George Soros: Team Owner

In my efforts to get people to start paying attention to what's happening, I'm rarely handed a gift like the one I am going to share with you this evening.

There seems to be a fair amount of evidence George Soros is supporting the Occupy Wall Street crowd.  He also predicts violence in America.  Seriously.  I know this sounds too Glenn Beck for most people, but as you read the article, it's all quite clear.  Some quotes:

• "In America he predicts riots on the streets that will lead to a brutal clampdown that will dramatically curtail civil liberties. The global economic system could even collapse altogether."
• From Soros: "The best-case scenario is a deflationary environment. The worst-case scenario is a collapse of the financial system.”
• "Critics already allege he is stoking the fires by funding the Occupy movement through Adbusters, the Canadian provocateurs who sparked the movement." (a claim he denies, although there seems to be a fair amount of circumstantial evidence his critics are correct).
• "As anger rises, riots on the streets of American cities are inevitable. 'Yes, yes, yes,' he says, almost gleefully. The response to the unrest could be more damaging than the violence itself. 'It will be an excuse for cracking down and using strong-arm tactics to maintain law and order, which, carried to an extreme, could bring about a repressive political system, a society where individual liberty is much more constrained, which would be a break with the tradition of the United States.'”

One might say Soros is simply saying that because he's invested in such a way where he will profit from such events, and as a result, needs those events to come to fruition.  Regardless, he is clearly not holding back in telling the world what he thinks will happen.

If you won't listen to me, will you listen to George?


The Six Week List

Earlier this week, I had an opportunity to travel five hours across Texas with two co-workers.  With that much windshield time, we had plenty of opportunity to talk about a number of things.

Both of these co-workers are smart, successful people.  They aren't lawyers, so they don't come with the typical lawyer hang ups (i.e., they don't see danger everywhere they look).  And so I like to ask people like them whether they are fearful of some sort of civil disruption and what they plan to do to prepare.

Like a lot of people, they read the news, and they reported they had concerns about the global economy, the issues with Iran, and the effect of those things on our economy here at home.  If those things came to fruition, they reported they are concerned about our economy not being able to function properly.

One of them asked me: "so what should we do to prepare?"  Later that evening, sitting in the hotel room, I sketched out a basic six week supply list I think is within reach of most Americans.  These include:

• Six weeks of food per person.  This need not be expensive - canned goods and dried goods (such as beans, rice and pasta, all of which you can get at the store) will work.
• Cash - $500 per person.  Note this isn't an expense.   Rather, it's part of your savings.  Rather than keep it in the bank, you keep it in a lock box at home, for true emergencies (such as the ATMs don't work and you need food or gas).
• Water purification.  I'd buy $20 worth of bleach.  If you have extra funds, spent $200 on a Berkey water filtration system.  You can use it year round (we use ours daily).  Berkey filtered water is excellent.
• Paper towels/toilet paper/kleenex.  Buy enough for each person in the house for six weeks.
• Prescription meds.  Get a six week supply.  Talk to your doctor about how to do that.
• Multivitamins.  Get a six week supply, per person.
• Laundry detergent.  Six week supply.  You'll also need a way to wash the clothes if the power is out.  A five gallon bucket with a little detergent and water works great.  You'll also want some rope in order to create a clothes line.
• Water.  Ideally, for six weeks, you'd have 100 gallons per person.  That's tough to do, but if you have a way to store a number of 55 gallon barrels in an out of the way place, it's not impossible.
• Silver/Gold.  I would suggest storing $100 worth (market value, not face value) per person.  It's unclear whether we would need it, but the market seems to indicate the metals will continue to go up in value.  This isn't an expense, either, as it's part of your savings.
• Matches.  Six boxes of high quality matches should suffice.  You'll want these for candles, lighting stoves, etc.
• Candles.  Quantity varies.  Think about the last time you had a power outage.  How many did you use, if any?  Note candles necessarily involve an open flame and thus some risk, but properly managed they can be a great tool.
• Batteries.  There's never such a thing as too few batteries.  If you don't need the extras, your neighbors will be happy to use them.
• Basic First Aid Kid.  Rather than buying one that has lots of a few items, buy one (or make one) that has a few number of many items.  Diversity is your friend when it comes to a good first aid kit.  This includes obtaining a good supply of over the counter meds.
• Gun.  Yes.  If you are serious about being prepared, you need one.  There have been books and articles written on what's the best one gun for preparedness if you can only have one gun.  If it were me, I'd want something that shoots .223 ammo.  That leads me to either an AR-15 or a Ruger Mini-14, with a strong bias towards the AR.  This will likely be the most expensive acquisition on your list, so if you already have a quality rifle in a caliber larger than .22 or a quality shotgun with at least a five round capacity, I would use my funds to obtain other things on this list.  Of course, I'm inferring you'll also need plenty of ammo on hand for your gun as well.
• Battery powered AM/FM radio.  This will become your new best friend in an extended emergency.  If you want to splurge, get one that has shortwave radio capabilities to enable you to hear news from around the world.
• Propane stove with spare propane tanks.  You can cook a lot of food with a propane stove.  Just make sure you have plenty of propane on hand to feed it.

Now before you start nitpicking my list, remember - it's a basic list.  If you have these things on hand, you should be able to ride out some short term emergencies without much trouble.  It may not be fun, but it will be tolerable.  Our forefathers made do with far less.

With the exception of the gun and the possible Berkey water filter system, this isn't an expensive list.  Think of it as insurance....you make the investment now and hope you never have to use it.  But if you do, you know you will make it.