Are you ready?

Originally posted by Stoic
Pointless would mean that it could never happen. Is it impossible for a scenario such as the one that I described happen? If not then it's neither pointless or paranoid. In fact it happens everyday in war torn countries.

No. Pointless means that very little, if any, of the ill-informed prognosticating we do in a thread like this would ever have bearing on the reality of such a situation.

It's also not an insignificant amount of fear mongering. Preparedness is usually good, though sometimes not (i.e. are you ready for an alien invasion?). Undue paranoia is not. Like, there's some hillbilly in Texas storing guns and food for when Obama declares himself dictator of America (who am I kidding, there's more than one). This mentality fosters stuff like that. Preparing for likely eventualities is prudent. Preparing for statistically marginal outcomes is improper fixation.

It also presumes a lot that may not actually be possible. "Ruined world economy" is such a vague bogeyman, and is something that, given the vastness and nuance of the world economy, likely can't simply "crash" entirely. If anything, it would be a gradual decline that hits some countries more than others, and would require a steady change in lifestyle...but certainly not a Bear Gryllis-style "pick 20 things and 10 people to survive the oncoming storm" sort of thing. Comparing us to undeveloped countries ignores the incredible differences that would prevent us from going from "happy civilization" to "fighting for our lives on a daily basis" within our lifetimes. Anything that drastic would involve nuclear weaponry and/or outright war, in which case our only concerns are praying to whichever god you follow and picking a cool way to die.

Originally posted by Digi
No. Pointless means that very little, if any, of the ill-informed prognosticating we do in a thread like this would ever have bearing on the reality of such a situation.

It's also not an insignificant amount of fear mongering. Preparedness is usually good, though sometimes not (i.e. are you ready for an alien invasion?). Undue paranoia is not. Like, there's some hillbilly in Texas storing guns and food for when Obama declares himself dictator of America (who am I kidding, there's more than one). This mentality fosters stuff like that. Preparing for likely eventualities is prudent. Preparing for statistically marginal outcomes is improper fixation.

It also presumes a lot that may not actually be possible. "Ruined world economy" is such a vague bogeyman, and is something that, given the vastness and nuance of the world economy, likely can't simply "crash" entirely. If anything, it would be a gradual decline that hits some countries more than others, and would require a steady change in lifestyle...but certainly not a Bear Gryllis-style "pick 20 things and 10 people to survive the oncoming storm" sort of thing. Comparing us to undeveloped countries ignores the incredible differences that would prevent us from going from "happy civilization" to "fighting for our lives on a daily basis" within our lifetimes. Anything that drastic would involve nuclear weaponry and/or outright war, in which case our only concerns are praying to whichever god you follow and picking a cool way to die.

How about this, we all have our own opinions, perhaps you're reading too much into the title to realize that there are survival camps out there, and some people might want to be informed of these camps. Do you know the first thing about survival? If you do that does not mean that someone else does, or that because you are not interested in this particular subject that someone else isn't. There is a real possibility of times becoming much harder than they are, this isn't about who holds the White House or declares themselves to be the Monarch of the world. It's just about survival, and what a person should think about doing while they can.

For me to have to justify the subject, and later have someone ridicule me for it is the real pointless subject here. What in the world is wrong with storing up the right goods in case of an emergency? Like I said, some people may have no idea of what they should store, and it may be a good time to begin to think long and hard about it. If something were to go wrong, like it has before in this very country, will you be prepared Digi? Or will you be one of many people running about looting from those who did prepare? I did not say that it would happen, because I;m not an absolutist, but to say that it could never happen makes that person one.

If no one is interested in the topic, then it will just sink to the bottom like so many other threads. Is it a dumb topic? Hell no. And how in the world can you be so certain that it would take something drastic like nuclear war to destroy the economy? Have you payed attention to the new norm? And what the hell does this have to do with God?

Originally posted by Stoic
How about this, we all have our own opinions, perhaps you're reading too much into the title to realize that there are survival camps out there, and some people might want to be informed of these camps. Do you know the first thing about survival? If you do that does not mean that someone else does, or that because you are not interested in this particular subject that someone else isn't. There is a real possibility of times becoming much harder than they are, this isn't about who holds the White House or declares themselves to be the Monarch of the world. It's just about survival, and what a person should think about doing while they can.

Not sure what my survival skills have to do with my point. I'm stating that your approach to this is needlessly dire and paranoia-inducing.

Originally posted by Stoic
For me to have to justify the subject, and later have someone ridicule me for it is the real pointless subject here. What in the world is wrong with storing up the right goods in case of an emergency? Like I said, some people may have no idea of what they should store, and it may be a good time to begin to think long and hard about it. If something were to go wrong, like it has before in this very country, will you be prepared Digi? Or will you be one of many people running about looting from those who did prepare? I did not say that it would happen, because I;m not an absolutist, but to say that it could never happen makes that person one.

Again, nothing to do with my objections. I'm being asked if I personally will be prepared, when I disagree with the premise entirely. I can almost hear the 1950's horror soundtrack playing as you ask me.

Not that it matters, but you're also presenting a binary outcome - prepared or looter - when there are several intermediate possibilities.

