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The kids today, especially the ones who have been patted on the back every day of their life for doing what they should, will have to adjust and some will not.
Some of them may also have to adjust to life without MP3s, palm pilots, video games, and computers all around them 24 hours a day. It will not be easy, and it will not be pretty. But the end result will be a generation of people who come to learn that the word "life" does not begin with the letter "e."
Most people haven't a clue about the amount of work required to start a successful garden from scratch, protect it from insects and animals, and bring it to the conclusion of harvest and preserving the produce. The younger ones don't have the strength or drive to do it. Many of the older folks who do, have neither the time nor stamina to create one. Gardens near cities would be plundered anyway if the situation got that bad.
A few people will continue to live off the land, a few more will join them, but most will depend "on the kindness of strangers" like FEMA and other agencies and charitable organizations to help them survive. If things get serious, I see a nation eating mac-n-cheese.
In a telling bellwether, NBC news had a bit on the dire situation of people in Elkhart Indiana, the home of most of the RVs and travel trailers. Naturally, business is way off there. "Feed the Children" has come to the area to help out. What the news crew focused on was individual families DRIVING up to the distribution point IN INDIVIDUAL CARS AND SUVs. They got some good quotes on how bad the situation was and got some tears on camera.
I am not denigrating the fine people of Elkhart, and I understand that they are in pain compared to what they are used to. I'm not so happy with the news crews. Anyway, the point is that Americans don't know how to react to economic pain anymore, and are quickly ready to look for help rather than look within. Thank goodness it isn't quite as bad as I saw in south Florida a few years back, when a hurricane came through and the VERY NEXT DAY there were huge lines of people lined up for their free bottled water and bags of ice.
Very funny thread.
Parts? You can't buy parts to fix anything. When is the last time you called a repairman to come over and fix your TV, your computer, your refrigerator, your washer and dryer? Everything is built with planned obsolescence; when it breaks, you buy newer. And the whole Blue-ray, HD thing - all those old DVDS and videos you spent money on are now worthless, can't be watched on the 'new' required TVs unless you have an adapter - and that won't last long either.
From the whole "We're all gonna DIE!" Chicken Littles to those who insist that it can never get that bad, apparently no one is able to read. "Those who cannot remember history are doomed..." oh, what's the use? LOL Sure, no civilization has ever failed to the point where either a dictatorship nor an oligarchy has ever occurred; there have never been food riots anywhere, self-proclaimed superpowers have never fallen into third-world status. Sigh. Jesus has been predicted to "come save us and leave the rest Behind" since - um, before the Dark Ages. But that's ok, we don't all go rushing to the churches any more because of a stupid eclipse, after all! Remember, of course, that it is always the survivors and the victors who write history books, not the masses that died because of or in spite of them.
So will people try to live off the land? Some will. Most of that group will fail simply because they haven't the common sense God gave a goat. Those folks who proclaim they "won't eat" something may find that there's nothing left to eat in their self-imposed diet. I'll bet the Irish never thought they would be starving in the middle of potato fields, or the Middle Europeans thought they'd ever eat a rat, either. During the Plague, the ones who survived were the poor ones in the country, with little contact with the cities or the outside world, who raised their own food, didn't import it... that's If the religious fanatics in their hair shirts didn't come to town, saying the plague was a curse and spreading it willy nilly, while flagellating not only themselves but everyone they could find for offending their God.
Now we have more people than ever before who have never squeezed a cow's teat, have no clue what it takes to kill, butcher, and preserve meat much less grow their own vegies. You have people who are starting little gardens - if their HOA approves - and thinking that the handful of vegies they grow will keep them from starvation, not knowing how much they or their family eats in a year, not having any idea of how to bake a loaf of bread unless the cute little loaves come frozen from the store. We have people who have depended on the succor of others for so long that, if they are forced to depend on themselves would rather loot and steal and murder to get what they want, much less need. It wouldn't take much to tip the scales into barbarism - and you won't have hoboes walking quietly along railroad tracks, knocking on doors, asking to chop wood for a meal, either.
What's a pandemic? Hmmm? Terrorist attacks? Oh, no, we're well protected here, the government says so. Natural disasters? Won't happen here. Turn in your guns and register your bullets - you are safe as houses - in a demilitarized zone. Lalalalalala... life is beautiful all the time....
