Economics crackerjack and Confluence blogger, Dakinikat, has a stark reality story on the economy that I highly recommend you go read (yes, go now, then come back). If I haven’t convinced you, then here are a few snips of what Dakinikat has to say about expert trend spotter, Gerald Celente:

Gerald Celente is one of those folks paid to spot trends. He correctly predicted the stock market crash of 1987 and the fall of the Soviet Union. You’ll start a farm and buy a rifle if you watch this video and take his predictions seriously. He says within four years there will be widespread food riots and tax rebellions in the US. His major message is that we are on the path to becoming the world’s biggest undeveloped nation.

…

I’d be one of those skeptics if Celente didn’t have such a successful record of predicting things.  This includes the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the subprime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar.  His prediction last November was also carried by the UPI and is amazingly spot on.

…

The scary deal is that this is Gerald Celente.  He is not one of those folks that makes a living reading Tarot Cards in Jackson Square.  He’s considered an expert at spotting megatrends and does so for many huge corporations including CNN.  His Trends Research Institute consults for many of the Fortune 100.  Just do a google on him and you’ll find he has an incredible reputation for getting things right.

Celente isn’t the only expert to forecast terrible weather ahead. On AC360, Suze Orman said our economy is in the “ICU,” there will be “a lot of people out on the streets,” and there could be “breadlines” within the next five years before an economic recovery. Here’s the video, but you can also read the transcript if you can’t watch Suze in that jacket with the weird collar.

I’m wishing now that I’d bought some land, a rifle, a trailer, a horse, and some chickens instead of a new car.