The Double Edged Sword of Control

By: Tom Chatham

With the advent and continuing growth of the police state it might seem reasonable to many that “they” know who potential resisters are and are prepared to round up any dissenters and put them some place safe when it’s appropriate but we also know who they are. It is impossible to implement a control grid without letting the “little people” know who’s in charge. Have you noticed over the years that police increasingly now wear masks when conducting raids and resemble the terrorists we see on TV.

It’s as if they want to hide who they are so no one will know who it is that is taking away your rights. For those that are fooled by the masks here’s a clue, they still wear a uniform. That is one thing they cannot hide. That is also one thing that makes it so dangerous for the dwindling few that are still honest law enforcement officers. When things start to go wrong, everyone with a uniform will be painted with the same brush. There will be nowhere to hide.

The same can be said for homeland security and all the rest. These agencies have distinctive uniforms so everyone will know at a glance that they are in charge. No longer is it necessary to look for a black hat to find the villain, just look at the uniform they wear and that will tell you what side they are on. This has apparently not occurred to the controllers or else they don’t think it matters. That may change.

Since Barrack Obama was first elected president the left wing extremists have come out of the woodwork like a cockroach convention letting out. They have made it known in a very vocal way who they are and what they really stand for. Do they think this has not been noticed or will be forgotten anytime soon? Everyone now knows who all of the extremist, American hating, constitution burning radicals are in this country. That makes it very easy to identify them when things start to breakdown.

Members of congress are now bold enough to say aloud that they are socialists and communists and do so with a sense of pride. They are so emboldened by the advances to their agenda over the last few years they make no attempt to hide it. Many Americans may have a short memory but the one’s who really care about this country will remember. These government officials have marked themselves and there will be a day of reckoning.

The feeling that the new agenda has succeeded and there is no stopping it has caused these people to overplay their hand. In strutting about they have exposed themselves and painted a potential target on their backs that will not go away. By showing themselves to be “in charge” they offer a public that is slowly growing dissatisfied with current conditions a visible place to direct their anger. The controllers will try to divert this anger toward the gun owners, patriots and Christians in this nation when the time comes but that may not work. Too many people now know what is happening and who is to blame and that cannot be changed.

While citizens may be the target of repression, the enforcers will also be exposing themselves and their families to reprisals that they cannot hide from. This is the main reason that ultimately, gun confiscation will be necessary to the controllers. They know they are in a bad position but have made it worse by showing who they are. All of the armored vehicles and bullet proof booths in the world are not going to be enough to keep these people safe when their repression reaches a boiling point.

Every new law and every new action by these government entities will be necessary to show who is in charge and each one of these actions will also foment a rising resistance that will cover this country with a dark cloud that will eventually turn into a rainstorm of biblical proportions. You cannot repress a population without showing yourself and thus leaving yourself open to reprisals. That is a lesson that the cockroach convention will have to learn the hard way. That is the double edged sword all dictators have to deal with.

The Government Loves Boiling Frogs

By: Tom Chatham

The modern day survival movement grew out of the cold war era of the 60s when nuclear war was seen as the ultimate nightmare scenario that humanity had to protect itself from. That evolved in the 70s when a host of other threats were realized. For over 40 years Americans have sought to protect themselves from nuclear war, asteroids, earth changes, solar flares, economic collapse, civil breakdown and a long list of other crises.

Those that prepared in the 70s were sure doom was only a short time away. Every year they continued to prepare and expected the event at any time. Forty years later we are edging ever closer to doom but it still has not happened yet. This is not to say the doomsayers were necessarily wrong, they just misjudged the timing and failed to realize that some of the things they imagined were controlled by human actions that are somewhat unpredictable.

One of the things survivalists have prepared for is an economic breakdown along with all of the connected systems. If a system breaks and living conditions take a sudden and catastrophic dive it becomes evident to even the ones in a media induced coma.

When a break from normality happens suddenly it can cause chaos and riots as people realize they have been sold an illusion. When a breakdown comes slowly over the years, people have time to adjust to this new reality and learn to accept it. This is the boiling frog syndrome where a sudden shock to your system will evoke a response but a slow, steady change will not be perceived as danger until it is too late.

