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Interview With Charles Hugh Smith: Why Local Enterprise Is The Solution
From Chris Martenson
Charles Hugh Smith: Why Local Enterprise Is The Solution
A growing number of individuals believe our economic and societal status quo is defined by unsustainable addiction to cheap oil and ever increasing debt. With that viewpoint, it's hard not to see a hard takedown of our national standard of living in the future. Even harder to answer is: what do you do about it?
Charles Hugh Smith, proprietor of the esteemed weblog OfTwoMinds.com, sees the path to future prosperity in removing capital from the Wall Street machine and investing it into local enterprise within the community in which you live.
"Enterprise is completely possible in an era of declining resource consumption. In other words, just because we have to use less, doesn’t mean that there is no opportunity for investing in enterprise. I think enterprise and investing in fact, are the solution. And if we withdraw our money from Wall Street and put it to use in our own communities, to the benefit of our own income streams, then I think that things happen."
"We have to solve our own problems. The savior state and these institutions are not going to reform themselves and they are not reformable in any way that is meaningful. And so, I think what we’re talking about is taking your capital, which is your human capital, your skills and your experience; your social capital, the people you know and trust that you’ve created in life; and your financial capital and investing them in local solutions. Things that people need, like energy and food and shelter and a low energy lifestyle."
"There is opportunity for technological innovation in greatly increasing the efficiency of our appliances and the rest of our lifestyle, as well as tremendous technological improvements in productions and so on. But there’s also what we might call social and behavioral innovations, which the United States is really poor in recognizing. The simplest way to cut your energy is to live close to the things that you need to get to. And if you have your own enterprise, then we might benefit on a household and a social scale of just living close to your job. So being dependent on corporate America and a job a hundred miles away - that’s a really fragile, vulnerable lifestyle. So if you can relocalize your income streams and your enterprises and live close to work and school, you’re already tremendously more resilient and have a much more sustainable household regardless of what happens."
Also in this interview:
- Why keeping capital in the financial markets puts you at increasing risk of mis-aligned Wall Street incentives as well as declining asset prices
- How de-globalization, de-legitimization, de-centralization and de-finacialization will be major trends driving our economy in the future
- How investing in your local economy can yield a higher quality of life, even if your relative "standard of living" decreases
Click here to listen to Chris' interview with Charles Hugh Smith (runtime 43m:35s):
Report a Problem Playing the Podcast
Or click here to read the full transcript on ChrisMartenson.com.
Charles Hugh Smith has been an independent journalist for 22 years. His weblog, www.oftwominds.com, is a daily compendium of observations and analysis on the global economy and financial markets, as well as notable political, social, and cultural trends. Charles has authored a number of books across several genres, including Survival+: Structuring Prosperity for Yourself and the Nation and his recent e-book An Unconventional Guide to Investing in Troubled Times.
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tune in to bloomberg tv
mms://a627.l2479952251.c24799.g.lm.akamaistream.net/D/627/24799/v0001/reflector:52251
good inteviews noon hour
double post
"Who's Afraid of the Gold Standard?"
Check out the latest from the Capital Research Institute
http://capitalresearchinstitute.org
"Japan has massive amounts of debt, relative to their GDP, but most of it is owed to the citizens of Japan. In contrast, much of America’s debt is held by the Japanese gov’t, the Chinese gov’t, and financial institutions all over the world. The difference is that not only does America still currently have the world reserve currency, their debt is owed in large part to foreigners. Those two facts could very well create a perfect storm down the road, as foreigners liquidate their Treasuries (US gov’t debt) and then look to buy tangible goods with the proceeds. As America does not produce much in the way of goods they are unlikely to see much benefit. In fact, that the US dollar still serves as reserve currency makes it more likely, IMO, that foreign dollar holders will use their dollars to buy commodities such as oil, wheat, timber, natural gas, copper, silver, and of course, gold.
As a natural consequence, the price of Treasuries would drop, and commodity prices in general would surge higher. When, well that is any body’s guess..."
not just local enterprise. alternative energy infrastructure:
http://azizonomics.com/2011/08/17/job-creation-101/
Smith is right.
my local Enterprise will pick me up.
Are CHS & Larry David the same person?
I recommend anyone interested in urban or suburban food production check out aquaponics. A relatively small greenhouse and solar power system for it could be an incredible investment for the future.
