From Y2K to 2012, nukes, disease outbreaks, economic collapse, the end of oil, EMP: survival and preparedness runs a wide spectrum. A lot of us have different ideas on what's to come and how to prepare for whatever scenario that may be. How do you define SHTF and what are you preparing for? I don't really think there's one correct answer but I'd like to gauge our community a bit and see what others are thinking, planning and doing.
Regarding economics, I think less in terms of a sudden catastrophic event, sudden collapse of the economy but rather in terms of those incremental harbingers of coming times of want. Part of preparing is keeping an eye on what's happening and preparing accordingly.
Bring it! I'll guarantee I've not got it all covered. I'll just have to do the best I can to adapt, improvise or do without. I'm with RightHand. Slow decay of society is more likely. We just watch and wait and adjust to trends. Zombies, civil unrest, 2 week snow storm, wide spread power outage, bank holidays, stock market collapse or OTR trucker strike. Yeah, the plan is we will be just fine. But Remember, Primary battle plans rarely survive initial contact with the enemy so, there should be a plan B. Your plans should include your neighbors as you want them with ya. Oh I forgot, the election, duh, I guess there are a few neighbors that are going to need to go on my watch list.
I also agree with Right hand and Visu Trac... nothing immediate but a gradual decline in civility... a second recession is possible or a eoropean melt down with rising prices and fewer jobs and spending at home...
Continuous economic decline; steady increase in our national debt; increased reliance on the government by the masses; trigger event - natural disaster, regional conflict, terrorist attack; near complete failure of our facade of an economy; inflation climbing to the post WWI Germany level; inability of the government to continue its handout programs; riots and looting - further destroying what was left of the local economy; neighborhood militias forming to combat gangs of looters spilling from the cities; declaration of martial law and mobilization of the National Guard; and possibly the attempted seizing of firearms on a national level, resulting in a series of regional civil wars with, and between, authorities. All of the above may not happen, but it is the "worst case scenario" that I try to be prepared for; because if the above chain of events begins we would need strong, competent leadership to stop the dominoes from continuing to fall, and that is something that is in very short supply these days.
I think that's they key and it has already begun. As tulianr said, we must be prepared for any eventuality
I agree with Tulianr about a trigger event. However, I think the evil behind the throne will use anything they want to to start the whole process. It's kind of like the little piece of gravel that hits your windshield and cracks it to the point you can't see anything out side. The landslide of events that we will see will overwhelm us because of it's intensity and it's evilness.
Anything that stops the Freedom of Travel, by citizens of the State.... when that happens, that will be SHTF.....
This is absolutely crucial to understand. No matter what, we must not lose the ability to travel, communicate and defend. The military calls this "shoot, move and communicate" --and it is essential for any force greater than one. If any one of these three, primary points are compromised, it's game over. Since day one in prepping for me (about 1994), I have been focusing on what may happen and attempting to provide a solution for each of the three main points I listed above...and it has been a long road. Think about the repercussions of each if they were compromised; if you lose communications, you cannot effectively plan anything useful in coordinated fashion. You are alone. If you lose the ability to travel, you cannot organize --and once again you are alone. If you cannot arm yourself, you are crippled in a hostile situation and offer no force-on-force to establish a secure perimeter. My main objective has always been to plant seeds in the minds of others with the hope to create a viable opposition to the globalist agenda. Non violence has long been preferred, and it still is --until there remains no other option. But, always plan for the worst. As for hoping for the best...I feel those days have long since passed. Hope can get you killed these days. Stand ready.
I guess something like what is happening in Greece coupled with a natural diaster like Sandywill trigger an economic collapse. We seem to be on a path towards this. I believe cities most affected by nature will be bad news. The rural areas like where I live will isolate themselves and foster micro economies. I have been building up my machine shop, welding capabilities and a bit of my electronics. I figure a jack of all trades repair shop that can machine, fabricate and rework broken parts to repair appliances, tractors, gensets, etc. will be able to survive better than most in that situation. Even though I studied electrical engineering in college I have much more to learn about rebuilding electric motors, spray welding shafts, regrinding a shaft, cnc, and tons of stuff. We have the food stores, grain mill etc but humans are social creatures and after a couple months of chaos there will be social interdependence that grows from just a free trusted friend and family units to a larger very local community. I maybe wrong but think of the local structure in small towns 200 years ago mixed with some of the technology of today. Again this what I foresee in the small town heartland of the Midwest where we live. Clearly the big cities will be far worse off. I think a good prep plan may be to get out of the cities so one can bug in instead of bug out (but of course prep for that as plan B or C). Just thinkin AT
I think that we will recognize the creeping approach of SHTF as we either (a) can no longer find the item(s) we currently take for granted or (b) when we do find items that we wish to buy, we are no longer able to complete a normal purchase in the customary way (i.e.. Cash, Check, Credit). It is my expectation that the advent of SHTF will be more of a gradual appearance than a sudden, stunning event. This may lead to many clueless citizens responding just as a frog does when it is placed into a comfortable pot of water as it gradually gets heated up--since the change is so gradual, they do not respond until something strongly negative happens to them (?injury/death?) and then they are no longer in the gene pool.
