By Kellene Bishop
Last night I was begrudgingly up until 1:45 a.m. Finally I resorted to a sleeping aid so that I could get some much needed rest. (Thank goodness it kicked in at 2:00 a.m.) In spite of being reasonably comfortable in my personal preparedness efforts to be independent and thrive regardless of the scenario, I do have a nagging thought that plagues me and won’t let me sleep at night. What keeps the Preparedness Pro awake at night? It’s YOU.
I’m sincerely worried about you. If I’ve ever smiled at you in a grocery store, communicated with you via letter or e-mail, attended church with you, or seen you in one of my classes, I worry about you. In fact, even when I get a solicitation call and hear a human voice, I worry about that person. Here they are going on in their life conducting a mundane task and they aren’t the least bit aware just how vulnerable they are. When I sit down for a meal in a public place and watch people walk by, I genuinely worry about them. I find myself very aware of the human connections in nearly every aspect of my life. My postal worker, my doctor, the tellers at the bank, the TV news anchors and even the kids who left an empty beer bottle on my lawn—these are real human beings to me, not just an interaction. I worry because the vast majority of the people are completely unaware as to what I believe is coming soon that will alter their lives tremendously. I worry not that trouble will come, but that when it does, real human beings will needlessly suffer because they failed to take action now. It’s as if they are seeing the rows and rows of beautiful harvest but assuming it will always be there, never spoil, and thus they leave the reaping for another day. There will be much suffering of real people as a result. This is why I worry.
You don’t have to be a Christian to see innumerable evidences that our nation is ripe for a bumpy ride. You don’t have to believe in global warming to notice that our weather patterns have been peculiar as of late and devastating to many. (For the record I am a Christian and don’t believe in the global warming rhetoric.) A person’s political affiliation does not exempt them from cause for concern. An earthquake or tornado does not set its boundaries of damage by voting precincts. Clearly this year’s wheat infestations are no respecter of religion, income level, or astrological sign.
The fact is, our nation’s currency is only one courageous expose away from being worthless. The performers are stoically committed to their charade, but commitment does nothing to alter reality.
I clearly expect Iran and Israel to be involved in a widely prophesied war within the next 3 months, the ramifications of which will be undeniable to our nation.
Our nation’s enemies are merely emboldened in their evil intents as they watch our economy fail, our leaders bumble, and our citizens do nothing noteworthy in response.
The swine flu may fall short of its mainstream media billing, but considering the alarming increase in the numbers of tuberculosis and other diseases which we had previously eradicated from our nation, H1N1 is simply a dress rehearsal of what is legitimately to come, in my opinion.
Regardless what the talking heads say, we are about to see a food shortage unlike any since the days of Joseph in Egypt. Even the wealthy will find themselves in want for wheat and sugar in due time. These are just a FEW of the obvious concerns that make up a perfect storm for the unaware and unprepared. This is why I worry about you.
There are at least 12 different studies which I’ve read over the last month which conclude that less than 2% of the homes in our nation are prepared any differently than those persons were who were involved in Hurricane Katrina—even after we all witnessed their suffering as a result of a lack of preparation. To me, it’s just as ludicrous as watching the 10th season of Survivor and seeing that they STILL can’t start a fire. You would think after a couple of seasons these so-called ardent fans who find themselves as contestants would have had enough time to figure out how to build a fire in the wild! The majority of the homes in this nation do not even have two weeks worth of food and water. In fact, some of you mistakenly believe that the water in the nearby lake is your own personal answer to water storage. That’s why I worry about you.
Some of you refuse to prepare for your own defense, thinking that the military or law enforcement will be miraculously available and trustworthy to aid you in your moment of despair. Over half of the homes that own firearms for self-defense do not have more than a round of ammo to go with them. I worry not only about you in this regard, but for our nation as a whole. No defenseless people have ever been able to obtain freedom and independence.
Some of you are working feverishly at a late hour to get prepared. But in your haste will you remember it all? Will there be enough time before you have to rely on what you have right now? For those of you who have seen a smidgen of light, don’t you wish you had started sooner in your preparedness efforts? I stay up at night wondering if you’ll be ready for what’s coming.
Some of you may have “stuff” but no sense. The solar oven has been sitting in your basement and you’ve never used it. The empty water barrels in your backyard are now an accepted part of the scenery. I once had a gal tell me that she LOVES her pressure cooker but she’s never used it with the lid on it. Some don’t know what a mortar and pestle is for, what to do with a shovel, how to ensure heat remains in a home, or how to filter their water safely.
