Will the northwest react like the northeast?

[salmonriverjohn]

Exactly what I'm talking about. P town likes to believe their above the Frey.

 

[allenzm153]

Having grown up in the hills and spent time living in and around the seattle area I've noticed people in more outlying areas are FAR more prepared to be self sufficient for days, possibly weeks on end.

 

[RVTECH]

I live in a rural area near a small city

So do I and I have been discussing this topic with friends and co-workers. There is no doubt a direct correlation between better preparedness and the farther one gets from the metropolitan areas. A lot of it is nothing more than simple experience by those who live in the outlying areas IE. always thinking about grabbing an extra this or that when in town, and maybe filling a gas can or two to keep around. It may not seem like much but a five mile trip to town is 10 miles round trip and takes twice as much time when you have to make the run impulsively rather than having planned it. The reality is I am always set for at least a couple weeks whether I planned for it or not. Another by-product of rural living is water. Typically most in rural settings have their own well and even if the power is out can get water by a variety of means. My well pushes about 3 PSI and even with no power I can go into the well house and draw water if necessary. I once had a conversation with my now X-father in law who while educated and rational was a complete suburbanite with no concept of self-reliance. He once asked what I would do of the power went out, I said light candles & lanterns. He asked what I would do for heat, I said the woodstove is already in use power or not. He asked how I would cook, I said on the same woodstove, BBQ or use my camping LP system. He asked about water with the same explanation as above. I remember the conversation and how he shrugged me off because I do not think he he could accept my answers as plausible, or he just thought I was stone crazy. I thought about it later and realized the reason he could not accept my answers is because he was so wrapped up in his corporate world, his 'image' and his lifestyle that even basic, short term survival concepts did not occupy any of his thinking. I suspect there could be a psychological explanation or reason but that is for another thread - or forum. In conclusion I believe most who live rurally tend to be more prepared for no other reason than as an adaptation of lifestyle as opposed to actually 'prepping' for an untended catastrophe.

 

[ATCclears]

RVTECH, sounds like your ex Father-in-law suffers from the Normalcy Bias...

 

[RVTECH]

RVTECH, sounds like your ex Father-in-law suffers from the Normalcy Bias

I looked that up and it certainly fits but what could be the root cause of a NB? Is it socioeconomic? IE. is it condition that would be more common with urban/suburban residents? Is income level/social status a factor? Lifestyle? I can certainly draw some conclusions from my experiences.

 

[FarmerTed1971]

I have gunz. I'll take what I want.

 

[benja455]

Tag for future reference.

 

[AOTAC]

I have gunz. I'll take what I want.

Don't you mean this -

 

[jimwsea]

I would agree that the percentage of prepared households increases away from the city centers and the metro area. But it would still be interesting to get an idea of what that percentage really is. If it is still less than 50 percent, then there would still be problems, especially for those who are far away from the survival food and water that would be doled out in the cities.

 

[RVTECH]

If it is still less than 50 percent, then there would still be problems, especially for those who are far away from the survival food and water that would be doled out in the cities.

Maybe but it is possible that because of the lesser population density and the probability of a greater amount of basic resources (such as water) and more of a community mindset in the rural areas I believe there would be less 'doling' out and more sharing of the basics. Of everyone I know in the Central Oregon area none even consider, or have the need to leave in a time of crisis. Like the ad says "City folks just don't get it". Today while on my normal trip through the woods behind my house (shooting, sightseeing etc.) and down to the Deschutes River I saw squirrels, much Elk sign, unlimited wood for heat and if necessary water I could drink (river water) in a pinch but would be better if boiled. Ya' know, I live in paradise.

 

[mosinguy]

Ahhhhhhh to live in the tullies.......... Except for the occasional homer simpson dooooooo and head slap when you forget to get that one thing on your way home!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mat33]

1962 Columbus day storm; A spirit of cooperation and the frayed nerves were minor.
1967-8 Race riots in N and NE PDX; Attacks by mobs (both races or rather all races), businesses were burned to the ground, the police prominently atop Lloyd Center with Thompson sub machine guns!
1973 Arab Oil Embargo; Fist fights in the gas lines, guns were drawn, pretty chaotic!
plenty of pressident showing that Portlanders aren't always nice little folks.

You conveniently forgot to mention the 1996 floods.

 

[Thebastidge]

I looked that up and it certainly fits but what could be the root cause of a NB? Is it socioeconomic? IE. is it condition that would be more common with urban/suburban residents? Is income level/social status a factor? Lifestyle? I can certainly draw some conclusions from my experiences.

*Everybody* has normalcy bias. The problem is that some "normal" is more fragile than others. For country people, doing many things that urbanites never do IS normal. The power going our for several days, wild (or domestic) animal attacks, injury far from help- these thing are observable and 'normal'. From that one can extrapolate further. The broader one's experience, the easier it is to imagine something different.

For urbanites, injury and death are generally not seen, or whisked away by an efficient and sanitary and most of all IMPERSONAL "system" before people get a chance to process it. Take how people handle death, for example. For the vast majority of Americans, they have never seen a human being die, and in many cases have never even seen an animal die- whether for food or by accident. TV doesn't count.

Think about that- they have NO personal experience of death, or killing in the name of survival. They haven't so much as wrung a chicken's neck for dinner.

Almost everyone dies in a hospital, surrounded by professional medical personnel, with the family excluded from the scene. Bodies are prepared for a sham of life-like viewing in a funeral home by professional morticians who speicalize in covering up the cause of and fact of death. As little as 75 years ago, most people's bodies were washed and prepped for thie last viewing by their family members, a grief-stricken, but also grief-relieving process that made the fact very concrete. People these days often "have a hard time believing X is gone forever" and our grieving process id drawn out by that.

Our minds are not written to in a linear manner of ones and zeroes like a computer. It's more like a 3- (or many more) dimensional matrix with lots of interconnection points. We 'wear' certain paths through the mind, with given neurons connecting to other given neurons- the more that path is used, the tighter/stronger the connection between those endpoints on that path. We form habits of thought that become more channelized both as we get older, and as observations conform to the pattern we recognize there. Without broad experiences, it is difficult later in life, to form new paths. Like water seeking the lowest point, our thoughts trickle back into the patterns we formed earliest and used the most. It may take a traumatic experience to gouge a new path out of the valley of habit through what seems like a valley wall.

 

[Cortes]

I have gunz. I'll take what I want.

You may or may not be serious, but there are lots of people with that attitude.

What they fail to consider is that the majority of those who prepare, have firearms too. Regardless of how much of a combat ninja one may be, all it takes is a 12 year old kid with a 22 to take them out.

In any combat situation, a certain rate of casualties are a expected and are acceptable. What is an acceptable rate of casualties for you or your family?

 

[Spiritof77]

It will not be as bad due to demographics

Right or wrong, I laughed.