This is just a little rambling from the heart. I hope you enjoy and even expound on it with your thoughts.

I do not feel dread or real fear about what I think is coming, but I do have some apprehension (which, I know is a form of fear). The apprehension is mainly because of the unknown. Like several of you, I think we are in for some big changes in this country, and I have felt it most strongly for the last week or so.

I had a long conservation with my Dad on Sunday who lives several states away from me, and he feels it too. He is too young to remember the Great Depression, but grew up in a post World War II environment. They saved everything that could be saved. If something couldn’t be fixed, it was recycled. Wood, screws, newspaper, jars, cans, bent nails, etc. were saved and reused. He still is that way to some degree. We came to the conclusion that it is greed that got America to this point, and greed will take us to the next step in de-evolution. I told him that if the SHTF, we’d be heading his way, and he said, “Come on!”

We, as a whole, have become a wasteful society of “haves and wants” vs. a society of “needs” and “have nots”. I’m not really speaking about the preppers, self sustainers, and survivalists, but about the masses of DGI’s (don’t get it) out there. When I talk to my friends and coworkers about the possible coming troubles, I can tell that most are under the spell (or deception, if you choose.) These are conservative and educated professionals, and they cannot see through the manipulation and the deceit being propagandized to them every day. The conversations usually devolve quickly and end with them coughing up a hairball from the MSM, like, “but the economy is improving,” or, “housing problems are at the bottom.” They don’t see our liberties being taken away

I end the conversation by shaking my head, and moving on to greener topics.

More in a bit:

I just do not understand how 99.99% of the Americans that I know still think there is no real danger of civil war, an economic crash, loosing everything, a pandemic killing millions, or a strike on our country by an enemy (foreign or domestic).

Nearly all could not make it a week with the food they have. Nearly all would not make it a week without power. Nearly all do not see a need for extra ammo or extra training. Nearly all have their head in the sand, hoping to keep their jobs, hoping they don’t get upside down on their house, hoping the bank doesn’t pull their line of credit, hoping they can keep the $100/month cellphone and the $80/month TV service, hoping that the meager savings will see them through the though times, and hoping we can all ride the wave into good economic times again.

I’m willing to bet they are about find out what the real definition of “hope and change” is.

I even have one family member who is semi-retired from top level management in the banking industry, who was yammering about “green shoots” and being at the bottom of the economic crisis back in May of this year. I told him that I believed that he would be proved very wrong about his theories, and that I would eat crow if he turned to be correct. I guess there is always the possibility, right?


[edit on 7/29/09 by NoPhobos]

While I don’t want to put into writing my exact thoughts on where we are heading, I do believe we are but one small trigger away from a devastating conclusion for this country. That trigger could come in many different forms, or may not ever come at all? How can any of us know? What we can know, is that the traps are set, and there is a very large deadfall poised above our heads.

The apprehension comes from not knowing which trigger will be tripped first, and how many more will follow, not to mention, when.

If the trap is sprung, I am resolved to do my best to protect me and my own. If I fail, it will be by God’s design, and I am resolved to that fate as well. I don’t know if I really want to be around to drudge thorough what will be left of this once great nation, but if God sees us through it, I will do my part.

At least in that aspect, I am ready, and I am calm. Are you?

I have another friend, who hasn't been employed for 2 years. He is a professional in the design business, but went to school to learn how to operate heavy machinery, like graders and dozers, to increase his chances of landing a job. He has used his 401k to get by, but now that is almost gone. He moved out of his apartment and took all of his things to his parent’s home. He is now staying with friends, and moves around each week. He went to a job interview with a construction company a few weeks ago and had to travel 600 miles for it.

There were over 1500 applications for something like 10 openings. This is just another example of green shoots.


[edit on 7/30/09 by NoPhobos]

I was driving through some of the larger cities in Alabama last fall, and it looked like almost 50% of the available commercial store space was empty. I went through the same cities a month ago, and while there were fewer vacancies, many of the business had become second hand stores, and slum like stores, like pawn shops and check cashing or payday loan stores. Many strip malls were boarded up.

One good thing I saw was that a lot of the rural areas had been cleaned up. I think the scrap metal trade has people clearing the countryside of old washing machines and junk cars. We saw several recycling places along our route that has vehicles in line for a mile or more. The were loaded down with metal junk.

I am definitely ready for Global change. The only problem is the change I think is coming is not exactly the change that I want. Change that has any objective other than making the world as good as possible for everyone, is change I do not want.

Yeah, unfortunately I too think the change will be change we can bereave in.

There is a new law in Florida that states that a cop can pull you over for not having a seatbelt on. I was telling a friend that it is just another nanny state law taking away our freedoms. I said, “I should have the right to be stupid and not wear one.”

He said, “But you should wear one. It is safer.”

I said, “Yeah, but I’m an adult, and it isn’t hurting anyone else if I don’t wear one. It is just another freedom lost.”

He said, “No, I believe this will save lives.”

I said, “No, banning cars would save lives.”

He didn’t get it….


[edit on 7/30/09 by NoPhobos]

More observations:

In my metropolitan city,

1 year ago, on my drive to work around 8:00am, one in two vehicles on the road was a construction vehicle. On the way to work today, I saw 10 out of maybe 200 that had something to do with construction. They were all repair men like air-conditioning or plumbing.

1 year ago my company was 75 employees. Today it is 25 earning 10-20% less than before.

1 year ago there were no houses in foreclosure in my neighborhood of 180 homes. Today there are 17 listed behind, in foreclosure, or bank or govt. owned.

1 year ago there were typically 20 or more construction workers in a convenience store near my work at lunch time. It was hard to find parking.

Today there were none.