Venezuela was once the pearl of South America, having a high living standard, oil, and rich natural resources, yet now it is a cesspool with people having to get their drinking water from ditches. This country has more oil reserves than USA, IRAN, IRAQ and Saudi combined and more gold deposits than most countries.
You think we are ok, and perhaps we are. The people in Venezuela thought so too. They went about their daily lives. Looking at the Venezuela timeline, there were warning signs THAT NOBODY PICKED UP ON because it started slowly.
- Food rationing, looking back, was an organised operation. First, there was a reduction in fertilizer, then seeds. This all resulted in food rationing, and even some food items disappeared. Looks familiar?
- Reduction in how much money you can have in cash, what kind of money you can use, and where. Cryptocurrency makes this a bit trickier to stop use. Tracking your spending is much easier for the government if you use crypto or blockchain. (Without electricity, no crypto.)
- Day-to-day items became expensive, if available at all. Currency, controlled by the Government, became hard to keep hold of, and inflation increased rapidly. Like we see today (Nov 2022), not as bad as in early 1933 when you needed a billion, Deutch Mark, to buy a loaf of bread. In 1933 wheelbarrows were full of money to buy stuff, the same as we have seen in Venezuela, but when we have crypto it is online not as visible in the open so less dramatic.
- Quality of life, things and items that were normally available got scarce. Activities you normally could do without trouble became impossible, illegal or too expensive.
It creeps up. I have mentioned that it is like a “diesel engine not wanting to stall”. Diesel engines are known for their resistance, and they keep on going. Hence they are used in all the big machines. This reminds me the diesel fuel price at the time of writing is about $2.36 per litre. I expect this to go to $3 soon. Like all civilisations that have collapsed, it slowly gets to the cliff. Once there, it falls appear quickly. We are currently walking towards the cliff, and I will not be surprised that we are 4-5 steps away from the cliff.
What are the signs?
Make sure you keep your guns: One of the first laws passed by the previous dictator of Venezuela was to disarm the population. Never trust a government that wants to disarm you. I am not a gun touting “redneck”, but even I can see the rationale. Here in AU, we have very strict firearms rules, some claim they are to stick, but that is beside the point. Everybody should be allowed to practice the hobby they want. Sport shooting is a hobby and a very disciplined one at that. The moment they are going to restrict the ownership or use, you know we are about to fall into a dictatorship. The first conditioning already happened during the CoVid lock downs Gym was open, yet gunshops were closed or only open for professional shooters. Just remember how they claimed CoVid was transmitted. Who is more “dangerous” (using the Government’s definition of spreading), someone huffing and puffing in the gym or shopping in a highly regulated environment like a gunshop?
Bad governments are often voted into power: Beware of the politician telling you to trust them with your safety and well-being. Chavez came into force by offering stuff and with a promise to bring equality to the masses, and now everyone in Venezuela is equally poor, except for those in power who live in luxury. Sounds familiar? AU is nothing different, a bit smoother, and every politician promised good things. Now look at it, Australians are getting “poor” we might not yet know it, but we are. Inflation is about 7%, and that index formula has changed so often that it is unrealistic to use. It is calculated in favour of the politicians. Really, can you buy the same stuff for the same amount? Fuel and energy prices are rising daily, and the content of packaged processed food is getting smaller every day. If you look at the Product Replacement Price, you realise the real inflation is closer to 10%.
Be among the first to leave: If you can get out of the city or country while things are somewhat normal, do so. The Venezuelans that migrated out of the country after Chavez took control in the 1990s are the ones that have best survived this event. Those who left the major cities and moved to the country with their families have also done better than those who stayed in the major cities. The key here is to leave early while you still can, which is easier said than done. Especially in the current climate, there is not a country that is doing well, apart from Russia and China… looking at it, every NON-USA supporting county is doing well. The key is to get somewhere where you can grow your food or at least something. This is also one of the reasons we promote Postcode Communities, and not everybody can get out of their apartment block, so team up with someone who can grow food. Join a Postcode Community.
Set aside Food and Water for emergencies: Of course, food and water are the staples of prepping, and for a good reason. When the power goes out, and you don’t have water pressure, you will still need water, and you’ll get it even if it is from a ditch. Even if the supermarkets no longer have products, you will still need to eat and eat anything when you are hungry, so set aside enough food to survive NOW while it is still available.
