There is a chance that the world could be heading in to a depression, so it seems appropriate to make a list that will come in handy should that eventuate. We all hope that it won’t be the case, but there is no reason at all to not be prepared just in case. Hopefully at least one or two of these tips will be useful to you all.
It is a very good idea to get to know your neighbors well – even in times of a normal economy. Your neighbors can keep an eye on your home while you are away, they can feed the pets, and they can lend you a cup of sugar if you need one! In the event of a depression they can be even more useful – you can create a small community where you can share necessities that one may have and others lack, you can set up patrols (if the situation were so dire as to need it), and you can even have shared meals which can help to keep waste and costs down.
If you have a considerably large amount of money, you will probably want to consider investing some of it in metals – such as gold and silver (though these are already seeing massive price increases). Of course, if you have a fortune you probably already know this, but it doesn’t hurt to remind people. In the event of a collapse of your nation’s currency, you will need a backup – and precious metals have been shown in the past to be an excellent one.
If you regularly take medication, try to stockpile as much as you can. In a depression you may find that you can not afford drugs, or – in a worst case scenario, the drug companies may go under! Additionally, store up bottles of aspirin and other common over-the-counter drugs that we all tend to use from time to time throughout the year. As you use these drugs, be sure to use the ones that are the closest to their expiry date – to prolong the life of the others.
Right now. Begin saving as much money as you can. Cut down on all of your expenses (except debt repayment) and save every penny. If we end up in a depression, you are going to need it. This is also a good time to start thinking about selling any items in your home that you may not need. If it becomes very likely that a depression is going to hit, sell everything non-essential – that means the TV, DVD player, stereos, etc. I would recommend that you keep your computer (preferably a laptop in case you lose your home and need to move around) as it will come in handy when the depression ends.
You should try to get rid of as much debt as you can right now. While you can pay your mortgage now, you may not be able to in a month – and as banks are feeling the pinch, they are not going to tolerate even one missed payment. This can obviously lead very easily to you losing your home. If you think the recession now is painful, try suffering it on the streets! This is a tip to help you cope before the depression hits. If you find yourself in an untenable situation and the depression has already arrived, forget this tip and read the bonus item carefully.
If you own stock, it is now a good time to consider the types of companies that are likely to do well in a depression – these are the companies you should move your stocks in to. The companies most likely to survive and profit are dry food manufacturers, diaper and toilet paper manufacturers, and any company making products that are seen as essential to survive. “Comfort” and “sin” stocks like cigarettes, alcohol, etc. are also stocks that do extremely well during bad times as people rely on them to blot out their suffering.
Some trades are more in demand during a depression than others. For example, a baker, a handyman, or an electrician should be able to find work during the worst economic downturn, but a change control facilitator may not. Invest in some good old fashioned skills now and not only will it help you survive a depression, it may well be a complete career change for you in the future.
Right now you should be hoarding dried and canned foods. Also tablets for purifying water and other nice-to-haves like toilet paper, candles, and batteries. I know this sounds like preparations for a nuclear holocaust, but the effects could be horrifyingly similar. Keep all of your goods in a dry clean area. I would also recommend a book on the basics of cooking, so you can convert your flour to bread and perform other culinary miracles that require nothing processed or pre-packaged. This is a skill that will be invaluable whether we have a depression or not.
If you think you are in a job that is likely to not be needed during a depression, you should consider relocating to an area that has a lot of wildlife and land. If you lose your house, an investment in an RV now (not on credit!) could be your life-saver. You can drive it to a new town, find a private area where you won’t be disturbed, and park up while the depression rides out. Make sure you find an area where you can rely on plentiful fresh water and animals – which brings us to item one…
If things get so bad that people begin to steal off each other, this will come in very handy. You can use it to protect your family and belongings, as well as to kill animals for food. And if you really are in dire straits, you can use it to rob someone else! (Okay – I didn’t mean that – we should all try to help each other out – not kill each other). A gun will be most useful in hunting so be sure to buy one that is practical for shooting birds and larger animals. You will also want to buy a book on how to skin, clean, and prepare wild animals for human consumption.
Okay – this is going to appear very controversial – but this is about surviving a depression; this is a matter of living or dying. If you are about to go bankrupt, are out of work, and see no hope in the foreseeable future of correcting this situation, use your credit cards right to the limit to put yourself in a better position – whether it be buying food, or moving somewhere you might be able to find work. If we really do enter another great depression, you will have to be prepared to do things you would normally not do in order to ensure the survival of your family and yourself. Under any other circumstances, this would be a very very bad thing to do.
#64: that remark about france was wrong. it’s that kinda macho-dickheaded-bull***** that fuels alot of the anti-american sentiment in here.
#65: i support your being defensive toward the ignorant comment made beforehand, but try to keep yourself from as ignorant as well. ‘rednecks’ *****ing about the french doesn’t have ***** to do with the nazis. that’s a *****ing ridiculous comparison. as for that ‘wilting violet’ *****, we jumped into the war AFTER we were attacked. am i wrong or isn’t that how countries usually get involved in wars?
Badlist:
Really. You need a gun just in case Charles Manson’s grandchild breaks into your house? How many hundreds of millions of people live in your country, and how many serial killers are on the loose in your town at any said time? Small odds my friend.
And I suppose its a handgun you own, not a hunting rifle. A nice deadly package a criminal can fit in his pocket.
There are a lot of stupid people in the world, and a lot of mean people too. Giving them instruments that cause death and can fit in your pocket is not a smart idea. You might be responsible enough, but giving you the right to own a gun means giving everyone else the right. If you’re that paranoid, move to a safer country. Amen.
Just a comment on the gun issue.
