re: SHTF: Argentina style

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I had no clue Argentina was like that.

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For years, I had heard how much better Argentina was than the most of the rest of South America, both in education, industry, etc.

And then a few years back, I started hearing little tidbits about how bad it was. I would always think, "Oh man, they have that wrong. I always heard blah blah blah." But the fact is, I had no clue how much crap went down there in the last 20 years.

Now a simple Google search on "Argentina SHTF" yields tons of info.

This particular article that I linked, has me thinking about some things that I guess I often neglected to do. I mean, we always seem to think that a SHTF scenario in the US will be a Katrina, or a total and complete collapse of everything all at once. But what if its more like what happened in Argentina?

What if instead of a complete failure, your money only loses 25%(arbitrary number)of its purchasing power? You might be able to still make ends meet, and keep going to work and try to wade through it to better times. But what about the people under you on the economic ladder? What if those working stiffs are now so desperate they become criminals to make ends meet? Now you've got a problem. And don't get me started on the folks that are already criminals.

What if the cops don't go away? But they become a problem themselves? They aren't paid very well. They have guns, badges, and the authority of the court. Do they become more easily corrupted? More dangerous?

And the thing about the lipstick he puts in there. Money still worked for him. And food was valuable, but he doesn't want to bribe/barter with necessities. That's a non-starter. But a $3 tube of lipstick that used to be imported, and now would go for $30... that might grease the skids with some receptionist somewhere.

And the rats and cockroaches? How many preppers are prepared for a loss of sanitation?
There's a side to this SHTF preparation that I think gets overlooked. What happens if you prepare for the worst case... and the less than worse case is something you aren't prepared for and don't understand how to live in?

Interesting.