Have you given any thought to stocking up on items specifically for barter?  I’ve written and spoken about this on several occasions and it’s my firm belief that if there is an economic collapse or a societal breakdown that leads to a TEOTWAWKI existence, the currency of the day will be barter ( at least until some semblance  of a society starts to re-emerge.)  And no matter how well stocked you are, you’re eventually gonna need something.

But what should you store for barter?  What common (and inexpensive) items that you take for granted today may be a valuable commodity in a post-collapse world?  Should you start storing barter items now?

Well, I came across this video by Pastor Joe Fox (Viking Preparedness) about barter items.  I had never seen any of his videos before and out of curiosity, I checked it out to see what his opinions were on the subject. In this video, Pastor Joe brings up all the important points and I think he nailed it right on the head on all of them.  I also checked out a couple of his other videos which I really enjoyed and recommend checking out.

Most of us are well aware that things have gotten worse in America.  You can see it and just feel it everywhere.  The quality of life on the country has been on a downward spiral over the past few years and I think everybody has been getting a little bit less optimistic each day.  More people are taking off the rose colored glasses and oming to the realization that things aren’t getting better. You know it… I know it…  The only ones who still don’t seem to know it are the happless Obama supporters who think he’s just doing a swell job.  Clinging to that “Hope” and “Change” I suppose (mostly “change” from what I can see).  

Every time I hear a liberal in the media saying: “the economy is in recovery”, I wonder where I can get some of what they’ve been smoking.

We’re in what I call a “collapse in slow motion”, so it’s sometimes difficult to really see what’s going on in front of you because it happens so gradually. Kind of like the “boil the frog” effect. And it hasn’t made a difference who’s in office, really.  Republican, Democrat, it doesn’t really matter.  As much as I bash on Obama (and I do think he’s the most dangerous president we’ve had since Woodrow Wilson) The two-party system is basically an illusion designed to trick us into thinking we have a choice.  As each side has pretty much been taking turns destroying the country.

James Smith from Prepper Podcast News has compiled a list of 35 statistics illustrating how much worse things have actually gotten in the last few years. 

The following are 35 shocking statistics that prove that things have gotten worse in America….

#1 Median household income in the United States is down 7.8 percent since December 2007 after adjusting for inflation.

#2 There are 5.6 million less jobs than there were when the last recession began back in late 2007.

#3 The U.S. government says that the number of Americans “not in the labor force” rose by 17.9 million between 2000 and 2011.  During the entire decade of the 1980s, the number of Americans “not in the labor force” rose by only 1.7 million.

#4 In 2007, the unemployment rate for the 20 to 29 age bracket was about 6.5 percent.  Today, the unemployment rate for that same age group is about 13 percent.

#5 In 2007, 73.2 percent of all young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 that were not enrolled in school had jobs.  Today, that number has declined to 65 percent.

#6 Back in the year 2000, more than 50 percent of all Americans teens had a job.  This past summer, only 29.6% of all American teens had a job.

#7 When Barack Obama entered the White House, the number of “long-term unemployed workers” in the United States was approximately 2.6 million.  Today, that number is sitting at 5.6 million.

#8 The average duration of unemployment in the United States is nearly three times as long as it was back in the year 2000.

#9 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs.  Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

#10 According to the Obama administration, about 20 percent of all jobs in the United States were manufacturing jobs back in the year 2000.  Today, about 5 percent of all jobs in the United States are manufacturing jobs.

#11 Sadly, more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities in the United States have been shut down since 2001.

#12 Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs.  Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.

#13 The U.S. trade deficit with China during 2011 was 28 times larger than it was back in 1990.

#14 About twice as many new homes were sold in the United States in 1965 as are being sold today.

#15 Home prices in the 4th quarter of 2011 were four percent lower than they were during the 4th quarter of 2010.  Overall, U.S. home prices are 34 percent lower than they were back at the peak of the housing bubble.

#16 The total value of household real estate in America has declined from $22.7 trillion in 2006 to $16.2 trillion today.

#17 At the end of 2011, 22.8 percent of all homes in the United States with a mortgage were in negative equity.  That would have been unthinkable a decade or two ago.

#18 Total home mortgage debt in the United States is now about 5 times larger than it was just 20 years ago.

#19 Total consumer debt in the United States has increased by a whopping 1700% since 1971.

#20 Since the beginning of 2009, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States has increased by more than 90 percent.

#21 The number of children living in poverty in the state of California has increased by 30 percent since 2007.