We have a 357 Magnum, a shotgun, and a rifle. I *can* shoot any of them, but would choose the shotgun if I needed to protect myself simply because you really don’t have to aim it, just as long as you point it in the correct general direction (at least that’s true with the shot we keep for it. I understand there’s other kinds of shot which would require more of a solid aim).
I doubt I could use any of them unless it was absolutely required, unless it was a question of defending the life of my husband or my family or myself. And if it was just my own life, I’m not entirely sure I could pull the trigger.
Seems like a lot of people use the argument, “why do you need a gun? no one *needs* a gun, so they should be outlawed.”
This makes as much sense as, “why do you *need* alcohol or junk food? no one *needs* it, so it should be outlawed.”
In my country, it’s my right to own a gun. So I own a gun.
And to all those people that say, “oh, c’mon, how often do people break into your house?” well, FYI, on Halloween night someone let himself into my house. While I was home. I wasn’t near my gun, so I grabbed a sword off the shelf. He left in a big hurry. Situations like this can become more common when people are in dire need, and in a situation like that my gun will be close to me at all times. What if it had been my girlfriend at home alone instead of me?
As a side note, I have a .22 rifle and a mosin-nagant. Do you gun owners think this is enough?
Actually, the constitution guarantees the right to keep and maintain a well-armed malitia…
Not so much the right to own, carry, or brandish a firearm, just because you want to.
Details, I know, but try and keep up.
And anyone who is so deluded as to think Barack Obama, or the ensuing congress are far-left, need to break out their history books and dictionaries. The vast majority of them are as far to the center as humanly possible. I also hate to break it to you, but they’re not going to take your guns. I know that ruins the whole “OMG THE WORLD IS GOING TO END BECAUSE THE SOCIALISTS TOOK OVER” bit of rhetoric, but I think we can all admit just how scary that mindset is.
FWIW, I’m not only a lifetime gun-owner, I’m also a center-right republican. Well, I was until the GOP decided to become full time panderers to the religious fanatics.
Excuse me, “militia”. Typos, typos.
Although, the REAL question is, when did the hard-a$$ Americans suddenly become so terrified?
So much FEAR in some of these posts. It’s so very arrogant to think that somebody is constantly out to get you, when in reality, 99.9999% of the world doesn’t care if you live or die.
Grow up.
Sorry for the multiple postings.
Haha. I doubt the economy would get this bad, but I guess it’s good to be prepared. Good to be careful too. Look what happened during the last depression in the 1930′s *cough*Nazis*cough*.
I don’t know about the US, but the whole business of shooting (and especially killing) in self-defence is not the simple issue as presented by various posters here. I’ve an idea that quite a number of folks who BELIEVED they were defending themselves legitimately are probably now languishing in gaol for unlawful killing. In some countries, including where I live, you may need a damn good lawyer to get you off shooting an intruder, and a damn good reason to have pulled the trigger. In many cases the situation of a break-in is confused. A softer baddie may only be trying to kid you with a toy. Also in a real life situation, a pro is likely to be ready to shoot before you are, as well as being more ruthless and less inhibited or hesitant. Would you take on two or more armed hoods? A shoot out might put your family more at risk than handing over that box of insured jewelry (O.K. that’s a simplification, I know). Perhaps the biggest problem (at least in countries I know of) is that it may be difficult to justify reacting in self-defence until the villain has made it quite clear that you are justified. And by then it may be too late. To be effective you need the initiative. Taking the initiative may be classed as unlawful action if you’re unlucky. However, I imagine a lot of folks in the U.S. spend time practicing all these situations under police tuition and the like.
Personally I have better things to waste my time on. If the situation were to get that bad, rather than go for gun law, I think I’d move to one of those nice, friendly underpopulated territories or countries in the previous topic but one!
Anon (129) I love you, man, but I must comment on your comment:
Your scenario is indeed legitimate and I agree with some of the points that you provided.
The problem with shooting someone who breaks into your home is a matter of judgement.
First and foremost, let us pretend that this person has forced his/her way into your home in order to do something wrong and illegal. If they were a welcomed person then they would simply ring the doorbell or knock on the door or perhaps telephone the residence prior to their arrival. This person did not do this so…
This unwelcomed person might have the intention to steal something or they may want to do harm to those who reside within the home. How easily is it to determine what the intruder’s intentions are at a moment’s notice? Either way this person is apparently unwelcomed.
You posted: “In many cases the situation of a break-in is confused. A softer baddie may only be trying to kid you with a toy”
How easy is it to mistake a toy gun for a real gun or a replica gun for that matter? I suggest that you purchase a toy gun, paint it black (matte or gloss) and walk around with the thing. Try pointing it at random people and you will see how they react.
I personally prefer a fair-to-fair fist fight and a man-to-man struggle over a shoot-out, but if it comes down to a “kill or be killed” situation then, given the proper circumstances, I would prefer to shoot at someone who has pulled a gun on me rather than have my obituary in the local newspaper a few days later.
I just bought an AK47 for the self defense purpose. I already have a good game rifle. I thought I should have one before the Almighty O tries to take the away.
The odds of anyone actually breaking into our home, considering the area in which we live, is pretty close to zero. The guns are leftovers from my husbands Airforce career. We didn’t go out and purchase them in case of riot or ruin.
But here’s the thing, I feel secure knowing they’re in the house. As I said above, I doubt I’d actually pull the trigger, but just looking at that Magnum or shotgun is a fairly humbling experience if you’re on the wrong end.
More to the point, the bears have become more and more brazen lately, certainly due to a shortage of favorite foods; our home is surrounded by woods, we’re already getting nearly daily visits by fox and bobcats, the bears have come as close as 1/4 mile. I don’t want a bear in my kitchen. They tend to get angry.
We’d leave (if we could) before we did anything like shoot at one, but having to pass a bear to get to the garage?
Not likely.
