Convincing Family and Friends - Fear of Change - An Email Thread

I have attached an email thread between me, one of my best friends, and my girl friend.  It gives insight into the challenges associated with breaking through the bias and fears that prevent humans from considering that the circumstances around their life will never change.  It's important we get good at this if we want to help people we care about.  Any thoughts or similar stories would be welcomed.  Thanks!

From: Bill
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 8:41 AM
To: Mike
Subject: RE: Latest from Chris Martenson

 Just finished the Martenson “Trouble Brewing” article you forwarded. I certainly believe what he says is possible, and even probable. But, all the suggestions [financial, practical, and emotional] seem applicable to only the upper levels of our society. I can’t see American families living from week to week figuring out how to heat their homes or prepare safe water without funding. These suggestions on how to prepare your finances, set aside 3 months of bills, etc, are impossible tasks for the majority of Americans.

 I’d like to see some conversations/suggestions aimed at the “majority” of civilians. I’d like to see a graph or comparison of expectations on how long the next crash will take to cure, and what the projection for life as we know it might be. What will happen to schools, hospitals, collecting garbage? Will such a strained society decide to eliminate the homeless and addicted to “save” themselves?

 Do we need to plan on bringing multiple families together in one house to survive? If so, give advice on exactly how, etc. Will another depression set us off to war to capture what another country has that we want?

I want, need to hear a true leader arise who isn’t just a voice from the financial sector…who we know are liars and cheats.

 Trying to be realistic here…not reactionary.

Maybe this topic might be our MKP topic tomorrow? Brainstorming is good.

 Bill

From: Mike  
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 10:36 AM
To: Bill
Subject: RE: Latest from Chris Martenson

Bill –

As we have talked in the past, if you look at the math associated with sovereign, state, local, corporate and consumer debt in most industrial countries including the U.S. – coupled with the demographic shifts associated with aging populations, and throw in population growth and the peaking of resources, there is not going to be a “cure”.  All of us are going to have to adapt.  I encourage you to watch the video interview I sent you of Kyle Bass.  A brilliant guy who pulls no punches with what the data says, and what he thinks it means.

I have a somewhat evolving perspective on what I think “the majority” of Americans should do.  Our government and media have not educated our citizens.  The government spent money and cut taxes for decades because it assured reelection.  They made promises they could never keep.  So, we the citizens are ultimately accountable for that.  We allowed that.  As such we must live with the consequences.  We get the government we deserve, and we get the life that comes with holding our government accountable or not doing so.

To be fair, life is so complex, and what I really mean is “the system” has become so complex that it is essentially impossible for anyone to now hold “it” accountable.  Government(s), lobbyists, media, banks, Wall Street with complex derivatives trading no one can understand or regulate, corporations, law enforcement, the defense industry, the clergy, medicine – all of it is so intertwined, inefficient and corrupted at this point that fixing “it” is beyond human capabilities.  So, expecting “the people” to completely understand “it” is asking too much.  But, there was a time when we could have put the brakes on what was evolving, and we didn’t.  Now, like a run-away roller coaster we’re going to go along for the ride.

Agreed, there are too many poor and there is a quickly eroding middle class.  What should they do?  They are struggling now as it is.  Well, this said, they do not struggle like the majority of humans on the our planet do.  The poor in America look different than the poor in Africa, China, India and elsewhere. 

The penetration of flat screen TV’s in American HH’s is probably in the 70% range.  We all walk around with a cell phone. Most drive cars, and in many cases more car than they need or can afford.  We are very much trained to be a consumer society.  So, if we are in debt up to our eyebrows anyway, what really prevents anyone from going out and buying extra food?  Or not making a another durable goods purchase, and instead putting away 1 month’s worth of cash as a start?  What keeps us from going to the doctor, and asking for an extra 3 months of our prescription medicine?  What keeps us from storing some extra gas cans, and buying some extra firewood?  What stops us from buying a few one-ounce silver coins at $30 a pop? 

If you are already spending more than you should, then making the decision to do these things is really more about awareness.  Awareness about how most humans already live, and awareness about what is coming, and why it is coming. The sad truth is that most Americans do not understand the math (like 98% of us).  Why? Because we choose not to be aware.  I have talked to people who sense something is coming, but for the most part they resist considering “change” to their very core. They will not permit themselves to look around the corner.  Some of us the ability to adapt to survive, but we don’t like the process of adapting.  We will ignore the need to change until we have no choice.  When the garbage stops getting picked up, and the police stop coming when you call, and you sit in the emergency room all day long to get seen and then are told to go home without seeing a doctor, it will eventually become too much to ignore.

