By the author of The Dark Secrets of Survival and the online course SHTF Survival Boot Camp
It would be a cool thing for all preppers to have some kind of insight into what a real collapse would look like in their case. Like some kind of window where they can look through and see the collapse happening but they are still in safe place. Seeing a future SHTF today.
Only if that could be possible, right?
Well, guess what? It is possible. The SHTF is happening all the time (in real time) somewhere, in some city or country, for one or another reason—sometimes war, other times corruption, or bad weather. We are living in a time where we CAN see that and LEARN from it.
Why do we not see it and learn from it?
Well, for the usual reasons: we do not think it is relevant, we think people there are (somehow) different from us, or even some think people “there” (wherever there is) deserve that.
And my favorite, of course, is “It can not happen here.”
I do not want to discuss the reasons above, but I really want to tell you that it is good to learn from other folks’ SHTF experiences. It is much better than to wait for your own and be surprised.
Haiti is an example of a future SHTF.
Haiti’s situation is a perfect example of how bad things can go in some future SHTF, and to what depth.
It is a textbook example of what a prolonged collapse looks like, how it starts with one event and deteriorates more over a period of time (it can be the opposite, too).
It does support some of the basic SHTF theories that I wrote about, and it is also very similar to SHTF I went through in some (main) characteristics, so check Haiti’s situation’s main characteristic: there is no real vacuum in the rule of law.
No matter how bad the situation is, there will always be groups, larger or smaller, that represent “power” or “law” in parts of the country or even parts of the city.
That “law” can be the absolute joke of real law prior to SHTF, but that group will try to impose their “law” and rules through the oppressions and hard punishment for not obeying their rules, as well as taxing people under their rule for protection.
You can call them gangs, militias, or even government. Names are not important. When the SHTF, someone will try to rule you, OR you will try (with your group of people) to rule over your, let’s say, region, with your rules, laws, taxation, and whatnot.
Real Mad Mad Max lawlessness is rare. Some kind of chaotic organization will be there.
Fragmentation
Your world will usually become smaller.
In the absence of normal (pre-event) law and order, your world might become your city, or even your part of the city, where your community is, where you know settings, and where you feel safe. Urban survival is staying small and staying protected within your network or joining some network if you are alone.
If not you might be joined (let’s say enlisted) into some group by force.
Old terms
Old terms like police might still be in use, but the police force might become actually just a group of people who are well trained and equipped from before. That does not mean they are going to stick to the law from before. Watch for that.
They are still people who have families. If the law and system fall apart, they are armed and trained people. Some of them can and will simply work for whoever pays the best.
It is fluid.
The situation is very fluid, and you need constantly to have (updated) info.
One day, this faction or militia is at war with that, and tomorrow, it is in alliance with others and whatnot.
Today this part of the city is safe. Tomorrow is not.
You are nobody without correct and accurate information. Without it, you will not be able to stay safe, move safely to finish a task, or find food or other resources.
It is changing all the time, and you need to be involved in a network of people in order to have that accurate information about who is who today.
Staying mobile
If your place becomes attacked and you are not able to defend it, you are leaving your place, and that’s it. A whole bunch of people are not in their homes because it is not safe to stay there, or they would be killed if they stay there,
They stayed mobile and moved to a safe place.
You can call them whatever name you like – refugee or whatever – but they survived. So be ready to be mobile in order to survive.
The dangers
Real dangers are not only gangs or being killed by them. People are dying because the system of delivering goods is broken. They are not only dying from bullets in the quick way but also dying slowly from poor nutrition, lack of hygiene, and absence of proper medical care.
Violence is not the only danger when SHTF.
You are not as unique as you may think.
Again, I know you’re going to say some reasons why your situation in the future SHTF can not be like in Haiti: your political system is better, your government takes care of people, or simply you believe people are more reasonable in your country.
Sit down for a moment and think about how many times you said something like “it can not happen here” in the last ten years, and yet it happened “here” and it happened to you.