Maybe nothing will ever happen. That would suit me best. I just like being prepared.
Hillery-
Going by your last statement about sucicide seeming more accessible when the victim is a gun owner, I do have to disagree. Guns actualy are NOT the most common way of commiting suicide. Overdosing on meds is. It is much easier for a person to overdose on some sleeping meds than it is to pull a trigger. For some reason people assume they will just pass out and go in their sleep. Depending on the medication, this may or may not happen. If we are going to ban things from the house that may tempt suicide, we needs to ban knives, forks, medication, alcohol, ropes, ties, shoe laces…I could go on and on. While it is unfortunate that you have known so many to take their lives with a gun, it is not nearly as common as you think. Oh, and I know all of this from working on a crisis hotline for some extra cash while in college. It’s what talked me out of pursuing a psyc degree. I can’t deal with that all the time!
@ bosco (120) i’m not sure you’re worth responding to, as you didn’t seem to understand my previous posts, but here goes:
you, not me, read your own prejudices into what you assumed to be my take on my cousins family.
why did i even describe them? i don’t know them well (we’ve met twice and they seem like nice enough people) but from what i do know i don’t find it hard to believe that their genuine fear of obama is influenced by the fact that they are right-wing religious conservatives (i know this to be true from the few family holidays we shared =firsthand experience). i noted they are farmers because it tells you they live in rural oklahoma, this is a tip off to the fact that they own and hunt with guns (their son confirms this, and again i have NO problem with people hunting -see post 87) and is it’s a safe bet that they don’t know many black people because of where they are (again their son confirmed this for me, he knew more native americans than black people ’till he went to college out of state.) this is worth mentioning because it’s much, much easier to fear the unfamiliar. as obama *****ing terrifies them, i think his race could play a part in their feelings.
even funnier is who you assumed i am! it’s true, most people would consider my views on public policy to be progressive/liberal. but you made the narrow-minded mistake of thinking all people fit into your stereotypes of them.
your quote, “farmer (how gauche, working with dirt?!?! GASP !! they MUST be stupid, rednecks, unsophisticated, let’s call them names, they’re less than human, too the reeducation camps!!)”
this actually made me laugh out loud, because this year i decided to go back to school and switch my career focus. i’m studying plant and soil sciences with an interest in aquaponics and urban agriculture -basically learning to BE a modern farmer! so you know, i like TOTALLY look down on people in agriculture, they are the true scum of the earth!!! (that last bit was sarcastic, catch it?)
now, “reactionary sales” i don’t think you know what they are:
this is your quote, “Reactionary sales? Huh? Where? you arent’ talking about NO.”
i’m not sure what that means. a “reactionary sale” is when something happens that scares people (perhaps very legitimately) and they buy a gun as a “reaction.” in the case of katrina people noticed that the government wasn’t very good at keeping order after a major disaster. you noticed, your own post says, “the police (the ones bothered to show up)”. so legal gun sales went up because people thought “if this happens again, or if something else this bad happens where i live i might need my own gun, the government might not be able to protect me” (and they might be right.) all those legal sales are the “reactionary” ones. i don’t know why you thought i meant “gun crime” as opposed to “gun sales” but you did, you seem to get confused easily. if you want a firsthand example of the conditions that lead to “reactionary sales” see lilith hel (112) i’ll quote it for you,
“hurricane Katrina and hurricane Ike, the latter which effected me. you see, when the dregs of humanity can no longer make money b/c of job losses or b/c of a natural disaster, they decide to steal and loot. also when there’s a widespread lack of electricity, people get bored and start looking for ways of entertaining themselves. don’t act like this isn’t true b/c i’ve seen it and trust me you will want some sort of weapon to keep these *****s for using you and your property for ‘entertainment’.”
if you want more examples go to google news and search the words “gun sales” it will pull up over 3,000 news articles about people buying guns as a “reaction” to the obama election, you can read them yourself.
next time don’t yell at me if you can’t understand my post, ’cause it might make YOU sound like the one “talking out your ass.” in in your own words that would make you “a liberal.” oh the horror!
for the record, i don’t own any guns and don’t want to. but i know this is a complicated issue.
BrotherMan,
Thanks, much appreciated.
Yes, of course, I’m totally aware that when one is being pointed at you or even brandished, a replica handgun is impossible for an average person to tell apart from the real McCoy. Sorry I didn’t make that clear. To that extent anyone who does carry one on a felony can be said to get what they deserve.
But I believe (note only believe) the law can take a more ambiguous view. To begin with, it does indeed take a dim view of threatening with a replica, but the penalty for the real thing is far greater. That might actually encourage petty criminals to take less risk in the case of being caught. Secondly, I’m not sure how the law might react to, say, shooting a fairly young intruder with a replica. I believe I’ve read of cases where investigation has revealed the intruder was shot in the back, i.e. was fleeing, and the self-protection defence failed.
Again, I’m working a lot on memory here, and things may well be different in the US. I recall when we were looking at wildflowers during a lecture tour there, a friend (it was either in Oregon or Calif.) told us never, ever, to go through a fence to look at or photograph one. It was one of the easiest ways to get shot dead! Well, that may or may not be true. I’ve had a couple of apologetic verbal run ins with *****ed-off landowners in the UK! But in all the places in the world we’ve look for plants, our records would be a deal slimmer if we stuck to completely open ground! We always try to ask permission if possible, but have never been in any other country where we might get shot on sight just slipping under the wire for a quick, harmless shufti!
