The movie, Avatar, is a ground-breaker for several reasons. Recently surpassing $1 billion in box office receipts, Avatar does more than sell tickets and popcorn. It is a direct slap in the face of the current dominant military and economic paradigm.

 Change comes incrementally until it doesn't. A movie as boldly written as Avatar was not possible even a few years ago. When Dick Cheney and his underling, George Bush Jr. , occupied the White House, Avatar would not have been released in its current form, at least in America.

Today, things are changing. That much is obvious. Go see for yourself.

Good luck,

Darryl Robert Schoon

www.survivethecrisis.com

www.drschoon.com

For 25 years, the US has been living on credit. Beginning with the Reagan years, the US tripled its national debt in only eight years beginning a flood of borrowed and printed US dollars that surged around the world.

Everyone thought that life was good and it was--at least for awhile. When the credit bubble began in 1982, the Dow was at 777. When the dot.com bubble burst in 2000, the Dow was at 11,700 and the US was the world's largest debtor.

 Credit is like money except the debt must be repaid and as long as the economy expands, debts can be carried and serviced. When the credit cycle ends, the economy contracts, debts cannot be paid, bankruptcies increase, unemployment rises and, if debt levels are too high, banks collapse and a depression can result.

To prevent this, governments have now bailed out the banks. Nonetheless, it is only a temporary measure as far more debt remains to be absorbed. We are experiencing the collapse of the greatest credit bubble in history. If you think it's over, just wait. The worst is still to come.

Darryl Robert Schoon

www.survivethecrisis.com

www.drschoon.com

 Those who have watched the price of gold quadruple since 1999 are used to the ups and downs that marked its unsteady ascent. Yet, the virtually constant rise affirms that gold is not the new kid on the block, it's the old man whose day is coming once again.

Gold is a refuge in times of chaos when money loses value. We are in such times today. The debasement of currencies is now complete. Only the markets have yet to realize the truth that this is so. They will.

We are now in the end-game, the resolution of the greatest credit bubble in history. The debts from the bubble have yet to be paid. Most cannot and society will pay the price.

It is our fate to be here in such times. The choice has been made. The die has been cast. Let us reach inside for the strength we need. It is there.

 Good luck,

Darryl Robert Schoon

www.survivethecrisis.com

www.drschoon.com

 Life is not what is appears to be. What Life appears to be is simply appearances, nothing more, nothing less. There is a lesson in all of this but the time to learn it comes when it will, not when we want.

My deepest prayer of gratitude is that I was wrong about life. If I had been right, there would be no hope, just aloneness, helplessness and fear (after all, that's the way it "appears" to be). That is why I am thankful I was wrong because if I had been right, happiness would have occurred (if it had) in spite of the truth, not because of it.

 I hope that all of you are as lucky as I have been. I am not saying this because my life has been easy, it has not. But I have been extraordinarily lucky in that I was shown that there is a way out of the thicket, that there is meaning in the sometimes apparently meaninglessness, and, more importantly, that we are loved--and, that we can count on it.

Good luck,

Darryl Robert Schoon

www.drschoon.com

www.survivethecrisis.com

 Signs are all around us. Even those who wish to remain ignorant of the suffering of others are seeing the sure signs of a failing economy. All have friends who have lost jobs and while some have found another, most have not.

The central bank manipulation of the economy has been so "successful", that most have never experienced a severe downturn, let alone what is happening today. This not just another downturn. This is the beginning of another depression .

We are singularly unprepared for such an event. It may be that such an event is impossible to prepare for. Like a severe illness, health can not be saved up to counteract a future illness. Nonetheless, the level of ignorance of what has caused our present circumstances is almost beyound belief. Ignorance of cause, however, will not prevent what is about to be.

Almost two years ago, I predicted  then that year's Christmas would be the last happy Christmas. It was. Last year, Christmas was not as happy for most. This Christmas will be even less so.

I don't know what it will take for people to realize that what is happening did not happen by accident; and, until they do, people will continue to play the victim in a Christmas drama no one wants to see.

 Darryl Robert Schoon

www.survivethecrisis.com

www.drschoon.com

 It is my experience that only during times of crisis do we often change our behavior and outlook.  Only when forced to do so, do we seek new ways when our familiar ways have proved insufficient.