This is already happening in many towns, especially in California.  And the residents in those towns (those who are left) now completely get it.  And they are adapting.  But, if they had been aware earlier, perhaps they could have prepared better, and the hardship that they and their families now go through would have been diminished.  If they looked beyond U.S. borders at how the majority of the world already lives, they would have better appreciated what is possible.

For me personally, I don’t have the answers for some of what you ask.  No one could.  I cannot completely understand or influence anything at that macro level, so I choose not to spend my energy thinking about how I would.  What I can do as an individual, is talk to those I know, and encourage them to look at circumstances they would prefer not to.  So, that perhaps they can do some simple things now that will better prepare themselves, and their families. 

Much of what I read from Martenson and his kind suggest that ultimately, we will have to shift to smaller communities to thrive.  Our food will not come from across the country or the World, it will more likely come from our own yards, town or county.  We will police our own streets.  We will look in on each other and perhaps move in with each other.  We will need to reconnect with our neighbors in order to get through the challenges that are coming.  Think of how families and neighbors behaved in the Great Depression.  We will create communities that we can count on, and we will be accountable to them by contributing in some way, perhaps by learning a new skill or trade.  Those who do not connect with friends and a wider community will struggle. 

To me, if this turned out to be the case, I actually feel it might be a better way to live.  So much of what we struggle with comes from people, places and events we cannot control.  But, a smaller community in which we depend on each other has some attractiveness to me personally. And as you know, since purchasing some land and working on it, I have found a spiritual connection that I now know was missing in my life. Working on that land has allowed me to reconnect with nature and the Earth, and that has enrichened me in a way I did not anticipate.

And lastly, from an MKP perspective, I believe that we as men have a responsibility to anticipate potential threats to our families and friends, and not just sit and hope that life altering change will not materialize or make the choice to ignore what is happening in our world because to really look at it is unpleasant or even frightening.  We have it in our DNA as men to be protectors.  I think we should tap into that more, and on occasion, at least do some little things that help assure the people we love will have some protection if someday the banks don’t open.

 Mike

 From: Bill
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 12:04 PM
To: Mike
Subject: RE: Latest from Chris Martenson

Mike…OK, I am negative. When the Great Depression hit, our world was not filled with as many greedy people.  There were many fewer unsavory, short-term focused corporations.  People lived in cities and towns close together, and they had a stronger work ethic than the entitled of today.

We don’t talk…we text and Email.  There are more selfish and greedy members of our collective community than ever. These people will not reasonably give up or share what they think they own. They will arm themselves, and kill off imagined “no gooders” who have no place to live or any food left.

WE want immediate results. Taking aim and taking “it” away from others who are weaker is who we are now.

 Part of what Martenson discusses speaks on emotional resiliency and how the lack of that can contribute to death/suicide. For people to grasp/understand/react in a positive, sharing way is not a realistic suggestion to me.

How about a survey on what percentage of Americans would want, and actively work to move to a world that you describe? I really don’t think anyone can sell that concept in the time we may have left to educate and motivate.

I personally can embrace the sharing/living together, growing food, etc. if need be but, I sure don’t want to proactively move there. I don’t think that that type of life will draw converts. They will fight and kill first.

I believe our very culture is on life support and that economics is but a column of many that are depleted and exhausted.

I simply don’t believe we can pull out of what our future is destined to be. After all, we DO deserve it. We all drank the cool aid. Many will choose to drink kool aid again until it is too late, and all that is left is to fight.

…at the close, there’s only so much bad news I can digest. I can’t save the world, my neighbor or my family. All I can do is adjust and educate them on adjusting. I think we all should stop pro-creating for a time. It is unfair to bring a child into this world right now.

