Most likely SHTF situation.

[grandchessboard]

I was talking with a buddy of mine that was living in the USSR when it collapsed. He was saying that of course he believes the US will collapse soon but mentioned added that there is two distinct possibilities of what will happen after the collapse. One option was that there would be, as he put it, fascism. I took this to mean there would be Marshall Law. The other option would be that the Federal gov would lose power or authority and that local government, be it state, county, or city would step up and fill the power or authority void. What do all the survivalist on here think?

 

[grandchessboard]

Ok.
After I posted this I realized that the title might be better if it read,"Most likely Gov collapse situation."

 

[jwhited]

I was gonna say "Alien invasion."

But really though.. Don't you think we already live in a fascist nation?

 

[grandchessboard]

I was gonna say "Alien invasion."

But really though.. Don't you think we already live in a fascist nation?

Well... I don't know. It's a lot more fascist than what I every could have predicted. Having your family groped in order to get on a plane and travel is pretty fascist, and I know everyone on here will have 1 million excuses as to why this is acceptable. Truth is, this would have the founding fathers of this country rolling in their graves. People now days will tolerate anything. Torturing people is another sign of fascism/tyranny. I guess Jack Bauer sold torture to the whole country. Never mind the fact that people with actual interrogation, like Steve Pieczenik (the man that Tom Clancy based the character Jack Ryan on) has said the only reason you torture people is to get a false/forced confession. Also, the fact that LEO's can stop you at anytime and demand to see your papers is another Soviet/Fascist tactic. So yeah, there are some real fascist elements of this country.

 

[Chris Mac]

I'm not a survivalist - just a prepper who wants to take care of his family in the event of any number of SHTF situations. Including unemployment .

My most realistic scenarios are as follows (in no particluar order):

1. I lose my job - that would rock my world. The side benefit of smart prepping is that some of the items you purchase keep place with inflation and/or go up in value.

2. Our train wreck of an economy continues in slow motion until it falls off the first cliff - unemployment increases dramatically, we see interruptions in basic services, and crime skyrockets but is still contained within the usual bad parts of our cities and neighborhoods. Stage two is things getting really bad with unemployment and emergency state and federal funds running out. Stage three is our creditors selling out of US Treaury holdings and trying to repatriate their gold, platinum and silver holdings (as is happening today with Venezuela's gold and mining operations). Additionally, Middle Eastern, European Union, Pacific Rim and Russian central banks will move off the US dollar as a standard reserve currency and currency of choice for oil transactions. End result - further action towards a police state with passive taxation of your investments and greater restrictions on constitutional rights will probably be the "catastrophe" rather than a complete failure of society.

3. Some sort of wide scale natural disaster- earthquake, major hurricane striking our petroleum industry, or major solar flare activity. All three are plausible, but the "guberments" ability to react may be impaired if our financial condition worsens. BTW, don't discount the possibility of solar flares knocking out electronics and communications. It's happened three times in the past hundred years, and our dependency on our electronic infrastructure is a hundredfold of what it was during the fist half of the 20th century.

4. Pandemic - I'm not exactly sure of how plausible this is. An unexpected flu virus seems most likely, but it would have to be awfully fast moving to get past the WHO and government monitoring programs. Governments and the medical profession are much more likely to stop the spread of such a pandemic unlike the flu that killed millions worldwide in the early 20th centruy.

5. EMP attack - this is on the books as a possibility in the government's war scenarios. Same effect as a solar flare except the requirement of the earth needing to be in the path of that stream of energy is replaced by the calculated precision of a nuclear detonation. Current theory says there a number of countries that could use EMPs as a false flag scenario. Ex-military, ex-intelligence and think tanks have repeatedly warned about this scenario. There is very little collateral damage and the attacker doesn't need to commit extensive military resources to make this happen. Basically, you're in your office and a small nuclear weapon designed to produce a massive EMP effect is detonated at high altitude - you wouldn't even notice it. From horizon to horizon, all unshielded electronics goes dead including computers, cell phones, cars, radios, banking systems, law enforcement communications, trucking, hospitals, medical facilities, etc., etc. This is the one that has me most concerned because society essentially just stops.

So, what does all of the above really mean? Look at how frequently all of the above have happened in the past 100 years (including a solar flare event). People who are laughing need to read their history. The only saving grace is that they've happened to different countries at different times. Just because we're America doesn't mean we can instantly defeat or prevent anything that comes our way. Can we eventually overcome it? Yes.

Bottom line - I pray for God to watch over my family, and if the circumstances enabling our protected existance were to end, that we would act as His servants and have the wisdom to not just survive, but also help others.

 

[wsbrown]

Bottom line - I pray for God to watch over my family, and if the circumstances enabling our protected existance were to end, that we would act as His servants and have the wisdom to not just survive, but also help others.

