The reality of a Survival Situation

Let's assume Sit X happens and it is a free for all. There is a LOT of useful information contained within this thread however one of the most obvious things is being overlooked.

If it is a true nationwide survival scenario there is not enough food to go around. If everybody must fend for themselves there isn't enough game to be hunted, and if the economy is shut down there will be no new food produced. So when SHTF the supermarket will be empty, there will be no new supplies comming in, and whatever amount of food you do have rationed will have to last you indefinetly. You won't have enough time to grow crops, and with hungry people abound, the human next to you starts to look like a meal. It really will then become survival of the fittest, a true dog eat dog world. How is it we are really going to survive?

You can hit the backcountry, along with the MILLIONS of other people who will be thinking the same thing, there isn't nearly enough game to be hunted, you won't be as alone as you think, and you will run out of food, realistically speaking survival sounds nearly impossible.

not exactly a survivalist line of thinking

most of the common joes will die in the first two weeks
whether it be in the cities or the outdoors

for myself
i'll be sitting in a pre-planned hideaway and sit for the first 7 days
and then if my location has'nt been compromised
i'll start doing some daily exploring and see what's what

it's all about planning and attitude

You may as well ponder all of the possible outcomes before sit X really does happen. I would tend to think if the average joe couldn't buy food, his next line of thinking would be to catch food or to steal from thy neighbor. My point is he is going to do whatever it takes to survive, thats what we are programmed for, he's not just gonna curl up in a ball and not search for food. He may not be prepared but he knows he will die if he doesn't eat. You better give the average joe credit he knows as well as you do to survive you need food/water/shelter.

Originally posted by BluByWho
You better give the average joe credit he knows as well as you do to survive you need food/water/shelter.

if some of these couch potatoes make it thru the first two weeks
their " what's on tv tonight " mindset will have taken a drastic change
these people will have taken a crash course in survivalist mentalty
with an emphasis on "me first "
however, i hope that most of the common joes would stay in the city
for the mental aspect of familiarity and supposed security
the only thing that would keep me in Windsor during Sit-X
would be a nuclear strike on Detroit ( hide 5 days for fallout )
assuming i had some kind of warning
so if a non-nuke Sit-X happens
i plan on being about 5-10 miles outside the city limits

whether inside the city or out in the country
anyone who makes it thru the first two weeks
will definitely have my respect and caution

Hmm, I don't think there will be that many people going to the woods. The average person who also has a family to worry about, needs to get to an area with a lot of farms, or somewhere they can continue to barter their skills for food and try to work with the society there. I don't think you can drag your family out into pure wilderness and expect to be able to trap/forage/hunt food for them day in day out, unless you are beyond amazing.

And that little farm area your families are gonna go to is going to feed how many millions of people? Without the production industry running people will be mad for food, and there isnt nearly enough to go around without the production industry up and running. I'm not talking about a small scale sitX where one town gets nuked, I'm talking about an event that shuts down all of the USA.

You'd be surprised of what the 'average joe' is capable of, without resorting to violence in the sense you imagine.

I'll give two examples.

The first is here in the USA, from 80 years ago. The great depression resulted in 80-90% unemployment in some areas. Large companies closedd their doors. But people re-invented low level capitalism, and founded MOST of the larger consumer products companies now in the USA. I knew a fellow that started one of the largest US grocery associations, because every grocery in that part of texas closed its doors. He had a pickup (relatively rare in the twenties in a texas city), and he opened literally the only market in his city. He drove to the rio grande valley each weekend to buy produce. He made enough to buy a second pickup and haul cattle in from ranches. If I mentioned his meatpacking operation, mid-west americans would recognize the name . . .


Second example, moscow in the 1992. The government cokllapsed, and there was no capital for new business. So organized crime stepped in, and set up markets. Most people went hungry, and kost 30-50 lbs. But very few actually died.

If people could do it without refrigerators & highways, if they could do it with no prior experience of capitalism, what makes you think americans will just curl up in a ball and melt in such a situation? Americans are not supermen (and women), but they are as resourceful and adaptable as anyone else. They also have a forceful tradition of enouraging market dynamics when government fails. . . .

There might be starvation, maybe even more than in the Soviet Union, which had empty shelves to begin with. But I think you'd be surprised by what murkins are capable of.

Plus, with that belly roll of stored fat, they can starve at least two weeks before you could see any difference!

one of the things that scares me the most
is this generation of adolescents growing up
with video games that give points for extreme violence

now put together a group (gang) of these vidiots
put a couple guns in their hands
knowing there's little or no law enforcement around

how many points do i get for an ear ?

reply to post by CANADIAN-guerilla


Now there, we are on the same page.

