There are two ways concerning how to deal with loneliness:  you can distract yourself from noticing it or cure it.

There’s nothing abnormal about occasional loneliness.  That’s because it’s normal to be concerned with the degree of your personal dignity and self-esteem, which are based on your self-concept, in other words, how you understand yourself.  When you find yourself struggling by yourself, it’s not abnormal occasionally to feel that the odds of success would be greater if you were not struggling alone.

Like other emotions, loneliness isn’t just important to us; it also essentially involves us.  If you judge yourself to be lacking people who love you, it’s easy to find yourself emotionally down and struggling with loneliness.

The only people who are wholly free from emotional bondage and afflictions are fully enlightened sages.  Since there may be no fully enlightened sages, it may be the case that, at least occasionally, none of us is free from emotional suffering.

All emotions are analyzable into three components:  a judgment of the situation, an egocentric evaluation of that situation, and (almost always) an accompanying physical feeling or passion.

If it is mild and occasional, the distraction method for how to deal with loneliness can work.  The two chief ways for how to deal with loneliness using the distraction method are to attack the judgment and to change the physical feeling.

Suppose that you are suffering from loneliness because your lover just dumped you.  The intensity of that suffering usually depends upon whether or not it was only a superficial, transitory fling or whether it was an in depth, multi-year relationship.  It will also depend upon whether or not you understand it to be part of a continuing pattern.

It may be possible for you to use thought itself effectively for how to deal with loneliness.  To do so, it is critical to notice that no thought is wholly true.  This is because all thoughts involve concepts, which are ways of classifying objects.  In any judgment the object or objects that are its subject matter may be conceived differently.  Realizing this, you may loosen your attachment to your judgment.

Did your lover really dump you?  Is it possible you are misunderstanding what actually happened?  Even if it did happen, there’s nothing to prevent him [or her] from changing his mind.  Furthermore, as good as it was with him, even if he doesn’t change his mind, why couldn’t a relationship with someone else be even better?  There is nothing preventing this emotional obstacle from becoming an emotional opportunity.

As you probably realize, it’s possible to think your way out of negative emotions like loneliness like this only when they are mild.

If thinking does not turn out to be effective in how to deal with loneliness in this case, you may be able to change how you feel about it.  For example, you could go get drunk or stoned to distract yourself.  You may be able to go out and have sex with someone else.  A better way, though, would be some intense physical exercise such as a long walk or run.  Exercise has very important emotional benefits.

Suppose, though, that the way of distraction doesn’t work in this case or that you would rather cure the loneliness rather than just distracting yourself from it.  Is there a lasting, really effective method for how to deal with loneliness?

Yes there is:  the cure for how to deal with loneliness undermines the critical egocentric evaluation. The judgment in our example was that he dumped me.  Let’s assume that’s true.

By themselves, facts are emotionally neutral.  Suppose it is raining in Tokyo at this moment:  how do you feel about that?  Assuming that you don’t happen to be in Tokyo and have no reason whatsoever to be concerned about the weather in Tokyo at this moment, you simply have no feeling whatsoever about that fact.

If you are lonely because he dumped you, it’s because you are emotionally attached to that fact. The heart of every negative emotion is the evaluation that this is bad for me.  The heart of every positive emotion is the evaluation that this is good for me. It’s not just that neither judgment is wholly true nor that neither can be known to be true.

Notice the “for me.”  All emotions are self-centered.  This is the key. The cure for any emotional suffering is to detach from self-centeredness.

So the cure for how to deal with loneliness is to let go of your evaluation that the present situation is bad for you. To let go of self-centeredness completely is to be a wholly enlightened sage.

Again, no wholly enlightened sages may exist. However, the more you are like a wholly enlightened sage, the less you will suffer emotionally.

The less self-centered you are, the less negative emotions will afflict you.  “Detaching from egocentricity is the key to flourishing emotionally” (from my How to Survive College Emotionally).

This is really good news:  emotional suffering is optional!

There’s even more good news: it takes no time to let go of egocentricity.  It can be done right now.  In fact, the only time it can be done is the present moment.  (It cannot be done in the future because nothing can ever be done in the future!)

The cure for how to deal with loneliness is to be found in expansion of your “self-concept,” which is what separates you from everything that isn’t you.  Loneliness comes from awareness of a lack of union between you and something else such as a former lover or a certain group of people.

What if you were not actually separated from that person or from those other people?  What if there were no “other” at all?

What if you expanded your self-concept to include everything else?  Then, of course, loneliness would be impossible.

In other words, unintentionally, you have thought your way into loneliness.  You may instantly eliminate the loneliness by letting go of your thoughts.  It’s that simple. On the other hand, the cure for how to deal with loneliness is not easy.  It’s not easy to let go.  However, it really is simple.

Furthermore, there are many ways to do it.  For example, you may become aware of the aliveness in your body [see Life Energy].  Starting to let go of loneliness can begin simply by feeling your hands from the inside!

Focusing on your breathing while meditating is a classic way to do it—and there are other methods as well.  Some take time to master, but becoming a master meditator, for example, isn’t necessary.  All that is necessary is letting go of your attachment to your self-concept, which requires no time at all.

That is all that is required for genuine happiness.

The ultimate expansion of your self-concept is identification with Being.  You are Being; it’s impossible to be without Being, to be separated from it.  Since Being is the essence of everything, because you are Being you lack nothing.  No lack, no loneliness!

This is really, really good news:  by being lonely, by suffering emotionally, and simply reading this post, you have now opened yourself up to a new way of being, a way of freedom from all negative emotions from now on.  The task becomes the simple one of using that understanding to expand your self-concept, to drop attachment to your present narrow self-concept.

All you wanted was an effective method for how to deal with loneliness.  What you have uncovered instead is the exciting possibility of living without emotional affliction!

Suggestions for Further Reading: Dennis Bradford’s How to Survive College Emotionally, Robert C. Solomon’s The Passions, and Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now and A New Earth.

As always, if you think this might benefit someone you know, please forward it.

What is abiding or genuine happiness?  Is it really possible to attain it?

I’ve argued elsewhere that the popular notion is muddled. If so, permit me here to clarify it using some suggestions by Eckhart Tolle.

Our topic is not the temporary feeling of being pleased; rather, it is the abiding joy, serenity, or peacefulness characteristic of living well or flourishing. It is the result of successfully mastering life.

Sadly, we are often so focused on just getting by that we fail to develop a clear vision of how, ideally, we would like our lives to be.

When looking into the heavens on a clear, dark night, what do you see? You may see the moon and some planets, but mostly you see stars, right? Those points of light are mostly distant galaxies. What else do you see?

When I asked a group of people that question recently, nobody attempted to answer it. It was obvious they were all puzzled.

So, what else do you see?

Try this: if there were no space between the stars, how many stars would you see? If there were no distances among them, the points of light would all coalesce.

So, there aren’t just stars in the night sky, there is also space itself, which we tend not to notice. Without the space, though, there’d be no multitude of stars.

We may think of the stars as the “content” of the visual field and space as their “context.” In general, we tend to focus only on content and to ignore context.

Similarly, what do we typically see when we enter a room? What, really, is a room? What is the essence of a room?

What we typically see are the contents of a room, its furniture and furnishings. They are not the room itself.

What is the room itself? It is not its walls, floor, and ceiling because they are only the boundaries of a room.

A room is space! Space (void, emptiness) is the essence of a room. Rooms are for containing objects and, without space, rooms could contain nothing.

It’s possible [and, I think, plausible—see Substance] to extend this analysis to individuals, which are clusters of qualities. Typically, we notice the qualities of an individual but not its essence, which is no-thing, emptiness.

Let’s use the content/context distinction to explain the form/formless distinction. A “form” is anything it’s possible to single out for our attention. It makes no difference whether or not it exists or is taken to exist. Thoughts (including dream objects) are forms. Perceptual objects such as trees, lakes, and clouds are forms. Emotions are forms. Every distinct thing or object is a form.

