This article was originally published by Daisy Luther at The Organic Prepper
“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” ~ George Orwell
A few years back, I was doing some research about the aftermath of some natural disasters that took place here in America. I was shocked to find that the articles I was looking for – ones that I had read in the past – were pretty hard to find, but articles refuting the sought-for pieces were rampant. Not just one event, but every single crisis aftermath that I looked up, had articles that were written after the fact stating in no uncertain terms that the hunger, chaos, and unrest never happened.
Apparently we, the preparedness community, are all wrong when it comes to the belief that after a disaster, chaos erupts and civic disorder is the rule of the day. That is only a disaster myth, and the public narrative belies it all.
Listen to the “experts” and they will confirm, it never happens.
Panic? What panic?
According to newspaper articles written after Superstorm Sandy devastated the East Coast and after Hurricane Katrina caused countless billions in damage in New Orleans, people were calm, benevolent and peaceful. Heck, they were all standing around singing Kumbayah around a campfire, sharing their canned goods, calming frightened puppies, and helping the elderly.
Apparently, studies prove that the fear of anarchy, lawlessness, and chaos is nothing but the “disaster myth”. Reams of examples exist of the goodness and warmth of society as a whole after disaster strikes. All the stories you read at the time were just that – stories, according to the mainstream media:
Yet there are a few examples stubbornly fixed in the popular imagination of people reacting to a natural disaster by becoming primal and vicious. Remember the gangs “marauding” through New Orleans, raping and even cannibalizing people in the Super-Dome after Hurricane Katrina? It turns out they didn’t exist. Years of journalistic investigations showed them to be racist fantasies. They didn’t happen. Yes, there was some “looting” — which consisted of starving people breaking into closed and abandoned shops for food. Of course human beings can behave atrociously – but the aftermath of a disaster seems to be the time when it is least likely. (source)
Looting? Only hungry people getting food from unmanned stores. Who wouldn’t do that?
Beatings and assaults? Didn’t happen. Disturbed people made these stories up for attention.
Gang rapes? No way. You watch too much Law and Order: SVU.
Murder, mayhem, and gangs of youth on the streets? Silly readers – we just made that up.
The Disaster Myth is a narrative created by the establishment and delivered by their stoolies in the mainstream media. The Disaster Myth points fingers at many of the things that are commonly believed to be true by the preparedness community. Included in this narrative:
- People do not panic after a disaster – instead, they pull together.
- The official government response is always speedy and appropriate – unless you are a person of color, in which case you will be denied assistance based on your race, because racism is the current agenda
- You will be taken care of if you simply comply peacefully with authorities.
- There is little increase in post-disaster crime.
These statements all stand in direct opposition to the stories we hear from news sources during the crisis. We heard terrible stories from eyewitnesses who suffered from hunger, thirst, and unsanitary condition in the Superdome after Katrina. We heard about citizens being robbed of their 2nd Amendment rights by police after the crisis, and we heard about gang rapes, looting, and mayhem. Fast forward to Sandy where people were defecating in the hallways of their high rise apartments and digging through garbage to find food just a few days after the storm. As for the official response, who can forget the FEMA shelter that closed because of inclement weather? Of course, the weather was inclement – it was a freaking weather-related disaster!
Mac Slavo of SHTFplan wrote of the unrest, discomfort, and mayhem after Superstorm Sandy ransacked the East Coast:
For tens of thousands of east coast residents that worst case scenario is now playing out in real-time. No longer are images of starving people waiting for government handouts restricted to just the third-world.
In the midst of crisis, once civilized societies will very rapidly descend into chaos when essential infrastructure systems collapse.
Though the National Guard was deployed before the storm even hit, there is simply no way for the government to coordinate a response requiring millions of servings of food, water and medical supplies
Many east coast residents who failed to evacuate or prepare reserve supplies ahead of the storm are being forced to fend for themselves.
Frustration and anger have taken hold, as residents have no means of acquiring food or gas and thousands of trucks across the region remain stuck in limbo.
