Posted on 12/27/2021 11:50:24 PM PST by Chad C. Mulligan
How is it possible to survive a nation with inflation rates of 20%/month and 1700%/year? The answer? The underground economy. This is the level of hyperinflation we have found ourselves with here in Venezuela, and considering the spread of inflation worldwide, it would be well worth the prepper’s time to glean what we can learn here.
Virtually everything you read dictates inflation on this scale necessitates civil war.
Yet Venezuela hasn’t seen this. Why not? Why are the streets not being taken by armed civilians?
While the main reason revolves around 20 years of disarmament and anti-self-defense teachings, I would argue that there is a second reason we haven’t delved into full on anarchy as well: our underground economy.
I’ve lived in four different and fallen South American countries, and it’s been the underground economy which has kept people going in each case.
When I used to work in the Venezuelan oil industry, our salary was taxed heavily just like everyone else’s. As expected, these taxes can quickly make it hard for a family to pay its bills.
But the underground economy? It’s completely unregulated.
I know guys with a hot dog cart who make much more money than engineers down here. And this isn’t new – our world has been like this for many years now. The guy working with the hot dog cart doesn’t pay taxes. He doesn’t pay rent. And usually, (and this is a now an “accepted” practice) these street vendors will run a wire from some nearby pole for their music and lights.
(Excerpt) Read more at zububrothers.com ...
It’s not fully underground- the hot dogs (or their filling) needs to come from somewhere.
You’re wrong about the illegals - at least where I live. They are the ones out in the fields doing the stoop work and the really $hitty jobs. (Like harvesting Brussel Sprouts in the mud and snow. If you don’t know about this harvest you’ve got no clue.)
The legals from Mexico control the good jobs in construction and farming, and only employ illegals for the crap. They also turn in the bad apples in the illegal groups to the USCIS.
Up here, the Latino community works damn hard, and they’re conservatives when they vote.
Not our enemy. (At least in Western Washington.)
I always suspected Brussel Sprouts involved human rights violations. Good to see this confirmed. Time to ban them outright.
The barter system. This article is about avoiding taxation and inflation but still relying on $$$. I’ve been preparing more in terms of a coming cashless economy where I will refuse to participate with all the strings attached to a mandatory digital currency.
In remote bolt hole communities like where I live, services will be bartered for goods - repair services exchanged for eggs, venison, water, firewood etc. It will be very Little House on the Prairie hard times but location, travel time and uncooperative residents will make it not worth the government’s time to come out here - theoretically.
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