Bankruptcies

Originally Posted by ChildhoodDream

I have noticed that business bankruptcies are on the rise. That means that more jobs for the unskilled and slightly skilled are being lost.

The "skilled" can most times move on to another job or have a back up plan.

I bring this up as in the past when the job market was low on jobs the powers that be will have some "fix it" plan like when the small farmers were going under the fix was to make them truck drivers or members of the clergy.

What sort of plan do you think is in the works as there are plenty of people out of work and all the more every day.

The military might be in the plans as war makes the rich all the richer.

Kennedy was replaced by a person that helped change the ways that the war machine was paid.

What's ahead?

Communism

You covered a lot of territory in your first post CD. As nearly as i can tell ... we are in the earlier stage of what they call an inflationary recession. I've known this has been coming for a few years now. The economic pattern is the same as the events that led up to The Great Recession of 2007-2008.

You should start to see a lot of smaller / weaker businesses closing their doors or going bankrupt. You gotta think about the hierarchy of needs. When money starts to get tight .... people focus their spending on the essentials like food, water, medical, transportation, shelter, energy, and so on. These are the " must haves ". Things like restaurants, party supply stores, arts & crafts stores ? These things do well enough when times are good and there's plenty of money around but quickly fall by the wayside when times are lean.

Unemployment is pretty low right now. In fact .... there are far more job vacancies than there are people to fill them. There's a real shortage of commercial truck drivers and tradesmen these days. That will change in a few years. If it gets bad enough ... you might have to have a college degree to get a job down at the local filling station pumping gas. We've been there before back during the Great Depression of the 1930's.

The government ... if it's going to do anything at all ... will probably create public works job programs like it did during the 1930's and the economic crisis of the 1970's.

Gotta disagree with Alloy though. He's Canadian living in a socialist country ... doesn't know how the U.S. works.

If past patterns hold .... the U.S. will take a sharp turn to the political right when money gets tight and living gets hard. The sheeple will be looking for conservative,business minded, fiscally responsible leadership in the next election cycle.

It's not just here in the states. People in countries all over the world do the same thing. Given that over 60 countries have major elections scheduled this year .... there may be a major global paradigm shift in 2024.

Next stop on the misery train will likely be WW3 within the next 2 - 5 years. The flashpoint to set it all in motion could happen in Ukraine, somewhere around Israel in the Middle East, maybe the Strait of Hormuz, or the Chinese may start getting froggy in the South China sea.

Well ... there you go. I hope we revisit some of the old threads in a few years, look back on this post, and say " whew .... hills got that one all wrong ! "

Originally Posted by ChildhoodDream

The "skilled" can most times move on to another job or have a back up plan.

The last time around i recommended that people " recession proof " their jobs. You want to look to put yourself into a job that is necessary even during the bad times. People have to eat so being a clerk at the grocery store might be a secure job. People have to poop so a job working at a wastewater treatment would be a secure job.There are all kinds of necessary jobs.

The main thing is don't be looking for the guvmin't or anyone else to be doing what you ought to be doing for yourself. A strong work ethic and a positive mental attitude is your best friend during the worst of times. You can not only survive but prosper while everyone else is waiting in the unemployment line.

This time around is a little different. I would also strongly recommend that anyone living on a fixed income like Social Security or disability pick up a part time job to make ends meet. The cost of living will go up much faster than your monthly allotment. If you don't figure out a way to stay ahead of it .... you may end up eating cat food or scrounging roadkill for something to eat.

Originally Posted by ChildhoodDream

I have a good idea of HOW this world runs and WHO runs it.

the ones your not allowed to talk about or criticize.

Originally Posted by greytruck

the ones your not allowed to talk about or criticize.

Again ... awfully vague & mysterious talk there hoss. Magical thinking ?

If someone is sitting there as king of the world .... it's terribly hard to imagine that anything some commoner has to say is of the least bit importance. Let em' run their mouth. It's no threat to the king's power.

People like ourselves ... people who work for a living ... we really don't matter much in the grand scheme of things. Don't know about you but i'm fine with things being that way. I wouldn't want to be king.

Originally Posted by ChildhoodDream

Your santa clause and easter bunny thinking is blinding you to the bigger truths.

simply put.

Okay ... so you are saying it's a conspiracy between Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny to blind everyone to the truth and take over the world ?

Originally Posted by hills

Again ... awfully vague & mysterious talk there hoss. Magical thinking ?

If someone is sitting there as king of the world .... it's terribly hard to imagine that anything some commoner has to say is of the least bit importance. Let em' run their mouth. It's no threat to the king's power.

People like ourselves ... people who work for a living ... we really don't matter much in the grand scheme of things. Don't know about you but i'm fine with things being that way. I wouldn't want to be king.

Well what country does most of our "elected" government have dual citizenship too? https://www.bing.com/images/search?v...A9aQwfPPQHaHc&

I'm a student of human nature as well. I go out there in the everyday world and work with all different kinds of people while i'm serving my community. You learn a lot that way. The pickers down on the metals pile are especially fascinating to watch. They are my own kind. Sometimes you can learn a lot about yourself by watching other people who are like you.

From some .... you learn better ways of doing things. From others .... you learn what not to do.

Love what you are doing and you will never work a day in your life.

I try to be choosy about what i bring home as well. My greatest weakness is tools. I was in the trades for over 30 years so they have a special meaning for me. The thing is that i'm to an age now that i don't do very much of that kind of work anymore. If there's a tool that hasn't been used in a few years ... it really should be sold or given away to someone that can put it to use. It's hard to part with old friends. They have sentimental value.

In my world ... the tools come to me. I don't have to pay for them.

I had a slow day awhile back. Was cleaning up a few of the dump finds and discovered the engraving on a hatchet. It said " Genuine Plumb " " Boy Scouts of America ". I don't really have a use for it so i'll probably put it out in the "free for the taking" building at work.

I'm sure it will find a good home ... just not in my shop.

It's a little different for me. I worked with them in the trades for decades ... you see ? I learned early on as an apprentice ... that you can't do the job if you don't have the tool.

To give you an example : There are a lot of specialty tools for doing mechanic work. A fulla i know ... a clam digger by occupation was doing some work around the high pressure fuel rail on his Ford pickup truck. He didn't have the right tool to disconnect it so he made due with what he had. He eventually got the job done but it wasn't done right. He started the truck up , gasoline sprayed onto a hot exhaust manifold , and his truck burned to the ground. No more truck.

He would have been better off to just go by the correct tool for the job. It would have paid for itself the first time he used it.

The other thing is having modern tools in good working order. They're what i think of as being force multipliers. I put a bunch of axes and bow saws that were in perfectly good condition out in the "free for the taking building " yesterday. They were tools that you had to have for cutting wood for your wood stove 100 years ago. Nowadays ... people use chain saws and log splitters to do that job. They are much safer and you can do the job 20 times faster.

That's the big mistake that i see with scrappers down picking the metals pile. They don't invest in the right tools for their trade. Gawd ... they struggle so. It takes them an hour to do a job that could be done in a few minutes if they only had the right tool. It makes a big difference on how much they can bring in to the scale at the yard but they don't see it.

The right tool will pay for itself in no time.