Over the past couple of days, our daily report has focused on the disaster of the moment: Hurricane Laura, forest fires, riots and looting, and COVID-19.
Today, let’s look at the threats we may face in the future:
War
War is probably the biggest global threat right now. China could attack Taiwan, or war could break out between the U.S. and China. Possibly due to an accident or mistake. Likewise, it could be war between China and India. It could be war with India and Pakistan. It could be a new outbreak of war in the Middle East with Iran vs Israel or even Iran versus Saudi Arabia, especially after the arms embargo expires and Chinese and Russian weapons pour into Iran. If North Korea suffers a change in leadership, Kim Jong Un’s successor could strike out as a show of strength. Let’s not forget that Russia is always ready to take advantage of an opportunity to bring part of the Soviet Union (like Balrus) back under its wings.
Economic Disruption
While a war could break out far from our shores, economic disruption is likely to affect all of us. This could come about for multiple reasons, and perhaps a combination of the two. Economic threats we face include:
- Continued unemployment due to COVID-19, leading to homelessness as rents and mortgages go unpaid.
- Cities that cut services due to lack of taxes and fees generate during business as normal. For example, the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority is losing $200 million dollars a week due to low ridership on its trains and subways.
- Similarly, middle class and wealthy people who flee the cities will take their tax dollars (property tax, income tax, and sales tax) elsewhere. Big cities will then face the same problem experienced by Detroit some years ago when the jobs all fled and so many citizens left. Chicago is moving that direction and Los Angeles could be next.
- The continued strife between China and the U.S. could result in further economic disruption. China is out of sorts about losing their advantage and looking to more aggressively counter the U.S. both economically and militarily.
- The deficit spending, quantitative easing, and other actions taken by the Federal government and by the Federal Reserve in an attempt to prop up the economy could lead to inflation. Inflation erodes the value of your money and prices to rise, making it more expensive to buy food and other necessities.
- A war or other disruption could also crater the economy.
- COVID-19 has suppressed the GDP of countries around the world. This means less money for everyone, and money in society is like oil in an engine: its free flow around the world lubricates commerce and generates income and stability.
Civil War
A civil war or revolution caused by those on the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder could break out in the U.S., pitting urban residents against suburban residents. Many a revolution has started over economic inequities and if the poor see no way out, no possibility of achieving the American Dream and upward nobility, there is little to keep them from striking out.
The Rise of Socialism
The emergence of communism, socialism and Marxism among the younger generation, is a sad side effect of allowing the public school systems to be run by liberals, is another danger we face both no and in the long term.
Unfortunately, the traditional response of liberals and socialists when faced with the evident failure of their policies is to double down, leading to scenarios like we have seen in Venezuela. Whether you blame the moral decay of society, the rise of single-parent families, the prevalence of drugs, or helicopter parents who have spoiled and coddled their children from having, the ascension of socialism over capitalism is a serious threat to our way of life and could eventually end in an economic collapse or a civil war.
Rising Crime
The increase of crime, rising murder rate, and the apparent hesitancy of society to punish criminals to the extent that it creates a deterrent effect is a threat to both our individual safety and our collective society. The elimination of bail in New York shows how quickly a single change can result in a crime wave. As much as liberals do not want to admit it, some people will just rob, beat, and kill others and the only solution is to lock them up. A civil society cannot exist as long as criminal behavior is allowed.
Preppers tend to think of a world without the rule of law (WORL) as a post-TEOTWAWKI scenario, but darned if those who want to defund the police, empty the jails, and strip us of our Second Amendment rights aren’t trying to institute it right here and now. (Of course, just like on Animal Farm socialist think some are more equal than others.)
Guns and Prepping
I’ve been a prepper for more than 20 years and during that time, I’ve seen my share of people who don’t think preppers need guns.
It is becoming increasingly clear that your survival may require a gun, or perhaps multiple guns and maybe even a few friends with guns!
I wonder how many of those gun-free-prepper types have rethought that position and are among the 5 million new gun owners? And how many wish they had laid in a few thousand rounds before the shortages started and prices rose?
Prep like your life depended on it, because it may.