The info tab on this site is a good place to start the research:
http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/
TPOG
"Going local" may be the solution, but only in a parallel universe where big business doesn't control government, and use it to put up legal and regulatory barriers.
I suggest Charles Smith get in touch with reality and find a political solution first.
Hmmm someone's been reading James Howard Kuntsler!
A bunch of us have been working on this model.
We have to rebuild from the local level.
I like it, we need vision for future. This seems right.
We have to keep our fingers crossed. This is the right way to improve things but it's going against some really strong corporatist head winds. Everything TPTB are trying to do is the exact opposite of this.
the centralized death star has already been built through massive, unsustainable federal, state & local political intervention (through building codes & other legal protections, transportation infrastructure, public works, wars for energy control, and tons of other subsidies).
the questions come down to: are you vested enough in this beast & its local symbols to ride out the rocky fracture into a series of politically & ethnically diverse independent de-centralized societies... or is the cost of inevitable reform/collapse so overwhelming you are better off searching or creating the next plymouth rock?
+1
Call me a pessimist, but I don't think the natives are gonna go for the small pox blankets and fire water routine again.
"...centralized Death Star..."
<chuckle> I like it! A perfect way to start referring to the Fed. An overweight behemoth with only one purpose...to destroy the little people and rob them of their wealth.
And now we picture the image of Ron Paul in a Rebellion flight helmet, zooming toward the trench in his X-wing fighter, torpedo trigger finger ready to go...
Aye, that we have. Small as our voices are, my dirt digging, gardening, and farming are no small acts.
Very true...
I am a big fan of John Robb and his work on resilient communities.
There are lot of different way to approach this but from the real estate perspective "Walkability" is the key. And support your local Farmers markets.
Check your walkscore: http://www.walkscore.com/
carbonmutant , you are right -- good to have Charles on board, and many have been working in this area for years, have developed useful ideas and templates, and are too busy building them out to be better known for it.
http://www.livingeconomies.org/ is just one of many
the whole local enterprise thing will likely become a leading social meme in decade ahead, for all the reasons described -- hopefully it will build up into a better national political economy ..
I love CHS...here is another interview as well, from last week http://twobeerswithsteve.libsyn.com/episode-97-investing-in-yourself-wit...
Yes, but a localized economy is not something the NWO will permit. Moreover, it eventually leads you to a system dominated by black markets and a sitiuation much like what you see in the Middle East, India, and Afghanistan. Think about it, how much access to cheap energy sources do most truly local economies have? The flux of cheap energy is the only thing that matters, period.
Instead of all your negative nellies, why not try to be positive? Where is can do attitude? Come on LawsofPhysics, put little smile on sour puss. We can find a way, there is always a way.
Ahhh,
The hopium just hit...
Cue Pink Floyd:
"There is no pain, you are receding...."
hehe
Dare I say this is the best comment ever on Zero Hedge.
(yes, the writing-style is a tribute to CompassionateFascist)
Here’s another one spacemonkeys…
…it’s pretty obvious that whstblwr is a foreigner. I mean, his English is shit.
However, he has a pristine attitude, one I see a lot in the people I meet here in the USofA who were not born in this country.
Why are most of the cool people I meet in this country foreigners? Why are so many of the cracka-ass-crackas who were born here either bitter or fucked up in the head (and I mean in a bad way)?
Then I would conjecture your not looking hard enough.
When I hear someone say "Everyone is lazy." I immediatly note to myself... that person is lazy.
When I hear someone say "Imposible, can't be done." I note to myself... they will never atempt it.
When I hear someone say "Your crazy!" ... "Your probably right... but I think I know who is more sane."
Most people are good, moderately intelligent, and emotionally driven (Oh and opportunistic).
The poor, the unsuccessful,
the unhappy and the unhealthy
are the ones who use the word
tomorrow the most.
~Robert Kiyosaki
OMG, I just quoted that Rich Dad/Poor Dad dude here on Zero Hedge!
Mutant Message Down Under
A positive attitude may not be 'all you need'...
But a negative attitude will kill you.
When lost in the woods, you chances for survival drop dramatically as soon as you sit down and say "I can't go on."
As soon as you start thinking "Someone will find me, I don't need to try." Your about 80-90% more likely to die.