#22 Back in the year 2000, 11.3% of all Americans were living in poverty.  Today, 15.1% of all Americans are living in poverty.

#23 In November 2008, 30.8 million Americans were on food stamps.  Today, 46.5 million Americans are on food stamps.

#24 The U.S. dollar has lost 96.2 percent of its value since 1900.  You can thank the Federal Reserve system for that.

#25 In 1950, the United States was #1 in GDP per capita.  Today, the United States is #13 in GDP per capita.

#26 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that receives direct monetary benefits from the federal government.  Back in 1983, less than a third of all Americans lived in a home that received direct monetary benefits from the federal government.

#27 In 1980, government transfer payments accounted for just 11.7% of all income.  Today, government transfer payments account for more than 18 percent of all income.

#28 Federal housing assistance increased by a whopping 42 percent between 2006 and 2010.

#29 Medicare spending increased by 138 percent between 1999 and 2010.

#30 Back in 1990, the federal government accounted for 32 percent of all health care spending in America.  Today, that figure is up to 45 percent and it is projected to surpass 50 percent very shortly.

#31 Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid.  Today, one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid, and things are about to get a whole lot worse.  It is being projected that Obamacare will add 16 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.

#32 Right now, spending by the federal government accounts for about 24 percent of GDP.  Back in 2001, it accounted for just 18 percent.

#33 In 2004, the U.S. government had a budget deficit of a little over 412 billion dollars.  This year, the U.S. government will run a budget deficit of over 1.3 trillion dollars.

#34 In 2001, the U.S. national debt was less than 6 trillion dollars.  Today, it is over 15 trillion dollars and it is increasing by about 150 million dollars every single hour.

#35 The U.S. national debt is now more than 22 times larger than it was when Jimmy Carter became president.

Unfortunately, these shocking statistics just don’t fully capture the horrible pain that many American families are having to endure in this economy.

Read more: http://pprnnews.prepperpodcast.com/35-shocking-statistics-that-prove-that-things-have-gotten-worse-in-america/#ixzz1ob8NXcf1

As many people are becoming aware, we’re living in remarkably unstable times, and the potential for any given event that could cause “sea change” to the  U.S. economy over the next 12 months is greater than ever.  But there lies the potential for several potentially massive threats that could easily push the U.S. over the edge in what some call a “confluence of catastrophe”, where either two or more events occur at the same time, or one event triggers another, setting off a domino effect.

Financial disaster in the EU, conflict between Iran and Israel, or devastating natural disasters (which have already started wreaking havoc in the U.S.) could all change our economic situation very rapidly.  Considering how bad the economy is already doing, all it really takes is just a single horrific event to accelerate another crash, but what if two or more events occurred simultaneously?   

Let’s say there were a massive solar storm, creating an EMP event that took out the grid on a broad scale just before or after a major disaster? Or if a major bank collapse occurred at the same time oil is cut off in the Middle East? The U.S. economy would be thrown into a state of chaos. 

Michael Snyder from BlaclistedNews.com has compiled a list of 15 “sudden change” or “black swan” events that could instantly collapse the economy in one fell swoop:

#1 War With Syria – U.S. Senator John McCain is now publicly calling for U.S. airstrikes against Syria.  A military conflict with Syria becomes more likely with each passing day.

#2 War With Iran – A war in the Middle East involving Iran could literally erupt at any time.  The following is from a Reuters news report that was issued on Monday…. 

#3 A Disorderly Greek Debt Default – Many reporters in Europe seem to think that this is becoming increasingly likely.  So what would a disorderly Greek debt default mean for the global financial system?  A leaked report that was authored by the Institute of International Finance says that a disorderly Greek debt default would have some very serious consequences.  You can read the full text of that leaked report right here. 

#4 An Economic Collapse In Spain – Spain has one of the largest economies in Europe and it is rapidly becoming a basket case.  As I have written about previously, the unemployment rate in Spain has hit 19.9 percent, and the unemployment rate for workers under the age of 25 is up to 49.9 percent.  Unfortunately, the situation in Spain continues to deteriorate.  The following is from a recent article by Marc Chandler….

#5 The Price Of Gasoline – The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States has risen for 27 days in a row and is now up to $3.77.  Virtually all forms of economic activity are affected by the price of gasoline, and if the price of gas keeps going up it is eventually going to have dramatic consequences for the U.S. economy. 

#6 The Student Loan Debt Bubble – Just like we saw with the housing bubble, the student loan debt bubble just continues to grow and grow and grow.  At some point the nearly 1 trillion dollar bubble is going to burst.  What effect will it have on our financial system when that finally happens? 

