So how do we prepare for the next phase of this?

[FirstLight]

Debt talks are one thing, Jobless recovery is another, etc, etc, etc

But now I read CA and other states are actually borrowing from the banks to just keep running..
(http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1488806)

So, even if we are broke, we need to find a way to put our money into other things...
supplies? gas? food?
seriously... If i am on Tanf and foodstamps and the state goes under or can't make those payments... what then?!?

I think we need to stop worrying about 'saving the safety nets' and start thinking about what our world will look like
WITHOUT the safety nets.
and yes, i realize this may sound hyperbolic, but I would rather be prepared.
the banks are not going to worry about us, and the govt may just be unable to help us as well...

So, the Great Depression was so horrific because there were no safety nets?
Perhaps it's time to do some historical research, and figure out how our grandparents survived.
Because I don't have much confidence in the continuation of things as they are...

And for those who are going to say I am running scared or being dramatic, the word is PREPARED.
It's like when we were warned about climate change 20 years ago and kept thinking that the GOVT wold fix it before it got scary - ya that worked.
the GOVT can't even fix itself...so we'd better start to think about how we would work with neighbors and friends to make a go of it.
Mr Toad's Wild Ride...

[Denninmi]

1. The elites want us all to die, or to live like Haitians.

Frankly, they don't care either way.

I wish I knew what to tell you. I guess each of us will have to assess our own personal situations and see what we can do to survive.

I think that, if it came to cutting off food stamps, social security payments, etc., there could actually be violence in the streets. Where it goes from there I'm not sure.

Good luck, I really feel for folks in that sort of situation. I was thinking about my mother last night -- she has other assets, if her SS doesn't come, she'll be fine. But so many seniors need that monthly check. The bills will keep coming, even if the checks stop.

[Justyce]

3. My parents would be broke if their SS quit coming, but

my husband and I of course would take them in to live with us, so we would somehow make it. I really feel for the elderly people who don't have that available though. I'm afraid things are going to take a drastic turn for the worse pretty quickly for this country, and I really worry about my daughter and her generation. I think the good times are really over for good...

[FirstLight]

6. i know, it's sad

the worry and fear is natural part of the grieving for the 20th century easy lives we have been enjoying.

but now the choice is to look into the dark clouds coming and figure out how to batten down our hatches and make sure we get through to a place where it could be easy again. I know we will eventually find our way, we have all been very good at defin ing the need for community and self-sufficiency.

I am asking this question to start the conversation about the "bumpy" part of the ride.
...and to remind us that we are NOT immune to these hardships, and really, they *are* going to happen sooner than later...

We know how, we just need to be nudged into it...most humans wait for the shit to hit the fan before they adapt.

[Justyce]

8. We have been semi-preparing ourselves since Bush first took office.

We've nearly paid everything completely off -- we're soooo close :)

When we decided to buy a camp at the lake, we chose the location carefully with the thought of bad times ahead in mind, not just a vacation/retirement spot. We bought one in a small closed neighborhood in the middle of nowhere with woods all around, a lake full of fish nearby, friendly helpful neighbors, and a well. The camp is already paid for. That's where we intend to retire, but if things get bad before then, that's where we plan to live and get out of town.

[FirstLight]

4. seriously!

the bills...i was thinking about that too... and meds...I have some stocked up, but others are not that easy. I need to stock up on my homeopathic and herbal substitutes.

the worst part of this is that the rest of the country seems to think that we will just keep going, like always...

but if you take such a HUGE chunk of the population (unemployed, welfare recipients,elderly, disabled, vets)
and pull the collective rug out from under them, all at the same time,
the rest of things grinding to a halt or dissloving into chaos is a very real possibility.

Personally i try to not think about that ugly scary side of it...and try to focus on my own family and how we will cope.
Living in a remote area, the chaos factor seems a bit more removed, though there could be some roving groups of those who would take advantage of people...
I can't even think about self defense, i'll just scream and hold up my son's samurai sword if anyone comes near! :rofl:

[socialist_n_TN]

12. "The bills will keep coming...."

Well the first thing you do is STOP paying those bill, other than the ones needed to live. Food and shelter.

[damntexdem]

2. Take the power to raise the debt ceiling.

Jack it up and propose meaningless "cuts" to "balance" it.

Then greatly increase federal aid to states, to give them breathing room.

[FirstLight]

5. not really, thanks for playing

talking about REAL, PEOPLE ISSUES...food, services, safety etc.

the mechanics of the financial world have no bearing here on the ground

[FirstLight]

7. hmmm...sank like a rock?

not as much fun as talking about someone's temper tantrum or other distractions? not sexy enough?

[truedelphi]

9. My dad talked about how bad things were during the Depression.

Before and after the Depression, he was one of the most honest people who ever lived.

But during the Depression, he and his friends figured out the ticketing system of a large cafeteria in Chicago. One would order lunch, while the others ordered coffee. And there was some way of passing the lunch ticket around to the other two guys, so everyone got lunch for the price of one lunch and two coffees.

They couldn't do this a lot, because if they got caught, they assumed the cafeteria would change the way they handled things. But maybe twice a month for at least a year, that is one way he got food.

[FirstLight]

10. yep, lots of ways they made it through

My grandma stood on the corner and sold eggs from the chickens...then she would buy flour and beans and rice and maybe some bacon...but the bacon would be for flavoring the food, not eaten up so fast as a side dish, no it was about how to CONSERVE

I never understood my dad and his fixation when I was young to 'clean my plate' i never understood what he meant by "you may not know when you get your next meal"

that's some scary shit, lots of people will have trouble with that one.

[truedelphi]

11. At the time, at least one third (if not more) of all Americans still lived

On family farms. So the type of activity your grandmother undertook was typical of how people could survive.

But now most people live in huge urban areas. Try planting food, and the apartment building's "gardeners" will leaf blow, pesticide your plantings before the seedlings are two inches high..