Bookmarks on shuffle
See if you can figure out the theme
I’ve been meaning to share these links for some time. I include a few more thoughts at the end of this post.
Freedom Cells are local, peer to peer groups typically consisting of 8 people. Cell members organize themselves in a decentralized manner with the goal of empowering group members through education, peaceful non-compliance, and the creation of parallel institutions. Think of it as your activist support network.
2ndVote’s mission is to stop companies and organizations from funding the attack on traditional American values. Your first vote is cast at the ballot box, hoping to make a difference. Your second vote is in the checkout line. Corporations use a portion of the money you spend to fund a number of causes, many of which are harming our families, our communities and our future. With 2ndVote, you become an informed consumer who knows how your money is used after it is spent.
https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/consumer-expenditures/2021/home.htm
Consumer Expenditure (CE) tables provide spending and saving estimates by region, income, age, race, education, occupation, and other various household and reference person characteristics. In addition, CE provides tables that cross-tabulate using two characteristics (e.g., age and income) to allow users to further analyze the spending behavior for a particular subset of the population.
Seed Savers Exchange stewards Americaʼs culturally diverse and endangered garden and food crop legacy for present and future generations. We educate and connect people through collecting, regenerating, and sharing heirloom seeds, plants, and stories.
A few more thoughts
There was another bookmark I wanted to share with you. It was a great article listing twenty different bartering web sites. I include here if you wish to follow the link for the experience, but NOTE THE REDIRECT which takes you to a list of “best credit cards for online shopping” instead and NOT bartering web sites: https://www.moneycrashers.com/best-bartering-swapping-websites/
Now, here’s the first point. Effort is being taken to not support bartering, especially online. I’m starting to see censoring or redirecting as a type of censoring (whether intentional or not) as it relates to this. I believe the censoring will only grow, so the time to start thinking about this is now, while there is still the ability to communicate more easily.The second point is the importance of “in-person relationships”, neighborhood groups, and networks. We may not be able to communicate as freely as we have in the past. Consider more in person and alternate ways to communicate with the network you wish to rely on (if you so desire one). If you build your bartering business completely online, depending on how’s it’s implemented, there’s a good chance product, service, and/or communication flow could be shut down at any point. At a minimum, diversify your products, services, and the way in which they are provided.
Another point comes directly from what the redirect was trying to accomplish. Instead of encouraging self-sufficiency, and trading by reusing/recycling/repurposing (which should be good for the environment!), it redirects to a list of recommended online credit cards. So, I have been thinking about this for a while.
“If the value of the U.S. dollar falls, is it good to have money tied up in credit card debt or not?”
I believe each person’s situation may lead to different best answers, but here’s my general take. Many articles are suggesting it is a good idea to have money tied up in credit before/if the dollars falls because it means owing older money - when things were less expensive and you could buy more for your money. This proposal, however, assumes a few things: that you’ll continue to be employed and that your compensation will increase due to inflation; and therefore, you’ll be able to pay off your debt easier. However, consider the possibility of it being harder for you to keep the same compensation much less have an increase in compensation. This could happen if “rules” are implemented at your work place or the world in general that you disagree with and can no longer keep your same job -OR- you are deemed “unworthy” by social definitions constructed to keep people in line.I’m actually feeling that eliminating debt may actually be the most important thing to work on for the 5-year horizon. Eliminating dependencies and getting the household finances straight, much like our country should have been trying to do for decades.
I’m very concerned about the quality of food in general. I’m seeing more and more genetically engineered products and ingredients appearing on labels. Remember the push to label products that are free of Trans Fat? We need to insist of reliable and true non-GMO products and non-genetically engineered ingredients. I’m also hearing about how commercial feed to farm animals is also going down in quality with questionable ingredients.
Any thoughts others would like to share on ensuring quality food while transitioning to becoming more self-sustainable are appreciated!
Lee, one of the things that I've noticed about livestock feed AND a HUGE amount of people food is the inclusion of soy. Soy is a natural estrogen and therefore NOT recommended for those who have had hormone positive cancers. I also wonder if the huge amounts are what is causing some of the "identity" issues? Just speculation on my part but I do know that when I was growing up about the only soy in, other than Chinese, was soy lethicin used in chocolate. Now it's in most everything we eat. I don't worry as much about GMO as I don't eat that much of the major plant it is used for. BTW, soy is one of the top GMO plants! A double whammy.
As to bartering, gardening etc...maybe find other locals who have gardens, poultry etc and set up a swap with them. By agreement or planning, work to try not to duplicate too much so that each person fills in a slot. Grow perennial foods, they are easier and less work.
Just an aside I was reading a blog about seed sources. Many comments were how disappointing the seeds from Seed Savers have been. There are several organic and well recognized seed sources that I can refer you to if you want.
Love this post.
Hi Insight people... this is the first time I have seen this stack, but it looks like it's going in a useful Direction. I was traveling recently, of course using the Google Maps to get to my Airbnb, being hurted through the airports, etc. I realized that airports are set up perfectly for culling events, all the security and Firepower and Gates are already in place... more to the point. My dependence on the information grid is pretty extreme. and I was thinking about a theory of religion that I read that made so much sense. The theory is that a vengeful rule enforcing God enabled trade and travel over distances where personal relationships did not exist. People would be deemed trustworthy if they were members of the same religion because they would fear the wrath of God if they deviated from prescribed norms of fair trade and hospitality.
So it looks like the information grid serves this function now. You can feel safe staying in a stranger's house because it is endorsed by Airbnb . Merchants will take your credit card, you can buy anything anywhere with the information grid backed currency. I don't think you can discount use of the information grid as mere " convenience " - it is almost impossible to function in Modern Life without using it.
I don't know where this analogy is going. it does seem like the information grid is as vengeful as any other monotheist God, especially now that it is linked with the pharmaceutical industry. Non participation carries a heavy price! We may benefit from reading up on ways that various resistance movements functioned in the past, establishing communication Networks based on personal relationships and Trust. Letters of introduction ? Underground Railroad? Just some stray thoughts I've been having, wanted to get them down in writing so I can get on with my day!