Worth it?

[knuckle Head]

What motivates me to prep.?

Btw, i also hate the urban definition has been linked to it, I think the term Use of Common Sense!! would be a better definition but as others stated that is a different subject.

Having been out of work a few times and learned what the true meaning of hunger was!

Having served in many years in the military! Active Duty, Reserve and National Guard - you learn if you are paying attention that we as a society are spoiled, too reliant on the local grocer, power companies, water / sewer service, local gas station etc.. and probably more vulnerable right now than we have ever been in our history as a nation. As others have stated over and over, we a too reliant on others providing us with our needs in exchange of fiat currency.

Having lived in snow country most of my life and seen what happens when power power goes out for a week in the middle of a hot summer (Midwest 2003). What it is like to live in tonado alley MO. and seeing tornadoes come through and wipe stuff out. Ice storms taking out power for a week at a time.

Watching my paycheck not change and household operating cost rise by 25% in 18 months, seeing how people react when a small insignificant thing happens and going nuts over stupid sh!t. We have all seen it on Utube people going nut over french fries, or over a parking spot, newest electronice gadget that they are overpaying for, so on and so on.

Knowing that this system cannot last forever and one day it will all come to a head and I for one do not plan on myself anyone in my household going hungry because I pizzed away my ca$h on a trip to disney land or electronics that were overpriced and no longer worth $0.02 cents.


There is a difference between us preppers and non-preppers, not really part of this subject but it is relevant to why, the relevance is I see what thing will be like for me and for co-workers in the not to far of future and we have all been equally warned, they have been warned more by people like who have lived through it and are ignoring what were advised to what is coming.

I see people where I work whine, cry moan and groan about the coming furloughs and about how it is going to affect them and they do not know they are going to feed their family. Then they go away for the weekend to celebrate an anniversary when they cound that money on food stores for their family in the coming furlough, if it does not come then they do a late anniversery celebration. I say to myself they do not get it, I try to explain to them not to spend it willie nillie now and to conserve they do not listen, so while they are enjoying their weekend get away and going out to lunch I prep and when the furloughs happen they will find out what hunger is when my household will still be eating.

 

[Heidland]

Okay here is a topic to give grown men an opportunity to do what they do best: talk about feelings.

And just so you know 9mmguy, I do enjoy long walks on the beach and dark chocolate. And Guinness.

 

[Angie]

Man I hate the term "prepper", but that's another rant.

Personally, I'm all about economics, I buy things when they are cheap, and I buy enough that I can survive off that until the next time that resource is cheap again. As it turns out, this is a major exercise in stockpile management. I buy food that I eat in quantity when i find a good deal on it, I eat it at a reasonable rate so it won't expire (go to waste) and hopefully I won't run out before I get another good deal.

I apply this philosophy to almost everything... food, vehicles, ammo, guns, tools, machinery etc. I also try to see any potential problems with the supply chain (any kind of disaster) and plan accordingly.

This means, if I lose my job (even though I'm self employed) I have enough cash to make house/rent payments, I can stretch my cash by eating food I have stored, I can run my vehicles with gasoline I have stored, and I have enough raw materials around that I can either sell them for scrap, or turn them into usable/sale-able items.

I've been through the LA riots, the northridge, landers, big bear, whittier earthquakes. At least a dozen huge wildfires and more than a bit of other stupidity. Even if my power was out for a week, most of that kinda thing didn't affect me too much because I planned for any kind of contingency. Moving to the PNW is an extension of this contingency planning, I think over the next 20 years potable water is going to become a big deal so I moved somewhere that gets ample rainfall, even if it has a short growing season.

I agree 100% about the water. That's one of the reasons I wanted to move to Western Montana so bad. But, fate had different plans for us and we are taking a detour to Reno. Hopefully we can make a chunk of money there and retire early in Montana. I'm planning on only being there 10 years. We'll see.

 

[PolishedBrass]

Insurance ... Worth it? --- Food in the pantry ... Worth it? --- Food in the refrigerator ... Worth it?
Water bills paid ... Worth it?

You see where I am going here. "Prepping" has been media fashioned to be a derogatory term. (Recent term ~ 2 years old.)
Whereas being wise to plan for needs and insure the way of life you desire is highly esteemed. (Old concept - been around for 1000's of years. Even animals understand it.)

"Prepping" though is too often based on *fear or paranoia, is simply doing the above; (*Likely due to many people waking suddenly to potential new realities.)
having the ability to think for oneself based on verifiable information, versus media induced blinders.

Plan for the best and prepare for the worst; prioritizing and insuring each area of need.
Eliminate as much dependence on others and the system as is feasible.

The world changes and new trends form all the time.
Most people in recent decades don't prepare for even modest changes in trends let alone potential disastrous ones.
(Hence the growing dependence on the Government.)

And as is usual the unprepared mocks those who are educated and responsive to the changing times.

So with that said I will answer that the raw information available is overwhelming that America will suffer a financial collapse and marshal law.
For the most part the information supports the majority of bad scenarios that have people worried.
So certain levels of preparedness is just plain smart and simple. (We have already seen supply / demand economics blow out prices and availability in certain commodities.)
However; even with that understood; instead, conversely I believe we will stabilize as a country largely due to those people waking up to the dangers; standing up and being prepared.


