Posted on 04/03/2012 11:13:52 AM PDT by blam
Read This First Before You Decide That Preppers Are Crazy
April 2, 2012
Michael Snyder
Do you believe that preppers are a few cards short of a full deck? Do you assume that anyone that is "preparing for doomsday" does not have their elevator going all the way to the top floor? Well, you might want to read this first before you make a final decision that all preppers are crazy. The information that you are about to read shook me up a bit when I first looked it over. To be honest, I had no idea how incredibly vulnerable our economic system is to a transportation disruption. I am continually getting emails and comments on my websites asking "how to prepare" for what is coming, so when I came across this information I knew that I had to share it with all of you. Hopefully what you are about to read will motivate you to prepare like never before, and hopefully you will share this information with others.
Originally, I was going to write an article about the rising unemployment in Europe today. Did you know that unemployment in the eurozone is now at a 15 year high? It has risen for 10 months in a row with no end in sight.
But I have written dozens of articles about the economic crisis in Europe already. So before starting on that article I started thinking of all the "preparation" questions I have been getting lately and I went over and checked out one of my favorite preparation websites: shtfplan.com.
Well, an article had just been posted over there about a report put out by the American Trucker Associations entitled "When Trucks Stop, America Stops".
I went and found that original report and I was stunned as I read it.
The truth is that our "just in time" inventory and delivery systems leave us incredibly vulnerable to a nationwide disaster.
You see, it is very expensive to hold and store inventory, so most manufacturers and retailers rely on a continual flow of deliveries that are scheduled to arrive "just in time", and this significantly reduces their operating expenses.
This is considered to be good business practice for manufacturers and retailers, but it also means that if there was a major nationwide transportation disruption that our economic system would grind to a halt almost immediately.
Once store shelves are picked clean, they would not be able to be replenished until trucks could get back on the road. In the event of a major nationwide disaster, that could be quite a while.
So what could potentially cause a nationwide transportation shutdown?
Well, it is easy to imagine a lot of potential scenarios - a volcanic eruption, a historic earthquake, an EMP attack, a solar megastorm, a war, a major terror attack, an asteroid strike, a killer pandemic, mass rioting in U.S. cities, or even martial law.
If something caused the trucks to stop running, life in America would immediately start changing.
So exactly what would that look like?
The following is an excerpt from the report mentioned above put out by the American Trucker Associations entitled "When Trucks Stop, America Stops"....
*****
A Timeline Showing the Deterioration of Major Industries Following a Truck Stoppage
The first 24 hours
• Delivery of medical supplies to the affected area will cease.
• Hospitals will run out of basic supplies such as syringes and catheters within hours. Radiopharmaceuticals will deteriorate and become unusable.
• Service stations will begin to run out of fuel.
• Manufacturers using just-in-time manufacturing will develop component shortages.
• U.S. mail and other package delivery will cease.
Within one day
• Food shortages will begin to develop.
• Automobile fuel availability and delivery will dwindle, leading to skyrocketing prices and long lines at the gas pumps.
• Without manufacturing components and trucks for product delivery, assembly lines will shut down, putting thousands out of work.
Within two to three days
• Food shortages will escalate, especially in the face of hoarding and consumer panic.
• Supplies of essentials—such as bottled water, powdered milk, and canned meat—at major retailers will disappear.
• ATMs will run out of cash and banks will be unable to process transactions.
• Service stations will completely run out of fuel for autos and trucks.
• Garbage will start piling up in urban and suburban areas.
• Container ships will sit idle in ports and rail transport will be disrupted, eventually coming to a standstill.
Within a week
• Automobile travel will cease due to the lack of fuel. Without autos and busses, many people will not be able to get to work, shop for groceries, or access medical care.
• Hospitals will begin to exhaust oxygen supplies.
Within two weeks
• The nation’s clean water supply will begin to run dry.
Within four weeks
• The nation will exhaust its clean water supply and water will be safe for drinking only after boiling. As a result gastrointestinal illnesses will increase, further taxing an already weakened health care system.
