Posted on 12/12/2016 12:30:37 PM PST by HomerBohn
The 21st Century is inching ever closer towards chaos… and the time to get out of the big city is upon us.
With economic conditions, growing crises, desperate populations looking to scratch by, and more hatred and division than at any previous point in American history, the city has become a dangerous and unruly setting – and finding yourseld in one that is falling apart could be the worst mistake you ever make.
People are living in bigger urban zones than ever before… these megacities are the hotspots of global activity. But many are also proving to be the most dangerous place to be in a collapse. Crime is rampant, order is shaken and many people become willing to take advantage of the situation. Many areas are vulnerable to natural disasters, and have already lost control during past emergencies.
In other places, widespread unemployment is simply taking its toll through increases in theft and violence. Whatever the reason, there are many places where things are falling apart, badly.
As Wired reported, disaster is looming on a worldwide basis, but some are approaching total collapse, thanks to a storm of factors:
Using data on 2,100 cities, Robert Muggah has found which factors make an area more likely to become violent, unsafe and fragile. The data show 30 cities on the brink of disaster and what could cause it.
Cities were rated based on factors including: conflict, fragility, population growth, unemployment rate, access to services, income inequality, air pollution, homicide rate, killings in terrorist attacks, political violence and the risk of natural disaster.
Natural disaster has proved very disruptive lately, as tsunamis and earthquakes have recently devastated New Zealand and rattled nearby Australia. Though things are fairly stable in these Western democracies, their geographical vulnerability to serious tectonic activity makes their civilization far than stable. Auckland, New Zealand made the list for risky cities.
But Haiti was even harder hit. The 2010 earthquake caused widespread devastation in a place that was already one of the poorest on the planet. The 2016 hurricane in Haiti proved that despite billions of dollars in donation, philanthropy and intervention by the likes of the Clinton Foundation, Haiti was still extremely vulnerable. Hundreds of thousands of people were once again displaced as their homes were destroyed; local governments and global NGOs did little to nothing to secure basic necessities, and the place remains one crisis away from total instability. Port-au-Prince, the capital and most populous city there is already a very risky and poverty prone place, and could become much worse in the wake of a disaster.
Of course, any number of urban areas in the war-torn Middle East and perpetual conflict zones of Africa has also made for very dangerous cities, with populations on the brink of disaster, and many individuals vulnerable to crime and violence on a daily basis. Ibb, Yemen, Kirkuk, Iraq, Aden, Yemen, Kabul, Afghanistan and Mosul, Iraq have become some of the worst locales, along with cities spread across the Congo, Mogadishu, Somalia and other highly disputed areas.
Brazil’s megacities are so saturated with the urban poor, and short on basic resources including drinking water, they literally millions of people are on the brink. Riots are possible, and a survival crisis could factor in for Sao Paolo, where 8 million people are at risk of having no access to water. Predictably, many cities in Colombia remain extremely fragile due to the ongoing drug war conflicts that have claimed lives, and left millions of people at the mercy of gang rule.
Venezuela has proven to be a special case, of near precision collapse, as its currency tanks and economic warfare brings people to their knees as they are forced to wait in line for rations, trade on the black market and deal in worthless cash. Socialism has worsened the problems created by the emergency drop in the oil prices. Caracas remains the biggest pool of hungry, poor and increasingly fed up people.
Guatamala City, Mixco and Villa Neuva, Guetemala as well as San Pedro Sula, Honduras were identified as particularly vulnerable cities in Central America, as refugees continue to seek amnesty in the United States to escape the ongoing turmoil in their own countries.
Perhaps surprising to some, many major European cities are quite vulnerable as well to global economic pressures via sharp increases in immigration, “rape” scandals and social concerns about terrorism.
London, UK is one of the wealthiest cities, and yet it faces enormous pressures from overwhelming immigration, from growing economic disparity and from cultural clashes, threats of terrorism – and now, fighting between political factions over Brexit and other issues.
The Eastern bloc is especially vulnerable to these pressures that could lead to a growing unrest. France, Germany, Sweden and Norway also face major instability over immigration and cultural issues.
