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Guest Post: Time To Plan For The Worst Rather Than Hope For The Best
Submitted by Brandon Smith of Alt-Market blog,
Preparation for disaster, whether natural or man-made, should be as vital as any ideal found in the various practices of religion and spiritualism. Preparedness should be treated with reverence, discipline and duty. The drive for preparation should be seated in the very heart of humanity. As individuals and as a society, we should hold preparedness dear, for it is an expression of the desire for survival and the key to maintaining our inherent freedoms. Without self-sufficiency, we set ourselves up for endless failure and enslavement.
Preparedness must be approached with passionate resolve; otherwise, there is no point. Halfhearted survivalists are just as likely, if not more likely, to get themselves killed as the average oblivious urbanite and suburbanite. Unfortunately, even in the liberty movement, I have come across many halfhearted and lazy survivalists who would rather hope for the best than prepare for the worst.
The primary issue has always been one of “distraction.” Even those who are fully informed of the very real and immediate dangers to our economy and our Nation as a whole find it difficult not to get wrapped up in the concerns of the old America. Mind-numbing job environments, superficial family dramas, television hypnosis, Facebook narcissism, consumer addictions, improving one’s perceived social status: all of these things waste precious time in our daily lives, making us weak and sapping our resiliency. They encourage us toward apathy. Always, we are telling ourselves: “I did nothing today, but tomorrow will be different.”
I hear many excuses and conflicts in my work as an economic analyst and preparedness adviser. Some come from people who are already in the liberty movement and should know better. Others come from people who for one reason or another seek to dissuade us from personal preparation. Here are just a handful of the many irrational arguments against survival planning that I am confronted with on a daily basis.
"Prepping Is For Crazy People And Chicken Littles"
Catastrophes occur all the time. Sometimes they are regional, sometimes they are national, and sometimes they are global. Since the age of the baby boomer, America has been spared widespread disaster for the most part, and this has bred in us a deep-rooted normalcy bias. We wander about in ignorance, thinking that tomorrow will always be just as comfortable as today and that because we have never witnessed real pain and suffering, we likely never will. To me, this attitude is far more unbalanced and insane than the forward-thinking mindset of the average prepper.
Hilariously, survivalists are called “crazy” simply because they refuse to operate on foolish assumptions like the rest of society. We know from modern historical example — from the Great Depression to Weimar Germany to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Bosnia, Argentina, Greece, etc. — that the prepared and independent live, while the rest often die. We refuse to assume, especially in light of recent events, that such calamity will not occur in the United States.
"Survivalism Is Stigmatized By Unpleasant Associations"
It’s true, propaganda organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center have gone out of their way to attack and marginalize survival culture. They seek to draw false associations between us and racist, extremist domestic terrorist, blah, blah, blah. In the end, none of this matters. The SPLC is an irrelevant entity clamoring desperately for relevance, and America’s survival communities continue to grow despite their subversive activities. The truth, once recognized, has a way of steamrolling over groups of liars.
Individual preppers and potential preppers need to stop worrying about what everyone else thinks and do what they need to do to ensure the longevity of themselves and their families. Labels are only as powerful as the credence we give them.
"My Family Is Not On Board"
I hear this one all the time; and, really, it doesn’t matter. If you can’t take preparatory actions without constant approval from your family, then perhaps you need to examine your family dynamic rather than throwing away your survival plans. Doing the right thing is not reliant on the affirmations of a spouse or relative. Doing the right thing means taking action regardless of the obstacle, even if that obstacle is family.
It might not seem like it now, but survivalism is worth all those late-night quarrels, angry stares and sarcastic rolling eyes. If they can’t accept that preparedness is a part of your life, then that is ultimately their problem, not yours. You can continue in the knowledge that, one day, they will thank you for ignoring their ankle-biting and self-absorption.
"I’m Always Too Busy"
No one is too busy for preparedness. Much of what the average American does each day is designed to distract and entertain him, rather than enrich him in a useful way. The sad reality of the American lifestyle is that it revolves around the desire to avoid being alone with our own thoughts. In fact, the consumer ideology thrives on people’s need to fill the vacuum with incessant entertainment and diversion. Much of what we call being “busy” is actually a self-created matrix of illusory and shallow amusement designed to help us forget the more important and vexing matters of the world.
Turn off the TV, skip a few parties, rethink the career you hate, take your eyes off your damn iPhone for a day and consider what is really important. Stop worrying about what is comfortable and accept that very soon all the conveniences you now find yourself attached to may disappear anyway. Wean yourself off the teat of the establishment now or be forced to go cold turkey later. These are your options. Get used to it.
"I Can’t Afford To Prepare"
In some cases, I find this to be true. We are, after all, in the midst of an economic collapse, and many Americans are indeed falling into poverty. However, in at least half of the instances where I hear this excuse, it turns out not to be true.
Every survivalist starts out with nothing. He first builds a foundation, usually with a storage made up of essential bulk foods, and then expands. Food is the greatest Achilles’ heel of our culture. With the freight system our country has in place, grocery stores keep little to no real inventory and only a normal week’s worth of supplies on the shelf at any given time. During a crisis, this food disappears within hours, not days. Any imbalance in our freight system (like an explosion in gas prices) would result in a complete loss of national supply. A mere six weeks of disruption (as things stand today) would likely wipe out about 80 percent to 90 percent of the U.S. population through starvation.
