Gloom, Doom & the Economic Collapse of America

When I was a police officer I continually found myself dealing with people who were in trouble or causing trouble or both. Dealing with the "dregs" of society wore on me as it does many police officers and ultimately it influenced my attitude toward people and my world view. If that is all you see that is what you know...

Recently, I have discovered and been influenced by a genre of fiction and BLOGS that can be described as apocalyptic with regard to the potential collapse of our country as a result of any number of catastrophes (an EMP, an Economic Collapse, a New Ice Age, or a Coronal Mass Ejection) that might return us to the 18th century. No electricity, no cars, no fuel, no running water, no food, no sanitation, no health care, no law enforcement. Martial Law with UN Troops on US soil , FEMA Camps, roving gangs of looters, people facing starvation, separation from their loved ones and ultimately the death of millions of people for a myriad of reasons.

One motto of the news media is, "if it bleeds it leads" thus, we are constantly hearing about the latest catastrophe from around the corner or around the world. Greece and Spain are in default and chaos, Israel and Iran are staring each other down, our embassies are being attacked, our Congress can't work together, Ben Brenanke and the Fed are printing money and spending us, our children, and grandchildren into economic slavery and worst of all our troops are dying in the middle east in countries that don't like us and obviously don't want us there...

How do you find balance between those who say the world is going to end on December 21st (it's not by the way) and those who throw a hurricane party when a category 5 hurricane (Katrina) is bearing down on them? I have spent countless hours pondering these questions to the point that my wife is beginning to wonder about my sanity (I'm wondering about it as well...).

Here is my opinion about all of this.

First and foremost it is very possible that we are already experiencing an economic collapse. But you say, Greg the stock market is over 13,500 the highest in years, interest rates are low, I just refinanced my home at 3.5%, and I sold some scrap gold and got a bunch of money...

Have you ever had a wreck when things kind of went into slow motion? You could see what was happening but you were powerless to stop it.

Yes the stock market is very high just like it was in 2008 before the most recent crash, before the housing crash and before the great recession that has probably more than 15% of our people out of work.

Yes interest rates are low, so low in fact that many who rely on interest income to survive are not keeping pace with inflation.

Yes gold and silver are doing very well but these precious metals are a hedge against a collapse and many countries and individuals are loading up on gold right now. Why would they do this, particularly if historically it has not been an investment that has provided a good return?

Have you been to the gas station lately? Gas has more than doubled since Obama took office.

Have you shopped for food lately? Food costs have risen significantly and we have yet to feel the effects of this summers drought at the cash register...

Water rates have tripled in some cities as they maintain their crumbling infrastructure.

The Bible states that the borrower is slave to the lender and man are we borrowing! From the Fed to families we borrow on everything. Do you know that our government borrows 40 cents of every dollar they spend? The difference between us and the government is that eventually we run out of money to borrow. The Fed just prints more money. China is bankrolling our lack of fiscal discipline and when they want to get their money or if they stop loaning us money things could get very bad very fast.

So are we already experiencing the economic collapse or should we continue to party like it is 1999?