A book from one of my favorite authors is being delayed due to a shortage of paper... This post was inspired by a recent conversation I had with a Hivian about the rising cost (and scarcity), of normal, everyday items.

I was shocked when the writer explained that his tome while finished and originally expected for a Fall 2023 release, has been pushed back to March 2024. There's not only less of everything, but we're paying more for them.

The most recent war "Over There" and the action in the Middle East, have led to a resultant spike in inflation here and around the world. Either flashpoint could result in a regional or even another world war, not to mention the tension in the South China Sea.

When I went shopping recently, I picked up my usual bag of chips ("crisps" to you Brits) and noticed it had dropped from 5.5oz to 3.15oz . What? It looked the same size, but was now mostly air inside. Turns out they'd been shrinking the size slowly while increasing the price, but I hadn't felt it until now.

I'm seeing more and more people coming back from the dollar stores instead of shopping at the traditional supermarkets or even Walmart.

If you read back to the run-up to Y2K back in the 90s, you realize how people tend to fail to prepare, while relying on the government to do everything for them. One only has to look back to WWII, when America was still a largely agrarian society, and there were still many family-owned farms where people could produce what they ate if necessary.

New reports of Victory Gardens were commonplace, and many people including my ancestors, supplemented their diet with things grown in the backyard plot.

Today, corporate farms rule the roost, with the masses at the mercy of disruptions to the supply chain. I've recently added to my stock of emergency supplies including survival food. My relatives think I'm nuts "why would you STORE food when you can just make a trip to Walmart when the SHTF?"

They have no idea that that source would be picked clean in a matter of days during a national emergency. It turns out that the recent global crisis has taught them nothing, and the seeming return to normalcy also meant a return to the bad habit of relying on someone else to provide for them when the time comes.

I just shake my head and keep adding to my bug out bags. No one knows but a couple of distant relatives, and I've dispersed my supplies in different areas. I always thought it was weird watching these prepper shows where the people not only identify themselves, but let the entire world know what they have and where it is.

When the time comes, everyone they know who failed to prepare, will make a beeline for their well-stocked larder. And TAKE IT from them. So it's best to keep your head down, and do what you need to do, quietly.

I think that those of us in the crypto community are well suited for this, as we already know how to live outside the system and when necessary, build new ones.

The crypto mindset and the ownership mentality that those of us who are serious about Hive and committed to its future over the long term, found that that attitide served us well during the recent crisis, and will do so long into the future. I'm confident that we'll be ready to handle whatever's coming.