Tag: Daisy Luther

Create a Collapse Supply List Based on the Things They Are Out of in Venezuela

Guest Post by Daisy Luther

Sometimes a cautionary tale is more motivating than any amount of positive reinforcement every could be, and the horrifying reports from Venezuela are a perfect example. If you’re paying attention to the things they’ve run out of, you can put together a collapse supply list to see you through the crisis in the event of a breakdown in our own country. The time to prepare is now, well before the situation devolves to one that is similar.

Every day, there is more dire news out of Venezuela.  It’s so bad there that even the mainstream news can no longer ignore that the country is in the midst of an economic collapse. Thousands have turned to looting in order to feed their families. Even their soldiers have been stealing food. Long lines, empty stores, and hospitals without electricity are the norm instead of an unusual occurrence.

It wasn’t always like that. Life before Venezuela devolved into socialism looked a whole lot like our lives do today. In fact, as recently as the 1970s, Venezuela was one of the top 20 richest countries in the world.

So, today, our financial situation certainly looks far brighter than that of Venezuela, but according to a lot of experts, that is a glossy veneer over a crumbling foundation.  Obama calls it “peddling fiction” but the outlook here is not good. Financial statistics are massaged and many of them hidden to keep us in the dark. Jobs are nearly impossible to find, and heaven helps you if you lose one.  The price of living is going up, but financial solvency is going down as personal debt outstrips the ability to pay it. Pension funds that people rely on are going bankrupt, one after another.

It really isn’t a question of if, but when.

Economic collapse starts out as “going through hard times.” It isn’t mobbed on the streets or regression to Third World status initially. Before it ever gets to that, you have time to prepare. So let’s get started.

Pay Attention to What They’re Out of in Venezuela

Continue reading “Create a Collapse Supply List Based on the Things They Are Out of in Venezuela”

The Last Rebels: 25 Things We Did As Kids That Would Get Someone Arrested Today

Submitted by Daisy Luther via The Organic Prepper blog,

With all of the ridiculous new regulations, coddling, and societal mores that seem to be the norm these days, it’s a miracle those of us over 30 survived our childhoods.

Here’s the problem with all of this babying: it creates a society of weenies.

There won’t be more more rebels because this generation has been frightened into submission and apathy through a deliberately orchestrated culture of fear. No one will have faced adventure and lived to greatly embroider the story.

Kids are brainwashed – yes, brainwashed – into believing that the mere thought of a gun means you’re a psychotic killer waiting for a place to rampage.

They are terrified to do anything when they aren’t wrapped up with helmets, knee pads, wrist guards, and other protective gear.

Parents can’t let them go out and be independent or they’re charged with neglect and the children are taken away.

Woe betide any teen who uses a tool like a pocket knife, or heck, even a table knife to cut meat.

Continue reading “The Last Rebels: 25 Things We Did As Kids That Would Get Someone Arrested Today”

The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide: Are You Ready for a Long-Term Water Emergency?

 Guest Post by Daisy Luther

Are you truly prepared for a water emergency?

How long could your family survive if the water stopped flowing from the municipal supply and none was available at the store? If the answer is not “indefinitely” then you need to check out my new book, The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide: Harvest, Treat, and Store Your Most Vital Resource.

This comprehensive book contains life-saving information about how to:

  • Store fresh water
  • Collect rainwater
  • Purify water from lakes and rivers
  • Dig a well for groundwater

In addition to harvesting water, you’ll gain the tools to keep large stores untainted for long periods of time, test the water you collect for dangerous toxins, and treat water-related illnesses that are commonly contracted during a disaster.

This book is very research heavy, with the latest in-depth information about the contaminants lurking in our water supplies and water-borne illnesses, as well as tips for conservation and sanitation during times when your lifestyle is decidedly off-grid.

I hope you enjoy this excerpt from the book.

The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide

If you’ve been prepping for a while, you’ve probably heard of the survivalist’s “Rule of Three.”  You can survive:

Three minutes without air.

Three days without water.

Three weeks without food.

If a disaster has hit and you’re still breathing, then your next concern has got to be water.

Have you ever watched any of those survival shows on the Discovery Channel where people are dropped off in the middle of nowhere and left to survive with limited tools and supplies? In nearly every single episode, the biggest issue is finding and purifying water. Often, they wait so long that they become desperate and engage in risky behavior, like drinking water from a stagnant pool. In one particularly notable episode, the contestants had to be rescued because they became too weak from dehydration to seek water.

