Author of Be Ready for Anything and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course
How dark are you willing to go in your preparedness efforts?
If you’re like a lot of people, there’s only a certain level of SHTF that you are willing to imagine. And that means you aren’t going to be prepared for it if things get worse than the level you can envision.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably a prepper or have some SHTF awareness. Maybe you’re participating in my National Preparedness Month Daily Challenge. If not, it is a series of small challenges – mostly thought exercises – to help people get better prepared by taking a step every day.
The challenge has been really popular, both on the website and over on the forum. Except for this one day when I took things to a darker place.
The question many people didn’t want to answer
On Day 15, I asked people how they could acquire food if they’d run through all their preps and still we had no grocery system in place. This challenge was loaded with excellent answers from people who really knew about the bounty they had outside their backdoor.
But then on Day 16, I asked people to take it one step further.
Today’s challenge is inspired by the course that I took in Croatia with Selco and Toby.
Yesterday, I asked you what food you could find nearby if the situation had devolved to the point that you’d gone through all your stored food.
Now, if the situation has devolved that far, you have to also imagine that there is no Rule of Law. It’s the Wild West. Everyone is a threat.
As Selco said to us, “You think this is hard? Now do it while everyone is trying to kill you.”
When the SHTF in Bosnia, the threats were everywhere. Snipers were shooting civilians from the hilltops when they went to the river to get water. Neighbors were fighting neighbors for their resources. It was mayhem for an entire year…So today’s challenge takes yesterday’s a step further.
How would you get that nearby food if everyone around was a threat to your life or physical well-being? Would you go at night? Would you move stealthily and slowly during the day? Go in teams? This thought certainly puts a new twist on things. (source)
This question did get some good feedback, but it also got some pushback. A lot of folks didn’t even want to entertain the idea of an SHTF that was prolonged enough for things to become so terrible.
It could never happen here.
A lot of people replied to my email about this challenge that there was “no way something like Bosnia could happen here.”
After all, this is American. Home of the brave, land of the free. We have the Second Amendment and there’s a gun behind every blade of grass. My very question was ridiculous. And so on and so forth.
But if the situation is so prolonged that:
- You’ve eaten all your stored food
- There are no grocery stores
- There is no supply chain
Do you really think that people won’t be trying to kill you in that scenario? Do you honestly think if we’ve gone so long that these things are facts that people won’t want what you have? Do you believe that sick people won’t be out there living their best lives, murdering, raping and pillaging?
If things have gotten so bad that you have eaten every bite of your carefully stored food, I cannot imagine that you’ll be out there gathering berries in your apron without a care in the world.
Why is it that we are willing to stockpile years’ worth of food and seeds, but we aren’t willing to free our imaginations enough to see what the rest of that scenario looks like? Some folks were willing to go there, pointing out the desperation of a parent with hungry children and how our resources are greatly outstripped by our population in many parts of the world.
However, others who had participated on a daily basis either skipped this challenge or doubted it could ever happen. I’m not pointing fingers at anyone but I’ve been thinking about this mindset every since the challenge and I think it’s important to discuss it.
But here are a few ways it could devolve here.
I’ve expanded a little on a post I wrote in the forum.
This is truly next-level stuff, and you all are right – there are a ton of variables. The Balkan War was basically a civil war because the countries involved all made up the former Yugoslavia. So it would be similar to different states in the US forming different countries. (Obviously, Selco can explain this stuff way better than I.)
There was one thing that surprised me more than anything else when I went to Bosnia. I expected to see war damage in the cities. But when we were driving around rurally, every structure I saw that would have been standing in the early 1990s had the marks of war on them. Not most. ALL. Barns. Homes up on mountains. Homes tucked away on side roads in the country. Businesses. Factories. I wrote about it and posted some of the photographs I took here. Most of the buildings there are made of stone. A lot were able to take a hit from shelling and remain standing. Many had holes in the stone made from high caliber weapons. (And if I’m not using the right terms for the weapons, please forgive my poor description.)
To give it a face here in the United States, imagine this.
- Imagine if your state and two others all went to war with each other over politics and resources.
- Imagine you are further divided by your political beliefs and some people in your state have the beliefs of one of the other states.
- Now imagine you are divided even more by your religious beliefs and that each state has populations in each religion.
- Then imagine that things are so bad that there are no utilities, no stores, no police, and no hospital.
Think about this in terms of the people who are actively fighting being the most far-right ultra-conservative white supremacists versus the most far-left ultra-liberal Antifa-types.
You belong to neither of these groups. You know that extremism of any type is wrong and dangerous. But these people don’t care. To them, anyone not like them is the enemy or is disposable. You’re either with them or you’re against them, in their minds. And that means if you want to survive and if you want your family to survive, you may be forced to fight, too.
So as these dissenting factions make their way through the countryside on whatever their missions are, maybe scavenging for food or supplies, would the rural areas truly still be safe?
Jose has written about people raiding farms in Venezuela. Selco has told us about how the things that will surprise us most during an SHTF event and one of those things was how “close” the enemy will be. In a recent article, he warned us that we can be certain the SHTF is beginning when people start to lose their guns. It happened that way in Venezuela, too, although it was two more years before the situation became obvious to everyone.
So yes, what I described above is an extreme scenario. I think it’s really important to consider extreme situations. If you were really at the point where you were having to go out and find food as we talked about on Day 15, there will really be people who are desperate.
And desperate people are exceptionally dangerous.
How dark are you willing to go?
If you aren’t willing to consider the depravity and desperation of others, how prepared are you really? If you believe it “could never happen where you live,” aren’t you overlooking a very important aspect of survival?
If you want to delve further into how dark a situation can become, and how quickly things can get there, you can read about it in Selco’s paperback book, The Dark Secrets of SHTF Survival, which is $5 off for Preparedness Month. Or you can take his course, One Year in Hell to go even deeper.
What kind of scenarios are you willing to imagine when you prepare for the future? Is there a limit on how far you’d be willing to go to save yourself and your family? Do you think things could get really extreme here in the United States or do you think that it could never happen here?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
About Daisy
Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, gun-toting blogger who writes about current events, preparedness, frugality, voluntaryism, and the pursuit of liberty on her website, The Organic Prepper. She is widely republished across alternative media and she curates all the most important news links on her aggregate site, PreppersDailyNews.com. Daisy is the best-selling author of 4 books and runs a small digital publishing company. She lives in the mountains of Virginia with her family. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
This is one reason why more people will freak out and die. They cannot grasp the idea of they are in a shtf life. It cannot happen to me…
Seriously. Russ George of Russgeorge.net and Debbie MacKenzie at fisheriescrisis.com have been pushing the actual solution for climate change/global warming for years now, but been met with ignorance.
Just fertilize the oceans with a few million dollars worth of iron sulfate dust and restore the ocean phytoplankton pastures before too many elements of that web go extinct.
Promoting their sites directly gives pause; they are critical resources easily disappeared. The ruling elites and populist supporters seem unduly obsessed with thawing the poles and ending the ice ages, anticipating trillions of dollars in new mineral and oil resources and the profits of the ultimate in eco-disaster captialism.
Too many internet cognoscente and other supposedly intelligent people who think they know stuff and are in the loop, tacitly believe thawing the poles and ending the ice ages is a good thing, not matter the cost to the natural world, and will do anything to let it happen with a minimum of public awareness.
The level of elite ineptitude suggests our grandkids’ bones (well, those that have grandkids) will likely inherit a deoxygenated world hostile to complex life. Global climate change is supposed to happen over millennia, not crammed into centuries and decades.
CO2 poisoning of the planet is an End Times fate easily averted by iron fertilization of ocean phytoplankton pastures. When hearts are weighed for the last time, let none say they didn’t know about how phytoplankton and ocean iron fertilization could have saved the world – and be judged on what did they did with that information.
For those who don’t know, phytoplankton are what produces 60% of the oxygen in the atmosphere. they are the most numerous form of life in the ocean and we are poisoning them.
Have you forgotten basic science? We breathe out carbon dioxide (CO2), the plants and trees take in that CO2 and breathe out oxygen, which we need for life. If CO2 is a poison then why do growers who have greenhouses put more CO2 into their greenhouses so that their plants will grow bigger! Also, the only climate change that is real today is the one created by the Weather Modification folks ie seeding clouds ahead of storms so that you will get more than a month’s rain in a matter of hours and that is only one of the things these Weather Modification folks are guilty of!!
What is actually ALOT more frightening to me is the up and coming vaccine for Coronavirus…Trump has it on the “fast track”. And it will be rolling out untried, completely untested to the fullest and with so much in it including microchips that that to me is scary. It will most likely even be mandatory. They are supposed to make millions of dozen of it in Oct, Nov, Dec, and into Jan of 2021…They will start with mandatory vaccines with the elderly or the senior citizens. FLORIDA will b/c a hot spot I am sure. They want to inject all over the age of 60 red and yellow, black and white…AGE will be the mantra of the day (over 60 line right up)…What is in these shots? ALOT and it’s NOT good…SO it terrifying to say the least…Study about it and you will see what I am talking about…SO that is going to be for me a SHTF scenario…IF it was voluntary I wouldn’t be so concerned, but mandatory is just beyond what I can envision…SO yes you spoke of people freaking out and dying. I think MANY MANY will just have a heart attack. The military will give these shots and at gunpoint if necessary (they are just following orders). Extreme times call for extreme measures…
I fully believe that we will see that happen, where I live ( Canada) they are working very hard at taking guns away. We are seeing huge drug/violence problems in the small town I live in. This is when things are still what people are thinking is normal. I don’t see this as normal, the store here only has about a 2 week supply at best. We had a power outage of 7 days last Christmas and people were not prepared, I was shocked, I did fine but realize I am not prepared for anything over a couple of weeks, working on it. When I went into the store to see how things were, people were in the store crying, they had no food , no way of cooking it if they had it , no cash to buy anything ( no credit or debit cards working) This was a weather related event that would not normally be seen here, as we go into winter again people have already forgotten what it was like.
