Great Depression of 2016

[Bluebonnet]

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

Whatever comes, I really do not believe it is going to be quick or painless and it certainly will not be pretty.

The truth is that trouble is already on our doorstep. Just look at all the people who can not afford food or make enough to live in this country. We are talking literally millions of people who are already in poor shape, but who will be rendered desperate once those government payments stop. Look at the folks who do work but are one paycheck away from being homeless or who through no fault of their own have been thrust into terrible circumstances beyond their control. Think of all the elderly out there who have lost their life savings and are terrified.

It makes my heart ache to see what has become of the land our ancestors left to us to protect and take care of.

 

[EweSheep]

Yes, prepare ourselves for the worst. Funny, that the temp agencies have job positions for high turn over job companies but still looking for more people! What gives? Do they get a quota to count heads but no jobs available for them?

Stocking up on rabbits, thinning down my flock to manageable levels to feed my family. Selling off non essential items that are no use for us in near future.

Miniminal survivalist is the way to go????

 

[Bluebonnet]

Quote:
What you do depends on where you live and the circumstances in which you find yourself. For me, surviving means living like I already do. A crisis is not the time to be trying new things. The time for learning is now, not later when your life and the lives of your loved ones might depend upon something you have only read about doing. Inexperience can be a literal killer. Things get ugly when people get desperate. Do you have a plan for dealing with hordes of desperate people? Go read some of the chat rooms where there are multitudes of people who say that they do not need to prepare, that their plan is to go and kill others and steal their supplies. What do you intend to do for medical if you need it? Also, chicken and rabbits are lean meats. Fruits and vegetables are also low in fat. If you had to work to survive, you are going to need a lot of energy to meet your needs. Do you have a plan to meet your fat and other caloric and vitamin requirements? Do you live in a highly populated area or do you live in the country? There are lots of things to consider.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Living within earshot of Chicago and 6 million people that has no clue how to grow a garden,or raise a chicken always is in the back of my mind.I'm not a gun toter or weekend warrior but my ammunition supply is very good as is my guns of choice.Remember, we work mostly for conveniences in life.Don't want to walk, so we buy a car, car takes gas and repairs. Turn on a light switch and next month we have a electricity bill to pay. Want the yard to look nice, we mow the yard costing us a mower and gasoline again. If everyone is put on a level playing field with no money,no jobs, how do you think they will survive? We own enough property to grow enough garden vegetables-food and raise chickens and rabbits if we had to for survival.Cattle and swine that requires a lot of grain to feed daily are not within what we can personally grow to sustain them,and quite frankly they take too long to reach the size to butcher.I think our hardest problem will be living off the grid if we have no way to buy the electricity.Growing your own food is easy but it's useless if it canot be canned or frozen which takes power to operate a cooking stove or run a freezer.I imagine that trees would become rather scarce if people around here began cutting them down for heat because there is not much in wooded areas when your in the flat prairieland used to grow corn and soybeans now.

 

[Dwkuska]

Things get ugly when people get desperate. Do you have a plan for dealing with hordes of desperate people? Go read some of the chat rooms where there are multitudes of people who say that they do not need to prepare, that their plan is to go and kill others and steal their supplies.
I am a prepper and my neighbors will learn to "Share" what they have willingly or not. If that sounds messed up then I would suggest you have never been in a life or death situation
What do you intend to do for medical if you need it?
I have a VERY nice first aid kit... duffel bag. Todays internet makes everything short of narcotics available to the average person. Currently my first Aid kit is sufficient for 50+ people for basic first aid. I have a trauma kit for gunshot/stab wounds/ arterial wounds. I can also treat 1st and 2nd degree burns as well as have a collapsible stetcher. I have "field" medicine experience and can sow a mean souture!
Also, chicken and rabbits are lean meats. Fruits and vegetables are also low in fat. If you had to work to survive, you are going to need a lot of energy to meet your needs. Do you have a plan to meet your fat and other caloric and vitamin requirements?
Kinda makes you feel scared when your buying canned goods and its all fat free eh?
Do you live in a highly populated area or do you live in the country?
Not quite the country but not suburbia either. I live out far enough where livestock isnt an uncommon sight.
There are lots of things to consider.

 

[rufus]

Hmmm. Again, I find it is amazing that the people pushing legalized marijuana seem to be the same people wanting to ban big sugary drinks.

There are so many articles in the internet that seem to think that we will have a currency re set (collapse?) in April. It scares me because I am retired and barely making it now.

As for surviving what is coming, we have to look at the way the people survived the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. It was hard, but they did it. They adapted and learned to make do without supplies from the mainland. Luckily, they had a lot of resources like fish and poultry. Feral chickens could not be confiscated by the Japanese, but the Pinoys knew how to trap them.

