(The Economic Collapse Blog)—To those at the bottom of America’s economic pyramid, it feels like the economy has already collapsed. When you can’t afford to put a roof over your head and you barely have enough food to eat, nothing else really matters. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, millions of homeless Americans created large shantytowns known as “Hoovervilles” all over America. Unfortunately, we are witnessing the same thing today. Our homeless population is rapidly exploding, and those that have nowhere to live are creating shelters for themselves out of wood, cardboard boxes, tents, tarps, construction materials and whatever else they can find. In some cases, very large shantytown communities are being established, and they are primarily populated by our young adults…
During the Great Depression (1929 to 1933), 48 percent of the nation was homeless, living with relatives or in “shantytowns,” “Hoovervilles.” Today, between 47 and 52 percent of young adults are homeless, living with parents or shelters, a direct result of Biden’s radical overspending, energy and immigration policies, inflation, and high interest, turning America into a giant “Bidenville.”
One “Bidenville” that has been getting a lot of attention recently is located in Oakland, California.
A video of that “Bidenville” that was posted on social media on May 31st shows “massive temporary houses built along service roads”…
Shocking footage has emerged showing a gigantic ‘shantytown’ that has sprung up in Oakland, as the California city’s slide into crime-ravaged squalor continues.
Michael Oxford, the host of CaliBased, posted a video on May 31 of massive temporary houses built along service roads that open up into main roads in Hooverville, Oakland.
The footage showed trash strewn around scores of houses that were built of wood, tarp and other discarded materials.
I write about this stuff all the time, but it is still hard to believe that so many people are living in third world conditions in the United States of America in 2024.
Parts of Oakland are worse than a third world country.
They just allow people to live in absolute squalor, wherever they choose.
This looks like Hooverville during the great depression.
Welcome to Oakland’s very own Gavinville. pic.twitter.com/L58uK2E6Sh
— Michael Oxford – AKA The Santa Cruz Mountain Goat (@SCMountainGoat) June 1, 2024
The man that shot the video, Michael Oxford, used the term “absolute squalor” to describe the conditions that he witnessed…
Particularly shocking was just how large the ‘shantytown’ is, with a lengthy stretch of road in the Bay Area city covered with the makeshift dwellings.
Oxford could be heard calling the area a ‘shantytown’ that is ‘absolutely mindboggling,’ as he remarked how ‘insane it is that [city officials] allow this.’
He captioned the video, ‘Parts of Oakland are worse than a third world country. They just allow people to live in absolute squalor, wherever they choose.
If you live in “wealthy America”, you may never even drive into areas where people are living like this.
Your reality may be filled with tree-lined streets and rich people sipping coffee.
But in the worst areas of Oakland, the lawlessness never ends.
In fact, authorities in Oakland recently removed traffic lights at one major intersection and replaced them with stop signs because thieves were constantly stealing copper wire from the electrical boxes…
The city of Oakland recently removed traffic lights from one busy intersection and replaced them with stop signs after the electrical boxes that controlled the traffic lights were repeatedly tampered with and copper from them was stolen.
Local residents and those who own businesses in the area say the issue with the traffic lights stems from the nearby homeless encampment, which has grown over the years.
The owner of a vehicle repair shop on the corner of the intersection, Tam Le, said the city is signaling that it is ‘giving up on us,’ by installing the stop signs.
If you want someone to blame for this mess, you can blame the politicians in Washington.
Thanks to the horrific inflation that they have created, approximately a quarter of the population in California is either living in poverty or is very close to living in poverty…
Biden needn’t worry about losing California to Trump, but it has one of the nation’s highest rates of inflation, according to Moody’s Analytics, worsening its already outlandishly high costs of housing and other living expenses. It’s the biggest factor in California having the highest level of functional poverty of any state, 13.2% according to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 50% higher than the national rate.
The Public Policy Institute of California, using similar statistical methodology, has found that a quarter of Californians are either living in poverty or financially close. More recently, the PPIC has explored the impact of inflation, especially on California families which struggle to pay for housing, food and other necessities.
Sadly, this is just the beginning, because our economy is going downhill really fast. In May, pending home sales plunged to a depressingly low level…
Well, the analysts had the direction right but magnitude was way off as pending home sales plunged 7.7% MoM – the biggest drop since Feb 2021 (and below the lowest estimate), leaving sales down 0.7% YoY…
This is the 29th straight month of YoY declines for non-seasonally-adjusted pending home sales.