The breakdown of our economic system is a mathematical certainty. Many realized it in the 70s but they failed to realize how long government machinations could stretch it out. The government has known for years the day would come when the system would break and has pursued a boiling frog strategy to prevent a violent reaction from the population.

We are nearing the end of this system but it is in the governments’ best interest to keep it going a bit longer. The closer they can get the population to poverty and misery while the system still appears to work, the less of a violent reaction there will be when it ceases. When people finally find themselves broke and miserable, the majority will accept it as the new normal because they will be acclimated to it.

If you were to look at life today and compare it to the same day in years past, you would probably see a great deal of difference and the negative impacts the changes have had on your life. If you had went from that days reality years ago to today’s reality in only a few days time it would have been brutally obvious something bad had happened to you and this would have spurred you into action. Those that have been awake and those now awakening see this.

Because the masses have been lulled into their new reality it is hoped they will readily accept it when the system breaks. That is why as close as we are to disaster, they will continue the slow decay of society a while longer because it is to their advantage to have the masses accept the new reality and avoid violence. By the time the masses realize what has happened it will be too late to get out of the boiling pot and that is the way the government wants it.

The Road To Collapse and Tyranny

By: Tom Chatham – Author of The American Dream Lost

The western world as we know it will not last much longer in its’ present form. The architects of this collapse will extract as much of the wealth as they can before they finally pull the plug and watch as the nations tear themselves apart from within. Make no mistake, this is a designed collapse and has been planned for decades. Keep in mind that real wealth is made up of hard assets like precious metals, land, production equipment, mineral resources and businesses that produce a physical product. These are the assets that the engineers will take possession of just prior to the total collapse of the affected nations. These are the things that will have value after the collapse and those that have possession of them will make the rules for whatever type of society we find ourselves in.

There are certain sign posts on the road to collapse that act as warnings to those receptive to the signs. These signs can help those attempting to navigate the times to prepare for the final stages when they will be in the greatest danger. Countries go through some stages faster than others or even skip some stages so the signs must be observed to estimate where you are in the countdown to chaos. The signs to watch are the following.

Currency Wars

Capital Controls and Nationalization of Retirement Accounts

Trade War

High Inflation

Price Controls

Military Aggression

Hyperinflation

Sovereign Default

Chaos and Social Breakdown

Martial Law

When a country’s economy begins to falter, the government will attempt to deflect blame and divert attention with other things. As the government appropriates the last of the nations’ wealth and the final destruction of the currency is in sight, many times they will go to war to hide these facts. When inflation begins to enrage in the population the government will invoke price controls to appease the mob, but this will ultimately cause shortages and set the stage for the chaos that follows. Those that believed in the government will be caught unprepared and will be easy to manipulate by those in charge and will be used in many ways.

Gun control is not present on this list due to the fact that most countries already have gun control in effect at this time. While gun control can be activated at any time by the government of collapsing countries, it will almost certainly happen prior to chaos due to the governments need to control the chaos with force.

The U.S. may be a special case though due to the fact that gun ownership is tightly woven into the very fabric of the nation. This will no doubt give the engineers a harder time of planning a reaction to the planned chaos. The U.S. government has several scenarios on paper to deal with the chaos as it plays out. They may provide a false flag attack according to one DHS insider, in a major city such as D.C. which will be blamed on patriots, constitutionalists and Christians in order to garner government support from the population to go after these types of individuals. This is designed to create a civil war that will give the government cover to commit crimes against citizens and eliminate their enemies. This is only one scenario but seems likely given the current climate in this country. The engineers will try to eliminate weapons for fear they will become targets by those who know what is happening but in all likelihood this will fail.

The engineers expect the crisis to end in their favor in some form of tyranny that they control but even the best laid plans never survive the first battle intact. This means they will have contingency plans to deal with the changing tides of chaos as citizens react to government operations. Those that see the signs and prepare for troubling times should have their own contingency plans to deal with changing situations on the ground where they live. The next ten years will be very fluid and you need to be adaptable to survive with your family and resources in tact.

