While I understand you are being facetious regarding your description of the prospect of a 'crypto-type-currency' (that is weaponized and used to consolidate and hyper-centralized control into the hands of the few oligarchs even more than it already is) there are many that still think decentralized/ non-inflationary forms of cryptocurrency are in fact the solution to all the challenges we face. Some of the features of cryptocurrency appeal to me (in theory) but I see several ways in which such systems could fail miserably.
I have concerns with focusing on cryptocurrency (or money in any form really) as the means to resist tyranny (rather than focusing most of our time and energy on connecting with Mother Earth to produce the food and medicine we need) as I feel that while gathering money/cryptocurrency to pay someone else to grow/gather your food is more convenient than learning how to grow it your self there are certain situations in which having money or cryptocurrency would not enable you to get food.
Diversified hard assets, cash and cryptocurrency are great, but those things do not have intrinsic value, thus their value in a survival situation pales in comparison to food cultivation, foraging and preservation skills.
Hard assets (whether cash or gold or food stores anything else) can be stolen from you and events can be brought about by humans (or happen naturally, see https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/preparing-for-the-100-year-storms for more info) that (even in a best case scenario) would render your cryptocurrency inaccessible and useless for long periods of time (EMPs, CMEs and/or some kind of Digital ID/Internet Drivers license requiring biometric scans to access internet).
Knowledge, skills and experience related to food cultivation, foraging and preservation cannot be stolen from you however, and thus it has intrinsic value as it is applicable and accessible in any and all situations.
Every little bit of food you cultivate for yourself and learn to preserve not only increases your resilience, health and ability to boycott corporations in the here and now, it builds those skills and experience that have intrinsic value for the future. Those are the skills and choices that have the most power to starve the corporations and build a new way of living to leave them behind.
Diversified hard assets, cash, non-perishable food stores and cryptocurrency are great, but those things do not have intrinsic value, thus their value in a survival situation pales in comparison to food cultivation, foraging and preservation skills.
Hard assets (whether cash or gold or food stores anything else) can be stolen from you and events can be brought about by humans (or happen naturally) that (even in a best case scenario) would render your cryptocurrency inaccessible and useless for long periods of time (EMPs, CMEs and/or some kind of Digital ID/Internet Drivers license requiring biometric scans to access internet).
Knowledge, skills and experience related to food cultivation, foraging and preservation cannot be stolen from you however, and thus it has intrinsic value as it is applicable and accessible in any and all situations.
Some people tell them self the cop out excuse that because one does not own land, attempting to grow some of one's own food is pointless. That is a fallacy, every little bit of food you cultivate for yourself and learn to preserve not only increases your resilience, health and ability to boycott corporations in the here and now, it builds those skills and experience that have intrinsic value for the future.
Thus, in my opinion, assuming one will always be able to buy food from someone else (because one is wealthy and/or lazy and does not want to get their hands dirty and work with the soil) is a choice to leave your self vulnerable and is not a solid strategy for weathering the storm ahead.
When align with the regenerative capacities of the soil, plants and fungi in our gardens we are essentially locking our arms with Mother Earth. She offers us strength and resilience through our connecting in symbiosis with her ancient living economy, and through this, we can actually Regenerate and increase abundance/resilience (rather than just preserving what we already had) and turn the tide for our local communities in a meaningful way.
That is why I invest in the ancient living economy of the Earth. The abundance that is intrinsic in living soil and that is unlocked by an heirloom seed (and the knowledge to cultivate, preserve, seed save and propagate the resulting harvest) is the antithesis of centralized, it is decentralized to the point where it is accessible anywhere (given one has the knowledge to invest in that way) and such an investment increases in value 1000 fold in a single season.
Gasoline isn't much use when they are about to blow the refineries up. Solar/Wind and lithium batteries. It works for warning road signs in the middle of nowhere and it works for me. I can be off grid for most of the year and live quite normally and if push came to shove I could live off grid i.e. still have electricity for some things even in the depths of winter.
Creating lithium/cobalt batteries requires mass destruction of some of the last intact ecosystems on Earth.
Here in Canada our government and it's corporate masters intend on 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗜𝗻 𝗢𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼/𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗰 in 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯
The Boreal Forest and the body of our Mother Earth is being assaulted in northern Ontario and Quebec. Over 217,000 Hectares of forest, lakes and rivers have been purchased by lithium mining corporations that intend to clear cut and carve in open pit mines into the bones of our Mother Earth in northern Ontario and Quebec (I provide a breakdown of which companies have purchased what land below).
Hard rock lithium mining involves deforestation, draining lakes and rivers, blowing the land into pieces with explosives, carving deep gashes into the Earth with giant machines, using truckloads of industrial solvents like sulfuric acid (resulting in water contamination with toxic sludge) dragging that processed rubble to processing facilities with fleets of heavy machinery then processing the ore with extremely high energy furnaces using another slew of toxic chemicals (which further contaminate the water table, lakes, rivers and ocean elsewhere).
To extract one ton of lithium, you need to contaminate approximately 500,000 gallons of water. Lithium mining also destroys the soil structure and leads to unsustainable water table reduction. In the end, it depletes water resources, leaving the land too dry and exposing ecosystems to the risk of extinction.
The long term results are water loss, ground destabilisation, biodiversity loss, increased salinity of rivers, contaminated soil, massive co-2 emissions and toxic waste. Some of the most common lithium mining wastes are sulfuric acid discharge and the radioactive uranium byproduct (which leaches into the ground water, streams, rivers and lakes). They can cause various forms of cancer and diseases. The mining also presents other serious problems like large amounts of lime and magnesium wastes.
As Lithium extraction causes surface water contamination, it also destroys other water sources. So, it’s also responsible for the creation of toxic rain. The water cycle largely depends on the limited forests. The trees extract underground water and release it into the atmosphere for this process to continue. Therefore, lithium mining hinders the water cycle from providing adequate rainfall in the affected areas. The impacts are severe. The long term result will be increased regional droughts, soil erosion and the risk of desertification.
The entire lithium extraction process contributes to a massive increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Lithium miners cut down trees and remove all other life forms from their targeted mining areas to eliminate obstructions.
Strip mining and deforestation is not something that can be undone. It means the decimation of ancient diverse ecosystems, the poisoning of the sacred waters and extinction of species and so there is nothing "sustainable", "renewable" or "green" about it.
1- Ultra Lithium - intends to destroy 2,416+ hectares of land around Forgan Lake and Georgia Lake (near Thunder Bay, Ontario).
2- International lithium corporation - intends to destroy 47,700 hectares (477 square kilometers) of boreal forest around Raleigh Lake (located near Ignace, Ontario)
3- Fairservice Lithium - intends to destroy 2,544 hectares of boreal forest around Mavis Lake, Ontario
4- Peggy Group - intends to destroy 7,386 hectares of boreal forest located about 80km north of Sioux Lookout, in the province of Ontario.
5- Rock Edge - intends to destroy 6378 hectares of boreal forest (in their combined "Maun" and "Terrier" properties) between the East Wabigoon and English River, in Ontario.
6- The Hearst Project - intends to destroy 29,805 hectares of land located roughly 15 kilometers south of Hearst, Ontario.
7- Frontier Lithium’s PAK Project (involving Green Technology Metals corporation)- intends to destroy 67,800 hectares of boreal forest near Red Lake (with two subsidiary projects called "Seymour" and "Root").
8- Vancouver’s "Lithium One Metals" and Critical Elements Corporation - intend to destroy 53,000+ hectares (530 km2) of boreal forest in Northern Ontario and the James Bay side of Quebec.
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This is not a comprehensive list, there are many more mines planned for the areas listed above (and all over Canada in the Boreal Forest zone). I just got emotionally exhausted after spending half a day reading the lithium mining companies press releases where they were bragging about having rights to begin blasting the land to pieces soon for profit (and bragging about having paid off the locals and having made them sign binding contracts so they cannot complain about environmental/health damages in future years).
The boreal forest is teeming with life (containing about two thirds of Canada's 140 000 species of plants, animals, and micro-organisms.) To describe it, let's begin with the trees that make up the forest canopy. There are about 20 species of them (including but not limited to Spruce, fir, pine, and tamarack, trembling aspen, balsam poplar, birch and more). The boreal plays a critical role in how the planet breathes through the process of photosynthesis. By extension, it also shapes the composition of the atmosphere, which today includes maintaining 21 percent of the life supporting concentrations of oxygen in our atmosphere. The impact of the forest is so significant that global levels of carbon dioxide, actually drop significantly in spring and summer when it is growing most.
For those concerned about carbon levels in the atmosphere, preserving the integrity of the Boreal Forest should be a top priority. The boreal forest soaks up more carbon than it emits. The boreal is also cold. Thus, when trees die, they decompose slowly, keeping carbon in their bodies relatively longer than dead trees in tropical forests, which rot swiftly and release large amounts of carbon. The cold also keeps the boreal’s permafrost frozen, trapping carbon-rich methane, underneath the surface of the soil. As well, much of the boreal is dotted with marshy peatland, another efficient storage facility for carbon.
