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It’s difficult to believe that a little over 100 years ago not only did people rarely if ever lock their doors in the United States many houses didn’t even have locks on the doors. In today’s world, filled with atrocious headlines and daily murders, that thought is as strange a concept as not having to pay federal taxes. Especially with regard to the large cities that dot the country side of America. The brutal crime rate and their remarkable progress in the 20th century are unparalleled around the world. The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave has also given liberty to many destructive activities. These atrocities encompass every severe offense you can think of, from murder and attempted murder to reckless property crimes such as breaking and entering.

Are there neighborhoods in the U.S. that are too dangerous to visit?

I’ve driven through all of the 50 most dangerous neighborhoods in America, one of my many unusual travel goals, and very few were uncomfortably unsafe just driving through. I wouldn’t get out of the car and walk around though.

To answer the question, there are probably nine neighborhoods of the 70,000 across America that I personally wouldn’t recommend anyone visiting, even merely driving through, unless you’re a local or have family there.

(Midtown-Edmonson neighborhood in Baltimore)

1- Midtown-Edmonson, Baltimore, Maryland (7.7% chance of a local being a victim)

2- Devington, Indianapolis, Indiana (7.6% chance of a local being a victim)

3- Broadway East, Baltimore, Maryland (7.4% chance of a local being a victim)

4- Lakeview Heights, Tulsa, Oklahoma (7.2% chance of a local being a victim)

5- Oak Park Northwest, Kansas City, Missouri (7.1% chance of a local being a victim)

6- Easterwood, Baltimore, Maryland (7.0% chance of a local being a victim)

7- North Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana (6.9% chance of a local being a victim)

8- East Parkview, Monroe, Louisiana (6.8% chance of a local being a victim)

9- Oxanna, Anniston, Alabama (6.7% chance of a local being a victim)

There are only 26 neighborhoods in the U.S. where the chance of a local becoming a victim of a violent crime is higher than 5%. An outsider just passing through has a nearly 0% chance of being victimized. None of these have major tourist attractions, or even minor points of interest, so no tourist would have any business visiting.

Additionally, you’re really not at high risk in 99.96% of American neighborhoods because sadly most of the violent crimes that occur in these areas are between young, local rival drug dealers and/or gangs. Having worked with people in the inner-city for decades, it’s the sad truth, but it poses little threat to outsiders.

So a random person, like me, driving through these neighborhoods would be at relatively low risk unless you were driving an unnecessarily expensive car and parked it on a dead-end road for a couple of hours, or got out and walked around with unnecessarily expensive clothing and jewelry. But who would do that?

On the other hand, I’ve been in neighborhoods in Brazil, Mexico, India, Pakistan, and Peru where you have a significant chance of being robbed and/or killed just because you don’t look like a local. It’s a bit different in the U.S. where, unless you’re a criminal rival in an impoverished neighborhood, you’re going to be very safe.

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The forces are mounting that will eventually overwhelm most Americans and send their standard of living to unknown depths. Americans that have only known the post WWII prosperity are ill equipped and educated to deal with depression level living. Easy credit and instant gratification have created a nation of whining, self absorbed, entitlement minded people with no moral or mental toughness.

Doug Casey believes we are headed for what he calls a super depression created by the ending of a debt super cycle. The bigger the debt cycle the bigger the depression that follows. That’s how reality works and most people are not prepared for reality.

When this depression, which has already started, gets momentum, it will overwhelm the plans of a society that is expecting to get things like social security, pensions and payouts from retirement plans they have paid into for many years. All of those things will disappear almost overnight and leave society gasping and stupefied over what to do. Their reactions will be to yell and scream and try to identify who to blame but the only person they should blame is the one in the mirror.

Many very smart people have raised the alarm and done their best to warn the sleeping public, but those slumbering masses have ignored the warnings and hit the snooze button one more time. The masses do not understand economics, do not want to understand economics and they will pay dearly for that ignorance in the coming days.

When the real unemployment rate becomes common knowledge as it increases substantially, people will be left to survive on what resources they have saved up outside the banking system that cannot be stolen by the politicians and bankers. That is a key point here. The assets you have outside the system that cannot be stolen from you with a few key strokes on some computer.

Those hoping for some miraculous event that will send the U.S. back to the days of manufacturing might and jobs for all will never see it happen. Those days are gone. The west line theory tells us our economy will slow down and become more modest as the shipping center of the world moves west to the next powerhouse region which is Asia. This is what history teaches us.

When people suddenly wake up one morning and they have no job, their retirement is gone and they need to care for their family, what will they do? When government services have collapsed and they suddenly realize they are now living in a third world country with few government services, what will they do? When the banks are closed and only a select few connected people have any type of money or access to goods, what will they do?

This is the reality that many people will face in the future and they have no idea how bad it can get. They refuse to contemplate the harsh reality they will be living in and take steps to mitigate the effects. To do so would be to acknowledge it could happen and they are taking personal responsibility. Personal responsibility is a dirty phrase in today’s entitlement society. To see some of the effects one only has to look at the collapse of society in Venezuela today to see what awaits.

When it happens it will all fall back to you to take responsibility for your family and take care of them for the duration. To do that you need to plan now for that eventuality and build up the resources you will need to provide food, shelter, clothing and security when the system fails to do it for you. You need to be Noah on his ark not the people watching as he floated away.

Having resources stored up is a must but it may not get you all the way through if the situation lasts for many years. That is why you need some type of plan to replace those resources as time goes by and have some way to generate some type of income or at least items to trade. Usable goods are for the short term and things like gold ,silver and production equipment are for the long term to help you get through the crisis with the least amount of pain.

Even with proper planning the days ahead will not be easy as the standard of living of society will fall substantially to levels only seen in failed third world countries or old pictures. The assets actually owned by people today is very small compared to how they live. They will default on their home loan, their car loan, and their credit card debt leaving them with very few real possessions and few ways to move what they have left even if they have some place to go. Ultimately these people will become the new serfs to the wealthy class that will take possession of anything of value. Feudalism will once again rule.

The lack of planning by society will make this a reality if it is allowed. What will you do when everything you have worked a lifetime for is suddenly taken away? Do you have a plan to keep what you have? Do you have a plan to make money when you cannot find a job? Do you have a way to take care of your family until things stabilize? Do you have a home you will not lose if the whole system breaks down? What will you do if electricity or fuel is too expensive to buy or not available to the general population? These are the questions you should be asking yourself now and you better have a good answer because your family will be asking them when the greater depression sets in.

The USA would become a one-party state led by a dynastic totalitarian dictatorship. Its governing philosophy would be one of economic isolationism and cultural collectivism.

Donald Trump will become the country’s supreme leader after declaring the government, “the enemy of the people”, and issuing a call to arms for his MAGA mob to forcibly coerce, or resign at gunpoint, all opposition within the legislative and judicial branches, as well as any opposing party leadership. In effect, a political Holocaust will take place in DC. The Trump Make America Great Again Committee will become the country’s top influential ruling organ, and Donald Trump will be named its honorary chairman.

Before any special elections can be held, the remaining members of the Republican controlled Congress will unanimously pass the Empowering Act. This allows the President, in the event of national emergency, to issue laws without the consent of Congress and gives Trump the title of “Supreme Representative of the American People and of the Republic”. Trump will use these powers, along with a Trump-backed Supreme Court, to ban opposition parties on the basis of restoring order and national security, and to suspend all existing protections inside the Constitution. The Republican Party will rename itself the MAGA Party and then merge operations with the MAGA Committee, which will then fully control the country’s legislature.

The USA will effectively become a one-party state. Although a number of minor parties and organizations will legally exist, all of them will remain loyal to the MAGA Committee.

There will be no freely elected officials. The Trump family and its inner circle will determine the policies of the government, and the MAGA Party in Congress will gather periodically to unanimously approve all decisions. Any rejection of the proposed policies will be interpreted as treason. High-level party officials will be subject to constant churn based on their performance and their perceived loyalties to the Trumps.

Candidates for the Congress and Senate will be preselected by the MAGA Committee. Each candidate will run unopposed. Voting will be compulsory for citizens at least 18 years old, and turnout will commonly approach 100 percent.

Although there is a clear framework for conducting elections, including official election monitors, the system’s structure denies voters any choice and rules out opposition to the incumbent leadership. The government will use the mandatory elections as an unofficial census, tracking non-citizens and whether and how people voted. Non-citizens will be subject to deportation and any citizens rejecting the preselected candidates will be investigated for disloyalty and be sent to re-education programs.

Any political dissent or opposition will be prohibited and harshly punished. The country will be ruled by the MAGA Committee in perpetuity, which will always be controlled by the Trump family. Donald Trump Jr. will be promoted to secretary general of the MAGA Committee and his father will be dubbed the “eternal general secretary” of the party upon his death.

There will be very little opportunity for public political participation, and even MAGA elites will operate under the threat of extreme penalties for perceived dissent or disloyalty. The party will be subjected to regular purges aimed at reinforcing the Trump family’s authority, and the government will execute senior officials who fall out of favor.

The US will become ethnically and culturally homogeneous, with only White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) of Northwest European descent having full rights along with any non-WASPS who exhibit high pride in American heritage and special fervor to the Trumps.

Whatever policies that will be necessary to maintain the ethnic purity, as well as the political, economic, and cultural supremacy of the WASP population will be put into strict effect. Surveillance will be pervasive, arbitrary arrests and detention common, and punishments for political offenses severe.

The state will maintain a system of camps for political prisoners where torture, forced labor, starvation, and other atrocities take place. American human rights violations will include widespread torture, public executions, and death sentences for political offenses.