The world is changing, and it is changing in a bad way.
Whatever you think or say, just go and research the situation in Haiti, check how things are happening there, and see what people are doing to survive.
It may be a smart investment of time for the future SHTF that could be coming to you.
What are your thoughts?
Do you use the situation in Haiti as a possible example for how bad the SHTF could really get? Or do you have a bunch of reasons why you believe you are different or somehow exempt from such things?
Let’s discuss it in the comments section.
About Selco:
Selco survived the Balkan war of the 90s in a city under siege, without electricity, running water, or food distribution.
In his online works, he gives an inside view of the reality of survival under the harshest conditions. He reviews what works and what doesn’t, tells you the hard lessons he learned, and shares how he prepares today.
He never stopped learning about survival and preparedness since the war. Regardless of what happens, chances are you will never experience extreme situations as Selco did. But you have the chance to learn from him and how he faced death for months.
- Read more of Selco’s articles here.
- Buy his PDF books here.
- Buy his #1 New Release paperback, The Dark Secrets of Survival here.
- Take advantage of a deep and profound insight into his knowledge by signing up for his online course SHTF Survival Boot Camp.
- Learn the inside story of what it was really like when the SHTF with his online course One Year in Hell.
- Find his website here: SHTFSchool.com
Real survival is not romantic or idealistic. It is brutal, hard, and unfair. Let Selco take you into that world.
It starts with understanding that “Dead Men Tell No Tales”. Then you must decide who exactly is your enemy, while also having the resolve to do what must be done when you’ve figured that out.
If you’ve ever read of Selco’s horrific story of trying to stay safe against marauders, whose intent is to take whatever they want, ownership be damned, you will see just how psychopathic you can become when you are faced with a life and death scenario.
Remember my friends in a SHTF scenario if someone comes at you with their weapon at the ready, you may have only seconds to make the decision to either take out the aggressor or not. If you hesitate in your equivocations it may cost you your life.
If their weapon is not at the ready, you can give them an audience so you can figure out what their true intent is. It may be just looking for something to eat and will do whatever is asked to attain a mouthful of food. Remember also that psychopaths are very good at hiding their true intent, so you must be aware of their physical idiosyncracies which will betray almost all overly hyped scavengers !!!
It is best to have long made up your mind as to what you will and will not do with no second thoughts.
True prepping begins in the mind steeled with the foreknowledge of just how far they will go long before it ever arrives. Guerilla is all about that and being creative at the same time.
When you have made your peace about the hill you will die on then its time to plan to survive it.
Es ist das “freiheitlich demokratische” Werk der USA das uns nun das Abbild des Weges zum Grauen in der “freiheitlich demokratischen Welt” zeigt! Aber der Weg ist nicht neu und auch in Asien Afrika und Europa deutlich sichtbar geworden! Meine Kapitalismus Definition ist: Krieg- Wideraufbau- Krise- Krieg.
This reply is based on the following translation to English:
It is the “liberal democratic” work of the USA that now shows us the image of the path to horror in the “liberal democratic world”! But the path is not new and has also become clearly visible in Asia, Africa and Europe! My definition of capitalism is: war-reconstruction-crisis-war.
Reply: I would suggest that while the “liberal democratic” forces in the United States have balkanized and even spearheaded the efforts, the reason that this is a world-wide phenomenon is due to the desperation of the Globalist movement. Most United States citizen’s are overwhelmed with the open borders that have resulted in tens of millions crossing our borders illegally in a short period of time, but few Americans understand that this has been happening in Western Europe for decades. I would respectfully disagree with Jurgen Karsten on their definition of “Capitalism” and suggest that capitalism has been circumvented by the military industrial complex working with and or corrupting politicians to perpetuate their individual wealth and power, and in so doing furthering the goals of globalism which include depopulation through “whatever means are necessary.”