The boreal forest shelters more than 85 species of mammals, including some of the largest and most majestic—wood bison, elk, moose, woodland caribou, grizzly and black bears, and wolves—and smaller species, such as beavers, snowshoe hares, Canada lynx, red squirrels, lemmings, and voles.
Nearly half of the birds in North America rely on the boreal forest at some time during the year. It is estimated that at least 3 billion landbirds, water birds, and shorebirds breed in the boreal forest each year, representing more than 300 species. Another 300 million birds, including several species of shorebirds, swans, and geese, breed farther north and travel through the boreal forest during migration. It is estimated that 32 000 insect species inhabit Canada's boreal forest, although about one third of these species have yet to be described. Canada's boreal forest is home to about 130 species of fish (including minnows, stickleback and Larger species such as including walleye, northern pike, lake trout, Arctic grayling, yellow perch, brook trout, whitefish and burbot).
It is worth re-iterating that Hard rock lithium mining involves deforestation, draining lakes and rivers, blowing the land into pieces with explosives, carving deep gashes into the Earth with giant machines, using truckloads of industrial solvents like sulfuric acid (resulting in water contamination with toxic sludge) dragging that processed rubble to processing facilities with fleets of heavy machinery then processing the ore with extremely high energy demanding furnaces using another slew of toxic chemicals (which further contaminate the water table, lakes, rivers and ocean elsewhere).
In order to illustrate the potential for catastrophic harm to ecosystems and human health that these mines pose I present a cautionary tale: The Liqi River was once full of fish: Almost none are left. Chemical spills from the Ganzizhou Rongda lithium mine have killed many. “The whole river stank, and it was full of dead yaks and dead fish,” said one villager.: “Masses” of dead fish covered the river. The people got the mine shut down three times, only to have the government reopen it. One of the elders said, “Old people, we see the mines and we cry. What are the future generations going to do? How are they going to survive?”A local activist surveyed people in the area. Even if mining companies split the profits and promised to repair the land after the mines are exhausted, the Tibetans wanted no part of it. “God is in the mountains and the rivers, these are the places that spirits live,” he explained.” “sustainable development” technology (Lithium battery tech) offers everything: every luxury, every whim, available at the touch of a ‘carbon-free’ button. But the world that these technologies provide will be a rotting, desecrated, and, finally, dead world if we let them continue on their crusade to turn the living world into dead things, for profit and to perpetuate our obscene technologically addicted human “civilization”.
In the concentrations extracted via industrial mining operations, lithium is harmful to living beings. It interferes with sperm viability, causes birth defects, memory problems, kidney failure, movement disorders, and so on. Other materials in an electric-car battery can be even more harmful than lithium, with nickel and cobalt electrodes being the most destructive component.
As I covered in a past post, about half of the cobalt used in lithium batteries comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 40,000 children as young as four are essentially enslaved in mines, carrying backbreaking loads in conditions of intense heat, with no safety equipment, under abusive managers and guards, for a wage of a dollar a day.
Here in Canada, we may end up paying our cobalt miners more money and they may be wearing steel toes and hat hats, but the impacts on the ecosystem will be just as devastating.
There’s no circumventing the fact that these energy-storage technologies are fundamentally destructive. And they're dependent on a global supply chain and advanced manufacturing technologies that, themselves, are fundamentally destructive. Machines making machines making machines; and while more and more hyperbolic "green" headlines are written, the planet is being killed.
Next on the hit list for corporate pillaging in the name of "sustainability" is the Boreal Forest.
As described above, our corrupt corporation captured government is helping to initiate large projects to pillage the lands of indigenous peoples (Cree of Eeyou Istchee, the Shakopaatikoong peoples of the Slate Falls first nation and the Waabitigweyaang peoples of Sandy Lake, among others ) and the body of Mother Earth in new Lithium (cobalt and tantalum) mines in northern Ontario and Quebec.
Given the nature of open pit mining, lithium leeching ponds and lithium refining, the inevitable result will be large scale poisoning of the water table and the ocean in James bay, contamination of the great lakes (through lake Superior, moving downstream into all the other great lakes), deforestation and genocide of local wildlife.
These corporations intend to clear cut the boreal forest, annihilating the little bit of remaining habitat that exists in Ontario for the moose, caribou, the lynx, bears, the mountain lion, wolves, fox, bobcats, eagles, hawks and countless other winged and four legged beings will be forcibly displaced from their homes (inevitably resulting in many of them attempting to return to their homes only to starve while pacing near the fences or to be poisoned by the toxins these mines produce).
The fish in the lakes, the whales and countless other beings in James bay, they will all be decimated by these projects.
These corporations appear to be moving in fast and as quiet as possible (paying off locals with bribes along the way and getting them to sign binding agreements) to avoid local and environmentalist resistance.
These projects will mean we trade blood for lithium so we can have fun i-pads and electric cars to play with. We will be trading the ancient beauty and majesty of the Boreal forest and all it's inhabitants for smart phones and tesla cars. I can't help but ask myself this question... Is it really worth it?
In closing, I would like to humbly remind you that Each time you make a choice that nourishes, respects and enriches the living Earth, you are nourishing, respecting and enriching yourself... and each time you make a choice that degrades, harms and pillages her, you are degrading, harming and pillaging yourself.
Those that wish to walk a path guided by any kind of honest moral compass (including but not limited to the permaculture ethical imperative of People Care-Earth Care-Future Care) are going to have to make some hard choices in the coming years if we want our actions to continue to align with the principles we espouse and claim to live by.
For many years I have told people who champion electric cars and solar panels that considering they also rely on finite resources, we should be careful that we do not end up going from trading blood for oil, to trading blood for lithium.
Over 50 percent of the world’s known lithium deposits are in the “Lithium Triangle”—the lithium concentrated brine sources in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. Bolivia’s high mountain deserts—the Salar de Uyuni—have by far the largest known reserves of lithium.
Evo Morales -- Bolivia's first indigenous president, had a commitment to the environment and to Pachamama (Mother Earth) and he was against inviting in transnational corporations (like Telsa and it's lithium mining partners) to pillage the land for lithium. When he refused to allow multi-national corporations to pillage the Earth for the large lithium deposits in his country it was not long before a US-backed military coup took place.
President Evo Morales Ayma, was removed illegally from his office in November 2019. The Bolivian military, at the behest of Bolivian oligarchs with ties to Lithium Mining Corporations and the United States government, threatened Morales; Morales went into exile in Mexico and then in Argentina.
The CEO of the U.S.-based Telsa car manufacturer has admitted to involvement in what President Morales has referred to as a “Lithium Coup.”
The coup was about Bolivian lithium; and not only did it involve violent coercion to remove Bolivia's first indigenous president from office, it also resulted in two massacres local people defending their land against the lithium mines (and now is resulting in the destruction of the land and ecosystems there, as I exposed in my previous post).
This is what "sustainable development", Greenwashing, "Green Colonialism" and trading blood for lithium looks like.
The corporate oligarchs that are ravenous to make billions from pillaging the Earth for lithium and cobalt now have their crosshairs set on Ontario and Quebec, God help anyone that dares to stand in their way to defend the Boreal Forest (which they intend to scalp, blow to pieces with explosives, grind into rubble and poison with a stew of toxic chemicals so we can have ipads and EVs).
Lithium mining, cobalt mining and other forms of extraction that are being promoted as "green" are poisoning water, destroying habitat, facilitating consumerism, and destroying poor and indigenous communities around the world.
I own a freeze dryer (and have freeze dried several times worth the cost of the machine worth of superfoods and homegrown medicines since purchasing it).
I see the huge practical benefits of freeze dryers but I feel I would be remiss if I did not also caution about the risks of depending (solely) on technology such as that for preserving food.
Unless one is capable of gathering all the electricity they need to run their home (and their freeze drying machine) off grid and unless one has back up components for both the energy generation/accumulation systems and the freeze dryer itself stored in some kind of Faraday cage, situations could arise where that technology could become totally unusable. (see: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/preparing-for-the-100-year-storms for more information on one such inevitability that will render such technologies useless)
This is one of the reasons that I am in the process of publishing some material ( see: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/my-book-is-finally-done-recipes-for for more info) that can help empower individuals to preserve seasonal abundances of food (whether foraged or cultivated) using low tech methods without the need for specialized equipment. Lacto-fermentation is one versatile method that any gardener or forager should become accustomed with as you do not need anything other than salt, water and random containers (such as mason jars etc) to be able to preserve food for up to a year.
Now that being said, as I also own a freeze dryer I advocate for prioritizing low tech off grid food cultivation/preservation tools, skills and experience and then freeze drying as a supplementary way to be even better prepared for a wide range of ewmergencies. Getting a freeze dryer was no small decision as they are very expensive machines and I am not financially wealthy. The motivating factor for my wanting a freeze dryer can be boiled down to a combination of how I want to treat this vehicle (my body) and the amount of land I have to grow food. For the time being, we have an urban suburban lot and so I have carefully selected some of the most nutrient dense (and antioxidant/polyphenol diverse) crops so that we can give our bodies the absolute best quality food and medicine we can trust . Sometimes we have large seasonal abundances where even through lactic acid fermentation I reach my capacity for storage (or have crops that do not ferment well or easily) meaning I have to freeze, dehydrate or pickle (cook with vinegar). The last three methods of crop preservation mean significant losses in the nutritional content (and often flavor) of food. One of the reasons I got a freeze dryer is because of the technology's uncanny ability to preserve the nutritional content (as well as the flavor, texture and color) of food. Tests show that (aside from some very minor vitamin c loss in certain crops) freeze drying retains around 97% of the nutrients of the fresh / raw food for at least 20 years! Dehydration on the other hand, (while much more energy efficient and still very useful) tends to result in the loss of Vitamins A and C, thiamine, riboflavin and niacin (averaging around 50% – 60% of the original nutrients being left over from the raw / fresh item).