The government will sharply restrict internal movement and institute shoot-to-kill orders at the border. Health authorities will reject offers from the World Health Organization to provide the government with COVID-19 vaccines. They will continue to claim that no further infections or deaths attributed to the virus have occurred.

With few exceptions, foreigners cannot join the MAGA party or serve in the military or government. Religious groups outside of Christians will be harshly suppressed and unable to organize politically. Women will hold few leadership positions in ruling bodies and hold less than 50 of Congress’ 535 seats; the system won’t enable representatives to independently address the interests of women, especially concerning abortion. The government will also typically deny the rights of LGBT+ people.

All domestic media outlets will be heavily monitored by the MAGA Party. Public opinion polling will consistently show approval ratings for Trump and the MAGA Party to be in the high 80s. Television and radio will be permanently fixed to Trump approved news channels such as OANN and Newsmax, and all publications and broadcasts will be subject to strict supervision and censorship. The government occasionally allows a small number of foreign books, films, and television programs to be distributed and aired in the country, but this remains rare.

The government is neither transparent in its operations nor accountable to the public. Information about the functioning of federal departments and institutions is tightly controlled for both domestic and external audiences.

Corruption will be endemic at every level of the government and economy, and officials will commonly engage in bribery. There are no independent or impartial anticorruption mechanisms. The House Anti-MAGA Activities Committee will investigate small-scale local resistance groups which become prime targets of corrupt police officers, who solicit bribes from the operators and detain those who cannot pay. Resistance participants inside the government will also pay bribes to their supervisors to avoid discipline or imprisonment for abandoning their state-assigned rules.

The authorities heavily restrict information about the presence of COVID-19 in the country starting in 2025. Officials disclose only fragmentary data regarding key aspects of public health measures, such as quarantines and testing. Authorities reject offers from the WHO to provide the government with COVID-19 vaccines; they will continue to claim that no new infections or deaths attributed to the virus have been confirmed.

Any foreign news agencies will have their access tightly controlled, and the government will expel media crews in retaliation for their work. Only select foreign media services will be invited to the country to cover key political events and holidays, although authorities will strictly manage their visits. Several Canadian and Mexican media outlets will broadcast shortwave and medium-wave radio programming into the US, though the government will work to jam their stations.

Campaigns to send information into the US via USB thumb drives, SD cards, and leaflets will be common. However, the consumption of foreign radio broadcasts and possession of contraband devices will be illegal, as will the facilitation and nonreporting of such activity. All will be subject to severe punishment under Trump’s “American Exceptionalism Preservation” law, up to and including the death penalty.

Although freedom of religion will be still guaranteed by the Constitution, it doesn’t exist in practice. Churches approved of by the MAGA Committee will be federally subsidized throughout the US, and many Americans will practice their faith in secret. However, intense state indoctrination and repression will preclude free and open exercise of religion. Crackdowns will be common, and those caught will be arrested and subjected to harsh punishments, including imprisonment in labor camps. Foreigners caught proselytizing also risk arrest and deportation. By May 2025, approximately 500,000 people will be held in prison camps, many due to their atheist beliefs.

There will be no academic freedom. The MAGA Committee will approve all curriculums, including those of educational programs led by foreigners. All programming must reinforce the positive virtues of American heritage and exceptionalism. Although some Americans will be permitted to study abroad at both universities and short-term educational training programs, those granted such opportunities will be subject to monitoring and reprisals for perceived disloyalty.

Nearly all forms of private communication will be monitored by a huge network of informants. Mobile phones operating on networks will be used as surveillance tools by the FBI and CIA, which can review individuals’ application usage and internet browsing history. Newer mobile phones will be designed to block users’ efforts to consume contraband media.

Ordinary mobile users won’t have access to the global internet but will connect to a MAGA-censored internet. Only a small number of MAGA elites will have full internet access. Domestic and international mobile services will be kept strictly separate, and crackdowns on users with Chinese-origin phones will be reported.

Freedom of Assembly won’t be recognized, and participants in any unauthorized gatherings or protests will be subject to severe punishment, including prison sentences.

There will be no legal associations or organizations other than those created by or approved of by the MAGA Committee.

Strikes, collective bargaining, and other organized labor activities will be made illegal and will draw severe punishment for participants, including prison sentences.

The US judiciary will be subordinate to the political leadership both in law and in practice. Under new constitutional amendments, the Supreme Court will be accountable to the MAGA Committee and its duties will include protecting the state’s power under exclusive leadership of the Trump family.

Fundamental due process rights, including freedom from arbitrary detention and the right to a fair trial, will be systematically denied. Millions of prisoners will be held in internment camps throughout the country. Foreign visitors will also be at risk of arbitrary detention. Many Mexican citizens will be in custody having been accused of a range of crimes, including rape, drug trafficking, and espionage.

There will be strict pandemic containment measures and border controls in place, including shoot-to-kill orders for illegal exit or entry. The US Coast Guard will even routinely kill foreign sailors on fishing boats trying to avoid tropical storms.

Defectors who seek safety in other countries will be returned to the US. They will then be seen as traitors and subject to torture and disproportionate punishment. Canada’s government will consider American escapees to be irregular economic migrants and turn them back, in violation of international law.

The United Nations report on human rights in the US will note that forced labor and torture are rampant in the prison system, and that citizens often pay bribes to avoid arrest, mitigate their treatment in detention, and secure family visits.

Discrimination will be commonly based on perceived political and ideological nonconformity. All citizens will be classified according to their level of loyalty and proximity to the Trump family using an arbitrary “MAGA status” system. Each citizen’s rating will be public record. Due to fears of institutional crackdowns by the state, those who are classified as “wavering” or “hostile” instead of “loyal” will face discrimination in employment, housing, and educational opportunities. Although rules can be manipulated through bribery. Relatives of suspected political and ideological dissidents, including defectors, will also be subject to punishment in what amounts to guilt by association.

The non-WASP population in the US will have limited educational and employment opportunities, but somewhat more freedom of travel and trade.

Women will have legal equality but face rigid discrimination in practice and are poorly represented in public employment and the military. Despite fewer opportunities in the public sector, women will be economically active inside the private sector, which could expose them to arbitrary state interference.

The law won’t explicitly prohibit same-sex relations, but the government will maintain that its practice shouldn’t take place in the country.

The government arbitrarily denies the rights of people living with disabilities. Defectors will report that disabled people have been quarantined, exiled, forcibly sterilized, experimented on, and sometimes executed. The UN special rapporteur for disability rights will visit the US but be escorted by government minders, prohibiting them from reviewing internal data, and deny access to any mental health institutions during the trips.

Citizens will have no freedom of movement, and forced internal segregation and resettlement will be routine. Emigration will be illegal without a government permit, and miscegenation or interatial marriage will be made illegal. As years pass, authorities will employ stricter domestic controls to arrest any flow of defectors. The number of defectors arriving in Canada will drop to less than 100 by 2029 amid tighter travel restrictions across the border.

A person’s MAGA status classification affects their place of residence as well as employment and educational opportunities, access to medical facilities, and even access to stores. All foreign travel—whether for work, trade, or education—is strictly controlled by the government. Freedom of movement for foreign visitors is also limited and subject to arbitrary constraints.

Many American workers will not freely choose their employment, especially with the reinsituting of the draft in preparation for a war against China, assigning men and unmarried women to their positions and often delaying compensation. Service members, especially women, will seek informal employment to earn an income. They even pay state contracted employers bribes to cover their absences.

Men and women will have formal equality in personal status matters such as marriage and divorce. However, sexual and physical violence against women—in the home, prisons and labor camps, and in other contexts—are common, and victims will have little legal recourse. There won’t be any specific legal penalties for domestic violence. There will be forced live births on pregnant women after repatriation from Canada, but infanticide of half-white children. Some women will turn to prostitution to survive and are exploited by their employers and the police.

Human trafficking networks, oftentimes operating with the assistance of government officials, target foreign women with the intentions of deporting them. Those who are ensnared will be subject to sex slavery and forced marriages, often in Mexico.

The economy is both federally regulated and grossly mismanaged. A lack of infrastructure, scarcity of renewable energy, lingering national debt, and ideological isolation also hobbles business activity in the country. This will also increase dependence on international food production and distribution, causing a domestic food crisis. Ration cards will be assigned to each citizen based on their MAGA status, which determines the amount of food they are allowed to purchase.

Economic opportunities are also hampered by worsened international relations and sanctions imposed in response to Trump’s continued isolationism. Since 2024, sanctions will have targeted domestic industries including food production and durable goods. The US will also be cut off from the international banking system. While this won’t deter Trump’s pursuit of economic autonomy, it will create growing difficulties for those dependent on free trade in the private sector for years to come.

You can also access the latest news at this address: www.whatfinger.com

From 1929 to 1941, the United States experienced over a decade of economic hardship, known as The Great Depression. The American people were left hungry and struggling following a steep stock market crash, changes in world trading, government policy changes, failing banks, and the collapse of the money system. Everyday life during this time required grit and survival skills.

Though it might have been before our time, there are still plenty of survival lessons from the Great Depression that can be applied today. After all, you never know where the economy might go. Check out these eight lessons from the Great Depression that you can use to help prepare yourself for the uncertain future.

Stay Prepared With These 8 Prepper Great Depression Tips 

1. Grow Your Own Food

World events can cause food production to grind to a halt. During the Great Depression, a time of both natural disaster and sharp economic downturn, individuals grew their own food to avoid going hungry. Community and backyard gardens were a necessity. Many opted to grow, can, dehydrate, pickle, and jar their own produce. This allowed families greater independence and to avoid living on rations alone.  