It will be S Africa in most of rural America.
You wont ever be able to sleep inside again without a guard on duty outside.
Someone in a fortified post awake at all times,backup sleeping sheltered but also outside(covered porch/shed) and everyone else on Ready 5.
Basic equipment always to hand(Belt pouch,knife,pistol never comes off; 3 day getaway kit always within reach).
Its going to be BAD,Folks.
Some really good Army-type manuals available.You better do some studying…FAST
Watch Out For Stobor????
I don’t think most Americans understand your reference to South Africa. Knowing someone who lives there, please, by all means, feel free to elaborate.
If I may, I believe I can elaborate on the South Africa comment. My now ex-wife is South African and I am American. (Former US Army) I lived in South Africa for about a year with her and her parents. I began realizing and then commenting to her that living there was an excellent use of my PTSD! I put on my “Ranger face” and had the stance and walk all the time. Just a quick scan while out ANYWHERE revealed to me multiple predators watching EVERYONE, checking for the weak ones to pounce on. (And I don’t mean the 4 legged predators.) Every single house in the white neighborhoods (and trust me, if ever even THOUGHT you had seen racism or even had an idea of what it was, living in the US, go visit South Africa and learn what it truly is! And they have a mostly black government after Apartheid ended!) had high walls and gates. Many covered by electrified fences. Every one I saw had private armed security on call because if you called the cops to say that an armed intruder was in your house, they would say, “geez! Thanks for warning us! We’ll stay far away from THAT place!” Any time I went to a hotel or even the cheapest motel, even in the “decent” areas, they had high electric fences with a guard gate that had a machine gun armed guard. In our “safe, white” neighborhood, one night, our security cameras caught 3 armed black men coming over our large wooden fence in the back! The pent up PTSD kicked in and I did something sort of stupid, but I also knew help (even private, armed security) was going to be several minutes away and my family, including my ONE YEAR OLD SON, were inside. It is nearly impossible to get a firearm due to heavy restrictions there. So I grabbed the biggest knife I had and a pool cue. I then went running out there, bellowing my loudest war cry and ran at them. I figured if I was dying tonight, it wouldn’t be while cowering in a corner, watching my son get killed and wife raped. Luckily for me, again, these predators were looking for “soft” targets, and I was anything but that! Even though they were all armed, they tore off running, jumping the fence to escape!!! This is life there. There were more incidents from just my year there, but hopefully that conveys the general idea.
Matt below pretty much is spot on as far as the urban areas go…Farmers are also in a state of siege, even from their own [trusted????]employees…
“Cover me..Im going to the store”
Forrest
when in your opinion will this start or has it already started in small stages
Hey..Chicago,Baltimore,Several places in Michigan,Minnesota and New Jersey…West Philly…The entire Left Coast????♂️…Be Safe????
Sherry;I see I didnt completely answer your question..I recently pulled-the-plug on 29 yrs in Law Enforcement, Army before that…Its dangerous NOW in lots of diverse places and as we wind down to Nov 2020 its going to get even uglier…Major cities police depts dont even respond to basic calls for service.. You file your burglary and simple assault reports on-line????
Cars are randomly fired upon traveling major arteries in broad daylight…Its here now and will only spread and the pace is increasing.
Smart money stays away from crowds, only leaves home when you have to and watches each other’s back at all times…Wife and I walk separated and off-set so we can better keep an eye out for predators and stalkers sizing us up..And we live in a {relatively} decent semi-rural area..Have a blessed day
And now that Pelosi has caved to AOC and an inquiry into impeachment is going to begin I expect things to accelerate. Many talking heads have been talking about Civil War ver. 2.0. That too will probably come into play as a result of the acceleration of events. If you’re expecting to mark a date on a calendar, or to have a specific starting point forget it. We’ve been taught American history as if it is a series of very distinct events. It isn’t. It is a gradual series of events that is stirred and every so often something rises to the surface. That event gets a lot of play and maybe a date on a timeline, but there were many smaller events leading up to that day or event. Bottom line: things are already in motion, get prepared as quickly as you can and practice as many survival skills as you can. You won’t ever be “ready”. But with each additional can of food, bag of rice, box of gauze, box of ammo you will be a bit more prepared than you were the day before.
@Forrest Mosby,
Well, I know, trust and respect most of my neighbors.
Anyone who does wrong will be well know to everyone else.
We wont trade with those types.
They just might end up doing without . . .
Hey Marine????
“In God we trust, all else pays cash”…Kind of the same as to your situation…I have a network of sorts..they will be helping with the guard duties and perimeter defense when it comes to that but even they will never see ALL I have.. Some of my caches are Family Only stations…Hunger and Fear does funny things to even the best of comrades…
Luck to you????
thank you for all you do.
sherry
I strongly suspect that before it is all over the Balkan war will look like a Sunday school picnic compared to what will eventually take place in the USA.
I live in SE Asia and the government is incapable of offering any type of support even initially. In the event of a 6.0 earthquake they estimate 37,000 will die in the. First hour, over 170,000 will be injured and 3 million people will need to be evacuated. An impossible task! Over it! The dark side here is a reality. Since I am not natural born I cannot own a firearm. I imagine scavenging for supplies will be out of the question. I also imagine looting and chaos will be the norm and you will have to fight to keep what you have!
Hi Daisy, I have been reading your blog for some time and just wanted to say thanks for all you do for people. You have helped many to wake up and prepare.
It absolutely can happen here. The question is what will we do about it. Where do we draw the line in defending our property and family? Does anyone get an automatic pass? No one?
Where do you draw the line? It’s different for everyone. Trust me…you’ll know it when you get to it. The problem is not knowing where YOUR line is, The problem is knowing where everyone else’s line is. That is why isolation is your best friend when SHTF.
Stay away from crowds.
Charles:I went to a local sign shop, owned by a friend..He made me 2 metal signs(size/shape/printed lije commercial No Trespassing signs)
We Shoot Trespassers
To be installed on gate and door when SHTF
They will have been legally warned under my states Stand Your Ground Law????
What do you mean? If you can’t figure this out, I guess you are in a quandary. To run away when someone breaks in and your family is at risk and the ones who break in are there to do harm – (if you run away), that makes you a coward. If you die defending the vulnerable, risking your own life to help others, you will die a noble death. There is honor in defending the weak. You are not attacking the defenseless, you are protecting and defending. It is a noble cause. Heroes may have to kill but it is for the cause of protecting and saving others. They are not prowlers looking to loot and kill. God blesses and helps those who help others. God speed. Pray about it. This is a spiritual experience.
I have brought this up with several people, in different ways over the years.
The common response to varying degrees is I’m stupid, don’t know my history, delusional..
I’m an idiot, why do you think like that, impossible.
I could go extreme, I think I could do what is necessary.
I think.
Don’t know till the time comes.
Although there are a few who I would love to rub there noses
in reality if it does happen.
I also think it’s unlikely we’ll get to Bosnia levels, Venezuela possibly.
It could get very bad, time will tell.
Neither did I think we would have to leave our God blessed homeland just to find food for my family.
Good Luck.
Jose, from Venezuela.
Hey Horse, those idiots who tell you that you don’t know your history are suffering from terminal normalcy bias. History is no predictor of future events. Black Swan events are by definition unpredictable. The Holy Bible is the ONLY reliable predictor of future events…and brother, the picture it paints for our future is grim indeed. Things are going to happen “such as have NEVER been seen before, nor ever will be again”. I believe we are on the very doorstep of those times today. I believe that developing and maintaining a personal relationship with Christ Jesus is the most important prep you’ll ever make.
I like you. You remind me of my younger self. You are intellectually honest with yourself, and that is a rare commodity these days. I think you’ll be just fine. Having a good head on your shoulders is the most indispensable survival tool. Just remember, no one lives forever. Getting old ain’t for sissies. And there ARE some things in life worth dying for.
Decided to jump in here where I first had thoughts about how to respond to this article. Lots of interesting thoughts all the way to the end of comments about how important survival is to the individual. As with Selco’s situation, all horrific times come to an end. A reason to survive is to rebuild with better ideas about governing ourselves.
But my first thought on reading Charles here and other places, is the 1805 historical compiled accountings on The Siege of Jerusalem conducted by Roman General Titus 67-70AD. O.M.G. People who understood the signs of the times fled to the wilderness area in Jordan called Petra and were preserved from Roman attentions. In many ways, the US is under siege by those who will have their international agenda. We are doing many of the same things as the inhabitants of Jerusalem. There were a number of factions who were still fighting each other within as the enemy breached the walls. They even destroyed their own store houses that would have prevented starvation. They were just insane. My take away from that story is to get away from urban areas and keep from being caught up in politics.
While it’s not exactly history repeating itself, the ability to read the signs of the times and the present state of our society and culture do require a dramatic break with the world as we know it. (easy living, technology….) One of the signs of the times that was foretold was that “the love of many will grow cold.” I think I see that as a general description of our culture right now.
Knowing that if I survive, I don’t want to have any regrets about my own behavior, it will be really hard to take another’s life even to defend myself. But as much as possible, using scare tactics or nonlethal wounding may be the alternative. So, that means I’m not really willing to go dark. So much decision-making will depend on the moment I am confronted by hostiles and entrusting my life to the One who cares the most deeply for me.
My greatest asset is that I’ve already made peace with my Maker and my mortality. I do feel responsible to preserve my life as much as possible but not to become evil myself to do so.
Indeed. The needless, wanton taking of human life is always a great evil. And we are on the same page when it comes to the idea of doing no more harm than necessary. Even a rattlesnake will give warning before striking…unless surprised and cornered.
