Posted on 12/26/2012 8:14:39 AM PST by blam
What Does It Mean To “Prepare For The Economic Collapse”?
Daisy Luther
December 24th, 2012
The Organic Prepper
Last week I wrote an article in response to the media’s vilification of preppers in the aftermath of the horrible tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. The article was quoted in an article on Yahoo.com, to my great astonishment, and that is when I saw how little most people understand about prepping. You can see in most of the 4492 comments the article received that many folks just don’t “get it”.
My inbox was filled with a barrage of hate mail and a number of people felt compelled to leave angry (and rather ignorant) comments on my website. I got messages from people that called me “batsh*t crazy”, messages from gun control advocates, messages from people who directly blamed me and all other preppers for the massacre, and even one particularly hate-filled email from a person who said “I hope that your kids are killed at the next school shooting.”
All of this leads me to reconfirm my belief that people sincerely do not understand why we do what we do, and that ignorance leads to fear.
People fear what they don’t understand and hate what they can’t conquer. ~ Andrew Smith
If you go back through history, the “visionaries” or “wise ones” were always mocked at best and feared at worst. They were cast out of society to live alone at the edge of the village; children would sneak onto their property to show their bravery; they were burned at the stake as witches and heretics. Anything the larger percentage of people does not understand is treated as something evil and frightening.
Am I saying that preppers are all visionaries and sages? Not in a mystical “Joan of Arc” sense – but I am saying that preppers are willing to see the writing on the wall and search for a deeper understanding.
Many preppers are preparing for an economic collapse and the subsequent social collapse that will be close behind.
If you don’t think this is realistic, then you aren’t paying attention to the world around you.
People have this image of hunger – they see it as the skeletal dark-skinned children in some third world country, bellies protruding as malnutrition sets in.
But the face of hunger and poverty today is as close as your next door neighbor. Millions of North Americans can barely afford to put their next meal on the table. They are living in their cars, if they’re lucky, and without shelter if they are not so lucky.
For many people the economic collapse has arrived. Their “end of the world” event has already occurred in the form of a job loss, the foreclosure of the family home, or an illness that has caused such massive personal debt that there is truly no way out of it. Less than 60% of Americans who are of age to be in the work force have a full time job. When you tally that, it means that more than 100 million people are out of work. More than 100 million people in the United States have no jobs. For more than 100 million people, the economic collapse has arrived in full force.
Meanwhile, as people all over the globe (think Greece, Italy, Spain, Argentina, the UK) struggle with high rates of unemployment, the prices of everything have gone up. People are struggling to keep such simple necessities as running water and electricity. Grocery costs have skyrocketed – the World Bank released a statement that global food prices increased by 10% in ONE MONTH – July 2012.
And it’s only going to get worse – the Farm Bill was blocked by the US House of Representatives, and this means that the prices will skyrocket, as farms are no longer subsidized. This will cause the industry to revert to the Agricultural Act written in 1949, meaning that the government is obligated to purchase dairy products from farmers at a cost that is twice what they are receiving now – this means that the price of a gallon of milk may skyrocket in January to as much as $8 per gallon. This is not an endorsement of government subsidies – this is a simple cause and effect observation to explain the reason people will be shocked when they go to the dairy case come January.
The price of food is increasing rapidly and dramatically. Mac Slavo, of SHTFplan, wrote,
“We’ve seen what happens in countries where the populace is forced to spend 50% or more of their earned income on food. Despite how the media portrays it, the riots we’ve seen in the middle east, Greece and Spain have been largely fueled by cost increases in food and the inability of individuals to provide the basic essentials for their families.
Americans have been, for the most part, immune from these pressures thus far. But the social safety nets are very quickly becoming overburdened and prices at grocery stores are rising consistently and without pause.
With the consumer economy coming to a standstill, continued central bank monetary easing, job losses and wage reductions, and the urbanization of millions of people, it is only a matter of time before Americans are forced to spend 50% or more of their paychecks just to stay alive.”
When you read the above information, the case becomes clear for stocking a long-term food storage pantry. It makes personal economic sense to purchase commodities like grains for your family at today’s prices to be consumed when the price skyrockets even further.
It seems, from some of the comments I’ve seen and received from non-preppers, that stockpiling food is acceptable, if somewhat eccentric. But being able to defend that food is strictly out of the question.
