A recent article in Zero Hedge warns about the upcoming winter of 2019-2020. Slinging phrases like “catastrophic winter” and “snow-verload,” we are told that the solar minimum is upon us, no matter what the “manmade global warming” true believers claim. (Of course, those true believers claim this is all manmade, due to carbon dioxide, methane, and CFCs etc. released into the atmosphere by our use of “fossil fuels” and destruction of the rainforest.)

Then the story (originally posted here) goes into an apocalyptical fit. We are barely able to feed ourselves now and even a single bad harvest will cause mass starvation – even in the Fifty States. Disaster is upon us!

Are we prepared? Individually? Or will we let government “handle” it?

Last winter (2018-19) was not exactly a fun winter for much of the Fifty States, followed immediately by a very wet and delayed spring which filled (and overfilled) reservoirs, washed out highways and railroads, and flooded fields. All in all, it was a short summer, with winter weather coming quite a bit earlier than popular memory recalls, this fall. Government’s track record in preparing for, and dealing with, the problems wasn’t all that good. And all too often, past government actions made matters worse.

And now we are going to get worse: a year of “great storms” and bitter cold. And we have already been warned by the prelude in October and November across much of North America. Disaster is upon us! Government, save us!

Garbage. And worse.

One of the many geopolitical advantages that the Fifty States (especially the Contiguous Forty-Eight States) enjoys is the vast range of climatic regimes. And its vastness, and the excellent natural and manmade transportation network connecting those areas. Yes, an extremely bad year may completely wipe out harvests in large areas: all of the Dakotas and Minnesota, perhaps. Or Iowa and Nebraska. Or the Great Lakes region. But even in the worst of climate and weather scenarios, there are still vast areas that can produce. And unlike Africa, Asia, or even Eurasia, the transportation networks can and do transfer products from one region to another with ease.

Provided, of course, that government allows the free market to work. And hasn’t so crippled private enterprise and the market that the market cannot work. And doesn’t rob us blind, thereby denying people the resources that they need (or can donate to help others).

And provided that people accept personal responsibility for their own welfare.

I point out that the ZeroHedge article is speaking heresy, in the view of the manmade climate change worshippers. (Yes, I’m being negative towards them.) The entire idea of manmade global climate change seems to be little more than a convenient excuse for extreme environism to dictate virtually every aspect of life. With the environism itself little more than a deceptive shell for more and more government control – again, of every aspect of life.

Of course, the ZeroHedge story with its dire predictions of disaster and doom, also plays into the hands of government. “We must respond! If we do not work together, we shall all surely die separately! Only if we let government mandate what we must do, we’ll never survive!”

Again, I say “Garbage!”

Like the potential of large meteor strikes on the planet, discussed recently, the dangers presented by massive natural disasters are real. (And much more likely, based on history of the last 6,000 or so years.) As well as solar fluctuations and purely weather-related problems, these include:

• Volcanic eruption
• Earthquakes
• Tsunamis
• Land subsidence (gradual settling or sudden sinking of the earth’s surface)
• Solar storms (knocking out communications and power)

Such dangers and disasters are hard to predict, and difficult to plan for. I submit that our ability to prevent major impacts from such things, and to respond to them, are damaged by dependence on government. And especially on centrally-planned, top-down types of government. We falsely think that government MUST be in charge of planning and responding to these threats, in part because they can steal money from others so easily to “fix” the problems.

But just as with so many other matters of daily life, I suggest that voluntary cooperation and private actions can do a better job. Not just private enterprise (assumed to be for profit), but non-profit and volunteer (unpaid) activities. Mandatory government seems to just mess the situation up more. And indeed, such things as flood insurance, disaster declarations with massive funding, and other government actions make disasters more likely and worse. This point has been made obvious virtually every year during hurricane season. It is made clear multiple times a year in forest fires in California, and less frequently in Colorado and other places. If someone else is paying for the damage and recovery, people are more likely to make stupid mistakes.

That is likely going to be the case this year, if we do have a very bad winter. Instead of preparing on their own, people will shrug and “let government worry about it.” They will expect government to feed them, house them, rescue their pets, clear the roads and the runways, and more. While continuing to buy into the manmade global warming fanatics that will blame the weather on man’s actions, and not the usual workings of the universe.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.