Limited electricity has made it possible for some to share their experiences:
Via Twitter:
- I was in chaos tonite tryin to get groceries…lines for shuttle buses, only to get to the no food left & closing early (link)
- I’m not sure what has shocked me more, all the communities around me destroyed, or the 5 hour lines for gas and food. (link)
- Haven’t slept or ate well in a few days. Hope things start getting better around here soon (link)
- These days a lot of people are impatient because they’re used to fast things. Fast food, fast internet, fast lines and fast shipping etc. (link)
- Glad Obama is off to Vegas after his 90 minute visit. Gas lines are miles long.. Running out of food and water. Great Job (link)
- Went to the Grocery store and lines were crazy but nail salon was empty so I’ve got a new gel manicure and some Korean junk food (link)
- So f*cking devastated right now. Smell burning houses. People fighting for food. Pitch darkness. I may spend the night in rockaway to help (link)
At the time of the event, even the mainstream reported on the affluent East Side residents dumpster diving in search of food. Was this NBC report, complete with video, a work of salacious fiction?
As far as civil unrest is concerned, the Twittersphere was jammed with people planning looting sprees in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Those who were already of criminal leanings saw the disaster as a great opportunity. In the great North American Edit, however, these tweets are said to be part of the myth – apparently, they were just kids playing around. Some reports pooh-poohed the very idea that looters had run amok.
This article from Prison Planet refutes all of the refuting and says that the civil unrest DID occur and that it generally does, given evidence from past events.
Legends from the past? Every single extreme weather event in recent years in the United States has been followed by looting.
As MSNBC reported at the time, looting during Hurricane Katrina was so prevalent that it “took place in full view of police and National Guard troops.”
Residents described the scenes as being like “downtown Baghdad” as looters filled garbage cans full of stolen goods and floated them down flooded streets.
As Forbes’ Erik Kain points out, “looting and rioting…occur after most natural disasters,” including after Hurricane Irene as well as Hurricane Isaac.
Looters also targeted victims of the Colorado wildfires earlier this year.
Does this sound familiar?
This revision of inconvenient history will sound quite familiar to anyone who has read George Orwell’s masterpiece 1984 (which was not meant to be an instruction manual, by the way.) In the novel, the main character, Winston Smith, worked for the Ministry of Truth, which was actually a department of propaganda whose job it was to rewrite any faction of history that did not make the government look omniscient.
In George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the Ministry of Truth is Oceania’s propaganda ministry.
It is responsible for any necessary falsification of historical events. The word truth in the title Ministry of Truth should warn, by definition, that the “minister” will self-serve its own “truth”; the title implies the willful fooling of posterity using “historical” archives to show “in fact” what “really” happened. As well as administering truth, the ministry spreads a new language amongst the populace called Newspeak, in which, for example, truth is understood to mean statements like 2 + 2 = 5 when the situation warrants.
The Ministry of Truth is involved with news media, entertainment, the fine arts and educational books. Its purpose is to rewrite history to change the facts to fit Party doctrine for propaganda effect. For example, if Big Brother makes a prediction that turns out to be wrong, the employees of the Ministry of Truth go back and rewrite the prediction so that any prediction Big Brother previously made is accurate. This is the “how” of the Ministry of Truth’s existence. Within the novel, Orwell elaborates that the deeper reason for its existence is to maintain the illusion that the Party is absolute. It cannot ever seem to change its mind (if, for instance, they perform one of their constant changes regarding enemies during war) or make a mistake (firing an official or making a grossly misjudged supply prediction), for that would imply weakness and to maintain power the Party must seem eternally right and strong. (source)
We are watching narratives being created in front of our very eyes with the Vegas massacre. Every time something terrible happens, there’s a spin and that spin a) keeps us in the dark. b) encourages us to be dependent, and c) benefits someone.
But….WHY????
So why the vast effort to expunge tales of mayhem and to make it seem like our own national disasters really weren’t that bad? There are a few reasons, like pandering to an audience that wants to be blissfully unaware, but primarily, it’s about control.
