Going Galt: Surviving Economic Armageddon

What this means is that the productive elements of society will at some point go on strike, whether by choice or because they are forced to pack up their bags and hide. From Ayn Rand's famous novel Atlas Shrugged, comes the phrase "Who Is John Galt". Galt is the character who epitomizes the productive entrepreneur so fed up with the restrictions of the bureaucrats and corporatists that he decides to start a revolt of society's creators. In our current financial dilemma, Rand's theme has lead to the suggestion that productive citizens may only be able to survive by "Going Galt" and dropping out. The following Youtube gives a good idea of the pickle we are in.

But how does one survive if one drops out of society, even for a short period? It isn't like you were taught this in high school. And living like a hermit in a cave isn't an option that would appeal to thinking humans. However, "Going Galt" isn't about dropping out of society, but how to harden and insulate your lifestyle from the chaos that will come as the welfare state collapses.

The Federal Government only takes in 60% in revenues of what it spends, the difference being made up by the Federal Reserve printing Monopoly money. This distortion has already shown up in high inflation rates and unemployment, with statistics so bad the government lies about them. You have no choice but to plan an exit strategy.

That's what this book is about, how to survive the upcoming economic collapse everyone knows is coming. What this book is not is anti-government, or anti-tax, or an anarchist cookbook, those are armchair discussions for the idle class. What "Going Galt" is about is surviving No Matter What Happens.

Contents

1. Economic Armageddon
2. How Life Will Change
3. Money In A Collapsing Society
4. Financial Survival
5. Stocks, Bonds, Real Estate
6. Employment
7. What To Prepare For?
8. Survival Priorities
9. Four Day Survival Kit
10. Exposure
11. Emergency Shelter
12. Water Treatment & Storage
13. Emergency Sanitation
14. Store Food or Starve
15. Meals Ready to Eat
16. Storage Containers
17. Gardening
18. Storage Space
19. Health, Fitness & Hygiene
20. Basic First Aid
21. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
22. Survival Fire Safety
23. Terrorist Attack
24. Urban Survival
25. Bugging Out
26. Sarajevo War Experience
27. Post Katrina Disaster Survival
28. Defensive Weapons
29. Transportation & Mobile Shelter
30. Clothing
31. Fuels for Heating and Cooking
32. Emergency Lighting
33. Electrical Power
34. Master Preparedness List

Amazon reviews

Going Galt is one of the best in Survival Preparedness literature. It's easier to read than most, and the author has an excellent tone of urgency tempered with reasonableness. Survival literature is a growth area. At this time, James Rawles' book, How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times, is in the Top 100 best-selling Amazon list.

The 34 chapters visible ("Look Inside" shown on cover) advertise the topics. The average chapter is just over 10 pages, with variation. Water treatment & storage has 29 pages. For urban survival, water storage could be problematic for many. Treatment depends on several conditions. Options are well-presented. Advantages and disadvantages of the many water treatment methods highlight the difficulty of this topic. Chlorine treatment alone has several subcategories. There are instructions for building a berkey water filter from scratch to use for storm water ponds or runoff from parking lots. Water treatment is also well-covered by Arthur Bradley in Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family.

One topic dealt with in only the most introductory manner is urban survival. For some reason, authors tend to gloss over this area and it vexes me. For those of us with children and elderly people to look after, relocation to a safe area away from a population center is extra difficult. Brown says if your neighbors have their own food and water, it will be possible to form a common defense with them. This is consistent with Sean Brodrick's approach in The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide: The Smartest Money Moves to Prepare for Any Crisis. However, Rawles has thought about this problem deeply. His best-selling book presents the argument for a rural retreat, far enough away from a city and the highways people can use. I'm afraid that when the bad time arrives, we won't discover which author is correct until it's too late to exercise the option. However, I worked out the cost of Rawles' retreat to be tens of thousands of dollars not counting the real estate.

As with almost all survival books, many lists are presented. There are exhaustive lists for food and good content on food as well. Brown says not to worry about what we'll have to think about during this difficult time. We'll be thinking of food and how to get it. The Sarajevo War Experience list was intriguing but no sources were provided. Some very interesting comments were quoted from one Sarajevo War survivor who was not named. Apparently, toilet paper was a luxury. We could conclude toilet paper would be a great item to stock for utility and trade value, but again - I want sources.

Brown is urgent yet reasonable. He advises we start redirecting some time and energy from our normal activities toward survival preparation. The book covers Declinism in 4 pages (Chapter I), which is appropriate for a survival book. At this stage, it's prudent to limit time spent trying to figure out if the "system" is going to collapse. What is needed now is good preparation so that we may helpful to others when the time comes. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

This review is from: Going Galt: Surviving Economic Armageddon (Paperback) This book gives a lot of information for actions before and after society's collapse. The list of most stolen items after unrest is worth the price of the book.