Well I don't know to what extent or what end might mean, but the reason I am asking is this.
 
I received a phone call from my brother in law this morning  who wants to rent some of my fallow farm land to raise a garden and some livestock. He feels the economy will collapse in the next few years and want to " live off the land" until things "recover".
 
It was a pretty disturbing conversation because he is convinced it will happen. I work with some people who are "preppers" and stockpiling ammo and guns, building solar power planrs, and the like.
 
I have read the gamut of scenerios from the way out web sights to pretty conservative ones and the scenerios are disturbing, from civil unrest to martial law to looting and the like.
 
I just wonder what your  thoughts are on this?

I think it depends on what you call "civilization".

"The end is nigh" crowd is as old as the hills. And by "nigh," they mean "coming right up." The fact that they have all throughout history been proven wrong should tell you something. I think for some people it's a way of making their otherwise boring lives seem more exciting. 

Hi,

Change is good!

And if perspective is what one lacks? ... even better!

So if the end is nigh, might as well get some more sex, drugs and rock'n'roll in ... and the more the better!

As I recall, lots of people were pretty certain the whole entire world was going to end at least 3 or 4 times over the last 2 years or so.

The idea that because a number of people believe something adds weight to that belief is a fallacy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_the_majority

Oddly, given the scope of diversity on the interwebs, it seems to me that many people seek out places where they mainly encounter like minded individuals. And because of this, they tend to get strong reinforcement of their beliefs, regardless or merit, rather than dissenting opinions or skepticism towards those often highly questionable and poorly supported beliefs.

I don't think the end of the world is coming. But I think hard times are coming. I think we are going to see hyper inflation and food and energy sky rocket. I think we are going to see people going back to basics in terms of whats important. Health kicks will rise and people will start to grow and eat real food. Mom and pops may come back a little but and the big corporation will take a spanking. Goverenment always tries to clamp down on the people when hard times hit as they are doing now. 

Yeah ... Grow your own food. Be the best person you can be. Help people as much as you can and take other people's help if they offer. Love and respect others. We need a hard time and a slap in the face. And we have one coming. In the end we will be better off. I might be dead by the time we see the better off part. 

Anyway .... Yeah..... There is a Lot of parallels between now and the last depression. 

The world has been through hard times before. We are heading toward another one. It's been happening in cycles forever. 

I am being politically incorrect here... But know God. A least be spiritual  and show respect and compasion and be the best person you can. Do the opposite of what the government says is good. 

Paul 

Depends on how you figure the collapse of civilization and exactly what it means and what it looks like. 

At some point, every civilization collapses. And the reasons vary.  Are we (in the USA or the world) close to the collapse? 

Again that depends. Individual civilizations have come and gone in the past without much fanfare.  Others rose in their place. But in the past the connections between components of those civilizations were not as interconnected nor as dependent on each other as they are today. Mostly every group could support themselves already at the agricultural level in centuries past. 

Today, it may be more precarious. How many people today know how to plant and raise food crops and preserve them to last the winter? How many folks know how to hunt wild game and process it? Not many, I would venture. How many even live close to a wooded area to access the game without having to jump into a car and drive? 

A ripple in the economy of a small country in Europe causes great concern (Cypress) and markets move around the world. One country going down economically due to mismanagement of it's internal finances could theoretically be the trigger point for a global collapse of the house of cards. I just finished reading a book called Currency Wars. A global collapse of this nature is not a far fetched idea now. And.... to make it more scary, the things the various governments are doing (of a financial nature) are basically painting them (and us) into the proverbial corner where the results have been documented time after time in history by other countries and groups who have done the identical things we are doing...and how it always ended badly. 

Being able to provide food, shelter, clothing, and defense is not only a good idea, I think it's critical to our survival should the proverbial SHTH scenario occur. Unless policy on money and spending change, and not just here in the USA, but in the entire world..... the possibility of a global collapse of the currency and all that would entail is a real possibility. 

Look at the Weimar republic, look at Columbia, look at a number of the African countries. Heck.... look at the good old USA.... we have had some bad times financially when this country was getting started. Just read our early history. Worthless money... no credit.... high taxes.... the list goes on and on. Everybody thinks the big  crashes were in the great depression and then again just a few years back with the stock market decline..... chump change. 

 We're all doing what they did. You can't buy food if the price is hyperinflated and no one wants your worthless paper money. The panic that would result in just days..... not good. 

I don't think the world will end with a meteor, a super volcano, a tsunami, or from a religious reason. There are those who do. I think the more eminent danger is in the monetary policies in place currently. These are unsustainable and will collapse.... it's anyones guess as to when, but I think we are witnessing the tremors now that will precede the total global collapse of the paper money. 

When it happens, not if, but when, you don't want to be in a city. Preferably you want to be out in the country, on some land, with some like minded folks, so you can work together to survive until things are restored to some sense of normalcy... however long that will take.  My guess is it won't be a quick fix if it's global in nature. 

I could paint more details into this picture of what I think it might be like on a daily basis during this time of distress, but I'll leave that to your imagination for now. 

It's always a good idea to be prepared. You never know what might happen.   

That's my 2 cents worth. 

Does anyone ever wonder what made the gold standard a standard?

The choice seems sort of arbitrary, especially for a metal that you can't make a very sharp tool with.

Who decided gold was so special? Why?

I doubt the end of civilization is nigh, but OTOH I can't think of any reason not to try to become a little more self-sufficient and a little less reliant on the normal food distribution network, which is fragile (try buying bottled water right before or after a hurricane). Knowing that you'll have a source of water in an emergency is a good idea, even if it's just a rain barrel. This is especially relevant to those of us who live around the Pacific Rim where there is a genuine need to prepare for earthquakes.

Of course, you can save yourself all that bother and just stock up on guns 'n ammo. That covers every eventuality, including the zombie apocalypse.

I feel that "the end" will be a new beginning. Globalization works for multi national corporations but not for the people in the country's involved. People in China working for $150 a month and Bangladesh at $75 a month. We cannot compete in any way with those people because they are being exploited.

The stock market in the USA broke new records but there's no underlying economy to support it. We have been given cheap credit so we can continue to buy goods and services made elsewhere. Credit debt is super high interest, and savings interest is almost zero.

At some point there will be an economic reckoning and it may well feel like the end, but it will be a new beginning, and it will be painful. Canada is 2nd or 3rd in oil reserves on the planet yet gas is around $5 a gallon. The closing of industry and power plants has lowered are pollution levels in Ontario by up to 60%. Everything is going upside down. Credit and globalization has turned the USA and Canada into a massive society of consumers that create almost nothing, while gutting the middle class.