Those who live a self-sufficient lifestyle are a threat to the status quo that those in power would like to see. If you don’t NEED them, then there is no leverage to force you into compliance. You don’t NEED to go to Camp FEMA in order to have 3 squares a day. You don’t NEED to give up your guns in order to have a roof over your head and government supplied security. You don’t NEED to get some kind of chip implanted in your arm to be scanned in order to receive “benefits” like medical care, food, and even money.
Self-sufficiency means freedom. When you can feed yourself, clothe yourself, shelter yourself, and protect yourself, you are far less likely to need to cede your freedoms in order to stay alive. And in a police state that is frantically trying to withdraw our constitutional rights, this just won’t do. They need leverage.
So the establishment has created a narrative that tells us what we are doing is silly and unnecessary. They are rewriting history even though we only lived that history in the past decade. Even though we know the truth of the matter because we watched it live, they are changing the facts to make us doubt our own perceptions. They are catering to the people who have no interest whatsoever in taking care of themselves.
This narrative was created to make a society of anti-preppers – of people who believe that all will be right with the world, the government is kind and benevolent, potential disasters aren’t really that big of a deal, and those crazy preppers are stark raving lunatics. They want us to be perceived as extremists so that others are less likely to follow our examples. If they need a crazy bad guy at whom to point the finger, all they have to do is call someone a “Doomsday Prepper”. (Remember how poor Nancy Lanza was vilified after the Sandy Hook shooting?)
But…
If this civil unrest is not occurring, why is the National Guard called to keep the peace? Why are state police riding around on tanks wearing body armor? Why were the guns of law-abiding citizens taken away in the aftermath of Katrina?
Which version of reality are you going to believe? The one that you actually witnessed or the perverted rewrite that the mainstream media is trying to push upon you?
Remember the things happening right now.
We have recently been hit with disaster after disaster in the United States. The aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma hit the mainland amidst stories of looters and people standing armed to protect homes and businesses. In the Carribean, lawlessness was rampant, and after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the danger from armed people robbing those who still had some supplies was constant. As I write this, there are uncontrolled wildfires tearing through California wine country, and looters are striking the homes of evacuees.
Of course, we are seeing reports of this now, but later will these stories be “debunked” by “experts” like the stories from Katrina and Sandy?
It’s entirely likely because most people would prefer to live smug in the belief that the police are only seconds away, their neighborhoods are immune to looters and vandals, and that America is a place of exceptional order and civilization. It comforts them to believe these things. They use it as ammunition so they can scoff at “doomsday” preppers and call them “conspiracy theorists.”
But we know differently, and today, bloggers and alternative media are also documenting these stories before history is erased. I have watched for years as supplemental links in stories I have written have disappeared. I have witnessed the changing narratives, and if you’re reading this, you probably have too.
So, don’t be discouraged in your efforts when you read all the “good news” stories that inevitably show up after a disaster. To be sure, there are some wonderful people out there helping their neighbors, but there is also a dark side that the media prefers to ignore.
You saw it when it was happening. You know the truth, even if the disaster myth narrative would have you believe otherwise.
A sampling of articles and studies supporting the Disaster Myth Narrative:
- http://www.popularmechanics.com
- http://ann.sagepub.com
- http://voices.yahoo.com
- http://articles.washingtonpost.com
- http://www.slate.com
- http://www.minnpost.com
- http://nextcity.org
- http://dspace.udel.edu
Please feel free to share any information from this article in part or in full, giving credit to the author and including a link to The Organic Prepper and the following bio.
Daisy Luther is the author of The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide To Whole Food on a Half Price Budget. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at [email protected]
So, we turn to samizdat, as they did in the USSR. In fact, they say the fax machine, in part, brought down the USSR. Of course, the internet is today’s equivalent.
If you don’t know what samizdat is, look it up. And then do it.
Well written article Daisy!
There are still many who continue to believe the “official” main stream media narrative.
Re: There is little increase in post-disaster crime.
Anyone who has lived through a disaster knows that is a LIE!
There are some individuals with criminal minds who take advantage of disasters to enrich themselves.
