Stocking Up, Putting Back, Prepping = Paranoia?

[savingdogs]

If you don't have a gun to defend your stockpile of food, the first person with a gun who wants it can take it.

Things could happen ANY time. For some people, TSHTF awhile ago. We went through a seven-month financial hardship and thank goodness we had a full cupboard AND a full pantry and freezers when we started it out. The first "bill" we paid when I finally got approved for my SSI was to restock the larder.

The closer we are to a large city the more we have to worry about someone coming to take it. After living in Los Angeles county during the riots, I saw how quickly a familiar place and civilized people can turn amazingly erratic and laws are thrown out the window. As soon as the police force is overwhelmed, it is a free-for-all. There would not be a three-day supply of food in Los Angeles if something dire happened.

I was amazed by the Japanese culture, how they quietly waited in lines for food, etc. OUR culture isn't like that, people were not taught to be polite and wait in lines nicely for the benefit of all. Although it was sad their government told them it was safe when it wasn't.

I don't think we will necessarily have everything fall apart all at once, but we will see lives of our friends and loved ones fall apart one by one. Our dollar will be worth less and less and food will cost more and more. Our children will never have the lifestyles we threw away. I think this generation has wasted our affluence away. We can't stop spending and giving away money, and there are more takers than givers.....it is sad to see us on a downward spiral. What scares me the most is when I hear people say, "The only thing that will work now is a radical change".....because I think the radical change we need is going BACK to our Constitution.

I'm so saddened by the loss of the Navy Seals, such a sad day. Things are not good.

*SD lowers her American flag to half mast in respect

 

[SKR8PN]

But there will come a time when you do.

Perhaps............but I can promise you that I will have taken a LOT of "them" out first.....AND......

If and when I do run out.....I prolly won't be giving much of a sh!t.....


I am also STILL making enough money to pay the bills AND stockpile even MORE ammo........just sayin'.... they had better pack their lunch when they come, 'cause their gonna be here for awhile......

 

[SKR8PN]

I'm so saddened by the loss of the Navy Seals, such a sad day. Things are not good.

*SD lowers her American flag to half mast in respect

Very sad day indeed......We have our flag at lowered as well.........

 

[sunsaver]

If all you had to do was shoot the odd animal for supper, or one or two zombies per week, it would be easy to stockpile a lifetime supply of ammo. As far as having so many guns, i guess guys just like to collect stuff.

Just heard about the seals. That sucks. I'm ready for all our boys to come home. What a tragedy.

 

[Farmfresh]

If you really want to defend yourself, you'll have to get crafty and sustainable.

Crafty and sustainable are great, but a .308 battle rifle is a lot more effective at a distance.

A friend of mine who lives in the country has a huge arsenal. He says he keeps getting pickers wanting to by his junked cars and scrap metal. There have also been a lot of robberies out in the countryside. And it takes forever to get an officer to the scene.

About a year and a half ago my friend had her big old 3/4 ton extended cab pickup with a BIG old towing engine stolen. It was parked beside her barn. The police found it the next day parked along a highway not too far from where it was stolen. It was full of metal which in turn was probably stolen elsewhere. The reason her truck was found? Bad gas mileage! It had run out of gas and had a locking gas cap.

 

[Leta]

Look, I'd use whatever force I had to in order to defend my family. But if it were a "shoot the neighbor who's just looking for a meal" kind of situation, no, I wouldn't do that.

(What would I do? I'm not sure, but I once had a friend, a close one, who said that in a post apocalyptic world, he'd have to kill me because I would be his stiffest competition as a leader in the emerging society. I guess I'd try to draw on those strengths and form some sort of community that did not involve cannibalism. And, yes, I stopped talking to him after that conversation.)

I look at genocides all over the world, and I'm glad we (as a nation) are armed. Americans are packing so much heat that it would be a guerrilla war that would be very tough to win. I also know people- hell, my uncle's a machinist who makes guns for fun in his spare time- who can make their own ammunition, so I think criminalizing arms, in this country/culture, is an exercise in futility. It would be almost as successful as the Drug War.

