Death by millions of cuts
People are despairing at a time when the floor hasn’t even given out yet.
I highly recommend to all readers The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse. Authored by Fernando Aguirre, it’s a book of lessons learned by someone who, in his younger years, endured Argentina’s economic collapse of December 2001 and lived to tell the tale.
Aguirre spends a lot of time talking about prepping for an economic collapse - what equipment to buy, what skills to acquire, etc. However, the book’s greatest value comes in Aguirre’s account of what life in Argentina was like post-economic collapse. As I’ve explained elsewhere, I think America, at some point, is due for an economic calamity, if not this decade, then certainly within the next generation or so. The amount of debt the United States owes is insurmountable, inflation is becoming a serious problem, and our economy has been fueled by fake growth mostly through state expenditure, a state of affairs that cannot last perpetually.
With economic collapse comes social trauma. Be it Argentina or 1990s Russia, a country that suffers such a disaster concurrently suffers social disorder and dysfunction. There’s no reason to think the U.S. will fare any better. But what I didn’t realize, until recently, was just how dire the situation is right now, before the storm has even hit.
Before I get into that, read what Aguirre has to say about what life became like in the wake of Argentina’s economic calamity:
In terms of moral values, expect them to crumble instead. You’ll see more gambling, more prostitution, more drug abuse, more single moms, and more multiple-dad households.
Expect real churches to close and reopen as “pastoral” churches, what people here call “evangelical churches,” that mostly concentrate on taking away as much money as possible from people. The good “pastor” not only steals people’s money, but often sleeps around with their daughters as well.
We even saw a huge increase in “Satanist” rites, witchcraft, divination and “black/white magic” along with “umbanda” rituals. [bold mine]
I had to look up what “umbanda” was. This is a simplification of it, but best I can gather is that it’s similar to what Voodoo is in the U.S.
In a world where people are pretty much desperate, apparently easy solutions for health, work and love problems sell very well. It’s become common for some criminals to visit their “pai umbanda” (umbanda pastor) for protection and blessings before they go out to commit crimes. In at least one case I read about, the pastor even rented firearms to the criminals as well. Another pai in Moreno forced his female followers to become prostitutes and give him the money.
There is an assumption among a subset of preppers and civil war/collapse Live-Action Role-Players (LARPers) that the downfall of the current order will create an opportunity to restore values more conducive to sustaining a cohesive civilization. But this isn’t what happens. For better values to thrive, there must be stability to begin with. Human beings are animals and, when placed in desperate situations where their daily survival is at stake, they begin to act more at a primal level. This doesn’t mean people become feral, but it does mean people think less about the consequences of their actions and behave more impulsively and instinctively. This, in turn, leads to behavior less restrained, since laws may or may not be enforced and norms will become largely meaningless.
But this goes beyond morals. It’s been well-documented what life became like in Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Alcoholism, domestic violence, and suicide skyrocketed in the 1990s, no doubt a response to hard times and social instability brought about by the collapse of a superpower. In 2020s America, the warning lights are flashing and the really bad crisis has yet to hit, but look at these graphics below:
Again, this is at a time when, according to measurements like GDP and standard of living, things are relatively good. But, when you have this much mental illness, drug overdosing, and suicide already, is it any wonder so many believe we’re in the midst of a slow-burn collapse? Better yet, why would any sane person think we’d have less of these issues, especially when there are truly insurmountable crises looming on the horizon?
Conventional wisdom suggests better public policy can fix these problems. I’ve long since given up on such notions. The suicide rate doesn’t appear to have a strong correlation with the robustness of public policy in a given country. Yes, countries in worse-off economic shape tend to have higher rates of suicide, but so do wealthy countries that take care of their populations with social programs - Japan, South Korea (especially South Korea), and Sweden have rates of suicide above the global average. Meanwhile, many poor countries have suicide rates below the global average.
My point is that mental illness, overdoses, and suicides are the product of something much deeper. People are despairing at a time when the floor hasn’t even given out yet. What explains this? This is beyond my capacity and beyond the scope of this piece to analyze. The lesson here is that if you think we’re “going to get through this” and “this, too, shall pass,” knock it off, because we’re already not getting through this.
It’s very possible, with advance preparation and the cultivation of strong communities and families before disaster strikes, that many of us will manage endure the dark times ahead intact. But, again, one of my biggest worries is that the American people are either not alert to the danger, too invested in the lie of “normalcy,” or are one of the despairing unfortunate. My hope is that none of these apply to any readers of this post and, even if it doesn’t, that you take proactive steps to prepare yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually for what’s to come.
It starts at home. Get right, if you can, with members of your own family. Keep the communication lines open. Seek new friends while we’re still allowed (another round of COVID lockdowns may be looming). Find people you can rely on in emergencies and offer the same in return. The better prepared you are, the less you’ll worry and the more you can continue to live your life in peace.
Community, family, and self-reliance is the greatest bulwark against despair, not the government or media. Unfortunately, too many people are opting to invest in the latter, not the former. Perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised at how bad things have gotten and things continue to get worse?
Max Remington writes about armed conflict and prepping. Follow him on Twitter at @AgentMax90.
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