[SkyPilot]

For instance, our credit cards would have stopped working in 2008 if the financial system had frozen up (likewise for EBT cards). Supposedly we were within a few hours of that actually happening. If it had, then SHTF would have been right around the corner unless the problem was resolved very quickly.

You, and most folks on this forum, are in the minority of Americans who realize this fact. There is an article out there about one of our illustrious Senators (who was on the finance committee) calling his wife the night before the 2008 financial crisis and desperately telling her to drain each debit card for as much as the ATMs would give her.

[Kartographer]

And yet we are sky is falling chickens to many even more than a few FReepers.