Stocking Up, Putting Back, Prepping = Paranoia?

[Wifezilla]

So I guess question isn't whether or not it is a good idea to prep, but WHY you prep and whether or not you think "the worst" can happen. Right?

Entertaining the possibility of a worst case scenario does make you think. If you prepare for it and nothing happens, what is the harm? None. You are ready for every day disasters if you are prepared for societal break down, are you not? If you set aside more than you need and a family member hits on hard times, you are in a great position to help. If you hit on hard times, you can ride out the rough patch.

Society has a very thin veneer. I do believe it could break down. Is that the main reason I prep? No. It's for the floods and the blizzards and the economy. But that thought is there that things COULD get that bad. Crazy thought or not, it COULD happen. It has happened before. Why wouldn't it happen again.

 

[SKR8PN]

No need to be snarky or rude or assume I lack empathy. I asked for information so I could better understand something, and tried to explain the parts I don't understand. If it came across as condescending or rude, please accept my apologies -- I didn't mean it that way at all.

I have been dirt poor. I have scrounged for change enough to buy a meal. I have wondered whether I would be able to pay rent. I have put a few dollars in my gas tank since that's all I had. (ETA: I was thinking of my adult years here, and forgot to mention that I was homeless for while as a teenager and lived in a car.) I've been there; I get it.

But that's individual. And I understand the individual stuff. People and families come across hard times -- that's a given. My DH's job depends on his physical ability -- if he's injured, his career is over. I understand that kind of thing.

The part I don't understand is the bigger threat that seems to be discussed here. The idea that starving friends and family will be knocking on your door and you will have to turn them away. The idea that you need lots of ammo to protect against starving masses of zombies. It's the societal threats as they relate to prepping that I am looking to understand better.

I have been a member of this forum for two years. I am not a troll. I do not start fights. I do not criticize others. I am asking for information because I honestly want to know.

I have to go but I am looking forward to reading through these responses more thoroughly. Thanks to those who have shared information -- I appreciate it.

I am having hard time understanding why, given the fact you have been broke and homeless, that you can't grasp where some of us are coming from. Given your history, you of all people, should have a handle on where this country is heading and why. All you have to do is look at the numbers. More people now than anytime in this counties history, are homeless, jobless, on welfare, on unemployment, in soup lines, begging on the street corners and numbers are getting WORSE not better. The dollar is losing more and more of it's buying power every day, the country is going bankrupt just like the rest of the WORLD. We are becoming a third world country.
Can you not see a pattern here?



A couple of Gerald Celente's predictions:
"In 2010, survivalism will go mainstream. Unemployed or fearing it, foreclosed or nearing it, pensions lost and savings gone, all sorts of folk who once believed in the system have lost their faith. Motivated not by worst-case scenario fears but by do-or-die necessity, the new non-believers, unwilling to go under or live on the streets, will devise ingenious stratagems to beat the system, get off the grid (as much as possible), and stay under the radar."

"When people lose everything, and they have nothing to lose, they lose it"


Did you happen to see what transpired after the Wisconsin State Fair the other day??? It is only the beginning.......
http://wisconserve.com/2011/08/05/recent-race-riots-at-wisconsin-state-fair-and-around-milwaukee/
See where I'm coming from now??

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

The part I don't understand is the bigger threat that seems to be discussed here. The idea that starving friends and family will be knocking on your door and you will have to turn them away. The idea that you need lots of ammo to protect against starving masses of zombies. It's the societal threats as they relate to prepping that I am looking to understand better.

i think some of this is cultural. i have a lot of friends who are in "the bubble" and dont have any idea what is going on outside their sphere. they go to work, spend their money like they didnt have a care in the world, and assume if the utilities go out someone will be there within the hour to fix it. so if things are going along like normal for you - or you dont know anyone who's lost their house, or has been unemployed for a long time, then it probably seems weird. the problem is - its not just individual anymore.. its lots of people. and all you need is one bad thing to happen (illness, job loss, financial mistake) and then you'll know what its about.

to be sure, some of the stocking up just makes sense. the harvest comes in all at one time. or if you have a long drive to the store you cant just hop in the car to get one item. so you learn to have more on hand. and after a while spending money you dont have to seems weird and wasteful.

and - around here we KNOW we are on our own. in normal times we are at least 25-30 minutes from a 911 call (on their best day) so we assume we have to take care of ourselves. we are, literally, the last house in the country to have our electric turned back on after a storm and that could be days - not hours. and we would have a hard time riding a bike - let alone walk - to the closest store. and rural crime is on the rise. guns, ammo, and gates? thats everyday life. and in a bad situation it just gets worse.

