Deeper Self Sufficiency and Prepping Questions

Dragonwriter

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So much prepping info is or originates from the U.S that this Canadian prepper has been wondering what the overall state of prepping is north of the border. My partner and I were discussing this last night. Guns and gun control figures prominently in the States, but we don't have that focus up here since our gun control laws are much more rigid. But we do have a government that undermines us in other ways. Selling off our resources to other countries for example. There was a big outcry when POTUS signed what many are calling the anti-prepper law, which basically said the gov't could confiscate any resources it deemed necessary. I wondered if the Canadian government has something similar. Our gov't is quieter about what it does and we don't have easy to find alternative media. At least I've never found any... Prepping seems to swing between getting a bad rap in the media and being heralded as "smart" depending on who is reporting. But there is no "yardstick" like that up here. Living out in the woods, I am surprised more are not self reliant up here. You might be surprised at how many are caught flat-footed when we are cut off by floods and landslides.

So I leave these questions out there for preppers and self sufficient types on both sides of the border...

* Did you start off being a prepper first or self sufficient first?
* Do you expect society will collapse?
* How do you see your area for being self sufficient? Is yours an area that supports those who do for themselves or do you live in an area that controls everything?
 

Wannabefree

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Self sufficient and frugal was/is my ideal. Hasn't society already collapsed to a large degree? Folks don't know how to be neighbors anymore, and it's mostly all about "me me me" these days....so yeah, societal collapse is in the process, and has been for decades, so I don't see it as a question of has it, but how far will it go before more start realizing it has been, right under their noses, all along. Boy I'm a ray of sunshine...anyway...our area, is pretty much farming type community way off in the backwoods middle of nowhere. The city doesn't have a ton of restrictions, and even if they did I live in the county which has even less. So long as you aren't growing stuff that aint supposed to be growing, you're pretty much left in peace. It's fairly easy to maintain some semblance of self sufficiency here....you're almost weird if you don't :hu
 

Beekissed

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* Did you start off being a prepper first or self sufficient first?
* Do you expect society will collapse?
* How do you see your area for being self sufficient? Is yours an area that supports those who do for themselves or do you live in an area that controls everything?
'

1. Folks who live out in the sticks have always been preppers out of sheer necessity. Oh, not like folks are now with special buckets and lists and all. We just preserve food as a way of life and prepare for seasonal changes, floods, tornadoes, and possible power outages because we know they will happen. They always happen. There is no true self sufficiency but we moved to undeveloped land and started homesteading in the late 70s, so I guess you could say the increase in prepping and self sufficiency started then.

2. Yes. It's inevitable.
3. Most town people could care less and see preppers as fear mongers and fanatics. Country folk laugh at the term because we were preppers before prepping was cool. Then there are the suburban folks who think that fighting their HOA for the right to have 3 chickens in their back yard that they could never, never kill because those are their pets that give them breakfast, and a raised bed of tomatoes and lettuce are going to make them more self sufficient, and they discuss at length all the things they will need for prepping, keep a bug out bag by the door or in the car and they think they've really survived a tough time if the power goes out for two days in a row. Then they discuss all these things on forums for years without ever really making steps at being self sufficient.
 

frustratedearthmother

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# 1. What Bee said
#2. What WBF said.

#3. I live in a fairly rural area, but close enough to suburbia to see both sides. No restrictions in my little corner of the world. Most of the folks in our area have animals and gardens. We walk the walk as much as possible.

I'm all for surburbanites fighting for the right to have a couple of hens in their back yard. And, if they can grow a bed of tomatoes and lettuce they can learn to grow more. My parents have vegetable beds in their suburban back yard along with blueberries, citrus trees, and fig trees. They grow enough to cover their needs and share with their neighbors and with me. My pepper crop totally failed a couple of years ago and my mom, in her backyard bed, raised enough peppers for three families and had more left over to dehydrate. I know folks who raise quail in their garages and even some folks who are raising fish and frogs in their pool, lol. More power to 'em! Not everyone can set themselves up in the country so I applaud them for doing what they can with what they've got. Isn't that what this quest towards self-sufficiency is all about?
 

Joel_BC

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Self sufficient and frugal was/is my ideal. Hasn't society already collapsed to a large degree? Folks don't know how to be neighbors anymore, and it's mostly all about "me me me" these days....so yeah, societal collapse is in the process, and has been for decades, so I don't see it as a question of has it, but how far will it go before more start realizing it has been, right under their noses, all along.
:) Makes a lot of sense to me. I'm in Canada and: a) always wanted to live in the countryside; b) wanted to acquire many skills (both marketable and not); c) wanted to connect with my community. I've found a low-key "prepping" aspect develops pretty naturally out of this sort of orientation to life. We've lived locally with power outages due to landslides, strong winds and tree-falls, highway trucks hitting power poles, etc.

In the States, the population is 10x as large. There are many good, self-responsible people there. But elements within the population perhaps adopt lifestyles and act in ways that could be (at times) less than socially cooperative, self-reliant, and reserved - seems like tinder for possible difficulties if conditions suddenly become stressful and disorienting (and result in scarcities).

Give our circumstances up here, widespread physically threatening social chaos seems less likely. We could still experience natural disasters, or (on the other hand) an extreme economic downturn worse than 2009.

Dragonwriter, in my view, there is lots of need & opportunity in Canada for people to learn skills in the areas of preparedness, thrift, making-do, food gardening & preservation, etc. I can't speak so much for the city, suburb, and town people. But I think forums such as SS are great, both for country and urban people. I recently started a Pinterest board offering very many gateways to useful information relevant to both self-reliance and preparedness.

People around here generally tend to be fairly prepared for emergencies and most are cooperative, within various circles of friends. People are fairly quiet (they're Canadian afterall) and not exhibitionistic about being into preparedness.

Tools and equipment are not very hard to obtain up here in Canada.

... Just a few thoughts.
 
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