By Angry Old American
Copyright Angry Old American August 6th, 2022. All Rights Reserved.
We are now in a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, and days ago initiated a proxy war with China in Taiwan.
China now surrounds Taiwan with live-fire “Military Drills” that have effectively closed the Taiwan Strait to merchant traffic. Approximately $3.6 Trillion in goods flow through the Taiwan Strait annually; with most destined to the United States and Western Europe.
What does all this mean? We have seen fuel shortages and transportation issues ever since our “Sanctions” against Russia began. We have also seen a largely unreported epidemic of explosions and fires at domestic energy and food refineries and processing plants. Costs of all goods are skyrocketing.
What can we expect during our proxy war with China?
A majority of our manufactured consumer goods, electronics, pharmaceutical medications and medical supplies come from China. Most of our plastics, raw chemicals, steel, aluminum and rare earth minerals also come from China. Most Americans are clueless that a majority of their apples and related products come from China. We are also unaware of how many US food producers find it more cost effective to send their produce to China to be processed and packaged, and then shipped back to the United States. Likewise, a majority of the
parts needed to maintain our ships, aircraft, trains, trucks, automobiles, electrical grid, water and sewage treatment, energy pipelines and refineries, communication systems, manufacturing plants, and even our military hardware either come directly from China, or travel through the Strait of Taiwan. Sanctions from either the US or China would bring an end to these items ever reaching the United States on a long term basis.
Americans have been pampered and conditioned by decades of a “Just in Time” supply-line. If we need something, anything, we could likely find it at a relatively cheap price, and have it delivered within days. This Just in Time supply-chain ended during the rash of Covid lock-downs. Now, critical items are often back-ordered for weeks, or even months. What happens when brake drums for big-rig trucks are back ordered for months? We are seeing it now; with trucks sitting idle until they can safely return to the roads. Not just brake drums are in short supply, but automotive glass, windshield wipers, tires, DEF fluid, and a long list of other critical items. As a result, used parts are cannibalized and salvaged from junk yards. This is happening not just in transportation, but in all industries for farm equipment, heavy construction equipment, manufacturing machinery, refrigeration, industrial electronics, and most recently elevators and escalators. If you vehicle breaks down, and the part is back-ordered, it will sit for weeks or months before it can be repaired. So mechanics are searching wrecking yards for salvaged used parts; and those parts often cost more than new ones on back-order simply because they are available NOW.
We already have seen the effects of medical shortages during the past few months. Medical procedures requiring absent medical dyes are being canceled. Medical oxygen and IV tubing is disappearing. Medical equipment sits idle because parts cannot be found to repair them.
Costs of everything have skyrocketed. This is due to supply and demand. The United States is now a globalist country, with open borders, and government policies that support domestic supplies funneled to the country that bids highest.
What will it be like when we no longer have supplies and consumer goods available at a reasonable cost?
In the face of shortages of fuel, food and supplies, a very small percentage of the population will turn to self-sufficiency and free-enterprise production. Our population has been trained from birth to consume. Few young people ever had the inclination or need to develop skills of adaptation, innovation or creative invention. The mass of our population, the mindless “Mob,” will compete over what few available goods remain. Many will turn to the “Midnight-Market,” of criminals who fence stolen goods on the Black-Market. This is already happening in New York, where professional shoplifters lift steaks and meat items from grocers, custom ordered by their clients. Even Spam has become a commonly shoplifted item.
Traditional recipients of charity; widows, orphans, elderly and disabled will be left wanting amid a sea of healthy “entitled” bums and criminals. Such are the wages of our new “Classless” and “Equitable” society.
Under the current Administration’s commitment to “Build Back Better,” we will not see domestic manufacturing plants emerging to produce parts for legacy internal combustion vehicles. Once the supply of new and cannibalized used parts for our planes, trains and trucks disappear, these conveyances will be scrapped. There will be no domestically produced replacements because we lack the means of production. Lacking any sustainable means of transportation, our nation’s goods will become localized, and we will only have access to goods produced nearby.