The fate of the nation will lie in many things such as who controls the farmland and water resources in the country. These things are mainly found in the rural areas where government resistance will be the greatest. These are things that must be controlled by the government to insure control of the country and its’ population. Those who control the food, water and energy will have a great deal of power.

As stated in a previous article, we may be facing not one war but three to fight inside this country, a revolution against the government, a civil war against government supporters and a war against foreign troops at some point. It is not out of the realm of possibility that the government will bring in mercenaries from abroad if they seem to be loosing ground to the citizens. More information on the governments’ plans can be found in a recent article at Northeast Intelligence Network concerning a DHS insider. Those that plan on some type of armed resistance should insure they ration their resources to enable them to get to the end of the crisis. The fate of nations often times rests on the shoulders of a chosen few willing to do the hard things to insure a future worthy of those who have died to keep the torch lit.

When Complex Systems Fail: Part II

By: Tom Chatham – Author of Rebuilding The Republic

It is critical to realize when a system is about to fail so you can take the necessary immediate steps to limit the effects of the failure on you. In a cascading series of failures it is important to think and act proactively to stay ahead of the curve. How the failures occur in your immediate area and what form they take will be to a large degree determined by the type of people there. Those with no preparations or resources to fall back on will likely react in a frightened and violent way. Some that cannot handle the reality when their comfort zone is breached will go into a state of depression, denial or shock and will complicate the situation for others and will become the helpless victims of those that will take advantage of the situation.

In a cascading series of failures, the first hard jolt will leave many reeling from the sudden and unexpected nature of the situation. Many of these people will not understand that this is only the first of many situations that will build upon one another causing more damage as the failures continue. Those that understand what is happening and maintain some situational awareness can position themselves to mitigate these failures and take preemptive measures prior to each occurrence.

Situational awareness is a key to staying ahead of each failure. Just as you know that when a snow storm is approaching you may lose power, you must learn to read the subtle signs in society to determine what is happening at any given moment. When you hear that there is a failure of the grain harvests around the world, you know that will increase the prices of many products made from grain. You know that livestock fed with grain will be more expensive and so will the meat. If there is a strike overseas in the primary cocoa producing regions of the world it will mean higher cocoa and chocolate prices. If there is a war in the Middle East that may cut off oil shipments in that part of the world, you know that may mean higher gas prices or inability to get any at times if it is severe. If the government enacts import restrictions on certain products, it may mean those things will become scarce or unobtainable in the marketplace.

These are the types of things that you need to concern yourself with to stay ahead of the failures. The ability to predict cause and effect will enable you to be prepared for these jolts to society and allow you to ride out the disruptions. For every action there is an opposite but equal reaction. One of the things you need to stay aware of are the actions within government. These are the most immediate and possibly dangerous things to your future and being able to determine how government actions will affect you will determine your actions in response.

If you hear the government is about to set up checkpoints to limit travel between areas, and you have a safe location you are planning to go to if things deteriorate, that may be the only warning you get to leave and go to your safe location. If you wait you may not be allowed to leave later. The warning signs before each situation may be subtle and short lived. There may be multiple signs indicating several things are about to happen simultaneously. You need to prepare for this and be prepared to multitask and do it quickly.

This is the reason to have several well thought out plans to draw on. Most likely you will have to draw from each plan as the situations develop and construct a new overall plan as you react to situations on the ground. This is where prior planning pays off by allowing you to quickly organize a new plan even while on the move.

When you set down to draw up a plan to deal with several different scenarios, it would be beneficial to include a few plans that deal with radical and unconventional situations to provide you with options if you are confronted with a situation outside of your normal sphere of thinking. In a developing situation it is critical to be prepared for anything. A plan can help overcome a lack of resources when something unusual happens.

When things start to fall apart on a national or global scale, they can get out of control very quickly. When that happens, you don’t want to be in the wrong place surrounded by the wrong people. If that should happen, you want to have a plan to deal with it. When systems begin to fail a few at a time over a long period, it is easy to become complacent and ignore the signs telling you what to do. It is your job to understand those signs and be prepared to react to them.

