How many of you really think it is possible??

[maizey]

Quote:
well said...loving this thread

 

[maizey]

also worth noting that one of the most recent 'terrorist alerts" was centered on food..this time it was specific hotels and resturants and apparently nothing came of it, but interesting to see that they are thinking in that general direction. And they just gave the FDA greater control over food production on the basis of the new food safety law ( Food safety modernization act-that was a recent thread too). It will be intersting to see the long term effects of that one.

 

[Orchid]

Highly unlikely, IMO.

As for the rest, I'll just agree with Dunkopf, he has a much better way with words than I do.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I think that total widespread collapse is unlikely. It would more likely be a slow downturn that would end with a vastly poorer country with fewer resources spread between more people. Because the change would happen slowly, widespread instability wouldn't happen.

The scenarios that would cause widespread problems would be ones that displaced people on a larger scale than Katrina did. The Great Depression was an economic failure with an accompanying ecological disaster that forced huge numbers of people to move. Parts of the country became almost uninhabitable due to the Dust Bowl, and food production was down. I think something similar would be needed for the kind of societal breakdowns to occur.

So...drought combined with oil shortages that lead to food not getting to the inner cities. This would food riots in cities and deprivation in rural areas. If prolonged this could cause serious civil unrest. I also think that water may become a factor in any future unrest. Much of the population of the US has shifted to California and the Southwest, which are water poor areas. The water allocations for California growers and California residents are already causing problems and few places have sane water policies in place. If drought limits water to urban areas, and the states with water fight letting their water go to urban centers far away, there could be widespread unrest and social collapse.

The other extreme weather situation is ice age brought on by global warming; which is not an mythological idea. Ice ages happen much faster than other climate changes, and the tipping points happen fast. Fast being something like 100 years; but drier colder weather in the grain belt would cause many problems. The prolonged blizzards that cripple parts of the country for days would cripple them for months and the growing season would shorten and there would be food and fuel shortages.

So my main answer is still nope. I think most changes would be slow enough that it would be the frog in the pot of cold water reaction. I think local instability is possible, Katrina showed us that. But much of the reporting of really bad things happening during Katrina turned out to be false. We did not end up with disease outbreaks and wars in the streets. Blizzards across the country have disrupted areas, but not the entire country. As have earthquakes. So I think it would take a natural disaster of monumental proportions to cause widespread collapse.

Or for a final vision; coordinated terrorist attacks in multiple cities across the US, combined with some nasty computer viruses. Or a deadly, long incubation time biological agent released at something like a bowl game or the world series or a party's national caucus. Something that brings people from all over the country together for a very limited time. They then get on planes and go home to spread whatever. A two week incubation period would get the whatever all over the country, and if the initial symtoms were mild and cold like it would continue to be spread even after people got sick. If the biological agent was sufficiently dibilitating and contagious, it wouldn't even have to be deadly. Making large numbers of people too sick to work for months would do it. Something like a more contagious and nastier version of mono would do it. A national caucus would be a particularly nice touch since it would take out the government as well.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Always a good idea to stock up, but preferably on the ability to grow real food, like seeds and livestock.
Stocking up on things loaded with preservatives, dyes etc. may keep you alive but not with your health. Food should come from a plant not made in one.

I doubt upheaval is on the horizon, but widespread collapse is. Too much concentration on cheap food from industrialized farming. Reliance on a single breed fed a steady diet of drugs just to keep them alive and to grow faster. i.e. cornish cross/broad breasted white.
Monoculture - massive acerage panted in a single GM crop.
In addition to the dangers of that we also have the human health risk inherent in modern agriculture. After 25 billion dollars spent on cancer research since the war on cancer began. Yet the rates of affliction continue to rise. All that money looking for a cure that won't come - prevention is the cure. Think about it - there isn't any money in prevention.
As a society we are being duped.

I am however planning on being at the pyramid in Chichen Itza on December 21, 2012 - just for the fun of it.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I though of another one that would cause hardship quickly in economic loss and food issue. It is releasing foot and mouth disease, or something like it, in multiple feedlots in the US. The disease would spread quickly and the losses would be worse than Britain took in the 2001. This would cause huge economic problems and affect the food supply, at least temporarily. Considering how fragmented American farm policy is, I think that the efforts to contain an outbreak would come too late, and the problems would be widespread.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

This is a first person account of what it was (and is) like to live in a country that suffered a massive economic collapse. (THe fact that their collapse was largely engineered by american banks is food for another story)

http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/10.08/tshtf1.html

He's clearly not a professional. This is just his life. But, even while he talks about SHTF and surviving in lawlessness, he also talks about going to school (schools still operate) and watching TV (Media still operates).

THere are major differences between there and here, but there are some real similarities. The corruption level at the very top of the banking system is key. We still have a mostly uncorrupted police at the local level and a mostly uncorrupted military.

 

[Q9]

I have WHAT in my yard? :

This is a first person account of what it was (and is) like to live in a country that suffered a massive economic collapse. (THe fact that their collapse was largely engineered by american banks is food for another story)

http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/10.08/tshtf1.html

He's clearly not a professional. This is just his life. But, even while he talks about SHTF and surviving in lawlessness, he also talks about going to school (schools still operate) and watching TV (Media still operates).

THere are major differences between there and here, but there are some real similarities. The corruption level at the very top of the banking system is key. We still have a mostly uncorrupted police at the local level and a mostly uncorrupted military.

Don't entirely agree about the military, but I do agree that most of the soldiers (at least, all the ones I've met) are some of the most honest and sensible folks you'll ever meet. I assume by the corruption at the top of the banking industry you're referring to the banksters' insidious influence in the government. Total agreement; the Federal Reserve (aka the Monster from Jekyll Island) was actually thought up by banksters, so I guess you could legitimately say that it was corporatists in Congress and banksters that put us in this Depression. Great article, BTW. A little freaky, too.​

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

The military is like the police - there is corruption, but most of it, like the banks, is at the top!

Yes, it was entirely the corporateists and the banksters that put us in this depression. You would find the movies The Trap - there are six one hour films. interesting I think.

 

[Mahonri]

I have WHAT in my yard? :

I got to talking to some people yesterday and got to wondering.

BYC is a wide spectrum of people so let me ask: How many of you really think that major civil unrest/societal destabilization is likely in the next five years?

You will see race wars and class warfare on an unprecedented level.

If it doesn't happend, I'll eat my shoe... If it does happen, I'll have only my shoe left to eat.​