What isn’t a form? Formlessness. We don’t have a set word for it, but I do give a partial list of words that have been used to refer to it in another post (see Being). It’s traditionally called “space” or “emptiness” or “void.”

For example, in the oldest Zen document we have, Sengcan, the third Zen ancestor in China, writes that “deep truth” is “perfect like vast space, / where there’s no lack and no excess.”

How is this relevant to understanding genuine happiness?

I’m using the adjective “genuine” to distinguish our topic from ordinary happiness, which is transient. Unlike the ordinary state, genuine happiness does not come and go. It abides. In fact, it’s not temporal at all; it’s eternal.

Genuine happiness comes from Being rather than from Becoming. Even if that’s so, we may pay attention to it or not. In other words, while it is always (timelessly) available, we may not always be available because we who are absorbed in Becoming may forget or ignore it.

Ordinary happiness is of Becoming, whereas genuine happiness is of Being.

Here is a critical point: since all forms are Becoming, no form or arrangement of forms abides. All forms are in incessant flux.

This is why ordinary happiness does not abide: its causes are always fleeting.

Sadly, most of us spend most of our lives trying to get forms just the way that we want them to be in order to sustain our happiness.

This ordinary way of life must fail. Why?

Even if we could get all forms exactly the way that we want them, that particular arrangement would quickly disintegrate.

This is why the way of gaining or achieving is hopeless. This does not entail that it’s foolish to seek or enjoy some forms, some gains or achievements. It only means that gaining or achieving cannot lead to abiding happiness.

When we focus exclusively on content, we condemn ourselves to suffering. Because this way of focusing is unnecessary, suffering is unnecessary. [As usual, I’m assuming the important distinction between pain and suffering.] Avoiding suffering requires greater balance in focusing.

When abiding happiness is the goal, context and content are both important. Abiding happiness requires paying attention to both form and formlessness, to Being as well as to Becoming.

What does this mean?

After all, it’s easy to understand what it is to focus on forms, to think about forms. It’s to single them out by perceiving, conceiving, or imagining them. What, though, is it to think about formlessness or Being?

There’s the rub! It is impossible to think about Being. Being is unitary. Being is simple. There’s nothing to understand or conceptualize!

Please do not jump to the conclusion that, because it is impossible to think about Being, it is impossible to apprehend it. It’s not. It must, however, be apprehended nonconceptually. This is why Sengcan says that to seek it “with thinking mind / is certainly a grave mistake.”

Abiding happiness requires the direct, nonconceptual awareness of Being. It requires that we abstain from ceaselessly focusing on forms, on Becoming. Genuine happiness requires a balance between Being and Becoming.

How can we directly apprehend Being? Sengcan’s advice: “just let those fond opinions go.”

Opinions (beliefs, judgments) are nothing but thought forms. To let them go is to stop thinking. It’s that simple.

Genuine happiness requires learning how to stop thinking.

Notice that you cannot think space itself. What is it? What is void, emptiness, nothingness? Forms are singleoutable, but formlessness is not singleoutable.

Genuine happiness requires that we stop thinking (judging, conceptualizing), that we let go of all forms. Genuine happiness requires (nonconceptual) awareness of formlessness (Being).

Though simple, letting go of our obsession with forms is difficult.

Genuine happiness requires focusing on the space between stars or, in a room, on the space between pieces of furniture. This initially feels quite unnatural!

It is only if we are willing to let go of incessantly focusing on forms that we are able to apprehend formlessness, which is required for genuine happiness.

That letting go is not only necessary for genuine happiness, it is sufficient for a glimpse of genuine happiness.

An initial breakthrough into Being can, and should, be expanded and deepened. As that occurs, genuine happiness increases. Ask any sage.

I mention this so that you don’t make the mistake of just focusing on an initial breakthrough. The goal is not a few minutes or hours of genuine happiness, it’s to abide joyfully for the rest of your life.

Sages (successful philosophers) experience Becoming (forms) from Being (formlessness). Genuine happiness occurs when total absorption in Becoming becomes balanced with the direct apprehension of Being. No balance, no wisdom.

Genuine happiness changes nothing — and  everything!

SUGGESTED RESOURCES: “Imbalance about Happiness” in my 5 Ways to Diminish Failure Almost Instantly. Eckhart Tolle’s “Realizing the Power of Now” (6 CD set). There are related posts in the spiritual well-being section of this website.

Please forward this to any friends and other loved ones who might benefit from it.

Might a reverse mortgage be an optimific option for you?

Let’s assume that you are 62 or older and own your own home.  Either it’s a single-family home that is your primary residence or your primary residence is one unit of a property that has 4 or fewer units on a single tax map.

Equity is the market value of your home less the amount required to pay off the balance of the mortgage.  If your home would sell for $300,000 and the amount required to pay off your mortgage is $170,000, you have about $130,000 equity in your home.

If you own your home free and clear, a reverse or backward mortgage is the wrong option for you.  Your best option to obtain money from the equity in your home might be a home equity loan or a line of credit.  Even if you never use one, because it shows up as a second mortgage, it will help protect you from lawsuits.

Realize that you may need to tap into that equity in some point in the future.    It’s almost always foolish to take money out of the equity in your home for any consumer purchases such as a new car or vacation.  It’s wise to consider obtaining a backward mortgage loan or any other kind of loan using your equity as collateral only if you absolutely require money for a necessary expense such as health care or to acquire an asset.

If you have a (forward) mortgage on your home, a backward mortgage might be the best choice for you.  Let’s consider it.

Essentially, a reverse mortgage is a way of refinancing your home.  It’s a way of obtaining a loan that enables a borrower to convert a portion of the equity in a home into cash.

The amount you receive in cash from a backward mortgage refinancing would be the amount of the balance on your present mortgage subtracted from the new loan amount.  (See the example below.)

The bank would pay off your present mortgage and you would have no more principle or interest payments on your property until you die.  You would still own the property and pay for insurance, taxes, and maintenance just as you do now.  When you die, your heirs would inherit your home and be responsible for paying off the backward mortgage.

Therefore, a backward mortgage does not free up equity in your home to use for other purposes.

The biggest advantages of a backward mortgage to you, the homeowner, are that you would never have any more monthly principle or interest payments on your property, which would obviously increase your monthly cash flow, and you would receive a one-time payment that you could use for almost anything you wanted.

The only good you could not use the cash to purchase would be another primary residence.  If you did that and the lender discovered it, the loan could be called due.

The biggest disadvantage to you is that a reverse mortgage is very expensive.

The amount required to pay off the loan grows each month.  Because of compound interest, the younger you are when you do a backward mortgage, the more it will cost eventually to retire the loan.  Even if you should you sell and move after only a few years, however, high up-front costs make these loans very expensive.

Let’s consider a concrete example.  The following is a current [February 2012] example I obtained from a banker who has been doing these kinds of loans for over twenty years.  Of course, it’s extremely unlikely that the figures used will match yours if you take out a reverse mortgage, but they’ll give you the idea.

The overall plan is this: the lender will pay off your mortgage and give you cash in exchange for your loan commitment. You will live in your home until you die without making monthly mortgage and interest payments.  You’ll continue to pay for taxes, insurance, and maintenance.

When you die, your heirs will inherit the loan along with your home.  They will have to pay off the reverse mortgage loan at the rate you selected when you took it out.  It may be either a fixed or an adjustable rate.

How much money will you receive if you take out a reverse mortgage loan?  Here are some current estimates.

Let’s suppose that you owe $170,000 on a first mortgage and take out a reverse mortgage loan at a fixed rate of interest at 4.99%.  The amount you receive would depend upon the appraisal the bank will have done on your property.

The higher the appraisal, the more you will receive. For example, a $318,000 appraisal would get you about $27,000. A $340,000 appraisal would get you about $40,000. A $390,000 appraisal would get you about $71,000.

