[Leaning Right]

Even with some areas that had legitimate local militias, there was no way to muster enough willing souls to hold off organized Dragoons raids when the raiders numbered over about 50.

Bingo. Way, way too many preppers live in a macho fantasy world.

They really think that with them at the front door with a .45, and Uncle Jed at the back door with a shotgun, they'll be able to hold off a starving world.

[cripplecreek]

Way, way too many preppers live in a macho fantasy world.

Better to have a network of mutual support and defense as well as a low profile if possible. While the word is repulsive to conservatives, a degree of collectivization would probably be required till things settled down.

[PapaBear3625]

Too many preppers think that there are only two scenarios: normality or Zombie Apocalypse. They fail to consider intermediate-severity scenarios, which seem much more likely.

A set of articles about collapse in Argentina provide some good pointers about survival in an in-between situation.

A more likely scenario than Zombie Apocalypse is a situation where local governments have gone bust, but have not managed to take the whole economy down with them. In this scenario, the lights will still be on, you are likely to be still employed, but you have a huge increase in street crime, home invasions, and robberies. The situation would involve how to band with your neighbors so as to protect your neighborhoods when police cannot keep up, and how to get to and from work safely when carjackings become much more common.