by Tate, Glen
Not all the refugees were children, women, and old people. Some were hardened criminals. Some of the Mexican gang members not fit for combat, like young boys and older men went up north with the waves of refugees. There was no better opportunity to transport gang members into the U.S. than by riding the human wave across the border. The criminals preyed on the refugees, raping women and children and stealing supplies. This was captured on TV, too. With the government incapable of doing anything about it.
Not only was the U.S. Government incapable of helping refugees, it was also incapable of protecting its own citizens from some very nasty people. Many of the gang members coming across the border linked up with their brethren who had just been released from the jails. They created “super gangs,” which were very large, well- armed, and highly sophisticated criminal enterprises. They were closer to a military unit than a traditional street gang.
In the span of a few days, most people in America realized that they were helpless if something like that happened in their area. But, after decades of thinking nothing bad could ever happen in America, most Americans still could not bring themselves to believe that it would happen to them. The refugee crisis and violence was still far away in California and Texas; not their neighborhoods.
Despite everything going on, many people still did not recognize how dependent and vulnerable they were. Instead, many of them became paralyzed by fear and did nothing. Very few Americans started preparing like they knew they should. They sat around their TVs stunned and helpless.
Texas responded to the crisis differently than California. Texas took its status as a formerly independent republic very seriously. About two days into the mess, the Governor of Texas held a press conference and said what would become famous words, “If the Federal Government can’t restore law and order to Texas, then Texas will. We entered this union of states voluntarily and we can voluntarily leave it.
And from what I’ve seen, the Federal Government can’t do much of anything right, so we don’t think they can stop us. Texas will take care of Texans. Period.”
This secessionist passion had been slowly building for years in Texas, but now, with the Feds screwing up so clearly, it was finally coming to the surface for many people.
One of them was Bill Owens, Grant’s friend from law school who lived in San Antonio. He had settled there at a nice law firm and served in the Texas National Guard as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer, which is a military lawyer.
Before the Mexican crisis, Bill called Grant periodically and told him how people down there were sick of the federal mandates and the federal taxes; basically, the federal everything. Entrepreneurs and freedom-loving people from all over America were moving to Texas. The taxes were far lower and the business climate was markedly better than anywhere else in the U.S., especially on the East Coast and California where small business was almost impossible. Texas welcomed businesses.
Crime was astonishingly lower in Texas, too. That was because Texas gun laws allowed, even encouraged, citizens to carry concealed handguns. Very often, an armed robber would enter a store in Texas only to be stopped by armed customers and store clerks. The same was true of burglars breaking into homes. Killing one burglar led to dozens of fewer crimes that burglar would have committed. It also led to fewer people who wanted to be burglars.
How did the progressives in the North react? By calling the Texans “cowboys” and Texas the “shoot-em-up wild West.” They referred to the armed robbers as “victims of gun violence.” It was like there two versions of America: Texas and the North.
Southern and western mountain states were moving in varying degrees toward the Texas model because it worked. Northeastern and upper Midwest states and the West Coast (including Washington State) were moving toward the Northern model. There was a split, which was widening. Confederate flags started popping up everywhere.
Grant never liked the Confederate flag. He respected Southerners’ right to fly it and be proud of the many Southerners who served bravely in the Civil War. He knew that the Union Army and the Federal Government during Reconstruction were not exactly the angels that they had been portrayed as in the history books. He knew that Southerners were not all racists. In fact, Grant knew that most Southern whites were generally fine with minorities because they lived among them. Many Southerners (of all colors) were Christians who believed that people of every race were the children of God and should be respected as such. Sure, there was still some racism in the South, but it was nothing like the stereotypes of racist Southerners portrayed by the North.
Grant had never known or even heard of a Southerner who thought slavery was a good idea. But the Confederate flag said something nasty to Grant. That symbol had become a symbol of racism. Try as he might, he couldn’t get past the negative image he had of that flag.
The yellow Revolutionary War “Don’t Tread on Me” flag was far better. Sometimes called the “Gadsden flag,” the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag communicated the liberty of the Revolutionary War without any of the racial baggage. The Tea Party had successfully adopted “Don’t Tread on Me” as its symbol. Of course, the progressive media tried to make “Don’t Tread on Me” into the new Confederate flag and imply that only racists flew the Gadsden.
Bill Owens called Grant from Texas during the refugee crisis.
“Things are getting dicey down here, man,” Bill said. “Mexican gangs are doing some pretty bold stuff. People are on edge. I’ve got all my mags loaded. I sleep with my 12 gauge nearby. People are starting to openly carry handguns and even long guns. All people can talk about is how much the Feds suck. If I need to get out of here, can I come up to you?” Bill was an officer in the Texas Guard so he should probably stay in Texas, but it never hurt to have a backup plan.
“Of course, man,” Grant said, trying to take in all this news. It’s really happening, he thought. “But I think things will be difficult up here, too. Soon,” Grant said to Bill. Then they talked about the logistics of keeping in contact and deciding if Bill’s family should come up or if the Matsons should come down. Grant kept thinking about what a hard sell he would have with Lisa. “Hey,” Grant would have to say to Lisa, “Let’s evacuate to the Free Republic of Texas.”