If you are interested in obtaining a reverse mortgage loan, the first step is mandatory counseling.  You can do it right over the telephone from your home.  You’ll probably have to pay for it ($125), but that payment may be refunded to you when, and if, you close the loan.

The second step is the appraisal.  Again, you’ll probably have to pay for it, but that payment may be refunded to you when, and if, you close the loan.  Expect it to cost at least $300.

If the appraisal doesn’t come in high enough to suit you, just pay for it and walk away.

If the appraisal comes in high enough to suit you, you’ll probably have to pay 2% of the appraised value to the FHA at closing.  All other closing costs are negotiable with the lender.

To determine the value of the reverse mortgage, just add the balance of the first mortgage to the cash you’d receive.  So, for example, with the $318,000 appraisal, the value of the loan would initially be $197,000 ($170,000 plus $27,000).

Because you won’t be making monthly payments on it, it will grow each month.  That’s the difference between a reverse and a forward mortgage.

Typically, a reverse mortgage will be made at 62 to 65% loan to value.  The collateral for the loan is a portion of the equity of your property.  This protects the lender.

If you take out a reverse mortgage loan, the lender will pay off your current mortgage. You probably already understand that a (forward) mortgage loan is structured so that initially the amount you pay each month goes mostly towards the interest and not the principle.  That amount decreases so that, as time goes by, you are paying a bit more towards retiring the principle each month.

Therefore, if you pay off a mortgage early, you are losing the money you paid on its interest.  This is another disadvantage of taking out a reverse mortgage loan that pays off your (forward) mortgage.

On the other hand, this will probably be partially offset by the fact that you gained income tax breaks for those interest payments.

Here’s another factor to consider.  Recently, housing prices have fallen by about one-third nationwide.  In many areas, they are likely to fall farther.  The real estate bubble that began to deflate in 2007 is still deflating.

Typically, too, bubbles over-correct. Therefore, if you wait to get a home equity loan, a line of credit based on the equity in your home, or a reverse mortgage, you are risking a lower appraisal.

The market value is never known until a property actually sells.  An appraisal provides only an estimate of actual market value.   If you do take out a reverse mortgage loan, you should be able to pay it off at any time without penalty.  Don’t worry:  the lender will make plenty of money whether the loan is retired sooner or later!

Assuming you are qualified for a reverse mortgage, if you genuinely need money now, what should you do?

I don’t know.

My best suggestion is to try to obtain a home equity loan or line of credit before seriously considering a reverse mortgage.

If you must consider a reverse mortgage, you’ll be doing yourself a favor if you do not take one out unless you really need the cash and have no other options.  It might even be better to sell your home and either downsize or rent.

The bottom line is that a reverse mortgage is a very expensive way to obtain a loan.

If you are nevertheless interested, you may obtain more information from the government.

As always, please consider forwarding this to a loved one if that person might benefit from it.

What’s likely to be the best place to live in the U.S. for the coming decades?

I don’t know. I not only probably do not know you, but also it depends how a number of relevant factors unfold in the future and that is impossible for anyone to know.

Let’s consider some of those factors. They lead me to the conclusion that, in general, the Northeast will be the best part of the country.

Even if you disagree, you might be wise to consider the justification that conclusion.

It’s helpful to divide the relevant factors into personal and impersonal. My focus here is on the impersonal, but let’s mention some of the personal ones first.

Personal Factors

Age is an important personal factor in deciding the best place to live. If you are a senior with not long to live, even if you picked a better location than where you are now and could afford to move, moving might not be worth the hassle and stress. However, if you are young or middle-aged, it might be better to select where you want to live now rather than later having events that are not of your making select your location for you.

Health is an important factor. For example, for some people living in an arid rather than a humid location would be a blessing rather than a curse. Remember that health, too, is changeable – in either direction.

Family is an important factor in selecting the best place to live. If you are single and childless, you need not worry about establishing yourself in a community that will be good for your children many years from now. On the other hand, the relationship between you and your loved ones is changeable.

Community is related to family. It’s certainly good to have friends, acquaintances, and organizations with which you are already familiar as support and to support. This is why many people prefer to live not far from where they grew up even if they have the option of living elsewhere.

Impersonal Factors

Although personal factors may be more important to you than impersonal factors in deciding the best place to live, my sense is that, because many people seem much more uncertain about the impersonal factors, this post may be most helpful to you if I emphasize them.

Climate and Geography

You undoubtedly already know whether you’d prefer to live in Hawaii or the middle of Alaska.

Why aren’t climate and geography merely personal factors?

They are relevant to choosing your best place to live, but there’s more involved than you may initially realize.

Economy

Geographical location and climate are related to the economy, which is critical to choosing your best place to live.

If your job has you living in a place you’d rather not live, you have weighed your job as being more important than the factors of climate and geography in your decision concerning the best place to live. That may be a mistake.

How are you going to shelter, feed, and protect yourself (and your loved ones) in the coming decades? This the key question for you about the economy.

If all of us could have as much of whatever goods we happen to desire, there’d be no need to distribute goods, which is what an economy does.

While hoping for the best, isn’t it wise to prepare for the worst?

Unfortunately, the global economy is entering a sustained period of contraction.

There are a number of well-understood reasons for making this assumption. For example, stocks of nonrenewable supplies of oil and natural gas are rapidly declining (see Peak Oil). This is important because many of the economic blessings, such as factory farmed food, we enjoy today are directly dependent on those supplies. For example, the effects of global warming will continue to get worse. For example, just as all fiat currencies do sooner or later, the dollar standard will collapse (see Currency Collapse). For example, the wonders of antibiotic medicine will diminish as microbes become drug-resistant faster than new drugs can be produced. And so on.

If so, understanding the question changes. Instead of just asking, “What is the best place to live?” while assuming all the relevant impersonal factors will remain the same, it becomes, “What will be the best place to live during the economic collapse?”

Again, my answer: The Northeast.

This does not mean that I think that, during the economic collapse, the northeast will be the best place to live for everyone. After all, personal factors may still outweigh impersonal factors. There will remain some parts of the country that will be good for living as a homesteader or for trapping, hunting, and fishing.

This also does not mean that I think that the northeast is now the best place to live or that it will always be the best place to live.

It only means that I think that, for most people, the northeast will be the best place to live during the long economic collapse that we are entering.

I think this because the impersonal factors favor that conclusion. The Northeast will be the best place to live because all the other areas of the country will be worse. This is the same conclusion that James Howard Kunstler argues for in his The Long Emergency.

In recent decades many people have moved from the Northeast to warmer, sunnier parts of the country. Why might this have been a mistake?

The Dry Sunbelt, the Southwest, will be especially hard hit by the demise of cheap oil. Agriculture based on cheap oil and gas will have to be replaced by more local agriculture in a desert! Transportation, water, and energy for air conditioning will soar in price. Increasingly serious political disruption caused by massive Mexican immigration into the Dry Sunbelt should be anticipated. I expect loss of resources to create conditions ripe for violence, especially if there are natural disasters such as drought or a huge earthquake in California.

The Wet Sunbelt, the Southeast, is dependent upon rural electrification and universal air-conditioning. Its economy has been driven by real estate “development” that extended suburbia. Coastal areas, including cities like New Orleans and Miami, will disappear under seawater as sea level continues to rise. Rampant religiosity, hyperindividualism, and the cracker culture will exacerbate political turmoil and paranoia. Newly poor, undereducated, angry whites will be a new class of economic losers who will be prone to violence. Turn up the already intense heat and humidity and you have an area of the country that will be good to avoid.

The economy of the semiarid Great Plains depends upon cheap fossil fuels and water from underground reservoirs. As those supplies diminish, the Great Plans will become increasingly unproductive and, therefore, more depopulated and desolate. It’s been happening for years already. As transportation costs soar and agriculture declines, what else could be expected?

What about the beautiful Rocky Mountain area? It, too, is arid. How will food be produced there? Except for a few hardy souls who can rely on, say, trapping and homesteading, without cheap fossil fuels expect people to leave. As the interstate highway system begins to crumble and gas becomes ever more expensive, leaving today might be better than leaving tomorrow.