Today, you can prepare by keeping a garden and growing your own vegetables, legumes, and fruits. Stay prepared and self-reliant by growing your own seasonal produce in a traditional backyard garden, a patio garden, or even an indoor garden.  

2. Stock Your Pantry

The Dustbowl suddenly dried up rivers, lakes, and groundwater that people depended upon for survival. Crops were destroyed leaving unprepared Americans without a stable food supply. 

Today, we know that you can never be too sure about what’s around the corner. Though you can’t anticipate the future, you can prepare for it. Start by stocking your pantry with enough food and water now. Survival food kits are an easy and convenient option that you can slowly accumulate over time.

3. Stay Frugal and Save 

One in every four workers was unemployed and short on money during the great depression. If they didn’t have savings, they were dependent upon soup kitchens and the kindness of neighbors and friends. In order to maintain self-reliance, you need to account for uncertainty at all times — that means not taking periods of steady pay for granted. 

The first step when prepping for economic downturns is to start saving now. Start by cutting out excessive spending and instead live below your means whenever possible. Pay down your debts on time and avoid excessive spending.

Finally, consider keeping cash on hand at your home in the event you find banks closed — preferably stowed away in an immovable fireproof safe. 

4. Invest in Tools and Materials

When everyone else starts bugging out — and prices skyrocket for everyday items — you’ll wish you had stocked up on essential household survival items sooner. Start by investing in the tools and materials you need for day-to-day living and for household maintenance tasks now. 

Stay independent of today’s already fragile infrastructure by investing in: 

• Generators
• Solar Power 
• Water purification systems 
• Tools 

5. Learn to Conserve 

In times of economic crisis, goods can become expensive or disappear from the market entirely. The best way to start preparing for a crisis? Learn to practice conserving what you have before disaster strikes. Begin by looking at your everyday habits. Are you careful to switch off the lights when you aren’t in the room? Do you leave the shower running before you get in? Do you drive short distances when you could walk or bike instead? From electricity to water to gasoline, it makes good financial sense to do your best to cut down on unnecessary use now. 

As we’ve seen in recent years, single-use items (like toilet paper) can become scarce in times of crisis. Consider other ways you could conserve or reduce costly single-use items in your day-to-day life. For example, start using rags or reusable towels in place of paper towels. Reach for cloth napkins instead of paper. Dine with durable metal cutlery and traditional plates instead of disposable options. Getting out of the single-use-item habit can help keep you prepared for when a crisis strikes — and save you cash in the meantime. 

6. Learn to Repurpose 

Ever heard the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure?” The Great Depression taught Americans the importance of repurposing everything. Smart folks during the Great Depression knew how to make use of what they had, whether it be reusing old storage containers, silverware, toothbrushes, or worn tires. Embrace a DIY attitude and get creative with things you might normally discard. 

Easy ways to get started include:

• Using old ratty T-shirts to clean the windows
• Washing and reusing aluminum foil
• Using old silverware or toothbrushes as plant markers
• Saving cardboard and packaging for note taking
• Using kitchen scraps to create hashes, soups, or casseroles 

7. Purchase Wisely 

In good economic times, money flows easily. When the economy is on the upswing you may not be too stressed over needing to replace a pair of cheap shoes or a flimsy chair bought at a big box store. However, when times are tough, you’ll be glad to know you have quality clothes and goods you can rely upon. 

During the Great Depression, folks wore clothes until they were threadbare and used items for the complete duration of their lifecycle. For things you wear or use every day, it’s better to make the choice to opt for quality items that can endure — and can be repaired.

8. Sharpen Your Skills

Nowadays, most folks have a single specialized area of expertise. However, in the era of the Great Depression, you had to have a “do it yourself” mindset and the ability to take on an assortment of challenges. In order to be prepared for a recession, or any crisis, you should spend time gaining knowledge. 

When funds are tight, there are plenty of things you’ll need to be able to do by yourself — changing your oil, mending clothing, and even making home repairs. 

Stay self-reliant by learning the basics of: 

• Sewing
• Electronics repair
• Car maintenance 
• Carpentry
• First aid and basic home medicine
• Gardening 

Not only can these skills help you out in a crisis situation, but they could also help you find work in even the toughest of economic conditions.

You can also access the latest news at this address: www.whatfinger.com

No one wants to think about a nuclear crisis – and hopefully it will never happen – but we all must accept the fact nuclear tensions are rising globally with Russia and China (and others are seeking nukes) so we should prepare ourselves and our loved ones in the event the unthinkable strikes our soil.

For decades, movies and some in the media have portrayed a nuclear attack as a “doomsday” event implying most people would be killed on impact … and survivors would want to die once they come out of their shelters.

In reality, unless you are actually at ground zero or within a several mile radius of the blast zone (depending on the size of the nuke, of course), there is a very high probability you’ll survive as long as you…

• limit your exposure to radiation and fallout,
• take shelter with proper shielding,
• wait for the most dangerous radioactive materials to decay.

In other words, you CAN survive a nuke attack … but you MUST make an effort to learn what to do! By learning about potential threats, we are all better prepared to know how to react if something happens.

Please realize this is being written with small nuke devices in mind (like a 1-kiloton to 1-megaton device). A larger device, ICBM or a nuclear war would cause more wide-spread damage but some of this data could still be helpful. These are some very basic tips on sheltering for any type of nuclear (or radiological) incident.

What happens when a nuke explodes?

A nuclear blast produces a blinding light, intense heat (called thermal radiation), initial nuclear radiation, 2 explosive shock waves (blasts), mass fires, and radioactive fallout (residual nuclear radiation).

The below graphic shows the destruction of a test home by an atomic blast on March 17, 1953 at the Nevada Proving Ground. The structure was located 3,500 feet from ground zero, and the time from the first to last picture was 2.3 seconds.  It shows the force of the blast wave then the radiating energy set it on fire.

Also, if a nuke is launched over our continent and explodes miles above the earth, it could create an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). An EMP is a split-second silent energy burst (like a stroke of lightning) that can fry electronics connected to wires or antennas like cell phones, cars, computers, TVs, etc. Unless electronics are grounded or hardened, an area or nation could experience anything from minor interference to crippled power, transportation, banking and communications systems.

An EMP from a high-altitude nuke (where a nation or group succeeds in detonating a nuclear device carried miles into the atmosphere) could affect electronics within 1,000 miles or more as shown below. (Evidence suggests some countries and groups are working on enhanced and non-nuclear EMP weapons or e-bombs.)

What is the most dangerous part of a nuclear attack?

Both the initial nuclear radiation and residual nuclear radiation (also called radioactive fallout) are extremely dangerous.

Initial nuclear radiation is penetrating invisible rays that can be lethal in high levels.

Radioactive fallout (residual nuclear radiation) is created when the fireball vaporizes everything inside it (including dirt and water). Vaporized materials mix with radioactive materials in the updraft of air forming a mushroom cloud.

Fallout can be carried by winds for hundreds of miles and begin falling to the ground within minutes of the blast or take hours, days, weeks or even months to fall. The heaviest fallout would hit ground zero and areas downwind of that, and 80% of fallout would occur within 24 hours. Most fallout looks like grey sand or gritty ash and the radiation given off cannotbe seen, smelled, tasted or felt which is why it is so dangerous. But as the materials decay or spread out radiation levels will drop.

More about radiation

Types of radiation – Nuclear radiation has 3 main types of radiation…

• alpha – can be shielded by a sheet of paper or by human skin. If alpha particles are inhaled, ingested, or enter body through a cut, they can cause damage to tissues and cells.

• beta – can be stopped by skin or a thicker shield (like wood). Beta particles can cause serious damage to internal organs if ingested or inhaled, and could cause eye damage or possible skin burns.
• gamma – most dangerous since gamma rays can penetrate the entire body and cause cell damage throughout your organs, blood and bones. Since radiation does not stimulate nerve cells you may not feel anything while your body absorbs it. Exposure to high levels of gamma rays can lead to radiation sickness or death, which is why it is critical to seek shelter from fallout in a facility with thick shielding!

Radiation detection devices – You cannot see, smell, taste or feel radiation, but special instruments can detect even the smallest levels of radiation. Since it may take days or weeks before First Responders could get to you, consider having these devices handy during a crisis or attack since they could save your life.

Measuring radiation – Radiation was measured in units called roentgens (pronounced “rent-gens” and abbreviated as “R”) … or “rads” or “rem”. An EPA document called “Planning Guidance for Response to A Nuclear Detonation 2nd Edition June 2010” explains … 1 R (exposure in air) ≅ 1 rad (absorbed dose) ≅ 1 rem (whole-body dose). Although many measuring devices and older documentation use R and rem, officials and the media now use sievert (Sv) which is the System International or SI unit of measurement of radiation. The formula to convert sieverts to rems is quite simple … 1 Sv = 100 R (rem).

How many rads are bad? – High doses of radiation in a short span of time can cause radiation sickness or even death, but if that high dose is spread out over a long period of time, it’s not as bad.

According to FEMA, an adult could tolerate and recover from an exposure to 150R (1.5 Sv) over a week or 300R (3 Sv) over a 4-month period. But 300R (3 Sv) over a week could cause sickness or possibly death. Exposure to 30R (0.3 Sv) to 70R (0.7 Sv) over a week may cause minor sickness, but a full recovery would be expected. But radioactive fallout decays rapidly so staying in a shelter with proper shielding is critical!