Today, a single paycheck ($600 to $1,200) could be used to purchase enough dry bulk foods to last a family of four close to a year. Though variety may be lost, at least starvation is averted. Yet, many people, including those in the liberty movement, do not have even a year’s supply of basic staples, despite their low cost. If every family in the United States used one paycheck to purchase a food foundation, the effects of an economic collapse would be vastly minimized.
"I Like The Convenience Of The City, Even Though It Will Be Dangerous During Collapse"
The city is a distraction addict’s paradise. There is always something to mesmerize the senses at any given hour. On top of this, many cities are slathered with Federal funds, which the cities use to pour into beautification projects that give residents the illusion of economic improvement and progress. On a recent speaking tour in the Los Angeles area, I was reminded of the conundrum of the city environment. Millions of people on welfare and food stamps, exponential homelessness, massive potential for violence and destruction: yet they are surrounded by sharp, sleek, new shopping centers and refurbished business districts. The reality of many cities is that they are financially imploding, but on the surface everything glows like gold. This gives the average person and even some preppers a false sense of security.
If they refuse to move away from their beloved metropolis, preppers should at least have a retreat location relatively far from the area — at minimum, a day’s drive away and several days’ walking distance. If you do not have this, you are not prepared. The bottom line is: more people, more problems. Anyone who claims otherwise has never studied the collapse histories of other modernized nations.
"What’s The Point Of Preparing? You’re All Going To Die Anyway"
This is the nihilist argument, and it’s my favorite. Nihilists are weak-minded and weak-spirited people who realize, at least subconsciously, that they are incapable of struggle and survival. Deep down, they feel shame and self-loathing. But they would never admit to this openly. Instead, they project their weaknesses on the rest of humanity. In their mind, if they can’t survive, nobody can survive. By assuming that their weakness is everybody’s weakness, they protect their own fragile ego and avoid admitting that they are the only ones that have no chance of weathering a disaster.
"Stop Living In Fear: Humanity Is Adaptable, Technology Will Save Us"
This is probably the most idiotically pretentious philosophy being peddled around the liberty movement today, and it stems from what I call “delusional optimism.” You see, looking into the abyss and accepting the fact that you are about to be pushed over the edge is a difficult thing to do. Some people respond to the terror through fantasy. They imagine that the worst could not possibly happen, that there will be no consequences, that the pain of hitting the bottom will not be so bad, that in mid-drop someone will come along and teach them to fly. They search and search for that silver bullet solution that will save them from the wretched horror of full-blown social destruction.
This delusion manifests itself in many ways, but lately I have seen it coalesce in a movement toward technology worship.
Hell, I’m a fan of new technologies, too. And I certainly believe that many of them are suppressed by the establishment to keep the masses physically and psychologically dependent. That said, I am not foolhardy enough to believe that the mere presence of these technologies alone will save us from fiscal collapse and totalitarianism. Given time (lots of time), new technologies could help the masses break away from the mainstream system. This is time, I’m sorry to say, that we do not have. As I have discussed in recent articles on our economic situation, any tremor in the global system will be enough to send the entire edifice crashing down.
Hoping for a slow steady grind until we are able to adopt fantastic new tech is pushing the envelope of logic.
We already have the technological capability for the average person to live comfortably off the grid with electricity and other amenities we have grown fond of; yet the establishment elites are still in power, and they are still engineering numerous misfortunes. Until they are removed from power, no amount of invention is going to change a thing. The technological fantasy is used by many people to avoid the reality that a very ugly fight is coming, and whether they like it or not, they may have to one day experience and perhaps even participate in that ugliness.
Finally, survivalists do not do what they do out of fear. We do what we do out of love. We love freedom. We love the principles of liberty that founded this country. We love our children and seek to secure their futures. We are not afraid of collapse, because we are ready for collapse. We do not need to con ourselves with false optimism and false hope, because we have already strengthened our souls with reason and courage. True survivalists are exactly what every American should be already; honorable individuals steeped in the confidence of their own ability to handle any adversity, no matter how monstrous it may be.
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When the serious shit hits the serious fan the big bad guys will be hiding in their holes in the ground, and all their minions will be looking around saying "Hey. Did they just lock that door? I thought I had a ticket!"
By all means, prepare. But don't forget guns and ammo. Because, rest assured, when TSHTF the non-prepared will accuse you of "hoarding" and demand you give them all of it.
Best to have plenty of silver dollars and halves, as well. With them you can hire some young men as thugs to help guard your supplies. Otherwise you'll be so outnumbered that you won't have a prayer, and your family will starve after the neighborhood "Crisis Committee" steals all your preps.
Don't forget that in an "emergency," the local government (e.g. mayor) has legal authority to expropriate your property.
The young men will kill your ass.
If the shit really hits the fan, who is going to care about silver and gold - it is going to be about food, shelter and weapons to defend yourself.
By all means, prepare. But don't forget...
Good neighbors!
All neighbors are situational good neighbors; same for family.
In bedroom commuter communities, suburbia, and urban areas- yes. It's a whole different world when you venture out of those areas though, most small towns can raise and organize a few hundred men with ease and they have already been helping each other out their entire lives. Everyone knows who the bad apples are and if things ever came apart they would be dealt with quickly.
