By Heather Callaghan

It started with a few Tweets about collapse and then turned into a blossoming preparedness discussion…

Yesterday was a bleak day for the Dow – the first time in ages a day of the week was referred to as a “Black Monday” and not referring to the day after Thanksgiving where everyone shows their gratitude for provision by trampling pregnant women with shopping carts and charging cheap electronics on plastic cards. True story.

Damian McBride, former special adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, is predicting a harrowing crash at some point and people are paying attention. Not only was he Brown’s right-hand man, but he apparently predicted the crash of 2008 in his book, Power Trip: A Decade of Policy, Plots and Spin.

Mirror UK reported:

The fear of a new financial crisis was sparked when the Shanghai Composite Index fell 8.45%, wiping out a year’s gain in a single day’s trading.

Hundreds of billions were wiped off share prices worldwide yesterday meaning over $5trillion have been wiped off global stocks since August 11. You can find out more about how this could affect you here.

Mirror also surmised that McBride predicted civil chaos because he hinted that banks would be unreliable in the event of impending collapse. Do you think that’s true given yesterday’s dismal market activity? At the same time, he acknowledges the Fed’s typical moves in placing band-aids on hemorrhaging. Today is called “Turnaround Tuesday” as people breathe a sigh of relief, but McBride is not convinced.

Here’s what he said – people’s responses to him are found on this Twitter account:

Advice on the looming crash, No.1: get hard cash in a safe place now; don’t assume banks & cashpoints will be open, or bank cards will work.

— Damian McBride (@DPMcBride) August 24, 2015

Crash advice No.2: do you have enough bottled water, tinned goods & other essentials at home to live a month indoors? If not, get shopping. — Damian McBride (@DPMcBride) August 24, 2015

Crash advice No.3: agree a rally point with your loved ones in case transport and communication gets cut off; somewhere you can all head to. — Damian McBride (@DPMcBride) August 24, 2015

Every day the era of easy borrowing persists just means even more loans that won’t be repaid when the real crash finally comes. — Damian McBride (@DPMcBride) August 25, 2015

Just like mid-October last year, the market howls; the Fed panics & puts the dummy back in; and we all pretend it’s OK again. It’s madness. — Damian McBride (@DPMcBride) August 25, 2015

I’m presuming the Central Banks will intervene to stop this market slide but that will just make the eventual, inescapable crash even worse. — Damian McBride (@DPMcBride) August 24, 2015

Today is just the stock market catching up with the terror over defaults that’s been gripping the bond market for months. — Damian McBride (@DPMcBride) August 24, 2015

.@thomasdolphin The real problem will be when all the bad loans fuelled by cheap borrowing (and in China, shadow banking) start to default.. — Damian McBride (@DPMcBride) August 24, 2015

RT: “@Mimisaurus85: @DPMcBride and wine!” >> I did say “and other essentials”, Princess – I didn’t just mean toilet roll and batteries.

— Damian McBride (@DPMcBride) August 25, 2015

You don’t have to have a Twitter account to peek in on the developing discussion – visit Damian Mcbride’s Twitter account and click the links that say “view conversation” to see the volley. He has been very friendly in answering people’s curiosity. Imagine getting prepping and economy tips from a former adviser to a British Prime Minister…

What do you think – is this sound advice for potential collapse? Do you think economic troubles will continue slowly or bottom out?

Help your friends think about their future – share this article!

Two recommended books on the topic (still reading both):

When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes

When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency, 2nd Ed…

The photo “Pantry” is by Robert Benner and is published under Creative Commons Licence

Heather Callaghan is a natural health blogger and food freedom activist. You can see her work at NaturalBlaze.com and ActivistPost.com. Like at Facebook.

Recent posts by Heather Callaghan