So my questions for the OP are:

1. With the ability to educate oneself on almost any topic being at an unprecedented high in all of human history; are you aware of the current economic and political landscape and prepared as to what it may mean for you and your family?
3. Would it be "Worth it" to do so and act on that knowledge?

 

[AMProducts]

One of those fundamental things... if you watch the "doomsday preppers" show just about everyone on there is preparing for:

1) some kind of irrational far-fetched scenario that happens so rarely that the last species it happened to was the dinosaurs or giant ground sloths and wooly mammoths, maybe the clovis people.
Corollary: they wax poetic about fallen empires of antiquity and have zero understanding of the underlying causes and try to draw parallels that don't stand up to historical rigor.
2) that in either case it would lead to a breakdown of civil order so thoroughly that Hobbes' "state of nature" would be the only thing to survive.

At the same time, there is a large contingent of people who look at these kind of situations as a Nathan Holn-esque opportunity to run amok. These people are essentially the same as every other criminal, they just don't have the bravado to become criminals with the present criminal justice system acting as an effective deterrent.

 

[Heidland]

One of those fundamental things... if you watch the "doomsday preppers" show just about everyone on there is preparing for:

1) some kind of irrational far-fetched scenario that happens so rarely that the last species it happened to was the dinosaurs or giant ground sloths and wooly mammoths, maybe the clovis people.
Corollary: they wax poetic about fallen empires of antiquity and have zero understanding of the underlying causes and try to draw parallels that don't stand up to historical rigor.
2) that in either case it would lead to a breakdown of civil order so thoroughly that Hobbes' "state of nature" would be the only thing to survive.

At the same time, there is a large contingent of people who look at these kind of situations as a Nathan Holn-esque opportunity to run amok. These people are essentially the same as every other criminal, they just don't have the bravado to become criminals with the present criminal justice system acting as an effective deterrent.

+1 for referencing one of my favorite David Brin books.

 

[erudne]

The Participants on Doomsday Preppers have several YouTubes where they complain that they were contractualy obligated to do and say exactly what they were told. Several PPL that were on were desperate for money and have since lost all they owned,,Lesson Learned

 

[AMProducts]

The Participants on Doomsday Preppers have several YouTubes where they complain that they were contractualy obligated to do and say exactly what they were told. Several PPL that were on were desperate for money and have since lost all they owned,,Lesson Learned

*Shocker* When you go on national TV and start making anti-personnel mines for fun without a type 10FFL an 02 SOT and a hell of a lot of form 2's yea, your life can get pretty hectic quick... However, I am completely agnostic about the people on the show, but rather the message the show sends.

However, this brings up the bigger point... who in their right mind would expect being on national TV would bring anything but ruin to their lives? They can complain all they want, however I would rather go in front of a judge for breech of contract rather than breech of criminal law. Those people could have sucked it up, given the money back and said "no deal, now get off my property" would have been a lot cheaper than a criminal defense attorney.

 

[Hook686]

Okay here is a topic to give grown men an opportunity to do what they do best: talk about feelings.

Women seem to always tell men they do not listen but merely stare. Do you feel this will help ?

 

[knuckle Head]

Women seem to always tell men they do not listen but merely stare. Do you feel this will help ?


View attachment 58846

A lot of the ones I have heard complain about that, dress so that they are the first and last thing you see when you meet them !!!!!

Just my observations is all:yes::yes::yes::yes:

 

[Robb]

I would describe myself as a novice prepper. Here are my thoughts;

I first started prepping for the things that were the most likely to happen and had in the past, i.e. winter storm that took out the power for 5-10 days. I was just tired of eating canned goods and throwing away an entire fridge and freezer worth of food and shivering under a few blankets. Over the last few years I no longer care when the power goes out, and no look toward the next most likely event and so on.

For me, prepping goes far beyond a bunker and ammo in your basement. It includes having a savings account for if I lost my job or start taking many, many furlough days at work. It involves having the car paid off so that if lean times come it's one less thing to worry about. It also involves teaching my wife how to turn on the generator, fire a rifle, etc. so she can take care of our family if these things happen while I'm at work.

Right now we're good out to 60 days, although it's going to start getting lean toward the end. That includes fuel for the house (propane), food, extra gas for the car if needed but not commuting, medications, etc. Before I can go out any further I have some major hoops to jump thru with getting my basement finished so we have more storage room in our house.

 

[cookie]

It is wise to store goods that you will use when the goods are abundant. The winter may be cold and long.

 

[hikepat]

Why prep because stock piling when things are priced well just makes sense. Why not stock up on canned Tommatos at the end of sumer when they are 33 cents a can instead of buying just when you need them through out the year such as in the winter when they are 75 cents a can. Why put away money for old age when you are young because you might not be able to afford when you are middle age. Why stock up on things such a lamp oil because the power could go out for weeks at a moments notice. Why have hard goods for trade on hand because money could lose value or you may have need to raise funds to pay medical bill for wife. Preping gives you control of your future to the best you can gain control of it.

 

[erudne]

One cannot find the lost, comfort the ill, feed the hungry, save the wounded, reunite families if one is:
Lost
Sick
Hungry
Wounded
Separated
We have taken the responsibility of "our care" away from the state so that we are NOT a burden, so that others may be saved.
This is why we are HATED by the Statist media as well as the State itself and have suffered a 40 year propaganda campaign against self-empowerment