Attitude isn't everything, but it is responsible for the actions we take, and 'pulling the trigger' on life style changes ahead of being forced to requires one hell of a attitude.
I like it and agree.
The concept of life is 10% what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it should be absorbed by more of those who comment here. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it, you’re not really angry but you keep coming here each day and saying the same things. Think on it.
However, since this is a ‘perma-doomer’ site, I’m willing to say life is 20% of what happens to you and 80% of how you react to it. Paraeto Principle, bitchez.
80/20 rule is a good rule... holds up 80% of the time ,and the 20% edge case can be applied to the 80% of the 20...
When designing software, getting 80% of the good cases working is the first major hurdle... in the end, 80% of the code written is for the 20% edge cases
Nice to see you added a picture. :-)
Speaking of designing software, I'm going to reply here to Tyler:
Tyler I had a hard time sleeping last night. No joke - I was soooooooooo excited about the possibility of being able to receive comments made on Zero Hedge directly to my email. Yeah, I know I'm weird.
In no particular order, this would be the first batch of people for whom I want to see everything they write. Don't ask me to explain, the cognitive dissonance of doing so would be too painful :-)
Please make it happen, Tyler. Pretty, pretty please. And if I'm too stupid to figure it out as the feature already exists, I'd appreciate a heads-up from anyone.
Where's the love?
I don't think anyone appreciates how badly I want to see everything baby_BLYTHE says and have it come directly to me on my iPhone. I don't think anyone cares, either :-)
I would sacrifice my first born, your first born, or anyone's first born to have this in my life.
I hope baby blyth blows your perv nuts off with a 12 guage. Then you can whack off to something else.
Good lord. Don't you get enough email? I'd pay NOT to get more.
take away entitlements! ...for those that do not deserve it.
Naturally, I deserve them because I've been here many years and my parents and their parents were here decades before that and they built this sumbitch.
I don't mind a few immigrants, as long as they observe the conservative hierarchy and don't try to change anything.
Nice work.
Come to think of it, between you, Flakmeister and about a hundred other people, the list of commenters that I enjoy seeing what they write is too long to list.
OK, Tyler: revised list - baby_BLYTHE, followed by about 100 others. If the day comes where I can get these comments sent directly to me, it's going to be one of the greatest days ever.
The phrase get a life comes to mind. I'd be tempted to utter it if I actually thought you were serious about what you are saying here.
I'm hurt 'cause I wasn't on the list. Harumph.
I have different reasons for noting that crew of commenters. But to you Rocky I must say thank you.
There is always a solution (I work on many everyday in biotech). But there are also very real constraints to what the laws of physics and thermodynamics allow you to do. Chance favors the prepared mind my friend, hedge accordingly.
Then there is the process of being in solution, where all of the malcontents precipitate out.
Agreed, although you should consider that the original diesel engine, as designed by Diesel himself, was meant to run off of peanut oil. Diesel's vision was that farmers could produce bio-diesel (not to be confused with Ethanol or other bio "fuels") on a local level. We cannot produce alternatives as cheaply and abundantly as we have produced petroleum products in the past, however we do have alternatives to develop if people are willing to change their thinking and their vehicles.
Of course, back to your original point, Diesel mysteriously disappeared from a ship in the middle of the ocean, and shortly thereafter Mr. Rockefeller and Standard Oil introduced diesel fuel...
So we're talking about changing civilization so it can function without ever-increasing inputs of resources. Reducing our requirement for energy to the point where non-fossil-fuel sources can satisfy it. We're talking a massive psychological change to build a way of life that can run well on it.
Actually, if I remember correctly, Diesel's initial idea was to use coal dust as a fuel, not oil.
The peanut oil in particular was suggested by the French hosts for some exhibition where Diesel demonstrated his engine. I think France had an African colony where peanuts were growing like weeds and they were looking for useful applications.
The Diesel engine is one of my absolute favorite inventions ever! At high compression ratios the efficiency is outstanding and they can use almost any type of oil as fuel. Hell, at high enough compression ratio you could probably run them on gravy...
You speak of this "black market" like its a bad thing. Black is not the absence of color, it is all the colors combined.