What I’m trying to convey is that to survive, force must be applied in equal or greater degree than the intent of the attacker(s), and it must be applied preemptively to avoid injury or death to yourself or those you are protecting.
We should ALL take every precaution to avoid those situations whenever possible. That is our Christian duty. That is why I always advocate staying away from crowds. It is why I always reserve a certain amount of skepticism about the motives of even family members and close long time friends. Hence my motto: In God I trust – ALL others are suspect.
That having been said, I believe that we were all put here for a purpose. To allow someone to end your life before your service to God is complete when you can prevent it is also a great sin IMHO. We can’t know God’s full plan for us, but we trust that He has one, don’t we? I fully intend to see His Will for me through to the end, and will not allow the Enemy to cut that work short…even if I do not know yet what that work might be.
And always remember this…
2 Timothy 1:
7: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
So, if you find yourself afraid…in ANY circumstance…remind yourself that this did NOT come from God! You’ll immediately realize you’re under Satanic attack and will be able to react accordingly.
Blessings to you,
Charles
Maybe it’s the difference between men and women that colors our perspectives. An old friend once told me, “Women will die to protect their children. Men will kill to protect their children.” This is the cost we all have to count and what this article and conversation is all about. Obviously we are all here to hone our logic and refine our purposes. I know if we all talked long enough, we would certainly end up agreeing with each other after all.
My favorite understanding of power comes from a Puritan theologian’s discourse on God’s power:
“To be unable to do evil is the perfection of power. To be able to do things unjust and evil is a weakness, imperfection and impotence.” (Charnock)
Food for thought.
The fundamental difference I have personally observed between men and women is that in general women tend to act on their emotions whereas men tend to act on intellect as a first response.
That is not to say that men don’t act on emotion, or that women don’t act from intellect. I just see it as a general pattern.
Women tend to have a harder time putting their feelings in their pocket when logic is the required tool to solve a dispute or problem. They would rather defend their feelings than solve the problem.
But I would really like to know HOW dying is going to save their children. If they’re dead, what’s to stop the attacker from doing whatever they want to their children? Killing the attacker, on the other hand, ends the immediate threat to the children conclusively.
Logic vs emotion
Both have their place, but they will never be equal. This is why God made woman for man. Separate, we are less than intended. Together we are complete. We compliment each other and bring balance to life in the union. We become greater than the sum of our parts.
It’s a hormonal thing. If God wanted women and men to be identical, there’d be no mothers, and no fathers.
Defending yourself from attack isn’t evil. Rather, the one attacking you is evil. Don’t try to wound or shoot a non-lethal area-such as an arm or leg. It’s too hard to hit. Go for center-of-mass, that is, the torso (chest). That’s what cops do. If seconds count, you won’t have time to aim for an arm or leg so as to keep from killing the attacker. Shoot at the biggest target, and that is the center-of-mass. You want to eliminate the threat, and if the attacker is only wounded, they can still kill you. If you’re not practiced with a handgun, get a shotgun. You don’t have to aim with that.
History DOES in fact repeat itself. It may look different but the exact replication of past events DO happen if we do not learn. That being said, all hell is about to break loose. Not to scare you but to prepare you.
God bless everyone. WWG1,WGA.
Seriously?..West and S Chicago and pretty much all of Baltimore are at Venezuela levels now …And many of those neighborhoods(check the stats for the area around Johns Hopkins????♂️) are at Bosnia levels…Not gonna get better, only worse…Yeah..we’re going to see Bosnia in at least 50 major urban areas before the end of 2020… Hope not but…????
Met some people from northern Brazil who say that 6000 Venezuelans a day were pouring into their area. Brazil had to tell them no more can come into their country because Brazil is also in crisis and can’t take care of more. Bad situations can’t help spilling over into less bad situations. There is a tipping point where They can’t keep moving the bad news around to keep people in the dark. The SHTF reality will hit and I believe will hit hard — everywhere. But no doubt about it — something more sinister is ready to provide the peace and stability everyone will be looking for. Hopefully everyone will scrutinize that replacement very carefully before committing to it.
Your “what if” scenarios are really good to make people start thinking and planning.
Yes it can happen here, but no, it would not be like either one of those countries, Civil Wars.
America is different, we are more accepting of other people and other people’s beliefs. So although their would be groups with different political or religious views, I don’t think you would see the major splintering you are talking about.
Just like the Proud Boys are considered ” white supremacist group” but have a Hispanic Leader, Militias also considered “white supremacist groups”, yet often have Blacks and Hispanics in their groups.
Many street gangs are not divided by race or color either.
So although a few would be, I don’t think it would be much in the majority or would remain that way for any length of time, once SHTF.
Also just trying to “take” the guns here, would start a Civil war. So it’s not something that would happen “after’ they are taken from us. So that will not be an indicator to look for.
Besides here in the US, that is logistically impossible task.
We have far more guns per capita, than either of those nations ever dreamed of.
Another difference is that our guns tend to be more of a military type weaponry, than their’s were.
Then there is the fact that most will not give up their guns willingly.
Even though several states have passed draconian gun laws, toward large capacity magazines and AR 15 type rifles: they have had a low response ( almost zero), of voluntary turning in of the “banned” items.
This is causing much distress among the gun grabbers, knowing that people will refuse to obey such laws and (if they are smart), also knowing that gun confiscation is both logistically impossible and would be met with armed resistance.
To bad that most rank and file Democrats don’t know or understand logistics. Nor do they understand the will of the people to resist such actions. If they did, would understand the futility of even trying to take our guns.
A big difference between us in the US and elsewhere is the fact that Militias would not survive very long if the tried attacking the locals. The locals would rise up and destroy them.
We would not sit back and take such actions and atrocities from them, we would fight back. Not just opposing militia’s, but the local people also.
We are starting to see this in Mexico, as the locals are opposing the local cartel operatives and the corrupt politicians that work with them, against the people.
Yet in those countries, most of the people are passive. Or they would have fought to keep their guns in the first place. Making resistance to these groups even easier.
In WW 2, Japan has no qualms about attacking China’s mainland, because the people were unarmed and
were as passive as sheep. They had great qualms about trying that on the US main land. We are not sheep and were well armed. Today we are even more well armed and have more ex military service men that know how to fight.
There are big differences between us and the people from other nations. So although their info is valuable to a point of what might be; It would be irresponsible and foolish to believe that it would be duplicated here. We can use it as a starting point for contingency planning, but it must be tempered by our local conditions and our own values and national heritage.
Mic
Here I think your a tad delusional, “WE” have sat back and took the beating, name calling, scapegoat-ism over and over and forever.
It will talk a tremendous *something* to stir up the masses to do ANYTHING.
As it is, as it has been so will it continue to be.
More laws, more blame, red flag bs demonetization, midnight raids.
WE will not do anything, just like you never will, EVER.
PROVE ME WRONG.
I have decades of history as proof.
How many hundreds of years ago was the last honest revolt over tyranny ?
MIC is correct. Those other nations did not have a second amendment burned into their psych. While there may be some pacifist gun owners that will meekfully turn in their weapons under threat of death, the majority of those that understand the second amendment will not. The level of gun ownership and the type of guns owned is logistically unfeasible just given a small amount of resistance from a few. LE and military can’t afford the casualties on their end. Look at Afghanistan, they have no air force, no heavy artillery or logistics to speak of, yet the US government cannot conquer them. What do you think they will try here stateside?
Easy: 1861-1865. The secession of the South from a threatening Puritan-inspired attempt to make the South their cash cow. And the resultant War to prevent Southern secession, in which the South defended itself from federal invasion, occupation and subjugation. And lost.
A “Civil War” is when one group tries to take over the government of a country from the group in power. That won’t happen (has never happened) here unless the Democrats really refuse to take no for an answer from the voters and decide to try for a coup d’etat. All joking aside, it would, rather than a Civil War, be the citizenry defending itself from the federal government if the gov’t tries to take our guns, or curtail our liberties more than we are prepared to tolerate. Molon Labe.
You do the best you can. Not every possibility can be foreseen, or prepped for.
Get your most important preps done as well as you can afford, and if you can get prepped for less likely events to any degree, then do so.
If people come to kill you and there is no other choice, you have to defend yourself, or you are dead. Do whatever is necessary. After taking them out, take whatever is useful off their bodies. Keep your head down.
If you are in a city, good luck. Your chances are small.
It most certainly could happen here. We are at the tipping point right now. Just one incident could set things off.
one electrical failure that has big cities in the failure
I never started out as a prepper..more like a city bornred neck who reads too much..with a wife who grew up with no running water. We garden and preserve..a lot for an inner city home. Near 300 jars this year. We have a solid years food in the basement..old house, trap door. 3 inch thick hardwood floors, and I put a sliding bolt on the bottom side a month ago. I also have a CZ858 and 3 cases of steel core ammo down there..and others. There are no guarantees…it will always be easy for somebody to be on a roof 2 houses down and take your head off when you step out the door in the morning… We have lots of well armed, smart red neck friends on acreages and farms within an hour or 2… Hopefully we survive the first few weeks and are able to get out of the city with our supplies. I would without question shoot anybody who attempted to impede my exit.
Greg, it sounds like you’re well prepared, but evacuation from a city, especially with family, is going to be difficult. Once people realize that the s has hit, it won’t be long before armed groups will be setting up roadblocks and looting those who are trying to escape. There will also be bands of armed looters going door to door.
Highly organized gangs will have the know-how to accomplish this, and the weaponry to back their play.
They also have their own kin to take care of, and at least some of these people will be addicts or mentally unstable.
A volatile combination.
Add in the sad fact that some of these armed groups will be made up of police and/or military gone rogue in the event of a total societal breakdown.