Find a place with good neighbors, and as you prepare -- remember that you are part of a community.
Everybody family should have the basics, food, water, salt, ammo, etc. for a year -- and then specialize in something that will make you valuable to the community. Like raising bluberries, or ducks, or wool, or being able to reload, or tan hides, or repair engines, or knowing how to make rocket stoves, or something.
unirealist, being an unrealist, said:
All of it? Sorry, they'll each get only the number of rounds it takes to drop them. No sense wasting ammo on cadavers.
C'mon, how far can any "Crisis Committee" member carry anything when they have a sucking chest wound?
That would certainly be an effective way to impose term limits.
Well, our local Mayor is welcome to our two old, high-mileage cars, 'cause that's all she will be getting.
We'll be "off on holiday" - just like we do many times a year, so nothing unusual for the "neighbours". Many of our "neighbours" are far from stupid, so we suspect they might just choose the same time to "go on holiday" too.
Nothing quite like holidaying with like-minded individuals (all of who have very useful skills!)
At the expense of me drilling at least a half dozen of them first... I'll be the first to share and aid my fellow man, but if one comes to expropriate or steal... "Talk to the muzzle"...
Ammo is gold.
Yes, alchemy truly exists!
Only with ammo does one turn lead into gold.
Well you can make gold bullets with gold, and if you don't shoot them you can sell them. In fact, you can collect spent bullets, and add an extra premium for their history. Sorry, just stuck for something to type.
Chicken Little: The sky is falling ~ The sky is falling
Crowd of People: Stop being so paranoid & sensational
Chicken Little: But NO, REALLY, Look up, there's a meteor bearing down on you as we speak at 12 o'clock high
COP: [reluctantly oblige]...
Chicken Little: See? Now do you believe me?
COP: What's on TV tonight?
~METEOR CRASHES TO EARTH ~ ONLY Chicken Little & 3 others survive the fallout~
Chicken Little: I TOLD YOU SO!
3 OTHERS: Fuck You you twat waffle
heh - any Chicken Little expecting to be thanked for warning people, AFTER the crisis, is going to be waiting a looooong time.
So I'm going to predict the next chapter in your story is Chicken Little being tried and hanged for being a witch (parm me, I mean being a terrist or money launderer) who knew about the crisis only b/c he helped cause it. Am I right?
Alas, poor francis sawyer, you'll NEVER be popular.
francis_sawyer
Spittle all over my keyboard, LOL...
'twat waffle'? Is that a kind of maxi pad? PS. And don't forget to stock the feminine products...
I keep catching myself hibernating in the winter. The snow has covered the winter wheat, hockey is on the tube, still have plenty of firewood from last falls cut.
Planting starts in a little more than a month. I'll just keep sleeping til then...
I have the ultimate in food security, MY WIFE. I have been fatting her up for years. That big fat FRENCH ASS is going to delicious. Stocked up on barbeque sauce too.
I'm not much of a Bible scholar, but the myth of Noah and the ark comes to mind when reading this. Isn't that a tale of a survivalist or 'prepper', being stigmatised for years by his 'normalcy-biased' family, neighbours, and friends?
close ~ but without all the homo shit...
Noah would be arrested for building a terrist device if he lived today.
then @ssfucked by the prison guards...
Anything that big? Nah! Just taxed and regulated to death.
He'd never get to that stage, the whole project would be bogged down at the EPA department, That is if Occupational Health and Safety didn't close him down first.
Well yes, Noah was a survivalist, but it is not the example you should give in justififying your cause. A better example is the negative, such as the 200 million who died last century who thought that socialism would save them, as it stabbed them in the back.
Hey Junker Coward! I'll see your down junk(thats definitely TMI territory) arrow and raise you an UP arrow
When the wave of human excrement washes over the land
Stand with like minded neighbors and Take Out 10!
Maybe your children will survive
Maybe they won't
Seriously though, why survive? What’s the big deal with the will to live; the real preparation is in the preparation to die. The narcissism in all this prepper shit amazes me…”oh I must propagate my genes, I must continue with this fucking gibberish whatever it takes” screw your genes you parasitic narcissists. You’re all fucked, see you (and your beans) when you get there.
That's a delusion. This is a normal consequences.
Or it does not work for you?
Okay, it does not work for you.
I just long to wake up and actually witness ONE SUNRISE where jew bankers don't have their grubby mitts into everything...
~~~
At that moment ~ I'll feel content to call it quits... [which may, at that point, become a self inflicted phenomenon, because without a doubt, if I waited too long, the whole pudding would become spoiled once again]...
Yeah they work for me, but what about the normal consequences of the normal consequences? How far do consequences go before they are abnormal? For me, everything bleeds into one, as im not fond of existential window dressing.
OK, so scratch "Itch" when the wheels fall off.
Normality or abnormality are entirely subjective, but in such a scenario I'd certainly consider the world a better place after Darwin delivers a good hard sledgehammer hit to this society.
I dont remember Darwinism ever being subject to the whims of popular opinion... Personally I dont like to confuse the economy with evolution, it leads to all sorts of irresolvable knee-jerk arguments where well-meaning capitalists start eating their words and end up looking like a gulity obese fridge raider. You cant pray for the powers of evolution to prevail in a system that simultaneously promotes financial cannibalism and scorns socialism at the same time. If you ask me, evolution is probably quite confused with respect to America. Anyhow, im off to bed, these thoughts have unfortunately sobered me up.