This timeline presents only the primary effects of a freeze on truck travel. Secondary effects must be considered as well, such as inability to maintain telecommunications service, reduced law enforcement, increased crime, increased illness and injury, higher death rates, and likely, civil unrest.
*****
Earlier in the report, the reasons why America's water supply would be in such jeopardy are described in greater detail....
According to the American Water Works Association, Americans drink more than one billion glasses of tap water per day. For safety and security reasons, most water supply plants maintain a larger inventory of supplies than the typical business. However, the amount of chemical storage varies significantly and is site specific. According to the Chlorine Institute, most water treatment facilities receive chlorine in cylinders (150 pounds and one ton cylinders) that are delivered by motor carriers. On average, trucks deliver purification chemicals to water supply plants every seven to 14 days. Without these chemicals, water cannot be purified and made safe for drinking.
Without truck deliveries of purification chemicals, water supply plants will run out of drinkable water in 14 to 28 days. Once the water supply is drained, water will be deemed safe for drinking only when boiled. Lack of clean drinking water will lead to increased gastrointestinal and other illnesses, further taxing an already weakened healthcare system.
Can you see why I always recommend that you make sure that you and your family have access to fresh water and a way to purify it?
This report should be very sobering for all of us.
What would you and your family do if you had no food, no clean water and the stores were shut down because their supplies were gone?
An article by Tess Pennington entitled "Emergency Items: What Will Disappear First" contains a list of 100 things that are likely to disappear from store shelves first. The following are the first 10 things on her list....
1. Generators (Good ones cost dearly. Gas storage, risky. Noisy…target of thieves; maintenance etc.)
2. Water Filters/Purifiers
3. Portable Toilets
4. Seasoned Firewood. Wood takes about 6 – 12 months to become dried, for home uses.
5. Lamp Oil, Wicks, Lamps (First Choice: Buy CLEAR oil. If scarce, stockpile ANY!)
6. Coleman Fuel. Impossible to stockpile too much.
7. Guns, Ammunition, Pepper Spray, Knives, Clubs, Bats & Slingshots.
8. Hand-can openers, & hand egg beaters, whisks.
9. Honey/Syrups/white, brown sugar
10. Rice – Beans – Wheat
You can find the rest of the list right here.
Most Americans just assume that they will always be able to run out to the supermarket or to Wal-Mart and buy anything that they need.
But if the trucks stop running that will change almost overnight.
After reading the information above, does anyone out there still believe that preppers are crazy?
The truth is that there are good, solid reasons why millions of Americans have been storing up food, water filters and other supplies.
Our world is becoming increasingly unstable, and all of us need to get educated about how to prepare for the difficult years that are coming.
One nightmarish event can change everything that we take for granted in a single moment.
Just remember what happened after Hurricane Katrina. Even though that was only a regional disaster, millions of people had their lives completely turned upside down by that tragedy.
Don't make the mistake of assuming that just because the U.S. has always known tremendous peace and prosperity since World War II that things will always be that way.
Our lives will only continue to be "normal" as long as the trucks continue running.
When the trucks stop running in America, there will be mass chaos.
Are you prepared for that?
As I read this article, I couldn’t help but think of a family we know who prepped big-time for Y2K only to have their basement clogged for about six years afterward.
Depending on the disaster, most of the supplies would be worthless anyway. If you are dying of some kind of radiation poison or other biological, then a lot of good all the Spam, powdered milk, or syrup will be. Also, do these preppers then build themselves a FORT? Are they also prepping to turn away relatives who didn’t prep? I could ask a million ?s about this silliness, but for the time being, I’ll just accept that some people exist to entertain us.
Look on the bright side.
Most of those you’re referring to are simply TOO LAZY to make the trip out to your farm or ranch and steal your stuff.
Eat what you store, store what you eat.
Also, don’t buy a bunch of crap that won’t make your life better NOW, as well as post-”shift”.