Between the End-of-the-world religious fanatics, the sheeple who believe that nothing that bad could ever happen or has ever happened, the know-nothings who think that someone will always save them, and the already selfish and brutal who will take whatever from whomever, we will have a very interesting time. More interesting than the aftermath of Katrina, more interesting than the aftermath of the War Between the States, and much more interesting than the Dark and Middle Ages - for those who are smart enough to step back and choose not be in the middle of it. Is this the ultimate, the final, Gotterdammerung? We'll never know until afterwards... so why worry? eat drink and be merry, etc etc... and pass the bottles of milk (isn't it manufactured in bottles?) and the quick-frozen, quick-fried, microwaveable burgers (aren't they manufactured in a plant somewhere from soy and vegetable products?) back and forth. Don't worry - it can't happen HERE.
Simply, those who have prepared all of their lives, know how to prepare for anything. Those who don't, won't. And the upshot of it all will not be 'Who will do anything to survive?' But "Who will be ABLE to do anything to survive?" Many of those who are scurrying about now, planting their seeds, talking about what they will and won't ever do, have never stood in line for government food or seed, have never seen their grandfather go a-hoboing, have never seen their "victory garden" decimated by locusts or heat or torrential rain, have never known real want or real need.
I can forsee a future where a majority of people go to bed hungry at night. Where eating only one meal a day will be the norm for a lot of families. I don't think that all that many people will move out of the cities though... they would have no concept of how to survive in the country, and no money to make the move. I do think that this will not be a permanent societal transition but more of a period of suffering for a few years, under hyper-inflation conditions.
Harry, that is a good point about Americans not knowing how to react to economic pain anymore. It's amazing to me what happens after hurricanes around here. You have plenty of notice, and there's no excuse for not being prepared. I always make sure I've got enough to survive on for a couple weeks. It may not be pleasant but I won't starve.
I am going to try to save up and buy some land, hopefully in the next year or two. I want to invest in at least 5 acres, and build a cabin that is off-grid. That is a lifestyle I've dreamed of my whole life, not just the past year or two; but it's definately not for everyone.
Location: planet octupulous is nearing earths atmosphere
13,620 posts, read 12,698,333 times
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in the 1900 hundreds their used to be like 45% of the population were farmers.... it's like 2% now... people need to start to learn how to grow there own food .. you can't lose growing your own vegies. it' a win win for all.... bring back the small farmers.hmmm fresh tomatos i can taste um now.
Very funny thread.
Parts? You can't buy parts to fix anything. When is the last time you called a repairman to come over and fix your TV, your computer, your refrigerator, your washer and dryer? Everything is built with planned obsolescence; when it breaks, you buy newer. And the whole Blue-ray, HD thing - all those old DVDS and videos you spent money on are now worthless, can't be watched on the 'new' required TVs unless you have an adapter - and that won't last long either.
From the whole "We're all gonna DIE!" Chicken Littles to those who insist that it can never get that bad, apparently no one is able to read. "Those who cannot remember history are doomed..." oh, what's the use? LOL Sure, no civilization has ever failed to the point where either a dictatorship nor an oligarchy has ever occurred; there have never been food riots anywhere, self-proclaimed superpowers have never fallen into third-world status. Sigh. Jesus has been predicted to "come save us and leave the rest Behind" since - um, before the Dark Ages. But that's ok, we don't all go rushing to the churches any more because of a stupid eclipse, after all! Remember, of course, that it is always the survivors and the victors who write history books, not the masses that died because of or in spite of them.
So will people try to live off the land? Some will. Most of that group will fail simply because they haven't the common sense God gave a goat. Those folks who proclaim they "won't eat" something may find that there's nothing left to eat in their self-imposed diet. I'll bet the Irish never thought they would be starving in the middle of potato fields, or the Middle Europeans thought they'd ever eat a rat, either. During the Plague, the ones who survived were the poor ones in the country, with little contact with the cities or the outside world, who raised their own food, didn't import it... that's If the religious fanatics in their hair shirts didn't come to town, saying the plague was a curse and spreading it willy nilly, while flagellating not only themselves but everyone they could find for offending their God.