The Pacific Northwest, Kunstler suggests, may find itself the target of displaced hoards of Asians. As bad as the economy will get in the United States, it will be worse in Asia. Might turmoil among Asia’s billions cause millions of people to escape towards the west coast of North America? Could Seattle and Portland become the world’s next Beiruts? It’s possible.

With much less appealing options elsewhere, the Northeast will become the place to be. It’s the states in the New England, mid-Atlantic, and Great Lakes regions. Even there, though, avoid low-lying coastal cities and areas.

It is favored by the virtues valued by its Puritan past such as industriousness, thrift, perseverance, and community allegiance. It’s much more secular than the Wet Sunbelt. The climate is temperate, and there’s plenty of water. Much of it is very beautiful.

Furthermore, within its borders today there are people who, I think, are role models for how to live and produce food during the long economic winter just ahead. (My intention is to discuss this more in future posts.) The place to live will be small towns in the Northeast that are surrounded by small, productive farms.

It won’t be easy anywhere; the notion of the best place to live is relative. Kunstler: “Climate change is going to combine with the termination of oil-and-gas based farming to very negatively [sic] affect the world’s food supply. A lot of people will go hungry in the decades ahead and . . . [m]illions of human beings are going to die” [The Long Emergency].

Let go of the idea of a growth economy and replace it with that of a nongrowth economy.

If you are serious about feeding your loved ones in future years, consider the idea of soon putting whatever wealth you have acquired into purchasing land or a small farm that has plenty of fresh water (and, perhaps, some wetland) in the Northeast just outside a small town and making it productive.

Why a small farm? Wind and water power are insufficient to make fertilizer or pesticides. Think in terms of farming the old-fashioned way, without reliance on fossil fuels.

So, if you agree with Kunstler and me and aren’t already living in the best place to live for you, consider moving soon.

The prolonged recession that began in 2007 is the beginning of an economic collapse that is actually long overdue. Because political leaders have managed to delay it, it will actually be worse than it might have been. It may take even more years, more decades, to work out of than otherwise.

If you decide that the Northeast is, indeed, the best place to live for you, what will you actually do there? How are you going to support yourself (and your loved ones)?

I have some concrete suggestions in answer to that question that I intend to offer you in future posts. If you are not yet signed up to be notified of them, I encourage you to do so if those suggestions might interest you.

Reading Suggestion: James Howard Kunstler’s The Long Emergency. I know of no better book related to your choice of the best place to live.

Dedication: The publication date of this post is 12 Feb 12, which happens to be the birthday of my best friend. I dedicate this post to Anna.

As always, please forward this to any loved ones who might benefit from reading it.

How will you and your loved ones live after the party?

It’s astounding that many people still don’t seem to realize that the party will soon end.

In James Howard Kunstler’s The Long Emergency he not only gives a clear-headed analysis of our present situation but also offers a general plan on how to live well after the inevitable deterioration.

“[W]e are entering a new period of world history, the uncharted territory of a post-oil world.  We will be in it long before the middle of the twenty-first century . . . [and] have to contend with the problems of the Long Emergency:  the end of industrial growth, falling standards of living, economic desperation, declining food production, and domestic political strife” [all direct quotations in this post are from Kunstler’s book].

In short, we shall have to learn a new way to live after the party.

The purpose of this post is not to infect you with pessimism; instead, it’s to fuel your realistic optimism about life after the party.

Let’s have a brief look at (I) where we are now and (II) what tomorrow will be like.

Understanding the immediate past enables better living in the immediate future.  Yes, there will be a rough ride for a while, but, understanding what is happening today entitles you to prepare to thrive tomorrow.

Why sleepwalk through life?  It’s always better to choose philosophy over foolishness.  Instead of believing that the party will continue forever, it’s better to prepare for life after the party.

(I) Here are eight features of life today (in no particular order) that are important to acknowledge if we are to be ready to live well economically after the party.  Much of Kunstler’s book is devoted to providing evidence for this analysis.

First, the era of inexpensive fossil fuel utilization is rapidly coming to an end [see Peak Oil].  “[R]eliable supplies of cheap oil and natural gas underlie everything we identify as a benefit of modern life.”  Resource wars have already broken out.  This is widely understood.

Second, “industrial civilization will not be rescued by technological innovation.”  This is not widely understood.  Nuclear energy, renewable sources of energy (such as wind and solar), and potential sources of energy (such as hydrogen fusion) will be insufficient to replace the energy we are now using from fossil fuels.  If so, the industrial age will soon end.

Third, global warming is real.  Even if we did what is impossible to do, namely, immediately and permanently stop all discharge of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, global warming will still increase for the next several decades.

Fourth, the benefits of antibiotic medicine will not last as microbes become drug-resistant faster than new drugs can be created.  Disease will diminish life spans as well as the physical quality of human life.

Fifth, today’s fragile political arrangements are based on a globalized economy that is itself fragile.  As non-renewable fossil fuel usage inevitably decreases, the globalized economy will break down and so will current political arrangements.

Sixth, since the beginning of the dollar standard in 1971, “all monies and fungible financial instruments pegged to money floated on a collective hallucination of relative value, rather than being pegged to a fixed medium of value, such as gold.”  When that collective hallucination dissolves, all the major currencies in the world will be in crisis.  This will be the beginning of the end for the globalized economy.

Seventh, we are squandering other precious natural resources.  For example, we are poisoning the air and polluting rivers, lakes, and oceans.  We are emptying underground aquifers much, much more quickly than they can be replenished.  Some investors are already talking about water as “blue gold.”

Eighth, Americans have made a colossal investment mistake by squandering our national wealth to create suburban sprawl that has no future when the present twilight of the fossil fuel age ends.  “[M]uch of suburbia is unreformable.”  The end of suburbia will be part of the generalized contraction that will be nothing short of the downsizing of America, which will characterize life after the party.

It’s been a helluva party, hasn’t it?

The bigger and better the party, the worse life after the party.

Still, there will be life after the party. The transition will be difficult; everyone will suffer. The unprepared will suffer greatly.  However, many of the prepared will survive and some will even thrive.

We are unable to predict what will happen after the tipping point.  Future intellectuals will be able to explain it, but only in hindsight.  Civilization as we know it now, near the end of the party, will be radically different after the party.

(II) Some of the enormous changes caused by the end of the industrial age are already beginning to become apparent.  More are coming.

This, though, should not be surprising.  We live in Becoming, which is ever in flux.  As we begin to lose familiar economic and political institutions, others will replace them.  While life after the party won’t be as fun as life during the party, there’s no reason why life after the party cannot be better than life before the party.

For example, consider the end of suburbia.  Like living in cities, living in suburbs will be dramatically different after the party.   Let’s hope that it won’t just be the end of commuting.  If we prepare for the transition and make it well, there’s reason to hope that it will also be the end of “horrendous levels of alienation, loneliness, anomie, anxiety, and depression.”

The party was based on a simple fact, namely, that fossil fuels are a unique inheritance from our geologic past that enable us temporarily to extend the carrying capacity of our habitat, the planet Earth.  As they disappear, human over-population will decline.  There will soon be many fewer people after the party than there are now.

Many fewer people means many fewer consumers, which means the end of the consumer economy.

That may become, though, as much of a win as a loss.

I invite you to look back over your own life and ask, “When has my most important growth occurred?” Growth occurs after losses, not after gains.

As mastery grows, gains become more and more routine.

It is losses, especially unexpected losses, that spur growth in those open to growing.

Not all losses spawn growth.  Often, losses must be repeated until we understand the lesson life is teaching us.  Once we become sick and tired of losing, we become open to growing by learning from losses.

My hope is that life after the party will be better than before the party.

Spiritual teachers like Eckhart Tolle are already talking about how much better life could be after the party ends.

People will suffer physically as the globalization of the industrial age ends and current economic and political arrangements transition into unfamiliar forms.  That will be an important loss. Therefore, it could also be an important opportunity.

