Economic Collapse
Blog

When the economy
of a nation collapses, almost everything changes. Unfortunately,
most people have never been through anything like that, so it can
be difficult to know how to prepare. For those that are busy preparing
for the coming global financial collapse, there is a lot to be learned
from the economic depression that is happening right now in Greece.
Essentially, what Greece is experiencing is a low level economic
collapse. Unemployment is absolutely rampant and poverty is rapidly
spreading, but the good news for Greece is that the global financial
system is still operating somewhat normally and they are getting
some financial assistance from the outside. Things in Greece could
be a whole lot worse, and they will probably get a whole lot worse
before it is all said and done. But already things have gotten bad
enough in Greece that it gives us an idea of what a full-blown economic
collapse in the 21st century may look like. There are reports of
food and medicine shortages in Greece, crime and suicides are on
the rise and people have been rapidly pulling their money out
of the banks. Hopefully this article will give you some ideas
that you can use as you prepare for the economic chaos that will
soon be unfolding all over the globe.

The following
are 10 things that we can learn about shortages and preparation
from the economic collapse in Greece….

#1
Food Shortages Can Actually Happen

Most people
assume that they will always be able to run out to their local supermarket
or to Wal-Mart and get all of the supplies they need.

Unfortunately,
that is a false assumption. The truth is that our food distribution
system is extremely
vulnerable.

In Greece,
many people are starting to totally run out of food. Even some government
institutions (such as prisons) are now reporting food shortages.
The following was originally
from a Greek news source….

The financing
for many prisons has decreased to a minimum for some months now,
resulting in hundreds of detainees being malnourished and surviving
on the charity of local communities.

The latest
example is the prison in Corinth where after the supply stoppage
from the nearby military camp, the prisoners are at the mercy
of God because, as reported by prison staff, not even one grain
of rice has been left in their warehouses. When a few days earlier
the commander of the camp announced to the prison management the
transportation stoppage, citing lack of food supplies even for
the soldiers, he shut down the last source of supply for 84 prisoners.
The response of some Corinth citizens was immediate as they took
it upon themselves to support the prisoners, since all protests
to the Justice ministry were fruitless.

#2
Medicine Is One Of The First Things That Becomes Scarce During An
Economic Collapse

If you are
dependent on medicine in order to survive, you might want to figure
out how you are going to get by if your supply of medicine is totally
cut off someday.

In Greece,
medicine shortages have become a massive problem. The following
is from a recent Bloomberg
article….

Mina
Mavrou, who runs a pharmacy in a middle-class Athens suburb, spends
hours each day pleading with drugmakers, wholesalers and colleagues
to hunt down medicines for clients. Life-saving drugs such as
Sanofi (SAN)’s blood-thinner Clexane and GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK)’s
asthma inhaler Flixotide often appear as lines of crimson data
on pharmacists’ computer screens, meaning the products aren’t
in stock or that pharmacists can’t order as many units as they
need.

“When
we see red, we want to cry,” Mavrou said. “The situation is worsening
day by day.”

The 12,000
pharmacies that dot almost every street corner in Greek cities
are the damaged capillaries of a complex system for getting treatment
to patients. The Panhellenic Association of Pharmacists reports
shortages of almost half the country’s 500 most-used medicines.
Even when drugs are available, pharmacists often must foot the
bill up front, or patients simply do without.

#3
When An Economy Collapses, So Might The Power Grid

Try this some
time – turn off all power to your home for 24 hours and try to live
normally.

Sadly, most
people simply do not understand just how dependent we are on the
power grid. Without power, all of our lives would change dramatically.

In Greece,
authorities are warning of an impending “collapse”
of the power grid. If it goes down for an extended period of time
in Greece, the consequences would be catastrophic….

Greece’s
power regulator RAE told Reuters on Friday it was calling an emergency
meeting next week to avert a collapse of the debt-stricken country’s
electricity and natural gas system.

“RAE
is taking crisis initiatives throughout next week to avert the
collapse of the natural gas and electricity system,” the regulator’s
chief Nikos Vasilakos told Reuters.

RAE took
the decision after receiving a letter from Greece’s natural gas
company DEPA, which threatened to cut supplies to electricity
producers if they failed to settle their arrears with the company.

#4
During An Economic Collapse You Cannot Even Take Water For Granted

If the power
grid goes down, you will soon no longer have clean water coming
out of your faucets. That is one of the reasons why it is absolutely
imperative that the power grid stay operable in Greece.

Sadly, most
people don’t understand just how vulnerable our water system is.
In a previous
article, I quoted from a report that discussed how rapidly our
water supply would be in jeopardy in the event of a major transportation
disruption….