Considering our proxy wars with Russia and China. It might be wise to get what you NEED while it is still available and can still be transported and delivered relatively cheaply. The laws of Supply and Demand will prevail, and costs will soon soar even further for those items that people will need most. Of course, human NEEDS, items like food, fuel and rent are not factored into government inflation figures. Expect the price of cat toys, navel jewelry, and inflatable love dolls to remain within the grasp of every average citizen. Thus, “Official Inflation Figures” will remain modest, and there will be no “Recession.”
During a supply deficit, tangible high-demand goods will become THE “Investment” of the future. What tangible goods will be in high demand?
Water, and water purification will eventually top the list. Water and sewage treatment plants are vulnerable to foreign produced parts shortages, and also enemy sabotage and cyber-attacks. The resulting failure of a community water supply would be catastrophic. On average, humans can only stay alive for three days without consuming water. Many sources say a gallon per day will suffice; but UN disaster relief agencies make allowances for five gallons per day. In cities, water not supplied from a public source will result in a population consuming contaminated water. Globally, waterborne disease is a common killer. Thus, any items related to the collection, storage and purification of water will be in high demand.
Collection of rainwater, on a small scale, can be as simple and inexpensive as an umbrella turned upside-down above a five gallon food-safe bucket. Food-safe plastic barrels placed below gutter downspouts would also suffice.
Water storage, on a small scale, can be as simple and accessible as empty used beverage containers. Any food-safe container can be used for water storage storage.
Water purification, depending on the contaminants, would require more cost. Chlorine “Pool-Shock” tablets or granules will kill most biological contaminants. Another solution for simple biological threats would be a “Life-Straw” or inexpensive 5,000 gallon Sawyer filter that can be had for under $50. For chemical contaminants, gravity filtration systems such as the 10,000 gallon Berkey Filter will cost $300 or more.
Food will be another high-demand item during the coming period of scarcity. Long-term pre-packaged food items that do not require refrigeration will command the highest premiums. Ready to eat items will be handy during energy shortages when cooking is impractical. These ready-to-eat foods will all be prime targets for the “Golden Hoard” of desperate and unresourceful members of the mob, who consider themselves “entitled.”
Seed and supplies for food producers will also be in very high demand. Fresh “Heirloom Seeds” collected by gardeners will command a premium. Fertilizers and compost will also be extremely expensive. Irrigation supplies like garden hose, soaker hoses, and drip irrigation systems will also be in high-demand. Everything from growing containers to greenhouses, livestock feeding troths to poultry runs will all be of great value.
Hygiene supplies are already soaring in cost and disappearing from store shelves. Lack of proper maintenance of hygiene will be another major cause of disease and death during a major supply disruption. Most of our common “Soaps” sold for body, hair, dishes and laundry, are actually complex chemical “Detergents.” Soaps are formed by the reaction between a mixture alkali and fat. For hobbiests involved in soap making, lye will be in high demand, as will both animal fats and plant oils. Lye for soaps, traditionally gathered from wood-ash, is commercially produced by heating limestone. This procedure requires massive energy to produce; and is often a manufactured along with electricity from coal powered electric generators. Rendering of animal fats with heat also requires energy. Energy is in short supply now, and will be even more scarce as this crises deepens. Cold-pressing of plant oils also requires energy, but can also be produced by hand powered presses. Hygiene supplies, or soap making equipment will equate high-demand investments.
Our medical system, as we know it today, is already failing. Over 90% of our pharmaceutical medications and medical supplies are provided by China. Pharmaceutical medications will be as valuable as gold to those who rely on them for life. Emergency and long term medical supplies will likewise become extremely valuable. Autoclaves, stills, pressure cookers, and antimicrobial UV lamps will be handy for sterilizing medical instruments, bandages and materials. Vacuum packaging and CO2 will assist on preserving medical supplies from contamination. Colloidal silver generators can be produce anti-microbial nano-sliver used to treat sheets and clothing.
We already have an epidemic of crime, and this will be magnified as our justice system further degrades and supply shortages deepen. The US Justice system has shifted away from their traditional emphasis on “Public Safety and Order.” The FBI, and even our Military have been politically weaponized against any potential opponents of the existing Administration. Expect epidemic
lawlessness, violence and property crimes on the streets, accompanied by political purges by all levels of government.