If you want to exercise this skill, all you need to do is start reading more and keeping up with current events. Pay attention to these events and watch what effects they have that affect you. This is the best way to learn situational awareness, and soon you will hear of something happening in the world and immediately think about what it will cause and what you should do to limit its’ effects on you. Those that wait for direction from government or media sources will not have the time necessary to react and protect their resources. Insuring that you stay ahead of any event is up to you. God gave you a brain for a reason. It’s up to you to use it.

When Complex Systems Fail

By: Tom Chatham – Author of Rebuilding The Republic

When complex systems fail, they almost never fail all at once. They usually suffer from a cascading failure or a series of smaller failures leading up to the complete breakdown of the systems functions. Our social, economic and environmental systems are all breaking down and the end result will be catastrophic for the people, but the breakdown will not happen all at once.

Many people understand that the system is failing but they do not have a clear understanding of how it will affect them. In a cascading failure one part leads to the damage and failure of another part until everything stops. In an automobile, when the oil pump goes bad it stops pumping oil to all of the internal parts that come in contact with one another preventing them from causing excess wear to one another. As the oil flow stops it will not stop the engine or any other parts from working and you will continue down the road unknowing unless a light or gage gives you a warning. As the oil is worn off of the metal parts you begin to get more signs something is wrong. The lifters will start tapping louder as time goes on and the temperature of the engine will start to increase as the parts cause more friction with one another. Eventually the bearings will begin to wear excessively against one another until they seize up and stop the engine completely.

This could happen very rapidly or it could happen over a matter of minutes, but the damage will be the same. Many people feel that the economic problems they see ahead will occur like a car wreck, happening very rapidly and ending suddenly in heavy damage and chaos. With large complex systems, there are many moving parts and they rarely all fail simultaneously. Instead you will more likely see a cascading series of failures that cause increasing damage as they progress. You might think of the coming breakdown more like falling down a long flight of stairs rather than an automobile accident.

As you begin to fall at the top of the stairs you realize you are in trouble but it takes a short period of time before the first damage is done. As you impact the first step you suffer much damage as your body absorbs the initial impact and slows you down a little. Then as you roll and tumble down the stairs you suffer more injury. Some steps you will hit hard and some you may miss entirely along the way. As you fall the injuries will increase until you get to the bottom. One person may fall all the way down and only suffer a few bruises while another may suffer a fractured skull and multiple broken bones. The difference comes in how flexible you are and able you are to absorb the impacts.

As you look at the potential breakdown ahead of you, you must look at your surroundings and consider cause and effect in evaluating the series of failures that will occur. It may take much longer for the breakdown to occur, requiring you to have a plan to carry you through the series of failures over a matter of weeks or months.

Let’s look at one type of breakdown. A hyperinflation situation does not happen overnight. It occurs over a matter of months or years. The systems that the people depend on become more dysfunctional as the inflation continues until they cannot function normally.

As the money becomes worth less the prices of necessities become more expensive. Those that depend on fixed income suffer as their money buys less and less. The workers are able to keep up with inflation for a while due to rising wages but even that becomes a losing battle. As the manufacturers and energy providers raise wages to keep up with inflation they also must raise prices to compensate. This affects fixed income people first then later the average man. As the masses begin to suffer from lack of necessities they sell or trade whatever they have to survive.

If they complain enough, the government may impose price controls to freeze prices. As the inflation continues producers begin to lose money on their products and at some point stop selling the items they are losing money on. This is when large farms will likely be visited by government buyers and will force the farmers to sell their products to the government for the set price which is a losing proposition for the farmers. Many will not continue producing the excess they once did and instead produce only for personal use until the situation changes. This causes real shortages where people cannot get the item even if they have plenty of currency. This is when the real suffering begins.

Those that have money and try to send it out of the affected area to preserve it may find that at some point the government enacts capital controls preventing you from moving your money out of the area. In this type of situation the actions taken by the government almost always cause more problems than they solve but they do them because the people demand action.