Some of you have no plan for how to reunite with your family if you are ever separated. I’m sure there are lots of families who lived through those awful hours following 9/11 wishing they’d had a plan.
A wise friend once told me “People who stop living the way they believe, start believing the way they live.” In other words, I hear hollow excuses from countless individuals as to why being prepared in any capacity is “categorically crazy, unrealistic, impossible, irresponsible, and futile.” But these excuses will be inconsequential when the real turmoil manifests itself in their lives. This is why I worry about you.
Unfortunately, the problem is that none of you are reading this. Surely your loved ones have pleaded with you to get prepared, but you’re not inclined your comfort zone and fluffy state of mind to do so. Perhaps they will share this with you in another futile effort to calm their fretful minds. That’s why I worry about you. But that’s also why I do this every day. While I may not know your name, your history, or your dreams, I do know that there exists a beating heart and a soul beyond all of those formalities. I know that you are important to someone. And as such, I feel like you’re important to me. I may not ever benefit or change a single person through my knowledge and passion, but it won’t be because I did not give my all. I can answer to God with clean hands. May you go and do the same.
Copyright 2009 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.
Subscribe to Preparedness Pro today and never miss a thing!
Showing posts with label currency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label currency. Show all posts
Monday, October 26, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Disastrous Emergency Money Myths
By Kellene Bishop
Should you save money in this economy in preparation for a disaster? If so, how much? What kinds of currency denominations should you have on hand? Should you buy gold and silver? These are questions that readers frequently e-mail to me. And while I will address several of these questions in this article, understand that ultimately the best monetary preparedness you can practice is to first prepare yourself mentally for the consequences of unforeseen events. Doing so will inevitably provide you with logical actions to prepare accordingly. Overall this topic actually requires extensive discussion, so we’ll explore it in more than one piece. For today we’ll discuss the most broad “monetary” recommendations in order to prepare and to AVOID making disastrous monetary mistakes in anticipation of an emergency.
An economic collapse or a natural disaster will obviously have an effect on the acceptance, issuance, and availability of money. Think about it. If all of the sudden your community, state, or even nation is disrupted due to an EMP attack, do you really think that anyone is going to give a flying flip about a useless piece of printed currency? The real question is, “how do you appropriately prepare for such events and possess mutually valuable wares to ride it out and survive?” I believe in a two pronged approach to preparation. Store what I know I will need, and then store items that I know others will need so that I can obtain the items that I didn’t foresee.
Should you put some cash aside in your home in preparation for a sweeping emergency? Yes. But don’t go overboard. Within days, if not hours, of a national disaster or an economic collapse, your money will be useless. Absolutely useless. (And in the event that currency is ever recognized at that level of insolvency, then hoarding it during a crisis in hopes that it will rebound is also unrealistic.) I would not recommend you having more than $1,000 cash on hand and be sure that you have it in small increments of 10’s, 5’s, and 1’s. Don’t have this money on hand with the intent to use it to save your bacon once the disaster has actually hit or in lieu of storing what you will need now. If you need that cash to purchase emergency supplies because you were caught unaware, you’ll be hard-pressed to actually spend $1,000 successfully as there will indeed be a rush on the stores. Mark my words. You can plan on there being insufficient amounts available in the stores or limited acceptance of cash in the event of either of these two disasters, suitable for you to spend $1,000. The $1,000 cash recommendation is for unforeseen circumstances in which you are fortunate enough to still have it accepted, not to correct your lack of foresightedness in the face of a disaster.
Yes, you should indeed have some gold and/or silver on hand. This currency has never been recognized under any circumstances as being useless. However, if you are going to invest in such, I would recommend you acquire smaller coins and pieces instead of “dollar-sized” coins. You can also collect regular U.S. coins that are pre-1967, as they were still made with some “real” metals in them. These will ultimately have trade value in an emergency situation.
“Currency” as you know it today is NOT what you should be focusing on for an emergency. Food items, skills, and other hard asset wares are what you should be accumulating if you truly want to be prepared for an emergency. With the exception of a job loss, and striving to eliminate your debt overall, I am 100% convinced that the best way you can “save” for a rainy day disaster is to have useful preparedness items on hand. Items such as wheat, rice, water, ammo, clothing, shelter, diapers, and fuel will be more valuable than anything the Federal Reserve could ever print out. I am so convinced of this, that I would blatantly recommend that those who are saving a set amount of money each month in a bank account to instead actually lower their monthly savings amount and increase the purchase and acquisition of emergency preparedness wares. If you find yourself in need of an item or food you can either trade for it or work for it. Educate yourself on skills that are not common in our society now as the result of the abundance which we now enjoy. The skills of a seamstress, carpenter, cobbler, blacksmith and cook will be much more valuable in a time of distress. With such skills you can always acquire that which you need in exchange for your labors.