Whenever the Japanese would come into an area, the smart ones would hide out on another island.

How it will play out here, I don't know. I do know that if I put aside a year's supply of food and necessities, the problem will probably last longer than that. How long until order and law are restored is the question. And just what comes after is my worry. I sure don't want to be shipped off to a labor camp or exterminated.

 

[Bluebonnet]

If my neighbors think I should 'share', unless I know them before a crisis, they will be shot. There will be no trespassing upon my property and no excuse to because I have all manner of fencing and defensive plantings, so the only reason someone could wind up on my land is if they were trying to take something and they will be treated just like any other thief, crisis or not.

I am happy to help my neighbors in need, but if you are looking to loot, I'm willing to shoot.

Looters are not a joke. They rove in packs like wild animals, like a wave of locusts that destroy everything in sight, leaving behind destruction and death in their wake.

They are not going to be friendly, they will kill you, if that is all they do to you, and steal all of your stuff. They are not your friends, they are not your neighbors, they are a direct and immediate threat to your survival. If that sounds messed up, good, because I have no intention of being an easy target.

I have an off grid home, so those concerns are already addressed. Prepping is not something you do one day, it is a way of life.

If you can survive long enough, you will likely make it ok.

Different people have different opinions on what will come, but my own opinion is that starvation like the Holodomor and disease, two historical mass killers, will be what does in most people.

I like to think that I am way off base and that none of these tragedies will come to pass. That's what I'm praying and hoping for anyway. I do not want to see my fellow Americans suffer.

 

[Bluebonnet]

Living within earshot of Chicago and 6 million people that has no clue how to grow a garden,or raise a chicken always is in the back of my mind.I'm not a gun toter or weekend warrior but my ammunition supply is very good as is my guns of choice.Remember, we work mostly for conveniences in life.Don't want to walk, so we buy a car, car takes gas and repairs. Turn on a light switch and next month we have a electricity bill to pay. Want the yard to look nice, we mow the yard costing us a mower and gasoline again. If everyone is put on a level playing field with no money,no jobs, how do you think they will survive? We own enough property to grow enough garden vegetables-food and raise chickens and rabbits if we had to for survival.Cattle and swine that requires a lot of grain to feed daily are not within what we can personally grow to sustain them,and quite frankly they take too long to reach the size to butcher.I think our hardest problem will be living off the grid if we have no way to buy the electricity.Growing your own food is easy but it's useless if it canot be canned or frozen which takes power to operate a cooking stove or run a freezer.I imagine that trees would become rather scarce if people around here began cutting them down for heat because there is not much in wooded areas when your in the flat prairieland used to grow corn and soybeans now.

Is there any way you can grow your own firewood? Do you have any kind of solar power? Have you looked into off grid cooling methods such as clay pots? Do you have a generator and fuel? Canning off grid with no modern conveniences is a royal pain and as such dehydration would be your best bet in that instance.

 

[Dwkuska]

Is there any way you can grow your own firewood? Do you have any kind of solar power? Have you looked into off grid cooling methods such as clay pots? Do you have a generator and fuel? Canning off grid with no modern conveniences is a royal pain and as such dehydration would be your best bet in that instance.

Salting meats is also best option. I am not sure firewood would be a great investment as I can tell you that if you cut a tree down and try to burn it... your gonna have a long cold night ahead of you. Wood needs to be dry to burn well with a few exceptions. I personally live in the pacific northwest where it is constantly damp or just downright wet. Not much burnable except for cedar branches as the sap in the branches is almost explosive when it lights.

 

[Bluebonnet]

Salting meats is also best option. I am not sure firewood would be a great investment as I can tell you that if you cut a tree down and try to burn it... your gonna have a long cold night ahead of you. Wood needs to be dry to burn well with a few exceptions. I personally live in the pacific northwest where it is constantly damp or just downright wet. Not much burnable except for cedar branches as the sap in the branches is almost explosive when it lights.

I'm learning how to salt and preserve pork, it is a work in progress.

What I really want to do is learn how to make good beef jerky. Sure, nothing stores forever, but in a crisis, beef is not something I plan to be able to obtain more of. I prefer not to deal with large animals where possible. I'll keep a dairy cow, but not any for beef. I will store what I can and if things get bad, I will just have to do without it. I'm not much of a meat eater by nature, but every once in awhile, a choice steak is a comfort.

Firewood takes months to season. I took the time to learn about it and am growing and storing various types so I can use it for cooking, heating, but mainly for smoking meats and BBQ.