Er, incorrect sir. The electromagnetic spectrum that we can see (white light) is in fact made up of all colors. Black is what you get when a substance adsorbs ALL those colors leaving NOTHING for anyone else or you to see. When a substance adsorbes all color except for say green, then you "see" that wavelength with your eye.
So to be precise, black is a substance that sucks in, adsorbs, and retains all frequencies of electromagnetic radiation that you eye can percieve. Educate yourself before making such statements.
Nerd alert! I was quoting the Beastie Boys. Thank you for your reply.
there is no dark side of the moon really...matter of fact it's all dark...
Hence, black objects are hotter because they absorb all the energy (and white conversely). Woopeee! I'm a physicist now. Where do I pick up my diploma?
Hence, black objects are hotter ...
I always knew Mick Jagger was on to something with that Brown Sugar song.
You can buy your PHD from the same place the California Air Resource Board Scientists purchase their PHD's
Thornhill University. $5k for a PHD. (Hien Tran, http://killcarb.org/tranpage.html)
http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/Education_Degree_Scams_Unaccreddited.php
2 to 3 Maples and you are in the club, Racoon's are accepted!
Very much agree and might I add how stupid it is for the US stock markets to raise capital for Chinese IPO's.
Sounds like Back to The Future - Which is a good Thing
hey chuckie, the problem is that most of the available capital and wealth is concentrated in a small group of men. charles , go read the committee of 300 by coleman...........
so your ideas about small enterprise are plain elephant gray bullshit...........
this is another guy that just doesn't get it and probably never will. he like so many thinks he can see but is totally blind. i certainly get tired of sounding so negative ,but what can you say about stuff like this? damn it, i am going to keep preaching this word to the day i die.......
this is hpd, and i approve this message....;)
That's right, you get it. LOL.
Yep HPD, and how do we set up local economies when DHS is now busting down doors over reports of a tomato plant in your yard?
that's right dog, where has this guy been in the last ten years? has he ever heard of the patriot act or the homeland security act or the suspension of the right of habeas corpus or unlimited inprisonment without charge without benefit of counsel? what does the Good Book say about wealth? arable land, cattle, sheep , goats, oxen, children, wives, grandchildren, gold, silver, precious stones. what do we have as wealth? paper investments for the most part, guaranteed by paper promises. does this sound like real wealth to you? i hope not because it is not. this country has no wealth in it. most of it has been stolen. we now have debts that can never be paid. yeh maybe chuck ought to go talk to people living in tent cities and under highway overpasses, and tell them that the real answer to our problems is that we ourselves must pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and reinvest in ourselves and small business. yeh i am sure they would listen to that without so much as a answer. the problem is that the amerikan people do not have any money to do the things he suggests. it takes money to make money. the answer is get rid of the fed and repudiate these false debts we have, and start over with sound money, whatever that is and recall all military from all over the world and guard our own borders and prepare to meet the whirlwind. because it would come most haste. the cost would be high, but the victory would be so sweet................
...Don't know about the 300 men concept, but Chuck is naive. He grabs for 'intuition pump' ideas that sound great to the disgruntled and the frustrated, but, have no basis in reality. Any simplistic thought experiment would raise lots of questions with no answers. More tripe from chuck the schmuck
WTF IS YOUR SOLUTION THEN ?
Sounds like you want to bitch and not lift a finger, Arm chair Revolutionist...
Fucking twat, you add nothing.
That's a tad bit mean, don't you think :-)
High Plains is doing what he needs to do to get through the day. As we all are.
Aye your right,
Just pisses me off to see people so self defeated that they can't seem to grasp that its not a centrally directed plan, but an actually organic and grown plan.
The beautiful flowers & harmonious societies can be found in the ruins of empires.
At the berkley protests the Dean of students said "We know what your against. What are you For?"
Bitching an moaning gets us no where, and when I see real solutions being presented and someone bitches about it, time for a punch to the face.
hey slick, its a information war right now, in case you are interested. one day it may be something else. i will hold up my end. believe me. i call them as i see them. it is my opinion. if my opinion pisses you off, then i say to you, so what? if you believe what he says is true, then this is part and parcel of the problem. i can only say that as time goes by, more and more sheep stand in the way of progress. the enemy stands behind the lines and in front of him are thousands of useful idiots.............such is life.............
I believe we are in Violent Agreement!!!!!!!