Bottom line, currency is not what you want to focus hoarding for an emergency. Rather it is a much wiser choice to store that which currency can presently obtain.
Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.
You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.
Preparedness Pro Note: If you would like Kellene Bishop to present an Emergency Preparedness message for your community or church group, please contact us at 801-788-4133. Ms. Bishop is an experienced speaker on Emergency Preparedness topics and also has created a great “Preparedness Party” platform which makes the learning of such a topic more enjoyable for all.
Should you save money in this economy in preparation for a disaster? If so, how much? What kinds of currency denominations should you have on hand? Should you buy gold and silver? These are questions that readers frequently e-mail to me. And while I will address several of these questions in this article, understand that ultimately the best monetary preparedness you can practice is to first prepare yourself mentally for the consequences of unforeseen events. Doing so will inevitably provide you with logical actions to prepare accordingly. Overall this topic actually requires extensive discussion, so we’ll explore it in more than one piece. For today we’ll discuss the most broad “monetary” recommendations in order to prepare and to AVOID making disastrous monetary mistakes in anticipation of an emergency.
An economic collapse or a natural disaster will obviously have an effect on the acceptance, issuance, and availability of money. Think about it. If all of the sudden your community, state, or even nation is disrupted due to an EMP attack, do you really think that anyone is going to give a flying flip about a useless piece of printed currency? The real question is, “how do you appropriately prepare for such events and possess mutually valuable wares to ride it out and survive?” I believe in a two pronged approach to preparation. Store what I know I will need, and then store items that I know others will need so that I can obtain the items that I didn’t foresee.Should you put some cash aside in your home in preparation for a sweeping emergency? Yes. But don’t go overboard. Within days, if not hours, of a national disaster or an economic collapse, your money will be useless. Absolutely useless. (And in the event that currency is ever recognized at that level of insolvency, then hoarding it during a crisis in hopes that it will rebound is also unrealistic.) I would not recommend you having more than $1,000 cash on hand and be sure that you have it in small increments of 10’s, 5’s, and 1’s. Don’t have this money on hand with the intent to use it to save your bacon once the disaster has actually hit or in lieu of storing what you will need now. If you need that cash to purchase emergency supplies because you were caught unaware, you’ll be hard-pressed to actually spend $1,000 successfully as there will indeed be a rush on the stores. Mark my words. You can plan on there being insufficient amounts available in the stores or limited acceptance of cash in the event of either of these two disasters, suitable for you to spend $1,000. The $1,000 cash recommendation is for unforeseen circumstances in which you are fortunate enough to still have it accepted, not to correct your lack of foresightedness in the face of a disaster.
Yes, you should indeed have some gold and/or silver on hand. This currency has never been recognized under any circumstances as being useless. However, if you are going to invest in such, I would recommend you acquire smaller coins and pieces instead of “dollar-sized” coins. You can also collect regular U.S. coins that are pre-1967, as they were still made with some “real” metals in them. These will ultimately have trade value in an emergency situation.“Currency” as you know it today is NOT what you should be focusing on for an emergency. Food items, skills, and other hard asset wares are what you should be accumulating if you truly want to be prepared for an emergency. With the exception of a job loss, and striving to eliminate your debt overall, I am 100% convinced that the best way you can “save” for a rainy day disaster is to have useful preparedness items on hand. Items such as wheat, rice, water, ammo, clothing, shelter, diapers, and fuel will be more valuable than anything the Federal Reserve could ever print out. I am so convinced of this, that I would blatantly recommend that those who are saving a set amount of money each month in a bank account to instead actually lower their monthly savings amount and increase the purchase and acquisition of emergency preparedness wares. If you find yourself in need of an item or food you can either trade for it or work for it. Educate yourself on skills that are not common in our society now as the result of the abundance which we now enjoy. The skills of a seamstress, carpenter, cobbler, blacksmith and cook will be much more valuable in a time of distress. With such skills you can always acquire that which you need in exchange for your labors.
Bottom line, currency is not what you want to focus hoarding for an emergency. Rather it is a much wiser choice to store that which currency can presently obtain.
Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved.
You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.
Preparedness Pro Note: If you would like Kellene Bishop to present an Emergency Preparedness message for your community or church group, please contact us at 801-788-4133. Ms. Bishop is an experienced speaker on Emergency Preparedness topics and also has created a great “Preparedness Party” platform which makes the learning of such a topic more enjoyable for all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