That being said, IMHO it would take a lot to cause a general breakdown, simply because the US is so large and encompasses such a varied terrain, climate and culture. There would probably be pockets of horror, in or adjacent to cities, where those who are not afraid to use violence will be in charge. Most areas would probably be seeing individuals or smaller groups of looters, rather than quasi-organized larger groups.
One thing that nobody else has mentioned (to my knowledge) is the possibility of invasion from bordering nations. I would be worried about this if I lived along the southern border – the Mexican cartels would have no qualms about heading north to get supplies.
Desperate people are unpredictable and thus dangerous.
Just my thoughts.
Greg, please don’t wait weeks. If you see them looting in one part of your city, get the heck out while you still can. And looters will go to the better neighborhoods.
If you’ve ever looked death in the eye and had to defend yourself with deadly force in close quarter combat like I have you know two things. First you know you’re good to go. Secondly, you know that everyone who hasn’t been through that doesn’t have a clue..and won’t until they get their first crash course…which they may or may not live through.
Up until that moment you may believe all sorts of things about yourself. After that moment everything changes for you forever. You won’t like it, but it beats being dead.
There’s a huge difference between shooting someone at 300 yards and letting the air out of them with a knife and smelling it, feeling it, and wearing it while they look you in the eye as their lights go out.
Selco knows exactly what he’s talking about. We don’t know each other but we’re brothers in the same club.
I’m good to go if it comes to that. He who hesitates is lost. When the moment comes, strike first and strike decisively. Mercy has no place in that equation.
Charles,
You’ve never lived until you’ve almost died. For those who have fought for it, life has a flavor the protected shall never know
Celer – Silens – Mortalis
Things get this bad most will not make it .
“Take from them everything, but give them nothing.” – Leonidas
Molon Labe
Very true !
I won’t hesitate if it’s my family.
I probably won’t make it in such a world…. but I will try. And, most important to me, I will work very hard to prepare spiritually for such times, so that I can do my best to love and forgive and serve, letting go of fear and anger, so that God can work thru me however He wants, for however long He wants to. I’m sure this sounds idealistic to people, but it’s where I’m at. God please help us to love each other as best we can during such times.
There was an Italian-subtitled movie called “The Bicycle”. Pretty dark movie about a family trying to survive during WWI, I think. At one point, the family “sold” their only mattress to exchange it for a bicycle so they could work and feed themselves. In the scene at the place where they made the exchange, the camera pans out and you see a huge warehouse FULL of old mattresses. Clearly the owner didn’t need another mattress. I want to be THAT guy. The one who is prepared enough that he can help others as they make sacrifices to survive.
When the Christians were persecuted in the early days, there were some who did not die as martyrs, who were not strong enough to choose that. And many who survived were angry at them. But once they came thru the other side, and the Roman Emperor Constantine converted and it became safe to be Christian, the church leadership extended forgiveness to those who abandoned their faith to save themselves or their loved ones. I pray we can do the same.
that forgiveness is not up to church leadership.
oldbat; Obviously you’re a Protestant. The Church at that time was Orthodox, and there was only one Church. The Orthodox don’t believe in “leaders” making decisions for the Church as a whole. The parishioners decide what is acceptable, because the Church is made up of the parishioners. I’m sure they prayed and discussed among themselves and consulted the Holy Spirit about what to do, led by their priests and bishops (that’s their job, and I’m not saying there was no leadership at all). But the Church as a whole made the decision to forgive. However, there were some in the Church, called Donatists, who refused to forgive the ones who were too afraid to become martyrs. They split and made their own “church”. “They went out from us, because they were not of us”. It’s been happening ever since.
MAYBE ITS TIME TO ASK THE LORD WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN,..I did,he showed me the WAR BETWEEN the government supported terrorists and the american people will last FIVE YEARS,HE TOLD ME,THE GOAL OF THE US MILITARY is to kill everyone on earth for their daddy SATAN,when the LORD returns for his people THEY INTEND to attack him,and try to kill the LORD,(their training in california right now)their going to be throwing out SYANIDE CANISTERS in every neighborhood at 4 am in the morning,to wipe out sleeping neighbors,the plan to use bulldozers to mow down entire neighborhoods where people might be hiding,(bugging in),and it gets worse and worse,GET READY THEY WILL BE COMING…
I really don’t think you can plan for such a senerio. I believe you will fall back on your core principles. Many would die so first I suggest that you be prepared to die and face eternity. Then as a believer in Christ, I believe He would direct me. Obviously situational awareness would be extremely important. Then having an ability to think “outside the box” would be invaluable. Having knowledge of your environment and the resources would be helpful. But I must admit, I don’t see a lot of value in trying to imagine the worst case scenario and attempting to prepare for it. There’s just too many possible scenarios and living in fear of what may happen can be unhealthy . that said. I do believe there’s great value in being prepared for likely senerios.
does selco’s course come with a pdf for future reference?
Yes, it does.
Trying is about the best we can do. We have been preppers for many years and we have been following several prepper blogs and websites. We have the equipment, trained ourselves on it, are good marksmen. But life has a way of tossing road blocks. Two years ago I would have said that I was prepared for anything. Anything but a non-cancerous brain tumor the size of a large lemon. My goal became, how do I remember stuff, rather than how to survive. Had a SHTF situation happened the last 15 months, I would not have made it through. Sobering thought.
We are back to the prepping and just before the brain tumor we bought 20 acres. Our plans are back in place, for the most part.
Dear Karen,
Prey to the saint Jose Gregorio Hernandez. He’s a miraculous saint and I have a lot of faith on him
And I will pray for you too, will ask him for your healing.
Get better,
Jose.
I have heard anecdotal testimony of CBD oil fighting a wide variety of cancers. It may be worth looking into.
Prayers and blessings to you!
Charles
Keep yourself well. Look up the truth about cancer series, learn. We live in a toxic world and a very sad diet doesn’t help (SAD = Standard American Diet). Glad to hear your land acquisition is complete. Now the projects Begin!!
The person who replied to “Karen”: ( I just realized I have to type in the names of people I am responding to, it’s not automatic as on YouTube): I’m glad to hear you are healed, or it sounds like it from your response. All any of us can do is try. I don’t have 20 acres, but I do have a vegetable garden. All my neighbors and I are armed, some are ex-military and one is Special Forces (although he isn’t here right now) and one is a sheriff’s deputy. I do have relatives and old family friends with land in the “sticks” as we say here (where there is game), and I have camping equipment, lots of canned goods and some water (gotta get more). Also cast iron frying pans, blue enamel coffeepot and stew pot, extra matches, lamps, kerosene, candles, first aid kit, knives, a hatchet and saw (for cutting tree limbs), a metal grate (for putting on the campfire as a surface to put pots on), warm coats and extra socks and gloves, and shoes I can walk in. Also a couple of rifles, although I’m going to take my own advice to Debbers and get a shotgun. A fishing pole would also be handy, and myriad other things I can think of or read about on Daisy Luther’s site.
I think everybody who lives in town should be prepared to get to the country somewhere and be ready to camp out. Staying in your home may not be an option, if it gets that bad. However, in the final analysis, I am trusting in God, and I don’t think we are supposed to worry unduly.
We are supposed to trust Him. God bless you.
Daisy, I’ve been following your challenge and I was one of those that chose to NOT respond. Why? Because most of the folks chiming in to the other challenge days aren’t ready to accept your scenarios nor the possibility that it could happen here. Even after reading the comments below this article, those posting are still refusing to accept.
Yet, look at what’s happening already in this country of ours. Mass shootings, Antifa committing criminal acts and getting away with it, police being called out and then shot at when responding, churches and synagogues being attacked, our elected politicians calling out for “someone” to do harm to some one else.
Call me crazy if you like, but, it’s already started! Our society has already started devolving into that environment that most Americans think/hope can’t/wouldn’t happen here.
Everyone needs to get their heads out of the sand and realize that it’s not what it used to be and it’s only headed downhill from here…fast.
A small example: the violence in Europe that that media so constantly ignores is happening all over the country (USA) now, Minnesota is a prime example.
Rapes, beatings, robbery by migrants.
Migrants attacking people day and night in the city, media ignores it like it’s not happening.
I don’t know if they (media) don’t want to be called racist, think we deserve it or actually thing it’s minor and unworthy of coverage.
One of my preps, right at the top of the list, is that try to always be right with God. There are things I will not be able to survive, and I do not want to be worrying about trying to save my soul at the last minute, under terrible circumstances, while trying not to die. Because I will go out kicking and screaming, since that is what God intends for me to do. If it is my time, I will go, but God does not expect me to just give up. God expects me to do everything I can to survive because God helps those that help themselves. And often helps those that helps others. So, knowing that if I do not survive, I am okay, I can prepare for the worst that can come.
Like others, I have been told my apocalyptic prepping is a waste of money, time, and other resources that would be better used to prep for ‘realistic’ disasters. That the more extreme situations simply cannot occur in modern times with modern technology, modern medicine, the wealth of knowledge we have, the ‘enlightened’ state of our consciousness, and many other reasons.
What many of these people do not realize that when the infrastructure fails, starting with the power grid and rapidly moving on down the line, that many, even most, and possibly all of those reasons will not longer be valid, because those things will simply no longer exist in any meaningful way. Technology will not be much of a help if that technology no longer works or exists. Each of the other reasons has the same problems. If the event is major enough to start affecting the long list of infrastructure items, the ones that survive due to their preps, and those that survive by chance, will be facing huge numbers of people that are simply going to die, some sooner than others, with some respite for some for a short time, but they will die well before they have to because they have not made the preps that will get them through the kind of apocalyptic events we are talking about.
Preparing for those types of apocalyptic events has been part of my prepping from day one. I have thought about all kinds of terrible situations and how I would handle them. I have prepared myself to deal with people that under other circumstances I would help in a heartbeat, but in an apocalyptic event, I would, as difficult as it would be, turn my back on them (or better yet, never let them see me at anytime during the event. Then they will dead, and it will not matter.) This is, of course, in cases where the person or people will not survive no matter what I do, even given excellent preps, but lacking in skills and determination, and acceptance of reality.