I keep planting the garden, feeding the chickens, chopping wood, hauling water.
I can see your points about investing in local companies, I wouldn't do that, I've invested in the community around me, trading eggs for metal working, silver for labor, etc.
correct. the black market is very useful and will be more useful as time goes by. i have been working on the black market myself. i know who has what and where. i of course do not talk to these sheep like i do here. it would spook them. but these sheep who have things i need and are willing to trade for them are useful people to know. even though they are blind as bats, but nevertheless...........
You might try starting a conversation up =)
Youd be supprised how many eyes are already WIDE OPEN. For everyone that opens their mouth... 9 have open eyes and ears.
Then'll you know who is even closer & on page, walking that fine line between the cliff edge of insanity, and ocean of complacency.
If you think people are blind as bats.. then all you'll find are people who are blind as bats...
If you think their eyes are wide open and their actions speak for their words... you'll find people of like mind.
Great stuff here. Nice work malus.
I see in this small exchange the form of the problem in the larger exchange. Who cares whether they are blind or not. They are trading. They are solving problems. As they get better at it, more traders will be drawn in.
I always cringe when I hear folks saying yeah, you've got the solution, but your attitude ain't right. Who cares what their attitude is or what they can or cannot see if they have the problem solved? They maybe don't even know there was a problem to be solved. They just have it solved and are getting on with their life. Trading is where it all started. Trading is probably where it will all eventually fall back to.
And I'd tell you to get a life but I'm a nice guy :-)
Lucky me. ;-)
hey chuckie, the problem is that most of the available capital and wealth is concentrated in a small group of men.
That is only true as long as long as some paper is worth more the its utility value.
can you tell me one asset that does not have a lien on it? name one or two ?
Intelligence and attitude?
but, but , but, you can have that and still live in a fema camp.....nope., not the correct answer....
Then please teach us the correct answer as you see it.
In the meantime I will try again, using my Alex Jones addled brain.
The good book you mention above has a great story that I am reminded of from time to time. That would be the story of Job. After losing all his wealth, family, and health he never lost his faith.
Faith is an only asset that is not encumbered by a lein.
You must be new here...
Yeah 2 years 6 weeks new.
You may be a member but you haven't been reading too closely then....
Liens are also pieces of paper.
Jeff Rubin, the former Chief Economist of CIBC World Markets and the author of Why Your World Is About To Get A Whole Lot Smaller built his reputation as one of Canada's top economists based on a number of successful predictions including the housing bust of the early 90s and the rise of oil prices. In his recent book, Mr. Rubin predicts $225 per barrel oil by 2012 and with it the end of globalization, a movement towards local sourcing and a need for massive scaling up of energy efficiency.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYuLjGQQ-jg
i am not buying it for a minute . globalization is the game and the game is not going to ever change unless we change it. either we print our own money and control it or we are doomed as a nation and a people. it is just that simple. someone asked me above what is the answer. i tell them that one must control one's own money systems. i say this over and over again, yet it simply does not sink it. presidents and parties and politics mean nothing. i ask this. why would the prime minister of israel visit our country and get to speak in front of our congress and get 29 standing ovations from these bought off slaves? therein lies the secret, does it not?
ARMY ENERGY SECURITY IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY
www.asaie.army.mil/Public/.../AESIS_13JAN09_Approved%204-03-09.pd...Similar
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
Army Energy Security Strategy Industry Day Forum - After Action Report, December 2008. United States Air Force Infrastructure Energy Strategic Plan, 2008 ...
U.S. Army Energy Security and Sustainability
www.ausa.org/publications/torchbearercampaign/tnsr/.../TB_Energy_web.p...
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
Apr 15, 2011 – April 2011. Torchbearer. National Security Report. U.S. Army Energy Security and . Sustainability: Vital to National Defense ...
[PDF]
www.pserc.wisc.edu/.../pserc_energy_modeling_white_paper_march_2009...SimilarU.S. Energy Infrastructure Investment: Long-Term Strategic ...
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U.S. Energy Infrastructure Investment: Long-Term Strategic Planning to Inform Policy Development. A PSERC White Paper. PSERC Publication 09-02. March 2009 ...
?