For example:
“I have no problem with anyone stockpiling water and food for their ability to prolong their agonizing but inevitable death should this generation experience the “end of the world”. Unless you have a new planet in your back pocket that is complete with a an oxygen supply, food and water, your efforts to live past the rest of us will be the least enjoyable time spent here on earth. I believe it is the preppers’ need for stockpiling ammunition that is the bizarre twist on these so-called survival skills that is the “killer”. Pardon my pun. You see, if your survival depends on killing others than the world in which you will exist will not be worthy of keeping.”
“They are delusional anti-social people. If you try to reason with them, you are attacked in the forums. You try to point out to them the truth, they slander you. These “preppers” should ALL be arrested , their food stockpiles distributed to the homeless, their guns conficated [sic]. Start with the people on the survivalist blogs.”
“With all due respct [sic], many people are missing the point. Our Constitution garentees [sic] us the right to bear arms, but not to stockpile an arsenal. You folks who stockpile food and supplies are wise. It is the guns and huge quantities of bullets that are the problem.“
“Guns dont [sic] kill people. People who have no friends and have basements jammed full of ammo and canned goods kill people.”
“You know…this is just a bunch of gun nuts going out and buying all the guns they can get before the laws become stricter. Just a bunch of weak people living in fear of nothing. I choose not to live in fear and if the apocalypse comes…oh well. Sure, I’ll stock up on food when a blizzard is in the forecast…but do I have an arsenol [sic] in my basement…no. Honestly, people like peppers need to stop thinking all hell is going to break loose, and just live in REALITY.“
So, this leads us to the next misconception about preppers – why do many prepared individuals feel that there might be social collapse to go along with the economic collapse? Why do they feel that in the wake of a disaster that they and their families could be threatened?
There are very good, well-documented reasons for this. Recent history tells us that frightened, hungry people become desperate and often violent.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, CNN reported that the city was under siege.
“Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown said his agency was attempting to work “under conditions of urban warfare.” Police snipers were stationed on the roof of their precinct, trying to protect it from armed miscreants roaming seemingly at will. Officers warned a CNN crew to stay off the streets because of escalating danger, and cautioned others about attempted shootings and rapes by groups of young men.”
A similar experience occurred after Hurricane Katrina struck the East Coast in October. The unmitigated violence and looting had residents terrified, especially after dark. Via Twitter, people actively planned “looting parties” as the storm bore down on the area, according to a report by Infowars.
One resident described the scene to the Huffington Post. “People are turning on each other — they’re attacking each other. Even when there’s no disaster, this building is disastrous. But after the hurricane, it just got crazy.”
Unfortunately, it isn’t just in the wake of a disaster that the need for personal security is rising. As the economy plummets, violent crime is in the upswing. In 2011, the overall rate of violent crime increased by 18%. (The numbers aren’t in yet for 2012. As funding to police departments is reduced, the criminals have a larger window of opportunity. The police are throwing up their hands in defeat – they feel that they cannot protect people. In Detroit, the police department warned people to enter the city at their own risk as budget cuts result in fewer police and shorter hours of operation.
As the economic collapse increases and more and more people are going hungry, the need for proper security and self defense will also increase in a direct ratio, particularly for those who live in highly populated areas. Desperation breeds crime.
People must educate themselves on the relationship between economic need and violent crime. Only then can they make a reasonable (and morally acceptable) plan to protect themselves and their families.
The economic collapse is not some far-fetched, end-of-the-world fantasy. It is the reality that is occurring all around us, incrementally. The collapse that has been occurring since 2008 has been one of 1000 small cuts as income goes down and expenses go up.
Ask the people in Greece whether they regret not having stocked up on food supplies when those supplies were abundantly available. Ask the people in Argentina whether they feel the need to be armed against roving gangs and home invaders - violent crime increased by 35% in one year. One study went so far as to call property crime a tool of redistribution: ”Overall, these results suggest that property crime has been used as a redistributive tool for the poorest to compensate for their impoverishment during the last decade and in particular during the ultimate crisis in Argentina.”