Fuck Darwinism too...
~~~
What is it?... 98% of all the species that ever lived on this planet are now EXTINCT?
There's your DARWINISM... I guess the fucking cockroaches must be jewish because they're the 'Chosen Ones'...
Yes, but fragments of their genome live on in everything...
Yes, creationism is the ducks nuts.
It's the genes using the macro-organism to propagate themselves.
That's one cool thing about the Collapse.
It's a filter that will very efficiently remove certain ideas from our species.
Like people who say "why survive?"
Oh right, a financial collapse is going to remove dour existential tendencies from the human race; after the "great collapse" and all the poverty, death, pain, war, filth and absurdity people are going to rejoice in the purity of the human race and never ever let another nasty nihilist thought enter their heads ... yeah, you've fucking lost it pal.
Oh,
and don't forget the clean underwear.
Never have a global apocolypse without clean underwear.
Imagine how embarassing it would be to have a morgue attendent say "Ewww, skids."
ZH's slogan should not be "on a long enough timeline" but rather
"Everyone shits their pants when they die...everyone."
Except for Beyonce' and people with colonostomies.
Heh, funny story, my niece was renting a place with her pos boyfriend and the landlord and his handyman stopped by to do some maintenance and the handyman has some kind of malfunction and they have to preform cpr on the old dude. The paramedics show up and shock him and get his ticker going again and he wakes up and realizes he shit himself and gets all pissed at everyone. Sucks dying but suck worse if you don't and shit yourself I guess.
A real pos!
The morgue attendee will be one of Mr Napolitano's DHS goons putting one in your neck. Your grave will be the ditch you fall into. No one will notice the skid marks...
'
Guest Post: Time To Plan For The Best and Hope For The Worst...'
there fixed it for ya....
Everything else being in good order, I've also resolved to use the fine china and crystal for everyday meals instead of only saving it for 'special' occassions. No more saving the good shit for later. A very pleasant and therapeutic way of letting go and preparing for any financial collapse, or, come what may.
Big Sis is the ultimate tinfoil hatter, sitting on a stockpile of 1.6 billion rounds of .40 cal hollow points, paranoid the unwashed masses will march on Washington with pitchforks. And she refuses to talk about any of her preps, just as prepper guides instruct.
Get yourself the highest quality box of deluxe chocolates you can and save for the third day of collapse, which is when the sheeple's larders are due to be emptied.
Errr... that won't make them come after me like a flesh-eating Zombie or anything will it? Because I thought that's what the tobacco was for.
You can make fake boxes of chocolate out of dog pooh, so I hear.
I beg to differ.
http://images.wikia.com/uncyclopedia/images/3/36/Typical_American.jpg
Actually all that fat increases metabolism rates. They will starve faster than the lean. On the plus side, you dont need soylent green, and the new motto of the Apocalypse will be 'People...is people.'
I also think people will fair better than predictions. Many people know what to do. More like, the 47% of people dependent on the government will die.
I've heard those high estimates pertaining to EMP scenarios. I think those estimates include riots, and overestimate sickness and infection from bad water. Very true, diarrhea from bad water, coupled with no food, is the big killer and can make a person go very quickly. And the individual caloric requirements to stay alive could easily double if people must become hunter-gatherers...
Nonetheless, there's lots and lots of people in small towns that know how to wing it. They'll use 95 proof moonshine to run their cars, and generators to run pumps, if they have to, but more likely only after they've already drained the 10,000 petrol tanks at the local Chevron stations.
For nervous persons, I highly recommend LIFESTRAWs. They were designed for 3rd world countries so people could even safely drink dirty ditch water without getting sick, but they are also great for campers. Retail about $10-$20 in USA at specialty outdoor outlets.
One is supposed to be sufficient for one person for an entire year, but probably more like 6 months heavy use. They are very small and only 1-2 ounces each. They are a microfilter, a fat straw, which removes 99.99% of pathogens/bacteria. Just stick the business end in any questionable mud puddle, if you must, and drink away. It is very liberating to know you will never have to lug around gallons of drinking water.
Lifestraw gets clogged easily. Also does not work in salt or brackish water (I live one block from ocean in CA). There has to be a better alternative.
Also there aren't many ponds or puddles of water in Southern California - so I guess we are F#cked. It rains only about three weeks a year here and there is fast evaporation.
It's not really "prepping"
I prefer the more gentlemanly term "maintaining family tradition"
You too? We are also "maintaining family tradition" with a variety of "pioneering skills" and maintaining "core values" of "self reliance" and a strong "work ethic". We are developing Leadership Skills.
Yeah. What is called prepping today was called common sense a few generations ago.
Grandpa Style. Bitchez!
Unfortunately, common sense isn't as common as it used to be.
Common sense died along with the "silent R" in Rights - responsibility, along with other notable declines in such quaint, old-fashioned concepts as being a good neighbour, contributing to Society (volunteer activities), respecting others rights and needs, respecting other Civilisations rights to do things THEIR way, not YOUR way - and many other ideas that helped to establish a functioning, mutually suportive civilisation based on the concepts of responsibility, and hard work, for the good of the individual, and ultimately, the benefit of all.
