A great article on ZeroHedge written by the folks at Alt-Market. Brought up a great real life point as to why going on your own, or just you and your family, is probably a bad idea in times of widespread collapse. Using the example of Argentina in 2002 (collapse actually occurred in Dec of 2001) went relatively unnoticed in the US as we were reeling from the attacks of 9-11.

Argentina was in the midst of total collapse, driven by banker fraud and extreme currency devaluation in tandem with government mismanagement and corruption.

Sound familiar?
The results sound like something from a fictional apocalyptic novel (items in bold are my emphasis).

First, cities exploded with rioting and violence as Argentinian police and military attempted to crush all dissent. Soon after, displaced refugees from population centers along with roving bands of thieves flooded into the countryside, wiping out isolated farms, murdering families, and hunting down any small group of survivors weaker than themselves and flush with supplies. The authorities (and I use the term loosely) were too busy trying to suppress civil protests to bother protecting those who were caught unprepared.

This behavior is part and parcel of economic destabilization, regardless of the time or place in which it occurs. Only nine years ago, a very modern and technologically savvy nation of people, nearly cannibalized itself. Those who survived and thrived did so through family aid and substantial existing wealth, or, the tactical building of communities for the purpose of mutual defense and alternative trade. Farmers armed themselves and formed regional groups along with security measures. City dwellers formed neighborhood watches and barter networks when the mainstream economy disappeared. The bottom line; lone wolves and isolated country families were nothing more than tempting targets at the onset of the breakdown in Argentina.

Let me hit that last sentence again...
"The bottom line; lone wolves and isolated country families were nothing more than tempting targets at the onset of the breakdown in Argentina."

The purpose of prepper groups is to gather like minded people together to gain knowledge and prepare for the worst. What seems to lack is a concerted effort to pursue the 'strength in numbers' mentality. Though there are many groups that get together for events, most of the effort is centered around BOBs, EDC, etc.. Though these are important, a more critical aspect would seem to be the formation of local communities of strength. More of the...ok I have bugged out now what? This seems to be the area of largest weakness.

I see many mention they have land far away or plan to travel to some remote area. As the example of Argentina shows, this almost turns out to be a death sentence. Realistically, anyone who has had to evacuate due to hurricane knows how the roads get. Travel time that normally took 4-6 hours easily turns into 24+hrs. Now add roving bands looking to take what you have and you are trapped on a road, in your car with your family. Not a good position to defend from.

I encourage everyone to read the article completely.

Economic Tsunami Alert

Economist Max Keiser who predicted the default in Dubai back in January has a really ugly take on the world economy.

Stimulus wearing off....(China that is).

A great indicator of future markets as well as production comes from the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) which is considered a leading economic indicator. The BDI basically helps track shipping most notably raw materials that go into production of goods. As the BDI goes up that means more companies are making more products due to an increased demand. If it goes down that means production is slowing.

The BDI grew steadily from 2nd Qtr. 2002 to 2nd Qtr 2008 when the economy tanked. It reached a low 4th Qtr 2008 not seen in over a decade. At this time stimulus money, most notably from the Chinese government began to take hold. The Chinese pumped money directly into infrastructure projects (over 60%) versus the US pumping it into pork projects with no production value. This caused a demand for raw materials (thus increase in production) over the last few months with the BDI rising to 2006-2007 levels. Here comes the catch.....once the stimulus was burned through the hope was the economies around the world would have picked up....they haven't. The BDI has slid some 35% since it's high in June and appears to continue this loss.

Here is what worries me...China is the largest holder of US debt. If things get tough for China, who do you think they are going to want money from?...the countries that owe them. If Congress and the President continue to try to bury us in debt, we will either have to default or pay up....since we are already $11.6 trillion dollars in debt...how exactly are we going to do that? The legislative and executive branches are dooming us to economic collapse.

Is anyone awake out there?