Chapter Two - continued

“Water, food, clothing, shelter, heat. These are the things we need. The simplest may be the most difficult. Millions of people in this country depend on a government supplied water source. When the government shuts down, and the electricity goes out, many will not have potable water. Even those with their own well depend on electricity to draw the water to the surface.”
“Those with windmill-driven pumps or with running springs will be at an advantage. However, almost everyone lives near water that can be treated to make it safe to drink. My suggestion is to have a good supply of chlorine tablets or other water purifiers such as Clorox on hand.”
“Next, have some canned food on hand or other dry packaged food: some kind of food that doesn’t need a freezer or refrigerator to keep. Perhaps you shouldn’t go overboard on this, like trying to store 2 years supply. Probably a few months would suffice.”
“But, anyone with operating solar panels will be at a great advantage; they will likely be able to generate enough electricity to run a water pump and keep a refrigerator running.”
“I guess that would make them pretty popular in the neighborhood,” Bruce interjected.
“I guess it would,” Dad responded. “Let’s hope those people are the sharing, caring kind.”
“And what you have on hand will only last so long, so seed for next year’s planting should be procured as well and stored in a preserving environment,” Dad added.
“As far as clothing goes, we have enough on hand and it would last a long time but I know I didn’t throw my last pair of shoes away when I got my new ones, just in case. Also wouldn’t hurt to have extra waterproof boots or rubbers and a supply of gloves for winter.”
“Next, keep a good supply of matches on hand and flashlight batteries. We are going to be burning wood or some other fuel and using candles to see at night. So matches will be very important to keep the fires burning, and of course, it would also be good to have a supply of candles on hand or perhaps some sort of lanterns.”
“As we uncovered in the earlier questioning, gold and silver coins on hand certainly wouldn’t hurt. You can’t eat, drink, wear, or burn them to keep warm, but the thought is that they will always have a value and might replace the dollar as a medium of exchange. Then, they could be used to buy or trade for other things you might need.”
“Now not everyone, me included, can afford to buy gold and silver coins. Especially the way the price of them skyrocketed as the dollar lost value. But as the price of gold and silver rose, so did copper and about a year ago a penny became worth more as copper than as 1 cent. So, I started saving them knowing that the copper itself would always have value and could possibly one day be used to purchase needed goods.”
“About a month after I started saving them, the national news reported that it cost about 1.2 cents to make a penny. So I thought they would be hoarded and the supply depleted. But they are still around, so not everyone was thinking like I was. Also the person that truly has lost faith in the dollar would want to minimize his holding of assets on paper and even paper currency. Maybe you can think of other tangible items that can be stored at your home easily, taken with you, and that would still have some value either for your own use or to trade with others for items that you may need?”
“Like bar soap, toothpaste, medical supplies?” Bruce asked.
“Yeah, things like that,” Dad answered. “And there’s one other that I hate to mention.”
“What’s that?” Bruce asked.
“Ammunition. It can serve three purposes. We live in a rural enough area that we can harvest game to stretch our food supply. Second, it can be an item we could use to trade with other people for supplies that we may need. What I don’t like about that whole concept is what the people might use the
ammo for. They may use it to rob and kill others. It’s a thought I don’t like. But it brings me to the last reason to have some ammunition on hand. It equally scares me and I hope it never becomes necessary and that’s for protection. When the collapse finally comes, I have no clue how the population is going to react. In some of the more populated areas that have no gardens or open land to raise food and no livestock operations that can supply meat, chaos might reign. People will have to leave the cities just to search for food, but before that happens, people might just kill each other for the food that is available. I would hope we would never have to revert to killing to protect ourselves and preserve what we have.”
“It will require a paradigm shift to service. We will have to overcome our desire to preserve the self and adopt a community centered approach. Our minds and hearts will have to have the attitude of helping others for the survival of everyone. But it won’t be easy to keep selfish feelings under control when you might not know where your next meal is coming from. Even though I believe this will happen, that the communities will survive because of this change of heart, there still may be a lot of killing and a lot of people dying before it occurs.”