While that is still a significant amount and I still plan on dehydrating a fair bit, I can't ignore the impressive differences in shelf life, nutrition retention, and texture retention of freeze drying vs dehydrating. So for us (and our priorities) getting a freeze drying unit that can preserve food which can be be relied upon for years to come was imperative.
If I had more land I might have considered just coping with the inevitable nutrient loss and go 100% "back to basics" for my crop preservation, but for now we do not have a lot of growing space, so every Goji berry, medicinal herb/fungi, Purple sweet potato, Black tomato, Golden beet, Moringa leaf, Tumeric rhizome, Ginger rhizome and Blueberry we grow counts and I need to keep all their goodness intact in order to feel I am properly caring for our bodies (and utilizing the growing space we have to its greatest potential).
With regards to emergency preparedness side of this device, in the event of a total collapse of modern civilization I am capable of using a combination of available conventionally stored garden crops, foraging, and improvising (even if it were to happen in the dead of winter) to survive (and care for my loved ones at home). So, for us, a freeze dryer is not about survival in the case of extreme emergencies, and more about comfort, wanting to be in optimal health in any situation, having portable/versatile food stores that can be grabbed on the go (should the need arise to leave in a hurry) and it is about my want to maximize my ability to preserve our most nutrient dense crops in peak condition (considering how much time and love I put into growing top quality.) So that is my take on freeze dryers in relation to emergency preparedness.
"What survives collapse? What survives crisis? Community. What ever you give and contribute into your community and you generate that goodwill, and you generate those structures of taking care of each other and reciprocal (gift) relationships... that is an investment. That is a savings account that fires cannot burn and thieves cannot steal.
The best investment you can make is generosity, for only thing that cannot be taken from you is that which you give."
Kind words and a tank of gas will get you hundreds of miles.
Having been in Venezuela in '99 right after the big banker grand theft I've seen the desperate look for people's savings wiped out literally overnight.
I purchased items (what was to be had) from a shopkeeper who saved $8 or $10,000 in Bolivares, only to have them devalued to $250. He "lost it all," his life savings. Even if he had had a fraction of that as silver or gold he could have recovered better than most.
Desperate times in 1999... and they've gotten worse in the ensuing 24 years. Our friend's brother lives there as a priest helping the poor daily. He's old and has just decided to expend the rest of his life and pension helping the poor, living in misery himself.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences on this.
Hyper-inflation is certainly something worth accounting for, though I think that if one takes an even bigger step back to look at the broader cycles of the rise and fall of civilizations, one should also take into account the potential for time frames (potentially spanning years) when the perceived value of shiny pieces of metal (that one cannot eat) would be relatively low (when compared to things that have intrinsic value, such as heirloom seeds, plant/fungi identification/preservation skills, food cultivation knowledge, durable low tech tools, knowledge and hands on experience).
Modern humans often look back on our tiny scope of the human experience in recent centuries and then extrapolate that into some kind of pattern that we can rely on, but we are also involved with the transition of larger cycles and the current economic, technological, geo-physical, solar and sociological trends are leading us towards a time in which all the patterns we look to in our history books will be irrelevant, as the upheaval, collapse, turmoil and unprecedented changes in conditions we will live through, will strip away all superficial human ideas of wealth, leaving only true wealth behind (that which has intrinsic value).
Thus, as I said to the author of this post above, Diversified hard assets, cash and cryptocurrency are great, but those things do not have intrinsic value, thus their value in a survival situation pales in comparison to food cultivation, foraging and preservation skills.
Knowledge, skills and experience related to food cultivation, foraging and preservation cannot be stolen from you, and thus it has intrinsic value as it is applicable and accessible in any and all situations.
When (as Charles eluded to in his talk linked above) those things are combined with forging symbiotic and reciprocal relationships with people in the community in which ones lives ("gift economics") then one's resilience increases exponentially. Symbiotic relationships also cannot be stolen from you. That kind of true "wealth" and resilience far surpasses any amount attainable by the one that hordes weapons, gold or any other physical items/substances.
Having died "on the table" last year and seeing the other side, the only satisfaction I have now is contemplating Our Lady (Mary) whom I met so briefly, and sent me back. It wasn't my time yet.
That said, everything pales in this lifetime to what lies ahead.
Still, prudence requires that we have both soft and hard assets, our "human capital" our "spiritual wealth" and physical goods. Of course, the saints who have reached the full spiritual union with God (St. Padre Pio, Maria Luisa Picarreta, et al.) lived on just the Eucharist and little more to sustain their bodies for years and years. I'm not quite there yet, though I did meet a woman at the supermarket just two or three days ago that lived on a piece of toast every day. Impressive!
God I agree 100%, Gold, I have my reservations (no pun intended), hording guns, could backfire (again no pun intended, I swear! :) ) but gardens, oh yeah! I am with you there!
Nurturing the spirit and one's relationship with the Creator and learning how to grow (and preserve) one's own food and medicine, those endeavors, experiences and skills represent investments that are valuable regardless of any outward circumstances.
For more on why I advocate God and Gardening as the two most important in your list:
Re: Guns, IMO, I think it is worth noting that while defensive weapons might make one feel safe and may protect against random degenerates, if the oligarchy sends in it's goons and high tech weapons those weapons would be pointless. Thus, while I see the wisdom in being able to defend yourself and your loved ones in extreme situations, I do not think that focusing a large amount of time on gathering defensive weapons is healthy nor productive.
Serious question: What would you suggest we do with our money? Time to empty your bank account? Dig a hole in the ground and stash it there? Is there anything left to invest in as a normal citizen?
I am not a financial planner, nor am I qualified to offer any advice, but dollar cost averaging into metals and defi crypto would be better than digging a hole and filling with fiat since inflation is stealing the value of said fiat by the millisecond.
I will write about defi crypto at some point in the near future.
I have concerns with focusing on cryptocurrency (or money in any form really) as the means to resist tyranny and/or plan for resilience in the face of inevitable economic instability (rather than focusing most of our time and energy on connecting with Mother Earth to produce the food and medicine we need) as I feel that while gathering money/cryptocurrency to pay someone else to grow/gather your food is more convenient than learning how to grow it your self there are certain situations in which having money or cryptocurrency would not enable you to get food.
Diversified hard assets, cash and cryptocurrency are great, but those things do not have intrinsic value, thus their value in a survival situation pales in comparison to food cultivation, foraging and preservation skills.
Hard assets (whether cash or gold or food stores anything else) can be stolen from you and events can be brought about by humans (or happen naturally, see https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/preparing-for-the-100-year-storms for more info) that (even in a best case scenario) would render your cryptocurrency inaccessible and useless for long periods of time (EMPs, CMEs and/or some kind of Digital ID/Internet Drivers license requiring biometric scans to access internet).
Knowledge, skills and experience related to food cultivation, foraging and preservation cannot be stolen from you however, and thus it has intrinsic value as it is applicable and accessible in any and all situations.
The banking system was broken as soon as deregulation happened.
Banks could "invest" aka gamble with deposits.
Add to that, the ridiculousness of the FRACTIONAL RESERVE system which allows them to loan a lot... In a time where most loans are on severely overpriced real estate.
Meanwhile, the real solution would be a state bank that doesn't leech profits to shareholders and executives. One such successful bank is the state bank of North Dakota.
Also what is clear is that most did not realize that the ridiculous rise in real estate Was INFLATION. In fact, it was much more damaging than food and fuel because we spend a lot more on housing than those 2 things.
But dummies thought ridiculous rates of rise was like some kind of investment...
The bankers wrote and continue to write the banking regs, and where they do not completely write them, they have still a heavy hand on the wheel, and there's the revolving agency door.
The deregulation under Trump is not the problem here, he was evening the field for the smaller banks against the large ones. But yes, I'd agree when you see deregulation coming through Congress we have to wonder too.
That fractional holdings reg has of course lowered that fraction amount repeatedly.
Fraud and self-serving is so pervasive as to be rampant at banks, as we suspect and know. I knew a guy that a local state bank would send out to go through the books, the desks, the drawers, the file cabinets and cardboard boxes - everything of a branch's management. He'd come in at night and when he inevitably found it he'd call the bosses, who would then meet him early before opening, get the locks changed and go from there.
One of many things so difficult about banks, is they get the confession out of the employees, then they rarely prosecute because they do not want the banks to appear unsound in any way. I was my county's prosecutor for some of this 20 years ago, and argued the opposite - that the public would see the bank cracking down on fraud and theft and feel more confident.