And yes, I would take anything and everything that would, or could, be of use to me. I would also provide humanitarian aid to those that I thought would be able to make it and be productive with a bit of help. Anonymously, though. I do not want anyone to know what I have, other than the obvious, sacrificial supply, that can be found if someone is searching.
I have some very good friends that do not believe in apocalyptic prepping or doomsday prepping, but are highly prepared for the ‘traditional’ disaster. And they are adamant that such things are not discussed during meetings and get togethers. Along with politics, religion, and sex. All are banned in group meetings. What individuals do on their own time is not restricted, as long as it does not involve the group in any way.
And it is not that they could not prepare effectively for such events, but as you said initially, they are ones that simply believe it cannot happen, therefore there is no need to waste time, effort, and resources on those preps when ‘normal’ preps are still needed and can be so expensive.
I probably go further than most in believing what can happen… actually… what I think will happen. That is not if, but simply when and how quickly things go from normal bad disaster to apocalyptic disaster. From medical isolation, to corpse handling, to body bags, to digging a slit trench ahead of time for bodies. I do not believe they might be needed. I believe they will be needed.
Just my opinion.
Jeerry D, My prepping is basically for a natural disaster, ice storm, loss of electricity or heat ( I have a fireplace and wood laid in, a wood stove is even better). But it will come in handy for any circumstance. Such as if whole society collapses due to the Covid-19 Plandemic.
Please stop the popup. It always pops up in the middle of reading the article.
Too lazy for one extra mouse click to close the window? You ain’t gonna last a day, pal!
Get off Daisy’s back. She’s providing a valuable service for free, you ungrateful piece of…work.
Try an ad blocker.
uMatrix is very good, and you can select what images/frames etc to allow or deny.
I dont see the majority of ads on most web pages.
I hate auto-play of vids!
Normalcy bias affects most people. Its something they’ve never experienced, only heard about, so, ‘it can’t happen here.’ I see it all the time. But these scenarios, exactly as you described, play out daily, in various parts of the world. Nigeria, various other African nations, Haiti, and a few others come to mind. The thin veneer of civilization is very thin indeed. Even now, in the U.S., you can go to almost any democrat controlled city and find extreme poverty, people using the streets as a toilet, blatant drug use, prostitution, rampant diseases, human trafficking, gang violence, and a host of other crimes. Chicago routinely sees double digit murders every weekend. This is now, while we have “everything” and gas pumps work, food is in grocery stores, and Netflix comes on to watch your favorite series or movie. We get a little preview every year on Black Friday of just how far people will go to get….consumer electronic items. High tech toys and gizmos and TVs. People will trample other people, punch them, choke them out, and tackle people with the last bargain priced item. Are people really so naive to think people won’t turn into absolute savages when our conveniences disappear, and more importantly, when they are HUNGRY because there is no more food on the shelves or fuel at the gas pump? Apparently they are, but they really need to open their eyes, the evidence is all around us. We will soon see negative interest rates like they have in Europe. The war on cash will persist until everyone is in all digital accounts. The economy has not recovered since 2008. It appears to have thanks to creative accounting, dubious technical indicators, and a impossible bull run in the stock market. The debt is over $20 trillion dollars and can never be repaid, we are struggling to pay the interest alone on it. To say nothing of unfunded liabilities and derivatives, the world is hanging precariously by a thread and the PTB are more than okay with sinking the dollar and letting the economy crash. They can easily blame it on Trump who will make a good scapegoat and they know it. Look closely at Venezuela, and imagine how much worse it could be here.
Normalcy Bias, what a good term. Thank you. I was talking light prep with my mom and step dad at breakfast a couple weeks back and mentioned wanting my girlfriend to have a firearm. They both knee-jerk opposed it, stating she didn’t need it but their only basis for that was that she hadn’t needed one yet. I pointed out that at that very moment somewhere in the US there was a girl being attacked or abused; “it’s happening somewhere right now. Somewhere, someone needs it and they may or may not have it.”
They both made a very abrupt topic change.
Anyone seen “The Road”? I watched it for information rather then entertainment. Also a very dark movie but makes you think hard.
Another thing to keep in mind is the three things tactical teams use (Marines, Seals, Rangers, etc)
Engage (the enemy, or Fire!!), Move, Communicate. It is interesting to note that governments work on crippling all three of these before they go full crazy against the citizenry.
The govt crutch or plans? A few thoughts on the three things:
Engage or ability to Fire: Gun Control, demonizing gun owners, isolating the very idea of self defense as non-sense. The police will take care of you?! You don’t need a [fill in the blank]!
Move: supply chain (gasoline shortfall or disruption), Tracking built into YOUR phone or device, drones, surveillance, etc. Can you bug out without using major interstates/roads that might be monitored?
Communicate: anyone can buy equip to listen to your phone if it’s on or not. MSM News false narratives, questioning what is true – what to believe. Propaganda and misinformation everywhere.
So maintain your ability to Engage/Move/Communicate or adjust your plans so these three are still operational for you and your loved ones.
I read the novel. Now you understand true courage. It’s continuing to walk the path even though you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no hope…and yet you hope beyond reason. I call that Faith.
I was wondering when that was going to come up! Nice reference. And I think it will be exactly like that for most of us.
The only thing I promise to do when shtf,is my best. Everytime I go to the store, I get a little extra and store it away.Only me and pets now,but if I hook up with a significant other,they gotta get with the program or leave. Thank you,Daisy,for your blogs. . Come by Arizona sometimes,happy to meet ya.
Of course it could happen here in any number of ways.
And my husband and I would die and someone else would be eating my canned food.
I tried to learn about guns, in my sixties after having no contact with them my entire life, but it is a huge learning curve. My husband will not even try. Our house is not isolated and not defensible against any serious assault. The thought of this is taking away my motivation for the kinds of prepping I can do.
I can garden and can and dehydrate food. I can cook from scratch, bake bread, etc. i know how to cook on a wood cookstove and actually managed to get one installed here. I know a fair amount about edible wild plants and edible plants we don’t usually eat. I have chickens, know how to work with broodies. I don’t enjoy it but I could kill, clean, and pluck a chicken. I have a treadle sewing machine, can use it, have made clothes on it. I have stored wax and can make candles. I own a whole library of books on things like how to make soap. I am a nurse. I have caught babies and could become a pretty good granny midwife.
But the violence thing? Yes, if I had a gun, and had to shoot someone to save my life, I am sure I would do it. But what we really need is to be part of a community in which the skills I do have were useful enough that younger, stronger people more experienced in defense would include us. Such a community has not appeared. Without it, I think we are goners. We all die eventually and we are not so far from that inevitability anyway. I hope to die not too painfully, and in a state of grace.
Get yourself, if not the reluctant hubby, to a gun class. You will be surprised how quickly you can become familiar with hand guns. You will meet other people who are more than willing to help you get better with guns. A good instructor enjoys teaching. My first instructor was a retired prison guard. His knowledge was invaluable! He also told of his wife, who hated guns, hated that he taught classes, etc. They lived on a farm of 28 acres, with a large house in a somewhat isolated county. He was in San Francisco on a business trip, when 2 guys tried to break into the house while he was away. The county sheriff did respond-but it took them 30 minutes to get there. Luckily, 3 German Shepherds made the intruders wary of being too aggressive, and the doors held. His wife then became a true believer in the right to bear arms. She now never misses shooting practice. So, there is hope for your husband.
Such a thoughtful comment. I am with you. I wish you were my neighbor for sure instead of the liberals that surround me that don’t think beyond what appears on their phones. That being said, I love what you can do. I would say, I am proud of you 😉
We never know how God can use us. Do your best, pray and leave the rest to God but keep asking to be shown. He has the Plan. Ask God to show you if there is something you need to know, to be shown a group you can join with if this is important to you. I too am thinking like you, a lot. We are in this together. You are so far ahead of most. Most will not make it but will be given the chance before The Cleanse. This I believe. A re-set if you will. We are coming into that time. The 1000 year peace. Don’t worry. There are others like us. Just do what you do and let God guide you. I applaud you and what you have learned, all valuable tools. God bless you. Keep strong. God is with us. WWG1, WGA.
For us, being early 70’s, we will do the best we can. I know foraging knowledge to a point and we grow a lot of fruits. We know a lot about food, being farmers, and I have pretty good luck growing in containers in the house. We have a good bit of family close in, which would help with security, but it will also cramp our 3 year food supply. We would probably fare better than most. We grew up with outhouses and hauling water, so it would be nothing new.
I had an otherwise normal looking American guy tell me he had no problem with killing someone else to take what they have to feed his family. In shtf we will all have to watch our backs, or a friend might plant a knife in it.
As to overall in shtf, I imagine some people who think they can handle it today (preppers) will find they are not at all ready in a mental sense when it comes, and will off themselves or fail to defend themselves when the zombies arrive.
A lot of people who never saw it coming will off themselves and their families as they see their entire world crumble into lawlessness, hunger, insipid cruelty, and no “America” to run to anymore.
I imagine shtf will involve nuclear war to an extent, and that will solve a lot of problems as far as shtf emptying the cess pools our cities are to the countryside, everyone who took enough rads will be dead in a few weeks weather in a nuked city or in a fallout region. The rest with rad sickness will be incapacitated to either recover if left undisturbed or die at the hands of zombies or perhaps even hungry animals.
It’ll be a time of faith or faithlessness.
“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” Says YHWH who has compassion on you.
