livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
10 Survival Rules When Society Collapses: Lessons from Venezuela
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Mike Monahan. As I have written about Venezuela and even discussed it on the podcast before, this information is very valuable as it is a personal account from someone who has intimate knowledge of what it is like for the average person living in a collapsing society and how survival rules might apply to everyday life.
A visit with my brother in Venezuela was an eye-opener for me. For those of you who do not know, the country has been suffering from a slow collapse since 2015 when oil prices dropped. Almost everything is shipped into the country, and other than oil, they have very little exports to bring money in. The currency there is called the Bolivar Soberano. In April of 2015, the exchange rate for a U.S. Dollar was about 6 Bolivars. Before I left from California, I exchanged 1,000 USD at the official exchange rate for about 172,000 to the dollar. I felt like a multimillionaire overnight when the bank teller special ordered me 172 million Bolivars for my trip. Little did I know that 172 million Bolivars wouldn’t even buy 25 loaves of bread at the real exchange rate. As a prepper myself, I have changed my preparations based on what I learned on my visit. This article will share some survival rules to consider when society collapses.
Survival Rules to Know #1 – Basic Items Mean More Than You Think in a Collapse!
I arrived at Simón Bolívar International Airport on November the 11th of this year and planned to stay one week. My brother had sent me a list of things he needed that were small and so I loaded a suitcase of those items for his needs. I loaded the suitcase with personal items, about 30 freeze-dried meat meals, 40 feet of beef jerky, bread mixes, small bottles of vodka, trash bags, two water purifiers, rechargeable battery packs, socks, jeans, shirts, and condoms. I couldn’t satisfy everything on his list, but what I did get came to about 50 pounds. I knew these 50 pounds of food would help my brother greatly.
See Related: How Preppers Can Thrive in a Barter Economy
Survival Rules to Know #2 – Don’t Be Fooled When Things “Look” Normal!
When I arrived, I found the airport looked nice and like a modern-day airport. That changed when I went through customs and the Venezuelan version of the TSA started dumping traveler’s luggage. Each customs agent had their own seizure boxes and a giant trash can. They immediately took my luggage and I waited to be called back. When I returned, my luggage was dumped in a pile. I immediately noticed all the food items, the Vodka bottles, and the battery packs were all now seized. My fifty-pound suitcase for my brother was now around twenty pounds. When I complained, they yelled that only things not permitted in the country were seized. They also implied, in a nice way, to get out or I would wish I had. I noticed a plastic box with some of my things in them being guarded by a customs agent. I had no choice but to cut my losses, quickly throw everything back in my suitcases and continue through the exit door.
Survival Rules to Know #3 – Blend-In to Look Like a Local!
I walked outside and met my brother. He lives three miles from the airport. He walked all the way to the airport to meet me because he didn’t have any money. I got the two of us a cab, which cost three hundred thousand Bolivar per mile. Before we got into the cab, my brother had me leave the suitcases and put all of my belongings in two garbage bags. This scene at the airport was duplicated many times and there were stacks of discarded luggage bags next to the garbage cans. Some chose just to put their luggage in the trash bags. My brother explained that if you were seen with a suitcase, it might be eyed as having something valuable and make you a target.
Survival Rules to Know #4 – Always Stay Aware of Your Surroundings!
The cab ride to my brother’s house was scary. He eyed every motorcycle going by. Many had passengers that stared into the cab to see what we had. We arrived at his house unmolested, however. With fees and time, the three-mile cab ride cost me almost 1.2 million Bolivar’s, but the cab accepted USD $20 instead. I was taken back a little not realizing it then. I later found most people would give me the value of about a 750,000 Bolivars for $5 in American Greenbacks. But that 750,000 would buy about $1 USD worth of whatever you were buying. It was a strange but commonly accepted exchange rate. I wished I had just brought U.S. cash instead of Bolivars.
Survival Rules to Know #5 – Your Surroundings Say A Lot – Pay Attention!
When we got to my brother’s house, it looked very scary. He lives in a small two bedroom house on a small lot on the corner of two major streets with his wife who was six months pregnant. All the windows in the house were covered in black plastic. I noticed all the lawns were dead. Weeds grew up through all the cracks in the streets and sidewalks. Trash was piled up on the street and almost every trash can and trash bag had been tipped over or torn open by people looking for any treasures they might hold. Street after street looked the same way.