White Paper on Large-Scale Integrated Smart Grid Solutions
www.pserc.wisc.edu/.../pserc_smart_grid_white_paper_march_2009_adobe...Similar
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U.S. Energy Infrastructure Investment: Large-Scale Integrated Smart Grid ...
FYI - .gov has already identified all potential "Sustainable Agriculture" areas within major metropolitan areas. They have created GIS layers and distributed them to the local governments. Visit your local government GIS website to view the locations near you under "Land Development" or something similar. I thought of the potential use of such information but dismissed it as typical .gov tax and spend waste. Maybe this is what they have in mind for the long term planning for high dollar fuel?
Localism is always the answer. It is closer to the people and their immediate needs. It also creates real diversity derived from the locality, not through the artificial construct of skin pigmentation.
Larger, more centralized governments are distant and require more power and central planning, and can only do this at the expense of individual liberty at the local level. Levin's book, "Liberty and Tyranny," is an excellent primer on why larger is not better, it is terrible.
money is power and power is money. one can lived in a gated community and try to survive but if the state wants to mount an attack on you to make you submit to its power then it will. they say politics is always local and the problem is that we cannot own anything anymore. property, cars etc all have liens on them. paying for items with fiat money furthers this problem and spreads it. the owners of this world own most of the gold and the means of production. the picture is dim. i wish i could be more positive about it all but i can't. my premise is this. all i want is liberty and to be left alone. but this simple request is too much trouble for control freaks. i am sure this country will balkanize per the plans in place. but trying to survive in small groups, etc will work until one day the state comes a calling and ask that you submit and then you have a choice. either submit or die.
Or move deeper into the forest. Men used to sustain themselves there. They can do so again.
Oh, wait .... What forest?
We have to solve our own problems. The savior state and these institutions are not going to reform themselves and they are not reformable in any way that is meaningful.
Oh yes they are. It's called total financial collapse.
When the parasitic, leviathan state becomes too large and wastes too much human capital, people do not become incentivized to improve their own efficiency and dream up novel ways to build capital, they are incentivized to either A) live off the government teat in a state of semi-human dissipation or B) consider themselves amoral bags of chemicals with no purpose in life other than to entertain themselves until those chemicals stop reacting.
See: European fertility rates, social chaos, welfare state, banking and debt crisis
Enterprise may be completely possible in an era of declining resource consumption but its not (and more importantly, not worth it) in an era where pretty much everything in life is subordinated to the tolls, requirements and needs of the state.
well take the concept of unions. unions were useful until they aren't useful. now all you hear is how its the union's fault about this or that. look i am not a big fan of unions but please. to put so much blame on unions is just plain wrong. if it weren't for unions we would not have as big a middle class as we do now or had in this country. so now the unions are problem because the internationalist non nationalistic capitalist want everyone to work for 5 dollars a hour or 2 dollars a day or whatever. now unions are a problem because they are no longer useful, just like the united states is slowly now becoming expendable............
"Who's Afraid of the Gold Standard?"
Check out the latest from the Capital Research Institute
http://capitalresearchinstitute.org
"Japan has massive amounts of debt, relative to their GDP, but most of it is owed to the citizens of Japan. In contrast, much of America’s debt is held by the Japanese gov’t, the Chinese gov’t, and financial institutions all over the world. The difference is that not only does America still currently have the world reserve currency, their debt is owed in large part to foreigners. Those two facts could very well create a perfect storm down the road, as foreigners liquidate their Treasuries (US gov’t debt) and then look to buy tangible goods with the proceeds. As America does not produce much in the way of goods they are unlikely to see much benefit. In fact, that the US dollar still serves as reserve currency makes it more likely, IMO, that foreign dollar holders will use their dollars to buy commodities such as oil, wheat, timber, natural gas, copper, silver, and of course, gold.
As a natural consequence, the price of Treasuries would drop, and commodity prices in general would surge higher. When, well that is any body’s guess..."
I read CHS too... but he isn't being very realistic here...
"So if you can relocalize your income streams and your enterprises and live close to work and school, you’re already tremendously more resilient and have a much more sustainable household regardless of what happens."
What about the 40 something million Americans that are living on food stamps? What funds will they have to relocalize (relocate) with? Can the millions living in subsidized city housing relocalize?
They have but one 'income stream' and that is from Uncle Sugar.