The people that get along better than most are the small farmers that operate under the radar and can provide food and items for barter. This is usually referred to as a black market, which operates in the shadows of a failing system to provide those with tradable items with the things they must have.

In a slow decay of support systems, a person must have not only stored items for trade but also be able to create items in a sustainable way to ride out the decay until the situation can stabilize and normal production systems can get back on line.

When the breakdown starts you need to be able to provide basics for your family until it is over. You need to have support systems that are fully owned and will not be lost especially through bankruptcy. You need to have shelter you can depend on. You need to have transportation you can depend on. You need stored food and clothing and a way to replenish those supplies for an indefinite period of time. You need a way to produce the energy you need such as wind, solar or wood gas. You need a place that is relatively safe and a way to protect your family when things become violent. You need resources to grow and store food. You need communications to keep you informed and medical resources to keep you healthy.

A simple plan might be to acquire 2 to 5 acres of land in a rural area, have a large tent, trailer or structure such as a cottage to live in, have some basic tools to produce food and some way to produce your own energy. With these few things you would be able to get by during the worst of the crisis and be able to produce excess to trade for the other things you need. The better you plan for a long series of failures, the more flexible you will be and the more able you will be to absorb the impacts on the way down. When the system fails and you end up at the bottom of the stairs, you want to be in the condition to get up and shake off the few bruises that you have. Those that fail to plan will suffer untold damage as their brittle bodies bounce and roll uncontrollably along the way leaving them unable to function when they reach the bottom.

And When The Bough Breaks….

By: Tom Chatham – Author of Rebuilding The Republic

Half of the people in America now depend on government money in some form or another to get by from day to day. These payments are a major part of our economy now and the elimination of these payments will be catastrophic to the standard of living that is already falling at a rapid pace. The unsustainable nature of this government money guarantees that it will be cut off at some point in the future.

With the encroachment of government into free markets, we now find ourselves in a spiral of decay that will end with unnecessary poverty for the masses. The word poverty means something different to Americans than it does to everyone else in the world.

Tocqueville once wrote that, “The word poor is used here in a relative, not an absolute sense. Poor men in America would often appear rich in comparison with the poor of Europe.” This is an important distinction that Americans need to realize.

Norman Podhoretz once related a story told to him by a Soviet dissident providing a good illustration of this. ‘It seems the Soviet authorities used to encourage the repeated screening of The Grapes of Wrath, a movie about the Great Depression-era migration of starving farmers from the Dust Bowl to California in their broken-down pickups. But contrary to expectation, what Soviet audiences got from this film was not an impression of how wretched was the plight of the poor in America. Instead they came away marveling that in America, “even the peasants own trucks.”’

Even the “poor” in America have a good standard of living compared to most of the rest of the world, but for many of these people that is not acceptable. Many of the poor in America can boast of having a refrigerator, a TV, a DVD player, a closet full of clothing and some even a car. Until recently poor was a relative term in America but that will change soon. If the free market economy we have is allowed to die, these people will find out what actual poverty is when the government payments they depend on suddenly cease and they are thrown back on their own resources, which are few and far between.

The ultra-liberals in this country always focus on the small number of things that are wrong with the country, while the ultra-conservatives focus on everything that is right with it. The liberals want to destroy all of the things that are right in order to fix the few things that are wrong. This is what will cause the absolute poverty that most Americans will find themselves dealing with and will have no way out of because the free market system that would allow them the freedom to work and be successful will be gone.

This is why Americans have very little time to wake up and develop an economic survival strategy to ride out this storm. Once the gale winds begin to blow it will be too late to amass the resources you need to maintain a reasonable standard of living and care for your family. Once real poverty is a part of the American landscape, it will be decades if ever, before it will improve significantly. Those that rely solely on the government for everyday needs will have a great fall when the support system breaks. Having resources to draw on may not keep you from falling but you will end up on top of the pile instead of on the bottom. Many things in life are out of a persons control but this is one thing that everyone has control over and it is your responsibility.