Quote: (12-23-2016 08:11 AM)elRey Wrote:
The basis of a nation is not the family unit. It is the economy. If the economy is strong, society improves.
You're absolutely wrong. The US economy during the 1960s was at its strongest, and yet societal values and morality declined.
Quote: (12-23-2016 03:54 AM)Rob Banks Wrote:
Money (and gold, diamonds, precious metals, etc.) only has value because we say it does. If enough people were to stop accepting it as currency, it would be worthless. If you're rich but you don't have survival skills, you are dependent on the global economic system. You cannot survive without it. Even somebody that knows a trade (e.g. auto mechanic) is still dependent on there being someone willing to hire him. That is why there is no substitute for survival skills (i.e. hunting, combat/firearms training, cooking, outdoor camping and backpacking, etc.) and friends/family you can trust.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we shouldn't focus on making money. You just need to have a backup plan. I just feel like you're not really a man if you are dependent on a system of men who you don't even know for your own (and your family's) survival.
PS: If anyone thinks I am describing a doomsday scenario that will never actually happen, just look at the Great Depression. That happened less than a century ago. Many hard-working responsible men were suddenly unable to support their families because the system, which they had no control over, had failed them.
"But Rob, the Great Depression only happened once. That was the first time in history that an economic depression of that magnitude affected so many people."
Exactly, because prior to the Industrial Revolution, most men still had survival skills. Even if most men had jobs and depended on someone else for income, you did not see entire societies turning over control of their lives to the system, like you saw post-Industrial Revolution.