segue,
On our first field trip to Turkey many moons ago, we took a shotgun with ball ammunition (lethal stuff, like mini cannonballs, but needs aiming unless used point-blank – this must be what you meant earlier, although there are several categories of scatter shot. Use too coarse a one and you blow your lunch into feathers and mince-meat!). We had been warned about wolves in Kurdistan, and particularly bears, which were said to come in droves to the fields after the grapes in summer harvest-time, and also to be singularly dangerous when with their cubs. It also seemed sensible protection in case of *highway robbery*. Well wolves in Turkey may pack up and very rarely attack people out of sheer hunger during the bitterest of deep-snowed winter in the east. But usually they wisely run like the clappers at the slightest sniff of man, their deadliest enemy. We once saw a pair close-to from the Land Rover at a small river ford at dawn. That was it in four years of springs and summers in the country. Bears were even rarer. A friend with good eyesight swore he caught a glimpse of one at dusk disappearing behind high ground half-a-mile or more away on a remote mountain. As for robbery, we knew of one or two cases where people fresh to the country had been shot dead by local peasants. Trouble is easily avoided though by confidently taking the upper hand verbally, once a handful of words or more are learned. In fact I found swearing angrily in English was enough! Our wise and experienced diplomatic friends advised us weapons were no use at all, and were more likely to create problems than solve them, not least with country Turks being extremely exciteable. I once walked past an old bearded Kurd sitting on a rock with a modern automatic on his lap on the outskirts of a mountain village near the Iranian border. That made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. But what could I have done had he decided to blow me away?
But I know what you mean about feeling safer with a gun. It’s all in the mind. I’m sure we do with our shotgun here, even though we know perfectly well it would be quite useless in the event of a real villainous break-in.
Seriously, by a gun? I’m hoping that that was to get a rise out of people or written as a joke of some kind. Guns (in my opinion, I know many people like them and that’s fine) do nothing, and I would rather save my money and stockpile food before ever buying a gun.
Gah, I hate spelling errors
*Buy, not by
Anon,
The only “dangerous” things that seem to run in packs here, so far, are coyotes and turkeys! I add the turkeys because they are dangerous to a freshly planted seed-bed; that’s where my my bb gun comes in handy. It does the turkeys no harm, but does get their attention and moves them off.
Bears around here seem to be solitary creatures. Whether by choice or necessity is anybodies guess. Foxes are dangerous only to smaller game, and so are allowed to roam at will.
I believe you hit it on the head about the shot. All I know is that it requires a general, rather than specific, aim, and will dispatch whatever is in the line of dense fire.
I’m rather a neophyte at guns. The shotgun scares me, but the feel of the magnum (even though my husband assures me I couldn’t stand the recoil) is good in my hands. It feels like safety, though I suspect the opposite to be true.
I never imagined I’d own a gun, much less several. I’m sure if someone broke in I’d forget we had them. They aren’t all in the same place, and the ammo is in different places from the guns. I don’t think I could match them up in an emergency. I don’t think I’d want to.
Oh well.
That’s his business, not mine.
I really didn’t think the situation would get that far, but it is after all a major issue.
For all of you who think obama ‘s going to ruin your country because of his leftist politics, don’t you worry: from european standards, he is barely (i should say: not even) center-right. You don’t have socialism in the states. I’m not saying it is a good or bad thing, it just is. And from what we hear from here, he never promised to take away your guns (but, i concede that i might be mistaken when it comes to that).
As from the gun issue, well, i used to live in new zealand for a while (just one year ago) and news were reporting more and more gang violence, due to the fact that firearms were more widely spread. So, i think the gun issue is probably the same everywhere, not just in the states. That is why i think that to allow ownership of firearm to (almost) anyone is such a bad idea. I would also add, and i’m really sorry for the cliché, that it’s time you americans overcome your “western movies issues”. Conquest of the west is over now. Just TRY to have a little faith in the people that surround you.
I know your country was carved out violent times, but that’s it, that’s over now.
From my point of view, guns are not so much the real issue for you. You have always lived surrounded by violence of any kind and it seems that even now, you can’t get read of that distrustul habit you got. I never said it would be easy, but as a people, you should aim at getting over this ‘man is a wolf to man” thing.
One of the very first line of you constitution is that you should be free to pursue hapiness. How are you going to reach that hapiness if you are so distrustfull of one another?
That is (for me) the core of the issue. Owning guns and using them is just one its expression.
To conclude, i apologise to those i may have offended with cliché stuff. Once again, i don’t want you to think that i’m full of french spite towards americans because that’s really not the case. To put it staight, what bothers me is not that it concerns americans, it is that it concerns people, whenever they come from.
Just a piece of idealism.
All this stuff going on about WWII…just thought I would point out that, IMHO, the only nation with the moral highground is the UK. We entered the war not because we were attacked but because it was the right thing to do (and as a sort of pre-emptive measure I suppose) We came out of the war with nothing…something that the (then) USSR and the USA cannot say.
As for that ill informed francophobe – if it wasnt for the French, there wouldnt BE a USA. You should be thanking them, not criticising them for being unable to withstand the massive standing army of Nazi Germany alone!
As to the gun control – people need to chill out! You are not going to change anyone’s opinion on this issue – it is WAY too ingrained in people’s psyche. Personally I believe that if you have a gun you are going to fight, whereas without one you can back down, accept the robbery (or wotever) without the situation escalating. Guns contravene standard natures law. Then again, so do most human activity.
