I don't know about you, but the fanatical ideas, in the TV shows and Movies profiting on this fearful situation, do not seem realistic.
The examples in the pages above of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl and the Great Depression historically prove that during economic upheaval there is less drama and more slow suffering.
They also prove that there were people that made right decisions, and did well, during those economically difficult times.
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What if we do enter another Great Depression? Can people actually survive, and more than that...actually do better economically?
First ; Take a look at five interesting stories of Great Depression success stories.
Do you see a common thread in these five stories?
1. The first most obvious answer, you should have quickly responded, was the fact they all were aggressive in making changes and moving quickly to implement those changes.
2. They didn't "scale back" and try to hide from the circumstances around them.
3. And most importantly - they focused on rising above the fear and havoc to find that road less traveled by the suffering masses, and looked for a way to adapt and succeed.
Are YOU ready to look for ways to adapt and succeed?
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My Father, pictured here to the left with Roy Clark and myself, was born to a very successful California business man Elwood Smith.
Elwood Smith built himself a fortune through the Great Depression, owning 50 acres down to beach front property in Lake Tahoe, and a large estate in Carmel California.
Walt Smith was not a business man though, his focus was on ranches (one he lost in the bank crack down on farms and ranches in 1980) but he was still the son of a wealthy man.
With those millions Elwood Smith should have been able to pass that wealth on to Walt Smith, and his son's, amassing an even larger fortune. But instead, his son (my father), was more focused on his new guitar invention called the Melobar (see history).
When my father died, he not only had spent $700,000 in his inheritance (that is 1970's dollars btw), but had left me with $200,000 of debt. The instrument had endorsements from the Rolling Stones to Roy Clark but had sold less than a hundred guitars over twenty years.
I turned that economic disaster into a profit within two years. But then made my own mistakes, and ended up going bankrupt from that guitar company ten years later, having to pull myself up from the boot straps again, and within five years had a company grossing near a million dollars with 26 employees.
I've published several books on the experience you can purchase on Amazon (click here)
Three times in life I have had to face that wall of economic crash, and if there is anything I can share in life, it's the fact that there is ALWAYS a way to win.
Because of the overwhelming odds I've had to face economically on those occasions; it has become a study of mine to determine if there is a common design to succeeding in tough circumstances.
The field of study took me to one of the worse depressions in world history...Germany 1920's.
Here was a beaten country, with hyper inflation beyond, hopefully, anything we will ever see again; that within 7 years nearly took over the world. The ugliness of the NAZI party overshadows that history, so many people never even think of looking at the WHY and HOW of it's incredible success. But the truth is, people like Charles Lindbergh, saw how the economic decisions had rescued a failing country.
Fate then brought me into a relationship I never thought possible. I found that my wife's Grandfather had lived right in the middle of that part of history in Germany, and his insight was incredible. Something I'm so excited to share as we continue with this blog.
As we look for answers to how to survive and actually succeed in hyper-inflation and probable economic depression; we will separate out the fascism and radical politics, the fear mongering and lack of hope, to drill down on how we can learn from those who had SUCESS IN ECONOMIC DEPRESSION.