Originally posted by Stoic
If no one is interested in the topic, then it will just sink to the bottom like so many other threads. Is it a dumb topic? Hell no. And how in the world can you be so certain that it would take something drastic like nuclear war to destroy the economy? Have you payed attention to the new norm? And what the hell does this have to do with God?

It's the internet, you can basically say whatever you like. No objections there. Level of forum interest does not grant intellectual merit, however. This thread is a fun thought experiment to learn more of ourselves. Pretending that it's practical or prescient is staggeringly arrogant, though.

Some of your objections and questions here miss my point entirely. The nuclear war thing was saying that it would take something that drastic to create the Mad Max scenario you seem to be proposing. An economic collapse basically couldn't affect the entire planet even if the net world economy went down significantly. Some would be winners, and most pockets of societal unrest would stabilize into a structure and chain of command, even if it differed from our current governments. Seriously, worldwide economic collapse resulting in an end to society is a problem for John McClane.

And the God comment was an amusing aside relating to the nuclear war scenario, which basically means that if something happened that was cataclysmic enough to create your scenario, we're all boned anyway. Like I said in my first comment, I don't think what you're talking about is realistic in any way, and I think the presentation of the idea is laced with fear-inducing language. You might as well be talking about the zombie apocalypse for all I believe it relates to reality.

...

Anyway, to answer your question, I'd probably fall into one of two categories:
1. Calmly waiting out the early tumult while the country stabilizes into a working - if imperfect - new system. Small businesses are generally the primary victims of looting, not individuals or households.
2. Donning a costume and fighting crime until my inevitable death days later from falling off a building or something.

Originally posted by Stoic
Are You Ready?

Have you prepared for the possibility of hard times? Yeah yeah, I know that most people have already been through hard times, but this is not what I'm talking about. What I am talking about are world crisis, total financial collapse Mad Max shit with no relief in sight.

I've personally recognized that there are two types of people that live in society. The proactive, and the reactive. The proactive people always seem to be one step ahead of the reactive people who are often the ones that the proverbial fan meets the proverbial shit, which splashes on them consistently.

What would you do if the economy crashed, and the entire world was in a state of ruin?

Have you begun to collect items that could help you survive, or ride out a crisis?

Can you make a list, of 20 things that you believe would allow for you to survive in a ruined economic society, and give a small reason why those items would keep you from deaths door?

Have you even begun to prepare? One day success may mean just surviving.

Comments.

Also Proactive vs Reactive is kind of scenario based imo. There are times when being the first to do something is bad for you. And being the second one learning of the other guys mistakes is much better. 😄

How can there ever be an economic collapse when our tax money keeps bailing out banks haermm

Come on QE3!

Originally posted by Stoic
Can you make a list, of 20 things that you believe would allow for you to survive in a ruined economic society, and give a small reason why those items would keep you from deaths door?

1 - Insulin
2 - ...

aaannnnnnnnnnnnd, I'm dead

😂

Like I said Digi, I did not think up the topic in order to induce fear, or paranoia. This was simply meant to see what people thought were good sensible items to store up in the event of an economic collapse. It wasn't about what would cause it, because it could simply be caused by overly long periods of drought, which has become the new norm. Or any given thing, that had very little to do with the OP though.

Did you know that 20% more children are homeless this year than last? It didn't take a nuclear war for that to happen. Your opinion on the subject is great, as long as you don't presume to dictate my reasons for making the topic outside of my main question. Could I have reworded certain things? Well sure I guess, but what's the big deal, I'm certain anyone that read the OP understood what I was aiming at. It certainly had nothing to do with arguing with you over what I meant, when I'm pretty sure that you know what it was that I was trying to discuss. I almost don't even want to hit the Submit Reply button because this is really not what I was after when I thought up the subject.

Originally posted by Stoic
Like I said Digi, I did not think up the topic in order to induce fear, or paranoia. This was simply meant to see what people thought were good sensible items to store up in the event of an economic collapse. It wasn't about what would cause it, because it could simply be caused by overly long periods of drought, which has become the new norm. Or any given thing, that had very little to do with the OP though.

Did you know that 20% more children are homeless this year than last? It didn't take a nuclear war for that to happen. Your opinion on the subject is great, as long as you don't presume to dictate my reasons for making the topic outside of my main question. Could I have reworded certain things? Well sure I guess, but what's the big deal, I'm certain anyone that read the OP understood what I was aiming at. It certainly had nothing to do with arguing with you over what I meant, when I'm pretty sure that you know what it was that I was trying to discuss. I almost don't even want to hit the Submit Reply button because this is really not what I was after when I thought up the subject.

Not trying to dictate anything. Just giving my opinion. Sometimes being truthful means disagreeing with the premise or tone of a post, not necessarily meeting it on its own terms.

That percentage also needs to be adjusted for population. There's more cancer deaths than 10 years ago as well, but lower per capita. I'd enjoy seeing the source.

I'm also not sure what homelessness has to do with your scenario. It seems to support my idea that any downturn would be gradual, and instead of inducing riots would require changes in lifestyle or cultural response.

We better save up ahead and when the crisis comes, we are prepared. We can survive the crisis.