Just chill out, live and let live, and get on topic. This isnt an Obama list……or am i missing something!
cym (142) when the #1 on the list is “buy a gun” all the ins-and-outs of gun control aren’t that off-topic.
the politics, yes. but laws, politics, and gun control are pretty much inseparable. controversial topics invite controversial comments.
also, i’m (fairly) sure jamie had no intentions of creating “an obama list.” and i know this is an internationally read site, and i’m very glad of it (see comment 96). but remember there are 300 million americans and it seems all of them have gone a little crazy since november 4th. be it with enthusiasm (predictions of an obama baby boom, see link)
http://www.newsweek.com/id/169073
or paranoia (increased hate crimes, see link)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iEyLuiVkdd-f1RM5wnoR0kF4WbvgD94FQJKG0
i was going to say that americans under age 10 probably care more about “high school musical” than the presidency, but the 2nd article references 8 and 9 years olds chanting “assassinate obama” on their school bus -and the associated press is a pretty reliable source. and the topic of guns is intimately tied to this election in the minds of many americans, so obama was going to come up (if you say i helped start is with comment 11, guilty as charged. i’m sorry, but i read the list and it was the first thing i thought of.)
so if you’re not in the states just be glad you’re -sort of- missing the madness.
i’m a constant reader of this site, and a sometimes commenter, and one of the biggest things i notice and am disappointed by is how almost every comment list turns into a fight.
say what you need to say. fine. you have opinions. so does everybody else. get over it.
i’m an american and i don’t hate anyone else simply because of the country they are from. i understand why people hate americans as a whole, but i don’t take it personally.
the reason why america is in a recession right now is because we’re out *****ing up other countries and leaving ours to rot. trillions of dollars on the war for oil, and kids don’t even have books to read in school. we are crumbling from the bottom up while big oil and the prison companies have more money than they know what to do with. things are simply ridiculous, and everyone’s too busy bickering over the color of the skin of the president to stand up and scream at the government to cut out this bull*****, quit bailing out the banks that screw over the average middle class american, stop digging ourselves into a depression for oil, and actually make america the great country it once was.
i guess what i’m trying to say is that at the end of the day, there’s government and there’s people. either the government controlls the people, or the people control the government. think about how you’d like to have it, and how it really is right now.
Oh great, depression
Luna,
Sorry I didn’t make myself clear – it was the politics (particularly Obama politics) I was referring to as being off topic. I completely agree with you as far as guns and gun control (and by proxy the american constitution and politics) are inseparable and well within debate here. I just think that dragging the President-Elect into this debate before he has made any policies or executive orders is a little foolish; wait until he makes mistakes (which he is certain to do-he is human after all) before criticising him. Even more off topic is the racist opinions of a very few on this site.
From an overseas view, I would say people have far more to be frustrated, angry and embarassed about the incumbent president rather than the incoming one. I would also say that the whole world doesnt “hate” america, we just roll our eyes at the actions and beliefs of your political elite and the zealous statements of religious fundamentalists. Frustration also comes at the (apparant) belief of americans that it must police the world. The Iraq war is war for oil not to liberate a people (not that having Hussein out of the picture is a bad thing but remember that NATO put him there in the first place)
I would say people dislike us Brits (particularly the English) just as much, and there is Zenophobia throughout the world.
For the record I enjoy a healthy debate as much as the next person, I just don’t like it when a debate descends into a slanging match with ad hominem attacks – sign of a failed argument
PS – That is the last I am going to say about Obama. I dont want to break my own rules!
Xenophobia*
cym (147) i’d say we are in complete agreement.
almost point-for-point. following my actual comments: 11. 87. 96. 105/106. 134/135 (response to bosco 120.) 143/144 (response to you.) -whew! i admit to being a bit overboard with my comment interest on this list
we are thinking along the same lines. i recently lived in south america (peru) for just over six months, and it opened my eyes to another perspective on my home country. i think that many other americans forget to see our country from an outside perspective (damn, i predict someone yelling “elitist!” on this comment, ‘though that would be weird, as i was helping indigenous people with land-title rights and agro-forestry programs, not some conspiracy to over take the world. this lead to my current interest in agriculture: tropical AND american midwestern.)
but it is admittedly the weirdest time to be an american in my 28 years, the president-elect has people freaking out! you made a very good point that we should all wait for his actual POLICY before getting so riled up, unfortunately people who base their actions on emotions, not facts, are seeming to find this very difficult to do.
anyway, back to the actual list:
if there is “An Apocalyptic Economic Collapse” (comment 104, excellent re-name) wouldn’t buying an RV not really help, as fuel is sure to be in short supply?
cym (147) according to recent polls (granted the accuracy of all polls is debatable) our yes-he’s-still-president-bush has only a 16% approval rating. so many americans might agree with your “over-seas stance” of being “frustrated, angry and embarrassed about the incumbent president”.
“..coupled with the same redneck/closeted racist/open-about-it-racist segment of society constantly muttering ..”
I didn’t write that, you did. I didn’t start the conversation labeling people. “..her southern baptist (white) farmer inlaws.” It’s really curious why you felt a need to name their religion and race if you didn’t find contempt for both. As you later relabed them right-wing social conservatives was better, social conservatives even better. God know there are now left-wing social conservatives (I apologize for using the G word I know it must “terrify” you.) You don’t know them well but know Obama instills ‘genuine fear’ and ‘terrifies’ them, uh .. ‘*****ing terrifies’ them, this from personal experience with them. An experience apparently gained from them visiting you, otherwise you wouldn’t have ‘to bet they don’t know many black people (I prefer the term African-American. Black seems so demeaning, don’t you think so too?). I live in the rural South (surprised?) my two neighbors are African-American, I haven’t shot them yet because I don’t have a firearm, and I like them. Though I doubt it’s crossed their mind as much as it has yours they may even like me despite being afflicted with whiteness (I prefer the term European-American, being of Italian descent have taken the white name of Guius Bosco Maximus Bootayous).
This is to say, who gives a ***** about your personal antidotes? They prove nothing. The words you use to describe people do. You used the wrong words. You won’t admit it even with the blatantly pejorative terms, redneck/closet-racist. Rather you rationalize. (BTW after the fact ..to me. For yourself you long ago rationalized your delusional worldview.)
Let’s see … you say .. It’s funny I assume a stereotype, but it is true! you ARE progressive/liberal (progressive = socialist for those of you playing at home) yet I’m mistaken. Hummmm… how mistaken could I have been if you agree it’s true?
