Thoughts Rising From a Grocery Trip

I happened to stop at a Walmart yesterday (needed a lot of diverse things – shower rod, hardware, and garden). I didn’t find as much in the store that I had on the list, so I decided to pick up a few things I’d been meaning to get at a grocery.

Guys, I haven’t been that shocked in a LONG time.

The staples were just about wiped out. The kind of things that sensible people have in their pantry or freezer? Flour, sugar, coffee? Seriously depleted, particularly the generic or cheaper items. You could find some gourmet or specialty brands, but you were going to pay for them.

Overall, the prices were at least 1/3 higher than they had been a few months ago. In some cases, IF the items were available, the prices had nearly doubled.

Now, I’ve been insulated from this, because my husband loves to shop. Not just groceries, but also Dollar store type items, clothing, hardware – you name it, he loves to look for bargains. Until recently, I hadn’t been in a store for some time. The only shopping I’d done was with my budget-minded daughter, who steered me to a discount clothing store. And, a local resale shop, where I’d picked up stuff for the new house at bargain prices.

But, in Walmart, I was seeing prices that the average household was paying for basic necessities. And, it was chilling.

Not only higher prices, but things that were not available – for example, crunchy peanut butter. Basic brand-name types of creamy peanut butter were there, as were high-end brands.

But, no crunchy.

I’ll admit it – I’m your standard American – spoiled rotten with expectations of shopping abundance, choice, and prices within reach of the average person. Any shortages are short-term, and often weather or natural disaster caused.

This is a man-made, deliberate change. It has been caused by Leftists and their collaborators, and designed to break our will and ability to resist government authority.

It’s nothing new. Famine and disease have long been used as a tactic against political and ideological enemies. Some famous examples of that include the Ukranian Holodomor, the Ethiopian ‘famine’, and the deliberate starvation of enemies of the Reich. Even a dedicated Leftist, Theodore H. White, recognized the tactic when he saw it in pre-Maoist China. I read his autobiography when it first came out – you can still find used copies. I remember being surprised at his candor about his radical political beliefs. It’s a good look at the issues and forces that lay behind the loss of China to communism (slanted, but also remarkably candid at times).

You have to use caution when reading those books your enemies wrote, taking a skeptical position as to veracity and missing information. But, it does help you to get an appreciation of their viewpoint, as well as understand the seductive nature of their arguments.

I blogged yesterday on a lot of different things – COVID issues, recycling, and Buttigieg, to name a few. About once a week, I’m collecting random bits of news and ideas that caught my eye, and blogging about them. I’m not trying to “get a scoop”, just to focus on what interests me that is not particularly time-sensitive.

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    • Toastrider on October 20, 2021 at 9:14 AM

    “Cherish your enemies; they teach you the best lessons.” –attributed to Ho Chi Minh, possibly apocryphal
    The latest shortage I’ve seen; pulling into the gas station, of the usual three options (87, 89, and 93 octane gas), the first two were flat out. Only 93 (the most expensive) was still available.
    The problem with using famine and starvation as a weapon is that it can crystallize resistance like nothing else. And the U.S. is not the Ukraine, China, Germany, or Ethiopia. It is entirely possible if the regime continues blithering on, states will begin to take their own steps and not care what the feds think or whine about.

    • enn ess on October 20, 2021 at 1:49 PM

    Hang on to your shorts, it’s coming to winter, things are going to get exceedingly worse as this progresses. The effect of the mandates and firings have not yet hit and savings are not yet completely gone or the shelves empty for days/going into weeks. The most dangerous creature on the planet throughout history of the human race is a hungry creature of any species. 
    And they are about to unleash a hungry momma bear – with cubs. All I can say is, their lives will not end well.

    • NITZKHON on October 21, 2021 at 9:00 AM

    My wife’s people – the Kazakhs – were also starved by Stalin.  1/3 of the ethnic Kazakhs perished.
    And I weep: when I point these things out, and shortages, and all that to my wife… she’s like “But that was in the 1930’s – that can’t happen today”!

  1. Oh, honey! Women are very loath to accept reality sometimes.
    I’m not as ‘prepped’ as I’d like to be. My daughter and I want to get some harvest veggies, and do some canning. Any seeds I have are in SC, along with my indoor greenhouse.
    I will be paying attention to ‘stocking up’ sales over the next few weeks. Mostly long-term storage stuff – root veggies, beans/peas, canned meats, and stuff we can freeze. I may pay for the ammo replacement for my nephew, who gets out during deer season. We can have it butchered and put it in the freezer.

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