Watching the news lately with what seems to be soaring crime rates especially in the home invasion area and totally brutal and senseless killings in armed robberies in which the criminals would normally not have shot anyone I have had a thought . What if what we would think of as a SHTF "government collapse" never happens but instead life goes on with some semblance or normalcy yet violent crimes increase to the point every day is a potential personal SHTF ? As we have seen with the Stimulus package crap the government is going to everything it can to keep the sinking ship afloat while insisting every thing is fine . What if we get to the point that just enough people are employed to the point that they can manage to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table and utilities on ? Well for one thing in my opinion the many millions living solely off of the government will be ignored , and while they may continue to have housing , medical care , and utilities all provided by tax payers this hardly puts food on tables or allows them to have any of the toys working society has yet they feel entitled to . So what will they do other than turn to crime and in their minds feel justified in doing so . I think we have been on this road for a very long time and perhaps that is why we are seeing more states acknowledge the right of self defense with Carry Concealed laws . I believe the government is knowingly attempting to do a careful balancing act between a totally disarmed slave society while preventing a full blown armed revolt which is what even some of the sheep would/will demand and participate in if crime gets to far out of control or the standard of living slips to far . Look at what they are urging the stimulus package to be spent on ? New toys , instead of encouraging people to exercise fiscal responsibility by paying down debt such as home loans or credit cards they are urging us to make our selves feel good and go buy that new car or whatever toy that takes their minds off of the overall lowering of our standard of living . I think we are headed to a point where not only will the government have to hire hundreds of thousands of new police but private businesses will have to have armed guards just to get through the day . Seeing two or three+ armed guards when we walk in stores and perhaps even places of employment will become the norm yet when on the parking lots we will be totally on our own with only the typical facade of protection given by cameras . OMG where already there !!
+1 on the above, Argentina and your observations plus this insight: I am involved in selecting equipment for new police force; consequently, I get to talk with active officers, one of which recently informed me that he personally "busted" a Muslim bank robber ( Bank of ?america) who was sending the funds "over there". My point is this: the terrorists are here among us now and when the turmoil or events happen here, the terrorists will try to do their "thing". Unfortunately, they have never ever played the game cowboys and indians to see what happens to the bad guys.--- Overbore
I no longer see the sudden SHTF trigger event to TEOTWAWKI as more likely than a long slow decline into a lower standard of living. I've been watching the downward spiral for the past few years and realize now that it is not going to reverse or stabalize. Everything from a decline of family values and trust in God to trends for crime and economic hardship leading us to a police state - every statistic you see points to things getting worse and worse. It's what my buddy (stealing from a book about life after peak oil) calls "the long emergency" It's not necessarily a sudden crash - its a long slow decline that has already ended the world as we knew it.
