On April 6th 2012 I stepped onto a jet departing Alaska, and headed for Denver Colorado. The flight was uneventful, and in a few hours I found myself wandering around SeaTac airport looking for something to munch during a five hour wait for the final hop into Denver International Airport.
I left Alaska to seek better paying employment. The economy in Alaska is pricey, while the job opportunities are dismal. Here in the Lower-48 States, at least the trucking industry is paying professional drivers much better than what Alaska based carriers could ever consider.
Over the course of just a few weeks I have spoken with many different people all across the country. From the young to the old, the rich to the poor, and the homeless to the underemployment; I have learned a great deal about the state of our economy, and the mood of the people who have allowed me a few moments of their time.
It’s uncanny that so many people are anxious of “something” that they are sure will occur real soon. I ask what that “something” means, and a vast majority of people feel like our way of life is being sucked right out from under our noses. That, and the omnipresent looming specter of economic collapse. Dissatisfaction with the way our elected leadership is handling these crisis, is also on the minds of many people. They seem to feel that the coming election is nothing but a farce, and that Obama will remain seated in office. That in itself causes much concern for the average person on the street. They simply do not want Obama as president for another term. Business owners, truckers, waitresses, mechanics, school teachers, civil engineers; these are the people down here on the streets of America that have been hurt the most by Obama’s domestic policies.
As the eighteen wheels of my mobile office hum along the interstates crisscrossing this great country, I am reminded of the plight of America whenever I pass through some small town that seems to be dying from a sever case of “Obamanomics”. Small town bars and grocery stores sit vacant. Farmer’s fields remain unplowed, discount stores going out of business, and a plethora of family owned businesses that are forever gone. The huge cattle pastures of Montana are only half full. Whereas there used to be more cows that one could count, now the herds are much smaller—and that means the price of beef will soon skyrocket. It’s a case of “supply and demand” coming into play. But one has to look a little deeper to understand this.
The lack of snowfall this past winter has created water shortages from coast to coast. Rivers, lakes, streams, and water reservoirs are damned near empty. A drought is already in effect across most of the Midwest, and this can be witnessed by the lack of crop irrigation.
Farmers can’t water their crops, ranchers are raising less cattle, and the chain-reaction is that less crops mean less grains headed to the stores; and less beef being produced for consumption. Already the price of corn, soybeans, wheat, barley, and other essential crops are going through the roof. Feeder cattle prices, as well as hog sales prices have jumped to near high records.
The trickle-down effect has reached its juncture as well. As the prices of farm products climb upwards, the demand increases beyond production capacities. Certain other industries rely heavily on America’s agricultural output. The price of fuel, tractor parts, labor rates, veterinarian services, and other associated businesses are feeling the pinch. In turn, they have to raise their prices exponentially in order to offset the decline in their business. In the end, that means you and I are paying for all of the loss suffered by the most important element within America’s infrastructure—our food production base.
Everywhere that I travel, I see the signs of an impending collapse staring us in the face. It’s right there, visible to the naked eye, and its scary to think what is right around the corner.
The other day a friend told me that the administration wants to tax those of us that have gardens. I’m not sure if that is true, since I haven’t had the time to research it. But the obvious ramifications, if this is in fact true, really pisses me off. How dare they infringe upon the aged-old method of self-subsistence that has kept many families fed since the dawn of this country. How dare they tax something as essential as keeping food on the table during difficult times. How dare they think that Americans will go along with this outright blatant BS designed to control our food supply.
They dare to attempt this for several different reasons; chiefly because the younger “none-voting”-crowd are to stupid to get off their butts and scream at the very idea. They dare this because most people will not hit the voting booth, and they dare this because the understand the prevalent apathetic tragedy that has become American politics. Everyone complains about it, but few people will actually take the time to protest, lift their voices, or vote these monkeys out of office. The same people that are caught up in the intricacies of the next reality television episode, or the newest phone application to hit the market. These are the people that can be partially blamed for this country’s downfall.
During my travels I have talked with quite a few of the younger crowd. Men and Women working in the truck stops for slightly better than minimum wage. One particular 27 year old young lady told me that she had never voted in her life, and that she didn’t care about politics on way or another. At home, her mother was taking care of her two minor children, and her step-father co-signed for a brand new imported sports car which carries her to work everyday.
I have spoken with young men who boast that they have fathered four children with different mothers, and hop from bed to bed in an never-ending zeal for sexual conquest. Young men adorned with multiple tattoos, facial piercing, and sporting the latest hip-hop fashion trends, along with the requisite IPhone blasting music into their ear-canals. Never mind that they are working a minimum wage job, or that the clothes costs more than what they earn in one week—they still live at home with mommy, and the babies that they fathered are being cared for by other parents.
It feels like America’s parents have stopped giving a damned, and just allowed their (now grown up) children to do whatever they please without regard for the consequences. Young adults today could care less about how the country is ran, or who is sitting in the oval office making the decisions that will guide this country into the next century. These kids are caught up in all of the post-modernistic trivialities that don’t means squat in the long term. All of the fancy electronics flooding the market is being snapped-up by technology hungry kids that have no clue about the US Constitution, nor about the impending collapse that is just right around the corner.
If I have learned anything thus far in my travels, it’s that America is poised to drop down the crapper real soon. Never mind what all of the talking heads strutting around on the major television networks are saying—they live in a different world than we do. Their million dollar salary and corporate perks insulate them from the rest of us struggling down here on the streets of America.
But when TSHTF, their going to be the first that will suffer. What use is a television anchor-person when the networks are gone, when the electricity is no more, and when the ash clouds of hell descends upon the country. I sincerely hope that they have a backup plan.
I read the Southern Poverty Law Center’s report about the rise of militias across the country, as well as the rise of the hate groups. The reports states that dissatisfaction with the governments handling of domestic policies has pushed the envelope to levels unheard of in the USA. It’ no wonder, considering the policies in effect right now. Domestic polices as well as foreign policies which squander the country's wealth, by supplying Europe, Asia, and the mid-east with BILLIONS of tax dollars, while consequently the IRS is ramping up it’s collection efforts by hiring 18,000 new tax inspectors. At a time when the Gross National Domestic Output is edging dangerously close to the Gross National Debt; these clowns in office are turning inwards against the very people that pay their salaries.
To say that people are pissed off, would be the understatement of the year. Everywhere that I go I hear the winds of discontentment. People from all walks of life, from various income levels, and even those with graduate degrees, are voicing their anger. But, I wonder how many actually take it upon themselves to get angry enough to hit the voting booth this year—even at the local level it counts.
Only time will tell what happens to each of us. As we go about the tasks of living in our day-to-day existence, raising our families, and trying to keep our heads above water, sinister elements are rapidly developing in the background which could create the conditions conducive enough to signal the rapid demise of America’s way of life—that means YOUR LIVES and mine!
Consider the fragilities of both our lives, our economy, and how it could play out in the end. I truly hope that you are squared away with enough food and supplies to enable you and yours to maintain the forward momentum during those terrible times.
Till Next Time..
Franke Schein