Wonder what went so badly wrong.
"Wonder what went so badly wrong."
"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions."
All Facilitated by your obliging worldwide central banking cartel, for the profit of those you cannot see, but whose presence you can surely feel...
"A mere six weeks of disruption (as things stand today) would likely wipe out about 80 percent to 90 percent of the U.S. population through starvation"
Are you shitting me ? The fat fucks in this country could easily live months on the stored lard deposits you see them hauling around. Some have so much they even have little scoters to park their corpulent asses on.
I suppose it doesn't matter for me and mine. We have no food and water storage either high calorie freeze dried and packable nor French RCIR's, nor calorie dense canned foods and tinned meats and fish. Nope. Nada. Zip.Zilch.Zero. Our tap water is fine a drinkable , so we have no need for those silly water purifiers or iodine tablets. You want water. You turn on the fucking tap. Simple as that.
We are just fat lazy sheep waiting to be slaughtered. We would never in a million years ever ever EVER think about engaging in activities like section hiking the Appalachian Trail or learning exactly what and how much we could comfortably pack for how long and still make good time through all sorts of terrain or weather. We'd never do anything like that. Why would we want to know what gear works and what doesn't in all different seasons and situations? We certainly aren't going to be bothered with learning stupid idiotic stuff like orienteering,comprehensive first aid and fieldcraft. This is America GODDAMNIT. We live in the greatest country in the world and our government would NEVER let anything happen like it does in all those places I see Sally Struthers go to them lazy shiftless cretins.
And don't even get me started all about firearms like you crazy gun nuts. Only the police and military and DHS should have them. They are here to protect us so stop being so paranoid. Just turn on the CNN or MSNBC - we are winning the war on those terroristss and if you watch the TV - there's nothing bad that's ever on there and that's proof for you! There is no need that any normal citizen would need a few gas piston 5.56 rifles with optics , spare parts kits for them, high capacity magazines and plenty of ammunition. It's ludicrous. Same as there's no reason any one should have a 12 gauge shotgun , a common caliber hunting rifle with optic and common caliber sidearms. Guns are bad and anyone who has them it's only a matter of time before they hurt themselves or shoot up an old folks home. If you have a problem - you call 911 like normal people do and the police will be there to save you within at least an hour or two.
We also don't need any of this precious metal nonsense you are always crowing about. It's not money,it's not green and you can't eat it,--- just try using it at the local supermarket - see how far you dumbasses get then. Money belongs in the bank where you get lots of compounded interest and it's insured by the FDIC. You want to get your money out then go to an ATM and take it out. Duh.
Bunch wingnuts here that should all be reported to the proper authorities. It's a good thing there's stuff PIPA , SOPA and CISPA along with Stellar Wind, the PatriotAct and Sec.1021(b)(2) of the 2012 NDAA keeping us safe from potential terrorist like some of you. We need to be kept safe. So what's wrong? If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear, ...right?
"A mere six weeks of disruption (as things stand today) would likely wipe out about 80 percent to 90 percent of the U.S. population through starvation"
Are you shitting me ? The fat fucks in this country could easily live months on the stored lard deposits you see them hauling around. Some have so much they even have little scoters to park their corpulent asses on.
I suppose it doesn't matter for me and mine. We have no food and water storage either high calorie freeze dried and packable nor French RCIR's, nor calorie dense canned foods and tinned meats and fish. Nope. Nada. Zip.Zilch.Zero. Our tap water is fine a drinkable , so we have no need for those silly water purifiers or iodine tablets. You want water. You turn on the fucking tap. Simple as that.
We are just fat lazy sheep waiting to be slaughtered. We would never in a million years ever ever EVER think about engaging in activities like section hiking the Appalachian Trail or learning exactly what and how much we could comfortably pack for how long and still make good time through all sorts of terrain or weather. We'd never do anything like that. Why would we want to know what gear works and what doesn't in all different seasons and situations? We certainly aren't going to be bothered with learning stupid idiotic stuff like orienteering,comprehensive first aid and fieldcraft. This is America GODDAMNIT. We live in the greatest country in the world and our government would NEVER let anything happen like it does in all those places I see Sally Struthers go to them lazy shiftless cretins.
And don't even get me started all about firearms like you crazy gun nuts. Only the police and military and DHS should have them. They are here to protect us so stop being so paranoid. Just turn on the CNN or MSNBC - we are winning the war on those terroristss and if you watch the TV - there's nothing bad that's ever on there and that's proof for you! There is no need that any normal citizen would need a few gas piston 5.56 rifles with optics , spare parts kits for them, high capacity magazines and plenty of ammunition. It's ludicrous. Same as there's no reason any one should have a 12 gauge shotgun , a common caliber hunting rifle with optic and common caliber sidearms. Guns are bad and anyone who has them it's only a matter of time before they hurt themselves or shoot up an old folks home. If you have a problem - you call 911 like normal people do and the police will be there to save you within at least an hour or two.
We also don't need any of this precious metal nonsense you are always crowing about. It's not money,it's not green and you can't eat it,--- just try using it at the local supermarket - see how far you dumbasses get then. Money belongs in the bank where you get lots of compounded interest and it's insured by the FDIC. You want to get your money out then go to an ATM and take it out. Duh.