 This series of crisis will offer yet another opportunity to change, the opportunity to try other ways one more time. I believe we are entering a period of extreme stress. Most have no idea of what awaits us. The past, for many, has been relatively peaceful. For those who have experienced extreme difficulties, they will possibly be better prepared for what is to come.

 I have said before that a spiritual discipline will be helpful. Left to its own devices, the egoic mind is a dangerous place to seek refuge and direction. The mind gravitates towards hope and fear with equal abandon and will not be helpful in making your way forward.

Still yourself, listen for inner guidance, ask for directions or help if you need it. Wait and listen, help will come. We are not alone on this journey although it may appear so. Such are appearances. Reality is otherwise.

 Peace,

Darryl Robert Schoon

www.survivethecrisis.com

www.drschoon.com

There are many reasons to be optimistic. The economy, however, is not one of them. I am surprised by the rebound in confidence in those who recently thought they were lost who now believe they are saved.

We are indeed in a rebound, a rebound caused by enormous amounts of borrowed money being poured into economies in the hopes of keeping them functioning until private investors feel it safe to return.

When government money dries up (if it doesn't that's another problem altogether), the rebound will revert to the contraction it replaced. Mervyn King, the head of the Bank of England, for the first time supported an increase in the stimulus greater than did the Bank itself.

The Bank did not support King's proposed increase only because to increase the stimulus now would send a signal that England's economy is doing worse than expected. So the false hope the present stimulus would achieve was continued even if a stronger stimulus is needed to keep the recovery alive.

When the medicine runs out, the patient will die. Then, and only then, a better system will hopefully replace the one we now have.

 Good luck,

Darryl Robert Schoon

www.survivethecrisis.com

www.drschoon.com

 We are on the edge of great change. Change is in the air. Soon it will be visible,  changing what is into what will be. My metaphor for these times is a set of history books. We are in the final chapter of what appears to be the final book in this series.  Indeed, it is; but a new series is about to take its place.

Before I became interested in matters of money, I was interested in questions of LIFE, our relation to it and mine in particular; and, just as with money, if the questions are genuine the answers are found in due time if the questioner is not unduly delayed or diverted by commonly-held but erroneous beliefs.

It was through this process that I arrived at certain beliefs and truths well-before questions of a monetary nature began to claim my attention. The answers I received about the purpose and meaning of LIFE were not what I expected. They far exceeded what I thought them to be.

 LIFE is a miracle. We are a part of it. Acknowledge it, enjoy it, be it.

Darryl Robert Schoon

www.survivethecrisis.com

www.drschoon.com

 A pandemic is an epidemic that spreads through human populations across a large region. The coming depression can be viewed as a pandemic. We are only in the beginning stages of an economic pandemic that will decimate society before it is over.

Pandemics leave huge numbers of casualties in their wake and the coming depression will do the same. We are in its earliest stage where job losses are  increasing along with a rise in the homeless with increasing numbers moving in with families and friends.

When the later stages of the pandemic arrive, there will be more tent cities, safety nets will be strained to the breaking point and the toll of human misery will mount. We are not there yet but we will be soon.

We are unprepared for an economic pandemic of unprecedented proportions. Indeed, those in charge tell us that the danger is past, that a economic collapse has been averted, that we are on our way to recovery.

The truth is we are being lied to. There is a truth in knowing that. Be prepared. Be forwarned.

Darryl Robert Schoon

www.survivethecrisis.com

www.drschoon.com

 When the summer of 09 ends, it will be difficult to remember what spring was like. This summer all that has been swept under the rug will resurface with devestating results. Rising foreclosures, more job losses, more bankruptcies and a continuing collapse of credit will destroy the optimism that tentatively emerged in spring 09. By the end of the summer, tentative optimism will be replaced by harsh reality.

I understand the need for optimism. I am amazed, however, at the need to cling to blind hope instead of facing what will be. Being trapped is a state of mind as much as an actuality. Even small moves can bring larger objectives into focus. But as long as people remain hopefully blind to what may happen, they will become victims in a future that will be far worse than can be imagined.

The past thirty years have led many to believe that tomorrow will always be better than today. That may suffice for sentimental greeting cards but it will do a great disservice to those who should have acted and didn't, hoping instead that tomorrow will always be better than today. Trust me, it won't.

Act now. Do something, even seemingly insignificant, as any action is better than none. Action begats more action and action is what is needed before the end of summer arrives.

Darryl Robert Schoon

www.survivethecrisis.com

www.drschoon.com