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Image | Carolyn Baker: Emotional Resilience Is Essential in Turbulent Times by Adam Taggart
Carolyn Baker: Emotional Resilience Is Essential in Turbulent Times
 by Adam Taggart

Carolyn Baker, therapist and prominent advocate for culturing emotional preparedness in times of transition, looks to the future and sees a great many people at risk of unprecedented loss. Loss of jobs, loss of lifestyle, loss of wealth, loss of relationships – and quite possibly loss of life – as society becomes increasingly traumatized by secular economic slowdown and growing resource scarcity.

I have watched the Crash Course several times. So this is already happening dramatically and far more rapidly than anyone could have anticipated. Peak Oil, the end of money as we know it, escalating climate change – all of these will temper everything we do. This is the new normal, and there is no going back to the "old" normal. These drastic and daunting changes will invariably and unequivocally invoke enormous emotional responses in people, as they already are, in terms of fear, panic, anger, depression, despair, and in many cases off-the-charts addictions and suicides.     

But Carolyn also sees unprecedented opportunity ahead for those who are mentally and emotionally prepared to meet the coming future.

What will determine who prospers and who doesn't? In her professional opinion, two things: meaning and purpose.

 

Carolyn Baker, therapist and prominent advocate for culturing emotional preparedness in times of transition, looks to the future and sees a great many people at risk of unprecedented loss. Loss of jobs, loss of lifestyle, loss of wealth, loss of relationships – and quite possibly loss of life – as society becomes increasingly traumatized by secular economic slowdown and growing resource scarcity.

I have watched the Crash Course several times. So this is already happening dramatically and far more rapidly than anyone could have anticipated. Peak Oil, the end of money as we know it, escalating climate change – all of these will temper everything we do. This is the new normal, and there is no going back to the "old" normal. These drastic and daunting changes will invariably and unequivocally invoke enormous emotional responses in people, as they already are, in terms of fear, panic, anger, depression, despair, and in many cases off-the-charts addictions and suicides.     

But Carolyn also sees unprecedented opportunity ahead for those who are mentally and emotionally prepared to meet the coming future.

What will determine who prospers and who doesn't? In her professional opinion, two things: meaning and purpose.

 

Image | Rob Hopkins: Making the Red Pill Taste Good by Adam Taggart
Rob Hopkins: Making the Red Pill Taste Good
 by Adam Taggart

Rob Hopkins is a true pioneer of the movement to intelligently prepare and adapt society for entering a post-Peak-Oil future. His brainchild, Transition Towns, has been one of the most successful initiatives to date in inspiring hundreds of cities, towns, and communities around the globe towards using local cooperation and interdependence to shrink their ecological footprints.  

Many readers on our site lament the inertia or hostility we all frequently encounter when trying to 'wake up' family, friends, and neighbors to the warning bells we see on the economic, energy, and environmental fronts. Chris and I often get asked for advice on how to make the red pill 'tasty' for the uninitiated. So we look at the success Rob's model is having at spurring individuals and communities to action, and ask him: What's your secret?

In short, it's about making Transition feel "more like a party than a protest march." Make it personal to the participants. Focus on celebrating the local benefits and empowerment it produces. As Rob says, the core Transition principles are "not about taking people back to something worse than today; they are a step forward. They are about building resilience, bringing people together, giving them the sense that anything is possible in such a way that everybody benefits."

 

Rob Hopkins is a true pioneer of the movement to intelligently prepare and adapt society for entering a post-Peak-Oil future. His brainchild, Transition Towns, has been one of the most successful initiatives to date in inspiring hundreds of cities, towns, and communities around the globe towards using local cooperation and interdependence to shrink their ecological footprints.  

Many readers on our site lament the inertia or hostility we all frequently encounter when trying to 'wake up' family, friends, and neighbors to the warning bells we see on the economic, energy, and environmental fronts. Chris and I often get asked for advice on how to make the red pill 'tasty' for the uninitiated. So we look at the success Rob's model is having at spurring individuals and communities to action, and ask him: What's your secret?

In short, it's about making Transition feel "more like a party than a protest march." Make it personal to the participants. Focus on celebrating the local benefits and empowerment it produces. As Rob says, the core Transition principles are "not about taking people back to something worse than today; they are a step forward. They are about building resilience, bringing people together, giving them the sense that anything is possible in such a way that everybody benefits."

