

Show off!

Come Fall let's talk about it. (you're clearly in a more southern latitude, which gives you a head-start over those who are more northernly situated)

My ultimate goal is to raise a lot of grass (works well in my environment).  I'll then let animals do the harvesting :-)

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 23:09 | 3693393 BigSpruce
BigSpruce's picture

Some  bits of advice:

Live in a small community/town surrounded by a rural area. If its way out in the middle of nowhere you will have no support and just become easy pickings for some roving bandit of  human wolves .

Starting now - network with farmers in your area. My wife and I buy over 60 % of our food within a 50 mile radius of our home. This is both good for your health , good for the local economy and a form of food security. Nothing would be worse than showing up for the first time at some famer's doorstep with an empty belly and a hand held out . All they will do is look at you and ask where the hell you were when times were good.

Start a small garden, eat from it and what you cannot use freeze or can. Having no land is no excuse. My wife and I live in a third floor apt and still manage to do this. We have two chest freezers in our kitchen and ample shelves built for storing jars.  We also took the parking spaces  allotted to us, and have filled it with  a garden that is growing in pots and straw bales. The vehicles get parked out on the street.

Live within your means. That means eliminating debt and finding simple, free, fun things to do with your time.

Cultivate a mindset of independence and resiliency. That can entail something as simple as starting a side business. Not only does it help you out financially but it engenders a sense of peace and independence knowing that if you get laid off you have something to fall back on.

Practice periodic fasting. Not only is it great for your health but it conditions the boady to accept that ample good food may not always be available in the quantities that we have become so used to having.

Learn "lost" arts now - while life is still easy. Something as simple as hunting or fishing. As an avid, skilled hunter - I can testify that if one thinks that when the SHTF they will just walk out and shoot a deer - they are delusional. It takes time and practice before you become successful. Even then success is somewhere around 25% for all the times you go out .

Above all - dont worry. Its something that I struggle not to do. However the Good Book says worrying wont add one minute to our lives. Things will unfold in their own time and our ability as humans to adapt is nothing short of astounding.    

 

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 06:22 | 3693905 Seer
Seer's picture

"If its way out in the middle of nowhere you will have no support and just become easy pickings for some roving bandit of  human wolves ."

It's ALL relative!

However, there's only so much EROEI that rovers can hope to achieve, and it takes a LOT of energy to get out in "the middle of nowhere."  I'd have to state that one would have to be awfully desperate to try such a route.

There's a reason why nature never created cities.

Things will be different at different times and at different locations.

"Things will unfold in their own time and our ability as humans to adapt is nothing short of astounding."

Adaption is absolutely necessary.  How do you think humans will do when the next glacial period hits?

Tue, 06/25/2013 - 23:45 | 3693512 fasTTcar
fasTTcar's picture

#12 It has been estimated that there are approximately 3 million "preppers" in the United States.  But that means that almost everyone else is not prepping.

So simple math tells me that these folks are the 1%.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 06:25 | 3693909 Seer
Seer's picture

The future 1%-ers!

But that reminds me... all the folks who point fingers at the "1%" don't get it that in terms of the world's population they too are in the 1%.  Human deception, it knows no bounds...

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 00:59 | 3693672 Bansters-in-my-...
Bansters-in-my- feces's picture

* Most Americans make rocks look intelligent.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 06:26 | 3693916 Seer
Seer's picture

Intelligence is overrated (it tends to promote hubris).  I strive for wisdom...

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 02:24 | 3693743 dunce
dunce's picture

Most people now live pay day to pay day and have less than $100 in savings, i/2 of the people have no retirement fund. when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. The prudent people have set themselves up for a fall. Luck has little to do with most peoples success or failure.

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 06:37 | 3693934 Seer
Seer's picture

It all depends on how one defines "success" and "failure."

There's 7+ billion humans living on the planet.  Heck yes most live "pay day to pay day."  Take a stroll around metro Manila (I'm sure there are other examples; it's just that I can speak personally of Manila) and you'll find that it's a matter of living "day to day;" and, really, that's exactly what it comes down to, doesn't it?, day-to-day- you only get one day each day, there are no guarantees that you'll get another.

"when you have nothing, you have nothing to lose"

If you're alive you still have EVERYTHING to lose.  The difference between us and most of the rest of the planet's occupants is that we're materialistic and tend to value our lives according to materialistic things (it's been our conditioning, thanks to folks like Edward Bernays).  I'm not saying that we're bad or evil, just that I think that there's a big flaw lurking in it, in which case I could hardly propose to state what is or what is not prudent (because I'm OF this "sect"- kind of hard not to be when your entire existence has been based in it [though I'm shifting my Titanic around, slowly...]).

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 02:28 | 3693748 The Heart
The Heart's picture

Could the trigger for the crash be another false flag event?

Prolly another isreally sponsored false flag event about to happen anytime soon. Lets all hope it is not on the Fourth of July holiday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMFsfyRNpgY

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 06:44 | 3693946 Seer
Seer's picture

RELAX!  It won't happen until... the 18th of July:

http://www.sifma.org/services/bcp/cybersecurity-exercise--quantum-dawn-2/

Hat tip to another ZH poster who served this up in another thread recently.

July 4th will have people away from their TVs- bad time to program!  The 18th is a Thursday, a nice day in which to allow folks one more day at the water coolers to propagate the message for mulling over during the weekend (in which the planners will be setting the stage for the opening, or as the case may be, closing act on the following Monday).

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 08:59 | 3694236 d edwards
d edwards's picture

Welcome to 0webama's fucking Amerika!

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 15:45 | 3696483 are we there yet
are we there yet's picture

Regarding the 2 month survival.  If you are a last mininute survivalist go to SAMS or Costco and buy large tins of peanuts, cashews, almonds nuts and fill your bathtub and all the large containers you have with water for drinking. Then stop baithing, and keep your guns loaded. You will survive, but a little metamucil might also help for roughage, and a one a day vitamin. That is a minimal cheap plan.

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