With the issues in Greece showing what value democracy is in this century we have an opportunity to look at a country in chaos that is not caused by War. All other examples in our lifetime have been caused by War in one shape or form and are thus not viable for us in our preps for a banking collapse leading to societal collapse.
I’d like to state up front that this is my opinion only and not the output from some think tank other than Skean Dhude’s It’s Bleeding Obvious Think Tank.
I thought there were a few surprises that came out of the Greek Tragedy (I couldn’t resist that) although nothing totally unexpected, I was just surprised how open they were about their treatment of Democracy.
First of all.
- The politicians lied all the way through.
- The protection of their precious domain was their number 1 priority.
- They didn’t care in the slightest about the ordinary people.
- They kept the banks closed to hold the people to ransom.
All that is political and we can expect the same when it comes to our turn. What I was interested in was;
- Three weeks without cash for most people and they carried on pretty much as normal.
- No mass die offs with starvation.
- No mass rioting over food.
- No sign of plod fighting off people trying to do, well anything.
- They voted in their own self interests. No surprise there.
- They didn’t like it when the EU pushed back and screwed them.
The main bits I took away was the way that except for the political shenanigans and the cash being withheld there wasn’t that much that happened to them on a societal collapse basis. I’ve thought long and hard about this and have come to the following conclusions, which may not be correct.
When it comes to our turn.
- There will be nobody to bail us out. The UK and Germany are the net contributors to this failed experiment.
- Our demographics are different. Just look at who was rioting at all the riots over the last decade.
- Our infrastructure is different. We have so many shops catering to just in time buyers.
- Our societal solidarity is much weaker. Family ties are much less than they were.
All this in my view makes us more likely to run riot if, when, the same thing happens here. The only saving grace is that it doesn’t appear that people left their familiar surroundings and we can but hope for the same thing here.
Finally, I think that it will come as a big shock to people here. even now with the data showing that we each owe a lot more then every Greek and watching on the TV how much control they have over it all I hear here is that ‘They took they money. If they can’t pay it back that is their problem’ Despite my statement of how much control do we have and how much do we owe they just see the whole situation as ;’Different’ It just is isn’t it.
Until it is our turn.
I agree with the SD think tank ! in fact i cannot fault it at all! what i will add is….there are patterns , strategies, tried and tested means of control ….instead of bullets and guns……financial tools are used to achieve total control and rape of a countries assets , the underlying FACT is NORMAL everyday people stump up the most….but far worse than that ….loss of rights and liberty is the ultimate aim……times are a changing …….as preppers we sort of know something does not sit right ! but cannot put our finger on the WHAT…….Think on preppers….even we preppers need to wake up…..even further .
like SD days things are different here and some are the same, I have never really extolled the “golden hordes” leaving the cities, some might but the majority will sit tight, if someone has paid a mortgage for 10,15,20 years then they aren’t just going to up and leave are they? inner city chavs will probably loot and burn like they did in the riots but I don’t see them leaving. many are of the benefit mindset and will just expect to be given “its my right innit?” and most will rely on the government to save them, “from cradle to grave” is an apt analogy, most will just sit and moan and run about like headless chickens, but look out for themselves? fat chance, self reliance is a dirty word these days.
Another very important consideration and different between Greece and the UK is the population densities.
Greece has a population density of 218 people per square mile, where the UK has a population density of 679 people per square mile, over three times that of Greece.
The fact we are packed in so tightly, especially in the major urban conurbations, means that tensions and competition for resources and food will be so much greater, leading to the inevitable unrest and rioting in such areas.
some of the newer housing estates are packed in so tightly-so the developers can get more houses on even smaller plots-you can spit from one house to another, no wonder they are like powder kegs waiting to go off. the problem with cities and the larger urban centres-apart from a few suburban allotments-they grow no food of their own, it all has to be brought in from elsewhere, fine when it works but with our “just in time” delivery system, it wont take much of an event to make it all come crashing down and then it will be anarchy.
The Bankruptcy Of The Planet Accelerates – 24 Nations Are Currently Facing A Debt Crisis
There has been so much attention on Greece in recent weeks, but the truth is that Greece represents only a very tiny fraction of an unprecedented global debt bomb which threatens to explode at any moment. There are 24 nations that are currently facing a full-blown debt crisis, and there are 14 more that are rapidly heading toward one.
Right now, the debt to GDP ratio for the entire planet is up to an all-time record high of 286 percent, and globally there is approximately 200 TRILLION dollars of debt on the books. That breaks down to about $28,000 of debt for every man, woman and child on the entire planet. And since close to half of the population of the world lives on less than 10 dollars a day, there is no way that all of this debt can ever be repaid. The only “solution” under our current system is to kick the can down the road for as long as we can until this colossal debt pyramid finally collapses in upon itself.
As we are seeing in Greece, you can eventually accumulate so much debt that there is literally no way out. The other European nations are attempting to find a way to give Greece a third bailout, but that is like paying one credit card with another credit card because virtually everyone in Europe is absolutely drowning in debt.
Even if some “permanent solution” could be crafted for Greece, that would only solve a very small fraction of the overall problem that we are facing. The nations of the world have never been in this much debt before, and it gets worse with each passing day.
