socialism Archives - The Pickled Prepper Blog

Is it Just me? Or is the World Falling Apart?

Danger zones, hot spots, and red flags seem to litter the global map. When things go wrong, they seem to go wrong everywhere, all at once.

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.

Prepper News Update, June 30

San Francisco Residents Prepare to Flee

In a recent survey, 40 percent of San Francisco residents say they plan to leave the city in the next few years because of rising crime, increased homelessness, and poor quality if life. This malaise affects many Democrat-run cities. Our only fear is, where will they go, and will they ruin it to with their liberal voting record?

More results, including survey reports that 76 percent of San Francisco residents want more police, can be found in this article.

Starlink Almost Ready to Bring Broadband to Rural Locations

Worried about how you will connect to the rest of the world from your remote bugout location or new full-time retreat? Starlink, the satellite service from Elon Musk, will be ready to go global in August. This could be the end of older, slower satellite services.

Video of the Day

OK, so this is video is over a week old, but I found it to be one of John’s best, and he puts out some great content.

Prepper News Update for June 29

We’ve been including occasional prepper news updates in our articles for some time with links to articles on topics of interest. Effective today, we are breaking these out as separate posts rather than including them in our daily post.

If you come across an article you think would be of interest, use the contact us page to forward it to us. Include the headline and a URL. A brief summary is also welcome.

Venezuelans Make U.S. Border Crossing to Escape Socialism

More Venezuelans have been intercepted at the border in 2021 than in the past 14 years combined. Why are they fleeing? Because the socialist state has turned comfortable middle class doctors, engineers and school teachers into desperate, miserable hungry refugees. One recent Venezuelan refugee said it is better to wash toilets here than to be an engineer there, where she earned just $50 a month.

COVID-19 Global Cases and Deaths Likely Much Higher

Yesterday, we linked to an article the reported that the U.S. may have under-reported early COVID-19 cases by 17 million. Today, we learn that India may have under-reported COVID-19 deaths by as many as 1 million. In our coronavirus coverage, we’ve tried to always use the term “reported” when we convey cases and deaths. Now research is showing that reports in India, Africa and Latin America may be only a fraction of the true numbers. While Johns Hopkins reports 181 million cases 3.9 million deaths, the number could be closer to 500 million cases and 10 million deaths.

An Unintended Consequence of Green Policies is Higher Prices

if you have ever focused on one outcome so intently you missed the obvious, then you have experienced the problem with the Green New Deal and our politicians.

Over the past few years, production of more and more natural gas allowed prices to fall, saving consumers money on their heat and light bills and allowing multiple electric facilities to convert from coal to cleaner-burning gas. That era of inexpensive natural gas has come to an end.

Thanks in a large part to the Biden administration’s policies that promote green energy at the expense of oil and gas production, natural gas prices are up 96 percent from a year ago, and further increases are expected. Just another example of how the Democrats are hitting middle class and lower income Americans in their pocketbooks.

Because of rising gas prices, coal is gaining market share on the international market, which will cause even more greenhouse gas production. It just goes to show you that green policies often have unintended side effects.

It’s Time for the Pendulum to Swing Back to the Middle

You can always count on a pendulum to eventually swing back, but the problems start when it goes too far.

I am a firm believer that many things in life and in the natural world go through cycles, usually swinging from one extreme to the other.

Sometimes those swings are very slow and take thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years. For example, scientists estimate that there have been at least a dozen periods in the past million years in which glaciers covered much of the globe. The most recent, which we know simply as “the ice age,” peaked some 18,000 years ago and ended less than 12,000 years ago. Eventually, there will be another ice age, we don’t know when and we won’t be alive to see it, but some temperature variation is to be expected as the pendulum swings from one extreme to another.

Sometimes these swings take place over every generation. Think about style and fashion, where trends seem to repeat themselves, or at least elements, every 20 to 30 years. (I’m just hoping those big shoulder pads from the 1980s don’t come back.)

Are we seeing the Beginning of the End?

Sometimes I get a bad feeling, like the air before a thunderstorm. Something ugly is headed our way. Or is it here already?

When I look around, I have to wonder if we as a country have peaked. It sure seems like we are on a downwards slide and I can’t help but wonder if we are coming close to collapsing into a third world country: Here’s the latest evidence:

We can’t keep hackers from attacking our pipelines.