Further digression - this grandstanding commitment to further disaster, as far as I can understand it:
I think investing some of one's time and energy in developing self defense skills is a valuable choice, though, I would place that as third on my priority list in the grander scheme of things.
As I alluded to in a comment above, defensive skills (and/or weapons) might make one feel safe and may protect against random degenerates, however, if the oligarchy sends in it's goons and high tech weapons those modes of self defense would be pointless. Thus, while I see the wisdom in being able to defend yourself and your loved ones in extreme situations, I do not think that focusing a large amount of time on gathering defensive skills and/or weapons is healthy nor productive.
When my awareness of the seemingly endless ways in which humans are wreaking havoc and scheming about how to dominate, enslave and kill each other starts to get to me and my faith wavers I take a step back to look at this life from the the more holistic perspective of my soul.
From the perspective of my spirit I remember that there is beauty and meaning to be found in impermanence. From that knowing, whether or not my efforts in this life send out clearly observable multi-generational ripple effects or not becomes irrelevant. After all, within a broader cosmic cycle, the inevitable natural result for this world will be end of all life on Earth. Planets only live as long as their stars burn, and eventually our sun’s life will come to an end as well, at which point all that ever was created by humans on this Earth will eventually be turned back into the stardust from once it came.
Does that inevitability make living a life where one chooses to be creative, kind, courageous, hopeful and curious any less meaningful?
In the end, whether its 1 more day, a couple years or a 100, it always comes down to the question:
How do I want to spend the time I have left on this Earth?
Does planting a seed in the Earth and tending it to grow, providing poetry for the senses, food for pollinators and nourishment for the soul have any less value because of the impermanence of that individual plant only living for a single season?
Do the fleeting expressions of form and color in a sunrise or a sunset make it any less beautiful or worth being present and aware to cherish and appreciate?
Asking myself these questions allows me to regenerate the faith, hope and sense of purpose in my heart and mind despite the corrosive onslaught of a world full of humans that have lost their way.
Even if the most grim worse case scenario you can imagine ends up being we are facing, that does not negate the value of using one's free will and one's moments on this Earth to nurture life, choose hope, courage, love and peace in the face of fear, hubris, apathy, violence and cowardice. Each choice we make leaves a mark, not only in the lives of those we share this world with but perhaps more importantly, each choice me make leaves a mark on our soul.
From the perspective of my spirit I remember that there is beauty and meaning to be found in impermanence. From that knowing, whether or not my efforts in this life send out clearly observable multi-generational ripple effects or not becomes irrelevant. After all, within a broader cosmic cycle, the inevitable natural result for this world will be end of all life on Earth. Planets only live as long as their stars burn, and eventually our sun’s life will come to an end as well, at which point all that ever was created by humans on this Earth will eventually be turned back into the stardust from once it came.
Lets say hypothetically (for the sake of argument) the worst case scenario happens (total overt totalitarian technocracy involving out in the open democide of dissidents and/or massive open warfare and/or civil war). Even if that were to come to pass my answer would be the same… because for me in that hypothetical situation the question still boils down to:
“How do I want to spend the time I have left on this Earth?”
Do I want to spend the time I have been gifted to wield the weapons of man in violence?
Or do I want to embody faith in that which the Creator of all things gave us and plant the seeds of hope, love and abundance by working with my hands in the rich Earth?
Therefore, I see creating regenerative gardens and food forests as a viable, honorable and practical path forward in these uncertain times. We can forge alliances with the more than human world through planting food forests and regenerative gardens all over, and in doing so provide not only for ourselves, but countless future generations in the process.
It was predetermined that JP Morgan Chase would end up owning First Republic. Be careful of Jamie Dimon and the goal is to have the entire banking industry in the hands of the chosen few. ESG is just the beginning and life will soon suck for most of us. If Biden can get away with everything he and his family have done so can the financial world.
That (plausible) hypothetical would only result in life 'sucking' for those that are dependent on centralized infrastructure to access their basic survival needs and for those that are dependent on services/technologies that are also dependent on the centralized power/telecommunications and industrial manufacturing infrastructures to experience joy and fulfilment in life.
Some of us are charting an alternative course forward.
In the short term fear of a banking collapse is the main issue.. in droughts some farms go but others buy them.. no different only JPM has engineered the crisis to do what they are doing .. picking up the pieces.. with over 4000 banks in the USA you won’t miss a few.. just hope your not holding the one that falls..
When a bank collapses just get your mates to pretend that you had money in the failed bank as many in israel allegedly did when SVB went broke. These people will be paid back the billions, that they allegedly never had in the bank in the first place, by the people of the World who use dollars for trade or saving as Biden prints more dollars to give these "never were" depositors "back" so diluting honest people's dollar holdings.
Banking is a massive fraud scheme run to benefit a very few families as becomes clearer with each passing day.
The sky has been full of military planes, a lot of them have "gitmo" call signs, even seen some with "cabal". There are truther claims that Gitmo is the place where military tribunals and executions for cabal/deep state have been going on. Derek Johnson says he was offered to be a journalist for the public tribunals to happen this Summer, and that what's happening in the sky has to do with mass arrests taking place:
Also a couple guys here claim to have insider knowledge that the worst fallout of the financial crash of the cabal's US dollar will be averted with a new, decentralized, asset-backed Quantum Financial System using XRP, XRM, and Starlink (there have been claims benevolent ET's are connected to it, for example in the video below they say the QFS compliance officer somehow is, and this ET connection is backed up by Elena Danaan: https://www.elenadanaan.org/afternoon-tea-with-an-alpha-centaurian):
Interestingly there's a quantum.gov US federal website, and a fairly recent video of Trump using the phrase "New Quantum Leap to Revolutionize the American Standard of Living" where he hints at new technologies:
Thank you, #2!! I have published research in economics via The Claremont Colleges: the title of this paper is what the data seem to show:
‘Financial’/‘monetary’/‘derivative’ house-of-cards collapse? Remember: Superior mechanics already proven by Ben Franklin with monetary reform and public banking, backed by Thomas Edison, 86% of Economics professors
Thomas Edison was well aware of the dangers of USURY.
Here's an excellent article that explains his proposed solution. It did not involve interest bearing bonds or printing money at interest.
In a New York Times interview Dec. 6, 1921, Thomas Edison advocated financing the proposed Muscles Shoals Dam by "issuing currency instead of debt (bonds.) They are identical promises to pay, but currency does not incur debt or interest."
Thus Edison exposed the whole central banking fraud which holds humanity in bondage.
Consolidate, then enact change through nationalized banking system?
Yes, and then consolidate the nationalized banking system into a singular global bank and crypto-SDR aka the Ü; to wit: https://www.2ndsmartestguyintheworld.com/p/the-imf-has-just-unveiled-a-new-global
While I understand you are being facetious regarding your description of the prospect of a 'crypto-type-currency' (that is weaponized and used to consolidate and hyper-centralized control into the hands of the few oligarchs even more than it already is) there are many that still think decentralized/ non-inflationary forms of cryptocurrency are in fact the solution to all the challenges we face. Some of the features of cryptocurrency appeal to me (in theory) but I see several ways in which such systems could fail miserably.
I have concerns with focusing on cryptocurrency (or money in any form really) as the means to resist tyranny (rather than focusing most of our time and energy on connecting with Mother Earth to produce the food and medicine we need) as I feel that while gathering money/cryptocurrency to pay someone else to grow/gather your food is more convenient than learning how to grow it your self there are certain situations in which having money or cryptocurrency would not enable you to get food.
Diversified hard assets, cash and cryptocurrency are great, but those things do not have intrinsic value, thus their value in a survival situation pales in comparison to food cultivation, foraging and preservation skills.
Hard assets (whether cash or gold or food stores anything else) can be stolen from you and events can be brought about by humans (or happen naturally, see https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/preparing-for-the-100-year-storms for more info) that (even in a best case scenario) would render your cryptocurrency inaccessible and useless for long periods of time (EMPs, CMEs and/or some kind of Digital ID/Internet Drivers license requiring biometric scans to access internet).
Knowledge, skills and experience related to food cultivation, foraging and preservation cannot be stolen from you however, and thus it has intrinsic value as it is applicable and accessible in any and all situations.
Every little bit of food you cultivate for yourself and learn to preserve not only increases your resilience, health and ability to boycott corporations in the here and now, it builds those skills and experience that have intrinsic value for the future. Those are the skills and choices that have the most power to starve the corporations and build a new way of living to leave them behind.
Diversified hard assets, cash, non-perishable food stores and cryptocurrency are great, but those things do not have intrinsic value, thus their value in a survival situation pales in comparison to food cultivation, foraging and preservation skills.
Hard assets (whether cash or gold or food stores anything else) can be stolen from you and events can be brought about by humans (or happen naturally) that (even in a best case scenario) would render your cryptocurrency inaccessible and useless for long periods of time (EMPs, CMEs and/or some kind of Digital ID/Internet Drivers license requiring biometric scans to access internet).
Knowledge, skills and experience related to food cultivation, foraging and preservation cannot be stolen from you however, and thus it has intrinsic value as it is applicable and accessible in any and all situations.
