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Guess it's time to weigh in since I posted but haven't responded. Let me first start off by saying Chill out. I'm not going ballistic, I'm not stressing out over it, or any of the other comments that were posted. I am concerned however that something is about to happen. Be it Syria or a meteor hitting the Earth later this month. It could happen.
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While at a gun show just days before posting, I over heard a conversation between, what I can only gather are some preppers. I didn't hear the entire conversation and it's been long enough now that I can't even remember all of it. One thing that did stand out to me was that there was increased military activity which is always cause for concern. Couple that with the election coming up where the economy could really take a nose dive, not to mention a lot of the freedoms we enjoy. Shoot, just reading here is enough for folks to want to get on the fast track to having stuff set up in case the crap hits.
As I stated when I first wrote, hubby has been a prepper for most of his life. Always on the look out for that property that will be a back up plan in case the world goes bust. Having a small cache of gold and silver set aside just in case.
Over the past few months I've slowly gotten with the program. I'm not sure what lead me to this forum, and while some of it freaks me out, I know that anything could happen come November and if nothing else we should be prepared for it as best we can.
Hubby finally found some property that he's been dreaming of for years. It's going to take some work, but it'll be liveable, but rough, in a month. We hope it to be comfortable liveable by next summer, and "luxuriously" liveable about a year later. He's been experimenting with solar panels so we can go off grid if we need to or if the choice is taken from us.
We've been stocking up on essentials just in case. Living in TN we should have some food set back anyway in case we get a big storm, which is something we haven't done previously. Having lived through the big blizzard up north around 76 where we were snowed in for what seemed like ages, I know that how we were before (even just a week ago) we couldn't survive it. But we can now.
As for myself, besides stocking up on everything I can thing of to make life easier, I'm reading whatever forums I can find. Learning from what other people have done in their own lives. And learning all I can. I still have a long way to go to be truly self sufficient, but I could do it if push come to shove. I'd love to take some survival classes, I just have to see if there's any offered in my area. Everything from canning, to killing and cleaning a chicken. Sure I watched my folks do it ages ago, but that's been more than 20 years!
I'd love to find some underground news sources but so far I'm coming up blank on that. Some place that will tell it like it is, not colored to suit some hidden agenda of the station. So if anyone has anything like that they can point me to I'd love to see the link.
I could go on and on about what we've done just in the past week, but if I had to pack up right now and head out, I think we'd be ok. Would be interesting, but I could do it. Which reminds me, I need to get a map. If I have to get off the interstate for whatever reason I only know a few back roads leading to our place, a map could go a long way towards getting there faster than randomly going west and south.
Anyway, thanks for the replies folks, I do appreciate the well thought out ones and the ones who stuck to what I asked without making me sound like a hysterical female. Which I'm not, I just want to know worst case scenario so I can work from there. I'm the type of person who wants to know what happens to the car if the tire blows. Not just that the tire goes flat, but that the car could roll, the car could flip, the car could.... as I said, worst case scenario so I can be prepared.
i was wondering about that.... and if we would default on the 16 trillion, since we can't pay it. I wonder what the the lenders will want/do when they can't have the coin?
All i can think of is we give them California
I went there in 05, didn't like it any and so I could give that place up easy...
I have taken note of the ez chair and the sun screen. This is the first time I heard of these tools on the list ... LOL
I too would feel no qualms about giving up California... with the Chinese gangs there, and the slave trade still booming, the Chinese already have their foot in the door there - plus the fact that they are buying up bankrupt water, sewer, and power supply companies there as well.
No loss. Or as DH says - "Ah ain lost nuthin in Kalifornia."
I wouldn't mind if they took over New York City, either - but the rest of the state is still somewhat pretty.
OP, if you want to talk about "worst case scenarios" all of us could let our imaginations run wild, and tell you all of the potentials for what might happen - but if you want everyone's opinions on that, they are pretty much listed in the thread titled "What is everyone preparing for?" As to when - well, it's like the Next Big California Earthquake, the next big meteor striking the earth, the Yellowstone Caldera blowing, the European volcano falling into the Atlantic and causing the massive tsunami that swamps the US East Coast - they all will happen, but no one knows when - or even if anyone alive today will see them.
