As the European debt mountain threatens to unravel the euro and entire EU, across the Atlantic the United States approaches a possible default on its own borrowing. One area not covered by the media for obvious reasons is the real possibility of food shortages for the citizen.
Each of us needs to be sensitised to what might happen over the next few months in the event that the global debt noose tightens to catastrophic proportions. Certainly the news is full of financial doom and gloom but what’s in your newspapers these days is something different.
We knew greed was going to be the death of the euro sooner or later. There is no paper money system that has not failed, and there is no intrinsic (gold/silver) monetary system that has failed. Across the pond, US national debt has long been mathematically un-repayable. The dollar has only stayed afloat thanks to the good faith and trust of the American and world peoples but, as they say in Kentucky, the chickens are coming home to roost. I’m amazed the system has lasted this long.
Ah, the joys of fractional reserve banking or, in English, creating money out of nothing and then lending it to people at great profit. The current Murdoch scandal too exemplifies the society we have become. Values-lite, greedy, ruthless, selfish, venal, corrupt, morally deviant. Unwilling to put off for tomorrow what we can go into debt to possess today. But the real story is not Rupert, James and Rebekah, it’s about what might happen to the US economy and euro. When a country goes bust there’s extreme financial turmoil in store for its citizens. When the currency across an entire continent fails, the fallout can only be severe. When the euro fails simultaneous to the largest economy on Earth (America) defaulting, the world’s predicament is uncharted territory.
With economic collapse a centralised food supply system becomes vulnerable and the trouble starts. When people cannot find food to feed their families, some go out and do whatever it takes to get some. Civil disobedience follows, and so does looting, violence, vigilantism and in extreme cases, war. Governments panic and pass extreme measures in an attempt to restore order. Emergency powers like those given to the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), become the back door to a dictatorial arrangement if they are not properly policed, and they aren’t.
We’ve seen a smaller version of the problem with various fuel crises over the years. By the time a fuel block hits the papers, the queues are already around the block. I lived in LA during the 1992 Rodney King riots and food was hard to come by for four days. The shocking truth is that civilisation is skin deep and prone to unravelling if an economic collapse bites hard. In a world where millions of transactions are executed at the speed of light and everything is hooked into everything else, expect trouble.
Happily, I don’t think we’re yet at the point where we have to bury our baked beans in the backwoods, but I do suggest everyone keep a close eye on matters for the foreseeable future. If necessary get some extra food and water into the house - appropriate supplies which can later be consumed if no crisis emerges.
This link is one of a number of articles on this subject with practical tips on what to do.
Be sensible. Don’t over-react. Be covered.
Phillip
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