The “seven-ten” rule – For every sevenfold increase in time after the initial blast, there is a tenfold decrease in the radiation rate. For example, a 500 rad level can drop to 50R in just 7 hours and down to 5R after 2 days (49 hours). In other words, if you have shelter with good shielding and stay put for even just 7 hours … you’ve really increased your chances of survival. Your detection devices, emergency radio or cell phone [if the last 2 are working, that is] can assist you in knowing when it’s safe to come out.

Coping with reality is the best way to beat it. Prepare. Most of us are. We are just waiting for the S to HTF, so to speak. Once it does, and it will again, we will be comfortable and unafraid while others won’t be able to function without submitting to their own enslavement in exchange for a can of corn.

So how do I protect myself and my family?

Basic shelter requirements – Whether you build a shelter in advance or throw together an expedient last-minute shelter during a crisis, the area should protect you from radiation and support you for at least 2 weeks. Some basic requirements for a fallout shelter include …

• shielding
• ventilation
• water and food
• sanitation and first aid products
• radiation monitoring devices, KI (potassium iodide), radio, weapons, tools, etc

Reduce exposure – Protect yourself from radioactive fallout with …

• distance – the more distance between you and fallout particles, the better
• shielding – heavy, dense materials (like thick walls, earth, concrete, bricks, water and books) between you and fallout is best. Stay indoors or below ground. (Taking shelter in a basement or a facility below ground reduces exposure by 90%. Less than 4 inches of soil or earth can reduce the penetration of dangerous gamma rays by half.)
• time – most fallout loses its strength quickly. The more time that passes after the attack, the lower the danger.

Indoor shelter locations – If you don’t have a fallout shelter, these options could provide protection from dangerous radiation by using proper shielding materials.

• basement – find the corner that is most below ground level (the further underground the better)
• 1-story home / condo / apartment – if no underground facility, find a spot in center of home away from windows

• trailer home – find sturdier shelter if possible (like a basement or brick or concrete building)
• multi-story building or high-rise – go to center of the middle section of building (above 9th floor if possible). Note: if rooftop of a building next to you is on that same floor, move one floor up or down since radioactive fallout would accumulate on rooftops. Avoid first floor (if possible) since fallout will pile up on ground outside.

Shielding materials – All fallout shelters must provide good protection from radioactive particles. FEMA suggests having a minimum of several inches of concrete or 1 to 2 feet of earth as shielding around your shelter, if possible, and the more the better. Per FEMA, the following shows examples of shielding materials that equal the protection of 4 inches (10 cm) of concrete …

• 5 – 6 inches (12 – 15 cm) of bricks
• 6 inches (15 cm) of sand or gravel
• 7 inches (18 cm) of earth
• 8 inches (20 cm) of hollow concrete block
• 10 inches (25 cm) of water
• 14 inches (35 cm) of books or magazines
• 18 inches (46 cm) of wood

Make an expedient shelter – Some very basic ways to build an expedient last-minute shelter in your home, apartment or workplace to help protect you from dangerous radiation include…

• Set up a large, sturdy workbench or table in location you’ve chosen. If no table, make one by putting doors on top of boxes, appliances or furniture.
• Put as much shielding (e.g. furniture, file cabinets, appliances, boxes or pillowcases filled with dirt or sand, boxes of food, water or books, concrete blocks, bricks, etc.) all around sides and on top of table, but don’t put too much weight on tabletop or it could collapse. Add reinforcing supports, if needed.
• Leave a crawl space so everyone can get inside and block opening with shielding materials.
• Leave 2 small air spaces for ventilation (about 4-6″ each) – one low at one end and one high at other end. (This allows for better airflow since warm air rises.)
• Have water, radiation detection devices, KI, battery operated radio, food and sanitation supplies in case you have to shelter in place for days or weeks.

In summary, those within the blast zone of Ground Zero (depending on the size of the nuke) won’t make it .. BUT .. if you are a few miles outside the zone your chances of surviving it are high but you MUST have detection devices to monitor levels of radiation and a plan to stay sheltered for at least 48 hours or up to a few weeks. First Responders will have to wait for the deadly fallout to decay before they enter a hot zone so the more you prepare, the better your odds of surviving a terrorist nuke.

You can also access the latest news at this address: www.whatfinger.com

“Although tyranny…may successfully rule over foreign peoples, it can stay in power only if it destroys first of all the national institutions of its own people.”

In order for tyrants to claim and retain total power, the people must become ignorant of their own history and roots, and must through propaganda and fear be so terrified as to abandon all logic and responsibility in order to seek a false safety. In this country today, history and tradition are being destroyed, while the ruling class and government have stoked immense fear based on a propaganda campaign that was used to create a make-believe threat called Covid-19. Every element is now in place to transfer all power to the state, and in order for that coup to be successful for the tyrants, all dissent and disobedience to totalitarian mandates must be squelched. The key element to accomplish this lies in the ability for the government to instill division and distrust among the people themselves; so much so, that the masses turn on each other to assure compliance to order to have a false sense of security. This leads to voluntary servitude, which is vital to the evil governing system, because once force is the only option for the state, chaos, revolution, or violent civil unrest will replace tyranny.

With this in mind, the plot to achieve an economic and technological reset is being pursued through lies and propaganda at every level, including the use of the military within the boundaries of the United States. This is happening globally as well, and in fact is far advanced in some areas of the world. This should be of extreme importance to Americans, because what is happening in other parts of the world will soon be on our doorstep, as the areas around the globe experiencing more extreme control measures are being used as tests to gauge when to let loose similar policies here. It is only a matter of time.

Next door in Canada, the military is openly using propaganda methods as training in order to understand how that population can be maneuvered into a position of total compliance. In Australia, where extreme gun control efforts in the past disarmed the entire citizenry, brutal controls are now in place to capture and contain the people so that any resistance can be eliminated. Harsh measures and mandates are also being ramped up again in the U.K. Compulsory vaccination legislation is also going forward in Australia, with possible long jail time and high fines for refusal to comply. Gun control and a state monopoly of arms and force is always a prerequisite to totalitarian rule.

Most Americans still have the ‘legal’ ability to possess weapons, but that could change with any new legislation, or emergency executive orders due to a contrived and purposely structured threat. If the people give up their arms, they would stand defenseless in the face of a heavily armed state and military. That cannot be allowed to happen.

One of the major plots to gain control over the masses rests in the development and distribution of vaccines. Trump said recently that Pfizer Pharmaceuticals had developed and successfully tested a Covid vaccine. This was an outright lie meant to gain political favor in this time of a contentious election battle. In addition, Trump had made an announcement earlier that he had deployed the military to stand ready to distribute these poisonous vaccines across the nation. This borders on insanity, and is an attempt to frighten the herd so greatly by claiming this vaccine delivery should be a military operation. But as it stands now, this government and its military, as well as all police and ‘security’ forces, are at war against the people of the United States. In other words, the new enemy of America according to the self-claimed ruling ‘elites’ and their pawns in government are all of us lowly citizens.

While we are in the midst of the most corrupt and criminal election fraud in our history, and this includes many players from both sides, but especially on the left this time around, and the entirety of the mainstream media, the masses are ignoring what is continuing to go on concerning the takeover of this country and the world. Covid-19 seems to be on the back burner for the moment, and playing second fiddle to the election circus, but that is not the case. All the nefarious agendas concerning this fraudulent virus ‘pandemic’ are not only still in place, but advancing without pause. More lockdowns are occurring in this country and globally, and vaccine plans are in place. Pfizer has openly stated that they already have a stockpile of vaccines awaiting the go ahead from the FDA, even though no serious testing whatsoever has occurred. I have stated many times that this Covid vaccine has been available for a long time, waiting for the right moment to be released on the public. Depending on the outcome of this selection by the ruling class, the entire country could be shut down almost overnight. Plans are set to increase the tyranny, and blame it on this fake virus, and regardless of who is chosen to be the next president; there will be substantial trouble ahead.

The U.S. government’s primary enemies today are the American people, all of us, especially any that question and disobey state mandates. What is planned and what is possible in the near future is staggering. New lockdowns seem imminent at this point, and could be handed down at the national level, which would vastly increase the risk of federal and military policing and martial law. Isolation from friends and family will increase, and job loss will escalate as more lockdowns occur, causing an economic catastrophe, which will lead to a digital monetary restructuring. Travel will become even more impossible, and even local borders could close or be heavily restricted. Those that refuse the forthcoming deadly vaccination will find themselves in a virtual prison, as without a vaccine or health pass, normal life and sustaining any normal life will disappear. Surveillance that is already expansive will become so invasive as to eliminate all privacy, inside or outside the home. Contact tracing will likely become a federal system, with tens or hundreds of thousands of new government workers with one mission; to spy on and report any not acquiescing to government rules. Food shortages that are already evident in many areas would dramatically worsen, causing hunger, poverty, and sickness. Parents brave enough to protect their children by refusing toxic vaccines or quarantine could have their children removed from the home. All this could easily bring about unrest, rioting, looting, and violence as well, whether purposely designed or not, and this could in turn lead to internal warlike scenarios, especially in the cities.

This is no time to be complacent, and no time to ignore these risks. Worse times are coming regardless of this political nonsense, and increased control will be prevalent no matter the final outcome of this state selection process. Wake up people, as our lives are losing all meaning, and all the joy, emotion, and love of life are being systematically destroyed in favor of technocratic transhumanism, which can only lead to a robotic existence devoid of wonder and feeling.

Extreme evil is coming, and hell is coming with it, so cowardice in the face of this evil; refusing to take risks to remain free, guarantees a deserved slavery.

You can also access the latest news at this address: www.whatfinger.com

The Great Depression of the 1930s is burned into most preppers’ minds. The horror stories from that grim time are a stark reminder of how fast things can go bad, even in a country that seems rich, strong and confident – and of how bad they can get.