According to a new report from the Jubilee Debt Campaign, there are currently 24 countries in the world that are facing a full-blown debt crisis…
■ Armenia
■ Belize
■ Costa Rica
■ Croatia
■ Cyprus
■ Dominican Republic
■ El Salvador
■ The Gambia
■ Greece
■ Grenada
■ Ireland
■ Jamaica
■ Lebanon
■ Macedonia
■ Marshall Islands
■ Montenegro
■ Portugal
■ Spain
■ Sri Lanka
■ St Vincent and the Grenadines
■ Tunisia
■ Ukraine
■ Sudan
■ Zimbabwe
And there are another 14 nations that are right on the verge of one…
■ Bhutan
■ Cape Verde
■ Dominica
■ Ethiopia
■ Ghana
■ Laos
■ Mauritania
■ Mongolia
■ Mozambique
■ Samoa
■ Sao Tome e Principe
■ Senegal
■ Tanzania
■ Uganda
So what should be done about this?
Should we have the “wealthy” countries bail all of them out?
Well, the truth is that the “wealthy” countries are some of the biggest debt offenders of all. Just consider the United States. Their national debt has more than doubled since 2007, and at this point it has gotten so large that it is mathematically impossible to pay it off.
Europe is in similar shape. Members of the Eurozone are trying to cobble together a “bailout package” for Greece, but the truth is that most of them will soon need bailouts too…
All of those countries will come knocking asking for help at some point. The fact is that their Debt to GDP levels have soared since the EU nearly collapsed in 2012.
Spain’s Debt to GDP has risen from 69% to 98%.
Italy’s Debt to GDP has risen from 116% to 132%.
France’s has risen from 85% to 95%.
In addition to Spain, Italy and France, let us not forget Belgium (106 percent debt to GDP), Ireland (109 debt to GDP) and Portugal (130 debt to GDP).
Once all of these dominoes start falling, the consequences for our massively overleveraged global financial system will be absolutely catastrophic…
Spain has over $1.0 trillion in debt outstanding… and Italy has €2.6 trillion. These bonds are backstopping tens of trillions of Euros’ worth of derivatives trades. A haircut or debt forgiveness for them would trigger systemic failure in Europe.
EU banks as a whole are leveraged at 26-to-1. At these leverage levels, even a 4% drop in asset prices wipes out ALL of your capital. And any haircut of Greek, Spanish, Italian and French debt would be a lot more than 4%.
Things in Asia look quite ominous as well.
According to Bloomberg, debt levels in China have risen to levels never recorded before…
While China’s economic expansion beat analysts’ forecasts in the second quarter, the country’s debt levels increased at an even faster pace.
Outstanding loans for companies and households stood at a record207 percent of gross domestic product at the end of June, up from 125 percentin 2008, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
And remember, that doesn’t even include government debt. When you throw all forms of debt into the mix, the overall debt to GDP number for China is rapidly approaching 300 percent.
In Japan, things are even worse. The government debt to GDP ratio in Japan is now up to an astounding 230 percent. That number has gotten so high that it is hard to believe that it could possibly be true. At some point an implosion is coming in Japan which is going to shock the world.
Of course the same thing could be said about the entire planet. Yes, national governments and central banks have been attempting to kick the can down the road for as long as possible, but everyone knows that this is not going to end well.
And when things do really start falling apart, it will be unlike anything that we have ever seen before. Just consider what Egon von Greyerz recently told King World News…
Eric, there are now more problem areas in the world, rather than stable situations. No major nation in the West can repay its debts. The same is true for Japan and most of the emerging markets. Europe is a failed experiment for socialism and deficit spending. China is a massive bubble, in terms of its stock markets, property markets and shadow banking system. Japan is also a basket case and the U.S. is the most indebted country in the world and has lived above its means for over 50 years.
So we will see twin $200 trillion debt and $1.5 quadrillion derivatives implosions. That will lead to the most historic wealth destruction ever in global stock, with bond and property markets declining at least 75 – 95 percent. World trade will also contract dramatically and we will see massive hardship across the globe.
So what do you think is coming, and how bad will things ultimately get once this global debt crisis finally spins totally out of control?
That was a cheery read….thank’s John lol…best not splurge on a “chippy tea” tonight then.
Nice take, Skean, hit the nails on the head. They’ve spat on democracy, that lot.
Whilst there are some scary facts in Johns post, let’s remember that it was written by a man who writes and sells prepper / disaster books for a living. Not exactly unbiased.
Democracy the most abused word in the English language and one that is utterly meaningless in the UK, How can one part of the UK get 53 MPs for 1.5 million votes and another part get only 1 MP for 4 million votes?
When have you ever been asked to vote if you want to be part of the NHS tax scam?
When have you ever been asked if you actually WANT to be part of the welfare state and benefits system, Most tax payers I know work all their lives to pay into the welfare system but are REFUSED help when they need it because someone else in their house is working 16 hours. Meanwhile feckless scroungers three generations long who have never worked a day in their lives get houses, money, furniture allowance, money for clothing, discounted food in schools etc etc.
I would add to my comment above that I as a prepper fully support any underground economy where people trade between each other without losing 20% of any transaction in Tax.