The Purpose: I really DO have a point to make...

     When does a hobby become a passion? Where's the line between "stuff I like" and "I gotta check on this; give me a couple hours, okay?" Somewhere around 2002, I realized that just about EVERYONE where I lived - at the time, Arizona - that had any business owning a home, had one.  Sometimes two.  It occurred to me that the situation was unsustainable.  Turns out it was, but I didn't know that then.  I sensed imminent doom and misery... I sensed a crash in the markets, but I was painfully ignorant of the markets.
     I knew that our economy was over-heated... I knew the Baby Boomers were going to start retiring soon... I just didn't know when...I had heard of a little piece of legislation called ERISA, but didn't really understand it fully.


     I started studying.
     And studying.


     What it all boiled down to... and it takes a LOT of boiling... is a slowly crystallizing vision of what's coming for us here in the USA, and what part you yourselves may have to play in our future.  I created this blog as a warning bell.  Here is what it is NOT:

• I am not that smart; articulate, yes, but not that bright in the big scheme of things; everything I write here is a distillation - with credit to the truly smart people - of all the time I spend studying.
• I am NOT a fear-mongerer; although I AM afraid for our future, I don't write this so you will lose sleep.  I want you to know how big the train is behind that "light at the end of the tunnel", and be as prepared as you, and your families, can be.
• I am NOT anti-goobermint, pro-Tea Party... ready to paint my face the colors of the flag while Sarah and her atavistic minions dance around piles of burning books. We NEED government; we NEED leadership; we NEED basic infrastructural services and maintenance. We pay taxes to make this happen.  I am NOT anti-taxation. 

     So, here's a preview of what I'm attempting to do: I will warn you now that I AM a 'prepper': someone who believes that infrastructure is fragile and breaking, and that while it won't be the "end of days", there may come a time when that garden you built in your backyard may save you and yours.  And, yes, I believe we may come to a time, not too far down the road, when the people around you are hungry and lost enough to come after you, if you haven't built up agreement and cooperation around your neighborhood.  If these things make your eyes glaze over, don't waste your time reading this blog; it'll give you a headache.


     I am also trying to help you develop, through my posts and your comments, a cogent sense of how we got to where we are, why your - and my - standard of living keeps going down, why you and I are going to need to be much more self-reliant than our parents, and what may lie ahead as we grind our way through this incredible, and scary, time.


     The final "brick in the wall" that brought this blog about: Title insurance companies are refusing to insure titles in residential real estate.  As of this date.  Check for the article on zerohedge.com; they are also on my reading list daily.  More on that in another post.


     So, I've got a lot to get up here... and I'm looking forward to helping you protect yourselves and your loved ones.  Above all, I want my friends and loved ones to be safe and happy.  I wish the same for you and yours.


Brutal Truth