As a motivation to be prepared, the Great Depression takes some beating.

But what if, as well as a reminder of why prepping is a good idea, it’s also what we need to be preparing for?

Many economists believe that another Great Depression could throw the world back into the poverty and chaos of the dustbowl era, and some think it’s likely to happen this year.

Paranoid? Alarmist? Well, they have a lot of evidence on their side – too much to just dismiss.

Technically, the Great Depression lasted for four years, from 1929 to 1933. In reality, it took until 1940 for US GDP to recover to its 1929 level, and even then unemployment was still at 15%. Only the militarization of the economy for World War II finally swept away the Great Depression’s after-effects.

Is A New Depression Coming?

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, it threw the US economy into recession in a matter of days. In the second quarter of 2020, US GDP fell by 31.4% – one of the fastest and deepest falls ever.

However, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the 2020 recession was also the shortest ever; officially, it lasted just two months. Technically it was too short to qualify as a recession at all.

There’s a lot more to the story than that, though. Our economy has bounced back a long way from the damage lockdown did, but it’s still in deep trouble – and the government is storing up even more trouble for the future. There are a lot of pieces moving behind the scenes, and if they line up wrong a depression could hit us fast and hard.

A lot of Americans are still jobless. In June 2021 the unemployment rate stood at 5.9%. That’s a long way down from its 14.7% peak last April – but a long way up from the 3.5% we had last February. Millions of Americans who were working 18 months ago are unemployed now, and the growth in jobs seems to have slowed.

Unemployment fell by 7% in the six months after the April peak, but only 1.9% in the next nine months. The June 2021 figure was actually slightly up on May, which alarmed economists who’d been expecting another small drop.

Despite unemployment that in normal times would be a national scandal, the government is paying people to sit at home. In many states, the jobless can still claim an extra $300 a month in federal assistance. If you were in a low-paid job, regular unemployment plus an extra $300 might just be enough that you don’t really want to go back to work.

Unfortunately, businesses need low-paid employees too – and having so many of them out of work is slowing our economic recovery.

The Danger of Inflation

Of course, all that extra unemployment benefit has to be paid for, and the government is paying for it by printing money. The stimulus checks sent to every American home also had to be paid for, and the government printed the money for those too. The huge “stimulus” and “infrastructure” bills the government is enacting? A lot of that money will be printed, and the rest borrowed.

The trouble is, creating or borrowing that much new money doesn’t make the country richer; it makes each dollar less valuable. There’s a shortage of vacant homes, so people have to pay more to buy or rent one. That causes inflation and a weaker dollar.

As the dollar gets weaker, imported goods cost more. We import oil, so that means gas costs more. And that’s if you can afford a car to put the gas in, because we import a lot of cars too.

As imports get more expensive, the supply of domestic goods can’t keep up – so prices rise. Employers have to pay more for energy and raw materials, which pushes prices up more. High gas costs for transport get added to prices, which go up again. There are more dollars in the economy, but we can’t buy as much.

So, the government passes laws to raise the minimum wage – which means employers have to raise prices even more. After a certain point it all starts to feed on itself, and inflation isn’t just rising anymore; it takes off like a rocket.

Debt

Right now, our money supply is inflating by about a billion dollars every hour. Our national debt is rising so quickly that, if you look at it in real time, the last five digits are changing too fast to follow. By 2025 we’ll be spending more on debt interest than we do on defense.

Sometime beyond that, maybe in the 2030s, debt interest will match, then exceed, tax revenues. We’ll need to borrow – or print – more money just to pay the interest on what we’ve already borrowed.

But will we even make it that far? On July 28, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell admitted that inflation is rising – and could go further than the Fed had predicted. If the government keeps pumping new money into the system inflation will spiral out of control this year. There are signs that it’s already happening.

House prices are up 23% in just one year. Used car prices are up 45%. Farmers say even the cost of a bale of hay has risen 20% in the last twelve months. That’s all pushing the inflation figures upwards, and it might already be too late for the government to push the lid back down.

How Bad Could It Be?

The original Great Depression was bad – but if one hits now it will be much, much worse. In 1929 the global economy was nowhere near as interconnected as it is today. If inflation keeps rising the weak dollar will cripple the US economy – and we can’t pay for a New Deal-style program to get it moving again.

On top of that we’re much more dependent on power and communications than our ancestors were. Can you imagine a life without electricity?

Well, if you want to survive the next depression you need to figure that in. Can you work without the internet? Can you access your bank account if your cell phone app stops working?

Final Words

Getting through the next depression is going to mean prepping for the long term. Three months’ worth of food won’t be enough, because the depression will last for years. You need to be looking at livestock, and the ability to grow your own crops.

When you look at electricity generation, consider wind, water and solar power – they don’t rely on fuel that might become unaffordable.

If we want to make it through a crash like the 1929 generation, we’ll need many of the skills and tools they had. Are you prepared for that?

You can also access the latest news at this address: www.whatfinger.com

Throughout history, mankind has waged a constant war with starvation. From the time of the first hunter-gatherers, through the early cultivation of crops and all the way to our modern, industrialized farming techniques, we humans have been working to ensure that we can survive the next winter, when no crops are growing and animals hide in their burrows. To our ancestors, this was a great challenge, unlike today. For that reason, the idea of being a “prepper” would seem strange, as they all lived a prepping lifestyle.

Yet somehow, modern western culture has distanced itself from the reality of needing to grow food. As the number of farmers in our midst keeps dwindling and industrialized farming takes over, fewer and fewer people have any idea of where their food comes from. The idea that the grocery store produces meat and vegetables rather than farmers and ranchers growing it, might make for a good joke, but the ignorance behind it is outright frightening.

The United States is the number one food producing nation in the world; yet we do it with a very small percentage of our overall population. Farming, fishing, forestry and related activities account for only 1.8% of the overall workforce. Those people not only produce the food that we eat here at home, but much that is exported overseas.

We depend on this small portion of our population, plus the others who work in the food service industry, to keep the rest of us fed. The rest of us don’t even bother thinking about it. After all, there’s always food in the grocery store… lots of food. There always has been and there always will be, right?

But what if they can’t? What if, for some reason, the farmers in this country can’t produce the food needed to feed our population, let alone all the other countries in the world that buy $159 billion in American food products? What will we do then?

We may very well be facing that problem in the very near future, a top one percent farmer warns. Between late planting of grains, especially corn, in 2020 and an unusually dry growing season, US grain harvests were low in 2020. This is on top of low production of vegetables due to the ongoing droughts in Southern California.

What this means is that the “excess” food in the “pipeline” has all disappeared in a period of about four months. While we are not yet in trouble, we’re teetering right on the edge. All it would take to put us into food shortage, is for a low harvest level in 2021, either through drought, natural disasters, an early winter destroying crops or another late planting season.

We’re Not Hearing About It

Should there be actual shortages of food, there would be a need for some sort of food rationing. That would be a function of the USDA (US Department of Agriculture), who would be responsible for putting some sorts of controls in place, ensuring that the food which our farmers are producing would be properly allocated, so that everyone’s needs would be met.

What’s scarier than the potential of food shortages in the near future, is that we’re not hearing about it. Nor does it seem that the USDA is hearing anything about it. Nothing is being done to prepare for potential shortages, because the people who should be dealing with that don’t have any idea of what is going on. They seem to be kept in the dark and nobody seems to know who is hiding that news.

This means that when the food shortages begin to manifest, nobody is going to be ready for it. Government bureaucrats and major producers up and down the line will be caught with a sudden need to do something, but without the time to plan out what should be done.

Can The Food Run Short?

There are places in the world today where food shortages are the norm. I’ve had church pastors from other countries in my home, who have told me about the people they bury, even children, because they’ve starved to death. This is a very real problem in a number of different countries. It’s not something made up by non-profit organizations, to try and get your money.

Are we going to run into that problem here in the USA? We could, but we probably won’t. As a country, we produce something like 180 billion tons of food per year. Of that, about a third actually goes to waste, not ending up on anyone’s dining room table.

The reason for this waste, is that, as a country, we are very focused on the appearance of our food. That began just after the time of World War II, coinciding with electric refrigerators becoming commonplace. Even with their faults, those early electric refrigerators were so much more efficient than iceboxes, that it made a difference in how our food looked, especially produce. No longer did homemakers have to concern themselves with brown spots on produce; it would be consumed before that happened.

With that being the case, homemakers became more selective in their purchases, passing over imperfect produce, in favor of better looking specimens. Noticing this, grocers stopped putting less than perfect produce on the shelves, opting to throw it away and make their selection look better. This then worked its way back to the farm, so that now there’s a lot of food which goes from the farm right to the landfill, rather than trucking it to the store.

Please note that there is nothing wrong with all this food that gets thrown away. In most cases, the flaws are superficial, mere cosmetic blemishes. I’m not talking about food that has spoiled, just food that doesn’t’ look so good.

With so much food that doesn’t ever get eaten, our farms would have to suffer severe shortages, before it became a shortage in the grocery store. The ones who would most likely be affected by such shortages would be our overseas customers, who buy some $160 billion worth of American food per year.

When Food Runs Short

This isn’t to say that it would be impossible for there to be serious food shortages in our country. The amount of food our farmers produce annually is dependent on a lot of separate factors. Should just one of those factors fall short, we might suddenly find ourselves in the position where productivity on the farms is drastically reduced.

There are a number of things I can think of, off hand, which could bring that about, ranging from severe weather to government regulation. Some of these regulations are being pushed for in Washington, without anyone taking into account the ultimate effect of those regulations.