This stuff is not fantasy – I have provided links to support every fact I have mentioned in this article. Hunger, cold, crime and fear are the daily realities in many countries that once enjoyed a similar standard of living to that of the average North American. That debt-based standard of living is unsustainable, though, and you must be able to connect these trends with what is happening in your own country in order to see the need for preparation.
For those who say it is selfish for me to plan to take care of my responsibilities, I respond that it is selfish of you to expect me to take care of your responsibilities. You have the same opportunities that I do to prepare. I am far from wealthy (our income is actually below the “poverty line”) but I make room in my budget by eschewing foolish expenditures like twice-yearly vacations, new cars and the latest I-gadgets.
I don’t live in fear – I live in security, knowing that through my personal responsibility, my trust in my own instincts and my faith, I have done everything possible to protect my family from poverty, hunger and crime. If you aren’t currently prepared, I hope that the facts and statistics I’ve provided cause you to consider doing the same thing.
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Contributed by Daisy Luther of The Organic Prepper.
Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca
She forgot the first rule of prepping - S T F U.
Having forgotten this rule, or perhaps, trying to make a buck or three on her 'prepness', she became a target.
My FIL, who lived in Utah, never bothered to do more than put up the output of his garden that wasn't consumed right away.
I asked why he didn't have more put away and his answer was both accurate and frightful.
While in the Philippines during WWII and later, in Occupied Japan he observed at what the neighbors didn't steal, the Gov't took as "Taxes".
I really get a laugh from folks with massive amounts of food, fuel and so on. Do they really think that The Man won't be there to collect, with the rest of the ants not far behind?
Robert Heinlein once famously said
“Never own more than you can carry in both hands at a dead run.” Given that RAH 'invented' survivalist fiction, he should know of what he speaks.
That is our goal.
ping for later
Explain the logistics of that to me, for here in the States.
You can use numbers like 320M citizens, 2.8 million active and reserve military members, less than 2 million LEOs. I'm not afraid of the math. I'm a cook, I've done logistics.
The Japs were heavily armed, the Philippines weren't.
So explain those logistics without a handwave.
/johnny
You seem to have difficulty thinking logically. However, as you wish, don't store anything and perhaps you will be one that chooses suicide by prepper. Preppers know they don't own it unless they can defend it.
An arsenal would be good when civil war 2 comes around!
He hasn’t been butthurt. He is just a classic leftist who thinks our economy is a zero-sum game.
All the people buying food and firearms for prepping just might provide the edge for some businesses to actually STAY in business.
“They are delusional anti-social people. If you try to reason with them, you are attacked in the forums. You try to point out to them the truth, they slander you."
Followed by the ARREST them all! screed.
Classic internet butthurt.
That he is also a classic leftist with zero sum thinking is a sort 'can't have one without the other' situation. ;)
/johnny
“I’d like to be directed to the article or amendment that states anything about an arsenal.”
I’d think the work “keep” in “keep and bear arms” covers it.
“I’d like to be directed to the article or amendment that states anything about an arsenal.”
I’d think the word “keep” in “keep and bear arms” covers it.
“One trouble maker can ruin your day and days. The trouble maker doesn’t have a gun - the trouble maker is just a trouble maker”
At the risk of soundig un christian I think that when the SHTF the troublmakers like that will soon cease to be.
In the 30’s, there were more family farms and even city people had gardens.
Today, people depend on government food stamps.
In the 30’s, people actually knew how to “do stuff”, not now.
Today, people wait for FEMA or the National Guard to "do stuff".
In the 30’s, people didn’t have as much of an entitlement mentality. When the stuff stops coming from the government, they’re going to look to see who has “their stuff” and come try to take it.
In the 30's there wasn't BIG GOV to take care of it all. (Thanks FDR-dripping sarcasm) People managed on their own, helping families and neighbors. Today, they expect an I-phone plan paid by taxpayers. Just wait until electricity fails (obama's ban on coal plants) and they can't charge those phones.
To degrade preppers is foolish. I have one brother who is crazy over the top prepping. I have a hand well pump, generator and enough ready supplies to last at least 6 months.
Another brother just thinks we're fools. Who'll be the fool when he and his family comes crawling here from the big city with his hand out. Isn't like the old tale we all heard as kids: "The Little Red Hen"
bfl
If our ancestors had that attitude, none of us would be here.