“You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
-Rahm Emanuel
Should there be a MAJOR DISASTER in the U.S., we will find the numbers of criminals have increased in recent years. Drug addiction and recent government programs have enabled it.
Thanks to Obama, the number of young criminals in our country has SWELLED due to open borders (border patrol FORCED to stand down and let EVERYONE IN), sanctuary cities and programs such as the In-Country Refugee/Parole Program for Central American Minors.
This program sent U.S. airplanes (taxpayer funded) to Central America to bring back back (gang members) criminals (many who had been previously deported) to the U.S.
U.S. taxpayers have paid to transport, house and feed them. It is no wonder over 90% of the young Central American illegal immigrant males REPORTED their age as “17”. It must be common knowledge that those under 18 qualify for lots of FREE goodies.
Controlling and ‘shaping the news’ has been utilized for a very LONG time.
“Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.”
– Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945
“Our job is to give people not what they want, but what WE DECIDE they ought to have.”
– Richard Salent, Former President CBS News.
@TEST, very interesting. Thanks for the info.
I’m not a racist. Where I live you cannot be.
I have lived through many disasters.
My opinion formed mainly by Watt riots, is that
if there are no Black people, generally people
pull together to solve the problems that a disaster
causes. Not perfectly, but they try.
I avoid large cities which seems to attract the vilest
humanity has to offer AKA Democrats.
Buh, Buh…. I din’n do nuffin’!!! rellik – just kidding. Hell, from the pics, it’s pretty damned easy to see the common denominator in the civil breakdown following any crisis.
Niggaz gonna nig.
Every Disaster is different and depending on location. It has been 30 days since Hurricane Irma Hit my area in Florida, we took a direct hit and I am just today, being able to drive my vehicle back onto my property due to flood water and soggy ground in the roadway leading up to my property finally receded and dries up some to pass. I bought a few 1/3 yard bags of gravel and filled in the muddy ruts, to my property myself today. F-Em and the Government. Nobody is going to help you. Unless you want to be a slave to them.
Being prepared is having a fully fueled and oiled Chainsaw in my vehicle during the hurricane and quickly deploying it and cutting the big oak tree that block my escape route out of my property before the floor waters came in. First daylight I was on it. Cutting it all up. These armchair authors need to be in a few disasters to really know what prepared is. Try this disaster and still 6 weeks into it. Neighbors pulled together to make sure every one was safe and had access to evacuate. I cut a lot of trees off of roads, and now working for an 80 acre RV Park cutting up all the 75 ft tall down trees in there, from the hurricane. Tree trunks as large as 4 ft wide. It will take months to get back to normal. Have all your hand tools available when its grid down or a disaster and already in your vehicle. So its been over 6 weeks we have been playing live and real and in your face every day disaster that continues beyond a hurricane ad recovery.
In my area there are miles of streets with 10 Ft tall piles of tree debris waiting to get picked up by the County. It looks like wooden snow banks Florida style. You better be in great physical shape to get through all of this. If you are a schlep smoker, fat ass, couch potato, then kiss your ass good by when a disaster strikes. If you want to survive get in shape today. I was biking 30+ miles on the weekends for months before this disaster hit. And when the hurricane did hit, I was in shape and need to perform every day. Get plenty of sleep also. Enjoy your beer too.
You forgot to mention to have plenty of gas and 2 stroke oil, bar oil for your saw. Extra chains and a good sharpener too. I guess a cheap saw might work but I love my Stihl, it has NEVER let me down. Speaking of that I need to cut more firewood uuuhhgggg….
I have two Stihl’s and three Poulan’s. Don’t ask how I ended up with so many chainsaws, it is a long story. I like my Poulan 3400 the best, it is 27 years old, and hard to get parts for it. I’m about ready to toss my PP133( I have the saw extension) in the trash. The Stihl’s are really twitchy with the crap ethanol gas mix we have here. I use PIR-G but have had to replace the fuel lines and Carb on my Stihl MS 250. The MS 290 is probably my best saw performance wise.