Should the food supply begin to run short, we would first see it as a rise in prices at the store. The only effect that would have on most of us is a more costly grocery bill. We’d pay it and complain, tightening our belts elsewhere in our budgets, so that we could buy the same as we’ve always done.

But there would be those who couldn’t afford to spend more on their grocery bills; those people would suffer. Oh, they wouldn’t starve, but they would need to change their eating habits, so that they didn’t. More than anything, rather than buying fresh, they would have to settle for less favorable choices, perhaps even eating the food that is currently being thrown away.

It Could All Stop Tomorrow

While it would take a lot to shut down our farms or lower the amount they produce to levels where we would see shortages, there is one thing that could shut down food supplies in a day. That’s any sort of damage to our nation’s trucking industry.

The food production and food service industries depend on trucking, more so than many other industries. Without our nation’s trucking industry taking food from the farm to the various processing facilities and then from those to the stores, the supermarket shelves would empty in a day.

As I sit here writing this, that’s happening in Wyoming. Severe winter weather has made the roads all but impassible, with over 200 miles of Interstate 80 closed down. This is making it difficult for truckers to make their deliveries, which in turn has led to empty shelves in the stores. Should this situation last for more than a few days, things could get serious for the inhabitants of that state.

The same could happen nationwide, should the electrical grid go down or some sort of nationwide quarantine be put in place due to pandemic. It wouldn’t matter what farmers could produce then, as it would only be available to people living locally. Those who lived in states where there wasn’t any food grown or even in cities that were far from the farms and processing plants, had better have their pantries stocked, or they’ll find themselves on very short rations.

You can also access the latest news at this address: www.whatfinger.com

HEALTH DISCLAIMER

This blog post provides general information and discussions about health and related subjects. The information and other content provided in this blog post, or in any linked materials, are not intended and should not be construed as medical advice, nor is the information a substitute for professional medical expertise or treatment.

If you or any other person has a medical concern, you should consult with your health care provider or seek other professional medical treatment. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something that have read on this blog or in any linked materials. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or emergency services immediately.

The opinions and views expressed on this blog and website have no relation to those of any academic, hospital, health practice or other institution.

One fear that many have is not being able to get the medication they or their loved ones need for treating chronic conditions. The problem with running out of meds is much deeper than that. There are a ton of problems that our dependency on big pharma has created.

I am going to start this post with some ugly truths that we all may one day have to face in some way even if some of us don’t take any prescription medications.

You are going to have to learn how to mentally handle the prospect of what will start to happen and the result of medications not being available if you want to be truly prepared for a SHTF scenario.

There will be people that your heart aches to help but there is a good chance you either cannot or you have to decide that it is not in the best interest of your family to do so. The person may be someone very close to you.

This is a heavy article and very much an overview. There are many classes of drugs and conditions that I simply could not put in without writing an article many times this in length, If you have something to add, I highly encourage you to do so in the comments!

Did you know that 218,000 people died of prescription opiate drug overdoses in the USA between 1999-2016? 

More than 49,000 of these deaths occurred in 2017 alone and included the synthetic opiates like fentanyl that are deadly in very small doses. Heroin use has also increased significantly.

Overall drug overdose deaths for 2017 was more than 72,000!

Just to put it in perspective, we lost 58,220 soldiers in the ten years we were fighting the Vietnam War.

People protested in the streets and rallied for major change during the Vietnam years. You don’t see that level of outrage about the opiate crisis, and we are losing insane amounts of the youth of America.

So using the CDC’s numbers, in 2017 alone we lost 14,000 more people due to drugs than in the entire 10 year Vietnam War. IN ONE YEAR! 

The zombies in the streets SHTF fantasy

The theory: People that are addicted to opiates or other hard drugs will go nuts and be dangerous.

Yes and no. While someone that cannot get their fix is going to be volatile and on edge, there are other things that have to be considered. Withdrawal can and often kills people with severe addictions. Going off heroin or prescription painkillers cold turkey with no medical support such as medication to ease off and someone to make sure an addict gets enough food and fluid to make it through, doesn’t always work out so well. I know people that have worked in the medical industry, and they see withdrawal kill people, and it doesn’t discriminate based on age.

There will be people acting crazy but the first month of SHTF will probably be the worst for this type of thing. Those with severe addictions may very well not have the physical capabilities within a few days of not having their “fix “to cause any trouble.

A real SHTF situation also means people will be on guard and even those that cause some trouble will likely not make it that long. There will be someone out there that eliminates them when they make a wrong choice because they are desperate and not thinking clearly. Where I live, a home invasion or intrusion results in someone getting shot.

This is the same reason why lone wolves during SHTF that don’t prepare and think they will take whatever they need from others will not last long.

Compassion reminder: There are people that are born with issues that they have no control over like schizophrenia or autism. Also, there are plenty of people with chronic conditions that are faced with a terrible situation when the meds run out.

Disorders like schizophrenia are often easily controlled with medications. The effects of autism are another example.

Remember before you judge someone too harshly that they may have an actual medical condition. This is not the same scenario as someone that is addicted to street drugs or pain meds.

Those with conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure are just a few examples of those that need medicine for a major health issue.

Addicts are people too. While their behavior is not acceptable, it is important to not dehumanize them either. People make mistakes, and some overcome them if given a chance.

Suicides have increased and will get worse if meds or drugs run out for any reason

One of the major side effects for a lot of “medications for the mind” is an increased risk of suicide. Withdrawal from narcotics also increases the risk. Someone in withdrawal may feel like they are dying anyway and be more inclined to follow through.

This is one reason why someone withdrawing needs people to look out for them.

Natural remedies to ease opiate withdrawal

This is not a substitute for major treatment. Long-term opiate abuse can cause a lot of different health effects. Cardiac events are all too common no matter what age the person addicted may be. During SHTF or for those that have a less serious addiction may find that these treatments help them get through the hardest parts.

I have listed at home treatment options by symptom. These are some of the more common withdrawal effects.

Fever and sweating or chills

Ibuprofen can be used to reduce the flu-like symptoms.

Dehydration due to vomiting or diarrhea 

It is critical to replace fluids and electrolytes. Pedialyte is an option during good times but something like Emergenc-E that comes in a powder form is a more realistic option to put back for a SHTF situation, and it stores in a small space. Imodium-AD can help eliminate diarrhea symptoms too.

Having the shakes

Shaky muscles and tremoring are common, but there is some evidence that St. Johns Wort can help relieve the shaking symptoms. St. Johns Wort can affect how other medications work, so it is best to find out if someone is taking other medicines.

Various mental issues

Drug addiction can affect someone’s mind in many ways. If they take other drugs on top of opiates, then the mixture can have all types of results. I am no psychologist, but when anyone is going through a hard time in their head, then it can help to take their mind off that as much as possible and direct that energy towards something else.

Staying busy can help at a certain point. Drawing, coloring, or building and creating something, for example, can create a sense of accomplishment and improve feelings of self-worth. That can be a very powerful force on the road to recovery. This is where having a supportive family and friends can be a big help and make all the difference.

Xanax is the most widely prescribed psychotropic drug in the United States and if you if you just stop taking it suddenly, your risk of death increases a lot. Those that take higher dosages are at the most risk of death if they suddenly cannot get their medication. I use this drug as an example, but there are others that have a higher death risk if a person suddenly cannot take them.

If you take medications, I recommend looking up info on withdrawal or stopping taking the medication. If you take something like this and there are alternatives, then you may consider looking into them.

If you wish to continue taking them or feel that you have to, then at least have an extra supply on hand so you can gradually wean yourself off of them if SHTF. Also, consider asking your doctor if a lower dosage is an option for your issue — the higher your dosage, the greater the withdrawal risks.

Of course, prescriptions like Xanax are often only refillable every 30 days so you legally cannot keep enough on hand to do much good in a SHTF situation. This is why I strongly encourage you to find other treatments if you can. Ask your doctor about alternatives with fewer side effects and withdrawal issues. 

SSRI’s or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

This class of medications includes the following FDA approved drugs:

• Citalopram (Celexa)
• Escitalopram (Lexapro)
• Fluoxetine (Prozac)
• Paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva)
• Sertraline (Zoloft)
• Vilazodone (Viibryd)

The side effects of stopping SSRI’s are similar to many drugs and include:

• Nervous behaviors or feeling on edge
• Nausea and upset stomach
• Dizziness
• Lethargy
• Flu-like symptoms like fever, diarrhea, etc

There will be more people exhibiting some weird behavior.

We have a nation that is largely dependent on antidepressants. The ironic thing is that many of these medications increase the risk of suicide. All antidepressants including the SSRI’s listed above are required to have a warning on them that they may increase the risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts.

Consider this theory, if a medication makes you care or feel less about yourself then what is that going to do about your feelings for others. In short, if you are numb towards your self and have little love for yourself as a person, isn’t it less likely that you will feel good about others?

All the major school shootings that I have researched have something in common, and that is that the shooter was taking prescription drugs that can cause suicidal thoughts or a tendency towards violence. Most of the media doesn’t like to touch on this fact, but it is true.

SHTF may out some addicts that did an excellent job hiding the true nature of their addiction

While there are some signs of addiction or prescription drug usage, you cannot always tell the extent of someone’s problem. Some addicts have the means to use substances and hide the fact from those around them. People don’t always act majorly out of it, and plenty of people keep to themselves.

Those of you that say that they have no room for addicts during SHTF may want to consider what you would do if someone you care about turns out to be taking medication or is on drugs that are suddenly not available.

Dealing With Hypochondriacs

Some people are used to getting medical treatment for the smallest thing. Our doctor system encourages hypochondria among the population.