It’s been reported that most of the western states could experience blackouts this summer because of an inability to produce enough electricity to meet their needs on a hot day. The article says “Nevada, Utah and Colorado could be short of power during hundreds of hours this year, or the equivalent of 34 days. Arizona and New Mexico could be short for enough hours to total 17 days”

Our government is becoming more and more totalitarian, forcing business to close, people to wear masks and coercing many to get vaccines they don’t want. What happened to freedom? What happened to liberty?

How Venezuela Turned Back to Capitalism when Socialism Failed

If you were paying attention over the last few years, you got to witness the collapse of Venezuela as it experienced the failed promises of socialism. Now capitalism may save it.

Ah, the glories of socialism.

In one generation, Venezuela went from being one of the wealthiest countries in Central and South America to having a poverty rate of 96 percent. The monthly minimum wage of $2 made it the poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean. Yes, they are worse off than Haiti.)

Yep, that’s what socialism will get you. Four percent of the population living on the hard work and sweat of the other 96 percent. Four percent, the elites, living in high-end houses with armed guards while the rest of the country cannot afford to buy food or medicine, has intermittent electricity, and little or no clean water to drink.

I wrote earlier this year about the tens of millions killed in China and Russia implemented socialism. They don’t have an accurate count of the dead in Venezuela yet, where malaria and other diseases made a comeback and where a simple infection can kill you due to a lack of antibiotics. They do know that millions fled the country. Among them are the ballerina that escaped to Columbia and became a prostitute, and the highly paid professional who made it to the U.S. and worked as a butcher. Sadly, they are the lucky ones.

When Did American Become a Third World Country?

As the country draws ever closer to socialism, there is one thing keeping us from falling into the quagmire of socialism: Privately owned firearms.

Rolling power outages
Seeming endless riots and protests
The media acts like mouthpieces for the government
The rich get richer while the poor get poorer
People who complain or speak out lose their platform to do so
Government spokespeople threaten reporters
There are shortages and long wait lists to obtain goods
Government gun confiscation and bans
Large numbers of people wait in food lines
High unemployment and massive deficits
Politicians want to lock up people they disagree with

At any other time, I’d say the above are signs you are living in a third world socialist country. Today, it’s just life in these United States.

I find that frightening.

In just these last few decades, this country has slid so far down the slope towards socialism that it is hard to think we will not soon be a third world socialist country heading to the inevitable collapse. We could be the Venezuela of the Northern Hemisphere. Or maybe we will wall off California and a few major cities and let them become the East Germany of the United States. (And if you don’t know what that means, get a world history book written before the year 2000 and look it up.)

Don’t Feed the Beast: Why You Should Take Going Galt to the Next Level

Are your hard-earned dollars supporting companies with positions you don’t agree with? Don’t feed the beast! Seek alternative companies and brands.

I want to talk more about going Galt, which I have previously referred to as refusing to economically support a government with which you disagree by dropping out and generating as little tax revenue as possible. In other words, don’t feed the beast.

Today, I am going to take it further than the government and talk about why upstanding citizens who support the constitution should stop supporting large organizations that have become so tightly intertwined with the liberal wing of the government that they act like socialist apparatchiks.

If you haven’t grasped this yet, I’m talking about Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Instagram, Google, and news organizations like CNN and the New York Times. All of these companies perform services for the government that would be illegal if the government performed them. Some examples follow.

How to Fight Back Against the Elites

Marie-Antoinette, who famously said “Let them eat cake,” is a good example of the attitude the elite have today.

We’ve talked about “the elites” before, and it raises the questions, who are the elites and how do you identify them? What can we do about them? (More on that later.)

Some would say that the elites are defined by money, but I would argue that. Was Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart at elite? I don’t think so. And I’m not sure that Warren Buffet is an elite, yet he’s one of the richest guys out there.

While having money is an ingredient to being one of the elite, you can have money and not be elite. Wealth, if you flaunt it and wield it like a weapon, can give you privilege, and it is the privileged who are among the elite. People like Sam Walton and Warren Buffet didn’t assume the mantle of privilege and acted like regular guys.