Where to start.

When we look at current events and how messed up the U.S. (and the world) is, it gets hard to really point in any one direction at where it all started going wrong. Tom Baugh did a hell of a decent job at breaking things down to the most simplistic level and I give kudos to him for his efforts.

Yet I still come back to the same point and have to wonder: Was it worth the effort to come down out of the trees? Don't get me wrong, I love being a member of the H. Sapien species. I just think that forming communities larger than 4 or more family groups hinders us. When we start packing in like lemmings, we get situations like our current crisis'. I seem to remember an experiment done several years back with rats(who tend towards communities such as we do and have). As the population started to exceed the limits of resources and space, the rats started suffering mental issues and turning on fellow rats. Cannibalism became common as did hoarding and thieving. Rats even murdered other rats with no gain in status or resources(meaningless death) These are things we see within our own society(cannibalism in question? Think Dahmer.) and have been growing in leaps and bounds over the last several decades.

Whats the solution?

Contraction of the populace?

Do I sound like a tyrant by bringing that up? If so, bear with me, I am not talking about 'population planning' or Genocide here. I think Hitler and Stalin and Pol Pot were beasts that needed to be removed but only through the proper methods of a justice system.(even one of Darwinian nature)
One thing that has always kept populations in check was limited resources, disease, to some degree, internal strife. WE are seeing the resource limits now. There is only so much more that can be produced and with the structure of our system, one breakdown would collapse other parts of the system. (I know, I know, preaching to the choir) We haven't had a major plague within the U.S. since the 1700's and the few epidemics we have had, were rather unsubstantial when looked at in ratio to the survivors. Internal strife was the biggest killer with our revolutionary war of the 1800's and WWII.
There are currently several 'strife options' open to our PTB. Who knows if they will Opt for that or not. I personally think that they will attempt to 'keep the peace' and the problems will continue to escalate into what we have all been predicting. I don't see disease taking care of business ,and while Momma Nature may have something in store for us, things are going to get much worse before any of the above kick in.

I know that there are many prepping for SHTF, I know that there has been discussion recently about BOB's and what to carry. I am not going to go over any of that as each is a personal decision.

I do want to bring up the one thing that usually gets passed over though.

Personal Survival.

I am talking about the blood and guts of surviving here. The one where you end up somewhere with nothing but the tools in your head and (hopefully) natural resources.

I am not talking about the guy on the Toob that teach only enough to get someone killed.(sometimes they get it right, but more often the information will get someone killed)

There is lots of great information out there. The web makes it easy to find. The question is: Have you made any effort to learn them? If you are prepping, and you haven't at least tried to start a fire with nothing more than 2 sticks and a lot of elbow grease, you are shorting your preps by a large degree. Have you figured out what weeds in your yard you can eat? Have you tried to figure out why there are hunting seasons and why you don't want to eat a wild rabbit in the middle of summer? Have you tried to figure out how to track an animal through the brush? Do you know how to get water from plants and dirt?(yes, you can do that.)

I know there are some preppers that have done all of the above; this isn't for you. This is for the soft ones that think having a stash of food and a lot of guns is 'good enough'. Facts are, when 'Crunch time' hits, there will be food and weapons being confiscated. There will be skirmishes with the authorities but I personally think they will be highly localized and hushed up (or glossed over like they did with the Hutteree). I don't think we are consolidated enough at this point to fight back effectively. By the time we could consolidate enough, we may be in a situation like the Warsaw ghettos.
Either way, they can't take the knowledge in your head. If you know how to make shelter, fire, gather water, and gather and hunt food, all with nothing more than the resources around you(not even a pocket knife) ; You will find a freedom within yourself that you never knew before. Granted, a pocket knife, flint and steel, and a poncho make a great kit for the minimalist. The real question is, Will they allow you to keep it when things get really rough? When they are pulling B+E's to find Food Hoarders? If you think it won't happen, I wish you luck.(and hope, and we all know how I feel about 'hope' LOL)



Ok, I am off my soap box today.