Could you survive on your land if you had to? (Anchorage: to live, stores)

[Metlakatla]

We did have one idjit troll who came around here a couple years ago trying to say he was going to start some kind of moose ranch and ride his moose like you would a horse. I miss the days when we had that sort of troll.

[stiffnecked]

If I had to I'd rather be in southeast then anywhere up north.

[Captain Crunch]

Its all blue down there stiffer.... you'd more in the minority than you are now.

[Barkingowl]

Originally Posted by Captain Crunch

Its all blue down there stiffer.... you'd more in the minority than you are now.

Yeah but if you look at the climate & the ability to grow food & access the ocean the Southeast is a better place to survive. And barring more disastrous avalanches there would be electricity.

[Captain Crunch]

And...you know all this cuz you've only visited Alaska on a cruise ship ?

[Moose Whisperer]

I think it's common to look at this type of scenario from the wrong perspective. We tend to think of how we, as individuals or families, could survive off of our land or surroundings as they currently exist. However, in a true WTSHTF scenario, nothing will be as it is now. It will be a complete every-man-for-himself free for all where private property rights and boundaries will no longer mean squat, unless enforced at gunpoint.

For example, I often hear hunters brag about how they could sustain themselves indefinitely off the land, or farmers boast about sustainable living. But just think of the consequences of 300+ million people forced to live subsistence lifestyle. It's likely the lower 48 would be stripped clean of all edible plant and animal life (particularly large game animals) within a few weeks or months. There will be nothing left to hunt or farm. Even the relative abundance of Alaska would likely be overrun in short order with 700,000+ hungry mouths to feed.

I still believe the only real commodities worth having in a true meldowwn scenario are copper and lead (ammo), and the personal resolve to use them.

[Barkingowl]

Originally Posted by Captain Crunch

And...you know all this cuz you've only visited Alaska on a cruise ship ?

I know it because I do a lot of research.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by Moose Whisperer

I think it's common to look at this type of scenario from the wrong perspective. We tend to think of how we, as individuals or families, could survive off of our land or surroundings as they currently exist. However, in a true WTSHTF scenario, nothing will be as it is now. It will be a complete every-man-for-himself free for all where private property rights and boundaries will no longer mean squat, unless enforced at gunpoint.

For example, I often hear hunters brag about how they could sustain themselves indefinitely off the land, or farmers boast about sustainable living. But just think of the consequences of 300+ million people forced to live subsistence lifestyle. It's likely the lower 48 would be stripped clean of all edible plant and animal life (particularly large game animals) within a few weeks or months. There will be nothing left to hunt or farm. Even the relative abundance of Alaska would likely be overrun in short order with 700,000+ hungry mouths to feed.

I still believe the only real commodities worth having in a true meldowwn scenario are copper and lead (ammo), and the personal resolve to use them.

Yeah; I've thought of that. I'm pretty sure that the island could sustain itself in that type of situation with the current population as it is. Eventually though, we'd probably have to contend with outsiders
for that very reason and they'd be extremely desperate people.

[bortstc37]

i was about to post this on another board earlier this morning, but it was something along the lines of:

i see three types of approaches to the situation: parasite, isolationist, and small community.
obviously, "parasite" would be somebody with no skills, nothing to contribute, just looking for a handout, etc. (probably fleeing from cities).
the isolationist seems all too common in alaska. i think some isolationists could hack it, but, for the most part, more guns and ammo is usually their answer for everything. bullets will eventually run out. even if you reload, your reloading supplies will run out, and if you have no other skills for getting food and nobody to help (probably because you're known locally as the guy who shoots at anything that comes near), you'll eventually find yourself starving with no friends and a bunch of empty cans and shells littering your property. in some situations (like some parts of appalachia), you'll have isolationists happily living (loosely) together, who respect each others' space and property and are still friendly, can trade, etc...but i think that it is somewhat difficult to get a community like that to happen if you're having to deal with refugees from urbia and suburbia. would that be the case in alaska? i guess we'll have to wait and see.
i think that the only way to thrive in a SHTF situation is to be part of a small community that knows how to come together, share resources and jobs, and so on. lots of bush villages will probably be alright, especially those that are on coasts, on rivers with sustained salmon populations, or in areas that fall in caribou migratory patterns. some road system towns will probably be fine as well, but it all depends on how well you know and like your neighbors. so my approach would be to either move to a community that will accept you or to try improving the one you already live in. i do think that there are reasonable size limits to what an effective community would be (in this kind of a situation), obviously very closely related to the amount of resources available locally. but i would definitely rather be in a place with lots of friends, family, and good neighbors than have to spend my shells shooting at marauders instead of game.

[Moose Whisperer]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Yeah; I've thought of that. I'm pretty sure that the island could sustain itself in that type of situation with the current population as it is. Eventually though, we'd probably have to contend with outsiders
for that very reason and they'd be extremely desperate people.

Yep, you think you have problems with idjits now...