What is measurable is of no ultimate importance.  Form is what is measurable.  It doesn’t matter much how many lovers or houses or children or dollars you temporarily have during your life.  It doesn’t matter much how popular or famous you are.  It doesn’t even matter much how healthy you are.

What matters is only whether or not you enjoy sufficient identification with Being, which is formless.  If you live life wholly immersed in Becoming, you will never live well.

Living well is living a life balanced between Becoming and Being, between form and formlessness.  A life without realization of Being is a life out of balance.  Just like a business that is out of balance, a life that is out of balance cannot be profitable.

For more on this topic, please visit the posts in the spiritual well-being category of this site. [They are listed on the Navbar on the left.]

My intention is to provide you in future posts with a concrete plan for physically surviving the end of the party, for economically getting through the end of the industrial age.  It’s the plan that I myself am using to counter the ill effects of the eight factors mentioned above.  (Essentially, it’s the same general plan that Kunstler suggests, but I have discovered a practical way to make it specific.)

If it interests you, just ensure that you are signed up to be notified of future posts.

I think you’ll find it very useful because, even if you don’t adapt the specific plan I’m using for yourself and loved ones, you should be able to tweak it to fit your circumstances better.

May you live well both now and after the party!

Suggested reading:  Kunstler’s The Long Emergency.

As always, please consider forwarding this to friends who might benefit from it.

Is self-hypnosis real?  If so, is it effective?

There’s both good and bad news here. Permit me to explain.

Living well is not easy. In fact, it’s quite difficult. As long as we fail to accept that, we obstruct ourselves unnecessarily. It’s always counter-productive not to accept reality. It’s futile. It’s frustrating. Why waste energy resenting what-is?

There’s no downside to admitting that being wise is not easy. It’s the opposite: admitting that living well is not easy is liberating! No wonder life has been such a struggle. No wonder living a balanced life seems so elusive.

Unconditionally admit that the present reality is just what-is. That’s the secret. Accept everything at this moment exactly the way it is without any mental reservations or conditions.

Once we are mature enough to do that, we are free to pursue wisdom and well-being. The good news is that self-hypnosis can be helpful in that pursuit.

If you doubt that, it may be because you have been obstructed from understanding it because you have accepted one of the dozens of myths about hypnosis. If that is your situation, I encourage you to investigate this topic further. If you don’t, you are limiting your options.

Here’s the most important idea: all hypnosis is self-hypnosis.

Despite what you may have picked up from elsewhere, it is impossible for one person to hypnotize another. Suppose that you think you observe that I hypnotize someone. Why couldn’t that happen?

It’s because all I could do is to teach that person to hypnotize himself. I don’t have any control over your thoughts or anyone else’s thoughts! You don’t either, do you? Well, neither does anyone else.

There are two different kinds of techniques that involve our most important power, which is our power of focus. Why not learn and practice both kinds?

First, there are radical techniques such as meditation and absolute prayer that involve letting go of all thoughts. Even though they are radical, they are quite simple. In fact, they are so simple that they cannot be learned by the thinking (conceptualizing) mind! Their aim is uncover alert, awake, thoughtless, unconditioned awareness. (For more on this, see the posts in the spiritual well-being section of this website.)

Second, there are less radical techniques such as hypnosis (self-hypnosis), biofeedback, neuro-linguistic programming, visualization, and psychoneuroimmunology that involve controlling thoughts. They all require learning and practice in letting go of certain thoughts and replacing them with others. They are less radical techniques because they do not involve letting go of all thoughts.

Just as nobody else can meditate or pray for you, nobody else can hypnotize you.

Since hypnosis is a skill that involves learning and practicing, naturally some people are better at it than others. Seven out of ten of us have an average degree of hypnotizability. About 15% are highly hypnotizable and about 15% have a low degree of hypnotizability.

With two exceptions, nearly anyone can learn to use it effectively. A moron with very low intelligence may never be able to learn to use it effectively. The same is true for someone who is paralyzed by fear – especially the fear of losing control.

That’s excellent news for anyone who regularly reads this blog. Statistics show that this blog appeals most to those who have the intelligence to do work in graduate or professional school. That only leaves fear, and, if you are fearful, you can learn to overcome your fear. So there is no roadblock to your learning it.

Motivation to learn and practice makes all the difference. The purpose of this post is to help you to dissolve any obstacles you may have to using self-hypnosis.

If you are highly motivated to use self-hypnosis to enhance your life in some way, any clinical hypnotist can confirm that a low or average degree of hypnotizability can be improved.

Not trusting yourself decreases your ability to use self-hypnosis.

Similarly, if you are attached to the idea that it is ineffective, that skepticism will decrease your ability to use it.

If you are addicted to alcohol or other drugs that impair your ability to concentrate, to focus attention, you are also a poor candidate for using self-hypnosis effectively.

If you are addicted to analytic thought, to being wide awake, you are also a poor candidate for using self-hypnosis effectively. (I’ve noticed many professors and scientists attached to their views.) This relates closely to not trusting yourself. It’s an important point for those so addicted to understand and overcome.

A trance is a state of unusual fascination and an induction is anything that leads to it.

It’s normal to go in and out of trance all day long. Suppose you are eating while watching the television news. You get absorbed in some news story and forget to taste the food you are chewing and swallowing. That’s a trance!

It’s normal to go into a trance when watching a good movie or reading a good novel.

There’s nothing unusual about going into a trance when watching a campfire burn down.

Haven’t you ever found yourself staring out a window daydreaming, looking without seeing because you were absorbed in your thoughts? That’s a trance.

These are all examples of self-hypnosis, of letting yourself go, of replacing some thoughts by other thoughts.

It’s easy to find standard hypnotic susceptibility tests to confirm that you are able to use self-hypnosis.

Often the term “self-hypnosis” is reserved for occasions when someone deliberately induces a trance in an effort to achieve a specific benefit such as improved relaxation, lowered blood pressure, reduced muscular tension, or improved immune responses.

If you often use an alarm clock in the morning to awaken, haven’t you had the experience of awakening just before it sounds? That’s actually a common example of self-hypnosis.

If you are still skeptical about self-hypnosis, try this every night for a week. When you get into bed for the night, get into a comfortable position. When you feel at ease, focus your thoughts on the face of your alarm clock. It can be digital or analog. Imagine that it reads the time in the morning when it goes off.

Now imagine setting your biological or brain clock so that you’ll awake in the morning just in time to turn off your physical alarm clock. Imagine how delighted you’ll be when you are successful!

Next, forget thinking about it. Relax as you normally would, trusting that your biological clock will work, and let yourself go to sleep.

The next morning, write down whether or not it worked by recording the time you woke up. Do this for one week.

If you haven’t yet developed your biological clock, you may find yourself skeptical that this will work. It’s important to notice when you have such a skeptical thought: whenever you do, immediately replace it with the thought that there’s every reason to trust your brain to do it as well as it automatically controls, for example, your heart and respiration rates.

If you do, you will discover for yourself that your biological clock works wonderfully well!

That’s because your brain works wonderfully well.

That’s a simple example of using self-hypnosis. True: eliminating the need for a physical alarm clock is not a major improvement, but doing it proves that you are capable of using self-hypnosis to improve your life.

Excellent! Now, if you want, you can learn more about it and practice using it to make other improvements.

Why not use self-hypnosis?

It can be an effective way of making life easier.

[Recommended resource: S. Gurgevich, Ph.D., SELF-HYPNOSIS Home Study Course.]

As always, consider passing this along to others who might benefit from it and leaving a comment, suggestion, or question in the box below.

Since tigers exist, being vigilant can save your life. Being lost in thought can get you (and your loved ones) killed.

I’m using “tigers” to refer not only to deadly nonhuman animals from insects and snakes to large predatory mammals like big cats and bears but especially to human predators.

There have always been tigers. There will be even more in the future.