Aquaponics! AND Urban Agriculture! Woot! Woot! Growing Guppies and planting the median outside the Unemployment Office. Guess you hope to marry money. J/K’ng! Wise change in majors, you would have sucked at PoliSci.
“.. reactionary sales for 9.11 or hurricane katrina. ” Had you been literate enough to have used ” after ” instead of ” for ” it wouldn’t have ‘confused’ me (of course I had to be confused for assuming (again with the assuming) what you write is what you mean, it couldn’t be you being confused for having written what you didn’t mean.)
Even so I knew what you meant but that isn’t what I was responding to.. continuing the same line ” .. that, coupled with the same redneck/closeted racist/open-about-it-racist segment … ” etc, oh and the aforementioned right-wing .. I was pointing out the murder rate for “Chocolate City” (85% African-American I believe) if prorated to a city of NYC’s size would make our two wars look like a Beverly Hills CampFire Girls meeting hosted by Goldie Hawn. Notice also I mention legal firearms were confiscated, your ‘reactionary sales’ hysteria might be in part due to the fact those weapons were NOT immediately returned despite being a violation of Constitutional Rights, and in fact, were NOT going to be returned. Eventually they were but under litigation. Given an astronomical murder rate, illegal confiscation of legal weapons, reports of city wide sniper fire during and after Katrina, looting and the failure to return legal weapons to legal owners except by litigation, do you really have to call them rednecks/racist reactionary? Give your righteousness a break, you are what you hate. Prejudiced, narrow minded, intolerant, hateful, brainwashed, worse still you THINK you aren’t these things. Queue the inevitable, na-na-so-are-you, reactionary retort!
Reactionary … a word rarely used but by Marxist and uh … oh yea “progressive/liberals” And really your attempt to explain it’s use is rather lame.
Quoting from a post made after to justify a statement made before … I don’t know … well whatever. These little stories are quite nice but really lack value outside what they are. If Obama or Bush tells a little story it has value because they are policy makers. If your cousin tells a story, and you tell it to me, or some schmo post a story it has little value outside the personal. I was living in NO when an African-Americans (which HAS to be mentioned to counter point your need to vehemently blame so called racist rednecks) walked out of the projects not three blocks from the French Quarter to make a young tourist beg on her knees for her life and shoot her through the head anyway in front of husband and family. I was there when an African-American shot a nurse as she started her car after work. I was there during a year when well over 500 people were killed, those solved or witnessed were, by a vast majority, done by African-Americans. Of those not solved were OF African-Americans usually drug related. Ya, everyone has stories, so what? Don’t use parables to make a point. Make a point and MAYBE use a parable to emphasize the point.
Since I know you are a little slow and mush brained I’ll make clear. The point above is rise above YOUR prejudices before attempting to chastise others on what you think theirs are. Because believe it or not, white/black/yellow/atheist/religious/homo/straight/etc we all are open to heavy criticisms (I mean, you know, like, besides me)
I’m not at all as confused as you would like me to be but it would help if you made an attempt at punctuation, grammar, complete sentences, coherent thoughts, you know stuff like that. Thanks!
I do get carried away … quick points to you and your bud there … 16% approval, so what? What’s Congress’s? 8%. What does that mean? Nothing because it’s been controlled by Demorats for two years.
‘base actions on emotions not facts…’ Pretty rich coming from liberals, but why quibble. Perhaps it’s not emotion so much as his history. What do you think? I mean when you do think. Lawyer and “Community Organizer” … for ACORN. Wright and Liberation Theology, the flip side to Klan theology. Ayers, white violent left-wing fanatic, neighbor, guy who wrote one of his books, sponsored him into politics, but hey, really don’t know him. The missing years at Harvard and NYC. Etc., nope, what facts that are available shouldn’t bother anyone. Just because he’s surrounded himself with the most radical people in America all his public (and possibly his private life) gives no indication about what his policies will be. MSM gives a comical take on this insisting he “will govern from the middle” Well ya, if he ignores his every political input, his own words up to now, OR the media redefines “middle” as extreme leftwing.
To your bud, NATO did NOT put Hussein in. You see this is so easily disproven one can only conclude the person stating this is throughly propagandized, stupid, or willfully lying. Only they know but if not lying I’d suggest reading any of a number of books from different sources to find out different. Hey Hussein, that names sounds familiar, humm… escapes me where …
Since all of Europe is a socialist cesspool it’s little wonder the Brit noob agrees with you.
I sure would like to figure out what Bosco & Luna 1580 are arguing about!
…but why would anyone bother to buy electronic equipment in a depression?
151. Bosco – November 17th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
What’s interesting about you, is you make long disjointed posts, whining about being labeled, while you proceed to label and use pejoratives at least once in every sentence. Not only are you a massive hypocrite, you’re arrogant and unbelievably pompous, with a big dose of BORING thrown in there for good measure. What a sad cry for attention.
Not to mention, you seem to fancy this place as a stomping ground to bloviate, belittle, and preach. Endlessly.
I don’t really think that’s what it’s meant for.
what really gets me is how Bosco says, ‘it would help if you made an attempt at punctuation, grammar, complete sentences, coherent thoughts, you know stuff like that. Thanks!’ yet i could scarcely make it through his rambling run-on paragraph without becoming confused; having to frequently re-read sentences on account of his frequency to NOT use periods, commas or semi-colons.
There’s no time for line breaks and punctuation when you’re busy spreading the “Truth”…
Bosco,
You make such a fuss about being labelled and yet you refer to me as “the Brit noob”! You are a perfect example of why there is such a negative overseas opinion of the US. There are plenty of eloquent people on this site and sadly you are not among them – I cannot figure out what you are arguing about! From what little I understand of your ramblings, you seem to be describing Obama as extreme left wing. Elaborate. 8% congress aproval rating. Sources please.
