I just read the Spain article on the Atlas generation and it got me pretty depressed. I don’t even know if it’s worth continuing in school or if I should just devote all my time trying to save and getting prepared for this huge depression coming. With the little money I do have saved up, I’m not sure if I should invest in survival items (water, food, guns) or something that will retain its value after the depression ends like gold. Can someone please give me some suggestions?
Do NOT. I repeat. DO NOT quit school just because you think that some great doomsday is coming. That is crazy, man. Even if it would come, how is quitting school going to help you? Give you more time to gather up gold? Don’t be silly. Stay in school.
Yeah, that’s pretty damn stupid man. If I were you, I would focus on not only reading/studying outside of school, but finding/ building upon a highly useful skill that you enjoy.
The 20th century and centuries before it have endured plagues, World Wars, civil wars, opression, and absolute poverty. Why give up now?
My grandparents grew up in Europe during a time where they were mired with horrible poverty and they had to deal with living in a Axis occupied country for quite some time. Imagine if my grandparents threw in the towel as young adults and decided to just give up.
Keep things in perspective. Live your life the best you can and dont let things that are out of your control get you down. There was another thread along the same lines with some good advice.
https://forum.freecapitalists.org/t/depressed-because-im-oppressed/12984
First, you are better off in school than out of it. If the whole world goes to hell then the idiot governments of the world who believe education has value will devote high percentages of their stolen (Through inflation) loot to the educational systems. Understand that education is low on the pecking order:
-
Bureaucrats in law enforcement/intelligence/military/command first as they are required to quell rebellion.
-
Government pensions as these people are most dependent on government and have the most interest in keeping it going and stealing.
-
Old age pensions same as 2.
-
Some health care.
-
Education.
There is hope. The fiat money systems of the world are falling apart. Governments are loaning billions upon billions and throwing the money away. Eventually the buyers of this debt will stop leaving only central banks creating money to buy debt. At this point countries will have options of abandoning their current system or going to something new.
Obviously I place less and less value on education. The internet has completely made the educational system useless. You can now download entire courses of study from the internet.
Never, never go all or nothing on anybody’s predicition of the future. No matter how well reasoned it may be, we must always hedge our bets, and keep some of the chips off the table.
Of course you should leave school, as soon as possible, and never come back, it´s a waste of time, of resources, it damages your creativity, your mind, your spirit of curiosity, of learning, and let´s not bring the cost of opportunity issue here! All those years you could have been earning money, saving money, being free from to live your life, with no stress because you have savings, being able to travel, to buy books or good technical education in any sector, invest into your career…
Don´t spend much on survival, only the cheap and basic, water, cereals, gun & books to read.
I quit university a year ago, the best move of my life, I save the money I earned into gold, which went 45%, I invest into professional courses, exams, certifications which will enable me to earn twice in the next job, and now I have enough to search a higher paying job abroad, therefore leaving this sick country and live a better happier, life.
‘Education’ is a scam, for cowards who are afraid of risking and trying to get a job and jump from there up, they pact with the devil, government-approved curricula for a false job security they won´t have. Don´t waste more years there, I bet you already spent too much.
Put yourself a time-table, find a job, save the first 6 months, then, with a modest saving pool, invest into your career, or continue saving to open your own business, there is a whole world of opportunities out there, don´t lock yourself poor and without experience into a room with millions of others who have exactly nothing, and empty worthless paper some still refer to as ‘degree’.
And you won´t be leaving ‘education’, you will start it. What you had was not education, just as you know what you have is not money but an illusion of it.
I learned more this year working and in the free time after work than in all my previous ‘educational years’, you can start new languages, online or offline courses, anything you want. The world is yours, just look at Internet, and the safer you are, the happier and more productive you will be in your time. You will be able to rest knowing you have savings and the ability to get out the country and start anew anywhere, and you will have earn self-confidence by taking control of your life, that´s all you need, to trust yourself and be able to choose and achieve your goals. You won´t learn that at school, never, they will teach you to follow others, to wait, obey, ask for permission, rely on others, distrust yourself, be afraid, they are psychologically killing yourself. Get out, now. And start the journey of freedom and real education.
Just an opinion : - )
this is crazy man. Even though school is meant to damage your brains into believing state is god and other nonsense, I think you better off IN school (though, depends where you live, what school it is etc).
Don’t let your schooling to interfer with your education. Read books, watch videos, listen to podcast. Don’t wait for “collapse” like those dummies who wait for 2012.
My fast opinion.
Central bankers evil but they aren’t un-intelligent and self-destructive people. They know very well what a hyper-inflation will do to there jobs and they know what makes it happen…
That goes for politicans as well. Changes will have to happen but I doubt they will just run things as they are until it crash and burns cause it ain’t good for there carrers…
Their ego may hide this fact from them, but they are humans, they are limited and can not predict or control the future not even the present.