not only do we have the 'regular' kinda rural crime - but add the meth houses and all their fans. now you got crazy drugged out people, who want money, and there you are with no one to call for help but the dog. so the idea that some weirdo is gonna show up at your house - not beyond the scope of extreme possibility. we've had three home (actually farm) invasions in our area in the last month - you dont need a mass of zombies, you just need one.

also this kind of lifestyle lends itself to some hard core practicality. so when you see people you know loose their house because of either a bad break - or just stupidity - and they are already calling for a house payment or to joke about how they are "gonna move in." and you hear it all the time? and the you start hearing it from more people? or people expect you to provide some of your hard earned farming efforts (why wont you just raise a pig for us?)? and expect you to bail them out while you're busting your butt trying to make it work? when you become the 'responsible' one of your extended family then the others just kinda assume that they can count on you. and since they dont want to be "one of those weirdos" who preps. so in the back of their mind they are just kinda counting on you.

and around here there are a LOT of multi-generational households because they dont have any other options. so the idea that your ill-prepared family is gonna show up? also not beyond the scope of extreme possibility.

i think another cultural aspect is that a lot of us rural people come from families who lived thru the Depression and we still know the stories. my grandpa was in a position to help a lot of people who otherwise would have gone hungry. i still remember strangers coming to see him and saying "we were so poor we would have starved if it wasnt for you." so we grew up knowing that these things can and do happen. my grandma was 'farm poor' so they never went hungry - but other relatives really struggled in the city.

if you want to better understand this then check out what life was like in the Depression, for families in the Dust Bowl, or most recently in Katrina, or the flooding in Australia.

the question isnt why would we see this 'bigger threat' the question is - why wouldnt we?

but your mileage may vary. *shrugs*

 

[Wifezilla]

rural crime is on the rise

You don't say!

http://www.kget.com/news/local/story/Thieves-targeting-Kern-farmers/ck9S3b_fh0OwEX23Jp0g9A.cspx
http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-07-22/bay-area/29801635_1_copper-theft-reed-thieves
http://www.clarionledger.com/articl...till-happens?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|p

Did you happen to see what transpired after the Wisconsin State Fair the other day???

Yes. Very sad.

 

[sunsaver]

What happened after the fair? Oh, i just found the link. That's scary stuff, thats shtf stuff. No law and order. Mob rules. I agree whole heartedly with OFGs post. I think was a good explanation of how most of SSers feel and why we stock up on things. It was a good read.

 

[Lady Henevere]

I finally figured out where my misunderstanding is! I see these conversations about TSHTF and I'm thinking it's ONE thing, one event that's going to happen and then we're all suddenly cut off from "the easy life" as we know it, all at once. I hear stuff like "it's coming sooner than you think" and I think, WHAT?!? What's this huge, giant, mega THING that's coming to destroy everything we know?

But that's not what we're talking about at all, is it? It's not one thing that will change everything at once. It's the fact that things are going downhill in a lot of ways, and the S will hit the fan for everyone in different ways at different times but it's going to be hard on lots of people, like the Depression. Not some single giant, change-everything-in-a-moment THING, but the domino effect of so many hard things coming to hit us in succession, making things harder and harder and harder, with a serious cumulative impact on society.

Right? I finally got it?

Call me dumb or slow or whatever -- maybe I deserve it. But it's better to ask questions and learn than keep my mouth shut and stay ignorant.

I wish I had more time to read through these responses more thoroughly now that I feel like I finally "get" it, but it's a crazy day here so I will have to come back to them later. Thanks to everyone who contributed info in response to my questions. And k0xxx, please forgive me for the unintentional hijack.

 

[k0xxx]

The part I don't understand is the bigger threat that seems to be discussed here. The idea that starving friends and family will be knocking on your door and you will have to turn them away. The idea that you need lots of ammo to protect against starving masses of zombies. It's the societal threats as they relate to prepping that I am looking to understand better.

Actually, one of the reasons that I prep, is so I won't have to turn anyone away. I want to be in the position to help family, friends, or anyone else that would come to my home. As long as I see an honest effort in them to help themselves, I am more than willing to do what I can.