FR Weekly Prepper Thread.
No thanks. Meanwhile, what do you think the “preppers” are going to do about all the people they love who are on serious medications such as insulin? No way can a person prep for that (at least not for the time frame the preppers seem to be concerned with).
As for all of these nincompoops on here talking about the unwashed urban masses invading them in their rural shangri-la’s, I have never seen so much mean-spirited - and I mean truly evil - thinking when people start talking about this. I have a hunch that the city folks most people are referring to will implode before they ever get out to the country.
Whatever happened to “love thy neighbor?”
I am not curious, but thanks. Don’t have time to listen to a podcast now. Still, thanks.
Do you have a spare tire? That's just so silly.
I have a husband. I don’t need a spare tire. Meanwhile, to compare that with this whole prepper phenom is absurd.
IMPORTANT REALITY CHECK
RE PREPPING . . .
END TIMES PING LIST PING TO THE OP
The government will step in and pick up a fee like a perv lawyer or a rotten cop after ladies in distress.
It’s too easy.
Propane and Propane accessories
We have a propane generator.
Stay safe...don’t know if you are in the line of fire with the storms.
I don’t know who you are referring to when you say they’re “mean-spirited” or “evil”. Most of the “shoot people who ask for food” people have been purged from the prepper threads as inappropriate.
Most preppers have a “charity stash”, but we also know that some folks aren’t prepared to receive charity but would instead try to take by force, and we’re prepared for both.
Thanks for the insult. I'm sure many here feel the same way.
After Katrina I was able to help many people in my area for weeks because of my silliness. You can bet that all those folks have a different attitude about prepping now. Most of my neighborhood is now stocked up at all times.
Did you just come on this thread to make snide remarks?
-houeto.
I remember one suggestion I heard a while back; that was to put back a reasonable supply of small denominations of money - ones, fives, and tens, and some smallish coins - because you may need to have some exact change due to cash registers not working. Assuming even that would be acceptable in such an event, but you stand a better chance of functioning with a few ones and fives instead of having a bunch of large bills that require change when you make a purchase. - Hide them in a safe place; and have a decoy piggy bank in plain site with some pennies and nickels and a few dimes in it so possibly a thief would be tickled to find that and move on.
We need to be on speaking terms with our neighbors just in case we have to go to a barter system, too.
We also need to keep our gasoline tanks in our cars reasonably well filled. We live quite far out in the country.
Regarding food; take the advice of Doris Jantzen Longacre (”The More With Less” books from years ago) and SHORTEN YOUR SHOPPING LIST, eat simpler, and quit trying to eat gourmet every day. Be sure to provide for WATER, WATER, WATER. You can’t live very long without it; you can live a long time on less food than you’re used to. I have a lot stored on the “fat of the land”.
A source of heat in winter months is vital. We got a wood stove several years ago; and have not regretted it. Also got an automatic wood splitter that’s been worth every penny we paid for it. Last year, the storms toppled lots of trees on our place; fortunately, husband likes to use the chain saw, but if you have to, BUY some good stove wood. - Also, have some serious cover (quilts, blankets, etc.) squirrelled away.
No one listens to a -
Twinkie -
But, this is some good advice!
Lots of work went into that manual
Thanks
If you read most of the comments, you’ll realize that most of these folks are not planning or intending to help others. Meanwhile, help comes in many forms, so I’m sure others helped in different ways than you. Why don’t you just respect that not everyone is a “chicken little” type. And if you are going to be that kind of person, you better get used to the insults. If you want to say “told ya so” then fine with me...should that moment arise.
So, Mr. B, you think that a person has to actually threaten “shooting” someone to be mean-spirited? My standards are somewhat different than yours. The comments I am referring to are right on this thread; not pulled by the moderator, nor should they be, but to me are very telling about the sorts of people who are “preppers.” Meanwhile, I don’t consider people who plan for storms as “preppers.” Preppers are planning for a complete breakdown that is going to last and last...not just a week without power.
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