And why do we want to even envision in living in such an dark environment?
You actually believe this is living?
You either prepare and stand on your own beholding to no one or you become dependent on others to provide your basic needs and become there ‘serf’. Me I don’t want to be beholding to anyone for providing what is needed for me and mine. I certainly don’t want to have to kiss some ‘gubberment’ third class bureaucratic to try and coax some help from them, I don’t want some ‘jack booted’ thug herding me in line and telling me where to stand sit eat or sleep. And last but not least I don’t want to be herded in with a bunch of ‘zombies’ and have to worry about not only trying to get basic necessities but having to fight to keep what I manage to get.
But it seems some people are bound and determined to be the ones standing on a bridge waiting for FEMA to bring them a MRE, a bottle of water and a warm blanket and proved the back ground money shot for the network news.
It is living. Perhaps more surviving, but still living. As we know it today of course not but if everyone around the world just chucked it when the SHTF most countries would not exist today. Very chaotic short periods do not last forever, stability comes in one form or another, some better like ours, many not as good.
In reality the Amish are the best group to survive it well. The only skills they need to pick up is weapons training and learning offensive and defensive tactics. They will pick that up very quickly and very well. Not saying I am a big fan of them but consider in many ways what they normally know as life doesn’t change much in this scenario.
Yes, it is.
Dying is much of a living.
And if there is economic and societal catastrophe, then we switch to survival.
Hopefully, the leftists and parasites that caused the catastrophe will be eliminated through natural selection and we will remain.
We will then rebuild the country as our Founding Fathers built it and through that continually increase our standard of living so that we get back to the luxurious state where we currently find ourselves...so luxurious that if we make statements implying that if our standard of living falls of the cliff we are better off dead.
I'm a great grandfather, and while I can't do some of the things I once could, I remember more primitive technologies as well as have farmed, fished, hunted for food and money. In addition to that, however, comes the knowledge I have acquired from the variety of jobs I have worked and an education which included geology, chemistry, and physics, all of which have practical applications. I don't see junk, I see resources, and we'll mine landfills some day.
Maybe my survival isn't about me, but passing on what knowledge I can to those more fit to utilize it.
We didn't have computers once, at least not on the scale of today, we used radio as a primary means of communication--crystal recievers which did not require power--only the transmitter did. We managed to add, subtract, multiply, and divide just fine, and Newton's Calculus was done without a calculator.
Now, a 1940s technology level might not appeal to you, but it could be salvaged by a few skilled people in short order. There will be plenty of scrap metal and materials to work with, and such knowledge as is preserved to use as a guide.
Food: Large scale agriculture could be carried out anywhere people are willing and have access to oil wells. Diesel fuel is a distillate: the simplest fraction to extract from crude oil. Diesel vehicles, tractors, heavy equipment, could all be utilized if someone manages to put together even the most rudimentary stills to make diesel fuel, lighter fractions could be used for cooking fuel, and an even better chemist could be making other products as well.
Steam power can be used to generate enough electricity to get things rolling (it's what we use now, on a larger scale),
The knowledge is there, for those willing to use it and who have the resources at hand, and the trick is to pass it on.
I do not claim to know God's purpose for me in this life, not in its entirety, but I have noticed that almost every experience I have had has somehow prepared me for something else which happened later on in life.
Now, maybe I'll just have a library of old manuals which someone will use to build a fire and keep warm. Maybe I'll be called upon to help build the things which enable others to not just survive, but build anew, maybe not.
However, since God has kept me around this long, I reckon He has a reason.
In the meantime, though, It is my duty to those who depend on me to do what I can to ensure their chances are the best for recovering the best civilization they can and defending it as well.
That will include philosophical and even religious teaching as well, and that is something we should be passing on to our youth anyway. Had more of that been done by the right people, maybe we wouldn't have the mess we do today.
So just a thought, maybe surviving TOETWAWKI isn't just about us, as individuals, but what we can do for the future of our families, and eventually, the human race.
In 'primitive' cultures, the elders teach and raise the young while the younger adults tend the herds, hunt, and do the day-to-day work of keeping the cook fires lit and the village/camp safe. The lines of specialization might be a little different, but they still exist.
Survive, if for no other reason than to plant the vision of flying cars in a child's mind. Then build anew, and better.
You will have seen what did not work, and will be able to help avoid that again.