#7 State And Local Government Debt Crisis – It is being reported that California is running out of cash again and there are cities all over the country that are on the verge of bankruptcy.  Could we see a significant municipal bond crisis in the next 12 months? 

#8 The Collapse Of A Major U.S. Bank – A number of top U.S. banks are looking increasingly shaky.  In a recent article, David Trainer explained why he has such serious concerns about Bank of America right now….

#9 A Derivatives Crisis – The International Swaps and Derivatives Association recently ruled that the Greek debt deal will not trigger payouts on credit default swaps.  This is seriously shaking confidence in the global market for derivatives.  But the global financial system simply cannot afford a major derivatives crisis. 

Estimates of the notional value of the worldwide derivatives market range from $600 trillion all the way up to $1.5 quadrillion.  The notional value of all derivatives held by Bank of America is approximately $75 trillion.  JPMorgan Chase is holding derivatives with a notional value of approximately $79 trillion. 

When the derivatives bubble finally bursts it is going to be a financial horror show unlike anything we have ever seen.

#10 The Fall Of The Japanese Economy – The Japanese economy shrank at a 2.3 percent rate during the fourth quarter of 2011.  Japan has a debt to GDP ratio of over 200 percent and a major debt crisis involving Japan could erupt at any time. 

#11 A “Solar Megastorm” – Scientists tell us that there is a “1 in 8 chance” that a “solar megastorm” will hit the earth by 2014.  A recent Daily Mail article detailed what some of the consequences of such an event would be….

#12 A Major West Coast Earthquake Or Volcanic Eruption – On Monday, there was a 4.0 earthquake in San Francisco and a 6.1 earthquake in Argentina.  Is the “Ring of Fire” waking up again? 

#13 Tornado Damage To Major U.S. Cities – Last year, the U.S. experienced one of the worst tornado seasons of all time.  This year, we have already seen the worst tornado outbreak ever recorded in the United States in the month of March.  A couple of towns in Indiana were completely wiped outby that outbreak.  So what should we expect when we get to the heart of tornado season this year? 

#14 Severe Drought In The United States – Last summer was one of the driest summers on record in the United States, and in many areas there is simply not enough water available for farmers this year.  Some are even projecting that we could see “dust bowl conditions” return to some areas of the country eventually. 

#15 An Asteroid Strike In 2013 – Although scientists tell us that the probability is extremely low, the truth is that there is a slight chance that a sizeable asteroid could hit the earth in February 2013.  The asteroid is estimated to be between 60 and 100 meters wide, and it is projected to pass by our planet “at a distance of under 27,000 km“.  If it did hit us (and scientists say that the odds of that happening are very low) it would potentially be as serious an event as the Tunguska Event in Siberia in 1908.  Mac Slavo of shtfplan.com recently described how awesome the Tunguska Event really was….

To read the full, original post, CLICK HERE

Well it looks like the Wyoming legislature is starting to give some serious thought to the possibility of a full-scale economic collapse and political meltdown with the drafting of House Bill 85, which calls for the creation of an official “doomsday task force” to provide for continuity of the state government.

The task force would study the “potential impacts on Wyoming” in a number of acute emergencies – such as a sudden decline in the value of the dollar, a constitutional crisis that destroys the “legitimacy” of federal authority, or wide-scale disruptions in energy and food distribution systems.

Some have been referring to this bill as the “Jericho Act.”, based on the short-lived television program of that title, which depicted life in a fictional Kansas town following a catastrophic nuclear attack. In the course of the story it was revealed that the devastating attacks on 23 cities was not the act of a hostile foreign power or terrorists, but a false-flag operation carried out by a corporate cabal seeking to institute a new political order.

Among the proposals contained in HB 85 is the possibility of returning to a gold and silver based currency. Unfortunately, the panel is also proposing the idea of creating a standing army and imposing a military draft. Such measures would make preservation of the political class, rather than defense of individual life and property, the chief priority. Any government that would force people to fight on its behalf is a government unworthy of support.

Rich in energy resources, Wyoming would be a significant regional player in the event that the U.S. disintegrates under the weight of accumulated economic and political corruption. The fact that the Wyoming legislature considering the charter of a “doomsday panel” speaks volumes towards the validation of the prediction of Gerald Celente, founder and director of the Trends Research Institute, that 2012 will witness an event he calls an “Economic 9/11,” followed by the imposition of “economic martial law.”

