It strikes me that there are many mindsets and attitudes that can be counterproductive - even deadly - should the situation go to the extreme —
Foremost among those is the mindset of “Everything must be absolutely ‘safe’ at all times”.. Never mind that it’s a patent impossibility on its face - the Nanny Staters have turned the psyche of our People to one of abject fear at the vaguest possibility of risk...
How many of us are able - or willing - to completely abandon that paradigm, and learn to think, as our ancestors did, in terms of “acceptable risk” to realize a benefit...
From water that isn’t “EPA PRISTINE”, to medicines and foodstocks that are past their ‘expiration date’ (or not “Government Approved”), to learning to tolerate weevily bread and less-than-USDA-Grade-A-Prime meat — there are a lot of mental adjustments we’re going to have to make, if we are to thrive....
You are correct. The mindset of ‘preppers’ must not be overlooked when it comes to survival. Water is easily made safe to drink with a few drops of SSKI (saturated solution potassium iodide), or by using a few drops of concentrated hydrogen peroxide. For the most part ‘expiration dates’ have no meaning as to quality of packaged items. And when push really comes to shove, we might be left with eating rabbit, squirrel, possum, ‘coon, groundhog, etc...it is all about mindset.