Based on the activities of the left ANTIFA,Congress persons ,media & increasing violence against us. I think there will be moves to arrest maybe even government attempts to kill us if they win. The hate is palpable & there will be nothing to keep us from being surprised until the 1st killings occur we will still be in shock because “that couldn’t happen here”. Most of us will be caught off guard like Pearl Harbor only on an individual basis. I would think Trump should implement Original Intent of the Constitution after all it IS the law of the land & 90% of laws on the books are illegal infringements basically Post Modernist Deconstructionisms. There is TRUTH then whats called “my truth & your truth”. I’m not advocating a war just a legal implementation of the law before it’s too late.
Civil War?
The American Civil War (1861-1865) was the invasion of the Northern States into the Southern Territories.
The Successions by the parties of the Yugoslavian Federation (1991-1995) were attacked by Serbia.
When did Slovenia cross-over into another territory?
They didn’t.
But they were attacked by the Serbian military.
Did Bosnia (or Kosovo) invade their neighbors?
They were attacked by Serbia. Bosnia was also invaded by Croatia in the beginning until it competed with Serbia for a land grab.
Sounds more like some Socialistic/Fascist parties wanting land and lost tax revenue. There’s always going to be someone trying to make you their slave.
The Yugoslavian breakup wasn’t some ridiculous spontaneous combustion of people with forks between their teeth chasing other people around as portrayed by the MSN.
To represent it that way is a gross injustice to what happened and dangerously misleading of any lessons that can be learned from the unfortunate events.
Know correctly what happened so history doesn’t repeat itself … to you.
Selco’s previous article on gun control pointed out what occurred took a while. There was a careful planned out progression of events that led up to Sarajevo.
To be fair, he also wrote that it was a civil war. Since he experienced what went down I would consider his viewpoint way more than this site’s opinion.
My point.
Before fantasizing how neighblors are going to be attacking their neighblors, the time spent considering how people be could be allied together would be worthwhile.
On a sidenote, where in the Bible is America mentioned?
The late great Hal Lindsey couldn’t by his own admittance find one.
I’ve caught friends of 30+ years stealing from me the first time they fell on hard times. Stabbing me in the back over a crappy job. You sound naive and maybe a little gullible to me. A little healthy skepticism would serve you well.
How many women have trusted their man only to learn too late they’d been cheated on? It ain’t zero! What’s coming is going to be orders of magnitude worse than any of that.
Charlie,
Who is “naive” and “gullible”?
And in reference to what?
Btw: still hiding in the crowd?
best
John 03 said,
“My point.
Before fantasizing how neighblors are going to be attacking their neighblors, the time spent considering how people be could be allied together would be worthwhile.”
I think it’s obvious I was referring to you, and it was in reference to your above statement. I also cited examples from my personal experience and observation to illustrate my position.
If I was “hiding in the crowd”, how is it that you found me so easily?
In closing, I didn’t say these things to insult you. If that were my intent I could have done a much better job than “Naive and Gullible”. I said what I did to alert you to the reality that people are seldom what they seem…even those you’ve known for many many years.
Making alliances is always a judgment call, and it usually one that can’t be undone if you choose poorly. The first unforeseen betrayal could well cost you your life and those you might be trying to protect. I found your description of that possibility of betrayal by neighbors as “fantasy” to be alarming enough to warrant correcting you…for your own benefit.
Do with that what you will. How you receive the message is not my responsibility.
Charlie,
No one is an island, especially when the SHTF. The “Lone Wolf” theory is not going to work.
History shows the continuous ebb and flow of people forming alliances, breaking alliances and forming new alliances. Family first, then trusted friends and so on
Study the interlocking family trees of the rich and famous. That’s how they survived for millenniums.
Less bravado talk and more ideas about how to rebuild communities after the initial shock of SHTF would be more pragmatic rather than ‘fantasize’ about every person out for themselves in some ‘civil’ war. The latter has a very short life span.
“Hiding in the crowd” refers to a previous post of yours Charlie where you ‘locked and loaded’ an AK with thirty rounds in the most crowded populated shopping plaza you could find to save your skin by surrounding yourself with innocent bystanders. In effect setting up a 360 degree 600 yard killing zone regardless of anyone who got the way of the crossfire.
Your quote of ‘people not being who they appear to be’ describes you. Your old-timey folksy wrapping yourself with a flag so tight that you would pass out from lack of circulation makes me want to stay six hundred yards and more, away from you.
… there was no mention of “betrayal” in my post. Sounds like a personal issue on your end, Charli.
Indeed you did not…which points to your naivete and gullibility by refusing to confront the reality that it could happen to you.
My father had a saying…”A hard head makes a for a soft A$$”
Sounds like you are bent on learning the hard way. You’ll get no sympathy from me when you do.
And…we’re done here.
Good luck with that.
A man has to know his own limitations. I am a professionally trained sharpshooter. I can tell by your rhetoric that you don’t even know which end of the gun to point down range.
Try fighting in your own weight class, little man. Move on.
And…we’re done here.
Charli,
Re: Placing yourself into a crowd during a firefight.
So, if you are professionally trained, then …
In a court of law a charge of reckless endangerment in public would become …
Criminal Endangerment since you have better than average knowledge of the consequences of firing live ammunition in a crowded public space?
Charli, aka “Charles in VA”.
J.I.C., so there no misunderstanding or miscommunication.
The above question was addressed to you, “Charles in VA”.
If you want clarification, ask specifically on what point(s).
Please reply.
Charli (Ak Charles in VA)
For your understanding I’ll try another approach.
On a previous Organic Prepper topic you posted that after driving down a narrow road in the middle of nowhere you realized there was no space to turnaround and keep driving until you came to a private residence.
After leaving that road you were followed by someone in a pickup and a close chase ensued.
You consciously decided to pull into the most crowded populated area you could find. You wrote because you wanted witnesses to what was to occur.
After stopping your partner released the ‘hood’ (not trunk?) so you could get an AK-47. You loaded a thirty-round magazine into the rifle and presented it to the driver of the following pick-up as he pulled into the area. I assume there was enough time to do all this in a close chase.
My take of your post.
By yours words and actions you deliberately sought out an area with the most people and preceded to prepare for a fireflight.
That could be considered Reckless Endangerment in a Public area.
In previous posts you indicated you had close combat experience and had professional firearm training.
So you have a better than the average person’s understanding of presenting or using a fully loaded rifle in a combat situation and how events can go not as planned or tragically wrong.
So with your understanding of the situation ‘Reckless Endangerment in Public’ could be upgraded to ‘Criminal Endangerment’. In a court of law that would be a criminal offense punishable by a prison term.
Luckily no innocent bystanders were injured or killed this time in an unnecessary dangerous situation.
I question your intent or what the h*ll were you thinking or not thinking when by the actions in your post you endangered the lifes of innocent bystanders?
In effect, you embedded yourself in a crowd and anticipating a firefight loaded a rifle. (Isn’t that a mantra in basic training, never load a firearm without intenting to use it.)
I’m assuming the firing range of an AK round is 600+/- yards. So anyone in that proximity or within that zone, 360 degrees from you, is endangered by live bullet rounds.
Where you using people as human shields?
Where you using people as a diversity tactic to protect yourself?
In a SHTF scenario since there are no rules that kind of street tactic would work.
But … in a non-SHTF scenario I question the intent of anyone in general who would use a similar collateral-damage tactic like that.
Stay out of crowds.
And if you are in a crowd and see some person coming down the road …
… run like h*ll.
Each area is different. I live in a very rural area. My nearest neighbor is five miles away. The nearest town has 4 people. The next town has about 600 people. There is no grocery store only two small convenience stores in that town and none in the first. One store is also a gas station. There is no alliance out here. I have just one family I trust and would help if they needed it. Our sheriff office is 25 miles away and he picks and chooses whose rights he protects. I have no problem with shooting first and asking questions later. I have a locked gate and ten big dogs. If someone comes to my door uninvited then it will be their last. I am fortunate to have a husband that was in non-conventional weapons in the military. You don’t have to have a gun to kill someone. As a retired Sergeant First Class, I also don’t have a problem protecting my home, animals and family.
Mette,
AK-Charli’s story began with his taking a wrong turn down what could be considered now someone’s private driveway on a private homestead.
He then wrote that he couldn’t turn around because there was not enough space and continued down the road.
At this point in the story it shows a lack of ‘situational awareness’. If you’re in the middle of unknown territory and realize you’re in the wrong place, stop and reconsider your options. (Stripping out reverse gear may have been an option if that what it takes to avoid a bad situation.)
I assume Charli was familiar enough to know what could happen when being uninvited on someone’s property. In an closely built urban setting your ‘Castle’ is considered to start at your front door. As your post mentions Mette in a rural area it’s different. Charli should have known this yet kept driving.
And this is where Charli’s story is vague. After leaving the property a high speed chase began with someone following in a pickup. There may be more to the story which wasn’t mentioned. Charli wrote, that with a partner, previousily before taking the wrong turn they were ‘panning for gold’ I believe.
Something sounds not right. Usually in the city when there’s a shoot-out it involves a drug deal gone bad. Not that was what happened in the above story.
So yea, going down a private driveway in an unknown area univited is a bad choice to make.
It furthermore shows a lack of ‘situational awareness’ especially when you realize your error and yet continue to go on into harm’s way.
O.k., no reply from AK-Charli.
Before breaking off some points:
I was tried of Charli trolling my comments without understanding their content before he responded with his personal issues.
I did not comment on his posts.
His above post on this blog telling another poster they were too lazy to use an extra keystroke was out of line, especially since that poster was addressing Daisy. But I did not comment as I did not want to get into it with Charli. Yet here I am taking up valuable virtual blog space. Shame on me.
* More important *, whelter Charli’s story about going down a wrong road finishing up with bearing arms in a crowded public space is true or not, the effect it has on the image of ‘Preppers’ is negative.
It portrays Preppers as being irresponsible. Not a mean accomplishment especially on a prepping blog site.
