[JD-in-GA]

In addition to beans, bandaids, bullets and water-purification…

Tools to work your ground (hoes, rakes, shovels, fertilizer, seeds, etc).

Tools to work wood (saws, chisels, hammers, nails, screws, etc.).

Tools to work machines (basic mechanic set).

More than one pair of good, leather boots THAT CAN BE RE-SOLED (buy extra soles now or learn how to re-sole with tire tread – thanks youtube!).

Sewing notions. Fabric by the bolt (denim, etc) unless you want to wear shirts and pants made out of curtains and the like. Sewing patterns, or carefully disassemble old shirt/pants to make your own patterns.

You want a lifetime supply of food? A little bit at a time, amass canning jars and lids (with a large percentage of reuseable-lids) -or- fill up the available jar storage space you have. Can’t have “too much”, you can only have “too little”. Learn how to grow food and preserve it. How many jars? A rough rule of thumb average is eating two quarts, or four pints, per day for two people (some days more, some days less, depends on what you’re cooking).

I will readily agree — it all seems absolutely overwhelming. You may be thinking, “It’s too much, I can’t do this”. Just pick one thing and start. It gets easier and becomes more “normal” as you go.

[JD-in-GA]

I’ve yet to hear a compelling argument for USA involvement in that p!$$ing contest. It’s a Europe problem. I don’t care if we diplomatically cheer them on, but I see no reason to spend a single US dollar or drop of American blood on it.

I’ve heard the conspiracy theory that the dems are being blackmailed to defend Ukraine to keep Zelensky/Ukraine from revealing USA political corruption and money laundering.

If Zelensky were blackmailing the USA with evidence that could actually cause any significant political damage and not be plausibly refuted or covered up, I think he would quickly be dead and replaced with someone who will “play ball”.

The only real reason we are involved that makes sense to me is that both the Dems and GOP stand to benefit from it. And if it is corruption and money laundering, then I believe they are more concerned with *LOSING* the capability that Ukraine facilitates, more than they are scared of it being revealed. So I think they are simply protecting that “revenue stream”.

[JD-in-GA]

Apologies in advance for the novel…

You are already using a digital currency that is based on “thin air”: The US Dollar.

They just printed $trillions$ of it and it is based on nothing except “the full faith and credit of the USA” which is just a fancy way of saying, “what the market agrees it is worth”.

You likely use a credit-card or ATM card every day, quite possibly over the internet. You may move funds between your bank accounts and to pay bills. Your employer may make electronic “direct-deposits” into your accounts. Your accounts are just numbers on “somebody else’s computer” (your bank’s).

Those are all just ones & zeros traveling through the various interconnected digital networks.

The biggest difference between fiat currency (US Dollar) and Decentralized Finance Crypto-currency (DeFi Crypto), is that the Govt “owns” the dollar and can block you from accessing it and/or seize your accounts and regulates it in all manner of ways. Most infuriatingly, the govt controls how often you are allowed to withdraw your own money from your own savings account.

DeFi Crypto is owned by no-one. Provided the internet is functioning and you are allowed to connect to it, you can access it openly or anonymously. Not every country kow-tows to the USA and there will be a jurisdiction, somewhere on the planet, that does not block it or regulate it.

The biggest downside to DeFi Crypto is that is is (relatively speaking) new and still in the “wild west” days, so to speak. Just like the Model-A Ford or any other new technology, it takes time to mature and establish into common usage. Except this time, the technology is coveted by Govts and they want to control it. And it is not as easy as “money in hand”.

Most folks are aware of Crypto, but have no idea how it works on a transactional level. I would argue it is simply because they do not yet feel the need to understand it. I mean, money still “works”, right? At least for now… But what I can tell you is that it is not as difficult as it seems. Consider that brain-addled drug addicts have figured out crypto despite the ease of their normal currency, the US dollar. So, it can’t be too terribly hard.

There is a growing thought that the US Govt desperately needs to establish their own digital crypto to replace the collapsing dollar. We are over $30 trillion dollars in debt (and rising) and will never be able to print money fast enough to cover that debt. Plus, with inflation and interest rates going up, that trillions of debt only gets more and more and more expensive.

