Think doomsday and panic-mongers if you want, but the bottom line is the same for *everyone* -- you are either ready to sustain yourself for a reasonable (or even unreasonable) amount of time, or you aren't.
Personally, we have food, yeah, and we have skills that will do us well in several areas, but I'm not convinced we can last out catastrophe on a continued scale at all.
Maybe if folks stopped playing those SIMS games, the RPGs, and even those idiotic FaceBook games (I know...I have a farm in Farmville...and I think I'm a CountryLife nut and Barn Buddy...I was suckered into them. I don't get on the computer...I'm just as stupid with the games on there...) And put some thought into real life skills and their futures, we'd all be better off. Too many people still, after all the bail-outs and those folks still scamming the system to their continued benefit, believe the world is a good place and golly gee Beaver, folks are really deep down good at heart.
I'm not cynical, but hello...I have to do for myself using the skills and the mindset of a prepper or we suffer greatly. No one offered us poor folk a bail-out. It's called culling. Those who don't fit the bill, make the grade, and don't (it's not a matter of "can't" at all...it's total, blind-led "don't") simply don't make it long.
You can tell those who have a fighting chance. Surviving the coming depression and collapse...it's not necessarily those folks burying beans, bullets and bandaids in the back 40, though certainly they stand a good chance at it...it's the everyday folk who have altered their lifestyle to suit what isn't commonplace anymore. It's not the backyard garden totally...it's the half acre homestead with raised beds, chicken tractors, a goat or two in the garage where the 2 vehicles used to sit. It's those who ditched a lot of the everyday things they've always lived with and learned some new ways to spend their time. It's the folks really looking at where they spend their money, and double- and triple-thinking every penny that leaves their pockets and planning what is truly important. It's those changing their surroundings to include more home things...finding useful endeavors to produce income because, now, they discovered they don't need all that 'stuff' to be happy and thrive.
It's not doomsday, armageddon, TEOTWAWKI or any of the other terms you hear daily as you browse around. It is more accurately termed 'progress'. Changes are coming and you are either ready for them or you're still standing with a simple-minded grin thinking the president will put a chicken in every pot and point you toward prosperity...around that corner over there, right?
6 comments:
I believe as you do. It won't necessarily be one big thing but it is a lot of little things that are causing a huge change. If people aren't willing to do things for themselves then they will be the first to fall. Over the past few years I have learned how to do things I didn't think I was capable of. Now that those things have been mastered I am game for learning everything and anything I can. At least I know that I am doing everything I can to keep my family safe and sound.
As I look around me I see 4 cows, chickens all over the place, the garden coming up (at least the seeds the chickens didn't get),and various and sundry other animals and farm equipment. Compared to 5 years ago on a tiny inner-city lot with only a couple of dogs and motorcycles in the garage, I'd say we've been moving toward that as well. I'm not sure what it is going to look like, but I don't think the Lord has us out here in the boonies for nothing!
Blessings,
Linda
I think there's a lot of folks who would love to do these things, myself included, but it's rather impossible. Either they're out of work, or have a decent job they really can't leave to move out to a place they can do these things, or have many children with special needs, only one spouse is interested etc etc... there are many reasons. It's not that everyone isn't waking up, so to speak, & reading so many posts like these & about others going out to do these things because they're blessed enough to be able, makes us all who really can't but want to seem very stuck without any hope. I certainly hope that isn't the case. God is aware of what some can do & some can't; I'm trying to keep the faith in believing He hasn't forgotten us who can't.
I guess I don't understand some of those excuses/reasons...
Being out of work is all the more reason to grow a garden, and seeds are inexpensive, so are some garden plants. Even in The Bible folks were told to stock in years of plenty and prepare for the years of not. You harvested 6 years and allowed a land rest in the 7th year....you didn't go hungry, you harvested more, to last into the 2nd season again.
Having a good job is great in these times, so setting aside some extra pantry stock is doable. A few extra things on the grocery list don't add up to much. We're not stocking up Prime Rib :o)
Not being able to relocate in order to stock up just doesn't make sense to me. You work with what you have, where you are, as you can. Location doesn't have anything to do with it. Motivation does. Having some livestock is a plus, I believe, but not everyone can...almost all locales can have a chicken or two, a rabbit pair, etc. so it's worth checking into.
I don't understand the children with special needs issue at all. I have friends with severely retarded children, Autism, all manner of physical handicaps...they live a self-sustaining lifestyle with stock, gardens, etc. I don't get the connection between special needs and some level of inability I guess.
The spouse not on board...well, I can and can't see that one. If a husband or a wife really wanted to buy or do something, they'd find a way to get around that not on-board spouse quick enough, but stocking up a few essentials for living during any bump in life...natural disaster, man-made issues, unemployment? They claim it's impossible. I don't know many who would balk at a couple of tomato plants sitting in the corner of the walk or patio, or some onions sprinkled in among the rose bushes or pansy beds. Maybe not ripping up the yard, but a space along a fence or garage wall, only a couple feet in width, can hold a great deal of vegetables....and they aren't bad to look at, either.
I just believe you do what you have to do, no excuses. If you believe that society is walking downhill, taking healthcare and jobs with it, you do what you have to to maintain what you can as long as you can. I don't take losing things lightly. I fight for things, even if only for my own family. No job is secure these days, but you don't sit and wait to see what happens next, you start making a sketch of a plan for yourself...how will you pay bills, what will you 'let go' first, how will you eat? When you realize you can't put your trust and faith in the society you're used to, you start finding ways to do without that outside assistance. We have spent a great many years unemployed...I learned to grow a garden and put food by, I learned to plan a menu and shop smart. We couldn't always pay our bills...we learned what we can do without, like a second vehicle even being out beyond the edge of rural. We learned to cut back on electric and water usage. We made dumping bills a priority...after supplying food for the family.
You just do what you have to do. If you truly see a dismal future here in this world, you don't stand idle and watch it roll closer, you dig in and get ready for it. To me, it's just like y2k...the idea behind it made sense, we stocked basics like water, TP, pantry and livestock needs and waited to see if that shoe would drop. It didn't....good enough, but we still put our stocks and preps to use. They were there if we needed them, and used when we didn't need them as urgently as we thought perhaps we might. You do what you can with what you can and strive to learn more. That's all you can do. Sitting back using rationalization just finds you hungry and cold in a FEMA concentration camp, waiting on the Red Cross soup kitchen to feed you.
Deanna
Just some food for thought. Even when money is tight, I buy canned foods at the cheapest store around (Aldi here, or Save A Lot) I try to buy a few extra a week. It is amazing how many cans of food you can accumulate over time if you stash them in the closet under the stairs!!! I have a friend on food stamps that does this. When we bought the house we are now in we found tons of jugs of water in the basement...and there is a natural spring (and pond)on this property. I guess she was ready just in case. It can just be a little here, and a little there. Two cans a week is 110 cans a year!!
Blessings,
Linda
I completely agree with prepping, no matter your circumstances. I grew up on a mini farm, and we raised everything we put in our mouths ourselves. Now my parents don't do that, and I am concerned for them. I will make sure that I am prepared enough for my family, and them. Because the day is coming when we won't have a choice.
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