In response to social chaos, and the challenge to our traditional civil rights; we will find ourselves on our own. Emergency services will slowly disappear, and individuals will band together as neighborhood watch and defense groups, tribes, ethnic enclaves, and militias. Much like Latin America, which has long been over-run by criminal Cartels; our failed justice system will be replaced with swift vigilantism.
Epidemic crime will lead to the need for home and business fortification. Home security and surveillance systems, locks, door and window bars and barricades, fencing supplies, and alarm systems will all be in high demand.
Home and personal defense tools will also be keenly sought. These will range from non-lethal to lethal arms. Once national confiscation of registered firearms begins, the only source for these items will be from criminals on the black market; just as our government intends it to be.
Communications equipment will be limited to what is available on the market today. The United States does not possess the manufacturing capability for advanced consumer electronics. Though many American corporations market these items, and possess the patents; actual manufacture is done in third world countries. Cellular communications and the internet will end whenever satellites are attacked. Terrestrial communications like television and radio broadcasts will falter due to lack of parts and maintenance issues, sabotage, or cyber-attacks. HAM, GMRS, and FMRS two-way radios and repeater systems, and AM/FM/SW receivers will dominate the future communications after the collapse.
If we should be spared an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack against our energy grids, our existing electrical networks will be doomed for a lack of parts, maintenance, and fuels to power generators. Electrical blackouts and planned rolling blackouts have already been publicized in mainstream media. Personal alternative electrical power will command a premium. Hybrid gasoline and propane generators will be in high demand for those with plenty of fuel. Solar panels and generators will also be highly sought after, and command high prices because a bulk of these items are manufactured by slave-labor in China. Despite the lofty aims of the “Build Back Better” government fraud; our infrastructure and supply collapse negates any tangible way to gain independence from China. We lack the machinery to build solar devices, and now we lack the power capacity to build the machinery. Do not expect to see a substantial number of domestic produced solar devices anytime soon. Existing Chinese imports of solar panels will be consumed quickly, and we will probably see old worn, damaged and discarded units cannibalized for salvageable panels and batteries. Most of our solar powered lighting, LED lights, and rechargeable batteries come from China. When the US Dollar inevitably collapses, individual batteries will become a handy portable barter currency. Batteries will join the “Beans, Bandages and Bullets” triad of liquid assets.
Tools of all kinds are another high-demand item to invest in. Those requiring batteries will eventually be supplanted by old-style corded models because rechargeable batteries have a limited life-span. Hand tools will also eventually come into favor because of energy shortages. Easily breakable items, like drill bits and saw blades, will become barter items.
Transportation and hauling will eventually be localized. Cars and trucks without fuel, tires and replacement parts will become useless. Expect to see more bicycles, shopping baskets, and hand carts on the streets. Tires are already extremely expensive due to a shortage of organic latex and synthetic
rubber. Wheels and tires of common sizes will find a ready market in the future. Small engines salvaged from lawnmowers may power some bikes in the future; but fuel shortages will still be an issue. Electric bikes will be limited to those that were already imported from China. What about the dreamy promises of self-driving electric cars for everybody? Keep dreaming! You might as well be fantasizing about flying cars.
Other high-demand items will revolve around non-electric alternatives. Passive-Solar powered cookers will become common because they are easily made. Home-made Passive-Solar water heaters will also gain popularity. Old-fashioned charcoal and wood grills will make a comeback during electrical blackouts. Many Charcoal-Grills will be converted from propane grills when gas is no longer available. Hand-crank washers, laundry tubs, wash basins, Amish plungers, scrub boards, laundry lines and clothes-pins will replace electric washers and dryers. Food preservation will shift away from electric refrigerators and freezers to canning, drying, curing fermentation, pickling, and root cellars to avoid spoilage. Take a look at the goods at Lehman’s online website to see how the Amish live without electricity.
So, there you have it. Our best case scenario is a gradual slide into Socialist anarchy similar to Venezuela.
What is the worst case scenario? If, or when, these proxy wars erupt into a shooting war, we will be in big trouble. We have been hamstrung by unrealistic “Green” energy and lifestyle goals, policies and regulations. While our enemies burn coal and use any means to reach their military needs; the USA has crippled its energy, transportation, supply-line, infrastructural and production base. On our present course, we will lose this war; badly.