This MoM decline pushed the Pending Home Sales Index back to record lows…
Meanwhile, Zero Hedge reported that the Chicago PMI index fell so low in May that it suggested that “the economy is in a depression”…
After unexpectedly slumping last month to 37.9, the Chicago PMI index cratered even more unexpectedly in May, when it defied hopes of a rebound to 41.5, and instead tumbled even more, sliding to a cycle low of 35.4 which was not only below the lowest estimate, but was staggeringly low. To get a sense of just how low, the last two times it printed here was during the peak of the covid and global financial crises…
… which seems to suggest that at least according to Chicago-based purchasing managers, the economy is in a depression.
I would agree with that assessment.
Things are getting really bad out there.
To top everything off, in May the Dallas Fed Services Sector survey was in contraction territory for the 24th month in a row…
Despite Bernstein and Biden demanding the great unwashed realize just how great they have it in America, this morning’s Dallas Fed Services Sector survey offers some insights from actual real people in the actual real world trying to do actual real business… and it’s not pretty.
For two straight years (24 straight months), the Texas Services sector has been in contraction (below zero) with May’s -12.1 print worse than expected. For context, the Great Recession of 2008/2009 also saw 24 straight months of negative prints…
But if you live in “wealthy America”, you may not care about these numbers because you still live in a nice home and you still have plenty of nice things.
Unfortunately, the number of people that can afford to live in “wealthy America” is shrinking with each passing day.
And the gap between the wealthy and the rest of us just continues to get larger and larger.
Ultimately, the stage is being set for a societal meltdown of absolutely epic proportions.
The bottom 50 percent of the population only owns just 2.6 percent of all the wealth, and they are becoming very restless.
When people have nothing left to lose, they become very desperate, and very desperate people do very desperate things.
Coffee the Christian way: Promised Grounds
Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
Five Things New “Preppers” Forget When Getting Ready for Bad Times Ahead
The preparedness community is growing faster than it has in decades. Even during peak times such as Y2K, the economic downturn of 2008, and Covid, the vast majority of Americans made sure they had plenty of toilet paper but didn’t really stockpile anything else.
Things have changed. There’s a growing anxiety in this presidential election year that has prompted more Americans to get prepared for crazy events in the future. Some of it is being driven by fearmongers, but there are valid concerns with the economy, food supply, pharmaceuticals, the energy grid, and mass rioting that have pushed average Americans into “prepper” mode.
There are degrees of preparedness. One does not have to be a full-blown “doomsday prepper” living off-grid in a secure Montana bunker in order to be ahead of the curve. In many ways, preparedness isn’t about being able to perfectly handle every conceivable situation. It’s about being less dependent on government for as long as possible. Those who have proper “preps” will not be waiting for FEMA to distribute emergency supplies to the desperate masses.
Below are five things people new to preparedness (and sometimes even those with experience) often forget as they get ready. All five are common sense notions that do not rely on doomsday in order to be useful. It may be nice to own a tank during the apocalypse but there’s not much you can do with it until things get really crazy. The recommendations below can have places in the lives of average Americans whether doomsday comes or not.
Note: The information provided by this publication or any related communications is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice. We do not provide personalized investment, financial, or legal advice.
Secured Wealth
Whether in the bank or held in a retirement account, most Americans feel that their life’s savings is relatively secure. At least they did until the last couple of years when de-banking, geopolitical turmoil, and the threat of Central Bank Digital Currencies reared their ugly heads.
It behooves Americans to diversify their holdings. If there’s a triggering event or series of events that cripple the financial systems or devalue the U.S. Dollar, wealth can evaporate quickly. To hedge against potential turmoil, many Americans are looking in two directions: Crypto and physical precious metals.
There are huge advantages to cryptocurrencies, but there are also inherent risks because “virtual” money can become challenging to spend. Add in the push by central banks and governments to regulate or even replace cryptocurrencies with their own versions they control and the risks amplify. There’s nothing wrong with cryptocurrencies today but things can change rapidly.
As for physical precious metals, many Americans pay cash to keep plenty on hand in their safe. Rolling over or transferring retirement accounts into self-directed IRAs is also a popular option, but there are caveats. It can often take weeks or even months to get the gold and silver shipped if the owner chooses to close their account. This is why Genesis Gold Group stands out. Their relationship with the depositories allows for rapid closure and shipping, often in less than 10 days from the time the account holder makes their move. This can come in handy if things appear to be heading south.
