Posted on 11/16/2008 3:15:11 PM PST by rfmad
I am seriously thinking of taking to steps to go to a survivalist approach planning to survuve total chaos and financial and institutional break down. Some one please help me see why this is not going to happen. Thanks
I have been planning for the worst as much as my limited means will allow me to. I feel like I’m not at all prepared for an off the grid scenario, however.
survival bump
to read later
I saw the after effects in Mongolia after the demise of USSR. It was not pretty when the system collapsed. It became real to me that that could happen in the US also and there isn't going to be anyone to bail us out.
Regarding Obama, most Conservatives understand it is not just him but several things potentially coming together at once.
Conservatives study and understand history, understand nothing is perfect and take personal responsibility for their future.
By the nature of your question, I wonder if you have personally experienced the effects of an economic/social turn down yet. Many have not. If you ask, most posters here probably have seen tough times or been told about them and understand.
During the great depression, a third were losing, a third were surviving and a third were doing well. It is more luck than management. With the coming chaos, there is no obvious port in the storm. Those that survive and do well will say they made wise decisions, but it will be more luck than management. This crap storm can go anywhere and hit any port of refuge. I still plan for a future, and make the best decisions I can but suspect most of them will be the wrong decisions.
Walmart and Walgreen’s have discount plans for meds that you can fill for 3 months at a time. Your MD will give you an extended script if you explain to him that you need some on hand for emergencies or travel situations.
My husband’s BP meds are prescribed in a dosage that his physician recommends he cut in half. So, he gets a 3 month refill and when he fills it again, he has 6 weeks extra stashed. The doc is a family friend who fully expects disruptions of various sorts, so we figure we will have access in the beginning of any emergency, but the goal is to have several months extra supply.
I realize some meds won’t fall under this scenario or the generic discount plan. I would talk to my MD about any concerns. All it would take is something that impedes transport or affects the factory where the drugs are manufactured. There are a variety of weather-related scenarios that could result in a shortage, so you don’t have to sound like like a paranoid when you speak to the physician.
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I guess one of my objections to this business is that even if the country were to go through some kind of economic downturn or even if it went into a depression, that doesn’t mean that the social order would breakdown. It doesn’t mean that people would be rioting in the streets, or looting, or killing. After all, people didn’t act that way during the Great Depression.
My other objection is that for those of us who don’t live in remote, rural areas, there really isn’t anything that we can do to “plan” for a breakdown of civic order. We can put aside a limited amount of water, food, and cash, but once that runs out, we would be out of luck. And, if it gets to the point where mobs of people are roaming the streets, committing acts of violence, then even owning a gun might not be a sufficient defense.
In the end, I think the likelihood of this kind of scenario is pretty small and since there isn’t much that most of us can do if it occurs, there’s not much point in worrying about it.
Everything you ever needed to know about Survival but didn’t know whom to ask, by backhoe:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/840488/posts
You must decide the balance between being prepared for business as usual and TSHTF.
As you consider what might not be available in the latter case, you will find more things and skills to add to your list.
Much will depend on where you are and what things are like you live.
Food, water, and the means (equipment and skill) to defend it, shelter including appropriate clothing for the climate, and mobility. Meds as needed, a really good first aid kit you assemble and the know-how to use it. All are the basics.
No one is running, just getting ready for whatever comes down the pike. As for Obama, we'll see.
The same preparations used for one of those TSHTF moments, will tide you through most any natural disaster you survive.
Hunger is the best sauce.
Why not? Because the government will not tolerate an Ants and the Grasshopper model where some have things stockpiled (including arms). Look at what happened to guns in New Orleans after Katrina.
They will seize all (food, cash, whatever).
Even FDR prohibited ownership of gold.
What makes the public think that the government wouldn’t do these things again to them? Especially given (but not exclusive to) the new President.
Ummmm, the banking, stock market, and credit crisis happened BEFORE Obama. The question is: can he stop it? Kind of like trying to stop a speeding train - - from street level - - don't know if anyone can stop it...
If the D's try to steal our 401k's, there would be a revolution. Then again, all those seniors wouldn't make much of an army...
Had a friend who used one a few years back after a hurricane - she woke up to "quiet" and ran outside to see that someone with snips had cut the chain holding her generator to the house. You don't need a gun - just someone who sleeps at night...
Actually, the best way to stop the recession is for the government to do nothing. Recessions typically last from 1 to 2 year, the market will eventually improve on its own. Unfortunately, the government will just end up prolonging the recession by meddling in the economy. But even if the recession goes on for a while, that doesn’t mean that the social order will break down. Moreover, I stand by one of my previous posts in which I pointed out that most of us can’t “run to the hills.” Most of us live in metropolitan areas. We can’t run away. Of course, running away never solved anything any way.
I agree with you and your basic points that much of this is unlikely to happen. To the extent that I have some concern about the current situation, however, is what happens if people begin to lose faith in the dollar? If we continue to print money as we have been, eventually people will lose faith in our currency. If that happens, all bets are off.
Not saying it will. Just saying that this is a concern that hasn't, in my mind, existed in previous recessions.
And you can’t keep it inside, so I’m guessing lots of padlocks and chains are in order.
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