Thanks to Kart and Carriage Hill for the PING.
And to Haffast for the thread: beans, bullets and band-aids, Bibles, books and buds.
TWM: I agree with your “stealth collapse”, but it won’t be kicking the can; it’s more like the frog in the boiling pot. Kicking the can implies that someone down the road will fix all the ills. The frog in the pot simply dies. That’s how I see it happening...
He says consumer spending is up due to people paying more to have a basic standard of living with food, utilities, and gasoline and that they “aren't spending money on goods”. I think if someone looked at how much money they are spending on prep “goods”, that would be one of the reasons consumer spending is up.
Yesterday, I spent some money on prep goods and it was three pair of Walmart sweatpants and two sweat material type jackets and three polo shirts. I was thinking of no power and fall/winter weather. Sweatpants type material is much warmer than jeans, and the jackets (ha, ha, one is a hoodie), are the same material and soft to wear in the house and be comfortable. I did not have these types of clothes. That was consumer spending for goods but they are prep goods. All those items can be washed easily in a sink and hung up to dry outside and won't look wrinkled due to the material of which they are made. They are also not fancy so they will blend in with anything anyone else wears during a time of emergency.
I didn't buy that stuff due to consumer confidence - instead, I bought it because the country is toast. So, my buying is mostly based these days on preps. No consumer confidence here.
I have also bought some other goods that are prep goods. Those have to do with putting together a container garden on my deck. That has nothing to do with consumer confidence - it has to do with having fresh veggies when there are none to buy. I'm learning how to garden and have asked JRandomFreeper, Johnny, a million questions about that since he is a master gardener.
I have a problem with this article statement, “Smart meters have been installed nearly everywhere. Many places are instituting time-of-day pricing, making it only affordable to do your laundry in the middle of the night.”
He says “many places” but doesn't list any. I don't know of anyone who is being charged different prices for power at different times of the day. If any of you have this situation, I'd like to know it.
If power gets so expensive I can't use it, it's no big deal for me except for the fridge. I have an unending power source for everything but that. Hmm, in winter, I could keep perishable goods outside. I've got an outdoor fireplace that is sealed all around so animals can't get in it and could put food there. The only animals around are squirrels and birds. Also have an outdoor oven and food could be stored in that. I just would not have refrigeration in summer and most of fall.
I don't bother myself about whether the meltdown will be in one day or a gradual loss. If I were not already prepared, I would worry about that and get my act together fast.