Surviving The Fall Of The Dollar
Lately there have been many stories floating around talking about the inevitability of a monetary crash involving the US dollar and other currencies that would soon follow. They talk of all the looting and civil unrest that will happen on a grand scale. You will not be able to retrieve your money from the banks, food will be on the shelves a maximum of two days and panic with frenzied minds will be the gauntlet of survival. The government will confiscate food and money. People will be thrown into concentration camps, which the government is currently building.
We may have seen evidence of this lack of civility in Ferguson, Baltimore and a few other cities trying to join their cause recently, but what about small town USA? Yes there may still be a scramble for food, water and other necessities but many of us are already prepared for personal catastrophes. We do not even consider rioting, looting and shooting our neighbors to survive; we have much of what we need stored close to home as it is. So what will differentiate us from the inner city calamity where kill or be killed is the only reference of survival known to people, many of whom live week to week on the paltry contribution to their livelihood provided from the government?
To paraphrase a story you may have heard of; where people who died went to heaven or hell: They both found themselves at a large table where plenty of delightful and desirable victuals were served. However, in both cases they were given a 3 foot spoon to eat. Those in hell found this a terrible torment because, no matter how they tried to hold or maneuver the spoon, it was too long to get the food into their mouths. This proved to them they were in hell. In heaven they simply reached their spoons across the table to help feed the others and they all enjoyed the most tantalizing foods ever imagined, proving they were in heaven.
If such a situation actually arises, before asking how much money you have in the bank, the amount of food and water you have in store and other survival questions, I would want to know, how well do you know your neighbors? Would you feel comfortable enough or trust that they would want to help protect you and your property as you would them? How prepared are they? Will you need to help them? Hopefully you will each have a spoon to feed each other or maybe you will be hurting to feed yourself.
They also say if the dollar falls that everyone will stop working so the power company will close down as well as the water treatment companies, fuel and all energy. So, you may be a professional but are you willing to go to the power company and work for free to help supply those in need? Will you offer to help at the water treatment plant, refineries, trucking companies or wherever you may be needed to keep people and civilization functioning? Why does everything have to stop just because money dies? If the human spirit dies, then we have a problem. If a crash is truly looming, we know our worlds will change abruptly but it doesn’t mean we have to suffer, become a private militia ready to kill anyone who gets near your food, or lose any civility at all. In times past we would have known our neighbors and we would have worked together to help in a pinch. Why should this be any different?
If you don’t already, get to know your neighbors. Walk down the street and wave as they are coming home from work. Talk to people and make friends. Have block parties and invite them to dinner. Yes, they will probably think you are trying to sell them something at first or are just some crazy person they’ve seen around the block some time ago but eventually we may actually go back to a life where keeping up with the Jones’ is not the primary order of the day and we may even learn how to enjoy life and friends again. If you work in the financial industry or are some kind of celebrity, you of all people may need friends the most because you may not be able to conform to the new work required of you in such a situation. Let's face it... with no money, you're worthless. In such a situation, you no longer try making money but only produce something. If you can’t produce you better learn how to beg.
What this comes down to is: Whether the world falls apart or not, there is something we have lost over recent decades… a certain love for people, care for neighbors, friendships and camaraderie. Because we believed the notion that happiness comes from money, and engulfed our lives in its pursuit instead of happiness, that doesn’t mean we can’t start again and rebuild those relationships, trust and sense of community. If you haven’t figured it out yet… we need to get back to "just help one another".
About the Author
Scott L. Taylor is the author of The Opportunity In Every Problem” Mentor for unemployed and ex-offenders who are trying to get back into business society, and Director of Sales & Marketing for Cloudia Assistant. He is passionate about leadership, ethics, entrepreneurship, sports, positive reinforcement, motivational thinking, and loves helping individuals and organizations realize their potential and take the steps necessary to achieve it.
For more information, check out his LinkedIn profile, follow him or view the Cloudia Assistant website, www.cloudiaassistant.com.