Europe is a socialist cesspool…have you BEEN to Europe?
Denmark – Right wing
France – Right wing
Iceland – Right wing
UK – centre-left (currently – will change to conservative at the next election)
Spain – currently socialist
Germany – experiencing a right wing comeback; incumbent chancellor is a member of the Christian Democratic Union
(If any of this is wrong then someone correct me. Its based on my loose knowledge and a bit of wikipedia
)
Kindly do not delude yourself that the entirety of Europe follows the same political alignment. Western Europe is vastly different from Eastern Europe. EU countries tend to differ from non EU countris You seem to be deluding yourself that you know the ins and outs of european politics…very few people do as the politics varies drastically from country to country. I hope I have not given the impression that I understand American politics – if I have then I apologise – so do not try and do the same with European politics. You are making yourself look foolish and making america look ignorant (apologies to the rest of you american guys – most of you are great!)
As to NATO instating Sadaam, I was generalising. It was mainly the CIA and his contacts with this organisation date back to the late 1950′s. CIA documents leaked to the press state that they supported actively the Ba’athist party of which sadaam was vice chair. The CIA planned the assassination attempt of Abdul Karim Qassim and when sadaam botched it they put him up in an apartment in Cairo where he was debriefed at the american embassy.
After the Baath party coup, the US resupplied Iraq with weapons, American and European companies took a firm root in the country. When sadaam userped government in 1969 both the British and Americans immediately recognised him as “the recognized heir-apparent” and “a formidable, single-minded and hard-headed member of the Ba’athist hierarchy, but one with whom, if only one could see more of him, it would be possible to do business”.
Not only do these quotes appear in government documents now released under freedom of information act, they are in newspapers and several reputable websites. If you START at wikipedia and then independently confirm the sources then all of the above is apparant!!!
Sorry for so much being off topic (I’m breaking my own rules by feeding the trollz and going off topic) but it grinds my gears when someone immediately rejects someone’s opinion without proper argument or back up.
IF you are going to reply to this, do so in a courteous manner as I have tried to do despite your insults on my person.
As an American, I am hereby disowning and disavowing Bosco.
158. cymraegbachgen87
Are you trying to tell me that the whole of Europe isn’t praising Karl Marx every morning, before having their tea and participating in their evil nationalized medicine!?
Surely you must be joking! lol
You’ve already shown a firmer grasp on reality and facts than the person you’re replying to.
Revisionists, be they left or right are a sad and scary lot. Bosco is the type of person that will tell you that Barack Obama is a super-secret muslim, part of a left-wing/marxist cabal, intent on over-turning the U.S. government and economy in an effort to take over the world!
All while ignoring the fact that the participants in these grand conspiracies need the economy to do well just like everybody else! Not to mention he seems to forget the GOP (can’t call them conservatives since they’re NOT) had a mighty hand in our (our being the U.S.) current economic situation.
Reminds me of the 9/11 “truthers” we had running around in this country, all of them insistent that George Bush and Dick Cheney personally piloted jumbo jets (via remote control, of course!) into the World Trade Center. These are also the very same people that toss the word “fascist” around while talking about George Bush.
Am I saying everything is cut and dry, and that I of all people understand the inner-workings of our world economy, or that I understand the true intentions of world leaders, or of the people that are actually pulling the strings? Of course not! I would never make such a ridiculous claim of unknowable knowledge.
Sadly, Bosco wants to do just that! Only HE (and Rush Limbaugh) know what’s ACTUALLY going on!
Truly hilarious.
If Barack Obama is a leftist, then you can just call me Queen Elizabeth!
TexasFool … er .. flood … yes, I am telling you that. No I’m not joking. IF you weren’t a clown intent on minimizing what I say with general statements and instead used your time thinking you might realize every country in Europe is indeed socialist. If you like others make such silly statements as Chairaq was a “conservative” (as was claimed at the time) then you are a greater fool than you let on.
If I wanted to tell anyone something I would tell you. Don’t claim to speak for me. Oh sorry, forgot you are liberal, you already KNOW what I think, and already KNOW what’s best for me.
9/11 ? Like Wow Duuuuuddde wtf are you talking about? Just pulling crap out of the air are we? I guess that makes sense to liberals, in your delusional world you figure you made a devastating point, even though it has nothing to do what has gone before.
Any reference to my perfection was an attempt at self depreciating irony. You should have been able to recognized it as a little humor.
Finally. I don’t know why I replied to this. Ignorance such as yours can’t be argued with. See ya Queenie.
TexasFlood,
The First or the Second? Cate Blanchett or Helen Mirren?
Your maj…
(Er. Just anticipating the all-seeing, all-knowing Bosco.)
Who is Chairaq? You havent addressed any of my points suggesting that you cannot. please give evidence for your assumption that europe is socialist – I have already done that above! It seems you are pulling your assumptions out of the air.
I don’t know why I am feeding this troll. Ignorance like his cannot be argued with
Curses, too late, foiled again … Pipped at the post.
“TexasFool”
” don’t know why I replied to this. Ignorance such as yours can’t be argued with”
LV wisdom standards: Resort to childish, unwitty ad hominem abuse and you’ve lost in everyone’s eyes bar your own … Boast emptily of your own superiority over your opponent and you’ve finally pulled the chain on yourself.
Bon voyage, as they say in socialist Europe.
161. Bosco – November 18th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Who in the world is “Chairaq”?
Who in the world said I was a liberal? I know I certainly didn’t. Which makes sense, since I’m NOT. The devil is in the details!
It’s sad that the only response you can come up with is ad hominem bullsh*t. Makes a fine statement about the quality of education in America. Would you care to cry some more about being labeled while you toss them about, all willy nilly, with NO regard for what they actually mean?