Is the persona of “Charles in VA” as a fellow prepper a pose to discredit preppers in general?
Your call.
Guilt by association.
Say you’re walking a street with someone and that person provokes a group of people by saying or doing something stupid towards them. They’re now angry and coming at you. You turn to your ‘accomplice’ and that person is nowhere to be seen, leaving you alone for a trashing.
That’s how I perceive the persona of “Charles in VA”.
Please note I am not a prepper (too lazy) so I have no stake in this.
Best
… and for the sake of all that good ….
Stay out of crowds.
(needless sarcastic sign-out)
Okay, gentlemen, let’s agree to ignore one another, shall we? I don’t think you’re going to come to an agreement at all.
Daisy,
As that is what I wanted all along, here and on other posts, agreed.
Best
Here’s another article of Selco’s that you should read. Particularly #1 about how close the fighting was.
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/selco-surprise-shtf/
The reality was, and this is according to Selco, whom I have met and spent time with, nobody could be trusted except your own close circle.
Excellent reference, Daisy. And I go one step further from personal experience. Even within your “close circle” the possibility of betrayal is always a possibility. Those circumstances can bring out the worst in even the best of us, and we discount that reality at our own peril.
I really appreciate all the effort you put into your site. As prepped up as I am, I still find new ideas and perspectives here. I hope I don’t overstep my bounds here with either you or your other guests.
Rock on!
We appreciate you, Charles! Thanks for your kind words.
For John03, regarding your sidenote:
In the Bible, America is Mystery, Babylon the Great.
Revelation 17:5
USA is the breadbasket of the world. You’d have to add up the second, third and fourth largest exporting nations of food, just to get past the amount of food the US exports to the world alone. First Trumpet is a massive volcano going up (8:4) and coming down with God Father wrapped within it (8:7). Four horsemen then go forth at the hand of the Lord who then rising from his throne where he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.
Here are several references to the US as Babylon. The question is: who will be found worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man? ( says the Lord in Luke 21:36).
Jer. 50:6 My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place.
Jer. 50:12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost [THE LAST] of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
Rev. 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies [from her drive for luxury].
Rev. 18: 7-8 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and FAMINE; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev. 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more.
Rev. 18:17-19 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, 18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! 19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
Jer. 51:7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
Jer. 50:16 Cut off the sower from Babylon
and those who wield sickles at harvest time!
Before the destroying sword,
all of them turn back to their own people,
all flee to their own land.
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Zech 6:2-8: In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses; 3 And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses. 4 Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord? 5 And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country. 7 And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth: and he said, Get you hence, walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth. 8 Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the NORTH country have quieted my spirit in the north country.
Thanks for the link Squirrel
2 Peter 3:10 esv
Genesis 19:17
I did do the day 16 challenge. It was the hardest ones for me. I have a couple of books on forging that I should have mentioned on the forum. Learning what you can eat in the wild and what to stay away from has been a challenge for me. I didn’t go back to forum to see what I had posted but knew I had a place I could go to fish and know of some of the things around our neighborhood and beyond I could gather. Doing that safely in a SHTF situation is another story and one I need to really work on. I know it can happen here. I don’t worry about it as I know I am doing all I can to protect my family and try to keep food on table for a few years down the road when things do start to fall apart. I have your book The prepper’s water survival guide and love it. I also have books on forging, micro greens which I am still learning to get that right and also a complete book wilderness training manual that has things about forging and many other things I am trying to learn. I love these challenges as they make me think about the what if’s and what other things I need to be doing. Trying to find food and stay safe is really something to think about and learn my options.
I should have said more on the forum section but was in a hurry and wasn’t really thinking in the mind set you have written on here.
(After rereading the above article, some thoughts.)
During the American Civil War did any of the Southern States attack each other?
As far as I know, no.
They remained united against an imposing centralized power.
Since previous to the dissolution of the Yugoslavian Federation there was gun control and external arm embargo sanctions during the wars while Serbia was a major arms producer with a major military force …
how were all the high caliber bullet holes made?
“Snapping” is a book published last century describing how cults broke down recruits by either over-exposure to noise, light and no sleep, or under stimulation, i.e.like a sensory deprivation water tank, for two days or so.
The recuit’s mind ‘snapped’, shut down, and was reprogrammed.
It tooks years, if ever, to come back to the person they were before. Kinda like boot camp.
Extrapolating widely, if a society breaks down, how long would it be before they ever come back to their former state?
Centuries? Millenniums?
It doesn’t mean dreck to a tree but Radovan Karadvic (mispelled) a Bosian-Serb leader was a psychologist.
I keep telling people to look back at the fall of Rome or the fuedal Lord’s that followed, it’s called the dark ages for a reason. With that said, if you can’t see this country going there just turn on your TV and have a look.
Thank You for approaching this subject. We have met folks that make remarks (denial) that “I don’t want that in my consciousness”, how realistic is that? Yes, being a spiritual being having a human experience is
exactly that- How to evolve Humanity if it doesn’t wish to survive it’s imminent death? It may be an individual choice on the “how far are you willing to go”, and we agree that your own values and situation in the moment, matter. Personal opinion- If you are going to die if you do not defend your life, it is the same as committing suicide.
We moved to a small community years ago, only to discover, that there were four distinct mind-sets, plus the grey areas they intersect; two religious communities and one semi-religious and then the general population. The first two have mindsets like you had mentioned; if you’re not with us, you’re against us. The next two groups have experienced all manner of drug and social dysfunction. There are truly “good” reasonable people in each of these communities, but being rural, we have the attendant problems of people surviving on the edges of society on their own terms, intentionally being further away from some of the ‘social justice systems’ and law enforcement. Some of these individuals have no basic regard for anyone besides themselves which would only escalate with a SHTF scenario. We know too, that each of these “communities” have planned for SHTF, on their own terms of course. This has barely been a tolerable truce as their senior populations are aging, but there seems to be some hopeful clear thinking with the newer generations that We all need to get along.
We are faced with the same issue, lack of community; you don’t know who to trust, as folks show their best face to “nice” people. We think people were not put here to suffer. Having said that, wanting to offer to be of service, but it is the first thing to be taken advantage of. Where oh where do we go from here?
I took the time to read thru all fifty some comments before posting my own. I agree with a lot of the comments.
No one knows how they will deal with a situation until they actually have to deal with it.
I would like to think that I could do whatever I need to do. But I won’t know until faced with that situation.
I don’t wear rose colored glasses. I know things could get really crappy. My hope is that they don’t. I hope for the best but prepare for the worst. I am no where near prepared enough, but then again, who is?
Trapping, foraging, long term living in the woods, crossbow use…we practice all these things…hoping to get some winter camping practice in this year..SHTF may not come in the middle of summer
I think your absolutely on the mark except for the level of depravity that will exist…it will be much worse because here we have much more recourses and look at the movies we out out like purge and such I think it will be worse than that movie and your right people better wake up and use Thier dark imagination not to instill fear but to move to be better prepared.
Thank you for makine realize I haven’t done enough. Just doing a (little prepping) is really doing no prepping. I am going to get serious about it because Selco has indeed helped me by showing how his country started SHTF when they took their guns. I don’t believe as some do that they are only talking about AR’s and not all guns so it’s really not taking our guns. Yes it is. They are trying to take one kind of our guns. When they do they will come for the rest. It’s just the beginning. I have scoliosis which is progressing and very painful. I’ve reached the point where I have to decide to have surgery or not. Because of your amazing site Daisy I have decided to have the surgery. I want to be able to walk and work on getting ready and as it gets worse I’ll be able to take care of myself and help my family. Thank you Daisy.
the chief reason for the complacency with the US sheeple is the continued Utopia for decades upon decades >>> and the natural disasters that have occurred were met by regionally consolidated gooberment response – FEMA has never been challenged by a nationwide disaster …
What the Lord is doing in those days is clear and repeated throughout the sacred scriptures. His people know. Here is but one to take to heart. If not anything, search “gather” in the bible. The Exodus from Egypt was blueprint for us.
Isaiah 11:11-12, 15-16
11 On that day,
The Lord shall again take it in hand
to reclaim the remnant of his people
that is left from Assyria and Egypt,
Pathros, Ethiopia, and Elam,
Shinar, Hamath, and the isles of the sea.
12 He shall raise a signal to the nations
and gather the outcasts of Israel;
The dispersed of Judah he shall assemble
from the four corners of the earth.
. . .
15 The LORD shall dry up the tongue[a] of the Sea of Egypt,
and wave his hand over the Euphrates with his fierce wind,
And divide it into seven streamlets,
so that it can be crossed in sandals.
16 There shall be a highway for the remnant of his people
that is left from Assyria,
As there was for Israel
when it came up from the land of Egypt.
We don’t have to go too far to see what would happen when the shtf. Look at the stories that came out of Katrina. That was more or less isolated geographically; imagine how much worse it would have been if it was a national breakdown of infrastructure.
Our history is riddled with instances of desperate people doing unspeakable things to survive, and many of evil people doing horrifying crimes because there was nobody to check their behavior. It not only CAN happen here, it HAS happened here and it WILL happen again if circumstances allow.
Don’t kid yourselves that we’re “better than that”…. we’re not.
If you think it hasn’t happened already you’re wrong. Ask any first responder or national guardsman that had to go in after hurricane Katrina. Ask the people who took shelter in the civic center post hurricane when gangs came in and killed people and raped. How about the inner city of Detroit. How about the big blackouts from power failure in California. What about post hurricane in Puerto Rico. Ask the citizens what was going on there and how the drug wars escalated and there were home invasions on families. It doesn’t make the news. Food for thought.
Has anyone read the book by the same name
as this article?