Continue reading “The Prepper’s Water Survival Guide: Are You Ready for a Long-Term Water Emergency?”

50 WAYS TO STARVE THE BEAST

Guest Post by Daisy Luther

A term coined in 1985 by an unnamed staffer of the Reagan administration was “Starve the Beast”. This referred to a fiscally conservative political strategy to cut government spending by paying less in taxes. So, in the original sense, “the Beast” was the government, and people were to starve the beast by spending less and using loopholes, therefore paying less in taxes.

These days the Beast has a lot more tentacles than just the government. The system now consists of the government and all aspects of Big Business. Big Agri, Big Pharma, Big Medicine, Big Food, Big Banking and Big Oil, to name a few. It seems that now it’s the Beast doing the starving, as small businesses close because they can’t compete with Wal-Mart, the family farm is on it’s way out because it can’t compete with the huge, subsidized Monsanto mega-farms, people are going bankrupt because they can’t pay the outrageous medical bills…

Perhaps it’s time for another financial revolution – one where people group together and use the power of the boycott to starve all the arms of this Beast that would swallow us whole. If we vote with our dollars, eventually there will, of a necessity, be a paradigm shift that returns us to simpler days, when families that were willing to work hard could make a living without selling their souls to the corporate monoliths.

Every penny you spend with small local businesses is a penny that the big box stores won’t have. Everything that you buy secondhand or barter for is an item on which you won’t pay sales tax. Disassociate yourself completely with “the system” that is making Western civilization broke, overweight and unhealthy. Starve the Beast by taking as many of these steps as possible…

  1. Grow your own food (this starves Big Agri and Big Pharma both)
  2. Shop at local businesses with no corporate ties
  3. Use natural remedies instead of pharmaceuticals whenever possible
  4. Homeschool your children
  5. Walk or bike instead of driving when possible
  6. Get care from naturopaths and healers instead of doctors
  7. Make paper logs from scraps for free heat if you have a wood-burning fireplace or stove
  8. Boycott all processed foods
  9. Shop at local farmer’s markets
  10. Boycott corporate stores: Wal-Mart, Costco, Best Buy, Home Depot
  11. Give vouchers as gifts for an evening of babysitting, a homemade meal, walking the dog, doing a repair, or cleaning
  12. Join a CSA or farm co-op
  13. Ditch television (and all the propaganda and commercials)
  14. Participate in the barter system – if no money changes hands, no tax can be added
  15. Buy secondhand from yard sales, Craigslist and thrift stores
  16. Sell your unwanted goods by having a yard sale or putting an ad on Craigslist
  17. Repair things instead of replacing them
  18. Avoid fast food restaurants and chain restaurants
  19. Dine at locally owned establishments if you eat out
  20. Brew your own beer and wine
  21. Read a book, purchased second-hand or borrowed
  22. Grow or gather medicinal herbs
  23. Give homemade gifts
  24. Attend free local activities: lectures, concerts, play days at the park, library events
  25. Dumpster dive
  26. Play outside: hike, bike, picnic
  27. Mend clothing
  28. Invite someone over for dinner instead of meeting at a restaurant
  29. Throw creative birthday parties at home for your kids instead of renting a venue
  30. Camp instead of staying at a hotel
  31. Bring your coffee with you in a travel mug
  32. Do all of your Christmas shopping with small local businesses and artisans
  33. Reduce your electricity usage with candles, solar power and non-tech entertainment
  34. Drop the thermostat and put on a sweater
  35. Bring your snacks and drinks in a cooler when you go on a road trip
  36. Stay home – it’s way easier to avoid temptation that way
  37. Pack lunches for work and school
  38. Make delicious homemade treats as a hostess gift
  39. Close your bank account or at the very least, strictly limit your balance
  40. Visit u-pick berry patches and orchards, then preserve your harvest for the winter
  41. Use precious metals stored at home as your savings account
  42. Raise backyard chickens for your own eggs
  43. If you are a smoker, roll your own cigarettes – if possible go one step further and grow tobacco
  44. Live in a smaller, more efficient home
  45. Use solar power for lighting or cooking
  46. Collect rainwater for use in the garden
  47. Learn to forage
  48. Buy heavy, solid, handmade furniture instead of the flimsy imported stuff
  49. At the holidays, focus on activities and traditions instead of gifts. Go for a walk or drive through the neighborhood to look at lights, get into your PJs and watch a special movie together on Christmas Eve and make certain treats that can always be expected
  50. Make your own bath and body products using pure ingredients like coconut oil, essential oils, and herbal extracts

 

Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at [email protected]

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