Shrug. I live my life at "Condition Yellow" - always alert and ready to respond, as my father taught me. However, this doesn't mean that I am hunkered down in my basement, stretched over my dehydrated food cans, guns in hand, waiting for the shoe to fall, jumping at every noise. It means that I don't spend money frivolously, that I invest in things that will last, and that I plan and buy things for the future, not immediate gratification. It also means that I go fishing, hiking, and even down to the bar with friends to socialize - because you can't live life (especially in a tiny town) in a vacuum, and you have to be aware of the people around you, know whom you will be able to depend on - and whom you will not.
All this future stuff ! Wow what can I say?
I do not believe things are just suddenly going to blow up. Not right away. What is really happening now has already started from years ago. As far as the news is concerned they are there to either keep us scared or entertained. On the other hand the news media is also stroking us every day telling us everything is alright A OK . And as we all are being put to "sleep" Some of us who are still awake and keenly aware we can see this changing slowly in the background. Things that may not even be of any interest to you. They have been planning this for a long time. When the s*** does hit the fan it will happen so fast it will be like a deer frozen by headlights. So do not worry , Just live life to the fullest who really knows what the future holds? It is just like you have been told you have cancer but you do not know how long you have left.
I too would feel no qualms about giving up California... with the Chinese gangs there, and the slave trade still booming, the Chinese already have their foot in the door there - plus the fact that they are buying up bankrupt water, sewer, and power supply companies there as well.
No loss. Or as DH says - "Ah ain lost nuthin in Kalifornia."
I wouldn't mind if they took over New York City, either - but the rest of the state is still somewhat pretty.
OP, if you want to talk about "worst case scenarios" all of us could let our imaginations run wild, and tell you all of the potentials for what might happen - but if you want everyone's opinions on that, they are pretty much listed in the thread titled "What is everyone preparing for?" As to when - well, it's like the Next Big California Earthquake, the next big meteor striking the earth, the Yellowstone Caldera blowing, the European volcano falling into the Atlantic and causing the massive tsunami that swamps the US East Coast - they all will happen, but no one knows when - or even if anyone alive today will see them.
Shrug. I live my life at "Condition Yellow" - always alert and ready to respond, as my father taught me. However, this doesn't mean that I am hunkered down in my basement, stretched over my dehydrated food cans, guns in hand, waiting for the shoe to fall, jumping at every noise. It means that I don't spend money frivolously, that I invest in things that will last, and that I plan and buy things for the future, not immediate gratification. It also means that I go fishing, hiking, and even down to the bar with friends to socialize - because you can't live life (especially in a tiny town) in a vacuum, and you have to be aware of the people around you, know whom you will be able to depend on - and whom you will not.
California is a pretty place. Beautiful climate, huge organic farms, Yosemite, large cattle ranches where jobs are still done on horseback. Maybe the state is too nuts and maybe it is in too much debt but all it needs is some resetting back to normal. Sell New York if you have to sell something
NYC could go to the chinese as well as NJ, MA (eastern half), and of course Mexifornia
I was there and do you think I could get a slice of tomato in a salad? Hell NO! and for that alone with their red commie gun laws I think they should be handed over for the 16 trillion dept, along with Nancy......
Besides nancy is beginning to really take on the chinese look as it is.... This could be a win win for the USA and the Chinese.
We wouldn't get the full 16 trillion paid off for NYC anyway. The rest of Up State Ny ain't too bad..
As to sell???? We owe em..... We could toss in Obama I suppose but they probably won't take him...
They probably won't sell anything off. (But good quip Mac_Muz! Though I love CA and have family there, I understand and appreciate the commentary.) Hypothetically, if "they" do sell something to alleviate debt, AK and HI are far more expendable than cutting something off of the contiguous USA IMO. AK with only some 650K people to resettle and loads of resources would be the very ticket.
However I don't believe in some grand plan in the works. I worked for the federal government for 25 years and I only met a select few in charge that I considered bright enough to even carry off the larger (rather than daily) and much simpler mission of our organization rather than covert world engineering and ours was considered one of the better run federal agencies. I believe that the "they" presently in charge are all in their offices and cubicles hoping to God that their group incompetency doesn't fall down or come to the light of day on their watch, or before they retire, and individually "they" are desperately positioning themselves to deflect blame while gathering up all of the acorns they can before the music stops. As a group "they" are bailing the incoming tide with whatever is at hand, teacups, thimbles, beach buckets according to their station while planning their exit strategies.