 
Image | Nate Hagens: We’re Not Facing a Shortage of Energy, But a Longage of Expectations by Adam Taggart
Nate Hagens: We’re Not Facing a Shortage of Energy, But a Longage of Expectations
 by Adam Taggart

 

This week's interview is one of the most important discussions we've had to date on energy, its supply/demand dynamics, and the tremendous impact it has on our economic and social identity. It is clear now that we are staring at a future of declining output at a time when the world is demanding an ever-increasing amount. 

Nate Hagens, former editor of the respected energy blog, The Oil Drum, gives a fact-packed update on where we are on the Peak Oil timeline. But interestingly, he explains how he sees the core issue as less about the actual amount of energy available to the world and more about our assumptions about how much we really need:

"We’re not really facing a shortage of energy; we’re facing a longage of expectations. And the sooner that we as individuals or a nation recognize that the future is going to see much lower consumption than today and prepare for that, psychological resilience is going to be really important, because if no one is psychologically prepared, people are going to freak out when some of these freedoms start to go away.

 

 

This week's interview is one of the most important discussions we've had to date on energy, its supply/demand dynamics, and the tremendous impact it has on our economic and social identity. It is clear now that we are staring at a future of declining output at a time when the world is demanding an ever-increasing amount. 

Nate Hagens, former editor of the respected energy blog, The Oil Drum, gives a fact-packed update on where we are on the Peak Oil timeline. But interestingly, he explains how he sees the core issue as less about the actual amount of energy available to the world and more about our assumptions about how much we really need:

"We’re not really facing a shortage of energy; we’re facing a longage of expectations. And the sooner that we as individuals or a nation recognize that the future is going to see much lower consumption than today and prepare for that, psychological resilience is going to be really important, because if no one is psychologically prepared, people are going to freak out when some of these freedoms start to go away.

 

Image | The Screaming Fundamentals For Owning Gold And Silver by Chris Martenson
The Screaming Fundamentals For Owning Gold And Silver
 by Chris Martenson

This report lays out an investment thesis for gold and one for silver.  Various factors lead me to conclude that gold is one investment that you can park for the next ten or twenty years, confident that it will perform well. My timing and logic for both entering and finally exiting gold (and silver) as investments are laid out in the full report.

The punch line is this: Gold and silver are not (yet) in bubble territory, and large gains remain, especially if monetary, fiscal, and fundamental supply-and-demand trends remain in play.

Introduction

In 2001, as the painful end of the long stock bull market finally seeped into my consciousness, I began to grow quite concerned about my traditional stock and bond holdings. Other than a house with 27 years left on a 30 year mortgage, these holdings represented 100% of my investing portfolio. So I dug into the economic data to see what I could discover. What I found shocked me. It's all in the Crash Course in both video and book form, so I won't go into that data here.

By 2002, I had investigated enough about our monetary, economic, and political systems that I decided that holding gold and silver would be a very good idea, poured 50% of my liquid net worth into precious metals, and sat back and watched.

Since then, my appreciation for and understanding of the role of gold as a monetary asset and silver as an indispensable industrial metal have deepened considerably.

Investing in gold and silver is still a good idea. Here's why.

Why own gold and silver?

The reasons to hold gold and silver, and I mean physical gold and silver, are pretty straightforward. So let’s begin with the primary reasons to own gold.

 

This report lays out an investment thesis for gold and one for silver.  Various factors lead me to conclude that gold is one investment that you can park for the next ten or twenty years, confident that it will perform well. My timing and logic for both entering and finally exiting gold (and silver) as investments are laid out in the full report.

The punch line is this: Gold and silver are not (yet) in bubble territory, and large gains remain, especially if monetary, fiscal, and fundamental supply-and-demand trends remain in play.

Introduction

In 2001, as the painful end of the long stock bull market finally seeped into my consciousness, I began to grow quite concerned about my traditional stock and bond holdings. Other than a house with 27 years left on a 30 year mortgage, these holdings represented 100% of my investing portfolio. So I dug into the economic data to see what I could discover. What I found shocked me. It's all in the Crash Course in both video and book form, so I won't go into that data here.

By 2002, I had investigated enough about our monetary, economic, and political systems that I decided that holding gold and silver would be a very good idea, poured 50% of my liquid net worth into precious metals, and sat back and watched.

Since then, my appreciation for and understanding of the role of gold as a monetary asset and silver as an indispensable industrial metal have deepened considerably.

Investing in gold and silver is still a good idea. Here's why.

Why own gold and silver?