Some people tell them self the cop out excuse that because one does not own land, attempting to grow some of one's own food is pointless. That is a fallacy, every little bit of food you cultivate for yourself and learn to preserve not only increases your resilience, health and ability to boycott corporations in the here and now, it builds those skills and experience that have intrinsic value for the future.
Thus, in my opinion, assuming one will always be able to buy food from someone else (because one is wealthy and/or lazy and does not want to get their hands dirty and work with the soil) is a choice to leave your self vulnerable and is not a solid strategy for weathering the storm ahead.
When align with the regenerative capacities of the soil, plants and fungi in our gardens we are essentially locking our arms with Mother Earth. She offers us strength and resilience through our connecting in symbiosis with her ancient living economy, and through this, we can actually Regenerate and increase abundance/resilience (rather than just preserving what we already had) and turn the tide for our local communities in a meaningful way.
Don’t forget the effect such a consolidation will have on the small businesses they’ve been increasingly trying to destroy.
No one can be independent for this plan to work. No one can be self-reliant. Nothing can go on without their fingers somewhere in the pie.
This is accelerating that process greatly.
That is why I invest in the ancient living economy of the Earth. The abundance that is intrinsic in living soil and that is unlocked by an heirloom seed (and the knowledge to cultivate, preserve, seed save and propagate the resulting harvest) is the antithesis of centralized, it is decentralized to the point where it is accessible anywhere (given one has the knowledge to invest in that way) and such an investment increases in value 1000 fold in a single season.
God, gold, guns, gardens.
(I just made that up)
God, gold, guns, gardens, gasoline. This is the true 5G.
Gasoline isn't much use when they are about to blow the refineries up. Solar/Wind and lithium batteries. It works for warning road signs in the middle of nowhere and it works for me. I can be off grid for most of the year and live quite normally and if push came to shove I could live off grid i.e. still have electricity for some things even in the depths of winter.
Creating lithium/cobalt batteries requires mass destruction of some of the last intact ecosystems on Earth.
Here in Canada our government and it's corporate masters intend on 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗜𝗻 𝗢𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼/𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗰 in 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯
The pictures linked here: https://archive.org/details/blood4lithiumborealforestpillaging show a few of the areas that have been purchased by mining corporations and what they intend on doing with that land starting this year.
The Boreal Forest and the body of our Mother Earth is being assaulted in northern Ontario and Quebec. Over 217,000 Hectares of forest, lakes and rivers have been purchased by lithium mining corporations that intend to clear cut and carve in open pit mines into the bones of our Mother Earth in northern Ontario and Quebec (I provide a breakdown of which companies have purchased what land below).
Hard rock lithium mining involves deforestation, draining lakes and rivers, blowing the land into pieces with explosives, carving deep gashes into the Earth with giant machines, using truckloads of industrial solvents like sulfuric acid (resulting in water contamination with toxic sludge) dragging that processed rubble to processing facilities with fleets of heavy machinery then processing the ore with extremely high energy furnaces using another slew of toxic chemicals (which further contaminate the water table, lakes, rivers and ocean elsewhere).
To extract one ton of lithium, you need to contaminate approximately 500,000 gallons of water. Lithium mining also destroys the soil structure and leads to unsustainable water table reduction. In the end, it depletes water resources, leaving the land too dry and exposing ecosystems to the risk of extinction.
The long term results are water loss, ground destabilisation, biodiversity loss, increased salinity of rivers, contaminated soil, massive co-2 emissions and toxic waste. Some of the most common lithium mining wastes are sulfuric acid discharge and the radioactive uranium byproduct (which leaches into the ground water, streams, rivers and lakes). They can cause various forms of cancer and diseases. The mining also presents other serious problems like large amounts of lime and magnesium wastes.
As Lithium extraction causes surface water contamination, it also destroys other water sources. So, it’s also responsible for the creation of toxic rain. The water cycle largely depends on the limited forests. The trees extract underground water and release it into the atmosphere for this process to continue. Therefore, lithium mining hinders the water cycle from providing adequate rainfall in the affected areas. The impacts are severe. The long term result will be increased regional droughts, soil erosion and the risk of desertification.
The entire lithium extraction process contributes to a massive increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Lithium miners cut down trees and remove all other life forms from their targeted mining areas to eliminate obstructions.
Strip mining and deforestation is not something that can be undone. It means the decimation of ancient diverse ecosystems, the poisoning of the sacred waters and extinction of species and so there is nothing "sustainable", "renewable" or "green" about it.
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯:
1- Ultra Lithium - intends to destroy 2,416+ hectares of land around Forgan Lake and Georgia Lake (near Thunder Bay, Ontario).
2- International lithium corporation - intends to destroy 47,700 hectares (477 square kilometers) of boreal forest around Raleigh Lake (located near Ignace, Ontario)
3- Fairservice Lithium - intends to destroy 2,544 hectares of boreal forest around Mavis Lake, Ontario
4- Peggy Group - intends to destroy 7,386 hectares of boreal forest located about 80km north of Sioux Lookout, in the province of Ontario.
5- Rock Edge - intends to destroy 6378 hectares of boreal forest (in their combined "Maun" and "Terrier" properties) between the East Wabigoon and English River, in Ontario.
6- The Hearst Project - intends to destroy 29,805 hectares of land located roughly 15 kilometers south of Hearst, Ontario.
7- Frontier Lithium’s PAK Project (involving Green Technology Metals corporation)- intends to destroy 67,800 hectares of boreal forest near Red Lake (with two subsidiary projects called "Seymour" and "Root").
8- Vancouver’s "Lithium One Metals" and Critical Elements Corporation - intend to destroy 53,000+ hectares (530 km2) of boreal forest in Northern Ontario and the James Bay side of Quebec.
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This is not a comprehensive list, there are many more mines planned for the areas listed above (and all over Canada in the Boreal Forest zone). I just got emotionally exhausted after spending half a day reading the lithium mining companies press releases where they were bragging about having rights to begin blasting the land to pieces soon for profit (and bragging about having paid off the locals and having made them sign binding contracts so they cannot complain about environmental/health damages in future years).
The boreal forest is teeming with life (containing about two thirds of Canada's 140 000 species of plants, animals, and micro-organisms.) To describe it, let's begin with the trees that make up the forest canopy. There are about 20 species of them (including but not limited to Spruce, fir, pine, and tamarack, trembling aspen, balsam poplar, birch and more). The boreal plays a critical role in how the planet breathes through the process of photosynthesis. By extension, it also shapes the composition of the atmosphere, which today includes maintaining 21 percent of the life supporting concentrations of oxygen in our atmosphere. The impact of the forest is so significant that global levels of carbon dioxide, actually drop significantly in spring and summer when it is growing most.
For those concerned about carbon levels in the atmosphere, preserving the integrity of the Boreal Forest should be a top priority. The boreal forest soaks up more carbon than it emits. The boreal is also cold. Thus, when trees die, they decompose slowly, keeping carbon in their bodies relatively longer than dead trees in tropical forests, which rot swiftly and release large amounts of carbon. The cold also keeps the boreal’s permafrost frozen, trapping carbon-rich methane, underneath the surface of the soil. As well, much of the boreal is dotted with marshy peatland, another efficient storage facility for carbon.
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The boreal forest shelters more than 85 species of mammals, including some of the largest and most majestic—wood bison, elk, moose, woodland caribou, grizzly and black bears, and wolves—and smaller species, such as beavers, snowshoe hares, Canada lynx, red squirrels, lemmings, and voles.
Nearly half of the birds in North America rely on the boreal forest at some time during the year. It is estimated that at least 3 billion landbirds, water birds, and shorebirds breed in the boreal forest each year, representing more than 300 species. Another 300 million birds, including several species of shorebirds, swans, and geese, breed farther north and travel through the boreal forest during migration. It is estimated that 32 000 insect species inhabit Canada's boreal forest, although about one third of these species have yet to be described. Canada's boreal forest is home to about 130 species of fish (including minnows, stickleback and Larger species such as including walleye, northern pike, lake trout, Arctic grayling, yellow perch, brook trout, whitefish and burbot).
It is worth re-iterating that Hard rock lithium mining involves deforestation, draining lakes and rivers, blowing the land into pieces with explosives, carving deep gashes into the Earth with giant machines, using truckloads of industrial solvents like sulfuric acid (resulting in water contamination with toxic sludge) dragging that processed rubble to processing facilities with fleets of heavy machinery then processing the ore with extremely high energy demanding furnaces using another slew of toxic chemicals (which further contaminate the water table, lakes, rivers and ocean elsewhere).
In order to illustrate the potential for catastrophic harm to ecosystems and human health that these mines pose I present a cautionary tale: The Liqi River was once full of fish: Almost none are left. Chemical spills from the Ganzizhou Rongda lithium mine have killed many. “The whole river stank, and it was full of dead yaks and dead fish,” said one villager.: “Masses” of dead fish covered the river. The people got the mine shut down three times, only to have the government reopen it. One of the elders said, “Old people, we see the mines and we cry. What are the future generations going to do? How are they going to survive?”A local activist surveyed people in the area. Even if mining companies split the profits and promised to repair the land after the mines are exhausted, the Tibetans wanted no part of it. “God is in the mountains and the rivers, these are the places that spirits live,” he explained.” “sustainable development” technology (Lithium battery tech) offers everything: every luxury, every whim, available at the touch of a ‘carbon-free’ button. But the world that these technologies provide will be a rotting, desecrated, and, finally, dead world if we let them continue on their crusade to turn the living world into dead things, for profit and to perpetuate our obscene technologically addicted human “civilization”.
