How our food supply, currency, and fossil fuel industry are under attack and what it means for our society.
Doesn’t the following sound like it would be a great novel?
After deciding that the world would be a better place with fewer people in it, a cabal of powerful globalists sets about destroying the planet’s food supply, attacking its energy infrastructure, and degrading its currency, thereby cutting civilization’s legs out from under us. When a few people see through the propaganda and doublespeak and realize what’s happening, the cabal targets them for cancelation or uses false claims to undermine and destroy the reputation of anyone who speaks out against them. Can John and Jane Doe survive long enough to convince others to fight back against this tyrannical faction that wants to destroy most of the population and subjugate the rest? Or will any of their children lucky enough to survive the hard times grow up to be serfs working for one of the elite families?
I’d read that dystopian novel. Only, it isn’t a novel, and it isn’t fiction. It’s happening right now, and you and I are John and Jane Doe. We see what’s happening. We are experience the deterioration of our currency. Hopefully, we are all preparing for the energy crisis and the food shortages the Cabal is orchestrating. Most importantly, we aren’t falling for their virus fear mongering, and their circuses aren’t keeping us amused. Meanwhile they are deplatforming our leaders and subjugating our institutions.
Afghanistan Sinks Further Into Misery without U.S.
Whether you blame Joe Biden for pulling out or the Taliban for its cruel practices and inability to rule effectively doesn’t really matter. What is inarguable is that in the absence of the U.S. and the primacy of the Taliban, Afghanistan and its people are sinking back into misery, poverty, and degradation. A humanitarian crisis is brewing in Afghanistan and it doesn’t look like anyone is going to do anything about it.
According to the United Nations Whole Food Program, 95 percent of Afghanis are not getting enough to eat. The disruption caused by the Taliban could see most of the population sink below the poverty line next year. Many families are already resorting to selling their children to pay off debts or to put food on the table for other family members. Hospitals lack drugs and some have not paid many nurses and doctors for months.
A year ago, Candidate Biden blamed empty store shelves on “a lack of leadership.” Now President Biden is blaming empty store shelves on businesses. What a difference a year makes.
I am amused that the hashtag #BareShelfBiden was trending Thursday on Twitter. It’s another example of an issue we’ve been covering here for months catching nationwide attention. That means we are one day closer to panic buying and even more empty shelves.
It feels good to be ahead of the wave and prepare before others see the problem coming rather than getting swept up and washed away by the surge. Keep prepping; one day soon you won’t be able to.
The photo accompanying this article (above) is from our local Walmart earlier this week. Yes, they had some empty shelves, but it wasn’t terrible. The canned meat shelf, photo below, was better stocked than the vegetable shelf. I guess the late-to-the party preppers must all be vegans.
(But as a serious aside, while stocking some fruits and vegetables is good, I stock less of them because 1) I can grow or harvest them in the wild, and 2) because meat and meat-based canned goods like beef stew and chili are calorie dense with more protein and fat than vegetables, which you will need when in a survival situation.)
The canned meat shelf was better stocked than the canned vegetable shelf.
Either way, both shelves are far better stocked than those I saw last spring when the COVID-19 lockdown was at its peak. At this point, no one is starving because they can’t find the exact can of beans they wanted. Nonetheless, it’s a sign of the deteriorating conditions we are experiencing.
I wonder what the hash tags are going to be in a month? #JoeTheGrinch or #JoeStoleChristmas?
Are We Getting Used to This?
I think the real question is, are empty shelves becoming normalized? Did the shortages of COVID-19 make today’s shortages and empty store shelves so common that they don’t alarm anyone? If so, then that is a pretty big step backwards and shows that the downward spiral has our society firmly in its grip.
How long does it take to go from a few empty shelves to waiting in line for bread and milk? A decade? Five years? Maybe just 18 months? Will a few empty shelves blossom into many? Will we have to line up outside Walmart every morning, like shoppers do the morning of the Black Friday sale, hoping to rush in and get potatoes, a dozen eggs, some laundry detergent or new shoes?
It can’t be a good sign that we are experiencing third world problems like food shortages and electrical blackouts. We’re supposed to be one of the most advanced societies in the world and we’re exhibiting symptoms you would epxect to see in the old Soviet Union. Sure, we can develop a robotic pizza maker or an automatic burger flipper, but they won’t do us any good if there is no flour, pepperoni, or beef available. Why, that would be like creating a robotic dog armed with a rifle and not having any ammunition for it.
I Don’t Trust the Government
Keep in mind that the same people that told us inflation is transitory are also telling us that supply chain shortages are short term. (See yesterday’s article for more on why I think they are purposefully knee capping the economy.)
