Everybody Is Doing it!

This story is indicative of what I have been observing in real life. I have so many relatives who giggled at my overly-prepared tendencies a few years ago and for the last eight months they have all been stocking up and hunkering down. The funny thing is, now I'm kind of over it! Just too much doom I guess.

www.statesman.com...

SAN DIEGO — Six months ago, Jim Wiseman didn't even have a spare nutrition bar in his kitchen cabinet.

Now, the 54-year-old businessman and father of five has a backup generator, a water filter, a grain mill and a 4-foot-tall pile of emergency food tucked in his home in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla.

Wiseman isn't alone. Emergency supply retailers and military surplus stores nationwide have seen business boom in the past few months as more Americans spooked by the economy rush to stock up on gear that was once the domain of hard-core survivalists.

These people snapping up everything from water purification tablets to thermal blankets shatter the survivalist stereotype: They are mostly urban professionals with mortgages, SUVs, solid jobs and a twinge of embarrassment about their newfound hobby.

From teachers to real estate agents, these budding emergency gurus say the dismal economy has made them prepare for financial collapse as if it were an oncoming Category 5 hurricane. They worry about rampant inflation, runs on banks, bare grocery shelves and power failures that could make taps run dry...

...Art Markman, a cognitive psychologist, said he's not surprised by the reaction of some to the nation's financial woes, even though it may seem irrational. In an increasingly global and automated society, most people are dependent on strangers and systems they don't understand — and the human brain isn't programmed to work that way.

"We have no real causal understanding of the way our world works at all," said Markman, a professor at the University of Texas. "When times are good, you trust that things are working, but when times are bad, you realize you don't have a clue what you would do if the supermarket didn't have goods on the shelves and that if the banks disappear, you have no idea where your money is."

Originally posted by kosmicjack
now I'm kind of over it!

I think ya' need to get back in it.
Have a 3 month supply on hand and rotate.
I'm sure you remember how ....

As for the article - I don't think everyone is doing it. More people are ... and I wish more would ... but people like our relatives still ridicule us for our preparedness and precautions. We've learned not to discuss it with anyone.

Rest assured, I'm not unprepared...just growing very weary of the constant vigilance.

I wish more folks around here were doing it. EVERY time a hurricane has threatened us in the past 10+ years, there is a feeding frenzy at the stores........ People getting stuff that -- in my opinion -- they should already have.

After Paloma last year, it was dismal to see that some of the most basic of needs were in shortage by many -- water, food, lighting, etc. We recovered quickly in that sense, and I think that did us all a disservice by shoaring up the thought that people don't need to stock up.

Maybe I'm the one that's the oddball [gee, ya think???] but I can't understand the resistance to having a good supply of things a person needs. I mean, prices of goods never go down, so at the very least, if a person stocks up and rotates their goods, the worst case is that they save some money.

"I can't afford to stock up." Sometimes that's a question of choices. Can you afford to go out several times a week? Or drink alcohol beyond just moderate usage? How about the shiny, new clothes? Can people afford to add a couple of extra canned goods every time they shop? Some truly can't, and they're the ones I'm most concerned about.

You can't share it, if you don't have it. That said, there is no obligation to share it if you do have it. Most of us, including myself, can and DO share it, even though it ticks me off to be the "disaster store" for some. Still, it comes down to making informed choices for the benefit of you and your family. I continue to be the local toilet paper czar

reply to post by kosmicjack


Understand what you mean; It can be draining to feel in a constant state of readiness. An athlete must have down time after preparing for and competing.

I think of it more as a lifestyle change -- a move toward more simplicity -- more in line with how my grandparents lived. Hurricane Paloma didn't really effect our household very severely. Yes, we ran a generator sometimes, but it really wasn't markedly different from day-to-day regular living. We spent a lot more time helping others with their damaged homes than usual.

I hope that doesn't sound smug. I really don't mean it to be. I'd be perfectly thrilled to talk to people ten years from now and admit that my stockpiles and systems were unnecessary. Our garden will never be unnecessary. Certain skills acquired relative to living off local resources will never be wasted.

I try to not be consumed by my notions of survival, but channel those energies into systems that will be useful regardless of the outcome. I'm not always successful.

cheers

The old "I can't afford it" excuse just doesn't play with me at all. I live on next to nothing Social Security and food stamps but guess what...I manage to store up some food for emergencies! It is all about your priorities really, a nice dinner out or using that cash to buy enough food to get by a few more days in an emergency....seems a simple choice to me!

Here's the thing that pisses me off. I scrimp and save to do this while others in my family have more than enough to set up a far better survival storage than I do...but they don't. Now when TSHTF they are all going to be begging me for the little I have put up for myself. I think the barter system is going to be in full effect for me when and if it all goes down. I have so much toilet paper put up because I bet it will be worth more than money when the time comes. I do have a few old catalogs for those that have nothing to trade,....gotta do something for your goofy and unprepared family members.