Sometime this year, “they’re going to bring down the gavel on the system,” Celente warned in a radio interview with Lew Rockwell, founder and director of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama. This would start with targeted scapegoating of “speculators” and other supposed “wreckers” of the economy, but eventually expand to encompass anyone considered an enemy of the ruling Power Elite, Celente predicts.

Click Here to read the full text of HB 85

Even before I got rid of my cable TV service, I didn’t watch that much mainstream television.  And I certainly never watched MSNBC…  But I came across this video of Dylan Ratigan absolutely losing his cool on what turns out to be his own show (before I noticed that it was his gig, I was wondering why the other people on the panel weren’t trying to shout him down!).

I don’t know much about this guy, or what his politics are, (never even heard of him before I saw this clip) but man, he hit the nail right on the head when it comes to this issue (the beyond broken economy) and we need more people in the media to stop soft-pedaling and pretending the danger’s not real!  We need more people to stand up and holler about it!

I hear you asking; “What good’s it gonna do?  What’s that gonna fix?”  

Well, it probably won’t “fix” anything, but at least it’ll get people’s attention enough to snap them out of the fantasy state of denial that most people seem to be living in.  I get sick to my stomach when I see supposedly credible economists get on television and soft-peddle the BS that’s keeping the vast majority of Americans in a state of ignorant delusion!

I don’t like to be a fear monger, but maybe people need to have a little fear thrown into them to get them off their butts and start getting prepared.

The video below is that magnificent rant.

In the last few years, we’ve gotten used to hearing about the national debt and spending in terms of  ”trillions of dollars”, but it’s hard to visualize exactly how much money that really is…  This video will help give you a picture of how much just one trillion dollars represents in a physical sense.

Whatever the Obama administration would like you to believe (as he still blames Bush for the mess), the economy has gotten a LOT worse since the day he took office, not better.  Or in the words of economist; Michel Dube, author of “The Dollar Freefall“: The economy is broken and by all reason must collapse.

Home values have plummeted 13%.  The unemployment crisis has gotten worse – even going by the “official” figures, which are by no means accurate. The cost of food is up and the number of food stamp recipients has risen by 45%.  The price of gas has skyrocketed 83%!  The number of Americans living in poverty has risen  by 6.4 million and our national debt has increased by over  four and half  TRILLION dollars!  And at this point, there’s no amount of taxation or budget cuts that will ever get it paid.  We don’t make anything here anymore except for debt and entertainment, so I don’t know what Obama was talking about when he said he was going to double our exports… Are we gonna make the world buy more video games and  reality shows?  Because they don’t want our debt anymore.

The economic crisis that we’re seeing unfold in Europe will explode into a world-wide financial disaster, which will have devastating effects on the United States.  What’s Barack Obama going to do then?  Socialists only know how to spend money…  Your money.  We never even recovered from the financial crash of 2008, and they call us kooks for storing food?!

If you’re still holding out hope that ol’ Barry’s gonna set things right, it’s time to WAKE UP!

The following are 18 statistics that prove that the economy has not improved since Barack Obama became the president of the United States from www.blacklistednews.com:

#1 Today there are 88 million working age Americans that are not employed and that are not looking for employment.  That is an all-time record high.

#2 When Barack Obama was elected, the percentage of unemployed Americans that had been out of work for more than 52 weeks was less than 15%.  Today, it is above 30%.

#3 There are 1.2 million fewer jobs in America today than there were when Barack Obama was inaugurated.

#4 When Barack Obama first took office, the number of “long-term unemployed workers” in the United States was approximately 2.6 million.  Today, that numberis sitting at 5.6 million.

#5 The average duration of unemployment in the United States is hovering close to an all-time record high.

#6 During the Obama administration, worker health insurance costs have risenby 23 percent.

#7 Since Barack Obama has been president, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States has increased by 90 percent.

#8 Since Barack Obama has been president, home values in the United States have declined by another 13 percent.

#9 Under Barack Obama, new home sales in the U.S. set a brand new all-time record low in 2009, they set a brand new all-time record low again in 2010, and they set a brand new all-time record low once again during 2011.

#10 Since Barack Obama took office, the number of Americans living in poverty has risen by more than 6 million.

#11 Since Barack Obama entered the White House, the number of Americans on food stamps has increased from 32 million to 46 million.

#12 The amount of money that the federal government gives directly to Americans has increased by 32 percent since Barack Obama entered the White House.

#13 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of Americans living in “extreme poverty” is now sitting at an all-time high.

#14 When Barack Obama first took office, an ounce of gold was going for about $850.  Today an ounce of gold costs more than $1700 an ounce.