Bunch wingnuts here that should all be reported to the proper authorities. It's a good thing there's stuff PIPA , SOPA and CISPA along with Stellar Wind, the PatriotAct and Sec.1021(b)(2) of the 2012 NDAA keeping us safe from potential terrorist like some of you. We need to be kept safe. So what's wrong? If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear, ...right?
Deer camp SHTF scenario rules:
An individual or small group of urban refugees travelling down the road wearily pushing their pitiful remaining belongings in a garden cart would be welcomed in for food and water.
An individual or small group of desperados hiking through the back woods wearing field packs and carrying firearms would be dealt with differently.
All you mobile Rambos better stick to the State and Federal lands. You go onto private land you'll be considered hostile invaders.
Yup, you'll be able to just hit the road and drive to where ever you want. No need to think about ever having to hoof it. Nope. Not ever. That's fine bub, I'm happy knowing I'm a better shot and can move twice as fast and far with a 45lb pack on my back as you can slack pack. I'll take my chances and rely on my SERE training and years of hunting and back country skills to take care of my skinny ass til I get to where I'm goin.
So, you'll be welcoming in the Golden Hordes to share your food and water? I call big steaming pile of honking bullshit on you.
You wouldn't make it through the first mile of private land in my area, I guarantee it. It will be like the 10-day gun deer season, with every deer stand filled. Some stranger carrying 45# of survival gear and a sweet firearm coming through the woods would be better than a 12-point buck.
Most deer in my area are shot at 50 feet, not yards. You can't see 50 yards through the woods. The guys that can shoot take the cornfield stands and a 30-06. The less practiced guys get the tree stands and a 30-30 in the woods. Either way you'd be down before you went a mile. Nothing with horns gets through. The smart buck lay in the swamp for 10 days until the shooting stops.
That's your neck of the woods partner. And I can just as easily go to ground and wait it out. Like I said , chances are you're gonna be walking sooner or later , might as well have the knowledge and the experience how and when to do it.
I personally think the nihilist argument is a strong one. You can draw your own conclusions about me from that if you want.
The truth is that if you survive, you will grow old and demented in a collapsing world. Some victory!
I am of course a prepper, but I have no illusions.
My maternal grandfather just passed February 3 at home, in the "sticks" in the presence of family 38 days shy of his 101st birthday never having resided in an old folks home or needing any inordinant amount of care in his later years. I was photographed as a toddler with mom, him, his dad and his grandfather and the latter was born in 1862 and never resided in an old folks home or needed an inordinate amount of late life care (and he missed the moon landing by about 4-6 months).
Grandpap and earlier grew up when the horse was the predominant or only means of travel. While by no means "wealthy" by any monetary metric, they all lived well, if hard working, lives.
You should consider that is your possible fate and live accordingly.
Interesting note, none of them ever had debt, and I've subsequently learned that one single factor almost exclusive to those who live beyond 100 is that they did not live under a debt burden.
My paternal grandfather lived similarly, to 89, but my grandmother preceded him in death (not by long) and he was a slave of the Japanese Empire for 3.5 years and did 32.5 years in the Navy, so that contributed to his "early" demise probably.
The point I'm trying to make here is, a "collapsing world" is not the end of all. If you are "prepped" and come through any chaotic part of it, even sans the "amusements" of the current civilization, you can lead a happy and productive life and be an educational inspiration to your progeny.
Condolences on the loss of your grandfather...wonderfully observed my friend. Valuable sentiment indeed...
e.g. what of 400+ nuclear plants around the world no longer maintained, and what of all kinds of toxic chemical plants and stockpiles no longer managed by the handful of people with the requisite knowledge ? It's not going to be back to the Nature of the pre-industrial world -- the industrial world will not let go so easily ...
dup.
Ever look in a Morman's pantry? They are supposed to maintain a years stock of food. Most are good for at least three months.
Or, there's the wheat, milk and honey crowd. Technically they have the calories, carbs and protien to last a year. What a yummy diet that would be.
I'd love to sit and chat about prep'ing, but I gotta go can 40Lbs of sausage and chicken I got at insane, loss-leader prices.
So sitting there in your hidey hole, waiting like Chicken Little is preferable to living in the moment and finding connections with other people? Cutting yourself off from other people, including your not-on-board family, when those connections may be the only thing to turn to in hard times? Choosing to live in some paranoid fantasy is what I would call delusional. Life is too short not to enjoy what you choose to call illusions, and dragging your impressionable children into your paranoia with you is one way to nurture mental illness. Please keep your spawn and your guns away from my kid's school.
It's usually the drugged -out, pussified Emo faggot, video- game seratonin junkie, pseudo Autistic/Asperger's, peanut allergy, trophy- for -6th -place, mommy's angels with parents who have their liberal douchebag Lesbaru-driving heads shoved up their asses, that go on spree killings or end up torturing small animals or pathetic emotional leeches.
The kids that grow up with a respect for hard work, the outdoors, and a working knowledge of firearms and safe practices , plus self sufficiency minus an entitlement for instant gratifiation and socialized properly with others aren't the one's you need to fear.
Normalcy bias - it's a real bitch.
if only it were so black and white.
and btw, if you get passed by an sti in your gutless standard sedan, it might just be me.