Govt seems to believe that a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that replaces the US Dollar solves a lot of those issues. I think they are dead wrong, but I can see the allure. If they need more money, all they have to do is work a keyboard. If they need to track it, they can do so for anyone, anywhere, right down to the tiniest fraction of a coin. They would then gain micro-level control of your spending. Run a head of lettuce across the grocery scanner? Approved! A 2nd six-pack of beer this month? Disapproved! You are only authorized one per month and now you are on a list to be monitored for alcoholism and driving under the influence. That may be far fetched for now, but if there is anything the average politician enjoys, it is micro-managing people’s lives and forcing them to live in their “approved” manner.

DeFi Crytpo is the way around all of that and eludes govt control. Govt hates it. And most everything Govt hates, I tend to admire. Opinions will vary.

[JD-in-GA]

Anything Govt does not like or sees as a competitor and wants to regulate, “We The People” probably need more of it before Govt fowls it up.

[JD-in-GA]

I’m on the side that does not believe the world will go out with a bang. Instead, I believe it will be a loooooong drawn out fizzle. By the time it happens, we will mostly be used to it. Boiled frogs.

What I don’t get is the goal? Run the world into the ditch and it cuts off all your production and the markets (which rely on consumers) will fail. People won’t be able to feed *ANYTHING* (money/production) up the chain. All that happens is that “they” will get to consider themselves “The Elite” or “The Boss”.

What else do “The Powers That Be” get out of it? All they will be able to do is perhaps micro-manage the lives of 8 billion people. And they will *HAVE* to micro-manage them to keep their gravy-train running. If they kill off all the people, then “who” will they lord over? Micro-managing people who hate you sounds mentally and physically exhausting to me — certainly does not sound enjoyable or fun… Especially when all those “little people” will become DEEPLY interested in gaming your systems or just dropping off your grid.

How long do you think you will play their game by their rules? Where’s my E-4 Mafia brethren?

[JD-in-GA]

Though there is plenty of bad advice to be found in the prepper community, I’m still thankful for the “marketplace of ideas”… Can’t have good advice without sifting through some bad advice…

Gold and Silver: Good for transporting wealth across economic crashes or across country (if you have to move, you can’t pack your house in a backpack), but horrible for post SHTF daily transactions. Don’t expect me to make change and the spot price will be untrackable and vary wildly from person to person, town to town and region to region. Not saying it’s useless, but I wouldn’t store any gold until after all other preps are maxed and I still had excess wealth left over.

Seeds: They are perishable and the germination rate drops in storage for most seeds. If you don’t garden *NOW*, then you will be clueless and frustrated when you have no choice later. Working up the ground to establish a new garden is the hardest part, but once you get it established, you’re golden. SO START NOW, even if it’s just a container garden and add more each year. Learn how to save seeds for next year.

Freeze-dried food: Most over-priced packaged deals I’ve seen are full of rice and oatmeal and the stuff has that “freeze-dried” taste and feel AND it’s bloody expensive!! Instead, put the same money in canning jars/lids/canners and along with your garden, you have a perpetual food storage option. You just have to get from harvest to harvest.

Bugging-out: Worst possible option unless you are forced to do it against your will and have no other choice. Like if your house was burning down around you. Instead, bug-in and work on building your community/group/tribe of family, friends and neighbors. More and more folks are prepping, or at least understanding of prepping. Having local support is far, Far, FAR easier than abandoning all your preps and trying to live only on what’s in your backpack.

WROL: Folks read post-apoc novels and start thinking that will be reality. I serious doubt it’s going to turn into Mad-Max. For one, politicians and govt are *DARNED* stubborn things to be rid of and a functioning govt can’t exist if you fantasize about NOT being held responsible for your actions in a WROL scenario. We may even see official “justice” administered even more harshly and swiftly. In the case of “wolf-preppers” and marauding gangs, those activities draw a lot of attention and will likely result in both a reward being posted and a sanctioned posse to hunt them down.

[JD-in-GA]

We have rocky orange clay here in GA. In a nutshell, you have to work-in organic matter to transform it from orange concrete to something you don’t have to run a jackhammer over. Compost, leaves, grass-clippings, rotted manures, wood chips — whatever you can get your hands on. You will want to use as many different types as you can reasonably get, and it is difficult to add “too much”. But if you can only get one type and a little at a time, then start with that. Just do what you can.

The first year is the hardest. It gets easier and easier with each successive year. You can try a hoe, but I expect you will quickly want something powered by a motor, even if you have to rent it. There were times I wondered how I could get some hand-grenades and dynamite… It *does* get easier and better and I doubt you will regret it.