“Have you lost your mind?” she would scream. Oh, what fun times they were in.
Grant had one of those moments when he didn’t know if he was in the present or the future. Things were happening exactly as he thought they would. Was it happening now or was he seeing the future? He couldn’t tell. Perhaps it was both.
“Who were you talking to?” Lisa asked him.
“Oh, Bill in San Antonio,” Grant said as if nothing were wrong. “Sandy says ‘hi.’” Bill’s wife and Lisa were friends back when Grant and Bill were in law school.
“Are things OK for them down there?” she asked, in her first mention of the Mexican crisis. She must have seen something on TV about it.
“They’re taking some precautions,” Grant said casually. “I told them they could come up here if need be,” he said, wondering what her reaction would be.
“Sure. If they want to,” Lisa said. To her, the issue was a visit with old friends instead of people fleeing chaos and violence.
Bill and Sandy fleeing Texas wasn’t a visit with old friends to Grant. It was proof that a collapse was happening. Grant wondered if he was overreacting.
Chapter 34
People Get What They Deserve
Grant was driving to work and listening to the radio. At the top of the hour, the news came on. As interested as he was in the California and Mexican crises, he was actually getting a little tired of all the 24/7 coverage of it. He was having crisis fatigue.
He was hardly paying attention to the radio news announcer when she said nonchalantly, “The nation’s credit rating has been lowered again. Moodys and Standard and Poors, which rate stocks and bonds, have lowered the U.S. bond rating …” blah, blah, blah. The U.S. Government’s bond rating had been lowered earlier fro
m AAA to AA. This was yet another downgrade, now from AA to A.
The radio news went on, “Experts predict that Uncle Sam’s cost of borrowing money will go up yet again. In other news …” This meant that Moody and Standard and Poors were telling investors that buying bonds from the U.S., loaning money to the U.S. for it to spend on unsustainable social programs, was no longer a safe investment. Grant knew what this meant. Collapse.
The bond rating was a really big deal. It meant that investors, like the Chinese, would be even more reluctant to keep propping up the U.S. Government by buying U.S. bonds, which is, in effect, loaning money to the U.S. Government. It had always been only a matter of time until the Chinese came to this conclusion, but it looked like that day had arrived.
“Today,” Grant said to himself. This was it. The lowering of the bond rating would mean a sell-off of U.S. bonds. The question was whether it would be instantaneous or dragged out for some time. The Federal Reserve would create more fake money with a few keyboard clicks to buy the bonds. This meant trillions of fresh dollars would flood into the system. Inflation would go up. Way up; the only question was how high. Would it be 1970s inflation of 10% or 1990s Russian inflation of 300%? Somewhere in between? Even 10% would be devastating.
The lower bond rating had another devastating effect on the economy. The U.S. would need to raise the interest it paid on its bonds much, much higher to entice investors. Interest on the bonds had always been a percent or two. Now it might be 5%, 10%, or higher.
This meant the U.S. had to pay more (in inflated, made-up dollars) to borrow money. This added fuel to the inflation fire. It also meant the amount of interest people in the U.S. paid would go way up. Many private loans for houses and other things were based on the U.S. bond interest rate; when it went up, so did interest on mortgages, credit cards, and everything else. This alone would grind the economy to a halt.
The stock market crashed about five minutes after the announcement of the second bond downgrade. The downgrade, coupled with the fact that the U.S. Government had basically lost control of its Southern border, led to a massive sell off. The stock market went down 900 points before trading was suspended. Gold went up 50% in about ten minutes. People were in a full panic.
Grant had long ago written off his 401(k). He knew those investments would be worthless; he just wished that Lisa had realized it. Right then, in those few moments after Grant heard the news on the radio, a good chunk of the Matsons’ life savings had just been wiped out. Exactly like he knew it would. It was weird. His reaction was a big, fat “I told you so” instead of the horror of losing his life savings. He had known this was coming with such certainty that he had long ago gotten over the anger at potentially losing his savings.
Grant kept telling himself not to gloat. Telling Lisa “I told you so” would only make her more angry. He needed her to view him as resource, not an enemy. He would be asking her to do things she didn’t want to do in the next few hours, days, and months. He needed her on his team. Besides, being a dick and saying, “I told you so” wouldn’t get their money back.
There was that warm joy again. He had food, a secure place out in the country, guns, and a network of trusted people with skills. They would probably be fine. At least, compared to others. The rest of the country wouldn’t be, but a few people like him would be.
Besides — here came that rush of the warm joy — this had to happen. Things couldn’t keep going on like they had been. Grant didn’t want all the bad things to happen to the mostly innocent people out there, but he knew that it was the only way things would change. Those people had their chance over and over again to stop living like they were. To stop taking the easy way out. To stop looking the other way as other people’s rights were taken away. To stop spending money they didn’t have.
Grant thought about the people who sat back and let all this happen. Grant tried to explain to them what would happen, but they wouldn’t listen. They thought he and others warning of a collapse were crazy.
