even before that is the danger of clueless people who DON"T see the writing on the wall - even tho now "WRIT LARGE".
Case in point - most of the posts so far on this thread - right here in FR.
If this is an example of how flippant FR's are - it's a disconcerting to think of how much of the general public is. And the unprepared, who are too busy watching Dancing with the Stars" will be the first ones knocking down your door for YOUR stores.
This group has it right - you need to network.
I know a group, intelligent people, who have been developing a small group of locals - in the country - for the past several years - long before we had a pres. O'bumbles - now have good gardens established, wells for water, wood stoves, etc, should the power go out. They'll be able to live as our great grandparents did before electricity.
Those who wait until the hammer falls are going to be in trouble. Even if it's because of the loss of your job - these supplies could be a lifesaver.
I do not live in as good an area. I am surrounded, not by dense housing but by homes with a few acres each. Unfortunately, more than half of those homes contain people who love Obama and socialism, extreme leftists who oppose the Second Amendment and individual freedom. If society collapses, I will be very nervous for several months. Hopefully I'll have some luck in concealing my degree of preparedness from all neighbors in the first few months and in converting those neighbors smart enough to survive the initial collapse.
Still, I don't want to live as our grandparents did before electricity, at least not for long. One important part of my preparation is paper reference books. I believe I could reconstruct most of modern medicine, math, science, and engineering from my small library. I also think that is important. I want Western culture to be the first to rise again if there is a global catastrophe, and scientific knowledge will be among the determinants of who wins that race. Those books, however, are in a sealed box. The references that are ready to use are field guides to local plants, both edible and medicinal, copies of applicable sections from Kart's prep manual to keep and to hand out, and other references that will help in learning or remembering key details under pressure.