Were the Romans in charge? Or was it their arrogance? Were the Nazis? The Soviets?
Human nature can not be changed, economic law can not go disregarded for long, just as gravity.
In their minds their ambition may have no limits, but in this world their power has limits, their ilussions of control will face reality
I agree with the poster who said that the world has endured catastrophes aplenty and is still here to tell the tale. Even if there is a massive economic calamity looming, life will go on. Some people will suffer, some will profit, but the majority will survive. Simply prepare how you think is necessary (like saving, investing in gold etc) and continue to live life. Find a hobby outside of economics (some here could use that advice ;)) and enjoy the company of your family and friends. Educate yourself outside of school (not purely economics) and gain skills you think will be genuinely useful for your future.
Here’s some food for thought, concerning my own family: When war broke out in Poland in 1939, my grandfather didn’t sit and cry until the Germans or Russians captured him, he escaped the country and survived. Even though he then spent three years in a Spanish concentration camp, he persevered and eventually arrived in the UK as a penniless immigrant with very little English experience (returning to Poland meant certain death under Stalin). Even though he had a prestigious engineering degree from a Lublin university, was an officer in the Polish military and a member of the Polish szlachta (nobility), he took whatever jobs he could, menial labour and all, eventually amassing enough wealth and experience to start his own businesses and an engineering firm to afford a very comfortable lifestyle in central Scotland.
Similarly after the war, my other grandfather returned from the RAF, dropped out of law school and started a tailoring/clothes business in Glasgow – even though he had no prior experience of the fashion business at all (it was the only way he could get a licence for a factory). He seized the unexpected opportunity and stuck with it until he mastered the trade and profited handsomely from it, ignoring the pessimism of naysayers.
As such, ignore the apocalyptic claims espoused by some posters in here and other threads and simply take things as they come. A confident, smart and resourceful person is much more likely to adapt successfully to any changed environment than someone paralysed with fear, indecision and self-pity. Don’t sit and wait to cry victim to the statist (who probably isn’t even aware you exist), be pro-active! Go out and create wealth and happiness in spite of them and use what you do know to avoid the worst of their stupidity. After all, bear in mind that: Austria survived a huge economic calamity after the first world war when Mises worked in the chamber of commerce there; Germany survived hyperinflation and nazi economic planning; Russia endured and survived soviet economic planning; the world still existed after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire; China survived the Cultural Revolution; Poland survived three hundred years of being partitioned and being almost obliterated from the face of the earth in the 1940s (and so on). I imagine that even America will survive whatever economic future it has made for itself, albeit in altered political form(s), perhaps. So instead of living on thoughts of lynching politicians and central bankers, focus on your own needs and ambitions (yes, be somewhat selfish) and work to master whatever conditions life throws up, the best you can. Don’t wait for the ‘anarcho-capitalist paradise’ to solve all your problems or you might have to wait a while. 
If the world goes belly up, the people who will be screwed will be those unable to offer essential services to their fellow man. Go to school! Just maybe don’t major in african american women’s studies…
Capitalist_Pig,
Remember, “This too shall pass.” A degree in Art is better than no degree at all. But try to get a degree that is more useful like Engineering or Accounting. There are more jobs in those fields. The sooner you graduate the better, and the more opportunities that are out there. Taking summer classes is great.
The higher your gpa the better chance of getting into grad school or getting a higher paying job than with a low gpa. You might not want to go to grad school now, but in a few years you might change your mind, and having a high gpa will help you greatly.
Presevere, Presevere, Presevere. Figuring out your goals and achieving them is a skill. Learn how to do it. Try Brian Tracy’s Ultimate Goals Program. Keep your head up. Things will get better.
Good Luck
I would debate this.
YES to engineering! Not so much to accounting… it basically only exists bc the government does.
As long as there are beans, there will always be bean counters.
Also any Science degree is good too if that’s your interest. I think engineering degrees are better than science degrees for jobs. But there are jobs for science degrees too.
And no one knows what will happen with the economy. The worst could be behind us for all we know.
Yea, I was just being nice. But at least with a useless degree like art or philosophy, you could get into law school. Also you could become a CPA with just 30-36 accounting credit hours regardless of the degree you have. So any degree is better than none. But still I would go for engineering or accounting.
Preparations for an Uncertain Future
- Take care of yourself (eat healthy, exercise, develop a positive mental attitude, breath).
- If you aren’t already doing it, live within your means and save.
- Develop practical, portable skills (educational skills, vocational skills, survival skills).
- Develop social skills, get to know people and what they value.
- Remember the past, prepare for the future, but live in the present.
That’s drastic. Nothing’s gonna happen. Everything will be fine. The worst is behind us already. You are being dramatic.
Even if things did not look bleak, why would you stay in school? It is generally a waste of time and resources.