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The Earliest Casualties

This is a fun little video, Tim Pool can be kinda cringe sometimes but I always like Mike Rowe, in large measure because he understands that he isn’t a super handy guy but just someone like me who appreciates those who do the tough, dirty jobs that no one else will. 

The point is valid. When the wheels come off, the vast majority of people in America will have zero skills to survive and nothing prepared to last more than a few days. In a widespread social collapse, the early death toll is going to be staggering. 
While I am not Mr. Fix-It either, I know how to do some stuff. I know how to catch a fish and shoot a deer or rabbit or turkey.  I can build a fire and have access to fresh water with the means to make it safe to drink. The means and willingness to protect my family and our stuff? Yeah, in spades. 
City and suburb dwellers who are completely reliant on uninterrupted electricity? They are going to have a very bad time but on the bright side that bad time won’t last for long as it will quickly lead to being a corpse. 
Cultivate your own skills and preps and cultivate connections in the real world with like-minded people with complementary skills. Your buddy in the housing development that works in some cubicle and can’t change his own flat tire might be a good guy to drink a few while watching the game with but in a SHTF situation he won’t be much use.

6 Comments

  1. T Town

    The problem with many of us who can do a lot of what is needed to survive, is that by necessity we are often located too close to cities and suburbs. By necessity, I am generally referring to being located reasonably close to our place of employment for a commute that doesn't take longer than the work day, or in an area that has adequate broadband service for working remote. Of course, the problem with being located too close to cities and suburbs is the dense population that is found there. That population (or at least the somewhat intelligent ones) will begin to migrate out from the cities and suburbs when they sense society beginning to approach Mad Max levels. It may even be the increase in gang violence that drives even the not so bright people to the outer fringes of the suburbs where we live. Some preppers call this the "golden horde". Where the rural areas are overwhelmed by large numbers of people fleeing the populated areas in search of food, shelter, and safety. Unless you live in a remote area, you must take the "golden hordes" into consideration. It is because of the refugees from the cities that you cannot count on your garden, rain barrels, livestock, etc. sustaining you, because those people will likely steal or destroy what you have in place.
    As an example, I live in a semi-rural area that has seen several housing subdivisions spring up within a two mile radius of my home within the last few years. There are still farmers and ranchers in the area. I can look out my window and see cattle grazing in a field not more than a couple of hundred yards from my house. Yet, I can also foresee all of those cows dead within weeks after a societal collapse with most of the meat going to waste. I foresee the inhabitants from the new subdivisions each going out and killing their own cow, and cutting enough meat from its carcass for one meal for their family, rather than properly butchering the cow and sharing it with as many as possible in order to not waste it.
    Not to be all doom and gloom, but unless you are currently living self-sufficient in a remote area, if the power grid goes down, your days are likely numbered in weeks, maybe a few months. That is not because you don't have the skills or means to survive longer, but rather because there are many more people within close proximity to you who do not.

  2. Anonymous

    If you really want to see what it's going to look like, check out what happened during the break up of the former Yugoslavia back in 1991. Let's put it this way. Much of the the footage of atrocities committed in Bosnia, Kosovo, Herzegovina & Sarajevo that were filmed has been censored by such platforms including youtube. That's how bad it was. Keep this in mind, too. When it finally happens in the FUSA, it's going to much, much worse. Make note of that, please.

  3. George True

    T-Town has very accurately described the nature of the problem that most of us city or suburb dwellers face. I am in the same situation. I live in a suburb of Phoenix, AZ. I KNOW that if and when the grid goes down, this entire metro area will become a hell hole. Most people here will not live more than a few weeks or perhaps a few months. No electricity, no food, no potable water, and no respite from the 100-115 degree heat if it happens in the summer.

    I know that I need to get out of here. But it takes MONEY that I do not have. And it requires a job or some other surefire way of making at least a subsistence income in another safer location. It doesn't mean it's impossible, but it does mean that it is a very difficult undertaking. Nonetheless, one way or another, I know that I need to make it happen, and happen PDQ, regardless of the cost. A thousand times better to make the move now, than make the move later as part of the Golden Horde.

  4. Anonymous

    What really irritates me is I see so many opportunities in my area that would help us weather a major SHTF situation and preserve some form of civilization. But local government AFAIK is oblivious. My county has a decent port, a hydroelectric plant providing water and electricity, and a major mining operation that produces a significant amount of essential chemicals for industry and agriculture. If we could just keep the lights on to run the lift stations and A/C, and keep our main industrial operation secure we have all the resources we need to weather the storm. We could trade our chemicals for food and other essentials from whatever other places might still be keeping it together. We could be like Slovenia, which IIRC weathered the civil war in the Balkans quite well. I think they had a one week long war or so, then became independent and avoided a lot of the bloodshed that happened in other parts of the former Yugoslavia.

    Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but there are still lots of places with abundant resources here in the USA. Only issue is, are local leaders up to the task of keeping some semblance of order. In America I highly doubt it.

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