In the concentrations extracted via industrial mining operations, lithium is harmful to living beings. It interferes with sperm viability, causes birth defects, memory problems, kidney failure, movement disorders, and so on. Other materials in an electric-car battery can be even more harmful than lithium, with nickel and cobalt electrodes being the most destructive component.
As I covered in a past post, about half of the cobalt used in lithium batteries comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 40,000 children as young as four are essentially enslaved in mines, carrying backbreaking loads in conditions of intense heat, with no safety equipment, under abusive managers and guards, for a wage of a dollar a day.
Here in Canada, we may end up paying our cobalt miners more money and they may be wearing steel toes and hat hats, but the impacts on the ecosystem will be just as devastating.
There’s no circumventing the fact that these energy-storage technologies are fundamentally destructive. And they're dependent on a global supply chain and advanced manufacturing technologies that, themselves, are fundamentally destructive. Machines making machines making machines; and while more and more hyperbolic "green" headlines are written, the planet is being killed.
Next on the hit list for corporate pillaging in the name of "sustainability" is the Boreal Forest.
As described above, our corrupt corporation captured government is helping to initiate large projects to pillage the lands of indigenous peoples (Cree of Eeyou Istchee, the Shakopaatikoong peoples of the Slate Falls first nation and the Waabitigweyaang peoples of Sandy Lake, among others ) and the body of Mother Earth in new Lithium (cobalt and tantalum) mines in northern Ontario and Quebec.
Given the nature of open pit mining, lithium leeching ponds and lithium refining, the inevitable result will be large scale poisoning of the water table and the ocean in James bay, contamination of the great lakes (through lake Superior, moving downstream into all the other great lakes), deforestation and genocide of local wildlife.
These corporations intend to clear cut the boreal forest, annihilating the little bit of remaining habitat that exists in Ontario for the moose, caribou, the lynx, bears, the mountain lion, wolves, fox, bobcats, eagles, hawks and countless other winged and four legged beings will be forcibly displaced from their homes (inevitably resulting in many of them attempting to return to their homes only to starve while pacing near the fences or to be poisoned by the toxins these mines produce).
The fish in the lakes, the whales and countless other beings in James bay, they will all be decimated by these projects.
These corporations appear to be moving in fast and as quiet as possible (paying off locals with bribes along the way and getting them to sign binding agreements) to avoid local and environmentalist resistance.
These projects will mean we trade blood for lithium so we can have fun i-pads and electric cars to play with. We will be trading the ancient beauty and majesty of the Boreal forest and all it's inhabitants for smart phones and tesla cars. I can't help but ask myself this question... Is it really worth it?
In closing, I would like to humbly remind you that Each time you make a choice that nourishes, respects and enriches the living Earth, you are nourishing, respecting and enriching yourself... and each time you make a choice that degrades, harms and pillages her, you are degrading, harming and pillaging yourself.
Those that wish to walk a path guided by any kind of honest moral compass (including but not limited to the permaculture ethical imperative of People Care-Earth Care-Future Care) are going to have to make some hard choices in the coming years if we want our actions to continue to align with the principles we espouse and claim to live by.
For many years I have told people who champion electric cars and solar panels that considering they also rely on finite resources, we should be careful that we do not end up going from trading blood for oil, to trading blood for lithium.
It appears that, sadly, that is exactly what we are doing now in South America, Australia and soon in northern Ontario/Quebec (and in the Cobalt Mines in the Congo, that are also required to make the batteries). For more info on the Congo Cobalt situation watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsypEzDDBQU or read this: https://archive.org/details/siddharth-kara-cobalt-red-how-the-blood-of-the-congo-powers-our-lives-st.-martin_20230209
Over 50 percent of the world’s known lithium deposits are in the “Lithium Triangle”—the lithium concentrated brine sources in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. Bolivia’s high mountain deserts—the Salar de Uyuni—have by far the largest known reserves of lithium.
Evo Morales -- Bolivia's first indigenous president, had a commitment to the environment and to Pachamama (Mother Earth) and he was against inviting in transnational corporations (like Telsa and it's lithium mining partners) to pillage the land for lithium. When he refused to allow multi-national corporations to pillage the Earth for the large lithium deposits in his country it was not long before a US-backed military coup took place.
President Evo Morales Ayma, was removed illegally from his office in November 2019. The Bolivian military, at the behest of Bolivian oligarchs with ties to Lithium Mining Corporations and the United States government, threatened Morales; Morales went into exile in Mexico and then in Argentina.
The CEO of the U.S.-based Telsa car manufacturer has admitted to involvement in what President Morales has referred to as a “Lithium Coup.”
“We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it.” was Elon Musk’s response to an accusation on twitter that the U.S. government organized a coup against President Evo Morales, so that Musk could obtain Bolivia’s lithium. https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/03/11/elon-musk-is-acting-like-a-neo-conquistador-for-south-americas-lithium/
The coup was about Bolivian lithium; and not only did it involve violent coercion to remove Bolivia's first indigenous president from office, it also resulted in two massacres local people defending their land against the lithium mines (and now is resulting in the destruction of the land and ecosystems there, as I exposed in my previous post).
This is what "sustainable development", Greenwashing, "Green Colonialism" and trading blood for lithium looks like.
The corporate oligarchs that are ravenous to make billions from pillaging the Earth for lithium and cobalt now have their crosshairs set on Ontario and Quebec, God help anyone that dares to stand in their way to defend the Boreal Forest (which they intend to scalp, blow to pieces with explosives, grind into rubble and poison with a stew of toxic chemicals so we can have ipads and EVs).
Lithium mining, cobalt mining and other forms of extraction that are being promoted as "green" are poisoning water, destroying habitat, facilitating consumerism, and destroying poor and indigenous communities around the world.
Good call!
They say it's only good 6-12 months but in simpler machinery I've seen gas work good for much longer.
Diesel is stable longer, so, another option.
It's always good to be prepared for dry spells. Freeze-dry food keeps a long time and beats starving!
I own a freeze dryer (and have freeze dried several times worth the cost of the machine worth of superfoods and homegrown medicines since purchasing it).
I see the huge practical benefits of freeze dryers but I feel I would be remiss if I did not also caution about the risks of depending (solely) on technology such as that for preserving food.
Unless one is capable of gathering all the electricity they need to run their home (and their freeze drying machine) off grid and unless one has back up components for both the energy generation/accumulation systems and the freeze dryer itself stored in some kind of Faraday cage, situations could arise where that technology could become totally unusable. (see: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/preparing-for-the-100-year-storms for more information on one such inevitability that will render such technologies useless)
This is one of the reasons that I am in the process of publishing some material ( see: https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/my-book-is-finally-done-recipes-for for more info) that can help empower individuals to preserve seasonal abundances of food (whether foraged or cultivated) using low tech methods without the need for specialized equipment. Lacto-fermentation is one versatile method that any gardener or forager should become accustomed with as you do not need anything other than salt, water and random containers (such as mason jars etc) to be able to preserve food for up to a year.
Now that being said, as I also own a freeze dryer I advocate for prioritizing low tech off grid food cultivation/preservation tools, skills and experience and then freeze drying as a supplementary way to be even better prepared for a wide range of ewmergencies. Getting a freeze dryer was no small decision as they are very expensive machines and I am not financially wealthy. The motivating factor for my wanting a freeze dryer can be boiled down to a combination of how I want to treat this vehicle (my body) and the amount of land I have to grow food. For the time being, we have an urban suburban lot and so I have carefully selected some of the most nutrient dense (and antioxidant/polyphenol diverse) crops so that we can give our bodies the absolute best quality food and medicine we can trust . Sometimes we have large seasonal abundances where even through lactic acid fermentation I reach my capacity for storage (or have crops that do not ferment well or easily) meaning I have to freeze, dehydrate or pickle (cook with vinegar). The last three methods of crop preservation mean significant losses in the nutritional content (and often flavor) of food. One of the reasons I got a freeze dryer is because of the technology's uncanny ability to preserve the nutritional content (as well as the flavor, texture and color) of food. Tests show that (aside from some very minor vitamin c loss in certain crops) freeze drying retains around 97% of the nutrients of the fresh / raw food for at least 20 years! Dehydration on the other hand, (while much more energy efficient and still very useful) tends to result in the loss of Vitamins A and C, thiamine, riboflavin and niacin (averaging around 50% – 60% of the original nutrients being left over from the raw / fresh item).
While that is still a significant amount and I still plan on dehydrating a fair bit, I can't ignore the impressive differences in shelf life, nutrition retention, and texture retention of freeze drying vs dehydrating. So for us (and our priorities) getting a freeze drying unit that can preserve food which can be be relied upon for years to come was imperative.
