Yes. Our economy would collapse without excessive consumer spending.

 

I read an article awhile back in which they stated thats why the economy is sputtering along like it is, people have cut back their spending, staying home, eating at home.

 

This question is similar to "will we be able to prevent global warming if everyone stops driving cars, and uses public transportation." Theoretically it might be yes. Practically... absolutely no way it will ever happen.

Practically, if everyone is homesteading, the economy will have switched over, or else the bird flu pandemic has killed off a majority of the city dwellers, so the economy is in the tank already.

Michael

 

I hope it would.

Having an economy built upon ever increasing consumer spending is stupid,it has to end some time.

 

Before I answer that let me say that I wish nothing bad on anyone!

Yes it would. But would that really be a bad thing in the long run. I think our society has gone way too far in the wrong direction. Our government has become too self serving yet thinks it can fix everything if we give them all the money. Way too much greed and lack of caring for your fellow man.
History shows that humans start over often and often because of problems similar to the ones we are dealing with now.
Best short answer I can give.:shrug:

SPIKE

 

It is called "The Maximum Capacity to Consume".

 

QHorseman wrote:
people have cut back their spending, staying home, eating at home

If everything collapses due to lack of spending, then everyone can blame me for the collapse .... I only ate out one time for lunch last year and brought my lunch everyday ... I didn't waste my money at any movie theatres, I only bought two pizza's last year, etc. I have been trying hard to not spend except for the things I need ...... Although I kept both Ebay and Menards in business as those places are the bulk of where all my spending went to. This year, I'm spening less there also.

I have to ask myself a couple of questions ...... Why do those places and people need my money more than me ?????
Is it more important for my personal welfare to give all my money to China rather than keep it for myself and save it ???

Ohio Rusty ><>

 

maybe. but it's not going to happen, so no worries about the collapse being caused by homesteading. homesteading is still a great minority, so hopefully everyone else will just continue spending.

 

As long as there are credit cards, loan consolidation, and credit spending will continue.
If people had to pay right then and there when they bought something spending would screech to a halt. We don't have to worry about that happening anytime in the near future.

 

Nah. Have you ever built a homestead or farm from the ground up? Plenty of purchases to be made. It'd just shift to different areas of spending/consuming. Macy's might go out of business but TSC, farm supply stores, etc would be booming!

 

Yes. Our economy would collapse without excessive consumer spending.

Isn't that what happened in 2008?

 

I seem to still be spending plenty - I just spend it at the farm store rather than Wal Mart.

 

Our gov't should try it.

 

i think it's interesting that many people think it will never happen

i think it's possible,

i mean it's not hard to sell the homesteading lifestyle

that's why i was wondering what will happen to the economy, or country in general if everyone found homesteading as the way to go.

 

i think it's interesting that many people think it will never happen

i think it's possible,

i mean it's not hard to sell the homesteading lifestyle

that's why i was wondering what will happen to the economy, or country in general if everyone found homesteading as the way to go.

Are you serious? Do you not get out much? Go to the city. Watch people. Talk to people. It won't happen. The economy may collapse and people may be FORCED into it, but they're not going to go willingly. It's too much hard, physical labor. It's too dirty. It's too hot, too cold, too stinky. It's too inconvenient.

 

(Its not hard to sell the idea of homesteading) No the IDEA of it is an easy sale. Most people thnk that their neighbors should do something in htat direction. The practicality of actually doing it is a much harder sale, at least for those who would be successful about it.

In other words, Its easy to plop yourself down on 10 acres and say Im a homesteader. 3yrs later your back in town telling everybody that you were a actual homesteader, and for nobody to try it cause it didnt work. It didnt work cause they didnt work.

 

Are you serious? Do you not get out much? Go to the city. Watch people. Talk to people. It won't happen. The economy may collapse and people may be FORCED into it, but they're not going to go willingly. It's too much hard, physical labor. It's too dirty. It's too hot, too cold, too stinky. It's too inconvenient.

Yeah Olivehill, don't ya just love it!:rock:

SPIKE

 

isn't that what happened in 2008?

no........