Butterballs Warns of Possible Turkey Shortage for Thanksgiving
The problem is not a lack of turkeys, but a lack of people to process and ship them. One farmer who raises 60,000 turkeys per year needs 100 temporary workers to process them, but he has only seven.
Wholesale Prices Increasing Faster than CPI
Earlier in the week, we reported the CPI was up 5.4 percent. Today, we see that wholesale inflation in September was up 8.6 percent compared to last September. That means consumers will see even more inflation as manufacturers and distributors raise prices to cover their expenses.
We are reaching that inflection point where inflation and supply chain problems can no longer be brushed under the rug.
Judging by the headlines and the cable news coverage, I’d say that the mainstream media just realized that inflation is here, and it is not transient. We’ve been saying this for months, as has anyone who pays attention when grocery shopping, but it took another rise in the CPI to get the consumer oriented media to actually start covering the topic.
Earlier today, President Biden gave a speech saying he’s working on the supply chain to make sure we have what we need, from Christmas presents that arrive on time to kitchen appliances. Looks like he’s setting himself up for another failure because there is little he can do here without eliminating the vaccine mandate and relaxing a few other regulations related to COVID-19 and truck drivers.
A meat industry insider predicts more shortages will come as vaccine mandates force meat processors and packers to fire employees.
A friend of my daughter has a degree in poultry science (yes, that’s a thing) and works as a USDA inspector at poultry plants in the South. He warned my daughter that once the vaccine mandates go into effect November 1, there will be a drop in employees at poultry plants and meat production will slow down. He said this is likely to happen for beef and pork as well, but he only has first-hand knowledge of the poultry plants.
Let me put this in plain English: Expect meat shortages starting in mid-November and lasting months because of unconstitutional vaccine mandates aggressively implemented by the Biden Administration. Expect prices to rise even further.
In this article on the new energy crisis, the Washington Post points out that some power plants in India are about to run out of coal, so we can add demand in India to that in china and Europe. They also report that in Asia, the spot price for natural gas jumped from $5 for one million BTUs in September 2020 to $56 this month. That’s a helluva jump.
Grocery Shopping Will Never Return to Normal
According to CNN, the pre-pandemic days of full shelves at the grocery store and plenty of food are gone for good. The y even used the phrase “Before Times” with the initial capitalization, like we are in the “End Times.” I kind of like “Before Times.” It sounds like something the survivors would say in a dystopian future. Hey, wait a minute….
Manufacturers Blame Government for Supply Chain Problems
Tariffs, lockdowns, and other government policies contributed to and continue to exacerbate the supply chain issues, according to this article in Reason.
“The idea that an economy could be indiscriminately shut down and turned back on without far-reaching consequences, as if a light switch or lawn mower, is utterly damnable,” charges economist Peter C. Earle. “It could only come from the mind of an individual, or body of individuals, with no understanding of or consideration for the extraordinary interdependence of the productive sector.”
U.S. May Experience Winter Blackouts Due to Fuel Shortages
As we warned earlier, it’s not just the European markets that may have energy shortages and blackouts. U.S. energy producers are worried about fuel shortages and rising costs, all because of the side effects of a headlong rush to embrace green energy. Coal miners are in short supply and some mines are offering starting salaries of $100,000 to attract candidates.
When your house is cold and dark this winter, remember to thank Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, the squad, and the other liberals who attacked fossil fuels but failed to have a replacement that was ready for prime time.
A gasoline shortage means you can’t drive, but a natural gas shortage means people might freeze to death. Do you have a back up heat source?
More than 200 people died in Texas earlier this year because of power outages and utility failures. With energy prices rising and every lump of coal or cubic foot of natural gas in high demand, now is the time to consider how you would stay warm if your utilities fail this winter.
Plan now, while you still have time to prepare, to address how you would you keep warm if the natural gas stopped flowing or there was a long power outage. Do you have an alternative heat source, like a kerosene or propane heater? Are you prepared to survive a week in bitter cold without heat? How about a month? Do you know how to shut off the water and drain the pipes to keep them from freezing?
Natural gas shortages in the UK and Europe and coal shortages in China are not local events. They are going to drive up energy prices in the U.S.
I hope you live in a state where the amount your utility companies can charge you is controlled by a state commission because it could delay the inevitable rising price you will pay for gas and electricity.
If you have a long commute by car or a job that keeps you on the road, it’s time to get another job, a more efficient car, or become a remote worker. The cost of oil is heading upwards, and you are going to feel that at the gas pump pretty soon. We are entering one of those periods where every week the price is higher than the last time.
We are in the early stages of those rare moments when you can see inflation happening right in front of your eyes. It’s going to very visible for gasoline, energy, and food, but everything will be more expensive in six months than it is today.
