Can Government “Steal” Your Supplies? They’ve Done It Before.

The current situation in Venezuela, with its government rationing (doling out) all available food and other essentials to its people, making it illegal to “hoard” supplies, and now requiring identification to purchase food, has many preppers concerned that the same abuses of government will happen here in the U.S.

Recent changes in U.S. policy have only made these concerns stronger.

But many forget that history repeats itself.

Can the government steal your preps?

During the not-too-distant past, the U.S. government took more from its people than you might believe.

Comparisons between the two governments might not be as far from dead center as naysayers would have us believe.

More on that in a moment.

The editors over at SHTFPlan.com go beyond comparing the two governments, stating that the plans for our government to require ID to buy food may have already started here in the U.S. with our EBT cards:

What’s happening in Venezuela is a clear example of how government first causes the problem, often leading to panic, and then points the blame at everyone but themselves. Officials claim that unscrupulous merchants (who have been forced to sell goods at prices lower than they have acquired them) and the hoarding of food by individuals is to blame for the shortages.

The solution, of course, is more government, and in this case that means registration of fingerprints and other personal data in exchange for permission to purchase food. Be assured that the same plans are in place right here in the USA. In fact, we already have an electronic mechanism of exchange in the form of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. Should the worst happen and the US dollar crashes at some point in the future, those who failed to prepare (or, hoard as the government would suggest) are destined to forced registrations at their local post office or other government entity.

SHTFPlan cites an excellent article by Daisy Luther at The Organic Prepper describing exactly how the crisis in Venezuela and their government’s “solutions” potentially mirrors policy enacted here at home recently.

Daisy warns that legislation put in place by the Obama administration has already laid the groundwork to legalize the “appropriation” of your stockpile of food (and anything else they wish) at any time they choose.

Last year in Venezuela, it became a crime to “hoard” food, and the country’s Attorney General called upon prosecutors to crack down on “hoarders” by imprisoning them for the “crime”.

Some people may read this and think to themselves, “Why on earth do I care about what happens in Venezuela?”

You’d better care, because this is our future.

Already the Obama administration has moved the pieces into place on the board to be able to appropriate supplies from anyone, at any time.

This has set off a LOT of discussion – the SHTFPlan/Organic Prepper article read by almost 22,000 people as of today, with 261 comments — including comments about paranoia and a disbelief that this could really happen here in the U.S.

Would the U.S. tolerate forced rationing of critical supplies, like food, to its people?

History repeats

What these citizens forget is that it already has happened here! And not that long ago.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill put together a timeline of how the government insinuated itself into the people’s possessions during World War II, slowly at first, enlisting movie stars to help swallow the bitter pill.

But eventually, the government’s grip grew strong enough to imprison and fine anyone caught “hoarding.” The article includes:

Ask anyone who lived through the war on the U.S. “home front” about World War II and the conversation will quickly turn to rationing. America has always been — and thought of itself as — a land of abundance. Even in the depths of the Depression, there was enough to eat, if only you could afford to buy it. But as soon as the U.S. entered the war in the winter of 1941–42, shortages began. By 1943, it had become every citizen’s duty to cut back on meat, sugar, coffee, canned foods, fuel, shoes, and consumer goods — so “they’ll have enough.”

The military needed huge amounts of food, too, to feed soldiers, and by late 1942 food at home was running short.

Grocery stores started rationing canned goods to customers to prevent hoarding. Meat was in especially short supply. The government limited the amounts shipped to grocers and restaurants and set a “voluntary ration” of two and a half pounds of red meat per adult per week. But stores often could not get even that much, and residents of some cities faced a meatless Christmas. Shoppers in San Diego crossed the border into Mexico in search of full shelves. Time magazine blamed the government’s “blundering” for the shortages.

Not everyone accepted rationing with patriotic equanimity. Paul S. Willis, head of the Grocery Manufacturers of America, said: “The food predicament in this country is worse than terrifying. The Army is taking care of military food needs. The Agriculture Department is taking care of Lend-Lease. But no one is taking care of the 125 million home folks.”

We the people need to be prepared. Recognizing the warning signs, and that history repeats itself, are critical advantages to keeping safe.

The article at SHTFPlan.com offers next step preps to keep you and yours safe and fed.

What are your plans to keep your preps safe?