But me, personally? I own no guns. I don't want any. I have no need. I'm not being stalked, I live in a very, very low crime area, I am literally two blocks from the police and fire stations, and a half mile from the ER, I have a badass dog (she's a muffin with us, of course, but protective and extremely intimidating), I have no place to keep a gun, which is a problem with small children, and they are expensive. I don't want that kind of responsibility for something I don't need and wouldn't use. I feel very safe all the time- and I know what it's like to not feel safe, I'm not just making this up.

I don't see having a lot food stored being a reason to own a gun. I can understand how people in certain circumstances do, but I think that plays directly into the paranoid ZOMBIES! stereotype.

It's a weird crossover. I google such innocent things- like non-electric laundry - and end up on websites that extoll the virtues of the intermountain west as the best place to survive the coming revolution/impending doom. I decided to be an optimist, and when I decided that, I also concluded that constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop, whether you are fearing economic collapse or the End Times or thermonuclear armageddon... it's just not the way I want to live. It's corrosive to my soul.

I *do* think our current way of life is unsustainable, and I *know* it will come to an end, and yes, I want to be prepared for that. But I don't think that's bad, I think it just is. I also really want to be able to live on no money, and the freedom that comes with that. So for me, it's not about survivalism, but more about the fullness and the feeling of satisfaction from gaining skills and knowledge. I forget who said it, but specialization is for insects. If we can, as humans, build a house, sail a ship, train a dog, plow a field, we should be able to do that. To not be able to do for ourselves is to give our power away. By learning as much as I can, I feel powerful. Powerful enough to feel comfortable going without a gun.

 

[sunsaver]

Leta, i havent heard anyone on here who sounds "paranoid" as the thread title suggests. On the contrary, i have agreed with and enjoying reading all the posts. I too hope for the best, but i prepare for the worst. Katrina caught me totally unprepared. There have been other times when G*d, fate, luck, the universe kicked me in the teeth when i wasn't looking. I've learned to trust in Murphy's Law and have back up plans for my back up plans. My food and energy security are very important to me. Do i think i might have to shoot my neighbor? No. Do i think i might have to hunt for my own food or grow my own because yet another national disaster has hit? Yes. It WILL, happen again or something similar. History doesn't repeat exactly, but it does rhyme in a very obvious rhythm.
We don't know the day or hour that something like 911 or Katrina or the Japan tsunami will happen again, but we do not want to be caught off-guard. "Be prepared!" Isn't that the Boy Scout motto?

 

[R2D2]

Very well said Sunsaver...When one finds themselves in the mist of a major problem, such as ones you discribed, its already to late to prepare...I still think many are just in denial, can't fathom that we as a nation and some nations in Europe could be declining so quickly.

 

[savingdogs]

It's a weird crossover. I google such innocent things- like non-electric laundry - and end up on websites that extoll the virtues of the intermountain west as the best place to survive the coming revolution/impending doom. I decided to be an optimist, and when I decided that, I also concluded that constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop, whether you are fearing economic collapse or the End Times or thermonuclear armageddon... it's just not the way I want to live. It's corrosive to my soul.

I *do* think our current way of life is unsustainable, and I *know* it will come to an end, and yes, I want to be prepared for that. But I don't think that's bad, I think it just is. I also really want to be able to live on no money, and the freedom that comes with that. So for me, it's not about survivalism, but more about the fullness and the feeling of satisfaction from gaining skills and knowledge. I forget who said it, but specialization is for insects. If we can, as humans, build a house, sail a ship, train a dog, plow a field, we should be able to do that. To not be able to do for ourselves is to give our power away. By learning as much as I can, I feel powerful. Powerful enough to feel comfortable going without a gun.

I believe that was Robert A. Heinlein.....

 

[valmom]

Leta- your last paragraph sums up my feelings pretty well. Know how to do as much as possible- that is your power in any situation. Unfortunately, I doubt very much that many communities in the US are liable to actually pull together into a cohesive whole since the mantra in our country is prey on the weak until only the wolves (or zombies) are left. Ignore the fact that the "weak" (me!) are liable to be able to teach you how to do things yourself. It's all about the moment and very few people actually plan.

SS- love that!

History doesn't repeat exactly, but it does rhyme in a very obvious rhythm.