If the United States does become insolvent, and a currency crisis occurs, there will be great disruption. Banks will fail, businesses will fail, and the government will be forced to cut services, which could include a reduced level of police protection. There will be substantial increases in crime and violence. Utility service will be less reliable. There will be intermittent shortages of some goods and services. Poverty and homelessness will swell as more people lose their jobs and can’t pay their bills. Things will be tough all around, and at times, dangerous.
No one will be immune to the hazards and hardships to come, but being prepared for them will greatly decrease the chance of a tragedy hitting you and your family. The items listed here are all good advice, even when there isn’t a known disaster on the way.
Financial preparedness
Having solid finances is extremely important. If you are living paycheck to paycheck and lose your job, you might become homeless before you can find another. Cut costs where possible and start building up savings. Make sure you have adequate credit available if the need arises. Don’t take on a lot of new debt, and if your debts are eating up a lot of your income, pay them down. Even though hyperinflation is very likely to occur, which could wipe out debt, there’s no way to predict exactly when it will begin and how quickly it will progress. In the meantime it is extremely important to be financially stable, which is the basis for a stable living environment.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Have bank accounts with at least two different banks or credit unions and have at least some savings in each, so that if one bank closes or is disrupted in some way you’ll have the other to fall back on. Have at least one credit card as an alternate source of payment. If you have investments, diversify them somewhat so that there isn’t a single point of failure.
Personal preparedness
Understand that a period of hardship is coming and be emotionally prepared for it. Be ready to live with less comfort and safety than you enjoy today, and to accept reality as it occurs. Having a mental breakdown of any kind when conditions are dangerous is inviting tragedy to occur, whether that means snapping and doing something foolish or not taking desperately needed actions.
Strengthen your ties with your family, friends, and neighbors. When times get tough, you will need to rely on some of those connections. If there are grudges, settle them. Those who are all alone in the world will have the most difficult time and the worst odds. Even those of us who don’t need physical help will still need emotional support. Family, friends, and neighbors will all be an important part of being able to survive and thrive during a crisis.
Practice being as polite as you can in all circumstances. People will be scared and angry when things start to go badly, and inevitably some of them will lash out at others, perhaps even with violence. If they resent you from a past slight or you are rude or aggressive at the wrong time, you might end up on the receiving end of their outburst — or worse.
Maintain and increase your health and fitness. Life today is relatively safe and easy, with many luxuries. We get around with cars or public transportation. Most of us work jobs that are not very physically demanding. We purchase our food at stores, picking items off shelves. We use machines to wash our clothes and dishes. We spend a lot of our spare time in front of a computer or television. Few of us get much exercise. Imagine being suddenly plunged into having to walk miles a day to get to work, or having to do a lot of physical labor for subsistence. Even worse, what if you were forced to evacuate and had to walk a very long distance? How difficult would it be if you had not walked more than a quarter mile a day in years?
Disaster preparedness
Even in the best of times, disasters happen and we are often woefully unprepared for them. Some of the disasters more likely to occur during a currency crisis are:
- Loss of utilities including electrical power
- Loss of safe drinking water due to inadequate chemical supplies
- Insufficient police protection
- Local businesses and government offices shutting down
- Food and medicine shortages
- Fires, including house fires, city fires, and wildfires
While preparing for disaster can fill a whole series of articles, here are a few summary points for being prepared.
Planning is paramount. Make plans for dealing with various disasters, and discuss them with your family. Come to agreement so that everyone knows the plans and is ready to follow them. Have meeting places to go to if evacuation or fleeing is necessary; if you get separated and there’s no phone service to locate each other, a meeting place might be the only way to find each other again. Memorize important phone numbers and addresses, especially of close relatives, or keep a paper copy of them with you. We tend to store such information in cellphones now and without a working cellphone, such information might be lost. Have a paper highway map of your area; if there’s no power for an extended period, you won’t be able to use a GPS to find your way. Know where the electricity, water, and gas shutoffs are in your home and how to turn them off if the need arises. Have a plan on how to get out of the house if there is a fire, and a rally point on the property so that everyone meets up instead of being uncertain about who got out.
For utility or supply disruptions, have a reasonable reserve of a few days of food and water. Some unscented bleach can be used to kill bacteria in water. Maintain at least a few extra days of any medicines that you can’t go without. Have warm sleeping bags and thermals in case there is no heat for an extended period of winter. Have flashlights, matches, candles, a solar charger, and a small power inverter. Make sure you have a few basic tools such as screwdrivers, an adjustable wrench, pliers, a small saw, a utility knife, and a manual can opener. A small hand crank radio would allow you to hear news even if the power was off in a wide area.
Learn first aid, and maintain first aid supplies. Have a backpack for carrying, and a “go bag” of vital items in case you need to leave suddenly. Keep a small amount of cash hidden in your home for emergencies when the bank network is down. Get a bicycle and ride it enough that you could use it as a replacement for your car if you had to.
What NOT to do
There are those who, through paranoia or emotional overreaction, will try to prepare in ways that will do them more harm than good. An example is the "survival cabin deep in the woods somewhere". In a long-term crisis, the last place you want to be is alone in the woods with no police for miles. Armed bands of marauders would consider such a cabin an optimal base, especially if you had previously stocked it with months of supplies.
Don’t stockpile large amounts of supplies. Someone is bound to find out, and you will end up becoming a target for theft or worse. Similarly, don’t hide large amounts of cash anywhere. Someone will always find out, and you will be either robbed or the money will be taken by force. If you have large amounts of cash, leave it in various banks, put it in a safety deposit box, or invest it. Investing in gold is attractive, but very risky. In 1933 the US government issued executive order 6102, attempting to confiscate all "monetary gold" owned by private citizens, and will likely do so again, but more forcefully this time.
Don’t purchase weapons such as guns unless you are ready, able, and willing to use them properly. Most people aren’t, and they shouldn’t own a weapon because there’s a great chance of a weapon being misused with tragic results, or the weapon being taken and used against them. Ask yourself: are you willing to shoot an intruder without hesitation? Can you be sure the intruder isn’t one of your kids sneaking in after a late night out with friends? If you do shoot an intruder, can you deal with the fallout, such as his/her friends or family coming after you? If you do decide to purchase a gun, take a safety class, or retake one if you have not had one recently. Use a firing range at least once every few months to maintain a reasonable level of skill.
The best preparedness you can have of all is to think about all of these issues in advance, when you have the luxury of time.