August 01, 2008
Issue #001, August 1, 2008. In This Issue...
Inflation - What's Going On?
Why Some Homesteaders Are Going Off The Grid: We Discuss Solar Power, Wind Power and Micro-Hydro Power.
Self-Reliant Health: Poison Ivy - Prevention and Treatment
The Homesteading Kitchen - Our Delicious Spaghetti Pie Recipe. Also, Make Rose Petal Jam!
Inflation - So What's Going On?
Last year, you could go into the supermarket and buy a loaf of bread for about 89 cents. Today that same loaf of bread is twice as much. So what’s going on?It has to do with something called the fiat system. Before there were banks, people carried gold around to buy things. But gold is heavy, and besides, you might get robbed, so people started storing their gold in a central bank, that was eventually owned by the government. The bank would take the gold and issue a certificate. If you had, say, five ounces of gold, the bank would issue you five one-ounce gold certificates, and you would have the equivalent worth of five ounces of gold. Now you could use your certificates to buy things. This was the birth of paper money.
Paper Dreams
It was a great system as long as the banker and the government remain honest. Unfortunately, people who crave power also tend to be dishonest. Down the road, someone figures out that you can print more certificates than there actually is gold. The government only has 500 pounds of gold, but they want to spend 600 pounds worth? Just print the certificates. No one will find out, right?Down That Slippery Slope
In 1971 President Nixon took the U.S. Dollar off the gold standard. That’s when the U.S. government began issuing more certificates (dollar bills) than they actually had gold. The problem is the more dollars you print, the less valuable they become.The National Debt
Our members of Congress – both Republicans and Democrats – keep spending our tax money like drunken sailors for all sorts of programs our country can’t afford.As of the date of this writing, the U.S. National Debt was $9,587,240,448,681.66. That’s more than nine quadrillion dollars.
Each citizen’s share of this debt is $31,488.97. That means that for my family of five, our share of the national debt is $157,444.85.
The way our government is paying for that huge debt is by – you guessed it – printing lots and lots of dollars, based on gold we don’t own. Our economy is a huge stack of cards ready to collapse at the slightest breeze.
So What Can We Do?
A few years ago, I stumbled upon a book by Robert J. Ringer called How You Can Find Happiness During the Collapse of Western Civilization.This book was written in the eighties, but still rings true more than 20 years later. One point that struck home for me was the notion that we could either look to the government to take care of us, or we could start looking to ourselves instead.
Back To The Basics
Somewhere down the road we went from hardy, self-reliant folk to helpless children dependent on Uncle Sam for our every need. Too sick to work? Apply for disability. Ready to retire? Uncle Sam will send you a social security check. The problem with this, is we’re relying on a system built on a house of cards. Terrific, as long as there’s enough gold in Fort Knox to cover it all. Sadly, since 1971 there hasn’t been.The Good News
So why am I bringing all of this up?Because by reading this site and learning to become more self-reliant, you’ll not only survive the hard times ahead, but you’ll actually prosper.
Learn to grow your own food, buy in bulk now, and you’ll be ahead of the game.
And just like Mr. Ringer, you might actually find happiness, even if Western Civilization does collapse.
What's New
Tired of the rising costs of utility bills? Many homesteaders are learning how to live off the grid. They're learning how to use solar power to convert the rays from the sun into electricity. They're also harnessing the wind and using this wind power to run their appliances. And those who are fortunate enough to have a stream or river nearby, micro-hydro power is lighting their homes.
Self-Reliant Health
Summer is here, bringing with it leafy trees, green grass...and poison ivy. ways to prevent that awful, itchy rash and how to treat it.
The Homesteading Kitchen
This spaghetti pie recipe is one of our family favorites. Healthy for your body and your budget and delicious.Have an abundance of roses this summer? Then try this rose petal jam recipe. It has an exotic floral taste and sweetness.
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