Everything's Bad Roundup
Hey y'all, a quick one today just to make sure everyone is on the same page:
- There is no coordinated trucker strike set for October 1st. You may have seen rumors and videos of this, but they are unsubstantiated. However: diesel fuel costs have skyrocketed, and this directly affects the ability of the aforementioned truckers to do their jobs. As this cost rises, so too does the cost of pretty much everything. You may see shortages and cost increases on all basic goods in the near future–but you will not see an absolute lack of all things because of a strike.
- AI is not going to kill us all. Today. I put no guarantees on tomorrow. However: AI is still fucking awful. Shun it where you can. Data centers are drinking our proverbial milkshake and exacerbating everything that was already ruining our lives. The talk from AI CEOs about their product causing the extinction of the human race is more likely to be a marketing ploy than any sudden pang of conscience. Most of these companies are running extremely low on actual funds and are passing around the same fake trillion dollars amongst each other, back and forth, pretending they are propping up the economy. Rather than burst that bubble we're being told we need to slow down AI so that they're not forced to show their handful of nothing. It also behooves them to push for this now, rather than after the midterms when more regulation-minded politicians may occupy seats in DC–the GOP has completely abdicated responsibility and stated that the billionaires know what they're doing, so no regulation will be forthcoming from them.
- This El Niño is super bad. No however there. Expect some very wild weather to come as it reaches its peak in the next month or so and continues to burn hot for several more months. While we will likely see a much warmer winter than usual across the states, El Niño will absolutely throw a wrench in the polar vortex, which means we could see those wild dips in temperature into the sub-zero like we did earlier this year. These kinds of swings are not just an inconvenience to us; they will kill plant, animal, and insect life. This will make fruit yields, in particular, pretty weak, but could affect damn near everything. Estimates are already predicting 450,000 people killed by effects following this El Niño, which I have now seen described as "hyper," super already being found insufficient.
- Yes, we should be concerned about continued escalation between the US and Iran (and Yemen). We are backing ourselves off an economic cliff with this war and there is no way out but highly-unlikely capitulation. Between the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, and the Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, something like 30% of global oil resources are currently in a clinch. Related to war in general, numerous European countries have begun issuing guidance not unlike that which you might find here; that is, they're telling their citizens to prepare for outages, shortages, and difficult days ahead.
- The Fed raised their rate in an effort to stave off inflation, which trickles down in a bad way into your credit card interest, mortgage, car payments, etc. Whether it actually helps with inflation or not, this is going to hurt everyone's pocketbook. It's also looking like more rate hikes are yet to come.
My recommendation is that, in an acute rather than chronic manner, you should be padding your pantry. Put a little extra food away, see if you can get a stockpile of meds, and square any immediate repairs to cars or homes as soon as you can. I don't think collapse is right around the corner, but this could be a tough winter. Remember the idea is not to hoard or castle up; be a resource in your community. Reach out to your neighbors now, have a little light conversation with them about the state of the world, and see where they stand. Not just where they're at politically–but what they might need, if anything.