This is because of the increasing urgency of such global trends as over-population, global warming, and oil depletion. These cause social dislocation as well as economic distress like currency degradation, even higher unemployment, and increased underemployment. These contribute to criminality as well as civil unrest.

In 1970-71, I spent a year in the army in Korea. I’d never spent an extended period outside the United States. At least in those days, Korea was a much more peaceful society than my homeland. I quickly realized that walking around Seoul at night was much different from walking around, say, New York City. I eventually felt the stress lifting off my shoulders. It didn’t return until I returned home.

There were far fewer tigers there; being vigilant wasn’t as important. However, because of the adverse trends mentioned above, no country is immune.

Fernando Aguirre in Surviving the Economic Collapse: “During good times people can afford to be spoiled, lazy, and let others handle issues that they should solve themselves. Crime rates are low . .. But one day that changes . . .” He experienced it after the 2001 economic collapse in Argentina.

Since 2007 we have been experiencing a slow-motion economic collapse in the United States. If so, being vigilant is more important than it has been in recent years, and, at least for a while, it will become more and more important.

By way of contrast, saints let themselves get eaten by tigers.

Are you a saint? Can your loved ones easily afford to lose you to tigers? Are you willing to sacrifice yourself?

That’s one extreme option. Furthermore, it’s a noble option! I certainly am not arguing that you ought to spend the rest of your life being vigilant merely in order to continue living. That would be a categorical imperative, and I don’t know what you should do.

Being vigilant is important if remaining alive is a priority for you. That’s only a hypothetical imperative: if you want to remain alive, even if only to serve others, then being vigilant is important.

The imminent economic crisis is already transforming our lives. The relatively benign times that we have enjoyed for the last couple of decades are ending.

That should not be surprising. Flux is incessant. This world is one of Becoming. Whether you like or don’t like current conditions, just wait and they will soon change!

If you anticipate and prepare for change, if you are committed to being vigilant as well as resourceful and positive, you may not only survive socio-economic breakdown but emerge stronger and more prosperous.

Are you ready to be tested physically as well as emotionally?

Are you prepared to deal with unfair and intense suffering all around you?

Could you thrive for a while even without easy access to medications, physicians, and dentists?

Are you prepared to stand up to criminals without the aid of police?

Are you a weak or fat or unfit wimp who would be unable to function without eyeglasses?

Imagine how life used to be for your ancestors. They always lived in small bands, which are much better for mutual protection and aid than living alone or with a single partner. Tigers took the very old, the very young, and the very foolish. As you are now, would they likely have taken you?

If so, why not improve your condition?

Being vigilant isn’t just about always being aware of your surroundings. Being vigilant is also about always being prepared to deal with emergencies. (Also see Bug-out Bag.)

A helpful exercise in being vigilant is to imagine yourself as a criminal. If you were looking at your life from the outside with the eyes of a tiger, would you be a ripe target?

There’s no such thing as perfect security. If you want to survive an emergency, your goal is only to be less vulnerable than those around you. Tigers aren’t stupid: they always prefer the easiest prey. They understand that, except in extreme circumstances, attacking strong prey is too dangerous.

For example, when you are walking alone, is your tread that of a confident, strong person with a clear destination? Would someone looking at you think you are distracted and lost in thought or that you are alert and being vigilant? Do you look healthy and fit? What does your clothing (especially your shoes) say about you? Do you have an air of being tough-minded and ready to fight to the death to defend yourself?

If you look like a fawn, expect tigers to attack.

Do you always practice being vigilant in public? If not, expect to be attacked. For example, if you enjoy an occasional night out on the town and permit yourself to get a little drunk, for that night you will be an easy target even if most of the rest of the time you practice being vigilant.

Especially if you are not big and strong, do you always have a weapon ready-to-hand when you are alone in public? It may be something as simple as bear or pepper spray, which will not permanently injure an attacker, but being vigilant includes always being prepared. If you are mentally prepared to use them, know how to use them, practice using them, and they are legal, what about carrying an easily-accessible knife and hand gun?

Are you ready to react quickly and violently if attacked?

Do you always pay attention to whether or not there are potential weapons in your environment? These include bottles, scissors, pens or pencils, chairs, and pieces of wood or pipe.

There was a story on the television news a week or so ago about a women who was alone in her bedroom. She knocked out a male intruder with a wooden bed post! She then contacted the police who arrested him.

Except in a crowd, do you practice keeping people at a physical distance or always acknowledging them when they invade your private space? In a crowd, do you maintain balance with your hands relaxed but up?

Have you had training in how to react if you are physically assaulted?

Do you regularly do strength training and fitness training to increase your physical strength and fitness? (Regular exercise also greatly enhances mental or psychological well-being.)

Being vigilant is about paying attention.

The most effective way to develop your ability to pay attention is use a spiritual practice (such as zazen meditation or Presence practice a la Eckhart Tolle) several times daily. If you are usually distracted from life by incessant thoughts, you are condemning yourself to missing your life as well as to leaving yourself vulnerable to tigers.

(Please see the spiritual well-being section of this site for more on spiritual practices.)

You’ll find it helpful to repeat frequently to yourself a saying from the bush: “Always alert, never get hurt.”

A bug-out bag is also called a “72 hour kit,” “get out bag,” “GO bag,” or “emergency response kit.” It’s a personal preparedness bag that is filled with what you need to survive for 3 days.

Emergencies happen. If you never experience one, excellent! However, that’s just luck.

If you experience one without being prepared, shame on you! Why not at least be somewhat prepared? Since you can use whatever clothes and equipment you gather for your kit in other circumstances, there’s little downside to having a bug-out bag ready to go. There’s no need to rely solely on luck.

Assume you’ll have to leave the shelter of your home, office, or car. Assume that you’ll have no access to electric power for at least several days.

In an era of global warming, extreme weather conditions such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and severe storms occur more frequently. Other events such as earthquakes, civil unrest, or evacuations ordered due to damaged nuclear reactors or terrorist attacks are also possible.

Everyone who lives with you should have at least a bug-out bag at home. A good place to keep it is out of sight nearest your most likely exit door. If you work away from home, you may also want to keep another in your workplace. If you have one and spend much time in it, consider keeping a third in your car (and always keep your car well-serviced with a gas tank that is at least half full.)

If you have already had the thought that having a ready-to-go bug-out bag is a good idea, then do it. It doesn’t have to be perfect: a half completed bug-out bag is much better than none.

Do not assume that you’ll have time to put a bug-out bag together after you learn about an emergency. There may be no time. That’s as foolish as not wearing a car seat-belt because you think you’ll be able to buckle up after you see that an accident is imminent.

If you don’t already have a good one, please take a few minutes immediately after reading this post to make an initial list of what you’d like in your perfect bug-out bag. Then start one with whatever items you already have on hand. You can improve it over the next few weeks and months until it contains everything you’d like.

Preparedness contributes to peace of mind.

It’s possible, but not necessary, to spend a small fortune on survival gear. What’s important is doing what you think is reasonable to keep you (and your family and friends) safe during a temporary emergency.

You’ll find that having a bug-out bag with you when you are away from home will sometimes be very helpful even if there’s no real emergency. Maybe you spend the night with a friend or in a motel and need a toothbrush. Maybe you have low blood sugar and need a quick, decent meal. Maybe you just find yourself at a picnic with no way to start a fire!

There’s no perfect bug-out bag.

If there were, it would be inexpensive, small, and lightweight while containing shelter for all 4 seasons as well as everything you might need for three days in terms of water, food, fire, light, medications and emergency medical supplies, tools, security, clothes, and comfort.

When they are all considered together, those criteria are incompatible. Trade-offs are required.

I suggest that you simply focus initially on putting together what you consider a good bug-out bag and over time make it an even better one until you are satisfied with it.

Don’t make it so heavy that you cannot carry it. Put everything in one bag with shoulder straps so that you can carry it on your back. Mine’s in a waterproof river duffle. (L.L.Bean sells a fancier one they call a “waterproof hybrid duffle” that’ll give you the idea.)

