Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
Predicting worst-case scenarios is challenging, but some are more foreseeable than others. For instance, food shortages stemming from bird flu and farmers losing their land are quite likely. It’s wise to stock up on essentials and pay attention to products impacted by tariffs, such as coffee, tea, tampons, and other goods that are mostly imported.
Consider preparing for tough times by setting up a small community garden or even a chicken coop with a few chickens. Strengthening local networks of mutual support—where neighbors share resources and skills—can be invaluable. You never know when the neighbor who can sew or the one with hunting expertise might become crucial to your survival.
With Trump discussing the potential dismantling of the FDIC, there's a real risk of a bank run similar to the Great Depression. It’s prudent to move your money to a local credit union and diversify where it’s held. Remember, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
While the idea of pervasive online surveillance may sound like a dystopian nightmare, it’s becoming more realistic in today’s digital age. Consider using European alternatives for browsers and email, and investing in a VPN based outside the US. These may seem like extreme measures now, but given how quickly things have been evolving in recent times, it’s worth considering.
What you can do.
Listed below are several steps you can take to prepare and set yourself up for success when it comes to sustainability or a scarcity of resources.
Get a VPN
The more popular VPNs are free but remember if the use is free then the user is the product. When considering which VPNs to use observe the server locations. It is harder to get a warrant for seizure if the servers are located outside of the U.S. Also consider the company's history, if they have provided user's sensitive data to officials before consider at what capacity and consider if the use of VPN will be tracked.
One of the most popular VPN is from Proton located in Sweden.
Start a Garden
Search your location's hardiness zone and plant the suggested fruits and vegetables that thrive in your location. There is an option to grow hydroponically inside your home if you have the space, indoor hydroponic gardens can grow year round.
FDIC is at high threat of being dismantled. With the CFPB on the block too we are at high risk of no safety nets for our funds. But luckily you have options, open a Credit Union account and transfer funds to your Credit Union. CUs are insured by the NCUA a separate entity from the FDIC. You also have the option of opening an account outside of the United States that allow purchases made inside of the U.S.
Search local Credit Unions here:
Mutual aid is not a charity, it is where your community can support each other without self reliance and corporate reliance. For example if you have three lawn mowers that all work perfectly fine, consider lending one lawn mower out to a neighbor who doesn't have a lawn mower. Instead of them buying one from a corporation they can borrow yours. In return they may give you freshly baked bread. This is how mutual aid formed in communities operate.
Connect with your neighbors
Connect with your neighbors, use the NextDoor app or go over and talk to them. Join local communities, visit your libraries, sit in a Townhall meeting, shop at local Farmers Markets. The best way to connect with your neighbors as to get out there and strike up conversations.
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