In the last podcast (See info below) we were talking about what a societal collapse would look like. While it seems like this would be something too far fetched to even remotely consider it, if that’s your viewpoint, you need to rethink that. There are places in America where this is happening right now.
On Spet 14th, 2010, http://www2.macleans.ca had an article by Luiza Ch. Savage entitled, “Third world America” and it’s something that you should read. It explains how America is moving backwards because of the economic crisis.
“What?” you say, “The recession is over, we heard it on the news. Things are getting better, we’re having a jobless recovery!” For those of you that are thinking that, I have a river to sell you in Phoenix.
In the podcast, I described a societal collapse as a breakdown and lack of basic social services and that these would be instigated by the budget crisis that is afflicting many of the cities, towns, counties and states in the USA. As the budgets for these governments continues to shrink, leaders will be forced to make cut-backs in critical services, some because they have nothing else to cut and other will do so because they refuse to cut their precious social programs.
These cut-backs will manifest themselves as less services available for residents. Some of these cut-backs are merely an inconvenience, like cutting back library hours, but others have much greater impacts. When services like police and fire fighting are reduced, there is an increased likelihood that people will suffer greater loss, to include death. Even the seemingly mundane reduction in snow removal could prevent access to critical services (think ambulances that can’t get to people that need them).
While you may not be seeing reductions in service in your community, be assured that it is happening around you, and it’s only a matter of time before you will be directly affected.
The most egregious of these is the reduction of police forces. The thin blue line is already too thin during normal times, but now that they are being cut-back, in some cases to that not much more than a skeleton staffing level, it’s only a matter of time before the criminal elements take advantage of this.
Here is a partial list of services being cut across the country:
- Police – to the point where there are no patrols
- Fire departments – closing down fire stations
- Converting paved roads back to gravel
- Trash collection
- Snow removal
- Filling potholes
- Picking up litter
- Turning off street lights
- Bus service
- Library hours
- Class sizes increasing, laying off teachers
- Cutting the school day or the school week or the school year
- Local governments will eliminate roughly half a million employees in the next fiscal year
- 63 per cent of localities are cutting back on public safety and 60 per cent are cutting public works
- Privatization of government resources – this changes employee benefits (they get less, not more)
I highly recommend that you read this article and adjust your preparedness plan accordingly.
Rob