Now we have more people than ever before who have never squeezed a cow's teat, have no clue what it takes to kill, butcher, and preserve meat much less grow their own vegies. You have people who are starting little gardens - if their HOA approves - and thinking that the handful of vegies they grow will keep them from starvation, not knowing how much they or their family eats in a year, not having any idea of how to bake a loaf of bread unless the cute little loaves come frozen from the store. We have people who have depended on the succor of others for so long that, if they are forced to depend on themselves would rather loot and steal and murder to get what they want, much less need. It wouldn't take much to tip the scales into barbarism - and you won't have hoboes walking quietly along railroad tracks, knocking on doors, asking to chop wood for a meal, either.
What's a pandemic? Hmmm? Terrorist attacks? Oh, no, we're well protected here, the government says so. Natural disasters? Won't happen here. Turn in your guns and register your bullets - you are safe as houses - in a demilitarized zone. Lalalalalala... life is beautiful all the time....
Between the End-of-the-world religious fanatics, the sheeple who believe that nothing that bad could ever happen or has ever happened, the know-nothings who think that someone will always save them, and the already selfish and brutal who will take whatever from whomever, we will have a very interesting time. More interesting than the aftermath of Katrina, more interesting than the aftermath of the War Between the States, and much more interesting than the Dark and Middle Ages - for those who are smart enough to step back and choose not be in the middle of it. Is this the ultimate, the final, Gotterdammerung? We'll never know until afterwards... so why worry? eat drink and be merry, etc etc... and pass the bottles of milk (isn't it manufactured in bottles?) and the quick-frozen, quick-fried, microwaveable burgers (aren't they manufactured in a plant somewhere from soy and vegetable products?) back and forth. Don't worry - it can't happen HERE.
Simply, those who have prepared all of their lives, know how to prepare for anything. Those who don't, won't. And the upshot of it all will not be 'Who will do anything to survive?' But "Who will be ABLE to do anything to survive?" Many of those who are scurrying about now, planting their seeds, talking about what they will and won't ever do, have never stood in line for government food or seed, have never seen their grandfather go a-hoboing, have never seen their "victory garden" decimated by locusts or heat or torrential rain, have never known real want or real need.
Yet.
Wow.....you must write on this subject for a living. I posted early on saying how I am preparing and left for the day expecting to be bad mouthed. I came here this morning to catch up and find more people are thinking like me then I ever expected except one dumb dumb. The type of dumb dumb that you are speaking SCGranny.
You touched on every single senario. You touched on every personality type, how and why they will die or survive.
No I don't write on this subject for a living. I used to be a paid political columnist, though - and one of my heroines is Claire Wolfe.
I just get fed up with people acting like this is all so new and scary and shocking. I've been planning for this for years. Two years ago (while everyone was still in the fanatic bubble stage) I made a conscious choice to throw over all of my development, advertising, political, and social education, training, and experience to do what I've always wanted and planned and worked to do - live on my own little farm in the middle of flyover country, raise my own fruits, vegies, chickens, cows, and do as I pleased because it made me happy and I could finally afford to. I moved to where the food is. I can kill and butcher anything, can raise anything, can do anything for myself because I've already done it to varying degrees. The whole time I was smiling and shaking hands in DC, Seattle, Orlando, Columbus OH, and New Orleans, back home I was planting gardens and working on other peoples' farms, learning everything I could. Whether the SHTF or not, whether Jesus comes ( I hope to avoid that Rapturous swath - too much going on to miss, and I 'm not DONE here yet!) or not, whether TEOTWAWKI hits or not to any degree, whether the Conspiracy Theorists are right or not, simply doesn't matter. I know who I am, where I always wanted to be, and I know what to do and how to get what I want. What happens in the rest of the world simply doesn't matter to me - and the thing that shocks most of my friends and aquaintances back in the "real world" is that it never DID matter to me. The silk dresses and jewelry and handshakes and phony hugs and smiles, the fancy restaurants, the high-end wines and over-the-top expenditures of my friends and associates, were a means to my own ultimately satisfying ends, nothing more. I listen to them lament over their 401K losses, their expenses, their SUVs and sports cars and BMWs and 2400-sq-foot homes in their gated communities under their HOAs, and I am glad I cashed it all in and went for what I've always wanted. THEY are the ones I - Left Behind.
Now what happens, happens. And there's not a danged thing any one of us can do to change it or slow it or stop it now anyway.
There are two things about civilization that I would really miss: Toilet paper and the Free City Library.
GL2
Well... Grow lots of corn so you can use the cobs and husks like they did in the old days.
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hmmm fresh tomatos i can taste um now.
