Occupation Forces

First of all, my apologies for not updating this blog in a timelier manner. I got involved in a political campaign along with my other commitments, and there just wasn’t time to do everything. I hope to return to a schedule of a post per week, plus two reposts from the other two blogs for which I write. So on to this week’s post:

Anyone that has the least exposure to any news outlet cannot have failed to notice the ongoing Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. Whether you applaud or revile the people doing the protesting, it is worth looking at these protests as a strong indicator. But indicators of what exactly?

The first thing it indicates is that many, many people believe that the world’s financial system is not only badly slanted against the ordinary person and in favour of corporations and those people on the inside of the financial system, but also that they believe the system is broken and needs a huge overhaul. Again, it is not an issue of whether you believe them right or wrong, but what it means to you.

The most likely result is continued instability in the financial system over the short to medium term. Again, I can only urge what I’ve been urging all along: Get your butt out of debt, minimize the vulnerability of your investments and make sure you have a reserve of cash or other medium of exchange for tough times. And keep preparing.

Keep preparing for what though? Well, I really dislike the look of the financial system in the long term. There is good reason, at least in my opinion, to think that we are going to have a lot of difficulty in avoiding a deep recession or depression that is very wide ranging, perhaps even worldwide in its effects. That is going to lead to a degree of instability that may have serious effects on some countries.

Am I talking about some sort of Rawlesian apocalypse? Very unlikely, but I believe that there is a lot of hardship to come, and those that are prepared for it will come out the other end in far better shape than those that failed to prepare financially and materially.

However, it is also worth noting that the protests are also an indicator of a deep rooted, simmering anger felt by people in our society. As the financial markets have lurched from one bubble (scam?) to another over the last 30 or so years (Remember the S & L scandals in the USA? The dot- com crash?) People have watched their savings, pensions and even their livelihoods be savaged over and over again while those on the ‘inside’ just seem to get richer.

While the protests have so far been largely peaceful, events in England earlier this year have shown how easy it would be for there to be fairly widespread civil unrest. As the economic situation deteriorates, people will be less and less inhibited about committing unlawful behavior. It will not take much more to see the beginnings of the sort of unrest rarely seen in North America to become increasingly common, and you need to make sure your property and person are as well protected as you can make them.

Overall, keep a wary eye on the news and make sure you are not blindsided by the rapid pace of events. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say.

It’s just common sense