Tell you what, you spend a couple days working on your spelling, reading comprehension, punctuation, and throw a little cohesion into your ramblings, we can continue talking.
For the time being, you sound like a *****ually frustrated high school kid, frothing at the mouth as you run from message board, to blog, to comments section, spreading the “truth”.
Grow up, read a book, and cut the name calling.
lol
162. Anon – November 18th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I fancy myself more as the Judi Dench incarnation.
Poor Bosco, his exhibition of his various psychoses is truly startling.
The best part is, I mentioned Bosco, a total of TWO times in my entire original post, and he felt the need to take it personally, even though I was responding directly to cymraegbachgen87.
The lady doth protest too much, eh?
For Bosco:
run-on sentence
n : an ungrammatical sentence in which two or more independent clauses are conjoined without a conjunction
Just thought it would help out in your quest for grammatical perfection!
TexasFlood, (167),
“I fancy myself more as the Judi Dench incarnation.”
Ah. You’ll never know how close I came to offering the *Great Dame* (not a Bosco misspelling!) as an alternative alongside Ms Blanchett.
I know. You secretly harbour fantasies about being M, controlling 007, and sending him after Bosco, don’t you?
Fantasies….I am M
Stockpile Drugs – Brilliant esp coke
Stockpile Beer/Tequila
what about *****es? you really gonna be depressed if you ain’t gettin none.
You forgot to add “Move back in with the folks”
Do you know what I find the saddest of all about the entire Bosco fiasco?
His choice of nick!
He has blasphemed the name of my favorite childhood cartoon!
Not sure I agree with the coke…but as for the beer – Amen!
cymraegbachgen87 – what I was rambling about was in reply to luna’s mishmash of crap. You’d have to … do whatever to figure it out. I doubt you care, and I don’t care if you do or not. I know it makes sense in that context so wtf.
Yes I did call you Noob (you called yourself Brit) did it bother you? Uh huh, it’s all so very nice for lib’s to use rednecks etc as a curse but Noob? or whatever term offends them. Well that’s different. Maybe that was my point.
Yes I have been to Europe. Yes Obama is extreme leftwing. Yes all of Europe is socialist. No I don’t know the intricacies Euro politics. Yet I know Euro “rightwing” is still extreme leftwing here despite how it’s labeled there. Before Texasfool jumps in with some moronic statement proclaiming his gayness historically, in the American context, Obama IS extremely leftwing, Euro is socialist.
CIA’s contacts with Saddam were few, and superficial. They certainly had little to do with installing him in office. His own ruthlessness worked quite well. When assigning blame for conditions in the ME, Brits, French, and other Euro colonizers have long been involved with screwing up. Who armed Saddam ? Come on guy, give it a rest. Russian planes, tanks, and small arms. French helo’s and jets. German bunkers and chem’s. Rockets, French weren’t they? or Russian, doesn’t matter, wasn’t American. We gave them selected sat data in their war with Iran, didn’t seem like a good idea to let them win.
Everyone recognizes the Castro government despite his bloody ascension. Examples are endless. So what? No one has high moral ground on it. Libs are just better at pretending they do.
cymraegbachgen87 – sorry to keep you, I haven’t been breathlessly waiting for any possible posting by you. This is the slow class? Chirac = Chiraq because of his deep involvement and relationship with Saddam over the decades. And of course, French OIL companies huge contracts with Iraq, supplying them with weapons, intelligence, working for them in the UN, bag holding their money.
TexasFool – Gosh now you’ve made me feel bad. Sorry I got under your thin skin. Had I know you were so sensitive I’d have let my 3 year old talk to you. She makes things up also.
Ummmm : Thanks for the attention. Sorry you can’t keep up. At least you didn’t stoop to my level and call people names, you are kinda my hero now. Doesn’t matter what you think it’s for.
Lark : Attempt is the keyword. Fantasy Island Queen claims to the contrary I never suggested I sought or thought I had achieved perfection.
TexasFool : you referred to me four times. Except for two mysterious paragraphs about 911 and world economy, the rest was about me. Lying isn’t good for your Karma.
http://www.thebulletin.us/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2737&dept_id=576361&newsid=19839570
to whoever asked .. Congressional approval rating in July 08 = 09%. So shoot me for being one off.
Unfortunately, I can only find indirect references, not the poll itself. Rasmussen has a premium side where the actually poll is likely archived to. Still there are plenty of references to it including this example.
Look out there`s a mean British nanny lurking about ready to straighten you lads out,and spew clever anecdotes.
170. Anon – November 18th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
lol
I don’t think executing the illiterate is worth the taxpayer dollar.
Bosco’s true punishment will come in the form of having to live through the rest of his smarmy, childish existence.
I can’t think of much worse to do to him, other than having him spend the next 30 or 40 years of his bitter life, masturbating his ego on the internet. Although his ego probably isn’t the only thing that’s being *****d during Bosco’s internet “alone time”.
176. Bosco – November 18th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
“TexasFool : you referred to me four times. Except for two mysterious paragraphs about 911 and world economy, the rest was about me. Lying isn’t good for your Karma.”
The arrogance is astounding!
Look through the post you simpleton. Your name is there TWICE. “2″ is the number that comes after “1″, if you’re having a hard time keeping up.
You have failed in every aspect possible to look even the slightest bit intelligent or knowledgeable. Everything you say from here on out just digs your hole of ignorance deeper.
Now, child, would you like to tell me how I’m a liberal again?
TexasFool : I can’t help you. You wrote the crap and pretend you don’t know what you wrote. You mentioned my nick twice, and referred to me twice more. 2 + 2 = 4. You do have trouble counting eh? Lying doesn’t get better with repetition.