I’ve known the global financial system has been broken for years, but it’s much further gone than I initially anticipated.
Not only has the system devolved into a mountain of toxic, incredibly volatile financial instruments called derivatives that nobody in the industry can seriously claim to understand, the core features of the system have been corrupted in a very meaningful way. We are now constantly on the precipice of a financial meltdown.
What Happened?
The big global banks and brokers have colluded to rig the prices of key underlying benchmarks and rates that the entire system relies upon. The first example of this was news last year that the big global banks had conspired to manipulate the LIBOR, a key interest rate that determines what we pay on mortgages, credit cards, and much more. To put this into perspective, this makes what Enron did to manipulate energy prices in California (remember, “burn baby, burn…“) look like a playground prank.
The news hasn’t gotten any better since then.
The corruption of key rates and benchmarks is a BIG problem (worse in that nobody was punished for doing it). A failure at this level is usually a strong indicator that the global financial system is in serious decline, a decline that will do serious damage to lots of people currently dependent upon it.
The Financial Tsunami
Of course, you can’t mitigate the impact of this financial tsunami on you, your family, and your community by buying more financial assets, of whatever type. In a financial tsunami, all financial boats sink. There isn’t a safe harbor.
The best way to mitigate its impact of inevitable financial failure is to put your time, money and effort into building productive assets. Assets that produce more and better food, energy, water, and things locally.
How? By slowly replacing expensive imports with local alternatives.
The key to doing this successfully is to do it in a way that improves your life. A way of producing food, energy, water, and things that makes it tangibly better.
Productive, Local Assets
Let’s look at growing food (the same is true with water, energy, and locally produced products) as an example:
If you foodscape your yard to produce organic food, don’t just grow high caloric staples. Those foods are inexpensive, and the labor you put into growing them often exceeds the value you get.
Instead, grow the foods that radically improve the quality, freshness and variety of the food your family eats. Eat better.
Not only that, experiment with new things. Push the boundaries of what’s possible. Grow heirloom melons and try to grow new types of potatoes (there are over 6,000 varieties available). Plant fruit trees and berries that can yield for decades.
Further, take the time to build systems that simplify the process of growing this great food. Soon, you’ll find that many of your neighbors will be doing the same, based on your example.
In time, you’ll find that the degree of dependence you and your neighbors have on the global system that’s clearly in decline is too little for worry.
Sincerely Yours,
JOHN ROBB