Reply in German:
Ich würde vermuten, dass die „liberaldemokratischen“ Kräfte in den Vereinigten Staaten zwar die Bemühungen blockiert haben, der Grund dafür, dass es sich um ein weltweites Phänomen handelt, jedoch in der Verzweiflung der globalistischen Bewegung liegt. Die meisten Bürger der Vereinigten Staaten sind überwältigt von den offenen Grenzen, die dazu geführt haben, dass Dutzende Millionen Menschen unsere Grenzen illegal überqueren, aber nur wenige Amerikaner verstehen, dass dies in Westeuropa seit Jahrzehnten geschieht. Ich würde Jürgen Karsten respektvoll widersprechen zu ihrer Definition von „Kapitalismus“ und schlagen vor, dass der Kapitalismus durch den militärisch-industriellen Komplex umgangen wurde, der mit Politikern zusammenarbeitet und/oder sie korrumpiert, um ihren individuellen Reichtum und ihre Macht aufrechtzuerhalten und so die Ziele des Globalismus zu fördern, zu denen auch die Entvölkerung „mit welchen Mitteln auch immer“ gehört notwendig.”
I’m glad I don’t live in a city or large town.
From my experiences witnessing live SHTF in the PI and in Panama cities are fast moving, full-on ruthless and lethal chaos. The rural areas (especially in the PI) had a simmering SHTF for years with terrorism and gangs that claimed they were liberating (NPA) before the big coupes attempts and political collapses. The rural inhabitants were more resilient and pragmatic in how they dealt with the civil war. And a lot of the agitating and agent provocateur “liberators”(NPA) were dealt with quickly, quietly and internally when things went hot. Call it murder. Call it revenge. But it worked.
Interesting how rural areas are always dismissed compared to city dwellers in discussions like this, but rural areas are always where “liberators” hone skills and rural areas are always where the city wants to fall back to.
I encourage folks to really, really read and digest 1stMarineJarhead’s diary of Jessica. Because he’s spot on point with what it’ll look like here, around me, in rural Appalachia’s hills and hollers when the SH’sTF.
It can and is happening here. People espousing fascism via a presidential candidate doing a great job of dehumanizing people, creating an existential threat that didn’t exist prior to him creating it, pounding lies, and pushing propaganda makes me fear for the future of this country. Watching my neighbors supporting a criminally insane lunatic who’s up on serious felony charges and has been convicted of serious felony charges makes me wonder how we fell so far! How have we fallen so far that we’re given a choice between a doddering idiot and a criminally insane lunatic, when better choices were available?
You seem to have missed the irony of your scenario: the left can make anything/anyone a criminal.
Understand what it is you’re talking about – that’s called Mob Rule. (The opposite of “democracy” or the rule of law.) But try explaining that to someone who poisons their mind with tel-lie-vision.
I thought you were talking about the radical Marxists, otherwise known as “the left” until you mentioned someone who is “up on felony charges”.
What felony charges has either person running for president been charged with? Neither of them have been charged with anything. I would look that up if I were you.
What is the existential threat that didn’t exist before “he” created it? Genuine question.
Do you know what fascism is? It depends who you ask, but most people think of fascism as corporations running the government. Like when Facebook pays for voting drop boxes, and censors people because Pfizer told them to. Or when Blackrock forces compliance with ESG and DEI – which are euphemisms for communism and spell the death of meritocracy.
I recall the Biden admin and the mockingbird media dehumanizing anyone who didn’t want to take the experimental jabbies. Telling everyone to not invite us to holidays. Masking is also a historically dehumanizing ritual, reserved for slaves.
Lies and propaganda – I mean again, the awards go to the media on that one. “The jabby is safe and effective! The elections are secure! Schools are not talking about sex to your kindergarteners! Russiagate hoax! Peepee tape hoax! The laptop is Russian disinformation!”
All lies.
Freedom of Speech is dead. Rule of law is dead. God has been removed. The family unit is being disbanded. The elites have openly declared their plans to move us into 15 minute surveillance cities, are shutting down farms, and plan to feed us bug sludge. They have people like you wondering why those of us who see it have lost our minds.