“Do you think the Illuminati will allow this to happen?” Bruce asked.
“The Illuminati?” Dad replied. “What do you know about the Illuminati?”
“Hey,” Bruce said, “you’re not the only one who listens to Tio Jorge. I’ve listened to a few shows myself on nights when I couldn’t sleep and I heard more than one show referencing the Illuminati.”
Dad asked, “So who do you think they are or what purpose do they serve?”
“Bruce replied, “I don’t know anymore than you do, but according to some of the guests on the radio show, the Illuminati are a group of people who control the world; pretty much by controlling the money. It’s the bankers behind the big bucks and other top business people and world leaders. The Illuminati has been purported to exist for centuries. They’re the people who make things happen in this world. Some say the Illuminati chooses our president and other world leaders through methods that I can’t even explain. Sometimes through assassinations, eliminating candidates or leaders who they don’t think are serving their purposes. They claim it was the Illuminati who start some wars. Spanish-American and the First World War come to mind. Started them to suit their purpose because members of the Illuminati would stand to profit from wars either by loaning the money to finance the war or by selling the munitions outright. The purported purpose of the
Illuminati is to control the world looking at it strictly on the basis of greed. But I wonder sometimes if they think their motive is to save the world.”
“How do you figure that?” Dad asked.
“Well you must have heard that the Illuminati thinks the population of the world is way too great and it’s been reported that they would like to have it reduced to about five hundred million from the six or seven billion it might be now.”
“Yes,” Dad said, “I did hear that.”
“So,” Bruce continued, “if they think that overpopulation is going to ruin the earth and bring about its final demise, then their goal of reducing the population in order to save the world would an honorable one despite the morally wrong aspects of their methods.”
“Do you believe that?” Dad asked.
“No,” Bruce said, “if they exist, I think they exist for their own greed. If they really do wish to make more money, lowering the population would hurt them as they’d be eliminating billions of their customers. You can’t sell anything if there is no one to buy it.”
“So,” Dad asked, “do you really think they exist and would they hold up the dollar to prevent the US economy from failing?”
Bruce said, “It doesn’t matter whether I think they exist or not and I don’t know that even if they did exist that they would have enough power to stop the looming collapse.”
Dad answered, “If they do exist, then whatever they do is out of our control so why concern ourselves with it. And if they do not exist, then they absolutely present us with no problem, so the bottom line is, we shouldn’t base any of our actions on their existence or non-existence.”
Bruce responded, “That makes a lot of sense. And another thing,” he continued, “Many would say that the oil companies come under the influence of the Illuminati.”
“Do you think that’s true?” Dad asked.
“No, I think the oil companies are the small fish in the pond. If it’s true that the Illuminati profit greatly from war then perhaps defense contractors might be part of them or at least might come under their control. Wasn’t it President Eisenhower who warned us against the military-industrial complex?”
“I believe it was,” said Dad.
Bruce said, “And there’s a fear among some of the guests on the radio that the globalist movement is being advanced by the Illuminati to serve their purpose. Do you think that’s true?”
“Globalists? Well we heard that story before; started with NAFTA and that theory that our president, the president of Mexico, and the prime minister of
Canada have made an agreement to become a single union like they did in Europe. I’m not sure that a North American Union would work in the Illuminati’s favor. But irregardless, I’m not convinced that the globalists, whomever they may be, would bring about the destruction of the world. Actually they might just be doing what needs to be done. Jesus never told us to set up borders. One day His kingdom will have no borders. However, He did tell us that at the end of the age nation will rise against nation, so I guess in order for that to happen we must have borders and separate nations. The end result will be Christ’s kingdom but I think the time between now and then will be pretty tumultuous. I would hope that many people will be prepared for many of the things that appear on the horizon.”
“Oh!” Bruce said, “how did he miss that last shot? That would have won the game. But, it didn’t and it’s time to head home.”
“Yep,” Dad said, “I’d like to get home too. I missed ‘Lost’ on Wednesday, no one taped it for me, and it’s being replayed tonight. See ya later.”

Look for chapter three next week… Mort