#15 Since Barack Obama became president, the size of the U.S. national debt has increased by 44 percent.

#16 During Barack Obama’s first two years in office, the U.S. government added more to the U.S. national debt than the first 100 U.S. Congresses combined.

#17 During the Obama administration, the U.S. government has accumulated more debt than it did from the time that George Washington took office to the time that Bill Clinton took office.

#18 The U.S. national debt has been increasing by an average of more than 4 billion dollars per day since the beginning of the Obama administration.

Oh, but Barack Obama is promising that things will be much better very soon.  Barack Obama is pledging that 2 million more jobs will be added to the economy in 2012.

Do you believe him?

The Stasi DHS regime continues to target preppers and people who purchase survival supplies. To date, the FBI and the Dept. of Justice have produced 25 fliers aimed at, and distributed to various industries to promote the reporting of “suspicious activity”. From gun dealers and military surplus stores, to hobby and coffee shops (did you know that paying for your latte with cash means you might be a terrorist?).

The federal government is going completely overboard and is now encouraging the public to report fellow Americans for engaging in the most routine, mundane behavior. 

For example; every day we’re warned to protect ourselves against identity theft, but according to these fliers, if you actually take steps to protect your identity by refusing to give out any unnecessary personal information, they label you a terrorist. (on almost all of these government fliers, one of the behaviors they warn to watch out for is: “demanding identity privacy”).

These days, it seems like more and more stores want to get your name, email address, physical address and phone number every time you make a purchase. Well, forgive me, but when I buy something at a store and they start asking for that information, I always politely say: “I’d rather not”. Not because I think they’re trying to steal my identity, but partly because I don’t need to help them send me more junk mail (electronic or otherwise) and mostly because IT’S NONE OF THEIR DAMN BUSINESS!

If I don’t want Sears or Radio Shack knowing where I live, that’s my prerogative as a FREE AMERICAN. It doesn’t mean I have something to hide and it certainly doesn’t make me terrorist.

Now they’re focusing on stores that sell bulk foods. Advising these businesses to demand that their customers show ID and report those who pay with cash, buy MREs, or make “unusually large” purchases…

Whatever that means.

I mean, really, who buys small quantities at a bulk food store? Isn’t buying large quantities the whole point? 

That’s like the flier that was distributed to hobby shops, warning to watch out for people who show an “unusual” amount of interest in radio-controlled airplanes. Then, further down the list, they claim that showing no interest in the hobby is also a sign of suspicious behavior. 

So for the love of Pete, if you’re all jazzed about RC airplanes, try to contain your enthusiasm! But if you couldn’t care less, you should at least try to feign a little interest. 

Oh, wait a minute, I almost forgot… The flier also lists: “Demonstrating interest that does not seem genuine” as suspicious too… 

Ok…  Better just to stay away from RC airplanes altogether…

I think model trains are still a “safe” hobby… That is, until Homeland Security gets to thinking that someone might use a Lionel H-Scale to deliver an H-bomb. Maybe they should have added: “Buying an excessive amount of model train track” to their list of questionable activities. 

However…. I digress. 

While it may be entertaining to point out the asinine nature of some of these warnings, it’s also deeply troubling that we are being told to spy and drop a dime on our neighbors. I was going to go off on a tirade about all the legitimate reasons that people have for storing food, or the fact that I can’t think of a single reason why it would even come close to qualifying as “suspicious terrorist behavior”.  Not to mention what an utter contradiction it is that the Dept. of Homeland Security labels it as such, considering that both FEMA and DHS have actually encouraged Americans to store food for emergencies in the past. But I don’t think y’all need to have that spelled out for you. 

What apparently does need to be spelled out for some people is how infuriatingly repugnant this is to a free society, and what an insidious danger this represents. 

To quote that old axiom: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. So if you’re among those who think: “As long as you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about”, let me remind you that back in the ’30s, a lot of folks in Germany said the same thing when they were told to spy on their neighbors… 

Until they got hauled off on a train, that is. 

And if you’re thinking: “That could never happen in America!”, I know some Japanese-Americans who would beg to correct you. 

You know, my grandparents canned and stored “large quantities” of food too… I wonder if ol’ Grandma and Grandpa were secret Islamic terrorists? Elderly Al-Qaeda? Geriatric Jihadists? 

Or maybe…  Just maybe, they were simply PRUDENT, SENSIBLE AMERICANS. 

Click here to view all 25 “Suspicious Activity” fliers.