Great reply, and this really stands out to me. It's really pointless if our society continues if we are little more than animals looking out for #1. Even if our federal government dies, the spirit of America and the founding fathers lives on in each citizen willing to make a stand for his fellow man and personal freedom.

 

[jwhited]

I'm not a survivalist - just a prepper who wants to take care of his family in the event of any number of SHTF situations. Including unemployment .

My most realistic scenarios are as follows (in no particluar order):

1. I lose my job - that would rock my world. The side benefit of smart prepping is that some of the items you purchase keep place with inflation and/or go up in value.

2. Our train wreck of an economy continues in slow motion until it falls off the first cliff - unemployment increases dramatically, we see interruptions in basic services, and crime skyrockets but is still contained within the usual bad parts of our cities and neighborhoods. Stage two is things getting really bad with unemployment and emergency state and federal funds running out. Stage three is our creditors selling out of US Treaury holdings and trying to repatriate their gold, platinum and silver holdings (as is happening today with Venezuela's gold and mining operations). Additionally, Middle Eastern, European Union, Pacific Rim and Russian central banks will move off the US dollar as a standard reserve currency and currency of choice for oil transactions. End result - further action towards a police state with passive taxation of your investments and greater restrictions on constitutional rights will probably be the "catastrophe" rather than a complete failure of society.

3. Some sort of wide scale natural disaster- earthquake, major hurricane striking our petroleum industry, or major solar flare activity. All three are plausible, but the "guberments" ability to react may be impaired if our financial condition worsens. BTW, don't discount the possibility of solar flares knocking out electronics and communications. It's happened three times in the past hundred years, and our dependency on our electronic infrastructure is a hundredfold of what it was during the fist half of the 20th century.

4. Pandemic - I'm not exactly sure of how plausible this is. An unexpected flu virus seems most likely, but it would have to be awfully fast moving to get past the WHO and government monitoring programs. Governments and the medical profession are much more likely to stop the spread of such a pandemic unlike the flu that killed millions worldwide in the early 20th centruy.

5. EMP attack - this is on the books as a possibility in the government's war scenarios. Same effect as a solar flare except the requirement of the earth needing to be in the path of that stream of energy is replaced by the calculated precision of a nuclear detonation. Current theory says there a number of countries that could use EMPs as a false flag scenario. Ex-military, ex-intelligence and think tanks have repeatedly warned about this scenario. There is very little collateral damage and the attacker doesn't need to commit extensive military resources to make this happen. Basically, you're in your office and a small nuclear weapon designed to produce a massive EMP effect is detonated at high altitude - you wouldn't even notice it. From horizon to horizon, all unshielded electronics goes dead including computers, cell phones, cars, radios, banking systems, law enforcement communications, trucking, hospitals, medical facilities, etc., etc. This is the one that has me most concerned because society essentially just stops.

So, what does all of the above really mean? Look at how frequently all of the above have happened in the past 100 years (including a solar flare event). People who are laughing need to read their history. The only saving grace is that they've happened to different countries at different times. Just because we're America doesn't mean we can instantly defeat or prevent anything that comes our way. Can we eventually overcome it? Yes.

Bottom line - I pray for God to watch over my family, and if the circumstances enabling our protected existance were to end, that we would act as His servants and have the wisdom to not just survive, but also help others.

I've gotta say, these are quite possibly some of the most realistic SHTF scenarios I've heard yet. Until you made these points, I had preppers pegged as nutjob conspiracy theorists that are expecting: alien invasion, zombie apocalypse, invasion by Chinese paratroopers, Obama kicking down their door and taking their kids, rapture, etc. The reasons you have stated are realistic and, as depressing as it sounds to say it - quite likely.

 

[Bioshock]

I've gotta say, these are quite possibly some of the most realistic SHTF scenarios I've heard yet. Until you made these points, I had preppers pegged as nutjob conspiracy theorists that are expecting: alien invasion, zombie apocalypse, invasion by Chinese paratroopers, Obama kicking down their door and taking their kids, rapture, etc. The reasons you have stated are realistic and, as depressing as it sounds to say it - quite likely.

I think it will be alien zombies wearing chinese paratrooper uniforms and all will look like Obama.

 

[Bioshock]

Actually,I do not have a clue as to what it will be?
I think it may have something to do with the new madrid fault line.But ???

I do know that this past year,fema,cdc, and my msn homepage have released
multipul statements about getting prepared for a disaster.

 

[olchevy]

Don't really know what it will be or even if it will happen, no one does....But to think our country is immune to such things as we watch it happen in other modern countries, is just....just as I like use a term I came up with....

We as Americans are idiotically optimistic....We just are.