And you will get blown away by my Challenger RT. Eat my dust Biatches....
And I'll pass you after you run out of gas, in either my hyper-miling econobox or my 4x4 bugout tank w/ 44 gallons of gas.
If gas becomes a problem then we are both fucked.
Uh your hyper-milling econobox won't make it off road - you will break the motor mounts fairly quickly. If you think a Challenger can't handle off road, see the Vanishing Point movie. Everything on that car is superreinforced. Oh I have a 19 gallon gas tank too - econobox maybe 13 gallons.
My car has an ECO feature that turns off four of the cylinders when they are not needed. It actually works. I drove across country this summer and got 30+ miles per gallon driving through Texas (and not stopping for hours).
Also my car is HUGE inside and very comfortable. Also it is built like a tank. So when the SHTF, I am in the Mad Max vehicle and you are crawling around in a Jeepnee. (Before you go there I have traction control.)
You gave me a good idea - my trunk is so big I can easily put another gas tank in there. So we're even-steven - except I can go about 4x faster than you. AND I WILL LOOK GOOD DOING IT.
Thank You!
Your answer was soooo much better than mine.
That's at least gotta be good for post of the week...
GREAT post. Re-invigorates my resolve.
For an EXCELLENT starter/community reference, this is a must buy:
http://afailureofcivility.com/Home_Page.php
Matt Bracken, (http://enemiesforeignanddomestic.com/), whom I have known as an aquaintance a long time on another forum, stated "If I had traded 10 loaded AR magazines for this book, I would have been happy and though I'd come out on top". He knows his shit and is a 1%er in my book as far as knowledgeable Patriot/Americans go...
Ah, the huckster with a book. After wading through the posts on this story, here's my 2 cents.
1.) Start a garden. Regardless of what happens you'll be eating. Maybe not with the variety you'd like, but you'll have chow. Grow what you like to eat, and try to be sure that what you grow meets your dietary needs.
2.) Own a firearm. Own ammo for said firearm. Know how to use same.
3.) Have fuel. Not so much for vehicles, (a luxury), but for cooking and heating. Know where to get more fuel if you should run out.
4.) Own hand tools. Owning and having power tools is cool, but you need a lot more energy to run them. Be sure that the tools you own include gardening tools.
5.) Have an independent source of water. Be sure you know how to make that source of water potable.
6.) Learn some first aid. Have medical supplies stockpiled, especially if you are on medications, (much more likely as you get older).
7.) Have a library. Make your library from paper books, (the power to run computers or the computers themselves may be compromised). Make your library mostly from technical books about everything you do not want to live without.
8.) Get to know your neighbors. Let them know what you are up to and get them involved. You are going to need them as much as they are going to need you. Have them do what you are doing, (except have them grow different things than you are).
9.) Sitting in the dark sucks. Learn how to generate electricity. Solar, biogas, and alcohol, (to name a few), can all be sources of electricity.
10.) Learn how to preserve food. Dehydrating, canning, salting or brining can preserve food you grow or raise indefinitely.
If social unrest comes, it will be relatively short lived. Think about six months tops. The unprepared will starve to death, (or be to a point where they are no longer a threat), by then. Then it will be time to rebuild.
You got it?
You got it.
Nothing but flowers.
One firearm? Not fekking enough.
To face the four horsemen and make it in a post collapse world, you will need at least one shotgun, one pistol, one .22Lr rifle, one assault rifle, and one high-powered rifle. Multiplied by two as the police might come in and seize one item. In the meantime, you would be without your magic combo to survival in a post apocalyptic environment.
Also have a firearmish that does not require bullets like a 1200 fps pellet gun. Can be used for critters without making a bunch of noise (and giving your position away). Also no muzzle flash.
You can buy a TON of ammo for very little. I am a wicked shot with mine.
"Huckster with a book"??? I don't even know the guys who wrote it, just bought it and passed on my 2 cents worth. Thanks for clearing up any doubts I might have had as to you being an asshole...
@ananonymous: Just how long do you plan on being out there killing other humans? And your solution for someone approaching your home because their hungry is to shoot them?
@Axenolith: So you dropped $30 on this book by "veteran combat special ops soldiers". Congrats. But the reality is that most people who are going to die are going to do so from hunger, exposure, disease and the #1 killer, stupidity.
They will lose what little savings they have to a collapsing dollar, and they will starve to death because they never believed it could happen here and to them. If you doubt this, just look how things went in New York with nothing more than a hurricane. People there were out of fuel and food in two days.
The future belongs to those who are the most self-reliant. But it's always been that way. I love it when people who have never shot anyone spout off about how they are going to use firearms to solve their problems. Let me ask you this: Do you plan on shooting your "maurading attackers'" children also? Are you planning on shooting people just because they are starving and at your door?
If you live in America, your government has tossed the Rule of Law away. When it eventually collapses, (and it will when their bogus currency fails), do you plan to do the same or are you planning to re-institute it?
As far as you thinking me an asshole, take a number and stand in line. As one of the bits of my fraternal order goes, "Everyone thought I was an asshole until they found out I was a clamper."
I plan on having a nice warm fire under the stars with a cup of hot Joe or a shot of whiskey, beans and fresh bread, care to sit down? Got an after dinner smoke to boot. Maybe tomorrow we can catch a fish or two for dinner my friend?
