Just because I believe that Oil shocks are coming, the ability to expand credit in the West is over, the U.S. Government is insolvent, and we have too many people to feed when the next major crop failure hits a major producing nation (U.S., Argentina, and Brazil), that most debts, public and private will be defaulted on, and that the U.S. is likely to endure some kind of political implosion, etc... DOES NOT MAKE ME A DOOMER!!!
Actually, I am confident that I will prosper and my family will thrive through all of the above.
You see, its great to be a nobody. I have no power to stop earthquakes, tidal waves, hurricanes, civil wars - heck, I can barely get my kids to bed on time - so I don't concern myself with things I have no control over. I do spend time thinking about how best to prosper, practicing the exercise of "enlightened self-interest", and the rest I spend enjoying my family and my hobbies. That my hobbies are good for the family, productive, and inexpensive interests like gardening, raising livestock, and woodworking rather than golf and tennis does not necessarily make me a "Doomer", though I won't deny that these pursuits won't hurt me in the least and might in fact be very beneficial to me and mine at some point in time...
Yes, I have a significant store of food, a serious water purifier, land, tools, seeds... So what? I have a family! I have life insurance, does that make me suicidal?
I love my life. THIS life. If you think that having a backup plan is "bad luck" or "negative thinking", or that it means that I think the world is coming to an end well, that's your business, and if you have faith that "Big Brother" will always provide, well, that's your business, too.
It just ain't my business.
But the surf is up, and I think I will head down to the beach and do a little skim boarding. I would go surfing, but a guy that is well known in the water sports community here in South Florida was killed by sharks a couple of weeks ago... and about 20 miles north of my surf spot, and I am not over it yet... call me a "Doomer" if you like, but I hate it when that happens... and I started some seeds in pots indoors and am working the slips on the sweet potatoes because spring comes early in Tennessee. My garden has had a 350 pound pig in it since last fall, and he has done an excellent job of tilling and fertilizing the ground. Of course, that does not mean I won't make sausage out of him... I will. Just as soon as I get there in the middle of March. There will always be another pig next year. One of the steers will go into the freezer in July; we will keep a side and give a side to the family that helps with the farm during the winter when we are not there. 100% grass fed beef. Every month, we have a big BBQ of goat grown on the farm. My home made chicken soup is a whole different level of home made... if you catch my drift. The excess roosters that we don't eat will go down to the church food pantry - poor folks never look a gift rooster in the mouth... and they ain't vegetarian... The kids will ride horses and I will fix the barn. Every night a glass of wine with dinner, and desert after. And when the garden comes in? My mother's tomato sauce & gravy recipe made from home-garden grown tomatoes, onions, peppers, & garlic (and some imported virgin olive oil), and my literally home grown sausage and meatballs will make you think they moved Little Italy to Lebanon, TN. One whiff of that and its a "smile on your face and a song in your heart"! Did I mention the goat cheese? Brings tears to my eyes!
But you can call me a "Doomer" if it makes you feel better. Then again, I think people that call people like "us", and I know there are a lot of "us" reading here, "Doomers" actually like eating McDonalds and can't understand what all of the fuss is about.
Go figure.
Libertariananimal (at) gmail