According
to the American Water Works Association, Americans drink more
than one billion glasses of tap water per day. For safety and
security reasons, most water supply plants maintain a larger inventory
of supplies than the typical business. However, the amount of
chemical storage varies significantly and is site specific. According
to the Chlorine Institute, most water treatment facilities receive
chlorine in cylinders (150 pounds and one ton cylinders) that
are delivered by motor carriers. On average, trucks deliver purification
chemicals to water supply plants every seven to 14 days. Without
these chemicals, water cannot be purified and made safe for drinking.
Without truck deliveries of purification chemicals, water supply
plants will run out of drinkable water in 14 to 28 days. Once
the water supply is drained, water will be deemed safe for drinking
only when boiled. Lack of clean drinking water will lead to increased
gastrointestinal and other illnesses, further taxing an already
weakened healthcare system.

What will you
do when clean water stops coming out of your faucets?

You might want
to start thinking about that.

#5
During An Economic Crisis Your Credit Cards And Debit Cards May
Stop Working

Most people
have become very accustomed to using either debit cards or credit
cards for almost everything.

But what would
happen if the financial system locked up for a period of time and
you were not able to use them?

This is something
that the citizens of Greece are potentially facing in the coming
months, and this is something that all of us need to start thinking
about.

#6
Crime, Rioting And Looting Become Commonplace During An Economic
Collapse

Big corporations
are already making extensive plans for how to protect their stores
in the event that Greece switches from the euro to the drachma.

The following
is from a recent Reuters
article….

British
electrical retailer Dixons has spent the last few weeks stockpiling
security shutters to protect its nearly 100 stores across Greece
in case of riot.

The planning,
says Dixons chief Sebastian James, may look alarmist but it’s
good to be prepared.

Company
bosses around Europe agree. As the financial crisis in Greece
worsens, companies are getting ready for everything from social
unrest to a complete meltdown of the financial system.

#7
During A Financial Meltdown Many Average Citizens Will Start Bartering

During this
economic depression, alternative currencies have already
been popping up in Greece.

When things
fall apart on a global scale, will you have things to barter for
the things that you need?

#8
Suicides Spike During An Economic Collapse

When you think
of the Great Depression of the 1930s, what do you think of?

Many people
think of images of people jumping out of buildings.

Well, something
similar has been happening in Greece. Suicide statistics in Greece
have been absolutely
soaring during the last couple of years.

Once prosperity
disappears, many people feel as though life is not worth living
anymore.

#9
Your Currency May Rapidly Lose Value During An Economic Crisis

Just remember
what happened in Germany during the Weimar Republic and what has
happened recently in places like Zimbabwe.

The truth is
that it can happen anywhere.

Right now,
Greeks are pulling their money out of the banks because they are
worried that their euros will
be turned into drachmas which would rapidly lose value.

If I was living
in Greece I would definitely be concerned about that. The return
of the drachma seems to get closer with each passing day. Just check
out these
screenshots.

#10
When Things Hit The Fan The Government Will Not Save You

Has the government
of Greece come to the rescue of all of those that are deeply suffering
right now?

Of course not.
The truth is that the Greek government can barely take care of itself
at the moment.

History has
shown us that governments simply cannot be counted on when things
hit the fan.

Just remember
what happened during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

In the end,
the only one that can be counted on to take care of you and your
family is you.

So you better
start
preparing.

Unfortunately,
as I wrote about the
other day, time is rapidly running out for the global financial
system.

Even some of
the top economic officials in the world are warning that another
major crisis could be on the way.

Just check
out what World Bank President Robert Zoellick said
the
other day….

“Events
in Greece could trigger financial fright in Spain, Italy and across
the eurozone. The summer of 2012 offers an eerie echo of 2008.”

He also compared
a potential exit of Greece from the eurozone to the collapse of
Lehman Brothers back during the last financial crisis….

“If Greece
leaves the eurozone, the contagion is impossible to predict, just
as Lehman had unexpected consequences.”

So what are
some things that the average person can do to get prepared?

Well, a recent
article on SHTFplan.com entitled “The
List: A to Z Survival for the Abysmal Times Ahead” contains
hundreds of ideas for preparing for the chaotic economic environment
that we are heading into.

Preparation
is going to look different for every family. No two situations are
exactly the same.

But there are
some practical
steps that nearly all of us can take to better position ourselves
for what is coming. Now is the time to get educated and now is the
time to take action.

Or you could
be like all of those that laughed at Noah while he was building
that big boat.

In the end,
things did not work out too well for those folks.

Reprinted
with permission from the Economic
Collapse Blog.

June
7, 2012

Copyright
© 2012 Economic
Collapse Blog