Germany after WWI is probably a good thought-experiment. The nation was conquered, but not occupied. The only social forces that offered any hope of national unity and resurgence were fascism and communism. Add to this the "class of 1919"---the German youth who were too young to serve on the front, but were raised on tales of blood and valor in the trenches. These young people felt a sense of inferiority, because they hadn't actually experienced any of the sacrifice they'd heard so much about.

And when a ruthless leader steps in, he quickly mobilizes the unemployed youth into a fanatic and amoral fighting force. The older citizens are grateful to the leader for "enforcing order." The rule of law is at an end, since the leader still has constitutional constraints, but is de facto the embodyment of what Louis XIV envisioned when he said "L'etat, ce moi." His elite storm troops enforce the leader's whim, despite legal process and parliamentary procedure.

When I said that a lot of people wouldn't starve, I also didn't say they'd be relaxing by the pool, either.

.

I thought you were saying that millions would be heading for the wilderness if SHTF. I was only saying that I think those millions will instead head for the rural farm areas, not the wilderness.

Don't fear lack of food, YET. Your immediteate concern should be your own safety. With the rapid decline of middle-class, we are soon to be 3rd world country in terms of general population wealth. Most people will have trouble be self-sustaining and be on the PROWL for the people who they think have the items they want.

Time and time again in time of chaos, LOOTING and LAWLESSNESS will come 1st. Your front door will be kicked in by thugs who are looking for babes and valuables.

Worry about that before food, food is easy, most people know how to procure food, but NOT HOW TO PROTECT THEMSELVES.

As a side note here, what of the slow fall into Sit-X?

It may not be an event, like 9/11. It may not be something you think of as "before" and "after", but just a steady dhift towards no more middle class.

The middle class is the cushion between the poor and the rich. Just as any spring system on an auto, if this fails, the ride gets rough.There will always be the rich, just like lice. And there will always be the poor. The fluid group is the middle class.

When upward mobility fails, and the forcast, expressed or not, is downward mobility, that is the fit hitting the shan. A lot of people will maintain hope for a brighter tomorrow, when it is really a forcast of a long rainy season.

The real trick will be in reading the weather.

what I have seen via Tv in most situations where government and law suddenly dissapear the first thing on peoples minds is going to get that flat screen tv they could not afford prior to the absence of law, I think that the first few houres of a sit x hapening will result in electronic stores being radid.It may take people awhile to realize the magnitude of the situation, What I see where I live (LosAngeles) is a bunch of people who dont believe "anything big" will ever happen I feel sad for alot of people who will fall victom in a sit x because they have that mentality where "that will never happen" So in a sit x thier mind has to jump from the white zone to the red zone very fast and it may be too much for them to handle for example, If I heard an intruder in my house you can bet your bottom dollar that I wont call the cops, at least until after I took care of the situation because I know better not to depend on them, but their are alot of people that would call the police, and sleep good at night not worrying about anything happening because they think the police will save them but take that pillow away in a second and you have thousands of people still dialing 911 days after a sit x has happend, My point is, is that more people have to think about "what if" and what they will do

there will always be food. you just have to be willing to eat it
know what i mean?

reply to post by Boondock78


Long pork, anyone?

Seriously, there are a lot of things besides Bambi Burgers. And if you've ever ate from some street corner vendor selling Mexican or Asian foods, then you have likely already had a taste of this, and never knew it.

Hello All,
Some of you have hit on good points, but here is food for thought.

Most Americans have lost the ability, knowledge and will, to defend themselves. How many people here have been in a physical altercation? How many have had to defend themselves as an adult? Could you do what may need to be done to defend yourself or your family?

There is a segment of our society that is rougher, tougher, more willing and able than most. They learn from a young age if you want something, you will have to fight for it. That goes for respect, power, property or whatever. They are further educated as adults on how to lie, cheat, fight, intimidate, exploit weakness and to survive in situations most of us would never want to be in.

I will refer to them as the criminal element.

According to some information, the California penal system (State Prison) has over 170,000 inmates with who knows how many on parole. And who knows how many inmates are in the county jails and or probation.

en.wikipedia.org...

What is going to happen with the criminal element? Will they be let out, shot in their cells or left to die. I don’t know.

I do know when SHTF, they will be the biggest threat, not your hybrid driving neighbor or the kid with the xbox down the street.

Oh and another thought, what will happen to the US, when we have a less than impressive military? Will invasion by what we see now as “3rd world” countries become an issue. Remember they are less likely to be affected by a breakdown of technology and such as we are.

Just M2C