The combined National Guard could not begin to guard everything.
People have no concept as to what a hopeless task this would be.
I envision the National Guard being used to protect the elite political class and to hell with the rest of America. We would be completely on our own.
The entire system would completely break down within a couple of days and it would be dog-eat-dog.
You’re right about the National Guard not having enough manpower to guard everything. And sadly, with politics as they are, you’re probably right about the rest. The Guard, besides doling out food supplies to civilians here and there, would be positioning combat units and support against any foreign military incursion in a broadly, unprecedentedly ugly scenario.
IMO, there are many personal preparations we can make for nationwide hard times. But one of the wisest would be finding out which neighbors we could get along with—neighbors who have also made preparations for emergencies and possess very calm demeanors (no pride or easy anger that could lead to hysterics). ...even if there are only one or two of ‘em in the whole neighborhood. Poor situations can be more exhausting than most people realize, and most of the exhaustion and other miseries in most neighborhoods won’t come from violence—at least not in most neighborhoods.
Thirst, hunger, injury, illness and exhaustion are much more prevalent in most such cases and places. The television folks do like to concentrate on places like Haiti, though.