Small visits to doctors cost the country a lot of money in medical reimbursement costs. People are often poor judges of what is severe enough to require a doctor visit. They always go, just to make sure.

There are people out there that don’t think that medical care or advice is worth anything and will not work unless it comes directly from the mouth or office of a doctor.

There are people out there that have a lot of medical knowledge and experience. They have kits put together for their families medical needs, and so they can respond and help others around them if needed. The sad thing is that there are some that would let a medical condition get worse before actually accepting medical supplies and advice from someone that doesn’t have Ph.D. or MD after their name or a fancy office. This is a big deal because more serious medical supplies are precious during SHTF. People don’t want to get into their major stockpiles of medical supplies unless necessary.

If you worry a lot about medical stuff or have someone in your family that does, prepare now!

If you are afraid that there will be no medical care available then prepare yourself now. Learn how to do basic first aid and take care of typical emergencies as well as a few advanced things if you can take a course. If you have a spouse or partner, then this is something you should learn together so you can take care of each other and any members of your group.

You may be squeamish, but you need to try to get over that. You can be prepared to take care of many different emergencies when no help is anywhere!

Anti Depressant and Anti Psychotic Withdrawal will be a tragedy in itself. I think it will be long lasting and people will not expect it to be so bad so they will not be prepared to deal with loved ones that start to exhibit symptoms.

So what do you do if you have to take in or care for a family member that is withdrawing from medications?

First of all, you need to realize the extent of the problem as much as possible. What substance or substances are the sources of the problem?

The severity of symptoms can vary so much. If someone is going into severe withdrawal, then they may need someone to keep a close eye on them and provide food, water, and clean up of the messy symptoms. Put it this way; you are going to need a bucket or two nearby if someone is ill and cannot keep food or fluids down. Electrolytes in water are a good idea because they can quickly be depleted.

If someone is exhibiting signs of being a danger to themselves or others, you may have to confine them. No one wants to have to do this but locking someone in a room that has been checked for anything they can use to hurt themselves or others.

During SHTF, some may be hopeless cases. This can be an extremely painful conclusion to come to.

I will say that I have personally seen people that do not have the will or the true desire to change. You have to ask yourself if you can help someone. I love the idea of bringing someone out of a very dark place, but if they chose the substance over someone they cared about you have to ask if they are going to do something for you that they wouldn’t work for their spouse or child even.

Consider alternatives to what you are taking or ways to reduce your meds now.

I have readers that have told me their wonderful stories about how they started getting physically fit and taking care of themselves and reversed a lot of their health issues related to cholesterol and blood pressure. These are not younger readers either, these are active adults in their 70s, and I applaud them for making the effort because it seems like people sometimes think it is too late for them to make improvements.

Consider natural substitutions

I know that there are some medicines for which there is no comparable natural replacement, but in some cases, you can use natural supplements to control symptoms. I know of plenty of people that take garlic for blood pressure control. When I was taking the SHTF school course by Selco, I remember he mentioned that during the Balkan War, many people used garlic in place of blood pressure medicine and it worked. I made a note of that because he saw it first hand in a real SHTF situation when there truly was no major medical care available and the medications wore out fast.

ADHD Medication

I have my concerns about how children and teens will be affected when they cannot get any ADHD medication.  If any of you have seen the results of this and feel comfortable sharing, please do so in the comments at the end of this post.

It seems like more and more kids are being diagnosed with ADHD. I honestly think that while this is a real condition, there are times it is used to label any child that has a hard time in a traditional school setting and needs more physical activity.

The problem is that one of the most commonly prescribed medications for ADD and ADHD are Amphetamine Salts. It is an upper, but doctors say that those with ADD experience a calming effect in many cases.

I was given Amphetamine salts a few years out of college by a doctor, and I don’t think that it calms you down. If you go to a doctor and say you can’t focus they throw pills at you, so you walk away feeling like you have done something. I stopped taking them after a few months.

Of course an upper will make you focus. Kids take this stuff all the time, and if the doctors treat them like they did me, they try to up the dose a lot more often than they should. You have to tell them no, and they still bring it up at the next visit.

My experience was 12 years ago, and I truly hope that things have changed and doctors are not trying to get you up to a high dosage as soon as possible.

A lot of Ritalin is prescribed too, but that is often changed to Adderall or the generic form, Amphetamine salts by middle school. I don’t think giving children a lifelong amphetamine habit is a good idea.

Natural Solutions and Alternative Treatments

• Eliminate artificial colors and flavors from the diet
• Enjoying the great outdoors. Children and adults that spend time outside tend to have the ability to concentrate better
• Natural herbs and supplements such as gingko, ginseng, zinc, vitamin B-6, passion flower, and magnesium

Alternative treatment information came from Healthline, an excellent source for health and wellness information on the web.

Remember to discuss any changes with your doctor if you have access. Everyone is different, and other health issues besides ADHD may need to be considered.

Steps To Take Before SHTF

1. Make a list of medications used by members of your household.

2. Research the side effects and withdrawal effects online. Print the information and put it in a binder for reference if needed.

3. Research natural alternatives for treatment and put back a natural medical alternatives kit.

Examples may be garlic pills for blood pressure or passionflower for anxiety and depression: melatonin for sleep disorders, arnica for muscle soreness and pain.

If you don’t have a medicinal plants guide for your area, then I highly recommend getting one and learning some plants. Peterson’s Field Guide to Medicinal Plants is my go-to guide for this, and what was used at the college I attended for folk medicine classics. CBD oil is readily available at even some drug stores it seems. It can help with anxiety, stress, depression, and a variety of other disorders.

Ask your doctor about an extra prescription.

A lot of medications you can get a lot at once. I suppose some medical insurances may have restrictions, but unless something is a controlled substance, you can usually get 90-day supplies. If you can get two of these, then you at least have 180 days.

Do you have a plan for when the meds run out? Have you used any natural alternatives to successfully treat medical or mental conditions?

The prophet Isaiah warns us that in the last days God is going to “turn the world upside down.” He declares, “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down” (Isaiah 24:1).

According to this prophecy, sudden judgment is coming upon the earth, and it will change everything in a single hour. Within that short span, the whole world will witness fast-falling destruction upon a city and a nation, and the world will never be the same.

If you are attached to material things — if you love this world and the things of it — you won’t want to hear what Isaiah has prophesied. In fact, even to the most righteous of God’s people, what Isaiah says might seem unthinkable. Many would surely ask, “How can an entire world be stricken in one hour?”

If we didn’t believe the Bible is God’s pure Word, few of us would take Isaiah’s prophecy seriously. But Scripture makes it clear: in a single hour, the world is going to change. The church is going to change. And every individual on earth is going to change.

The apostle John gives a similar warning in Revelation. He speaks of destructive judgment coming upon a city and nation: “In one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her…. For in one hour so great riches is come to nought” (Revelation 18:8, 17).

In Isaiah’s prophecy, the city under judgment is cast into confusion. Every house is shut up, with no one coming or going. “The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in” (Isaiah 24:10). The entire city is left desolate: “In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction” (24:12). All entrances and exits to the city are gone. The passage indicates that a fire has come, a blast that has shaken the very foundations of the earth (see 24:6).

We who live in New York City know something about this kind of scene. When the Twin Towers were attacked, the ominous fires and smoke could be seen ascending to heaven for miles. Recently, New Yorkers panicked as a mass of steam erupted from below a city street. People ran in all directions screaming, “Is this it? Is this the end-all attack?”

Today, multitudes of secular prophets are saying a nuclear attack is inevitable. The target they mention most often is New York, but it could happen in any major city: London, Paris, Tel Aviv, Washington. Neither Isaiah nor John names the city upon which destructive judgment falls.I don’t intend this message to frighten anyone.

Let me make clear at this point: I don’t intend this message to frighten anyone. Paul tells us that as disciples of Jesus Christ, we have already passed from death into life. We who call on Jesus as Lord should be confident that no matter what happens in this world, his shed blood saves and redeems us.

Therefore, we are not to fear any newscast, but rather to be attentive to what the Lord is doing in the world. Like many people, I hear grievous reports that make me want to tune everything out. But the truth is, God moves in the midst of such times, and through them he speaks warnings to all who would hear his voice.Isaiah’s prophecy points clearly to our generation.

I believe, along with many eminent Bible scholars, that Isaiah’s prophecy points to the last days. By that, I mean our present time. In short, sudden judgment is coming, and Scripture strongly indicates it is now at the door.

At this point you may be wondering: “How can we be sure we’re the generation this prophecy points to?” We can know by two reasons that such judgments are imminent:

1.A growing number of prophets warn of an apocalyptic disaster at the door. When I use the word “prophets,” I speak not just of those in the church. I’m talking also about “secular prophets.”

There are several precedents for secular prophets in Scripture. God used Assyria as his rod of correction with Israel. And he appointed King Cyrus as his servant to assist Israel: “(The Lord) saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure” (Isaiah 44:28).

Likewise today, God uses secular prophets to send warnings. These become “his prophets” for a season. And their prophecies can be harder than those delivered by believers. The message I’m writing here is mild compared to the prophecies being delivered by all manner of secular voices. Just check your newspaper or radio reports.

“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).

2.Sudden destruction comes when the cup of violence overflows. Sensuality, perversion and greed are running rampant throughout our society. Yet, when God sent the Flood upon the earth, it was because of a worldwide eruption of violence: “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11).

