Do you pride yourself on having a good base of knowledge AND SKILL(!!) vital to life (basic emergency medicine, gowing/hunting food, finding or making good shelter and otherwise making good use of resources for long term survival)?
Or would you be completely lost if you didn't have electricity, a grocery store and everything readily available to you as far as services for an extended period, or even indefinitely?
Or would you be completely lost if you didn't have electricity, a grocery store and everything readily available to you as far as services for an extended period, or even indefinitely?
Yeah I'm that guy.
I can make soap and medicine. My best friend can sew, and my husband can herd cats...wait, he can build solid structures for living while teaching you to be self reliant.
What can you do?
This is my forte, it's what I love, almost every moment of my life is spent learning and putting to practise anything of REAL value. I got the basics down long ago and now I get to practise all the extras, the frills, the fun stuff.
I'm not a survival nut nor do I have any impending doomsday beliefs, I just don't believe in being totally reliant on anyone or anything but myself. I think it's sad that people are so disconnected and that iPhones are more important than basic living skills, but oh well. What can ya do? I'll help anyone who wants help, gladly, but unfortunately it's rare that someone is interested or sticks with it.
This is why I build gardens. Food will really be the biggest issue. We can survive without phones, but not without food. And life isn't very fulfilling without people to share it with. At least it isn't enough for me.
But they are boomers, some of the hardest people to teach anything that they don't think they already know. This saddens me too. I've spent much time dealing with the apathetic public as well as the ill informed trying to educate and motivate people. I've nearly lost hope many times. But then my nephew yells at me for referring to a plastic tub as "trash." He is an expert at sorting the recyclables and this makes me happy.
So I am glad that you see and know what potential badness that is out there. And trust me, I am surrounded by people who all agree. I am where people will flock when the shit hits the fan. But when all is said and done, I will help people out in a pinch. Why, because I can and that's what I do. This will not be the time for "I told you so."
You forget all of your enemies in an urban environemnt without any services. Water and sanitation is a big one, you simply couldn't live there long for those reasons alone, at least untill things settled down and people died off or left, then you may be able to return and try again, who knows. There's reasons why people leave cities in droves when disaster strikes.
Some "survivalist" enthusiasts are stockpiling food, weapons, and other useful items and resources at this very moment in order to be Sauron of Mordor when the shit hits the fan. I, however, do not have the hardiness of a cockroach or the ruthlessness of Richard iii, to make a go of it. Additionally, "Long Pig" could never be on "my" menu.
Some wealthy folks have bought compartments in underground, modern bunkers in the desert. These "ant hills" are a very interesting alternative for sheltering a large amount of people after Doom's Day. However, I would never buy into one b/c there are too many fails in this sort of living system. An obvious one would be if they became trapped down there and were short on food. What's for dinner next? I would never lock myself up with a bunch of people without a reliable means of immediate escape. And, I would never join some "Know It All's" above ground camp either. If the said authority or "Go To Survival Guy or Girl" is apeshit crazy, I would be screwed in that environment, as well. Think of The Reverend Jim Jones or "Christabella", from "Silent Hill".
A group that I can envision surviving this sort of epic crisis very well (if they were secluded from marauders) would be the Amish. Their one fatal flaw would be their belief in nonviolence.