If I had more land I might have considered just coping with the inevitable nutrient loss and go 100% "back to basics" for my crop preservation, but for now we do not have a lot of growing space, so every Goji berry, medicinal herb/fungi, Purple sweet potato, Black tomato, Golden beet, Moringa leaf, Tumeric rhizome, Ginger rhizome and Blueberry we grow counts and I need to keep all their goodness intact in order to feel I am properly caring for our bodies (and utilizing the growing space we have to its greatest potential).
With regards to emergency preparedness side of this device, in the event of a total collapse of modern civilization I am capable of using a combination of available conventionally stored garden crops, foraging, and improvising (even if it were to happen in the dead of winter) to survive (and care for my loved ones at home). So, for us, a freeze dryer is not about survival in the case of extreme emergencies, and more about comfort, wanting to be in optimal health in any situation, having portable/versatile food stores that can be grabbed on the go (should the need arise to leave in a hurry) and it is about my want to maximize my ability to preserve our most nutrient dense crops in peak condition (considering how much time and love I put into growing top quality.) So that is my take on freeze dryers in relation to emergency preparedness.
For some interesting thoughts on the Gold and Guns part: https://youtu.be/dy_8ZGq-FSE?t=1329
"What survives collapse? What survives crisis? Community. What ever you give and contribute into your community and you generate that goodwill, and you generate those structures of taking care of each other and reciprocal (gift) relationships... that is an investment. That is a savings account that fires cannot burn and thieves cannot steal.
The best investment you can make is generosity, for only thing that cannot be taken from you is that which you give."
- Charles Eisenstein
Lots of nice stuff there.
Kind words will get you so far.
Kind words and a tank of gas will get you hundreds of miles.
Having been in Venezuela in '99 right after the big banker grand theft I've seen the desperate look for people's savings wiped out literally overnight.
I purchased items (what was to be had) from a shopkeeper who saved $8 or $10,000 in Bolivares, only to have them devalued to $250. He "lost it all," his life savings. Even if he had had a fraction of that as silver or gold he could have recovered better than most.
Desperate times in 1999... and they've gotten worse in the ensuing 24 years. Our friend's brother lives there as a priest helping the poor daily. He's old and has just decided to expend the rest of his life and pension helping the poor, living in misery himself.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences on this.
Hyper-inflation is certainly something worth accounting for, though I think that if one takes an even bigger step back to look at the broader cycles of the rise and fall of civilizations, one should also take into account the potential for time frames (potentially spanning years) when the perceived value of shiny pieces of metal (that one cannot eat) would be relatively low (when compared to things that have intrinsic value, such as heirloom seeds, plant/fungi identification/preservation skills, food cultivation knowledge, durable low tech tools, knowledge and hands on experience).
Modern humans often look back on our tiny scope of the human experience in recent centuries and then extrapolate that into some kind of pattern that we can rely on, but we are also involved with the transition of larger cycles and the current economic, technological, geo-physical, solar and sociological trends are leading us towards a time in which all the patterns we look to in our history books will be irrelevant, as the upheaval, collapse, turmoil and unprecedented changes in conditions we will live through, will strip away all superficial human ideas of wealth, leaving only true wealth behind (that which has intrinsic value).
Thus, as I said to the author of this post above, Diversified hard assets, cash and cryptocurrency are great, but those things do not have intrinsic value, thus their value in a survival situation pales in comparison to food cultivation, foraging and preservation skills.
Knowledge, skills and experience related to food cultivation, foraging and preservation cannot be stolen from you, and thus it has intrinsic value as it is applicable and accessible in any and all situations.
When (as Charles eluded to in his talk linked above) those things are combined with forging symbiotic and reciprocal relationships with people in the community in which ones lives ("gift economics") then one's resilience increases exponentially. Symbiotic relationships also cannot be stolen from you. That kind of true "wealth" and resilience far surpasses any amount attainable by the one that hordes weapons, gold or any other physical items/substances.
"Both, And" rather than "Either, Or"
Having died "on the table" last year and seeing the other side, the only satisfaction I have now is contemplating Our Lady (Mary) whom I met so briefly, and sent me back. It wasn't my time yet.
That said, everything pales in this lifetime to what lies ahead.
Still, prudence requires that we have both soft and hard assets, our "human capital" our "spiritual wealth" and physical goods. Of course, the saints who have reached the full spiritual union with God (St. Padre Pio, Maria Luisa Picarreta, et al.) lived on just the Eucharist and little more to sustain their bodies for years and years. I'm not quite there yet, though I did meet a woman at the supermarket just two or three days ago that lived on a piece of toast every day. Impressive!
God I agree 100%, Gold, I have my reservations (no pun intended), hording guns, could backfire (again no pun intended, I swear! :) ) but gardens, oh yeah! I am with you there!
Nurturing the spirit and one's relationship with the Creator and learning how to grow (and preserve) one's own food and medicine, those endeavors, experiences and skills represent investments that are valuable regardless of any outward circumstances.
For more on why I advocate God and Gardening as the two most important in your list:
𝟮𝟯 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 : https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/23-reasons-to-start-a-garden-in-2023
Re: Guns, IMO, I think it is worth noting that while defensive weapons might make one feel safe and may protect against random degenerates, if the oligarchy sends in it's goons and high tech weapons those weapons would be pointless. Thus, while I see the wisdom in being able to defend yourself and your loved ones in extreme situations, I do not think that focusing a large amount of time on gathering defensive weapons is healthy nor productive.
Human capital
A great investment
U forgot GUTS...
6G
Gozongas????
The entire system is based on overheating the money printer, and soon we're gonna find out who's been swimming naked.
Central banking is legalized counterfeiting.
USURY ensures all money ends up in the same hands, it's only a matter of time. A mathematical certainty.
Serious question: What would you suggest we do with our money? Time to empty your bank account? Dig a hole in the ground and stash it there? Is there anything left to invest in as a normal citizen?
I am not a financial planner, nor am I qualified to offer any advice, but dollar cost averaging into metals and defi crypto would be better than digging a hole and filling with fiat since inflation is stealing the value of said fiat by the millisecond.
I will write about defi crypto at some point in the near future.
Interesting!
I look forward to your post on this.
I have no relationship with this dealer, but they are reputable: https://www.apmex.com/
There are also many honorable dealers that you can source on IG.
I have concerns with focusing on cryptocurrency (or money in any form really) as the means to resist tyranny and/or plan for resilience in the face of inevitable economic instability (rather than focusing most of our time and energy on connecting with Mother Earth to produce the food and medicine we need) as I feel that while gathering money/cryptocurrency to pay someone else to grow/gather your food is more convenient than learning how to grow it your self there are certain situations in which having money or cryptocurrency would not enable you to get food.
Diversified hard assets, cash and cryptocurrency are great, but those things do not have intrinsic value, thus their value in a survival situation pales in comparison to food cultivation, foraging and preservation skills.
Hard assets (whether cash or gold or food stores anything else) can be stolen from you and events can be brought about by humans (or happen naturally, see https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/preparing-for-the-100-year-storms for more info) that (even in a best case scenario) would render your cryptocurrency inaccessible and useless for long periods of time (EMPs, CMEs and/or some kind of Digital ID/Internet Drivers license requiring biometric scans to access internet).
Knowledge, skills and experience related to food cultivation, foraging and preservation cannot be stolen from you however, and thus it has intrinsic value as it is applicable and accessible in any and all situations.
The banking system was broken as soon as deregulation happened.
Banks could "invest" aka gamble with deposits.
Add to that, the ridiculousness of the FRACTIONAL RESERVE system which allows them to loan a lot... In a time where most loans are on severely overpriced real estate.
Meanwhile, the real solution would be a state bank that doesn't leech profits to shareholders and executives. One such successful bank is the state bank of North Dakota.
Also what is clear is that most did not realize that the ridiculous rise in real estate Was INFLATION. In fact, it was much more damaging than food and fuel because we spend a lot more on housing than those 2 things.
But dummies thought ridiculous rates of rise was like some kind of investment...
Good job people and pundits with your greediness.
There was a coup on December 23, 1913 the moment the Federal Reserve Act was signed into law.
And don't forget the 2nd component of that which was in same year: 16A
still illegal and unratified unless you are a resident of the foreign nation of Washington, D.C. that is.
TAXES = DEATH
https://www.2ndsmartestguyintheworld.com/p/original-social-engineering-sin
The bankers wrote and continue to write the banking regs, and where they do not completely write them, they have still a heavy hand on the wheel, and there's the revolving agency door.
The deregulation under Trump is not the problem here, he was evening the field for the smaller banks against the large ones. But yes, I'd agree when you see deregulation coming through Congress we have to wonder too.
That fractional holdings reg has of course lowered that fraction amount repeatedly.
Fraud and self-serving is so pervasive as to be rampant at banks, as we suspect and know. I knew a guy that a local state bank would send out to go through the books, the desks, the drawers, the file cabinets and cardboard boxes - everything of a branch's management. He'd come in at night and when he inevitably found it he'd call the bosses, who would then meet him early before opening, get the locks changed and go from there.