“People get what they deserve,” Grant finally said out loud in the car. He felt guilty for thinking it, but he couldn’t deny his sentiment.
It was time to activate the preparation plans. He had already developed two basic plans: one for an immediate crisis like an earthquake, and another for things that would take a few days, or even weeks, to fully unfold. This was a slowly developing crisis.
Given that there was some time to get the final touches put together, there was no need to freak out and start loading guns. That would only scare Lisa and might get him a visit from the Olympia police. No need for that. Stick to the plan, he told himself.
Since he had plenty of supplies out at the cabin, his plan centered on convincing Lisa that they needed to go out there. She wouldn’t see any need to go right away. She’d think it was just some dip in the stock market. That happens all the time. Why run off to the countryside over that?
Grant thought about how Lisa would be reacting to this so he could tailor the best approach to fit her concerns. She would not want Grant to overreact; that would be her primary concern. This was no big deal, she would think. The stock market was just having a “correction.” It sucked to lose the money, of course, but the stock market would come back. OK, play the hand you’ve been dealt, Grant thought. Be supportive of her.
Grant thought about Lisa’s level of awareness of the situation to decide how to convince her based on that. She did not know how bad things really were. That was probably better for her, given how angrily she reacted to his “doom and gloom.” He needed to break it to her slowly; there was no sense overwhelming her.
He called her on her cell phone at work. She answered right away, which wasn’t always the case because she worked in the ER.
“Have you heard about the stock market?” he asked.
“No,” she said, wondering why he was calling her at work.
“Did it go up?”
He told her what had happened. Not the part about the bond rating being lowered. Not yet, at least. He was in supportive husband mode right now.
“I’m calling to see if there is anything you think we should do right away,” he said. “I’m not suggesting we sell all our stocks, which we couldn’t do anyway, given that the market has shut down, but just wanted to see how you wanted to approach this together. I’m at work, but can do things like move money around if you need me to.”
He was sure that Lisa was relieved that Mr. Gloom and Doom, who had said a few years ago that this would happen, wasn’t saying “I told you so” or freaking out about buying gold now when the price was so high. He knew that she appreciated that he wanted to work together to determine whether to move money around various funds instead of preaching at her.
“No,” Lisa said, “I can’t think of anything we need to do. It will work out.”
“See you tonight at home, dear,” Grant said, being the supportive and non-overreacting husband that he was.
Grant got into his car and proceeded to “overreact.” He went out to invest in something as valuable as gold; actually, something more valuable than gold. He headed to Cash n’ Carry.
He wasn’t the only one who had the idea to go to Cash n’ Carry. The parking lot was full, but it wasn’t a mob scene. It was just a busy shopping day. Most of the world was still oblivious, unaware of what was likely to happen. They were going about their day wondering who would win whatever stupid reality show they watched that night. Grant hated to have such elitist thoughts — he had always thought of himself as a regular guy, a country boy — but he couldn’t help but think how much of the population was utterly stupid about all of this. He hated thinking it, but the evidence supported that conclusion. For example, the Cash n’ Carry parking lot was not full after all of this news.
It was an interesting cross section of humanity at Cash n’ Carry. Some people, like Grant, were well dressed professionals. There were older, middle-aged, and younger people. Lots of kids in tow. Lots of immigrants. It seemed that many
immigrants owned restaurants and got their supplies at Cash n’ Carry. There were also what appeared to be members of religious sects. Some of the women there, who had about a zillion kids, donned bonnets and wore dresses straight out of the old West. They looked like the people rescued from a polygamist compound or Amish sect that had permission to drive cars to Cash n’ Carry. Grant didn’t know what religion they were, but they definitely were not the average suburbanites.
All the preppers in the store assumed they were the only ones in a panic stocking up on food. They didn’t want to tip off the others about what they were up to. They were trying to leave the impression that it was just another shopping errand, but they weren’t acting like it. They had big carts and were throwing fifty pound bags of rice and beans in them without thinking. They didn’t have shopping lists.
Neither did Grant. He knew what he needed. He would get more of the foods that met his criteria of requiring only water to cook or being ready to eat, storing for long periods of time, being cheap, and being liked by his family. More pancake mix, pasta, biscuit mix, mashed potato mix, peanut butter, canned fruit, beans, rice, drink mix, and gravy mix.
People were strangely silent in the checkout line. They weren’t looking at each other’s carts. They just stared ahead, not wanting to pry into other people’s business. They were trying to buy all that food anonymously and assumed everyone else was, too. It was like they were buying something embarrassing like lingerie. Grant chuckled to himself. Buying food before everyone else figured out that they should do the same was something to be embarrassed about?
As the name implied, Cash n’ Carry only accepted cash and didn’t provide help out. That kept costs down. Grant had $320 in the expense-check envelope. He breathed a sigh of relief. Having cash on hand at all times was one of the reasons he kept the cash in the car. Sure, it could get stolen in his car, but it was worth the risk to have a few hundred dollars available when circumstances called for it.