The reasons to hold gold and silver, and I mean physical gold and silver, are pretty straightforward. So let’s begin with the primary reasons to own gold.

 

Image | Understanding The Endgame by Chris Martenson
Understanding The Endgame
 by Chris Martenson

Understanding The Endgame

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Executive Summary

  • Greece as a case-study in sovereign debt collapse
  • Why peak oil assures we will not be able to pay our debts
  • Understanding the dynamics of a future of less/no growth
  • Steps we as individuals need to be taking in preparation
  • How to preserve purchasing power during the coming market rout

Part I – Death by Debt

If you have not yet read Part I, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

Part II – Understanding The Endgame

How might the end game for a debt crisis play out?  We need look no further than one of the PIIGS for our answers.

Greece

Greece is in immediate danger of defaulting on its sovereign debt.  As one of the charts in Part I makes clear, the pain of such a default will land primarily on German, French, and UK banks.  Sure, they can probably kick the can down the road a bit longer, but it won’t change anything. 

The levels of Greek sovereign debt alone are far beyond anything that can reasonably be repaid, even under very aggressive growth scenarios.

Understanding The Endgame

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Executive Summary

  • Greece as a case-study in sovereign debt collapse
  • Why peak oil assures we will not be able to pay our debts
  • Understanding the dynamics of a future of less/no growth
  • Steps we as individuals need to be taking in preparation
  • How to preserve purchasing power during the coming market rout

Part I – Death by Debt

If you have not yet read Part I, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

Part II – Understanding The Endgame

How might the end game for a debt crisis play out?  We need look no further than one of the PIIGS for our answers.

Greece

Greece is in immediate danger of defaulting on its sovereign debt.  As one of the charts in Part I makes clear, the pain of such a default will land primarily on German, French, and UK banks.  Sure, they can probably kick the can down the road a bit longer, but it won’t change anything. 

The levels of Greek sovereign debt alone are far beyond anything that can reasonably be repaid, even under very aggressive growth scenarios.

Image | Are You Middle Class? by Poet
Are You Middle Class?
 by Poet

height=This post appeared earlier today in our Forums. We've elevated it here because we think it a useful exercise for the CM.com community to engage in. How realistic is the dream of financial self-sufficiency for today's society?

Are you middle class? Surprisingly, most people who think they are middle class, are not middle class.

Being middle class is being able to afford what most would expect a middle class family of 4 or 5 can afford:

 

height=This post appeared earlier today in our Forums. We've elevated it here because we think it a useful exercise for the CM.com community to engage in. How realistic is the dream of financial self-sufficiency for today's society?

Are you middle class? Surprisingly, most people who think they are middle class, are not middle class.

Being middle class is being able to afford what most would expect a middle class family of 4 or 5 can afford:

 

Image | Robert McFarlane: Open Fuel Standards Are Critical to Fighting the Peak Oil Catastrophe by Chris Martenson
Robert McFarlane: Open Fuel Standards Are Critical to Fighting the Peak Oil Catastrophe
 by Chris Martenson

"Well, I wish I had a more hopeful answer for you. You've nailed it. We really are very likely to face either a disruption violently [by terrorism] or a political decision by OPEC to change the price of oil to $200 to $300 per barrel and literally destroy the global economy."

So predicts Robert McFarlane in today's interview, which focuses on current U.S. energy policy and the risks it faces. Mr. McFarlane's many decades of public and private service in both the Middle East and global energy markets make him uniquely qualified to opine on the merits (or lack thereof) of the energy strategy that the U.S. is pursuing.

He sees the U.S. as committed to a foolish "monopoly-fuel" system that leaves it dependent upon and dangerously vulnerable to the actions of external players, including those hostile to U.S. interests. And as the impacts of Peak Oil begin to be felt, he believes it is a near certainty that our country – along with the global economy – will experience great shocks which we have no plans currently in place to address sufficiently. The solution lies in creating a viable market for alternative fuels, which is in our power to do, provided we can muster the political and civic will. And do so quickly.

"Well, I wish I had a more hopeful answer for you. You've nailed it. We really are very likely to face either a disruption violently [by terrorism] or a political decision by OPEC to change the price of oil to $200 to $300 per barrel and literally destroy the global economy."

So predicts Robert McFarlane in today's interview, which focuses on current U.S. energy policy and the risks it faces. Mr. McFarlane's many decades of public and private service in both the Middle East and global energy markets make him uniquely qualified to opine on the merits (or lack thereof) of the energy strategy that the U.S. is pursuing.