On virtually every corner there was a ragged chair or couch and shady occupants sat in them or stood around the person sitting in them. My brother asked me for $40 dollars USD as soon as we got to the house. He then went over to one of the guys on the street corner and handed him the money. He later explained he paid them to protect his house. Even though it was only sporadic payments, nothing bad had happened to his house since he volunteered to pay them the money. He felt safe because of it.
Survival Rules to Know #6 – People Are Always Watching Your Moves – Watch Them Watch You!
Two hours after we arrived, a woman on the street corner whom my brother had seen many times before, was gunned down in broad daylight. He identified her as a prostitute and druggy that stayed on the corner in front of his house day in and day out. A motorcycle with two men with helmets on pulled up behind her at two in the afternoon. Both men on the motorcycle unloaded their handguns into the back of her head. The man on the back of the motorcycle then jumped off, pulled her body to the side, yanked down the front of her shirt and bra exposing her hiding place for her money and her phone. Grabbing both the money and the phone, he hopped back on to the motorcycle and fired twice more into her body for good measure. They then sped away. My brother and I deduced the attackers had been watching her and saw where she hid her money. They went right for her bra and didn’t even check her pockets.
Survival Rules to Know #7 – Make Do With What You Have!
For food, the government stores have unsweetened corn cereal, cornmeal, and rice for food. On the black market, you can get just about anything for the right price. A loaf of bread that is barely moldy costs 2.5 million Bolivars. A pound of chicken is 5 million more.
The trash bags here are also in low supply. People dump other people’s trash on the ground, so they can reuse the bags. There are no shampoos, no new clothes, no razors, no toothpaste, no baking soda, no lice sprays, no personal items, no condoms, no tampons, no maxi pads available in any store. Lice and crab infestations are everywhere. In the public toilets, you can see dead ones and some still alive on the toilet seat from the previous person using it.
The trash bags I brought were used to store clothes that you got from pretty much anywhere. You store them in the trash bags for months to allow time for the lice, crabs and the eggs to hatch and die. It’s a must. There were whole families I saw shaved from head to toe, and not because they are getting cancer treatment. It’s because it’s the only way to get rid of the lice and crabs. Hygiene here means having no hair. The good news is that there are no fleas, which used to be the problem before the collapse. The reason is there are no dogs, cats, or small animals left. They’ve all been eaten.
See Related: A Preparedness Strategy for Getting Prepared the Right Way!
Morhttps://www.prepperwebsite.com/10-survival-rules/e at ....
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Mike Monahan. As I have written about Venezuela and even discussed it on the podcast before, this information is very valuable as it is a personal account from someone who has intimate knowledge of what it is like for the average person living in a collapsing society and how survival rules might apply to everyday life.
A visit with my brother in Venezuela was an eye-opener for me. For those of you who do not know, the country has been suffering from a slow collapse since 2015 when oil prices dropped. Almost everything is shipped into the country, and other than oil, they have very little exports to bring money in. The currency there is called the Bolivar Soberano. In April of 2015, the exchange rate for a U.S. Dollar was about 6 Bolivars. Before I left from California, I exchanged 1,000 USD at the official exchange rate for about 172,000 to the dollar. I felt like a multimillionaire overnight when the bank teller special ordered me 172 million Bolivars for my trip. Little did I know that 172 million Bolivars wouldn’t even buy 25 loaves of bread at the real exchange rate. As a prepper myself, I have changed my preparations based on what I learned on my visit. This article will share some survival rules to consider when society collapses.
Survival Rules to Know #1 – Basic Items Mean More Than You Think in a Collapse!
I arrived at Simón Bolívar International Airport on November the 11th of this year and planned to stay one week. My brother had sent me a list of things he needed that were small and so I loaded a suitcase of those items for his needs. I loaded the suitcase with personal items, about 30 freeze-dried meat meals, 40 feet of beef jerky, bread mixes, small bottles of vodka, trash bags, two water purifiers, rechargeable battery packs, socks, jeans, shirts, and condoms. I couldn’t satisfy everything on his list, but what I did get came to about 50 pounds. I knew these 50 pounds of food would help my brother greatly.
See Related: How Preppers Can Thrive in a Barter Economy
Survival Rules to Know #2 – Don’t Be Fooled When Things “Look” Normal!
When I arrived, I found the airport looked nice and like a modern-day airport. That changed when I went through customs and the Venezuelan version of the TSA started dumping traveler’s luggage. Each customs agent had their own seizure boxes and a giant trash can. They immediately took my luggage and I waited to be called back. When I returned, my luggage was dumped in a pile. I immediately noticed all the food items, the Vodka bottles, and the battery packs were all now seized. My fifty-pound suitcase for my brother was now around twenty pounds. When I complained, they yelled that only things not permitted in the country were seized. They also implied, in a nice way, to get out or I would wish I had. I noticed a plastic box with some of my things in them being guarded by a customs agent. I had no choice but to cut my losses, quickly throw everything back in my suitcases and continue through the exit door.
