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Episode 327: Income in a Shifting Economy

Today, I talk about the tenacity of an earlier generation and what we can glean from them to navigate this shifting economy.

Direct Download

Holler Neighbors Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s24fyyTuVxU

Tales from the Prepper Pantry

  • Scarcity has returned to the grocery stores and shipping is slow again. Consider making sure your pantry is ready for another turbulent time.
  • Paper towel alternatives
  • Tp alternatives
  • Harvest Breakfast Platter
  • Building to a 6 month supply of what we always eat

Preservation Process

  • Putting up more beets – seeking beet canning recipes for things other than pickled beets
  • Broccoli story
  • Ham
  • Blueberry story
  • Salsa
  • Dehydrated herbs

Operation Independence

  • Basecamp and the holler cabin are rented – part of the rental property foundation project
  • Scored free blueberries and tomatoes!

Main topic of the Show:  Income in a Shifting Economy

Last week, I joined a gaggle of other podcasters in the creation of a new show, called Unloose the Goose. We are focusing on solutions for big problems, talking about freedom and liberty, and other random things. But the intention is to help people who want it to navigate this changing world.

One fellow, Vin Armani, brought up that he thinks we are at the end of an age and we discussed the transition a bit. 

Yes. You got it. Change. We talked about change.

As the weeks have passed and Portland Oregon – my home town – has erupted into a hotbed of people taking sides, people acting out, people being violent, and people refusing to talk outside of an us vs them world, there is more indications of a change in our culture incoming. And if we as a society allow it to be a violent revolution, we all know what follows right?

What follows is the opposite of freedom.

So how then, can we navigate the coming weeks, months and years? How can we stop this madness? How can we get back to a peaceful, relatively prosperous life?

Many people hear me ask this and they don’t think they have had a prosperous life. 

But think about it. Most of us have rarely felt real hunger – if we have at all. Few of us have been homeless.

16 years ago, I was dating a man who asked me “Do you think we are living in a golden age?” and I thought and thought and reflected and came to the conclusion that yes. We are living in a golden age. And it is shifting. And where we end up, no one knows.

I read a quote today that stuck with me in USA Today. It was about a second stimulus check:

“I have terrible anxiety because of the unknown”…this is the crux of the national panic right now, isn’t it?

People didn’t realize that life has been as unpredictable our whole lives as it is this very moment. We just thought we were going a certain way, often did, and now this has shown us that the world can and will change on a dime. And we need to change with it or we get left behind.

So while we may be transitioning into a different kind of society, a different kind of economy, and a different kind of culture, we may even be heading into another dark age — there is no way to really know. But we do know ONE THING. Change is constant. Each day has an unknown set of opportunities and challenges. So what do we do to navigate this changing thing?

Well, back in April, when we let the economy screech to a halt, people started getting scared. They had no income from their jobs. The unemployment offices were backed up and they could not get unemployment checks. The stores were bare of supplies and they could not buy what they needed. 

Listen to this again

When you hear all this, what do you perceive?

Well a bunch of us feel like that lady in USA today who used her stimulus check to cover basic bills. Scared because of the unknown. Depressed because things have gotten hard. Tired of putting in work every day just to find basic supplies.

Navigating a world where things are not instantly available at all times, while new to some of us, is old news when you look at human history. It is actually kind of cool that we have been able to go so long without having to plan for this — but if you want a model of how to navigate the coming change, you can look at what your grandparents or great grandparents did: take personal responsibility for your well being, tap into the changing opportunities that you find, don’t be afraid of hard work, never underestimate the power of relationships.

Take personal responsibility for your well being – and that of your family

  • Perspective
  • Pantry and supply management is under your control
  • Learning to do things on your own is valuable — narrow vs wide knowledge
  • The more money you have coming in that you have generated by yourself, the more stable that source, unless — Jason’s Story

Tap into the changing opportunities that you find 

  • You can make money tomorrow if you want to
  • Side hustles or full time thing
  • Glean value from what you have 
  • Stomps story

Never underestimate the power of relationships

  • Tomorrow’s episode of Unloose the Goose we are going to discuss community — because if you look at other tough times, you see that the voluntary communities are what allowed people to successfully navigate 
  • Story of Darby’s Restaurant
  • Who are your true allies? Are they toxic? If so, get new allies.
  • You are the story you tell yourself and you are the sum of your friends and family — so choose wisely

Don’t be afraid of hard work  

  • Sometimes it takes work – working smartly but work – to navigate hard times.
  • Journaling
  • Kevan Kjar and do hard things
  • Really just do your homework already! 

Income in a shifting economy is no different than income in a stable economy – it is there, it is up to you and me to find it. Even in Russia with the tightest of controls on housing, supplies and income, people managed to barter, to trade, to build, to do what they could in the reality in which they found themselves. You may need to make some changes inside you, in how you live, maybe even in where you live — but change is part of life. And while sometimes change feels scary and it even can look bad. Usually, change leaves windows that you can pass through to find something better – even though it is different.

I know that many of you are looking at this world and worrying. You feel anxious. You feel tired. You feel scared. And your feelings are valid. Give yourself a moment. Embrace your feeling then do me a favor? Find one thing. One good thing. One positive step. One thing you can make happen. Do that thing. It can be really big. It can be one small step. Like going for a walk to start taking control of your health. Or signing up to deliver groceries through Shipt. Or building and selling a birdhouse. Or reaching out to the people in your community who want to band together and coming up with a gsd plan. Or writing that first blog post. Or learning how to string a weed whacker. Or changing your own oil. Doing your taxes. Learning to cook lasagna. Taking that cheesemaking webinar.

Do one thing. 

Then shoot me an email and tell me what it is. 

Make it a great week!

GUYS! Don’t forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce. 

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