Earthquake Survival Kits

One Comment

1. Linda Brady Traynham
   Posted September 7, 2010 at 12:01 am | Permalink

   Sad, interesting, intolerable, and that was LAST year, when conditions were “better.”

   I'm not rich, but I considered seriously expatriating in 2004, after I was widowed. It made excellent sense monetarially and politically, but not in terms of moving to a country where I had no friends or contacts. Some of us just aren't up to wandering around expat bars unaccompanied, which may be something men can do, but not Southern ladies. There was also the question of what I would DO with the rest of my life after becoming considerably more fluent in Spanish. I could have built a beach house near my brother's place in Belize…and then what? Sure, I would have solved the problem of a basic social group, I love the ocean, and I could have read and painted endlessly at first, but I suspected my gilded cage would have palled fairly quickly.

   Immigrating is still a pretty good choice for retired couples in good health IF they can handle having no meaningful work and IF they get up and do it fairly quickly before even more onerous penalties for taking capital out of the country are put in place. Rumors circulating around the hill are on the order of 40% appropriation by the government, and I have a feeling that provisions are being considered for sequestration of pension funds for those who renounce US citizenship. I can't prove that one, at present, but it is a pretty obvious course for rapacious, punitive governments…and do pay attention to the Iron Curtain aspect and the simple fact that it is not possible to leave the country even now without a Passport, and those are issued at the good will of the government. Oddly enough, we seem to have no “right” to a passport, and I doubt many places will allow us to seek political asylum at their embassies.

   Which sort of seems to mean that capital and personal flight are already quite difficult and likely to get far worse. Americans are funny; we have no objection to immigrants starting businesses and hiring locals for anything more complicated than house and lawn work. Foreign nations disagree, in large part. Belize, for example, would not allow me to hire locals to make handbags I design, and never mind that it would have improved their GDP slightly.

   If you aren't already rich and making plans, the chances are that seeking a new land is not for you.

   Which leaves us two choices, both of which I advocate: continue working towards secession of at least three areas in CONUS, and…go limp on 'em. Ayn Rand told you to do that back in '56. Don't subject yourself to bracket creep. Consider carefully how much less of each additional dollar you would be allowed to keep before taking on a second job. Don't buy anything you cannot eat or protect yourself with. Cut back every frivolous use of money–and yes, that includes cell 'phones for every member of the family, cable and premium TV, movies, renting videos and games, gym memberships, and a lot of fripperies most Americans think are essential. They aren't. Use the capital you free to buy physical silver and gold and survival supplies. Use it to increase the ways you are self-sufficient. Prepare physically, financially, and mentally for all of this to become a great deal worse with absolutely no guarantee matters will become better for any reason other than your own actions.

   Dear Charles, who turned 73 last Saturday, gets a job offer about every six weeks, and if anyone ever headhunts him one at the right price in a foreign country we would enjoy with work he really thought interesting, we would consider it. Even I have rejected three job offers sweetly this year with, “If I made more money I would have to pay more taxes.”

   I would rather sit here with an ashtray, a glass of wine, barefooted, watching the cattle and goats go by while I write. I don't have to commute, “power” dress, or have lunches when I would rather be composing. I really would rather give my “work” away than pay the government to allow me to do it. Even when coaxed, “We're not asking you to move or even keep office hours…” No, thank you.

   The problem is those of you in your thirties and forties. Short of the heresy of suggesting that you not worry about how to send your children to college, what relief is possible? I don't want your son to be a plumber any more than you do, although between the markups on parts and what plumbers make, that's an excellent skill that will always be needed. For quite some time few of those being graduated from law school actually found jobs as lawyers! If the time you need to make a decision is ten years away, consider how else you could put the money to work and on-line schooling (which IS the wave of the future) and student loans. The books alone for one of my hands this semester were $1250! Check out CTU, where books are included, student loans guaranteed available.

   Mr. Gaver's article fascinated me because I love playing with numbers. The last stat I saw–at least a couple of months ago–indicated that revenue collection was down 20%. You may not be feeling richer by the minute, but we're all looking “wealthier” to the government by the moment. It serves every person who ever thought the “rich” should be taxed more right.