Survivre à l'effondrement économique

by Piero San Giorgio, Michel Drac (Préface)

For millions of people, the ongoing economic crisis has marked the End of the World As We Know It. The "American Dream" (and ones like it) of a guaranteed job, a home, and a pension, has given way to the nightmare of unemployment, unpayable debt, depression, and uncertainty. In Survive The Economic Collapse , Piero San Giorgio looks behind the headlines and sound bites and demonstrates that today's economic crisis is no temporary "downturn," nor is it simply the result of bad policies. The crisis is the beginning of the end of a global paradigm when expectations of endless economic growth and progress crash up against the reality of scarcity and limited resources. The implications of the collapse cannot be ignored: a steep decline in living standards due to the evaporation of easy credit; a new political landscape that might inspire nationalism, geopolitical reshuffling, and even wars over resources; and, potentially, a reduction in global population. No mere doom-sayer, San Giorgio explains not just how to understand the crisis but overcome it how to foster a resilient community, stay healthy, and become self-sufficient and productive in the "interesting times" that lie ahead. Packed with tactical information and resources, Survive is nothing less than a field manual for the apocalypse.

Genres: Nonfiction, Survival

422 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 2011

About the author

Piero San Giorgio est depuis 20ans dans l industrie high-tech, responsable des marchés émergeants d Europe de l Est, Moyen Orient et Afrique. Depuis 2005, il se prépare à l effondrement de l économie et étudie les moyens d y survivre. Son premier livre : « survivre à l effondrement économique », paru en 2011, a été un best-seller. Ce succès a fait de Piero San Giorgio un « porte-parole » éminent du mouvement survivaliste dans le monde francophone

Reviews

[Lysda Smythe · Rating 3 out of 5]

La première partie et la deuxieme partie sont inutiles, avec des accents xénophobes et catastrophistes.
La troisième partie est vraiment bien, c'est tout ce qu'on attend d'un manuel de survivalisme, même si certaines problématiques sont laissées de côté et témoigne d'un point de vue très csp + masculin. Mais les réflexes de planification, de listes, sont intéressants à avoir et à mettre en oeuvre. J'aurais aimé plus de ressources en terme de livres...

J'ai découvert par la suite que l'auteur est proche de certains écrivains d'extrême droite. Ça ne me surprend pas. Je ne le recommande donc pas et j'essaye de chercher d'autres livres survivaliste utiles qui ne soient pas des fascistes mais j'ai cru comprendre que ce n'était pas facile....

[Dom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book outweighed my expectations. As a so called 'Urbanite' this book awoke my to the gravity of our situation as a civilization, and how far we have deteriorated into a state of unparalleled uncertainty. Piero depicts our modern civilization as one on an exponential roller coaster of growth on a earth of finite resources. He does not preach apocalypse, he allows the reader to think for himself, but he still warns of the adverse dangers of our modern times; and the path we are most likely headed down.
I was first introduced by this book by the infamous Varg Vikernes, the Norwegian black metal artist preached this book as a expansion upon his own ideas of survivalism and self sufficiency. I was interested to learn what this book held to offer.
Near the beginning of the book the author tells a tale of a herd of caribou put on an island by the military as a surplus food source. Soon later the caribou experience something called 'the tragedy of the commons', and with enough time the herd expels all the resources on the island and ultimately the heard had completely perished. This analogy greatly puts into perspective the state of our civilization and the supposed path we are headed down.
Overall the beginning act of the book was great, and the second act was even better. I would recommend this book to my closest friends. I always knew there was something wrong with our modern society, and its only a matter of time before it falls.

[belisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

çılgın bir kitaptı, bütün paranoyakça korkularımı, çocukluğumda izlediğim felaket filmlerinden sonra edindiğim garip alışkanlıkları hatırlattı... ürkütücü bir gelecek hakkında ilginç fikirler ve hazırlık için saygın bir yapılanma...

[Rouzanna Sarkissian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not about how to survive the economic collapse. This book is about how to survive the catastrophic future that Piero San Giorgio predicts for the humanity. It is a warning of sorts.

As I see it, "Survive..." effectively comprises two sections: dystopian and utopian. In the first section the author lets his assumptions and imagination run wild, describing in detail all the horrific consequences of the world running out of fossil fuel (according to his estimates, by 2020). The failure of the endless economic growth paradigm; climate change; exponential population growth, and, finally, running out of the limited resources, will bring about end of days. Falling cities without electricity, water, and sewage, not to mention food. Financial system is down, infrastructure has been destroyed. Gangs of crazy people who lost everything, scouring suburbs and villages for bread and water, rats eating decomposing bodies of those who died of raging epidemics, etc., you have the idea. Mr. San Giorgio even complements every chapter with a fictional short story exploring every specific topic in more depth.

The second section, on the other hand, contains guidance on creating your own autonomous unit somewhere far from civilization, where you can continue to enjoy the comfort of life when the world goes into total chaos. You buy land, build an energy efficient house, stock it up with food and medical equipment/drugs, establish your own hydro power plant or install solar panels, buy seeds and livestock, arrange taking with you the books and cultural heritage you want to preserve for the surviving humanity - in other words, follow the footsteps of Noah. Why I call this part "utopian" is because, well, even assuming one manages to put in all the effort and funds required to build this little paradise, how long will they be able to protect it from invaders? Big question.

I can't say whether or when the catastrophe that Piero San Giorgio predicts will happen. Or, if it happens, whether we will be able to survive it - as individuals and as species. One thing is for certain: "Survive..." makes you think. Above all, it makes you appreciate the life you currently have, in all its awesomeness. And fragility. Perhaps, if more people read it, we will have better odds of surviving. That's why, even though it turned out a totally different book than I had expected, 4 out of 5.

[Simeon Mihaylov · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars.
Is this the book that will give you the ultimate wisdom on how to survive in a SHTF situation? No, absolutely not. What indeed will give you is a great summarized information from the whole spectrum of books covering this thematic. On top of that, the author is greatly describing the potential scenarios and reasons why would be clever to be prepared. Personally I've been interested about prepping for 10 years, but this book was useful, because it helped me widen my perspective on what might come.
On the other hand Piero San Giorgio will definitely help you realize how many things we take for granted, but actually they've been around just in the late 50-100 years... before that, well... our ancestors weren't comfortable as we are and we might return to their way of living... believe it or not.


Happy reading :)