Survival Rules to Know #3 – Blend-In to Look Like a Local!
I walked outside and met my brother. He lives three miles from the airport. He walked all the way to the airport to meet me because he didn’t have any money. I got the two of us a cab, which cost three hundred thousand Bolivar per mile. Before we got into the cab, my brother had me leave the suitcases and put all of my belongings in two garbage bags. This scene at the airport was duplicated many times and there were stacks of discarded luggage bags next to the garbage cans. Some chose just to put their luggage in the trash bags. My brother explained that if you were seen with a suitcase, it might be eyed as having something valuable and make you a target.
Survival Rules to Know #4 – Always Stay Aware of Your Surroundings!
The cab ride to my brother’s house was scary. He eyed every motorcycle going by. Many had passengers that stared into the cab to see what we had. We arrived at his house unmolested, however. With fees and time, the three-mile cab ride cost me almost 1.2 million Bolivar’s, but the cab accepted USD $20 instead. I was taken back a little not realizing it then. I later found most people would give me the value of about a 750,000 Bolivars for $5 in American Greenbacks. But that 750,000 would buy about $1 USD worth of whatever you were buying. It was a strange but commonly accepted exchange rate. I wished I had just brought U.S. cash instead of Bolivars.
Survival Rules to Know #5 – Your Surroundings Say A Lot – Pay Attention!
When we got to my brother’s house, it looked very scary. He lives in a small two bedroom house on a small lot on the corner of two major streets with his wife who was six months pregnant. All the windows in the house were covered in black plastic. I noticed all the lawns were dead. Weeds grew up through all the cracks in the streets and sidewalks. Trash was piled up on the street and almost every trash can and trash bag had been tipped over or torn open by people looking for any treasures they might hold. Street after street looked the same way.
On virtually every corner there was a ragged chair or couch and shady occupants sat in them or stood around the person sitting in them. My brother asked me for $40 dollars USD as soon as we got to the house. He then went over to one of the guys on the street corner and handed him the money. He later explained he paid them to protect his house. Even though it was only sporadic payments, nothing bad had happened to his house since he volunteered to pay them the money. He felt safe because of it.
Survival Rules to Know #6 – People Are Always Watching Your Moves – Watch Them Watch You!
Two hours after we arrived, a woman on the street corner whom my brother had seen many times before, was gunned down in broad daylight. He identified her as a prostitute and druggy that stayed on the corner in front of his house day in and day out. A motorcycle with two men with helmets on pulled up behind her at two in the afternoon. Both men on the motorcycle unloaded their handguns into the back of her head. The man on the back of the motorcycle then jumped off, pulled her body to the side, yanked down the front of her shirt and bra exposing her hiding place for her money and her phone. Grabbing both the money and the phone, he hopped back on to the motorcycle and fired twice more into her body for good measure. They then sped away. My brother and I deduced the attackers had been watching her and saw where she hid her money. They went right for her bra and didn’t even check her pockets.
Survival Rules to Know #7 – Make Do With What You Have!
For food, the government stores have unsweetened corn cereal, cornmeal, and rice for food. On the black market, you can get just about anything for the right price. A loaf of bread that is barely moldy costs 2.5 million Bolivars. A pound of chicken is 5 million more.
The trash bags here are also in low supply. People dump other people’s trash on the ground, so they can reuse the bags. There are no shampoos, no new clothes, no razors, no toothpaste, no baking soda, no lice sprays, no personal items, no condoms, no tampons, no maxi pads available in any store. Lice and crab infestations are everywhere. In the public toilets, you can see dead ones and some still alive on the toilet seat from the previous person using it.
The trash bags I brought were used to store clothes that you got from pretty much anywhere. You store them in the trash bags for months to allow time for the lice, crabs and the eggs to hatch and die. It’s a must. There were whole families I saw shaved from head to toe, and not because they are getting cancer treatment. It’s because it’s the only way to get rid of the lice and crabs. Hygiene here means having no hair. The good news is that there are no fleas, which used to be the problem before the collapse. The reason is there are no dogs, cats, or small animals left. They’ve all been eaten.
See Related: A Preparedness Strategy for Getting Prepared the Right Way!
Morhttps://www.prepperwebsite.com/10-survival-rules/e at ....