We have family members that have already discussed the possibility of coming to live with us if needed. With their help I have purchased enough food to sustain them, us, and others that may show up, for several years even if we didn't grow anything ourselves. Several members of our church leadership have discussed our economic situation at length. We have each committed to put back extra food to the extent of our abilities, so that we can distribute charity anonymously through the church. That way we can assist our community, and not be overwhelmed personally by those looking for help. Should our economy pick up steam and all of our preps be for naught, we will still be able to help those in need.

In the event of a full fledged societal collapse (which I do not believe will happen), anyone living near large population centers may certainly have to contend with "refugees". Some of these will not be polite when "asking" for assistance. It is those that would need to be the ones turned away by force. This type of collapse could easily happen if an event were to take out the power grid for any more than a couple of weeks. However, I believe our worst case scenario would be a decades long depression. Even if we were to have a full collapse of the dollar, the situation would not result in the type of "Mad Max" scenario that some suggest. We would probably end up like Argentina, Germany, Russia, or other countries that suffered that fate. People adapted and found other "currencies" and means of conducting business.

My family does own a moderate number of firearms, certainly not a lot, at least by local standards. I am stocking up on ammo not because I envision some great hoard of "zombies", because rather I can envision my situation getting to the point where buying it in the future may be too expensive. I remember my grandfather talking about being handed three .22 cartridges for his single shot rifle (because they were expensive), and being expected to bring home three game animals for the pots.

Hey, maybe we can be the first country in history to pull back from the brink of economic collapse, once getting this deep into debt. If so, great! If not, I'd rather be prepared.

ETA:

And k0xxx, please forgive me for the unintentional hijack.

I don't see it as being hijacked. I see it as discussion and sometimes discussions take a different direction. I'm always happy to follow along and learn.

 

[Wifezilla]

It's not one thing that will change everything at once. It's the fact that things are going downhill in a lot of ways, and the S will hit the fan for everyone in different ways at different times but it's going to be hard on lots of people, like the Depression.

Bingo!

Now that being said, there are people that DO believe in some one big event. Some it is the Myan calendar thing. Some interpret the bible to give an end time. I am not one of those people.

Actually, one of the reasons that I prep, is so I won't have to turn anyone away. I want to be in the position to help family, friends, or anyone else that would come to my home. As long as I see an honest effort in them to help themselves, I am more than willing to do what I can.

I do have extra, but my ability to help others is limited. I think people should at least be able to take care of themselves in a crisis IF ABLE. If you can AT LEAST take care of YOU, that is one less demand on whatever system is in place during or after a crisis regardless of source. (Not being able to put aside some beans and cans of soup because you needed a new video game doesn't count as not being able to care for yourself )

 

[sunsaver]

It some ways it could be one thing. A global economic collapse and break down of law and order caused by: Failed governmental policy, a meteor strike, a massive solar flare takes out ,all grid power, communications and internet, a terrorist strike, a limited nuclear war, a global flu pandemic, etc. Several things could result in TSHTF. Our extremist and highly polarized congress of idiots is the current threat. After Katrina hit New Orleans, we got flooded with desperate people, and the crime rate tripled. It only takes a few methhead zombies to wreak havoc. They will do ANYTHING to get a fix, even kill you.

I should add that most of the people from New Orleans were very nice and thankful for our generosity. And it was pure heaven for the hotel owners. We had gas lines and empty shelves, just like the 1970's oil crisis. It was bad enough to make me want solar panels!

 

[Farmfresh]

I live in a BIG city. We have lots of grocery stores, gas stations, and LOTS of supplies. At first glance it looks like there is enough food on all of those shelves to last us months and months. The fact is that is a misconception.

I found out several years ago that grocery store stocks are designed to be sold in an average of two or three days! In a weeks time with NORMAL conditions the entire stock of the store will have been sold and restocked. At first I thought, no way that just can not be true, but think about all of the bread, veggies, fruits and meats that would be spoiled in a weeks time. How many dusty cans have you picked up off of a grocery store shelf? Yet I sit something down in MY house for a week there is at least a thin layer of dust when I pick it back up.

What this means in real life to me is that all that has to happen for MY food supply to be impacted is for something to happen that stops those big semis from making their normal deliveries for about three days. Whether a man made event or an act of God the results would be similar.

Besides that I am too lazy to run to the grocery store all of the time. It is easier to put 3 packages of toilet paper in the cart than it is for me to get in the truck and drive (at 18 Miles per and $3.80 per gallon) back to the store two extra times for those two extra packages.

I stock up cause I am cheap.