Wow, this is sure a great thread with many good comments. I'll offer a few of my own. Some of them will coincide with others already made.
If a person wants to get a real good idea for what's brewing in our not-to-distant future, I recommend going on Youtube and listening to the interview that George Noory had with Alex Jones on Coast-to-Coast. Parts 1-11.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EF_5_2rYLk Now, no matter what some of you may think of Alex, he is one of the most knowledgeable people there is when it comes to the NWO. He lives and breaths it. He has people all over the world giving him press releases/articles on the latest events, so he doesn't miss much. He is able to cover so much more than what any of us would get by just reading the local paper or randomly scanning the internet.
If it hasn't occurred to every single American already (and sadly, I know it hasn't), the US financial system is collapsing. The Dollar is going to be toast. The Bilderbergs in their meeting two years ago said that they were going to run the stock market up to 14,000, then burst the subprime mortgage bubble, thus withdrawing credit and sending the financial system into the abyss. The ensuing bailouts are why the Morgans, Rockefeller, Schiffs, Warburgs, and others brought the Federal Reserve System (a private central bank) into existence in the first place, because during times of economic upheaval wealth is transferred from us to them.
The BIG banks are now really taking over. This is what they dreamed of. And they've got their pals (Bush, Paulson, and Bernanke) doing their bidding, no matter who at this point is trying to oppose them. In fact, it was leaked out that Bernanke and Paulson actually threatened Congress to pass the bailout bill or else the government was going to declare martial law. Now those two are making sure that there's no chance that our generation, as well as those to come, will ever be able to maintain a relatively good quality of life. The bailout is now up to 8.5 trillion, as reported by Bloomberg news (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Ti17PlJH8 ), including 2 trillion that is completely unaccounted for (
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=apx7XNLnZZlc&refer=home). Where is this money going? Probably to "bailing out banks where China owns much of the controlling interest ALREADY", like Dee already stated.
All this money being generated by a government that is already broke will eventually cause massive inflation, which is a loss in our purchasing power. It will be a HUGE tax! There is a reason why a couple of months ago the Army Times reported that the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team would be relocated to our home front (
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/ and why the Washington Post recently announced that 20,000 military troops would be here by 2011 (
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/30/AR2008113002217_pf.html). The government says its in case there is 'civil unrest'. Well, of course there will be! But, that's only the beginning of what they want to turn this country into a full-fledged police state. I'm sure that '20,000' figure will be left in the dust by the time this engine really gets going.
For the last decade or more there have been military training exercises here in America that are no doubt for the purpose of eventual martial law and gun confiscation. During Katrina they went into well-to-do neighborhoods that weren't even effected by the flooding in order to confiscate guns. There's videos of it on Youtube. Furthermore, FEMA has been secretly organizing and coordinating an army of preachers, who are being paid off, to really emphasize to their congregations the importance of submitting to government, mainly using Romans 13 as evidence. Of course, Romans 13 does not teach blind submission to government. The government's hope is that many people (especially Christians) will already be dumbed down and passive at the moment martial law goes into effect. And then those darn preachers will also be there, along with the troops, as they go door-to-door to confiscate. So, be aware of that ploy.
As the economy goes from bad to worse and the job losses pile up, there will most likely be a shortage of food which will trigger riots and violence in the worst way. The idea is to make the living conditions so difficult that the vast majority of Americans will be brought to their knees in begging for the government's help. I feel it's really important that people understand this and make preparations accordingly. Have a contingency plan in place. If you end up losing your home, know where you can go and who you can live with. Strength will be in numbers. We need each other.
It's true that the government will be establishing spy rings all throughout the country that will even have neighbors reporting on each other. There is evidence that this has perhaps already started. Know your community. You need to be able to trust your neighbors. Store up food and water. A one-month's supply is the bare minimum. Three months is better. Sixth months is really good, but a year is best. If you're gonna have guns (like all GB forum members do) then make sure you've got plenty of ammo for them. The guns will be really necessary for defending oneself against looters. As to defending oneself against the military when they come, I think that will be a hard decision for most people. If 50 armed troops come to your house, you're not getting out alive if you resist. If your neighborhood is well-armed and in agreement to protect each other, then let loose.
Maybe it would be good to have some guns out in the open for them to easily find, while others are buried someplace that they won't easily find? I don't know. I've never lived through martial law. Have you?
I agree with Dee that most people will sit back and do nothing, which emphasizes the importance of establishing good relationships with neighbors. At least you'll want to know what kind of neighbors you have.
As to not paying the income tax and forcing the government to go bankrupt, I'm pretty sure that won't work. Although I think it's a good idea because of the unfairness and un-American nature of this tax, the government can generate its own revenue if it has to through the printing of money (Read
Taxes for Revenue are Obsolete http://home.hiwaay.net/~becraft/RUMLTAXES.htmlIt's only a matter of time before our dollars are worthless. Buy gold, silver, and other commodities that you will need to survive the hard times ahead. To the extent that we are self sufficient will be to the extent that we'll be able to survive/hold off the government's onslaught against us. People starved during the Great Depression when people had positive savings accounts and 90% of the population lived rurally. Now 90% live in the city and we have a negative savings ratio. I feel for those who live in the city (especially the big cities) when the crap hits the fan.
I don't think that writing letters to our politicians does much good, but that's just my opinion. Voting may still do some good, but only if people can get out of this silly left/right paradigm. Ron Paul was who we needed, not McCain or anyone else. Our Congress is a bunch of wimps. Instead of putting up with the tyranny of a few, such as Paulson, Bernanke, Bush, etc., they should be taking this message to the American people to alert us what's going on behind closed doors. But we all know that's not going to happen.
And finally, I find it helpful to stay alert to market conditions. It may give us a clue as to the time line of some of these events. I listen to Peter Schiff, Max Keiser, Jim Rodgers, Marc Faber, and Bloomberg. I'm sure there are other good ones as well, but there are many others who should just throw themselves off the tallest building they can find, if you know what I mean.