He sees the U.S. as committed to a foolish "monopoly-fuel" system that leaves it dependent upon and dangerously vulnerable to the actions of external players, including those hostile to U.S. interests. And as the impacts of Peak Oil begin to be felt, he believes it is a near certainty that our country – along with the global economy – will experience great shocks which we have no plans currently in place to address sufficiently. The solution lies in creating a viable market for alternative fuels, which is in our power to do, provided we can muster the political and civic will. And do so quickly.
Image | Obama’s Budget is a Fantastic Comedy by Chris Martenson
Obama’s Budget is a Fantastic Comedy
 by Chris Martenson

Fantasy or comedy?  I couldn’t decide which way to label the Obama budget, so I went with both.

The bottom line is that the Obama administration has brought forth the most unbelievable revenue increase that I have ever seen proposed in a budget, a whopping 65% increase in revenues in just four years, which will – miracle of miracles – drop the deficit as a percent of GDP from nearly 11% to just 3.2% over those same four years.

The only problem with this scenario is that it stands virtually no chance of actually happening. Revenue will be far lower than projected and the deficit correspondingly higher.

Fantasy or comedy?  I couldn’t decide which way to label the Obama budget, so I went with both.

The bottom line is that the Obama administration has brought forth the most unbelievable revenue increase that I have ever seen proposed in a budget, a whopping 65% increase in revenues in just four years, which will – miracle of miracles – drop the deficit as a percent of GDP from nearly 11% to just 3.2% over those same four years.

The only problem with this scenario is that it stands virtually no chance of actually happening. Revenue will be far lower than projected and the deficit correspondingly higher.

Image | Inflation Is So Much Worse Than We’re Told (Full Report) by Chris Martenson
Inflation Is So Much Worse Than We’re Told (Full Report)
 by Chris Martenson

Inflation Is So Much Worse Than We’re Told

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Executive Summary

  • Why inflation is several percent higher than claimed
  • The criticality of correctly weighting the CPI & how the current methodology is flawed
    • Case study using healthcare, one of the largest victims of underweighting in today’s CPI
  • Why the Fed (erroneously) sees deflation and is making dangerously-flawed policy decisions as a result
  • The 8-steps that will signal our progression into an inflation-induced financial crisis in the US
  • Recommendations for preserving the purchasing power of your assets 
Full Report (for enrolled members only)

Provides a much deeper dive into the CPI, its flawed methodology, the likely implications of understating inflation, and strategies for individual investors than available in the public-only article. If you are a looking to protect the purchasing power of your current wealth, it’s important to understand the stealth tax your assets currently exposed to from the erroneously-low reported inflation rate.

Inflation Is So Much Worse Than We’re Told

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Executive Summary

  • Why inflation is several percent higher than claimed
  • The criticality of correctly weighting the CPI & how the current methodology is flawed
    • Case study using healthcare, one of the largest victims of underweighting in today’s CPI
  • Why the Fed (erroneously) sees deflation and is making dangerously-flawed policy decisions as a result
  • The 8-steps that will signal our progression into an inflation-induced financial crisis in the US
  • Recommendations for preserving the purchasing power of your assets 
Full Report (for enrolled members only)

Provides a much deeper dive into the CPI, its flawed methodology, the likely implications of understating inflation, and strategies for individual investors than available in the public-only article. If you are a looking to protect the purchasing power of your current wealth, it’s important to understand the stealth tax your assets currently exposed to from the erroneously-low reported inflation rate.

Image | Woodworking by bklement
Woodworking
 by bklement

I grew up in a house in rural central Wisconsin that didn’t have central air. My father started woodworking when he was a teenager in his parents’ basement. So after he moved out and got married, he started acquiring the tools for his own woodworking shop that resided in the basement. My father has been building furniture and cabinets for people for as long as I can remember. My mother is a wood carver who has won several awards at the International Woodcarver’s Congress. So to avoid the heat on those hot summer days, I headed down to the cool basement and there started on my woodworking education. 

 

I grew up in a house in rural central Wisconsin that didn’t have central air. My father started woodworking when he was a teenager in his parents’ basement. So after he moved out and got married, he started acquiring the tools for his own woodworking shop that resided in the basement. My father has been building furniture and cabinets for people for as long as I can remember. My mother is a wood carver who has won several awards at the International Woodcarver’s Congress. So to avoid the heat on those hot summer days, I headed down to the cool basement and there started on my woodworking education. 

 
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