As bad as I hate to admit it :-) I agree with JR.
Terry On 1/2/09, Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com> wrote: > Horace Heffner wrote: > > The lesson to be taken from this is to prepare as best as possible for all > contingencies. This is always good advice, but more so than ever in a time > of instability. Prepare to take care of yourself and family, and beyond > that your extended family and even neighbors if possible, in the event of > major disruptions. > I see no point preparing for such drastic disruptions. I think a person > should prepare for likely disruptions that an ordinary person can hope to > deal with, such as being fired from work. In other words if I were living > close to the edge financially, I would put more money in the bank, > renegotiate the mortgage before I get into trouble, and cancel unnecessary > luxuries. If you do lose your job, it would be a good idea to buy a large > sack of rice. But there is no way to protect against a situation in which > rice becomes unavailable in the US, and that is extremely unlikely to > happen. > > If the situation becomes so drastic that there are food shortages, an > ordinary urban American would be helpless. People living in the countryside > could plant vegetable gardens. That might not be a bad idea, even now. > > Along the same lines, a prudent person with family responsibilities should > be prepared to be killed at any time, in an auto accident, for example. You > should buy life insurance. But if there is an outbreak of bird influenza > that kills millions of people, obviously the life insurance companies will > all go bankrupt. In that case you will probably die and if anyone in your > family survives, they will be destitute. But so will millions of other > survivors. Society will surely reorganize and take care of them. So there is > no point to trying to find an individual solution to this potential > catastrophe. > > Frankly, I think it is better to plan for success and to work toward success > rather than toward failure, or to plan with the assumption that we will > fail. That's why I favor trying to make cold fusion work, rather than trying > to narrow our horizons and make people live with 18th century levels of > energy consumption. I favor "direct, vigorous action" that fixes problems, > rather than living with problems, working around them, or merely surviving > them. I refer to FDR's words: > > "We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the > United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate > that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and > direction under leadership." > > No one should distrust the future of essential democracy, or doubt the will, > skill and bravery of the U.S. population. People who have done that in the > past, such as the Confederate Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy, lost > decisively. That is something that Obama and I agree on 100%. I am very > pleased to hear it from an American politician. "No you can't" is the wrong > message, to the wrong people, as history has shown time after time over the > last 400 years. McCain lost the election with his negativity, such as when > he famously said: "Now, my friends, I'll offer anybody here fifty dollars an > hour if you'll go pick lettuce in Yuma this season and pick for the whole > season. So, ok, sign up! Ok, when you sign up, you sign up, and you'll be > there for the whole season, the whole season, ok, not just one day. Because > you can't do it, my friend." Anyone who bets against us -- or against > science, technology and progress, as the Luddites and anti-evolutionists are > wont to do -- is betting on the wrong horse. > > - Jed >