Bill

From: Mike
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 12:56 PM
To: Bill
Subject: RE: Latest from Chris Martenson

Thought some on what you said. The Native Americans who lost their land to “less greedy” people might disagree with you.  Humans have always had an element of greed in our wiring.  All living organisms are in some way greedy.  They will seek natural advantage in order to increase their likelihood of success.  There are just more humans now than back then.   And we have many forms of communication (e.g., TV, Print, Internet) so we are exposed to more greed.  And I believe people have a work ethic as long as they need to work to succeed and survive.  If I don’t need to work for 99 months because I am getting unemployment, my work ethic may look different than after those benefits run out.  When you get to crunch time at 96 weeks, that job mowing lawns starts to look more attractive.

 Society has different people. Some will take what others have by force and enjoy doing it, others will attempt to take what they want by force but may not have the skill to succeed, others are victims, others will share what they can, others will organize and lead, and still others who will have a vision and inspire.  It has always been that way to some degree.  The numbers of takers versus sharers ebbs and flows dependent on circumstances like culture, beliefs, social structure, and resources. 

 Exactly how this plays out is difficult to predict, but relative to what you and I have discussed, I am going to pick a narrative for myself.  I choose to assume there will be a mix of people who come into my life – some bad, some neutral, and some good.  In my narrative, I envision making it very apparent to bad people that they are much better off going elsewhere.  I envision providing help and charity to the neutral people when I am able.  I envision teaming, building friendships and enjoying life with good people.

 The life forms that populated Earth when the asteroid hit did not get the opportunity to vote on whether they wanted to adapt.  Most of the dinosaurs could not adapt.  Many of the mammals did.  Neither of them wanted to deal with what happened.  Who cares if Americans would want to move to the world I described.  They will not get the choice of things staying as they currently are.  There is no selling of the population necessary.  Change is going to force the issue.

And if our society truly is on “life support” as you state, then my question is, why not welcome change?  Why not think about how you and your family might thrive in a world that operates differently?  Sometimes, in order for something to be saved, it has to first be broken down.  Think of the effect of radiation and chemo on my body when I had cancer.  Think of your first day at the MKP weekend when you were told you could not have anything you brought with you.  Not fun, but the outcome was transformational in a good way.

 Relative to having babies.  Imagine thousands of years ago, what a baby went through when he/she was born in a cave on a cold night.  Imagine what it was like 300 years ago when he/she were born in a log cabin in the Northeast wilderness during winter.  Babies have it pretty good in this country.  And they’re beautiful!  They’re us at our best.

Mike

From: Mike
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 1:10 PM
To: Jen
Subject: FW: Latest from Chris Martenson

Jen -

Thought you might like to read this thread with Bill.

Love you, Mike.

From: Jennifer Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 2:21 PM

To: Mike

Subject: RE: Latest from Chris Martenson

Oh my goodness Mike.  So much going on here.  First of all, poor Bill.  So sad – although I am with him on the ‘only so much bad news I can digest’ though, it just breaks my heart to hear such pessimism.

 Frankly, as you may have figured by now, the entire notion of the ‘crash course’ and what lies ahead for majority of us Americans is almost incomprehensible to me.  As such, I would choose not to think about it at all.  It’s a little like a war movie to me, I just can’t take the sadness.  Fortunately for me, I have you to constantly remind me.  So if I haven’t thanked you by now, let me do that now – Thank you – for not allowing me to live in a bubble.  Let me also point out, that just because I don’t engage in deep conversation like ‘this’ with you about the subject matter, doesn’t mean that my wheels aren’t turning on the topic.  I think about things like survival, a society without cash, needs vs. wants and the like.   Like many other facets of my world, I move in baby steps, and you are light years ahead of me.  I see how you pursue your blogs, adjust your investments, store supplies, bought guns for security and it –at times – can be a little unnerving for me.  More so when we had just come back together after our break, much less now after being with you again.   What does work for me is that you don’t push your beliefs and perspectives on me.  You share with me your thoughts and concerns and leave me to draw my conclusions.  You make suggestions, but you don’t force them on me.  

I don’t so much fear the idea of society finding its way back to a simpler way of life, meaning, the world is unplugged, cash is not the determining factor of wealth, the natural resources we depend on to sustain this lifestyle are gone.  I have the honor of having been underprivileged.  To the extent that is depicted below?  Of course not – but it isn’t outside of what I can envision in my head.  When the slate is wiped clean by an economic downturn and all men become truly equal – I have the mindset and skills to thrive.  I will be the one singing around the campfire while the pot of rabbit stew is cooking over it, and the rocks are being warmed for the bed!   

I love you!

Jen