But some of the most unstable cities on the planet rank among those in the United States.
Places like Baltimore, Detroit, Washington D.C., New York, Philadelphia and other cities across the map are still deeply divided often police and race issues. Many have seen serious riots, looting and unrest. These social wedge issues are still being pushed from moneyed political interests, while political divide after the direction of the country has become sharp.
Dallas, Texas just suspended pension payments for some of its civil servants, a sign that financial insolvency could create an epidemic during the next crisis. Several states, like California, have over promised benefits to state employees in the pension programs, without ever planning to pay for them. If people lose it, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and the whole of the surrounding areas could simply erupt. Similar problems have left Detroit, Michigan and Puerto Rico, the commonwealth island, extremely vulnerable to bankruptcy and economic apocalypse that could contaminate the nation and global within hours.
If a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, hits the East or Gulf Coast, tens of millions of people could be caught up in traffic, locked in cities without food, and desperate to cling to order and survive. Likewise, if a major earthquake hit the West Coast, millions could be displaced and left without many options. That’s when things turn ugly.
The world is reaching a tipping point, and much chaos and instability could come crashing down anytime now. Many cities have made themselves open targets for collapse, with economic normalcy already hanging by a thread and populations already restless and growing increasingly discontent.
Be prepared. These things are building, and there are quite a few places you’d rather not be when the SHTF.
This graphic today from Austin, TX showing most violent crimes along I35 and the east side of the city. IOW, low income areas and illegals. Very obvious.
http://keyetv.com/news/local/gallery/some-austin-zip-codes-see-uptick-in-violent-crimes#photo-1
I went to school in Dallas. It was a nice quiet middle class area. Today, I wouldn’t drive through at noon without the windows up and doors locked.
You forgot - What’s pizza delivery?
“Some of us have been preparing for this for well over a decade.”
Yep. My Dad was/is a major Prepper and survivalist. Granted, now that he’s old, blind and just SLIGHTLY nuttier than he used to be, he’s kind of stuck. But, I have him living in a relatively SAFE place, well outside of a major metro area.
Between Dad and Grandpa, who was just your basic Country Boy, I will, no doubt, be hailed as, ‘Queen’ when the Shiite REALLY hits the fan. I can bake bread and cook from scratch, start a fire, sew on a button or stitch up a wound. I can hunt and fish and butcher. ;)
See my tagline, for starters. I’m HOPING I’m as ready as I CAN be, but I’m sure there will be something that I’ve not anticipated. There usually is, LOL!
Aim small, miss small. :)
“He’s ready for more acres and more privacy now. Got him trained up.”
You ROCK! I was already, ‘Country’ when Beau started courting me. And believe me, he would NOT have been as patient as you have been with your Beau had I been the least little bit, ‘City Girl.’
I would not trade Country Life for any other kind of life. Ever.
But, you already knew that, LOL!
(1) P = Primary: Food that's in your refrigerator and snacks in cupboard
(2) A = Alternate: Frozen and canned foods
(3) C = Contingency: Food that's farmed (i.e. backyard farm for example, long-lasting canned and boxed food
(4) E = Emergency: Food caught in the wild, or freeze-dried food
Same here. And I also have great neighbors. IF the mayhem ever reaches us, we'll stand and act as One to preserve the beautiful community we all work so hard to maintain.
May it never come to that...
I live in the middle of nowhere on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. But I work in DC.
SEPTA (the Philadelphia Commuter Rail) = Society for the Elimination of Passenger Trains Altogether.
Please delete me from the ping list.
bflr
That seems like a good situation. Do you commute across the Bay?
POP.
Ahhhh, the simple reason for the Great Earthquake:
Rev 16
17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.” 18 And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
I do commute across the Bay.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho! God Bless Texas!
Looks like a great arrangement. Good for you!
‘Neighbors’ up here also but, they are Bears, (Hybernating now of course), Deer, Cougars and Coyotes. I love it and I wouldn’t change my life situation for anybody’s! Bring on that snow!
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