“It can happen here” by Sinclair Lewis
Very interesting written in 1935
It’s already started. The Red Flag Laws are blatantly unconstitutional. That alone will ignite the powder keg… couple that with the proposed bans and the Black Lives Matter more than anyone’s movement… it’s going to get crazy. I’m thankful that I began taking this very seriously more than a decade ago. My home is very rural and difficult to reach due to natural and artificial constructs. I even changed careers. I had hoped for another 5 years, but I dont think we have that much time.
The greatest SHTF farce ever is going down right now, the UN Climate Change Summit, and this End Times scenario will likely not be survivable because people are willfully ignoring the most obvious solution to climate change, fertilize the ocean phytoplankton pastures with iron sulfide dust.
Russgeorge.net, fisherycrisis.net and fisherycrisis.com.
Fracking. By Odin a few cans of foods and Selco’s training will do nothing to mitigate the effects of dialing up the CO2 switch to max.
Compressing thousands of years worth of climate change into centuries or even decades to thaw the poles and end the ice ages is the dumbest disaster capitalist scheme ever dreamt up by the powers that presume to be. The CO2 system is a living switch; too many plants and animals go extinct, especially phytoplankton, and the global results are as bad as all out nuclear war, just not as quick.
http://russgeorge.net/2019/09/09/bloom-and-bust-is-how-the-ocean-plankton-run-this-blue-planet/
Some good and interesting points.
Others . . . not so much.
I think people coming together, forming alliances or relationships here and now will go a long way in a bad situation.
Having a good, and varied set of skill sets will help people who are willing to help themselves.
I think the2020 election could set off a series of events that could lead to some real civil strife.
No matter who wins.
If Trump gets back in, and there will be far less civil strife; he’s an old Christian guy with meeting the maker on the brain overrriding any bad secular habits. Bad Christian habits are coming to the fore, but that faith comes with built-in limits.
The political progressives don’t believe in progressivism as anything but a ‘human whispering’ technique to get power. Since they don’t believe in any greater purpose, they then have to abuse power to demonstrate that they have it, and know no limits.
However, Putin explained the Christian position best; the one who starts Armageddon is the sinner and goes to hell, the victims goes to heaven.
In that sense, preventing Ragnarok becomes a Christian preoccupation, because not only starting End Times directly, but failure to act to prevent End Times and indirectly prepare the way for it, becomes a sin,
Trump has no eternal moral interest in starting wars, which leaves the other crisis of out times, global warming/climate change to address.
People need to be pushing for ocean iron fertilization to fight climate change, not wringing their hands hoping for government to save them with more authoritarianism, taxes, fees, fines, gun bans, plastic straw bans and property seizures.
I agree, 1stMarineJarHead.
A lot of people think that if a Democrat wins there won’t be unrest. But due to a horrible example set with the Trump win, I think there will be.
And if there isn’t unrest in the first few days, when the new President immediately writes an executive order to “handle the gun crisis” we’ll see an uprising. Well, assuming people care about their guns and their rights as much as they say they do.
I read thru all the comments before posting mine. I agree with some and some not so much.
In the end each one of us will do what we can. No one can avoid death in the end, it comes for each of us but hopefully we can have some say in how it arrives!
I am prepped as well as I feel I need to be. We live fairly rural and have no close neighbors. We have moved to our home within the last five years so that along with being rural, we have no real community to be a part of. Don’t really intend to be a lone wolf but that may well be what happens.
We have no illusions about how tough things will be without power or following an EMP attack. As two ordinary folks who happen to have some pretty strong wills to survive, we will just do what we have to to survive. No one can truly predict what will happen to them exactly and how do you prep for what you don’t know? Cover the basics and have an attitude of adaptability. Learn to do without and if you have an aversion to hard work-get over it!
Not planning on leaving or bugging out at this point. Never know what may happen later on though. I have a good working knowledge of herbal use for both food and medicine. Getting a lot better with homeopathy as well! Avoid modern medicine and their propaganda like the plague!
Really appreciate Daisy’s work and what she brings to this table. Have gotten some great insight here and there are some excellent contributors on this site. Some goofy stuff too but we all need some comedy relief!
One thing is for sure, this country is changing and not for the better. The entire gubmint is corrupt and cannot be trusted. They care not about the peons and neither do the global powers that be. Us regular folk are truly on our own.
One thing I do know is that for us, daily life goes on. Someone still has to work for a paycheck, prepare food, do dishes, take care of livestock, gather supplies etc.
Best advice I’ve seen so far-“Avoid crowds.” Seriously, stay away from crowds and if you have to be in them then be alert. Pay attention to your surroundings and things out of the ordinary. Be the gray man and do not stand out for any reason!
Stay alert and put your faith in Jesus Christ.
I read all of the comments. You could tell that some had put a great deal of thought into their answer. I know that we have all heard read “One Second After”. I am saying it again. There are probably some things that might not happen in it. Will all of the cars become disabled? Maybe but some people say no they won’t. Some parts though, were very thought provoking. How would you maintain a perimeter? How would you keep rowdy mobs from violently over-taking your town? What would happen when your neighbor needed that insulin or life saving medicine and they knew you had some? Just brings up a lot of what ifs.
I believe most of us do have a disconnect from the possibility of a real shtf scenario. We have all done without power for a time. But, you could just drive a few miles to the next town and stay in a motel or eat at a restaurant. But what if you couldn’t because they didn’t have electricity either? And what if you drove out all of your gas believing you would buy more when you got to the next town and they were dark too? But there isn’t any communication? No phones. No tv. No internet. No radio. A little over 100 years ago the sun sent out an emp. What if. . .
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face
” Mike Tyson”
One of my all time favorite quotes.
Kudos !
Daisy,
Always enjoy your writing and your progression over the years has been interesting. Going to visit Selco must have opened your eyes wide! Reading about Venezuela & Bosnia really makes us all understand how bad it could get. Thank them for their insight and time educating us.
Deciding right now to get your life in order to survive the coming tribulation is all we can really do. Thank you for always sounding the horn. Sometimes it’s easy to relax, but the downward spiral is spinning faster isn’t it? Hope your girls find good strong husbands. Keep up the good writing and peace to everyone.
The gangs had better already have a LOT of food, because I can go 8 years…..for the whole family. Won’t be many running amok after a year or two. Grain, beans, rice, salt, sugar, and freeze-dried stuff is affordable and stores for decades. Cities will die quickly without drinking water, which dies when the power does. Getting hurt, without antibiotics, is likely a death sentence. A .22 Long Rifle through the hand without an ER is likely fatal in days. There won’t be too many to deal with by the time I run through a small percentage of my larder in rural areas. Small towns are basically armories, and out-of-towners with ill-intent will not fare well.
I totally understand how desperate things can quickly become! I would never want to hurt or kill anyone! But I know I could if I had to! I do see the signs! And if the election’s in 2020 go bad,we the “AMERICAN PEOPLE” are going to be severely “SCREWED” things will deteriorate quickly, and those who are unprepared will turn themselves over to Radical Government! It will be “Convert or Die”
I have no interest or intention of handing over my Weapons or my rights as an American Citizen!!
I’m preparing for my family! I suggest others do the same! And be careful of Communing! Large groups seem like a good idea until your cut off from the rest of the world! People in stressful situations
and under extreme pressure can be DANGEROUS!
I can certainly relate to and agree on a number of the posts here. The only thing I have a real problem and a question about is why so many people seem to blame Democrats for these current woes. I am not affiliated with any political party but I think until people stop blaming either the Republicans or Democrats for everything bad in the country there is not much room for moving forward. Some of you may have formed groups to aid in everyone’s survival. Can those people have a mix of political views or does everyone have to have the same opinion? Does everyone have to have the same religious views expressed in these posts? If you are as bigoted as the opinions in some of these posts and go through what’s coming with such a closed mind to others I think that your chances of survival may have just dropped a few notches. These types of posts just aren’t helpful to anyone.
Great, thought provoking article. I have been a prepper for 10 years but where I live I do not have access to the weapons that I would need to seriously defend myself or my family. In the UK, gun laws are very strict and to obtain a fire arms certificate, ( shot gun only ), one cannot even have a parking violation on record. I do however have legal “weapons” such as crossbows, a bow, sling shot and air rifle. I am proficient with all the above but I know that if approached by multiple attackers I would be overrun in no time.
In the 1980`s and 90`s I served in the Ulster Defence Regiment, ( 7 UDR ) in Northern Ireland,and have experience in counter terrorist objectives yet I am still, by UK law, unable to obtain the the “tools” that I need to properly defend me and mine. So it is back to basics.
I,and like minded individuals, and there are very few in in my location, have the one thing that escapes most of the people here. We are ready.
Even with the limited fire power, compared to our cousins over the big water, we have been training for the worse case scenario for years. I at least have a bug out plan and location and can be ready to move out within 20 minutes.
I am also a practitioner of bush craft and have been for 2 decades and have incorporated many aspects of military training in these crafts.
Stay safe and keep it real.
Mike: Bush craft knowledge is very valuable, as is your experience with weaponry not dependent on ammo. You could also rig an alarm system around your property, which doesn’t depend on electricity, with that kind of knowledge. Have to be careful with children in the neighborhood, of course.
THE scenario you posed could happen anywhere &the US OF A is not going to escape onslaught of CRAZY’S and crazy can happen to anyone given circumstances are right. However the majority of people here are WEAK&TIMID they will be first down then comes the unarmed/disabeled ,most of the unprotected rich !IT WILL BE H E L L to say the least .
I actually will be killed pretty quick due to being disabelled,poor, unarmed(felon) ,I am a prepper & do have weapons !Lots of skills for survival BUT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
9
As an elderly woman I would have been ‘exterminated’ early one way or another. This would be a godsend. Hunger drives people insane, so what we think of today as depravity will become ‘the new normal’.
It’s not if…it’s when. And it will someday.