IMO the real crisis is that the big party is pretty much over for humanity though it might last a few more years, maybe even a decade before it's generally realized that this is not just another hard spot in the road. The "blood and circuses" that was previously mentioned is a distraction from the crisis at hand and that crisis is that we are living in a closed universe and have rapidly outgrown the ability for our habitat to generate or regenerate while fowling the nest and taking other important species irrevocably down with us in the process. Meanwhile economists, governments and markets look for "growth" deaf and blind to the real "news" that there will be no growth only the attempt at management of the collapse of the massive humanity and consumption bubble barring some technological miracle or set of them which would be desperately needed to right this ship.
In addition for the last 60 or so years North America, western Europe and a few other places has had the majority of the cake that the rest of the earth wants a piece of. Ain't gonna happen for them, and won't continue for us. So what's left after the cake is mostly gone and that fact is widely known? To retool a quote incorrectly attributed to Marie Antionette, "Let them eat bread." if they are lucky. Resentment between groups and nations will be extreme. Fighting for resources will likely take on the characteristics of ongoing wars with other attributed causes but make no mistake it will be about resource control.
What to do to prepare for resource scarcity? That depends on what you individually need, where you live and the like. Food and water (the next priceless commodity) security, location, community, skill building, health/fitness building are all part of my package of post party living. And like everyone here has stated, there is no way to be prepared for everything so flexibility is very important and finally if nothing will work short of barbarism, being prepared to die and being at peace with that corporeal inevitability is for me an important point of preparation. So OP look at your life. How would you and yours continue in a world of declining resources and make plans accordingly.
We have been positioning ourselves for 18 years for fuel cost increases, selling our larger exurb commuter home to move to the city core, renovating a modest sized older home for super energy efficiency. Sold that home in 2 days last year while the big houses languish. Bought a smaller cottage between the city core and midtown with a large lot also set up low energy consumption and for food growing. When the time comes to sell, it will sell fast and for more than it technically "should" because it will function properly in times of scarcity, rather than becoming a white elephant. We took our equity from our city core home sale and bought an older farmstead with small acreage, water sources/storage near family and near enough to a small city for a longish bike or a mule cart ride. We will build that property for food production and will have off-grid energy sources. The home was designed for life without central air/heat and lights burning in every corner. We will enhance those features and will be able to use our home generated power for necessary things like refrigeration, water pumps and cooling fans. That's us. Someone else's plans may be a large oceanic sailboat or moving to Belize. Whatever you plan will fit you, your family and your intended lifestyle but may not resemble anyone else. Think through the issues and you will know what to do.
And wow, there sure are a lot of words flying around here like "idiots", "hysterical" and talk of "dusting off feet". Good grief. I think the heat is getting to everyone down there. FWIW.
However I don't believe in some grand plan in the works. I worked for the federal government for 25 years and I only met a select few in charge that I considered bright enough to even carry off the larger (rather than daily) and much simpler mission of our organization rather than covert world engineering and ours was considered one of the better run federal agencies. I believe that the "they" presently in charge are all in their offices and cubicles hoping to God that their group incompetency doesn't fall down on their watch, or before they retire and individually "they" are desperately positioning themselves to deflect blame while gathering up all of the acorns they can before the music stops. As a group "they" are bailing the incoming tide with whatever is at hand, teacups, thimbles, beach buckets according to their station while planning their exit strategies.
I agree with you that the govt is incompetent. However, they have resources, guns, manpower and money (even it is fake, printed paper debt money).
The major problem is that this inept govt we talk about is run by interests from the shadow. These interests have the plans (short and long term) - the govt is just an executioner. Sadly, patriotism or process don't matter anymore, it is who has more money that gets what they want.
Look at all the wars we fought after WW2, especially the recent ones.
Ak-Cathy, it's just the folks in mexifornia are accustomed to red commie ways, so they would feel right at home with red commie china pulling the strings and the chinese are not going to want any problems if you know what I mean..
Also 16 trillion is a lot of dough and so HI wouldn't begin to cover the most of the debt, where as Mexifonia might.
Ak I don't think so....... That is way over kill for the debt.... Lots of breathin room, and resources... If they want Ak then we Americans should get 16 trillion in OIL and as much in Gold from the Chinese... plus they forget the debt!
Nope we get to keep AK....
Mexifornia was too hot to suit me anyway..... They did have some cool trees and nice rocks.. but over all we will have to pay that debt before out grandchildren have to after us!
Think BLUE States......
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I too would feel no qualms about giving up California... with the Chinese gangs there, and the slave trade still booming, the Chinese already have their foot in the door there - plus the fact that they are buying up bankrupt water, sewer, and power supply companies there as well. 
Or as DH says - "Ah ain lost nuthin in Kalifornia."
