Are you self sustaining without a US Goverment?

[bcguy]

Read this story and wonder, when the madness of printing money to pay the debt interest and the government is going to stop.

Economist Richard Duncan: Civilization May Not Survive 'Death Spiral' - Money Morning

Which bears in mind, how many of you can live for a year without a job or income? I know this sounds pretty terrible but it did happen in 1929 and it can happen again.

[Backroads]

Not a year, but I hope to get there soon...

[mnn727]

I actually had that tested about 7 years ago, when I got laid off and it took me 14 months to find a new job. One more month and I would have had to ask the Bishop for help but we just squeaked by. It has taken us a bit to get stocked up again though.

[BadWolf]

Nope!!!!

Ignoring infrastructure (I do have some friends who live entirely off grid)

- Without the courts my ex would have (and is still attempting to), walk with his 6 figure salary, all our savings (which he has gotten away with), all our assets, never paid a dime in child support/Maintence (he's still trying that one), and a whole mess of other things.

- Without federally subsidized student loans & grants, I would never be able to afford to complete my education. Which also means that I would lose my house (GOT that asset, but Ex ignored several court orders, so Im very far behind).

- Without both federal & charitable Monies Id be half a million in the hole from my son's last hospitalization.

- Without the govt... The jobs I'm trying to get simply wouldn't exist.

________

I'm not currently on WIC or other Federally funded programs... But that's due to LUCK (or Providence). Not my own hard work. All my savings/planning/etc. went out the door when my husband of 11 years thought it would be appropriate to throw our son in anger and fracture my skull. So, nope! I very much need the US Govt. Both now, and later, when I hope to be drawing a paycheck from them.

____________

COULD I go live off the grid / in total self sufficiency? Of course. Hunting & growing & hydroelectric generators & bartering & the whole shebang. The hardest part would be medical facilities & staff, and mechanically minded folk, etc.... To do what I can't. So the real caveat there is that while I COULD, in order to live WELL, there would need to be other people. Which means some form of governing body, sooner or late. So it would be switching from the US Govt. to the Us Govt.

[NeuroTypical]

Dandy little phrase I learned in economics class: "Ceteris paribus" - it means "with other things the same," or "all other things being equal or held constant." Basically, it allows economists to lie about what would happen in reality when considering different scenarios.

So, ceteris paribus, yes, my family would be fine if the Federal Govt no longer existed. And ceteris paribus, we'd be able to survive for a year with no job or income.

Of course, in the real world, when all the consequenses of no national govt started happening and everything started changing, I suspect we'd be in deep doo-doo. Same answer if whatever makes me go a year with no income impacts my neighbors/community/state/country.

[Guest]

Completely off the grid:

(This includes having us fall off a ship and wash up in a small uninhabited island buck naked).

1. I am confident in my husband's skills to survive.

2. I am confident in my 11 year old son's skills to survive even without his parents.

3. My husband is still working with our 9 year old who has a completely different personality and survival instincts.

Yes, a lot of these skills are covered in scouting.

4. Me, by myself... dunno.

Edited October 12, 2012 by anatess

[mirkwood]

I can take care of myself and my family for a rather extended period of time. I expect to have to do so in the not so distant future...and that you all will have to do so as well. If you haven't, you better get preparing now while there is still some time left.

[Dravin]

If you can live off food storage is a different question than if you're self-sustaining. Food storage is a resource one can hunker down on and live off, but unless you know how to replenish it given conditions you're not self-sustaining in those conditions. Additionally food is one part of being self-sustaining, you'd need to know how to replenish (often coupled with extending) other things such as housing, and clothing.

[norah63]

The often threat of government shutdown doesn't worry me in the least.

Probably would be better off than now.

[bcguy]

More then food storage. What about the other every day items we need? I hear food storage alot, but no toiletries mentioned?

[BadWolf]

More then food storage. What about the other every day items we need? I hear food storage alot, but no toiletries mentioned?

Tampons are seriously overlooked.

[mirkwood]

Food storage is only one aspect of temporal preparedness and self reliance. It is the beginning point to being prepared.

[BadWolf]

Food storage is only one aspect of temporal preparedness and self reliance. It is the beginning point to being prepared.

The only part that actually concerns me are tampons (I wasn't actually joking, PID is no joke, plus they're just useful for other things) and necessary medicines. I can make penicillin as long as I have cantaloupe or cultures, but I can't make aerosolized albuterol.

While cold/damp/nasty up here in general, temperate forests DO have the upside of providing everything else quite easily. Fish, deer, (and therefore lye:soap, glue, condoms, etc.), furs, etc. The starting point for MOST meds (asiatic poppies, the right kind of cherry trees, moldy melons, foxglove for digitalis, etc.), LOTS of moving water for water wheels, wood to spare for heating and cooking, water that doesn't need purifying (and even more that does)... It'd be harder to kick it than to not do well from a Madd Maxx perspective. Even on the fly, with no prep, temperate coastal rainforests may be icky, but the ecology is good.

Albuterol (and other esoteric meds), o2 tanks & other specialized med gear, and cotton, though? Highly problematic.

I rather doubt we're going Madd Maxx anytime soon, though. If we do, I hope our Heavenly Father will take an enlightened view on a full scale looting of Glaxo Klein.

And a polite knock & barter down at Glock or Remi.

(Glaxo first, Glock 2nd)