Decide in advance about how much you are willing to spend and how many bags you want.

Decide in advance what kind of emergency you are most likely to have to confront.

Presumably you already know your geographical location, which will affect what kind of shelter and clothing to be included. If, like me, you live in the north, once you put your kit together, you may want to check it every spring and fall to ensure that what it contains is suitable for the forthcoming season.

Consider the following ten categories. To help you imagine what you’ll need, I’ve included some suggestions in each.

Water

2 gallons of distilled water may be sufficient, but they weigh 16 pounds and take up a lot of space in a bug-out bag. Still, do keep some water in your kit in a proper storage container (such as an MSR Dromedary bag available from places like REI).

Also, be sure to have a back-up or alternative such as iodine or chlorine tablets and a water purifier such as the First Need XL or the Sawyer Complete. Your selection should be determined by the kind of contaminants (such as bacteria, viruses, salts, pesticides, fuel, oil, herbicides, or other urban contaminants) that water near you may have.

Food

MRE’s are my recommendation. (‘MRE’ abbreviates ‘Meal Ready to Eat.’) Yes, they are expensive, but they are not that expensive for just a few days.  There’s nothing wrong with ordinary canned goods such as salmon, tuna, chicken, (preferably organic) vegetables, beans and lentils. Why not some favorite peanut butter?

Partly because freeze-dried foods use real meat rather than textured vegetable protein like dehydrated foods, I generally prefer either canned goods or freeze-dried foods to dehydrated foods.

That does not mean that you shouldn’t have some dehydrated food.  For some with a long shelf life, click here. (I haven’t tried it, but apparently Costco sells an affordable meal Bucket of dehydrated foods.)  Engineered foods like protein bars can also work.  Ensure that you’ll be getting plenty of protein and calories.

Consider also having a way to heat foods such as a Jetboil personal cooking system or Primus Omnifuel stove (especially if you might be in cold weather); if you do, be sure to include sufficient fuel as well. (I have a two-burner Coleman white gas stove that is great for camping, but it’s way too big and heavy for a bug-out bag.)

Shelter

A tent, tube tent, or tarp with cord to protect you from cold, heat, rain, snow, wind, and sun. An inexpensive option is the SOL Emergency Bivvy. Sleeping bag, sleeping bag liner, blanket, or SOL survival blanket. Large, heavy plastic garbage bags. Duct tape.

Fire

In addition to a flint/magnesium stick and striker, always have back-ups such as inexpensive lighters and waterproof matches. Small fire starter sticks can be very helpful.

Light

Flashlight. Batteries. Consider a new, bright LED light or headlamp by Surefire that runs on small batteries. Lithium batteries can have a 15-year shelf life, so they are excellent for a bug-out bag. It’s a good idea to keep a small light stick or keychain light in an outside compartment of your bug-out bag or near its top. Shakable flashlights also can work well. Metal mirror (for signaling).

Medical Supplies

Prescription medications sufficient for a week or two. Supplements. Trauma supplies. Wilderness medical kit. Snake bite kit. Sting relief. Epi-kit. Asthma inhaler. Vaseline. Maxi-pads. Alcohol gel. Insect repellent (such as 100% DEET). Surgical scalpel. Butterfly bandages. Sunscreen. Superglue. Wilderness medicine book. Antibiotics. Iodine. Cauterization powder. Aspirin or ibuprofen. TENS machine.

Tools

Good quality (such as Leatherman or Gerber) multi-tool knife. Small shovel. Hatchet. Gorilla tape. Heavy leather gloves. Folding camp saw or SaberCut saw. Manual can opener. Compact binoculars or monocular. Goggles.  GPS unit with batteries.  550 parachute cord. Whistle.

Security

Good quality fixed blade knife with full tang. Survival knife. High quality folding knife (such as CRKT). Bear or pepper spray. Body armor. Protective [gas] mask. Smoke protection. If legal and appropriate: Firearm with ammo and cleaning kit.

Clothes

High quality hiking boots. Socks–including some wool ones. Underwear. Extra shirt. Extra trousers. Sweater (I like L.L.Bean’s commando sweaters). Rain suit or the GI Plus Brand poncho, which can also serve as a shelter. Parka. Wool or Polartec cap. Sun hat. Sun suit.  (Remember that, while synthetic fabrics can be great for protection from heat, cold, sun, rain, and bugs, sparks from a campfire can ruin them.)

Comfort

Toothbrush and small tooth paste. Dental floss. Hand sanitizer and wipes. Baby wipes. Extra glasses (including sun glasses). Toilet paper. Anything like caffeine or nicotine that you are addicted to. Chap stick. Soap. Towel. Small book. Portable radio with battery. Survival manual. Coins for emergency cash. Pencil & small pad of paper. Local map. Handkerchiefs. Small sewing kit. Deordorant. Ear plugs. Skin cream (like Nivea). Perhaps survival playing cards (click here for more information).

If you trouble yourself to put a good bug-out bag together, don’t be surprised if you feel and sleep a bit better!

Robert Kiyosaki:  ”If you prepare for the worst of times, you will only know the best of times.”

Suggestions for additional reading: David Morris’s Urban Survival Guide and Fernand Aguirre’s Surviving the Economic Collapse.

As always, please consider forwarding this to others you care about and leaving a comment.

Investing for cash flows is better than investing for capital gains.

This may be especially important for the average investor during these difficult financial times. All authorities seem to agree with Robert Kiyosaki’s statement that “we are entering a long and hard financial winter” (Rich Dad’s Conspiracy of the Rich [2009]).

Capital gains investing is gambling. It is possible to win at gambling, but it’s foolish for the average investor to gamble at all in difficult financial times.

Since there are only two kinds of investing and since capital gains investing is unnecessarily risky, investing for cash flow is better because it’s much less risky.

Taxes are another important reason why investing for cash flows is better than investing for capital gains.

Taxes are paid on earned income, portfolio income, and passive income.

It’s good to have any kind of income! However, the problem with earned income, which includes income from a job or a retirement plan, is that it is taxed at the highest rates. If you flip real estate properties or buy and sell stocks and hold those assets for less than a year, the money you make will be taxed as earned income.

Portfolio income most often comes from capital gains. If, for example, you buy stocks or real estate low and sell higher after holding it for over a year, that is capital gains income that is taxed at 28 percent. The danger, of course, is that the stock or real estate that you purchase will not increase in value at all, which is why investing for capital gains is gambling.

Passive income is taxed at the lowest rates. Suppose, for example, that you purchase an apartment building that, after expenses, puts money into your pocket every month. Your income from it won’t only be taxed at the lowest rates, but there are ways to reduce even that tax exposure such as amortization, appreciation, and depreciation.

Assuming that you do your due diligence in advance, you will have an excellent idea before you purchase apartment buildings what their income will be.

Still, since apartment buildings are not liquid and require intensive management, it’s important to understand exactly what you are doing before purchasing them. After all, a single real estate investment can cost you tens of thousands of dollars.

The point is that, from a tax perspective, passive income is the best kind of income to have. If that’s the kind of income you want, then investing for cash flow is your kind of investing.

Another advantage is that you may be able to invest for cash flows using other people’s money! For example, it may prove easier for you to obtain a mortgage on a $1,000,000 dollar apartment building than on a $100,000 single family home. Why? Folks who lend money understand that there’s a huge difference between owning a shelter for you and your family (see Your House and Increase Your Assets) and a cash-flowing asset.

A mortgage on your home is a liability that takes money out of your pocket. Financially, it is bad debt; whether you rent or buy, shelter is an expense. On the other hand, a mortgage on an apartment building may be an asset if it puts money into your pocket. It may be good debt that is not only tax-free but also your tenants may pay it off for you!

I don’t think that any of this is controversial. Why, then, don’t all investors invest for cash flows?

I don’t know. My guess is that it’s because investing successfully for cash flows is more difficult than investing successfully for capital gains.

