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Our island town is supplied with groceries (and everything else) brought up from Seattle on a weekly barge. I fully expect that barge to quit showing up one day. It still amazes me how many people, even here, go to the store every day. Storms & heavy seas prevented it from getting here one week last winter, it's due in on Monday. By Wednesday that week there was not a thing left in the dairy, meat, bread, produce isles. By the end of the week all the shelves were nearly empty. I'd think more people would see that red flag. It's really scary, so many people live for right here, right now.
I've been buying nearly everything I don't grow, gather or hunt, in bulk for many years. I store what I use and use what I store. I make sure I'm about a year ahead of myself and have my stocks kinda divided so I don't have to re-order everything all at once. I put in about a $600 order twice a year which includes everything from t.p. to powdered milk & eggs. I do buy fresh eggs, cheese, fruits & veggies in town occassionally but I have a good supply of dried. The fun part is, whatever I'm hungry for, I have the ingredients to make it. I'm also surrounded by wild greens, berries, fish, moose and venison so I'm always lucky enough to have a good supply of local wild foods canned & in the freezer.
I useta whine a bit about living so remote, but not anymore!
And on the other end, folks with no preps . . . . .
Elderly and abandoned, 85 Haitians await death - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100117/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_haiti_waiting_to_die - broken link)
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. Those people were dirt poor before the earthquake. You can't compare.
I don't think it's a bad idea for anyone to have a garden and some chickens, but that's just not practical for everyone. I worry most about the cost of gas becoming so high that people out in the country won't be able to live any other way. Now that I have a garden and some chickens, I want to live this way because I enjoy it and it's better way of life, not because I think the country is going to collapse and we'll all be running around like our hair is on fire.
Ellie,
All it would take to throw mod civilization into chaos would be the crippling of our communication system. The rest would topple like dominos shortly thereafter as it all depends on the communication to be put into effect.
Hope we never see it, but our hair may indeed flame one of these days
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. Those people were dirt poor before the earthquake. You can't compare.
Actually one could compare and observe outcomes of wealth v. poverty and see it is all pretty valid. If wealth is surplus in the form secured and stored goods it is an especially valid comparison.
Haiti is and has been consuming 100% of their goods and more for some time. Haiti had no surplus in these hard times, because they have been consuming everything in sight. Not even simple barrels or buckets or other containers of even clean water, or basic grains. (which are Prep 101).
The US has also been consuming 100% or more in our realm. Big difference between US and the Haiti model is debt. When the US runs out of capacity for further debt . . . . what do you think will happen? Let alone an earthquake, or hurricane. Do you have even a bucket of water or food?
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The doomsday talk really makes me giggle.
Then you may be laughing pretty hard by the times things are done.
These things are extremely plentiful in this country....the idea that US society is going to break down to this point is just silly. Of course, someone people for whatever reason get a excited thinking about the possibility. It is fairly sick really...
These things are extremely plentiful in this country....the idea that US society is going to break down to this point is just silly. Of course, someone people for whatever reason get a excited thinking about the possibility. It is fairly sick really...
In the past year, water has gone out here 3 times from burst water mains. Last summer a lower lying area was flooded and raw sewage backed up in that area. No clean water for a couple days.
It's not just the end of the world you should prepare for. Power outages, water outages, storms, job losses, various natural disasters, even riots in some urban areas is a good reason for prepping.
Remember hurricane Katrina?
Most stores only stock about 3 days worth of items for normal times. Every hurricane season in the South it seems stores are emptied overnight and people are left without anything. A bit of preparation would prevent that.
In the past year, water has gone out here 3 times from burst water mains. Last summer a lower lying area was flooded and raw sewage backed up in that area. No clean water for a couple days.
Burst water mains is a normal occurrence, they are usually fixed within 24 hours. These sorts of localized problems occur all the time, it has nothing to do with actual water shortages.
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Originally Posted by arctichomesteader
Power outages, water outages, storms, job losses, various natural disasters...
Preparing for power outages, storms, the natural disasters that occur in your area, etc makes prefect sense. That is a lot different than planning for some "meltdown" of society.
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Originally Posted by arctichomesteader
Remember hurricane Katrina?
Sure and it only took a few days for supplies to start to arrive.
This thread is not about preparing for natural disasters, storms,etc. Its about preparing for a "meltdown". Some people have a sick fascination with planning for and almost hoping for the collapse of society.
Burst water mains is a normal occurrence, they are usually fixed within 24 hours. These sorts of localized problems occur all the time, it has nothing to do with actual water shortages.
So, you gonna go 24 hours without washing your hands, using the toilet, etc.?
Some areas do ahve real water shortages...Atlanta, GA, for example, and areas out West are facing serious water issues.
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Sure and it only took a few days for supplies to start to arrive.
Standing in line all day for a bottle of water and MRE doesn't sound good to me.
And help didn't arrive to some areas for weeks.
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People only think Preppers are nuts until they need some of their pre-stored provisions lol.
