Can You Survive the Economic Stimulus Package?

My current thought process, along with many other Americans, is one of great nervousness, even fear, regarding the current economy and the governments plan to bail us out. Fear of what the next few years have in store for this country, and the world, both economically and politically. Not only is the stimulus package currently being debated not going to improve the economy, I fear we are headed down a path of long term financial and economical turmoil. Are you personally prepared to endure the financial turmoil that this country is going to face? Are you ready to cut the dependence of governmental programs to ensure your survival?

The "experts" on the television are instructing us to keep up to 20 percent of our savings in cash. This is not "cash" in your savings account but rather the proverbial money stuffed into your mattress. The new President Obama and the current Congress are trying to pass the "stimulus" bill as I write (and it WILL eventually pass), that will continue to drive our nation further in to debt, creating more political leverage for other countries, countries such as China and Japan that we are already indebted too. Additionally, the stimulus package will cause the inflation rate in the United States to rise faster and higher than it ever has. Some "experts" even tell us that we are headed down the wrong path, that a second depression is inevitable - even a global depression.

I never thought of myself as a survivalist. I was a Boy Scout, earning the rank of Eagle just before my fourteenth birthday. That experience did teach me to "be prepared", which coincidently is the Boy Scout Motto. We did survival training in the scouts. It consisted of three days in the wilderness. You could carry some gear, including a half-pound of hamburger. For a thirteen year-old it was a pretty challenging experience.

I also attended survival training in the military. The first survival training I attended was a five day ordeal, with no gear except what you may be carrying with you in your typical daily gear, which included a knife. I attended an additional five day survival school titled S.E.R.E. (Survive, Evade, Resist, Escape). This course was designed to give you the experience of evading an enemy force, while surviving off the land.

Even with all of this training and experience in emergency preparedness and survival, I never thought of myself as a conservative person or one who prepares themselves for the days ahead, which currently may be tougher than most of us have ever experienced. I consider myself a pretty average American. However, it never ceases to amaze me the lack of proactive people of this nation. As our so called "elected officials" (elected by a misguided and otherwise uninformed public) drive the United States closer and closer to socialism and economic destruction.

I have two children. What is a parent to do? Of course we want the best future we can provide for our children. The lack of control of being able to create a better world than we have now creates animosity and fear. This fearful emotion the public shares is what drives the retreat of spending and investing and is caused by the lack of information and the lack of confidence that the United States Government and our media provide.

At one end of the spectrum you have people glued to the television, internet, radio and newspapers, absorbing any and all information they can, causing a lack of information due to receiving bits of information, contradictory information, and sound bites without substance, forcing speculation. On the other hand you have the completely oblivious individuals. Those who do not have any idea of the magnitude of the current economic and governing problems this country faces and the significance of the ramifications of the decisions we make today. As long as the world in their own personal bubble is not affected, these people will not change their behavior or make any effort to become an informed, prepared, decision making individual.

So, what are we to do then? Do we not have any control in the decision making process? Is there any way we can contribute to the outcome? The short answer is NO, we do not. We have elected those officials who will represent us, regardless of the absurdity of the legislation at hand.

We may think we have a vague idea of what is going on. By the little information we are given, we assume that it is going to get much worse before it begins to get better again. Inflation is going to drive the prices of the goods we need everyday through the roof. We are going to spend significantly more money to purchase the products we need everyday to survive.

We also understand that there are many struggling, even failing industries, causing the increase in unemployment and the decrease in GDP and consumer spending, resulting in the demise of other industries. This domino effect is what the government is currently trying to mitigate or stop. But, how does one prepare for such an uncertain future?

We cannot fix the nation's economic issues on an individual level. Our elected officials, regardless of what you may think of their decisions, will develop some sort of plan to attempt to pull the nation out of its economical tailspin. If the first plan doesn't work (it didn't), we will come up with another plan, until the problem is solved or morphs into another problem, which will also be addressed by our elected officials. The point is, it is important to keep yourself informed, but aside from writing to your Congressman, there is very little you can do as an individual to influence the outcome.

As an individual, you must make your own decisions. The manner in which you handle your finances is going to change, whether you like it or not. Suze Orman and Jim Cramer among others have stated that we should be saving a significant amount of our money in cash. That is, cash in a coffee can buried in the basement of your house. It is important to understand that the banking system is walking a very thin line. It is very possible that a significant event, local or global, could cause the American public to panic and attempt to withdraw their money from their bank accounts. Speculation says that if this happens, the banks would not be able to fund all of the withdraws, and fail. Now, the government is not going to let this happen. So to protect the banks and your money, they will freeze all of the accounts and transactions until they can get a handle on things. During this time, you will not be able to access the money in your bank accounts. How long would it last? Well, there is no way to tell. If the speed of the current solution is any gauge, it could be months, or at least several weeks, before you would have access to your money.

I have changed my way of thinking about being a survivalist. The LDS church has been stockpiling food and supplies since the inception of their religion. Being prepared is part of their ideology. Where I am not LDS, I am moving to the realization that it may not be a bad idea to have some long lasting products cached in your home. I believe that it will never get so bad that our supply systems are completely severed, it is a very real possibility that they could be interrupted, causing panic among the public. So as I learned in the Boy Scouts, be prepared!

The economy is obviously unstable. Our elected officials are finding it very difficult to come to a solution that will mitigate the current economic problems. Whether or not they should be involved at all is a mute argument. They are involved and we are (like it or not) forced to rely on them for the right solution. If you believe that the current President and the Congress will develop a viable solution and put this country back on track, then put your head in the sand and live your life as you always have, uninformed and oblivious to anything outside your immediate grasp.

However, if you believe that there may be some hiccups along the way, or that it doesn't matter what policies are put into place or that it doesn't matter what kind of economic stimulus package they throw out there, its not going to work, then maybe you should consider changing your thought process regarding money, how much you save, and where you save it. Is it such a crazy notion to prepare your family a little better by purchasing long lasting staples that could feed your family at today's prices instead of the inflated or price gouged prices that could occur in the future?

It is your own responsibility to take care of yourself. If you have little people in your life (also called children), you are responsible for taking care of them too. If the financial institutions begin to fail, if the government can't afford to take care of you anymore, it is ultimately your responsibility to take care of you and yours. It is my hope that we can take charge of our personal lives and survive together. Families, neighbors, communities and as a nation, work together to ensure the future of this country is as great as its past.