Life will go on.......
I'll meet you down by the river. I've got a few cheap cigars and some time to kill.
Awww Fuck all this shit man.
I have bought gold - quite a bit of it.
If that doesn't allow me and my family to live with some sort of dignity when this fucked up world busts then I don't want to live - I will swallow a bucket of tablets and leave you fucking idiots to blow your brains out with your guns and ammo.
I am not about to live a live scrounging for food and wondering who is going to show up at my door and rob me.
If that's what is coming then you can bloody well have it.
Wow - I would think that surviving the "world collapse" is the time when life will be the most challenging and therefore satisfying. A chance to really make a difference rather than the rat race existence of today.
a Collapse Romantic !
Their is no survial without healing... http://shutupnsing.wordpress.com/2013/03/23/the-broken-heart-of-the-world/
" I have come across many halfhearted and lazy survivalists who would rather hope for the best than prepare for the worst."
I think people get tired of eternally preparing for something that never comes.
In the late 1920's the crash was close at hand. This time it just drags on and on and on, with the big ending somewhere in the nebulous future.
No, no, no. That is what is good with 'american' economics. 'Americans' will get so committed in prepping that they will have no other choice than making it happen so they can justify all the money they spent to prep for something that would not have happened otherwise.
'Americans' will try to make a sense of all their investment, which can not go wasted so they will trigger the shit so that their investment is not wasted.
Such is the nature of 'americans'.
I don't know if you know this, but we AMERICANS have this funny little ritual we do for fun. It is called CAMPING.
About 90% of the prepping materials can be used to go camping. So prepping is quite practical you see.
Normalcy Bias is a death sentence in a SHTF scenario. Reminds me of Alfred E. Newman the Mad Magazine "What? Me Worry?" guy.
Then again, we could always get ourselves a shiny new Cadillac Obamamobile!
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2013/03/20/meet-the-guy-who-drives-the-chromed-out-cadillac-obamamobile?s_cid=related-links:TOP
That 'american' author is one favourite. He is so gone in his fantasy world. A wasted talent who should have worked his way in Hollywood.
So many good lines, too many.
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Labels are only as powerful as the credence we give them.
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One has to be gone, or an' american' or both to stand by this fantasy.
At present times, 'americans' all around the world, are chasing down terrorists all over the place.
And the label "terrorist" is not only as powerful as the credence the so called terrorists give them but as powerful as the credence 'americans' give them.
Terrorist or not, when 'americans' label you a terrorist, you go boom.
American or not, when the blinding, bigoted hypocriticalism of AnAnnoyingUs labels you a "US 'american' citizenism citizen", no matter your nationality or where you live, you go boom with laughter at the pure insanitation of it.
I come to ZH because I think it gives me an edge, at least a couple of days. I have a lot of food and preps already but having an "edge" gives me room to spend a lot on preps I need more of in a short time instead of continually building and thinking about it. I keep credit cards paid off and lots of cash on hand for when I need it most.
I haven't bought any guns or ammo since the latest panic. Things will be back to normal prices and inventory soon enough. It's the same people calling every "crisis" the Big one all the time. I think I am now able to judge way better when the domino that is going to affect Me is about to fall than I ever was before.
The author of the original article stated:
This is not even close. For a family of four, $1,200 may get you through a month or two. The two main brands of freeze dried food are Mountain House and Wise. They are very expensive. The prices are almost a scam because they are so high.
Moreover they really don't taste that good and I personally don't think I could survive on it. Even though I was in the Marines, I NEVER went into the field and don't have much experience with MREs.
I have also tried backpacking food, which is basically freeze dried vegetables. It makes a great soup/stew and they are very portable. However, you need protein to survive.
I recommend buying at least $200 of canned goods and 50lb bags of rice. Canned goods are ideal because it is the food you eat everyday (I recommend cans of new potatoes and lots of cans of tomatoes). You can also drink the water that the vegetables are stored in a pinch.
You will also need protein - I recommend buying canned meat from Werling & Sons and lots of cans of sardines and tuna.
Another benefit from canned foods is that the water is already in the can. The canned goods are not as portable as the freeze dried variety, but if you have to move with your food, you are in a bad spot anyways. Canned goods can also be buried for later retrieval.
Guess this makes me a crazy prepper eh? Waiting for DHS to knock on my door in three, two, one....
One should realize also that the "expiration dates" put on most canned foods are nonsense, as low-acid foods such as canned potatoes, hominy and most vegetables can last in good condition for at least several years beyond those dates, and most canned meat and fish can last for literally decades in excellent condition. A cache of canned food from the doomed Franklin Expedition to the arctic in 1845 was discovered not that many years ago, and some of the cans opened to investigate the contents, with the canned carrots and roast beef being judged "eminently edible". Canned tuna in olive oil will actually improve with at least 5 to 10 years in the can.
Tomatoes, however, will NOT last much beyond their expiration dates --- I have opened cans of diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes that were only three years from the date of purchase which had an unpleasant, metallic, "tinny" flavor. One should also beware of most canned fruits, particularly pineapple and mandarin oranges.
Good advice akak.
I forgot about mentioning rotation of the canned goods as a possible downside.
However, if canned goods are what you eat on regular basis, this should not be a problem.