i've lived in a former soviet union republic during some troubled times, surviving revolution, war, natural disaster, hyperinflation, 50%+ unemployment, no electricity, heat or gas for years, i want to tell some of the stories and facts from those times as i remember, sorry can't do it all in one post but will post them here as i get free time
during the entirety of the Great Depression, only these seem to have gone up or held value: property - but you had to withstand the financial hardships and not lose them. Hard to hold your house when no income for 5 years. gold/gold mining stocks. Within the last month, gold mining stocks (XAU is an etf) REALLY dropped. You can put in a limit order and try to get them cheap over the next few months. Gold mining stocks did REALLY well during the depression, some soaring in vlaue while everything else plunged. govt bonds - of course, the govts are loaded with debt now, so who knows? and of course, anything that had material value - antiques, art, etc. But of course, they may not go back up in value the NEXT depression. foodstuffs may hold their value, but it will become a lot cheaper during a depression, so may be better to hold something like gold until food plunges and then buy it.
currency during 1990s till now in my country we simultaniously used 3 currencies: soviet ruble (later replaced by russian ruble), the local currency, and US dollars, my family had some savings in russian ruble kept in a bank for my college and my grandparen't retirement, with the huge inflation the government just started adding zeros to the new banknotes, i don't have exact numbers but in less than 6 years the buying power of my parents saving went from about 50000 american dollars to about 500 when local currency was introduced it was officially quoted as 15 local units for 1 us dollar, again in a few years it went to 550 to 1, now i think its about 350 for 1 usd since most employement was from government (this was soviet union) when the crisis started people didn't receive salaries for months, if not years, my grandmother was a doctor and she didn't get paid for i think 6 or more months of work, same for my teacher mother and almost any other profession
credit there was almost no credit at all, everything had to be paid in cash, groceries, gas and small items were priced in local currency, homes, cars and anything of high value was priced in usdollars at one point the interest charged for loans was 1 percent a day, i know most of you won't believe or understand this number but its true, 1 percent per each day and after 1 month the percentage charged is on compunded amount not on the original amount, but what's more outrageous, is the loan had to be 200 % collaterized, and only in gold, car or a house, means you had to give 200 dollars worth of gold to receive 100 dollars in a loan on which you have to pay 1 percent interest in a day this is crazy now but back in a day my uncle took a couple of thousand dollars loan from a local mafia guy to buy some shoes in my country and sell it in russia, and due to interest he ended up losing the parents home and all the valuables like jewelry that my grandparents had left him
If you're serious: 1) Buy a farm outside the Country. 2) Buy a boat moored in a coastal area. And be prepared to sail to your tropical retreat. If thats not feasible: 2) Buy a rural farm in America. 3) Have two other "fall back" properties outside your City in a rural area. Stay away from people. 4) Keep all properties stocked with at least 3 years storeable food for every adult in your family 5) Keep all properties stocked with guns and ammo (handgun, shotgun, well-scoped rifle). Keep some guns in the house and some buried on property (in case of house-to-house gun confiscations). 6) Keep all properties stocked with adequate coined precious metal. Silver and gold coins in pedestrian amounts are useful for barter and trade. Gold bars will not be practical. Bury and hide in several places, at each property. Bear in mind - if shit hits the fan and Government confiscates or nationalizes bank accounts or savings - say in the 401K confiscation program already trial-ballooned - only hard money (gold bars) will be a safe vehicle to preserve wealth. 7) Keep all properties stocked with gas-masks, Potassium iodide (in the event of nuclear fallout), penicillin, etc. Take a first-aid course. 8) Keep all properties stocked with adequate energy reserves (underground natural gas, solar, wind etc). 9) Have a well dug at each property, some Berky water filters, reverse osmosis. Or the best solution - atmospheric water generator. All that said, the best option in the event of financial collapse or societal breakdown - leave the Country. Of course, thats if u don't wanna stay and fight for the Constitution Oh yea, and if you're gonna stay in America, organize a commune of like minded neighbors and friends. There's safety in numbers.
The US has a gigantic cross-hairs on its back and is scheduled for imminent take-down by the Ruling Autocrats. Anywhere will be safer than the US when it happens. They're going to bankrupt everyone, detonate a few nukes and some bio, let the Nation turn on itself, then deploy the Military for mass confiscations and interments. Food will be used as a weapon, as per UN Policy Papers and the Country will go nuts. South America, Mexico, Brazil, India...any populous third world country where a gringo can "blend in" off the grid, is safest.
Thanks, stories like that can be more instructive than textbooks. What do you think of all the people on ET that think it can't happen in the USA?
Minimally, people could loosely organize just in their neighborhoods, grow food in their back yards and watch out for interlopers. Those evap water heaters use horrendous amounts of electricity afaik. I wonder if there is an all-solar version. Gardening can be done with very little water if one knows how, getting the water from evaporation would be great if water supplies dried up...