Instead of watching your neighbors support a man who loves his country (and did a damn good job at the presidency), you should have a conversation with them. Ask them why. You don’t have to agree, but maybe you could try to understand their point of view. You should do it. But come at it from a place of love. Best of luck.
Natasha…well said!
Jayne….perhaps that is your “opinion”…
What I see is a government over-reach of authority from day one…first the media tried to “tell” ( influence??) us who should run …back in 2016 with Hillary and Jeb Bush…
Then it went full on..the “Russia scandal”(disproven) but repeated by left and media to this day, the use of FBI and other 3 letter agencies to subvert justice and so on.
Then it was suddenly this BLM Summer…who started that ???….we found out of state “organizers” setting out Home Depot buckets of bricks and rocks at strategic locations…then it was bussing homeless from Blue cities to cities with it fairly under control until that…this was in 2019/2020.
I could go on…wasn’t one to believe whacky theories, but what I have known for fact and seen…has changed that…
People are sheep…tell them lies long enough, get emotions going and what little thinking is going on completely erodes!
If you think that the dble standard in our justice system works fine…read a little history. You will find it can/will be turned on you in a heartbeat. There are many liberals…who have suddenly found themselves in a “hey wait…I’m on your side “ situation”. Free thought/speech isn’t free if the price is compliance or turning away from using the same rules.
Name calling and labeling doesn’t always mean it is true.
I am sure you are as worried for our country as I and perhaps your neighbors are…
A senile puppet president…figurehead is because he is (currently) being used…
Spending us into debt..recending a working border policy on day one (then claiming he can do nothing it is GOP fault) …well his pen is still working last I checked, dividing and “othering” with every speech…well from where I sit, no thank you!
From my point of view, what is happening in Haiti is the result of a slow grinding SHTF, to a suddenly quick SHTF event. Things there have been down right awful for years, decades if not a 100 years depending how and what measurement you are using.
But when you have shooting in the streets, chaos, lawlessness and one gang leader, supposedly eating his victims, yeah, that is some real SHTF.
On the other hand, my time in Afghanistan, I see that as what post SHTF would look like.
Only some 4% of the country had electricity. Even then it was sporadic, a few hours to half a day at a time. Sometimes it would fail for days or weeks.
Potable water could be a real problem, especially if there was a drought. One area had a cholera out break as the local population had to use one single water source. Someone/s decided it would be a good idea to defecate in it. If it were not for a UN humanitarian effort, hundreds if not thousands could of died.
We did see “fluid” like situations where rival tribes would form alliances if it benefited them economically or from a security stand point.
Roads were mostly dirt with some pavement in dire need of repair. Bridges were in need of repair. Most could not support the weight of our MRAPs. Made patrolling or access to parts impossible.
Rule of law varied. Being a Muslim nation, the Koran kept a degree of law, but everything is fair in war.
Mobility, I go back and forth on.
In the US, the average home is made of thin vinyl, Tyvex, OSB, two by fours and sheet rock. A heavy duty ax or chainsaw can cut a door out of a wall in short order. Learned that in the fire service.
On the other hand, being a refugee is never a good place to be. You have little to nothing, and might be totally dependent on someone else for food, shelter, health care. Just look at the situation in places like NYC, Chicago, or Denver with their migrant crisis.
And the locals are beginning to get angry.
I said this several months ago an a blather phone call to my friend when I blurted out you need a gun because you will be foraging for food and things.
Looks like that may happen sooner then later.
SHTF is the same as a building collapsing. It starts off slowly and then bigger chunks and bigger chunks are displaced until critical mass is reached and then the whole thing comes crashing down, still in slow motion but in total none the less.
Here in FUSA we are seeing the beginning of critical mass failure. The pace probably won’t accelerate by much but the scale certainly will.