One of many things so difficult about banks, is they get the confession out of the employees, then they rarely prosecute because they do not want the banks to appear unsound in any way. I was my county's prosecutor for some of this 20 years ago, and argued the opposite - that the public would see the bank cracking down on fraud and theft and feel more confident.
Further digression - this grandstanding commitment to further disaster, as far as I can understand it:
https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/democrats/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=5C59614C-AF33-4263-810C-CF898C8C6BBB
There was a lot of deregulation under Clinton.
The joke is that Clinton passed what the GOP couldn't do.
Both parties serve the same masters.
Agreed. And themselves and each other, very often.
What was that old saying? "First by inflation...then by deflation." Something like that..
Nice details! Yes, this is bigger than 2008; a fine example of how fractional reserve banking can be used to elicit bank failures.
Also, it's important that the article points out the role of commercial real-estate prices in the process.
Banks forced to fail also play an integral part of the way it's going to play out globally:
https://rayhorvaththesource.substack.com/p/masters-of-deception
And yes, this is only the beginning of the end:
https://rayhorvaththesource.substack.com/p/this-is-how-it-will-go-down
The globalists' game will also end, but it might not happen soon enough:
https://rayhorvaththesource.substack.com/p/how-will-the-globalists-game-end
Train like a warrior in a garden now, so that you don't have to be a gardener in a war soon.
I think investing some of one's time and energy in developing self defense skills is a valuable choice, though, I would place that as third on my priority list in the grander scheme of things.
As I alluded to in a comment above, defensive skills (and/or weapons) might make one feel safe and may protect against random degenerates, however, if the oligarchy sends in it's goons and high tech weapons those modes of self defense would be pointless. Thus, while I see the wisdom in being able to defend yourself and your loved ones in extreme situations, I do not think that focusing a large amount of time on gathering defensive skills and/or weapons is healthy nor productive.
When my awareness of the seemingly endless ways in which humans are wreaking havoc and scheming about how to dominate, enslave and kill each other starts to get to me and my faith wavers I take a step back to look at this life from the the more holistic perspective of my soul.
From the perspective of my spirit I remember that there is beauty and meaning to be found in impermanence. From that knowing, whether or not my efforts in this life send out clearly observable multi-generational ripple effects or not becomes irrelevant. After all, within a broader cosmic cycle, the inevitable natural result for this world will be end of all life on Earth. Planets only live as long as their stars burn, and eventually our sun’s life will come to an end as well, at which point all that ever was created by humans on this Earth will eventually be turned back into the stardust from once it came.
Does that inevitability make living a life where one chooses to be creative, kind, courageous, hopeful and curious any less meaningful?
In the end, whether its 1 more day, a couple years or a 100, it always comes down to the question:
How do I want to spend the time I have left on this Earth?
Does planting a seed in the Earth and tending it to grow, providing poetry for the senses, food for pollinators and nourishment for the soul have any less value because of the impermanence of that individual plant only living for a single season?
Does the impermanence of this man’s art make it any less beautiful or worthwhile in creating? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEpz8Z2BMAc
Do the fleeting expressions of form and color in a sunrise or a sunset make it any less beautiful or worth being present and aware to cherish and appreciate?
Asking myself these questions allows me to regenerate the faith, hope and sense of purpose in my heart and mind despite the corrosive onslaught of a world full of humans that have lost their way.
Even if the most grim worse case scenario you can imagine ends up being we are facing, that does not negate the value of using one's free will and one's moments on this Earth to nurture life, choose hope, courage, love and peace in the face of fear, hubris, apathy, violence and cowardice. Each choice we make leaves a mark, not only in the lives of those we share this world with but perhaps more importantly, each choice me make leaves a mark on our soul.
From the perspective of my spirit I remember that there is beauty and meaning to be found in impermanence. From that knowing, whether or not my efforts in this life send out clearly observable multi-generational ripple effects or not becomes irrelevant. After all, within a broader cosmic cycle, the inevitable natural result for this world will be end of all life on Earth. Planets only live as long as their stars burn, and eventually our sun’s life will come to an end as well, at which point all that ever was created by humans on this Earth will eventually be turned back into the stardust from once it came.
Lets say hypothetically (for the sake of argument) the worst case scenario happens (total overt totalitarian technocracy involving out in the open democide of dissidents and/or massive open warfare and/or civil war). Even if that were to come to pass my answer would be the same… because for me in that hypothetical situation the question still boils down to:
“How do I want to spend the time I have left on this Earth?”
Do I want to spend the time I have been gifted to wield the weapons of man in violence?
Or do I want to embody faith in that which the Creator of all things gave us and plant the seeds of hope, love and abundance by working with my hands in the rich Earth?
Therefore, I see creating regenerative gardens and food forests as a viable, honorable and practical path forward in these uncertain times. We can forge alliances with the more than human world through planting food forests and regenerative gardens all over, and in doing so provide not only for ourselves, but countless future generations in the process.
Looking forward to buying a Rolls with my doped gold coin from the Perth Mint. Who's with me?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-06/perth-mint-gold-doping-china-cover-up-four-corners/102048622
It was predetermined that JP Morgan Chase would end up owning First Republic. Be careful of Jamie Dimon and the goal is to have the entire banking industry in the hands of the chosen few. ESG is just the beginning and life will soon suck for most of us. If Biden can get away with everything he and his family have done so can the financial world.
That (plausible) hypothetical would only result in life 'sucking' for those that are dependent on centralized infrastructure to access their basic survival needs and for those that are dependent on services/technologies that are also dependent on the centralized power/telecommunications and industrial manufacturing infrastructures to experience joy and fulfilment in life.
Some of us are charting an alternative course forward.
In the short term fear of a banking collapse is the main issue.. in droughts some farms go but others buy them.. no different only JPM has engineered the crisis to do what they are doing .. picking up the pieces.. with over 4000 banks in the USA you won’t miss a few.. just hope your not holding the one that falls..
in the longer term
When a bank collapses just get your mates to pretend that you had money in the failed bank as many in israel allegedly did when SVB went broke. These people will be paid back the billions, that they allegedly never had in the bank in the first place, by the people of the World who use dollars for trade or saving as Biden prints more dollars to give these "never were" depositors "back" so diluting honest people's dollar holdings.
Banking is a massive fraud scheme run to benefit a very few families as becomes clearer with each passing day.
The sky has been full of military planes, a lot of them have "gitmo" call signs, even seen some with "cabal". There are truther claims that Gitmo is the place where military tribunals and executions for cabal/deep state have been going on. Derek Johnson says he was offered to be a journalist for the public tribunals to happen this Summer, and that what's happening in the sky has to do with mass arrests taking place:
https://rumble.com/v2l3njq-derek-johnson-continuity-of-government-is-in-place-military-in-control-scar.html
https://twitter.com/rattletrap1776
Also a couple guys here claim to have insider knowledge that the worst fallout of the financial crash of the cabal's US dollar will be averted with a new, decentralized, asset-backed Quantum Financial System using XRP, XRM, and Starlink (there have been claims benevolent ET's are connected to it, for example in the video below they say the QFS compliance officer somehow is, and this ET connection is backed up by Elena Danaan: https://www.elenadanaan.org/afternoon-tea-with-an-alpha-centaurian):
https://rumble.com/v2kntho-and-the-lord-restored-with-pryme-minister-david-xrp-lion-susan-price-and-ch.html
Interestingly there's a quantum.gov US federal website, and a fairly recent video of Trump using the phrase "New Quantum Leap to Revolutionize the American Standard of Living" where he hints at new technologies:
https://rumble.com/v2bksa4-agenda47-a-new-quantum-leap-to-revolutionize-the-american-standard-of-livin.html
Whatever happens, the future will not be boring.
Give it up mate.
Sounds like fun. I'll leave this comments section and wait for you to catch up.
I mean not really. 2008 dollars were worth a lot more than 2023 dollars. Lol
I believe even factoring inflation adjustments, it is worse today. And even if it isn't yet, it will be!
Thank you, #2!! I have published research in economics via The Claremont Colleges: the title of this paper is what the data seem to show:
‘Financial’/‘monetary’/‘derivative’ house-of-cards collapse? Remember: Superior mechanics already proven by Ben Franklin with monetary reform and public banking, backed by Thomas Edison, 86% of Economics professors
https://carlbherman.blogspot.com/2023/03/financialmonetaryderivative-house-of.html
Thomas Edison was well aware of the dangers of USURY.
Here's an excellent article that explains his proposed solution. It did not involve interest bearing bonds or printing money at interest.
In a New York Times interview Dec. 6, 1921, Thomas Edison advocated financing the proposed Muscles Shoals Dam by "issuing currency instead of debt (bonds.) They are identical promises to pay, but currency does not incur debt or interest."
Thus Edison exposed the whole central banking fraud which holds humanity in bondage.
https://henrymakow.com/2022/02/thomas-edison-exposed-central-banking.html
Yup. One of my Claremont Colleges' international economic conference papers was a "Top 10" list of famous Americans FOR monetary reform/public banking and AGAINST the fraudulent debt system of the Fed/Bank of England: http://web.archive.org/web/20190520091312/https://washingtonsblog.com/2012/03/monetary-and-credit-reform-full-employment-end-of-debt-slavery.html