 

It interferes with their social schedule. To far to get into town for ball games, ect. Adds more money in gas to go to the movies, everybodies antisocial in the country. Nobody will help me. My driveway seems like its 5 miles long when the snow is 2ft high.I have to buy extra stuff to have it on hand just incase. Gas, wood, nails, bolts, screws, There arent any machanics out here. My garden spots never been plowed, and I dont own a tractor. I bought an old tractor at a REALLY good price. Now its time to plow my garden, and I dont own a plow, and the tractor boiles over. Can I run over it a time or two with an old pair of bed springs. ect, ect, ect. They told me I could make a thousand an acre. HA

 

As to spending or not spending money of most went to homesteading. Unless your going to make your own tiller, youd have to buy one, and that takes factorys, which take people. I doubt if many would make their own hoes, rakes, schovels, and theyd be sold in extreme numbers. Somebody would have to make them. More mom and pop individual stores would reeopen as fewer and fewer people would want to go to WM where everybody knows that most cant get in and back out without haveing a 100 bill in their pockets. People would go to tsc cause they ad the part they needed, AND If they saw something they MIGHT need, they might buy that. Where at WM people buy things that they may never use. Those stores would tend to show up at almost all towns, makeing the closer to home. Theyed be more small tractors needed, with the equip to go with them That also takes factories and people.
As somebody said, If it happened, it would only redirect the monies spent. A thing they say is going to happen anyhow when we finally climb outta this hole.

 

I think it is very possible for our economy to collapse.....as a matter of fact I think it is in the process of that very thing. The way of life in this country was not sustainable. The loss of so many good paying jobs that will never return has hurried things along. Endless credit that was abused by so many made us look richer on the surface, but was a house of cards.

 

[QUOTE="SPIKE";5611740]
History shows that humans start over often and often because of problems similar to the ones we are dealing with now.
[/QUOTE]

I have often wondered if it would be so bad if the US simply declared bankruptcy on the world. You know, don't repay the debts to other nations. Don't give foreign aid. Don't be the bully/protector of the world. I think if the US became protectionistic, took the property from foreigners and resold it only to citizens, it would be a good thing.
The dollar isn't worth anything anyway, so why not just protect the natural resources we have and use them to build ourselves?
Let's be Israel for a while. God gave us this land, let's respect that and keep it for ourselves instead of selling everything we own and have off to other nations.

 

there will always be some type of Economy, (even if it is barter),
the economy will CHANGE, just like it has through the years,

the problem is that we all think we should be able to support massive amounts of things,
Many of the people in the 1940 only had a pickup truck for the only farm Vehicle, (it was sued for ever thing), currently on my place I have, (6 running and used trucks, from 2.5 ton down to a S10, not new but there there and run and are usable) and I think I am frugal, (well some peoples new pickups is worth more than all of mine ) when I was goring up there was one phone on the wall in the kitchen, now there are, 7 phones,
how many TVs, do may have, computers, cell phones are like candy,

I remember when buying some thing was a really thought out experience, wither it was a few dollars or thousands, and in to days existence, some times fancy coffee is more than what my dad would have payed for a tool set.

one thing is I think what some what keep a collapse from happening is that there is such mass Exodus of dollars over seas, that the governments printing of them has not caused massive inflation, look a the amounts of Chinese and other foreign goods, the fuel, crude oil,

if all that money was staying in the states the inflation would be like Zimbabwe's but since were dumping so much over seas, (it is a little like buying some of it with play moneys), yes it can come back and bit us,

but if Americans were making and building the goods we used I think we could live on a reduced economy, and be strong, the standard of living may not be as extravagant, (may be I would have to only have two wrench sets, instead of one in ever building and truck and tractor),

even tho you and I may think were poor, all one has to do is travel out side of the country and see how rich we are,

No I do not make the money I want to, or have all the things I want,
but I have a lot, a lot more than my father had, in many ways, (and look at how much people through out for trash, the amounts of food that is wasted, (garbage disposals are a disgrace), watch at a restraint how much food is not ate, go to a church pot luck and watch was is dumped and there was a choice to take and how much to take and it is still dumped.

a lot of what happens is wast and more wast,

 

The economy has already collapsed. The only thing that remains is the "Con Job" that says nothing is wrong.:hammer:

 

It would cause a huge contraction of the economy sort of like would happen if we went back to the gold standard.

Although normally people start providing for themselves in reaction to the economy being worse and not the other way around.

When the inflation of the 70's was over a lot of back to the landers moved back to the city, people stopped using their wood stoves, gardening died back.