Pace is increasing…you feel it everyday…less in stores, higher prices, med shortages and delays, shortages of nurses, doctors, police increasing…more influx of illegals, more crazy crime…
I try to prep…enjoy my family and friends and live “normal” life, but every area is shrinking…my ref choices, gas stoves…”gardens bad for envronment” stories, keeping chickens…”not safe”, China owns us…food shortages, speech is not “allowed” or is “required” in certain cases…on and on.
Haitians practice voodoo I think this has a large part to play if the accusations of cannibalism are true. I watched with interest hoe the ‘gangs’ were armed with American AR15s where has they come from, I wonder??? Here in the uk we have less available firearms but still have a gang mentality to me this could make a SHTF situ more violent. People are spoilt for choices and food take that away and people would still want those choices and food what ever the cost
All cops Good or Bad are Paid Enforcers, Tax Collectors & Protectors of TPTB – Always have been Always will be. L
All cops hunt MAN
And a MAN is easy to kill
Once a man hunts humans to the few it is all consuming
So few hope for the best and the many claim simple some hope
Today march 20 Haiti is what it always was under the cover of the night
It is in the light for the demons Have no reasons to HIDE
1979 TO 81 knew a man who escaped Haiti
It’s always been FOOL of EVIL
Who will eat its fill of mankind
The tell is in the EYES my fellow Americans
TIME is still on those who give two chits to use the city’s FOOL
Of drugED out demons to learn to see EVIL an feel it up close before the MADNESS
EVIL will FEAR only ONE type of human
This small Fact my fellow Americans my friend from Haiti
Give me as a Lesson to deal in life with all who HATE
MY FELLOW AMERICANS
Only FEAR GOD
Say
PSALM 91
Every day make the call and i quote
He will call upon me and
I will Answers
My fellow AMERICANS
Make the call
…not true.
I will concede departments can be mobilized by the government…they have been trying to federalize locals for years….and most have resisted.
Secrecy is very important. You can have the world’s best stocked refuge, but if bad guys have a clue you have something going that’s good they can tail you, spy you out from the bushes for several days, and then pick off most of your guys with guns using their snipers once they know the time of day for maximal exposure. Once your survivors are back in the bunker holed up and barricaded in place, in comes the exhaust fumes from tail pipes or ammonia + Clorox or cyanide or whatever through the vent system. Molotov cocktails. City people will be cruising the countryside and woods and backwaters looking for rural houses. To kill everybody and take their food. Once they kill vulnerable rural people they will be in death contests fighting one another for the remaining food and supplies. Often they will come in peace, acting needy to tug at your heart strings. Once they know how many armed people you have, how your defenses work, etc. that’s when innocents start getting their throats cut in the middle of the night and they open latches to let in their co-conspirators to finish off the rest and fully occupy the premises. Little kids can come by for sympathy, stay because they are orphans, and after midnight let their friends in to finish you off in your sleep.
1- It can’t happen here
2- I’m too young to die
3- The check is in the mail
4- I’ll only put it in a little way
Haiti has always been a slow motion SHTF lite.
Outward decay reveals inward disintegration; in plants, in our bodies, in society. Societal collapse begins in sin, corruption and general weakness of character within not only leadership; but in each individual. We all here see this, I believe. It’s a slow progression. Review any country and it is in some sort of progression in the state of decay. I’ve lived in socialism and communism. A landmark slide in the USA was on June 25, 1962 when (literally) God was removed from schools. (Think: book burning.) The moral compass was then set adrift. The “agenda” was in full force. New math, new reading, ends-justify-the-means; do-your-own-thing, resulting in outward, illiterate, self-centered, anxiety-riddled, morally weak individuals. In our current academic atmosphere, I dare say, teachers are the bullies; any religion is ok, any gender swinger is ok, you decide your own “right and wrong” and those who object are the object of scorn. Where there is no anchor the boat is dangerously adrift; and, so here we are.
Unless you are in a tight knit community of like minded people (i.e. the Amish or Mennonites are the best examples), you cannot keep up with the household/farm chores and defend your home by yourself. Even a reasonably well prepared family of 4 or 5 on a small farm cannot do it all. It only takes one sharp shooter from a distance to pick off people one at a time over a period of time before the farm runs out of able bodied people.