Lots of Potable Water
One of the biggest shocks that hit new preppers is understanding how much potable water they need in order to survive. Experts claim one gallon of water per person per day is necessary. Even the most conservative estimates put it at over half-a-gallon. That means that for a family of four, they’ll need around 120 gallons of water to survive for a month if the taps turn off and the stores empty out.
Being near a fresh water source, whether it’s a river, lake, or well, is a best practice among experienced preppers. It’s necessary to have a water filter as well, even if the taps are still working. Many refuse to drink tap water even when there is no emergency. Berkey was our previous favorite but they’re under attack from regulators so the Alexapure systems are solid replacements.
For those in the city or away from fresh water sources, storage is the best option. This can be challenging because proper water storage containers take up a lot of room and are difficult to move if the need arises. For “bug in” situations, having a larger container that stores hundreds or even thousands of gallons is better than stacking 1-5 gallon containers. Unfortunately, they won’t be easily transportable and they can cost a lot to install.
Water is critical. If chaos erupts and water infrastructure is compromised, having a large backup supply can be lifesaving.
Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies
There are multiple threats specific to the medical supply chain. With Chinese and Indian imports accounting for over 90% of pharmaceutical ingredients in the United States, deteriorating relations could make it impossible to get the medicines and antibiotics many of us need.
Stocking up many prescription medications can be hard. Doctors generally do not like to prescribe large batches of drugs even if they are shelf-stable for extended periods of time. It is a best practice to ask your doctor if they can prescribe a larger amount. Today, some are sympathetic to concerns about pharmacies running out or becoming inaccessible. Tell them your concerns. It’s worth a shot. The worst they can do is say no.
If your doctor is unwilling to help you stock up on medicines, then Jase Medical is a good alternative. Through telehealth, they can prescribe daily meds or antibiotics that are shipped to your door. As proponents of medical freedom, they empathize with those who want to have enough medical supplies on hand in case things go wrong.
Energy Sources
The vast majority of Americans are locked into the grid. This has proven to be a massive liability when the grid goes down. Unfortunately, there are no inexpensive remedies.
Those living off-grid had to either spend a lot of money or effort (or both) to get their alternative energy sources like solar set up. For those who do not want to go so far, it’s still a best practice to have backup power sources. Diesel generators and portable solar panels are the two most popular, and while they’re not inexpensive they are not out of reach of most Americans who are concerned about being without power for extended periods of time.
Natural gas is another necessity for many, but that’s far more challenging to replace. Having alternatives for heating and cooking that can be powered if gas and electric grids go down is important. Have a backup for items that require power such as manual can openers. If you’re stuck eating canned foods for a while and all you have is an electric opener, you’ll have problems.
Don’t Forget the Protein
When most think about “prepping,” they think about their food supply. More Americans are turning to gardening and homesteading as ways to produce their own food. Others are working with local farmers and ranchers to purchase directly from the sources. This is a good idea whether doomsday comes or not, but it’s particularly important if the food supply chain is broken.
Most grocery stores have about one to two weeks worth of food, as do most American households. Grocers rely heavily on truckers to receive their ongoing shipments. In a crisis, the current process can fail. It behooves Americans for multiple reasons to localize their food purchases as much as possible.
Long-term storage is another popular option. Canned foods, MREs, and freeze dried meals are selling out quickly even as prices rise. But one component that is conspicuously absent in shelf-stable food is high-quality protein. Most survival food companies offer low quality “protein buckets” or cans of meat, but they are often barely edible.
Prepper All-Naturals offers premium cuts of steak that have been cooked sous vide and freeze dried to give them a 25-year shelf life. They offer Ribeye, NY Strip, and Tenderloin among others.
Having buckets of beans and rice is a good start, but keeping a solid supply of high-quality protein isn’t just healthier. It can help a family maintain normalcy through crises.
Prepare Without Fear
With all the challenges we face as Americans today, it can be emotionally draining. Citizens are scared and there’s nothing irrational about their concerns. Being prepared and making lifestyle changes to secure necessities can go a long way toward overcoming the fears that plague us. We should hope and pray for the best but prepare for the worst. And if the worst does come, then knowing we did what we could to be ready for it will help us face those challenges with confidence.