Take care of your health while you can: Venezuela has no medicine, and people die daily from treatable diseases. Take care of your health while you are able, have your annual checkup, and try to have extra supplies of any medicine you depend on. We at the Trade Shack are building a database of herb information, it is not a replacement for your medication, and we are not providing medical advice, it is merely to inform you what is available in nature..
Have extra money for emergencies: If you are going to leave the country, city, etc., make sure that you have money on hand that does not require a visit to the bank. With cash on hand, you can buy food in the black market and pay off officials to look the other way. The powers realise this, and for that reason, they promote (soft forcing) cash-less. Remember that they advocated cash-less during the CoVid pandemic. They claimed it could transfer CoVid. Now several companies do not accept cash anymore, so I avoid them. If you do not want my cash, you do not want my business.
I get it. Some items are only purchasable with Credit Cards due to their price tag or only being available online. Still, your local shop USE CASH.
Sometimes money is worthless: Have some silver or gold on hand in case the national coin collapses like it did in Venezuela. In medieval times, gold and Silver were used to transfer wealth and buy stuff. Like we say here at the Trade Shack, “Evil times require medieval solutions”, there is no harm in buying some physical silver or gold. The problem is keeping it safe. I have no place to put it. Having large amounts of silver and gold will not work for me. There are other ways to have value, and knowledge, grow food and other bartering items like services. It all has value eventually. We promote it as part of our Postcode Communities.
The collapse is not always sudden: The collapse of Venezuela began over 20 years ago with the election of Hugo Chavez. The collapse many of us are “watching out for” does not always happen overnight. Remember the diesel engine example. That is exactly it. Hollywood and the history books make you believe that collapses happen overnight. They don’t. Ok, the symptoms or results, if you like, can show overnight, but the lead-up to it is a slow walk in most cases. The CoVid scenario, the lead-up to the lockdowns, was subtle, and science was again used to convince you for the better. It started with stopping the spread, then social distancing, then masks and by the time lockdowns were introduced, everybody was so motivated to stop something that did not need stopping that they were happy to be locked up. It was only after being locked up for a prolonged period people went… “OI… what is going on? I can lose my job, my house and my livelihood”
Don’t fall in love with your things: Many people in Venezuela refused to leave the country, and the major cities, because they were afraid to leave their possessions behind. In an emergency, go ahead and leave that flat screen behind. It can’t feed you or provide you with drinking water. There is a saying someone said to me many, many years ago “Don’t get emotionally attached to things you can take with you”. You think leaving the city or country is extreme, and perhaps it is, but what do you think will happen when the power goes out when the sewer backs up, and the shit from your neighbour uphill starts to float around in your bathroom? (It is called “shit hits the fan” for a reason). Are you going to stay in your house or are you going to walk uphill and live with your neighbour? Will your neighbour let you? Do you see where this is heading?
Instead of wanting to keep your Netflix subscription or your addiction to Fox to watch other people having fun playing sports think about what you need.
There is so much more that I could add to this list, but I think that this is enough to get us thinking. Always remember that what happened in Venezuela can happen anywhere. We must always be ready to make intelligent choices based on the knowledge gathered from proven facts. Many of us preppers look at Venezuela and shake our heads in disgust, knowing that something similar could happen here, where we live. For others who think that a self-sufficient lifestyle is a dumb waste of time, well…I hope they wake up and realize that they are not as safe as they think and that society’s facade is paper-thin.
For my prepper friends, continue to do what you do and strive to be self-sufficient. Don’t let the opinions of those that are uninformed bring you down. Continue to learn about prepping and set food and water aside because we never really know when the hard times might be around the corner, but if hard times do come…we’ll be ready.
Are there signs we are “following the footsteps of Venezuela”?
I think there are.
- We have seen restrictions in access to items that are a “threat” to the Government, freedom of speech, firearms and self-sustainability, introducing more and more regulations restricting what you legally are allowed to do.
- Bad governments, increased inflation, massive spending of money we do not have, think sponsoring war in Ukraine and billions spent on the CoVid hoax.
- Introducing a Cash-Less society, everything crypto and online allows for tracking and turning on and off your ability to purchase what you want.
- Food shortages and what is available are expensive.
- High fuel and energy prices.
- Government control over what medical procedures you need, and with recently introduced laws in QLD, it is not limited to the CoVid Vaccine.
There are more. You can complete the list easily.