Yea, that scenario is way down there on my list of concerns. I see the quality of marksmanship on display every winter during deer season. My confidence is buoyed every year without fail.
When guys that spend enormous amounts of money on a weapon, ammo, range time (always from a bench over sandbags on a sunny day with a zero wind factor), camo, and doe urine by the gallon consistently miss more than connect.. meh, I feel relatively safe.
The good shooters that own the skills you talk about will be gainfully employed killing deer, elk, turkey and bear for their kith and kin. Not setting up a hide to miss a shot they’ll never take. I feel relatively secure in saying your scenario should not be a frightening concern for most.
Long distance marksmanship is reeled out by Hollywood as something everyone is capable of. I mean, shit, if mark wahlberg can do it, to be sure, I can. Right?
~Jim, thank you for bringing some logic and common sense.
I have seen this kind of thing before.
But one thing I never see anyone talk about is, why?
Why is someone going to go through all the effort to set up and shoot people who are working a productive farm?
Hey! Sharpshooter boy! What is your logic of shooting people? What is the reason? Do you have the skills those people working a productive farm? Can you raise crops? Livestock? Garden? Make butter? Soap? Hard cider?
Or is your objective just to shoot people for shooting sake?
And if some wanker were to shoot someone, you dont think they would not come looking with oh, say dogs? Or that maybe that guy you are shooting at might be a better shot than you? Or what if I have a general idea where you are, and just stampede ten thousand pounds of cattle over you?
“Hey! Sharpshooter boy! What is your logic of shooting people? What is the reason? Do you have the skills those people working a productive farm? Can you raise crops? Livestock? Garden? Make butter? Soap? Hard cider?”
They never tell us that part. Do they?
Convenience store mentality with video game solutions.
Thanks for the props, dude.
“The good shooters that own the skills you talk about will be gainfully employed killing deer, elk, turkey and bear for their kith and kin.”
Dad’s friend (Vietnam Marine) was often called on to shoot far off deer with a 300 Weatherby or 7mm Magnum. They used to hunt for chucks over around North Bingham in those long fields near the old migrant camp and Pea farms. There is a story that they ran into an angry bobcat, panther or skunk ape in a patch of woods over yonder but they were probably just hanging out with Herb LaRoy too long.
Good points!
Most commentators seem to be using a “hell in a handcart” framework – things are getting worse because our leaders are incompetent or corrupt.
If you introduce a different framework (our leaders are placemen or puppets pursuing a globalist agenda) the nature of the anticipated collapse changes dramatically, as so must your planning.
In the first case, some kind of disorderly collapse that we must endure and survive with preps.
In the second care, some kind of manufactured crisis that lasts only as long as is required to manufacture consent for global governance.
As I suspect the globalists will only make their move once they are ready, I’m anticipating a short sharp crisis event that can be blamed on anonymous patsies, in order to justify the emergence of an Orwellian/Huxleyian utopia. A crisis serious enough to make most people willing and even desperate to accept a new life, inside a globalist cybergulag.
If you want to survive the crisis event you might need preps for 90 days. But if we want to remain outside the cybergulag long-term, our role model is probably Edgar Friendly.
Totally agree!
Its inevitable.. Haiti has been so destroyed by western countries, its shameful. Good to understand their true history.. I remember after the hurricane that destroyed their country, Americans donated to many industries, like food, water, etc., to help feed their nation during that time. Bush, and Clinton, and Obama came out to the American public, and said, “just send money.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibMf68i4rz8
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2010/01/16/clinton-bush-haiti-fund
They live no better NOW, then they did back then. Where did all the money go?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/11/haiti-and-the-failed-promise-of-us-aid
No surprize that country is collapsing..
https://www.naturalnews.com/2024-03-20-oregon-suddenly-starts-shutting-down-small-farms.html