To continue with the same example, in general, is it easier to sell a single-family home or an apartment building?

A single-family home. Why? There are many, many more people looking to purchase them than there are real estate investors looking to purchase apartment buildings. That higher demand makes it easier to sell.

Real estate is not a liquid asset, and apartments are more illiquid than single-family houses.

Also, more people understand how to buy single-family houses than apartment buildings.

Furthermore, apartment buildings are usually more expensive than single-family houses.

Therefore, it seems that buying apartment buildings is more dangerous than buying single-family houses.

Well, not exactly: they are only more dangerous to buy for the average investor.

What if you learn how to purchase them? What if you specialize and develop an unusually high degree of financial intelligence about investing in apartment buildings, which is an excellent example of investing for cash flows?

If you don’t get distracted, stick to that one kind of investing for cash flows, and avoid all other kinds of investing (including other kinds of real estate investing such as investing in office buildings or shopping centers), you’ll soon be able to develop a plan that will work well for you.

Why re-invent the wheel? Learn how to invest in apartment buildings for cash flows from those who have already done it. It’s foolish not to learn from the mistakes and successes of others.

For example, Kiyosaki sketches his plan in Rich Dad’s Conspiracy of the Rich. He ignores high-end apartment buildings because there is weak demand to live in them as well as low-end apartment buildings because they are too management-intensive.

Where are safe, clean apartments for working-class people located that have a high demand to live in them? Near great sources of working-class jobs!

Everyone understands that location is the most important criterion when selecting real estate. It’s critical when selecting apartment buildings for cash flows.

For reasons that James Howard Kunstler gives in The Long Emergency, I think that the best location to be a real estate investor in the U.S. in the coming years will be in the Northeast.

The reasons for that include global warming as well as oil depletion. Even if you buy real estate with good cash flows now along, say, the Florida coast or in the cities of Nevada, you may not have to live very long to regret your foolishness!

It’s also critical to take into account where in the market cycle real estate is before making any offers. There are very good books and courses that teach how to do that.

Investing well for cash flows is complicated. In fact, it’s too complicated for most people.

Whether that’s good or bad news for you depends on you. If you are too distracted, ignorant, or unwilling to learn how to do it well, my best suggestion is not even to try.

If you are focused, willing to learn how to overcome your ignorance, and committed to doing it well, my question is, “Why not?” If you have read this far in this post, you probably have what it takes.

Remember, since it’s easier to invest for capital gains than for cash flows, fewer people invest for cash flows. Since fewer people are trying, there’s less competition. Because there’s less competition, the odds of your being successful are automatically increased.

If you are the right kind of person, it’s an excellent way, perhaps even the best way, to become financially successful and independent.

Silver may be the best investment right now (early 2012) for the average investor.

If it’s not, I don’t know what is.

Why?  What’s so good about it?  Why consider buying it now?

The fundamental fact about this world is that nothing abides. Flux is relentless. Always be aware of this when investing.

The way to do that is always to think in terms of wealth waves (cycles, booms and busts). Whether you are thinking about investments in precious metals, real estate, businesses, or paper assets such as stock and bonds, always think long-term, which means having the perspective to consider where the wealth wave for an asset class is at the present moment.

The only time to make an investment is in the present moment. It is always impossible to invest yesterday or tomorrow.

Why might precious metals be a good – or even the best – investment in the present moment [January 2012]?

After all, there has been a bull (rising) market in it for a decade! Perhaps that is a bubble that is about to burst. It will end. Why? All bubbles end. If not, eventually one ounce of it would be sufficient to purchase everything in the world!

So the critical question about buying it in the present moment is: “Is the current bull market about to end?”

Some analysts think it is. Harry S. Dent and Rodney Johnson: “Deflation is the only possible scenario in the decade ahead . . . we are a couple of years into the Winter Season. . . deflation is a monster . . .Gold and silver are inflation hedges, not deflation hedges” (The Great Crash Ahead [N.Y.: Free Press, 2011]). They predice that, like most other commodity prices, precious metals will fall in price.

They are correct that precious metals are inflation hedges. However, gold and silver are not like other commodities in one respect: they are real money. As fiat currencies drop, real money soars.

They are also correct that deflation is ahead of us. In fact, it’s already here.

The critical question is whether or not precious metals are deflation (as well as inflation) hedges.

I don’t know. Most analysis seem to think either that they are or that real money is still worth having in your portfolio anyway.

For example, Michael Maloney thinks that they “have a proven track record of performing well in inflation or deflation” (Guide to Investing in Gold & Silver).

Doug Eberhardt: “Silver is money . . . Historical ratios of gold and silver have fluctuated between 12:1 and 16:1” (Buy Gold and Silver Safely). Buying silver is a good idea when the ratio is below 80:1 and “be cautious” or “possibly take the other side” when the ratio goes higher. (Today it’s about 52:1.)

Howard Ruff: “Silver always rises during gold bull markets, usually twice as far and fast as gold, but the supply/demand situation . . . dwarfs all other reasons why silver will soar in price, perhaps much more than twice as much as gold.” (Huff’s Little Book of Big Fortunes in Gold & Silver)

Thomas Herold: The U.S. economy “must go into either default or into hyperinflation . . . Either option is dire . . . Silver metal is the one that has the lowest quantity of reserves to production, as well as the lowest reserve base to production ratios. . . [Its] uses are only projected to escalate. . . silver has more than a whopping 615 percent in price appreciation potential left to it before it reaches its inflation adjusted high again . . . should silver realign to its traditional average of 1:12 purchasing power of gold to silver . . . silver prices would . . . be far higher . . . count on between five and ten more years of the bull market continuing. . .”(Building Wealth with Silver [2011])

So, as usual, expert opinion is divided.

Five years later, everyone realizes that the economic recession that began in 2007 was not just another recession. It’s actually the beginning of a transition to a new world economy. We’ve never been there before – and this is the fundamental reason why expert opinion is divided about precious metals right now. Nobody knows what will happen.

There is agreement, though, that, minimally, we are in for a very difficult decade ahead. (I’ve been discussing some of the reasons for that in these posts, and I intend to continue to do so.)

Like paper assets and real estate, all fiat currencies are falling in relation to real money [precious metals].

That’s the fundamental reason to have them in your portfolio now.

When currencies, paper assets, and real estate re-value themselves against real money, that will be the time to transfer the wealth you have in precious metals to other assets.

Think in terms of value rather than price. When you do that, as Michael Maloney likes to say, precious metals are cheaper than dirt. “Whether you like it or not, the empire of the United States of America is now in decline . . . There is no possible scenario in which . . . [precious metals] do not rise” in value.

Is the U.S. empire in decline? Yes. The beginnings of the decline have been obvious for years. However, that does not mean that it won’t continue to be the most powerful and important nation in the world for quite a few years yet.

Will precious metals rise in value? Nobody knows. For my part, I predict that they will. I’m in!

Even if you agree, however, please don’t become attached to them. When you decide that their bubble is near its top, sell them.

Either way, my most important suggestion is to continue to develop your most precious asset, which is your mind. Keep reading blogs like this as well as books, keep thinking regularly, and every day practice letting go of all thoughts.

The amount of time we waste on trivialities is astounding. If you need to, please break out of your beer-and-sports induced coma or addiction to soap operas and shopping.

Step back. Notice your attachments. Starting with the most important one, begin breaking them all one at a time.

I’ve known bright people who were attached to television news! That news is mostly mass entertainment. “If it bleeds, it leads.” Regularly focusing attention on short-term catastrophes and crimes robs you of paying attention to what is valuable.

Investing in precious metals or anything else is a game. Since all such activities can become addictive, I believe it’s important to remind yourself daily that the purpose of the investing game is to get beyond the need to play it.

What do you want freedom for?  What do you want freedom from?

(My answers: Freedom from Becoming. To live well, which is living a balanced life between Becoming and Being, and to help others do the same.)

Whatever your answers to those important questions, precious metals may be a means to enable you to get there.