Good luck with it!

[JD-in-GA]

If the internet is “down for the count”, I’m screwed with both crypto and US dollars. Your local stores, govt, news outlets, everyone also relies on that connection to “The Cloud” to connect to all their information, payment and financial systems. If the net is down, I can’t connect to my bank, credit-card, retirement — any of it — without an internet connection. I suppose I could scamper down to my physical bank and if I do, odds are that I won’t be first panicked account holder in line for their “limited funds on hand”.

And all that is before crypto even enters the conversation…

Like it or not (and I do not!), the internet is critical infrastructure that the entire world runs on now. If it goes down for any protracted duration, the normal and expected functions of our society will likely be significantly handicapped — except for those who happen to have cash on hand. I hope the teenager at the cash register can do math and make change accurately.

Consider this, if the internet goes down and isn’t coming back soon, perhaps the market will devise [insert some workable solution here] to get by on. But without the internet, how does that information get broadcast to everyone outside of densely populated urban centers where it’s trivially easy to gather a crowd and pass the word? For the suburbs and beyond, I have no idea. Maybe “Paul Revere” style? It certainly won’t be as efficient as we are accustomed to. Eventually, someone will get word to a radio or TV station maybe.

So while I like crypto and the potential it brings, cold hard cash isn’t dead yet. I’m firmly in the camp of keeping emergency cash on hand, as much as you are comfortable with. Probably won’t help you with all of your monthly bills, but hopefully, you can still buy from food, pharmacy and retail for as long as your cash holds out.

[JD-in-GA]

I think you’re onto something there. Well, I plan to poop in the punchbowl every chance I get and be frustravatingly ungovernable.

[JD-in-GA]

Best you play those cards close to your chest! Shammin’ the govt is chess, not checkers!! 😆

[JD-in-GA]

If public utilities are down and not coming back any time soon, how many of them will think about, or even know how to, do something as simple as digging a latrine. And that’s in the ‘Burbs. I can only imagine the smell in the densely populated urban cities… Imagine how bad it would be in New York.

Depending on the outages, that could start in days… GOD help them!

[JD-in-GA]

To me, bugging out is forced and unpredictable (you house is burning down around you) and not because someone flipped the “apocalypse switch” overnight. And if you *must* bug out, it is quite likely you lost situational awareness and have been caught by surprise.

But if you already have someplace to go, that’s just going to your “home away from home”. it seems they would want to go *well before* the stores are completely empty and the gas pumps are dry and before they are forced to “bug out”.

And to be honest, if my house is burning down around me, I’m “bugging out” to the yard or the neighbors. Then once it’s put out, I’m rebuilding right there. It’ll take a case of dynamite to blast me off my place. Got way too much blood and sweat invested in it and no desire to start over from scratch anywhere else.

[JD-in-GA]

Yep – that’s what I’m doing, but the behavior is still as I previously described. I’ve yet to send any messages to anyone and I don’t know that anyone has sent me a message, yet the “My Messages” inbox has a ton of entries (hundreds?) that are predominantly just a user name and a timestamp… there’s no associated message or link to a message that I can see.

Perhaps it’s just coding “growing pains” with freesteading? I’m just trying to make sure if I am seeing it right and whether they should, or should not be, something indicating a message with each entry in my inbox (a subject line, or part of the message, a link, etc).

If it makes a difference, I should probably mention I’m on PC desktop using the Chrome browser (up to date). I don’t typically use apps on my phone as the screen is too tiny to read.

[JD-in-GA]

I like to say: Be aware, informed and avoid complacency, especially at the local level, but don’t be rabid about it.

Even if you don’t depend on govt for anything, govt still “has what it takes to take what you’ve got” and right or wrong, will always claim the righteous, moral, justified side of any dispute. For the most part, all we can do is keep a weather eye, prepare (and vote) accordingly.

[JD-in-GA]

Liberal life in the densely packed urban centers appears to be in for a particularly rough ride. The only way they could get me to care about their plight is if they start spreading out into the suburbs and beyond looking for all the things diesel delivers to the cities after their shops go empty — sort of like a zombie hoard, but instead of brains to eat, the idiots will still be looking for an open starbucks…

But, I’m not all that concerned. Liberals will sit on their rear-ends and hold their hands out waiting for “Uncle Sugar” to come feed them, just like they did in NOLA after Hurricane Katrina.