In Detroit, the police department warned people to enter the city at their own risk as budget cuts result in fewer police and shorter hours of operation.
I'm pretty sure from reading the full text that was put out by the police union, not the police department.
Who would have thought that 3 days after Sandy that people would be digging in dumpsters for food, or taking a crap in the hallways of their apartments?
*****************************************************
They sure went downhill fast didn’t they? Stuff like crapping in the hallway is why there’s going to be lots of infectious diseases.
In debt up to my eyeballs since Mother had a heart attack 3 weeks before her medicare kicked in, but I still manage to buy at least a can extra of something when I go to the store.
Wow - thanks. I think you understand what I’m saying.
Currently there are more hunters licensed in the US than active duty military. If I had said the military was coming, I would be very wrong. Just not enough of them - hell, gangbangers in the US outnumber the military...oh, snap!
That’s where the trouble starts.
It ain’t just The Man, tho the tax man is rarely denied.
And it ain’t just the gangbangers - but they’ll be happy to kill you just the same.
Or your non-prepper neighbors when they see you are still fat and they are not...
Depending on your location, you may very well have a mass of folks looking to loot your goodies, and unless you’ve taken to living in some kind of compound - individual homeowners are... Boned.
I will point to what has already happened in South America - a place with a lot fewer guns in the hands of ‘regular citizens’ and how well the worked out.
South Africa? Outnumbered at every turn...
Even in ‘civilized’ Nairobi,
As noted here -
Sadly, most accommodation available is these four areas are appartments and maisonnettes in compound. And, secondly, you’ll still need a car/taxi to go out at night as walking in Nairobi after dark is not safe, especially in some places in Westlands/Parklands which are full of beggars/street boys.
(http://www.expat-blog.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=86473)
So - my logic?
Preppers are few, and far too many love to rattle on about how smart and prepared they are (witness poor Daisy). You know who you are - right?
Bad guys are many, and in some hellholes called urban areas in the US - they are very, very many.
Add in The Man, who will be more than happy to force you to “share” - on his terms, and the mass of normally ‘not really bad people, just right now hungry enough to kill you and your family”... Next you know - you have a real problem.
And you can readily see when the bodies stacked in windrows around your location - it will only point to yet other masses that there really *is* something worth stealing there....
Well then, the logic just lays itself out - doesn’t it?
Far better to have portable skills and the knowledge/tools to employ them; live in a way that moving on short notice is possible and as I said before, worry about what you can carry in your two hands at a full run - and you won’t have to participate in the upcoming hunger games.
I once asked my dad how he and the family fared in the Great Depression.
His answer - “Wouldn’t know. We chose not to participate.”
Hope this helps you understand the logic of not wanting massive amounts of food /fuel/stuff - and the attendant cost, rather than being fast on my feet and being able to react as needed to avoid the problems inherent with ‘all that stuff’. And the laughter.
Thanks for asking.
I was born on this ground. I expect I'll die on this ground at a time of His chosing.
I don't expect I'll quit encouraging my neighbors to remain prepared for our local disasters. I don't expect to cut and run on the neighborhood I grew up in, and finally came back to.
I do expect I'll keep on helping my neighbors when required.
Your mileage may vary, depending on your situation.
I run off miscreants currently. I don't see any of that changing right up until I die. And that, I'm not afraid of.
/johnny
A hurricane in 2005 cut off power for 12 days and gave me some good cheap lessons. My land line was working but my neighbor’s Comcast phone was out for 12 days. We are fairly well stocked on food. My favorite prep acquisition is a two burner stove I bought at a flea market. Made of sheet metal in Colombia South America. It sat unused for years. It is easily hooked up to the standard 20lb BBQ propane tank. I have 4 of these tanks. Got another one last month that was out on the curb. If you see a discarded rusted BBQ cut off the hose fitting with a knife. This will connect to a two burner gas stove. These two burners are used all over the third world. Harbor Freight has some
The one I have looks like this >>>> http://www.ebay.com/itm/DUAL-TWO-2-BURNER-PROPANE-CAMP-STOVE-GAS-COOKER-CAMPING-LP-TAILGATE-TAILGATING-/230900729361?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c2c18611
Plus I have a Coleman camping stove that can be modded to fit onto a 20lb propane tank.
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