If Uncle Sugar's checks stop coming they won't have 'sustainable households'.
Most of them don't have a job so they need not concern themselves about living close to work.
Yea really, topic of the article is fine and all but what about the nearly half of americans that would starve to death if not for the steady stream of checks from the govt?
Im all for it, but can americans seriously live like its the early 1900's again? Besides that, massive govt regulations are making it unlawful to even have a tomato bush in your backyard without getting tazed by a DHS agent enforcing Agenda 21 rules...man we've got far bigger problems than getting re-aquainted with your local neighbors.
In 1900 a huge part of America were still 'truck garden' farmers or working a big cash crop farm operation that had a small garden for those on the farm... In 1800 97% of Americans were farmers...
Almost all of that is now gone... About 3% of Americans are now farmers... Exactly the opposite of 1800...
Today people have 'Farmville' on Facebook...but would starve to death if not for a gubment check.
Do not go there. You know very well how it ends for most of them. They become the fertilizer in the gardens of those who have put their capital into physical assets that increase a persons chances of survival. Don't kid yourself, there are many like-minded neighborhoods already forming alliances.
40 million? I have one word for you - Cuba. Read up on what happened to them after the USSR collapsed and their teat dried up. Sure they went with one meal a day for a while, then they got off their asses and planted gardens in their side yards and eventually got back to 3 meals a day again. Powerful motivator. Of course the US is armed and highly trained at first person shooter games ... maybe all that fluoride really is a good idea....
The one thing you get from subsidizing 40 million Americans with welfare and food stamps is 80 million Americans on food stams and welfare.
I don't invest in the local economy or work on that model for any other reason than that I want to put food on my table. Pray for your daily bread...
At the moment, localization is next to impossible. The necessisities of life, even the trivial ones, are probably shipped in from California, or China or the Phillipines and transported by oil-based means.
You may live close to where you work, but the odds on that work being something that will survive an economic collapse is fairly low. Our society is made up of paper pushers, advisers, counselors and the like. The number of people who know how to do anything practical with water, electricity, building or farming is now vanishingly small.
In other words, if there's a sudden oil and or economic shock, what do you expect the insurance adjustor, the secretary, the financial advisor, the guidance counselor or the lawyer to do?
Your better bet is to prepare. Have gold and stored food and water ready and have the means to get more. And get some real skills. The guy who's smart enough to wire up a few dozen car alternators to a wind or water mill to charge a few dozen car batteries that runs the local doctor's office is going to win friends and influence people.
Yep. The good news around in any economic collapse is that compensation returns to people with REAL skills.
All our shopping from the local farmer's market. All local farmers, buy soap, all food, some paper.
For transportation, fuel, water, instead of thinking no, start thinking yes, and your head change, you will see it's not as hard as think.
CHS, of all the fin-types that I am aware of, really gets it on so many levels...The first step is recognizing the problem, he is head and shoulders above the field, the hard step is the solutions, or perhaps a better way to put it, is the amelioration of the problem... There is a lot of misguided ideology to overcome first
Jeff Rubin also gets it, but no one likes what he has to say.
But you can't live the American dream unless your are in a 5 BDRM 4BA McMansion in a gated community 100 miles from work with monoracial suburbian school for your children. Mixing with those other people is just illogical.
Why did the markets just dive?
Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:02pm EDT
CARACAS, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez said on Wednesday he plans to nationalize the gold
sector -- including extraction and processing -- and use the
production to pad the country's international reserves.
Chavez, speaking on state television, said he would carry
out the nationalization through a decree in coming days.
(Reporting by Caracas newsroom; Editing by Dale Hudson
Read up Crystallex.... Lost a few grand on that play.
This should be the boost that the mining stock peddlers are looking for... /sarc off
Great idea Hugo! The smart gold extraction management and engineers will flee the country, the workers will unionize, production will collapse, and Hugo will have to subsidize the whole operation. Great move. True to the standards of banana republics.
“removing capital from the Wall Street machine and investing it into local enterprise within the community in which you live.”
Oh yes indeed. Decentralisation, in other words.
At least allow people to choose a medium of exchange.
wait one minute. isn't what is wrong already, is to much central planning? now we are told that we must redirect capital to the hinderlands and over the hills to grandmothers house. again who is going to do all the directing? we already have tooooo much of this nonsense. how is any business or for that matter any private person supposed to make any plans for the future with all this clap trap control freak dung????
