Living like a refugee.....

Great song. Heard it on the radio earlier today.
Got me to thinking about the refugee problem here in the good ol' USA.

"Refugee problem?" you say..."REFUGEE problem? What the hell are you talking about? "

Yep, we have refugees...lots of them.
ECONOMIC refugees.
People out of work and no way to pay the bills...they borrow enough money to get their car down the road a bit--to whatever area they *think* or have *heard* has jobs or cheaper housing or better handouts or anything to help them survive.
Refugee tent camps have sprung up outside of and in a lot of cities and areas. Florida, Texas, California and the American southwest are inundated with refugees.
Local social services in these areas are taxed beyond their capacity to help.
This issue will only get worse.
It is also happening more often in small towns. It used to be that small towns would get one, maybe two people a year *passing through* that needed help with gas and groceries to get them further down the road.
Not anymore. Most small towns are seeing a couple of dozen a month--depending on weather and how close the town is situated to the main routes of egress (interstates) that they travel towards their goal.
I have heard from friends that live in rural areas that they have had people stop and ask for work, ANY work..."It is like the Great Depression" some have exclaimed.
People are getting desperate.
Read that sentence again...out loud so you can imprint it into your brain.
PEOPLE ARE GETTING DESPERATE.
 Remember that.

People that are asking for work this week, may come back a week or month hence to carry off a chicken, grab a few melons out of your garden...or do some really bad things.
Be cautious. Very cautious.
I am not saying to not help people...just be real damn selective.
If you *prep* (and I hope everyone that reads this does!), be quiet about it. Now is not the time to brag down at the diner about the great deal you got on 100 #10 cans of wheat. Now is not the time to tell Bill down at the hardware store that you bought gold coins. Now is not the time to show off that new firearm to your buddies down at the Feed store.
Now is the time to *button it up*, guys.
Keep prepping...maybe now more than ever...but keep it quiet.

As for refugees...sigh...I don't know what is to be done. I wish I had all the answers.
If you are looking to buy property right now...check out the location carefully.
Think of the "refugee line of drift"...the routes people will take as they leave large cities or depressed areas.
For example, if loads of folks poured out of New York, the majority would head south in winter, but in late spring-early summer, they may head for Ct., Mass. or upstate New York and Vt and N.H.
City dwellers are NOT idiots. They know food comes from farms...and they will head towards farmland...for work (that probably isn't there) and for food.
If you live in a rural area, check maps carefully. Can your house be seen from the nearest interstate? If so, consider planting fast growing trees to block that view! Consider your fencing and other security around your property.

If you decide to help a refugee/refugee family by offering work, check them out carefully.
More about that next time...

And the juggernaut rolls on....

1. juggernaut

noun: a massive inexorable force that seems to crush everything in its way

Yeah, the juggernaut is rolling and, I fear, there will be no stopping it.
A little story in the news this morning:
Rising tide of Homeless in suburban and rural areas, more women and children seek shelter.

Jobs are disappearing and are not coming back---don't believe what the current powers-that-be are saying about *green shoots* and *the stimulus headed off a Depression*.
Lies, all lies.
There's an army of unemployed people out there and their ranks are growing bigger every day. The construction industry is in the toilet. No new construction means unemployed builders, electricians, plumbers, brick-layers, etc Those people don't work, they can't make their house payments, go to restaurants, buy new appliances, get their dogs groomed, buy groceries and so on and so forth. So now you have unemployed real estate agents, chefs & waiters, cashiers, dog groomers, etc. In turn, now THESE unemployed folk can't pay their bills or buy new things!
Hope and Change has FAILED and failed horribly.
Our national debt is at a point where we can never, that is N-E-V-E-R repay it. Not us, not our children, not our grandchildren, not seven friggin' generations hence!
I see blogs and stories every day and people on the tv telling the citizens to *vote the bastards out*.
It is, sadly, too late for that, as I have come to realize.
I used to have faith in the *system*.
I used to think that our government OF and BY and FOR the people could *right* itself  and get back on track.
I can see now that it can not and will not, barring   a TOTAL revamping of our government.
I think the only way that could come about is if all the states decided to invoke sovereignty and refuse to cooperate with the federal government until drastic changes are soon made.
Federal offices and departments  need to be cut by a minimum of HALF (hopefully more than half) of what they are today.
Federal employees need to be cut by HALF (at least) in the offices and departments that would remain.
We need to stop paying out foreign aid and supplying country after country with weapons.
We need to bring our troops home to protect our borders.
Congress needs to take a huge pay cut AND have their benefits cut. NO PENSIONS! Make those bastards actually WORK for a living!
I saw a great suggestion the other day...cut Congresses pay to what a E-6 makes in the Army. That's right, cut them down to a Staff Sergeants pay. Same benefits. To the dime. Hosuing allowance, clothing allowance, etc. Wouldn't that be great?
While we are at it, cut the Presidents pay to what a 4 star General makes. (5 stars are very rare and they only get there for meritorious service...really can't say that about any President since...well...it has been a LONG while)
Cut out immigration UNLESS the individual can show:
1: They have at least 100k in the bank
or
2: They have a FIRM job offer here in the states AND the employer signs an agreement to employ them for at least 3 years
3:  They speak English fluently or can learn to within 3 years
4: They have a talent or a skill that is needed or desired here (such as scientist, machinist, doctor, etc)

What I am proposing is generally called isolationism.
So what?
We need to do this, we HAVE to do this.
Other countries do. The immigration policies I listed are followed, more or less, by New Zealand.
Some countries have even stiffer policies.

Other fiscally responsible actions we could take would include instituting a *welfare* program as it is done in South Korea.
If you don't have a job there and sign up for money and food, they make you work for it.
Every morning, bright and early, buses and trucks pick up welfare recipients (at around 5:30am). They are given jumpsuits to work--I believe blue ones--and taken to various public work projects. Picking trash up along the roads, digging ditches to put in a new sewer system, etc. You don't work, you don't get a check.
Bonus points for Korea by putting welfare recipients in those jumpsuits....everyone can see who is collecting taxpayers monies. People there do not brag of *putting on over* or *playing* the system. THEY WORK. And they work hard to get off welfare, too!

We need to stop rewarding bad behavior. Whether it is a Congressman or a welfare recipient, EVERYONE needs to realize we live in a *civil* society.
It is not civil to take taxpayers money and waste it on frivolities (hello...Nancy Pelosi and her private taxpayer funded jet?) We need to stop handing out money hand over fist to countries that do nothing to improve their own situations and become money pits (Haiti...that message is for you)

The juggernaut is rolling and change is coming...prepare yourselves and your loved ones...