Right now, there are numerous wars and bloody uprisings taking place around the globe. Yet foremost in my mind is the violence being waged against children worldwide:

• I think of the sexual violence of pedophiles. Children all over the world are being raped, kidnapped and forced into enslavement in the global sex trade. Recently, a pedophile in the U.S. was discovered running a web site that advises other pedophiles on the easiest places to pick up children. There is no law in place to stop this man. The world’s largest church denomination has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to settle the claims of those who were molested in childhood by clergy. Tell me, how long will God endure the pitiful cries of children who are molested by those who would represent Christ?
• Thousands of children in Africa are being slaughtered in tribal wars, hacked to death by machetes. Young boys — even those under ten years of age — are enlisted into tribal militias and forced to murder men in initiation rites.
• Here in the U.S., the blood of millions of aborted babies cries out from the ground.
• Reports of school murders no longer shock many of us but continue to terrorize our children. We may grow hardened to such reports, but God’s heart is grieved by them.

I tell you, there is no worse violence than the brutalizing of children. Heaven is crying out, “Woe, woe! Your judgments have no cure.”1. In one hour, God is going to change the whole world.

A sudden cataclysmic event will strike, the first of the final judgments of God. This great event will cause the earth to reel. And Isaiah says that when it hits, there will be no place to escape: “The lofty [proud] city, he layeth it low…even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust” (Isaiah 26:5). “The inhabitants of the earth are burned” (24:6).

Once this happens, utter chaos will erupt. All civic activities will stop, and society will descend into massive disorder. Government agencies will be helpless to restore any kind of sanity. No state troopers, no national guard, no army will be able to bring order to the upheaval.

You well remember that when the Twin Towers were destroyed, help poured into New York from all over the world. An army of people came to assist in whatever way they could. But the scene in Isaiah’s prophecy is different: this calamity is clearly beyond humankind’s capacity to respond.

Once this judgment strikes, it will devastate the economy. Rich merchants will stand by watching in torment, weeping and mourning, as they face bankruptcy. In an instant, all the wealth they amassed will be reduced to nothing. John describes the scene: “The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city… For in one hour so great riches is come to nought” (Revelation 18:15–17).

Overnight, all buying and selling will cease. Every restaurant and bar will be shut down, and all drinking and music making will end. Indeed, every trace of mirth and delight, joy and gladness, will vanish: “All the merryhearted do sigh. The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. They shall not drink wine with a song…. The mirth of the land is gone” (Isaiah 24:7–9, 11).

Yes, this is a picture of gloom and doom. But it is not my prophecy. This word was given by the Holy Spirit of Almighty God, to be delivered by his righteous prophet Isaiah. Even the secular world is preparing for it to happen. Billions are being spent on homeland security in the U.S., England, Europe and Israel. Why? Military experts warn that a world-impacting terrorist attack is sure to come.

You may ask: “Why would the whole world change, if a nuclear attack occurs in just one city?” It will happen because of the fear of retaliation. If a rogue nation sends such an attack, you can be sure that within hours that nation will be wiped out. Consider the plan Israel has in place, known as the Samson Option. The moment a nuclear warhead is launched against them, within moments Israel will unleash nuclear missiles to devastate the capital cities of all enemy states.

The world has become a ticking bomb, and time is quickly running out.2. In one hour, God is going to change the church.

This hour of devastation will suddenly change churches, whether they are alive or dead. Isaiah writes, “There shall be the shaking as of an olive tree” (Isaiah 24:13). The image is of God shaking an olive tree after it has been picked of fruit. In short, he’s going to shake everything that can be shaken, sparing nothing. It will be a time of cataclysmic destruction and overwhelming darkness.

So, you ask, “What about God’s people in the midst of all this? What will happen to the church?” Isaiah gives us an incredible word about what will happen with believers.

In the midst of the terrible shaking, a song will be heard, and its sound will grow steadily stronger. Suddenly, in that darkest of hours, a worldwide chorus of voices will sing praises to the majesty of God: “They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea” (24:14).

Do you get the picture? There will be panic everywhere. Men’s hearts will fail them for fear, as fires belch smoke seen for hundreds of miles. Disorder and chaos will reign on all sides. Yet amid the devastating fires and calamity, the world will hear a glorious song being sung: “Glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel… From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous [One]” (Isaiah 24:15–16).

A holy remnant is going to awaken, and a song will be born in the fire. Instead of panicking, the people of God will be praising his awesome majesty. Imagine it: in the darkest hour of all time, a collective voice will rise by the millions out of every nation, not in fear or agony, but in joyful praise to the Lord.

How will this happen, you ask? In one hour, God is going to regenerate and restore his church. Dry bones will shake and rattle, and the righteous will be awakened, as the Holy Spirit calls multitudes of lukewarm believers back to their first love. In his mercy, he’s going to rouse those who have neglected him, ignoring his Word, avoiding prayer, perhaps even contemplating divorce. Suddenly, their souls will be flooded with pangs of remorse and godly sorrow. And many will fall on their knees, crying out in repentance.

There will be a revival of glorifying God’s majesty. And the song of this revival will be heard from the uttermost parts of the earth. East, west, north and south — from Arab lands to China, Indonesia, Africa and all parts of the earth — a glorious song will rise up from the midst of the fires. In one day’s time, those who survived the fires are going to be singing a new song throughout the world.Isaiah 25 tells us wonderful miracles will come in this time, as “God makes all things new.”

All around the world, the Lord’s people are going to “feast” on his Word: “In this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined” (Isaiah 25:6).

“And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations” (25:7). Right now, in this time of prosperity, the world’s masses seem to be covered with a veil, unable to see the truth of Jesus Christ. But when God rises up to shake the world through judgment, the shrouds covering the minds of billions will be cast aside. The veil of darkness will be removed, and many will see the Lord in his glory. The Holy Spirit won’t force Christ upon these opened eyes and hearts; rather, a remnant is going to rise up from among them.

I believe the darkest shroud-coverings today are over the eyes and hearts of youth worldwide. This is especially true of college-age students, whose faith has been bombarded for up to four years. Over that time their minds have been indoctrinated by godless professors in classrooms where belief is attacked, mocked and scorned. Now these young men’s and women’s faith has been shipwrecked. They leave college convinced God is dead.

But in one hour of devastation — nuclear, economic and social — all such hypocritical veils are going to fall away. Those same professors who mocked them will realize, as they face the possibility of death, a choice must be made: “What about eternity? Is there life after death?” They’re going to look for someone to explain to them all that’s happening.

When the song is sung, it’s going to be heard by young people from every walk of life, from every nation under the sun. Many will harden their hearts and curse God at the sound of this song, but multitudes of others will join in singing of his majesty.3. In one hour, God is going to change us as individuals.

In a single hour, the focus of our lives will be changed. We’ll no longer obsess about our own adversities and troubles. Suddenly, so many things that we held dear will no longer be of any value to us. Why? In that hour, everyone will be in the same boat:

“It shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him” (Isaiah 24:2).

The sudden judgment that comes will not be a respecter of anyone. Rather, it is going to touch all who are within the realm of its fury. Presidents, kings, the world’s richest and most famous — all will tremble just like the poorest of the earth. And this cataclysmic event will bring to naught every idol, purging iniquity and tearing down all false altars:

“By this [the calamity] therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up [be left standing]” (Isaiah 27:9).

The world’s most prominent idol is money, and right now America is facing a monstrous financial disaster. Investors are scrambling to move their money out of high-risk funds, and mortgage companies are going bankrupt. One recent financial headline read, “Abandon Ship!” Everyone is selling and nobody is buying. Many households are in a panic, as overnight their lives are changing. I think of the president of a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund, who recently put up for sale his 142-foot yacht and his sixteen-bedroom mansion in Aspen, Colorado. His fund had dried up virtually overnight.

The day is coming when sports will be the last thing on people’s minds. I have nothing against sports, but soon there will be no more 250-million-dollar deals for athletes, when so much of the world is starving. All idols will come crashing down, crushed to dust, and the playing field will be leveled. The richest and the poorest alike will face the same conditions.

It will all happen within a day. “When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).Why such apocalyptic warnings?

You may wonder: what good can come of these prophetic messages? Why should anyone have to live under such anxiety?

I remind you, Jesus warned Jerusalem of sudden devastation to come upon that city. It was going to be burned to the ground, with over a million people murdered. Christ explained his warning: “I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe” (John 14:29). He was saying, in essence, “When it happens, you’ll know there is a God who loves you and forewarned you.”

Paul calls such warnings “light,” insights that expel darkness. He says, in short: “You are children of light, because you know what’s coming in the future. So, when destruction comes, and there’s panic all around, you will have the calm of the Holy Spirit. Something will quicken inside you, and you’ll remember, ‘God warned me.’ This prophecy isn’t a message of wrath to God’s people, but a wakeup call to begin preparing.”

“God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9–10). Paul is speaking here of a time of possible destruction. Therefore, he says, “Comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do” (5:11).

In this day of prosperity, nobody wants to hear a message like Isaiah’s. I certainly don’t want to hear it. But we cannot ignore it, because it is here at our door. In such times, Paul says, when we have knowledge that sudden destruction is coming, we are not to tremble or sorrow as the world does. Instead, we are to comfort one another in faith, knowing that God rules over every aspect of our lives.

“Be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (5:8). Paul instructs, “Arm yourself with faith. Build up your belief now, before the day comes. Learn your song, and you’ll be able to sing it in your fire.” “Glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel” (Isaiah 24:15).

This is the hope of our most holy faith: our Lord causes a song to come out of the darkest of times. Start now to build up your holy faith in him, and learn to praise his majesty quietly in your heart. When you sing your song, it will strengthen and encourage your brothers and sisters. And it will testify to the world: “Our Lord reigns over the Flood!” ■

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