Some days, the world just looks like it is falling apart. This is one of those days, and it’s hard not to be pessimistic.
Here are a few things going on in the world that make me feel this way:
Inflation
According to data released today, consumer prices rose 5.4 percent from a year ago, the biggest leap in 13 years. We’ve covered the dangers of inflation and how to protect yourself here, here and here, so I won’t go into too much detail today, other than to tell you the rate of increase is speeding up and to remind you that every dollar in your pocket buys 5.4 percent less than it did a year ago.
Upward pricing pressure is not relaxing. Drought in the West is expected to result in more food price inflation and shortages of coffee because of a low harvest in Brazil will cause coffee prices to rise.
Protests in Cuba
Cubans are protesting against their government, the lack of food, medicine, and high prices. They want liberty and freedom. The Cuban government showed how little of each they have as it took down the Internet to prevent protestors from posting photos to social media or live streaming the event.
Here in the U.S., Senator Ted Cruz and Miami Mayer Francis Suarez, both sons of Cuban immigrants, railed against the communist nation and socialism, which has been embraced by many on the left.
Suarez added that socialism provides people a “false promise” and in practice means the government takes away peoples’ property and freedoms.
“[It] has failed not just in Cuba but in the history of humanity—this is an ideology that promises to create equality. The only equality it has delivered is equal misery for all of its citizens in every country that it’s been tried….The truth of the matter is, it’s never worked and never going to.”
The socialists in Congress and on Twitter were largely silent in the face of more first-hand evidence that socialism does not benefit the poor and downtrodden, it just creates more of them. I expect this Cuba story will stick around the news cycle for some time.
Watch our Video of the Day from the Wall Street Journal for more.
Wild fires Sweep Western U.S.
After months of drought and weeks of three digit temperatures, Mother Nature added insult to injury as lightning strikes have caused wide-ranging wild fires in not just Arizona, California and Oregon, but also into Idaho and Montana, home of many preppers. There are 67 wildfires reported across 10 Western states. Some of these fires cover consumed hundreds of square miles. Here’s some more bad news: There’s more fire season ahead, and there is no end in sight for the drought.
Haiti Slides Further Down the Drain
The recent assassination of its president has thrown Haiti even deeper into anarchy. Haiti is already a failed state where gangs hold as much sway as the government. Fifty percent of the population cannot find enough food to eat. This attack undermines what little stability they had. Expect things to get even worse before they get better.
Afghanistan is Going to Hell, and we Helped Send it There
I’m in favor of peace, but I can’t help thinking maybe we should have left 10,000 troops in Afghanistan just to keep the Taliban from taking over the country, and hung on to Bagram air base. I think it is especially ironic that the Biden administration pulled out in the dad of night over the Independence Day weekend. While we were out celebrating, millions of Afghanis raised under the protection offered by American and other NATO troops were fleeing the country. Now the air base is being looted and the Taliban is acquiring much equipment that cost U.S. taxpayer’s millions, if not billions.
The Taliban is rolling over Afghani troops and claims to control 85 percent of the country. I’ve heard they control a third and are fighting for another third. Whatever the numbers are, that’s not good news for people who do not want to live under their barbaric system.
COVID-19 Cases on the Rise in Almost Every State
You knew this one had to be in there, and we warned you. The Daily Mail reports that cases of the coronavirus are on the rise in 43 states plus Washington, D.C. The New York Times reports cases have risen 94 percent over the past 14 days. Deaths continue to decline, but we know they are a lagging indicator. We may be at the beginning of that next wave. My questions are: What percentage of positive cases are being hospitalized and dying in this new wave; how many cases are in the young who are asymptomatic; and are we at the stage where we can treat this like the flu.
My daughter is getting married in October. Some of her guests have already RSVP’d that they will attend as long as there isn’t another COVID-19 outbreak. That just shows it is on people’s minds. Hopefully it is on your radar screen and you are prepped and ready for rising COVID cases, new closures, and more shortages.
There’s More…
You’ll note that I have left out the rapid spike in murder and violent crime, China’s recent threats to Japan, problems with Iran, riots in South Africa, the OPEC crisis, the illegal aliens pouring over our borders, the backlog of containers off both Chinese and U.S. ports, the shortage of truck drivers, the rising unemployment rate, the millions of people who do not want to work, and I could go on.
I’ve written several posts this week about how to survive an economic collapse and a failed state. Most of that applies to a societal collapse as well. I can’t help but think the entire world is going downhill. I just can’t tell if we’re leading the charge or being dragged along. Either way, I am not counting on a soft landing.