How the fuck do you get "central planning" out of all this? Your ideology is showing...
The best way to localize is what my wife and I did. We put our "Wall Street" IRAs into self-directed IRAs and purchased some local rental property. Instead of collecting negative interest and letting Wall Street thieves have our money we are actually turning a profit. We love it and it's tangible.
@#1569157, I hear you ian807, you make a good point about "real" skills.
in the meantime, regarding the notion of localization, CHS omits that local politicians are often worse in terms of running things for their own benefit and to the detriment of long term common sense. so, if you're serious about investing capital at a local level you need to be able to negotiate the minefield that is local political savants that just don't get it. that can be very painful.
Amazingly Automatic Earth mentioned localization in one of the primers years ago.
Funny old world innit.
Within such a scenario the value unit would be fresh water as opposed to petro dollars. There is plenty of energy available on the static local level/non-transport.
CITI suggests 20-30 years before Wall Street can offer a fresh water dsrivative as a measurable unit of value. Consider the clock is ticking in your watershed.
Yes, Charles vision can be realized, but not with fiat or gold or tree hugging. Look up. You may have to wait a week or two but the answer will leave you all wet.
Dave Harrison
www.tradewithdave.com
I ought to buy a house, make the first floor a tavern and live in tha apartment above it.
Thanks!
Anyone have a liquor license they can spare?
i frequent my local brewpubs...uh, frequently...
I spent most of a decade in Austria and assume the same is true of Germany and all the Nordic countries, jobs have to move to people, not the opposite. It works great, no comutes and if you need to travel more than 40 KM to work you get a subsidy.
Wake UP Zombies.
when a few select corporations control the vast majority of available resources there can be no future. I have a local farmers market but they can't supply food for my entire town. Out of every person on my street I am the only one with a job that actually builds things for consumption.
the problem is education and knowledge. 90% of the people who live in the USA do not posess any skill that could b put to use after an armageddon style collapse. How many people can even do basic plumbing repairs anymore?
I actually have an illegal hot water heater becuase I put it in myself. I was supposed to go get a permit and have it signed by a licensed contractor. I wasn't going to pay $500 to intall a $350 hot water heater when I can do the work myself.
That is ho the decentralization plan will never work unless governmnt is destroyed at all levels. The problem is during the period of complete anarchy that will follow the collapse of our government very few people will be left alive.
yeah, I put in my own water heater after the first one leaked. It was free because I put it in myself. We built our own house and after almost ten years we have a nice house with three flu chimney and a fertilized farm. Here in Maine people just buy newborn animals and slaughter after 9 mos. w/o keeping over the winter because the cost of hay. Property taxes have killed local farming bec you can't afford to pay for a lot of land to get the hay.
I like CHS mostly because he comes across as an adult. That's a rare commodity in the baby boom generation, where most of us want to be friends with our children rather than be their parents. Actually a lot of what we complain about on this blog comes down to the immaturity of the baby boomers. I don't think it was a big transition to go from the hippy movement to Wall St greed. The focus for both is on personal satisfaction and getting ones way. For the hippies it was drugs and sex; for the Wall Streeters it's money and power (and drugs and sex). Adults, by definition, are able to think about others besides themselves. Self-centeredness is what you expect in children who refuse to grow up. Spoiled brat narcissism.
So CHS's big draw is his maturity. Children also get mad and stomp their feet and accuse when they don't get their way. If they are mal élevé, they also use a lot of four letter words and every argument becomes ad hominem. They always want to be the center of attention and will provoke to get attention. You'll never see CHS behaving that way.
We elect our representatives based on personality (how good they make us feel) and what they will give us. They are wealthier reflections of ourselves and naturally use their office for self-aggrandizement. Very short term oriented, unable to see the big picture, in it for themselves, just like we would be if we had their opportunities.
In better times, Charles could be correct to emphasize going local. However, it seems more practical to learn how to make the best of living in a police state, if that isn't a contradiction in terms. We don't hear much about that. The Russians could have a lot to teach us.
Very nice post...don't agree with everything, but that doesn't matter, it is so nice to see some people really thinking about what they write here.
Thanks, you're very kind.