The saws i have run the most are Huskys,,, love em, the 372 runs and runs, the bigger saw, 395 been through quite a few but i suspect its because i run a 52″ slabber on it and it runs wide open for hours, so expected, can easily cut 25-30,000$ worth of slabs with a single head so if i burn up a 1300$ head is ok, can live with that.
My go to saws for all around stuff here in the yard and around the property, are my Shindaiwa saws, have a 55 and a 60, both good saws, use a little echo mostly though, that thing just keeps chugging, is a great limbing saw if im climbing too.
I was having trouble with the ethanol gas mix also, even in my old 1948 Ford Tractor. I started buying and using Ethanol Shield in all my gas and haven’t had any carburetor problems since. Might try it.
Exactly!! Having lived thru several hurricanes, we were prepared not only for hurricanes but whatever else society wants to throw at us. We can and did live without electricity for days, fed ourselves and animals. Its a lot of work, 4 days preparing the property and animals, weeks cleaning up. Still cleaning up, waiting for flood waters to dry up. Keeping unwanteds off the property is paramount. Not waiting for government to collect our debris, we burn it. Don’t want anyone knowing what our damage was by the size of the debris piles on the road. Hurricane Irma just helped us fine-tune our preps. Look at it as a positive learning experience.
Yep and Santa left me a New AR.
Sgt.
Here’s a present for ya Sgt. ht tp://www.americanpreppersoutfitters.com/~shop/main.html solvent traps are useful 😉 If ya got a threaded barrel or 10/22 this is for you! (take out space between the t’s)
“G”
Thanks.
Sgt.
Your welcome. Here’s another MYTH… No one is going to blow your head off if you try robbing them of their stuff!
Genius, if anyone tries to take my stuff, they WILL get lead poisoning. They can bank on that. No myth!
They won’t have the time for lead poisoning, their brains will be a mosaic on the background.
Since I don’t hunt anymore pretty much everything I shoot is hollow points. Every match bullet I have ever seen is a hollow point. I do have some steel core and copper solids for special occasions though. At 400 yds. a .243 hollow point match blows right through a 3/16 steel plate. You can see the copper jacket residue around the hole. I quit shooting the plates because you can’t tell if you even hit them because the don’t even ding or move the boolit just smokes right through them even at 600 yds. FMJ is for wounding anyway, match hollow points will BLOW YOUR SHIT TO PIECES! (not to mention the accuracy of match boolits).
One thing I have found is that Barnes Matchburners in .30 cal are as good maybe better than Sierra matchkings. I do use matchkings for .243 and .223 though. The .06 and .300WM get 175 Matchburners and I love them!
175g SMK
Favorite flavor
Can you say spall
Rellik, it all depends on what someone’s definition of the word racist is. That word was originally invented by chews to create division and ever-lasting trouble between black and white. I’ve seen blacks at their worst during the civil rights marches back in the 60s when I was a kid. Their behavior during riots and so forth has only gotten worse if nothing else. I’m hoping to go back to the BOL shortly before Nov. 4 if possible. That’s when antifa says they’re going to launch civil war 2. They really need to be careful what they wish for. There’s going to lots of blood running in the streets; THEIR blood.
The Popular Mechanics and Yahoo links don’t work.
Popular mechanics? Yahoo? Like thats a bad thing?
I worked for the Corps of Engineers during Katrina. When we got to New Orleans we went to some neighborhoods we were shot at. We were told not to were the “Red” shirts because they made us a target. Some of the worst people, and some of the best people just like any other city during a crisis.
I think that these people who are putting out this crap are running a bit scared,after all these disasters that have happened in the recent past do they think that the world is still OK,well maybe for them.but not for the masses that lived through them,the survived are now prepping up to the eyeballs with stuff because they now know what’s happens the day after(fuck all) there just left with no help from so called FEMA,who close shop when its windy and raining.so I think prepping is making massive strides today ,and the powers that be know this so they try to change the stories so that other people think its all OK and they will come and help them.it is reported that America has 3,000.000 peppers,that number must be now about 53,000.000 after all the shit that’s gone down,now you see why there worried that’s about 1 in 6 people,estimated .now that’s a lot of peppers compared to 3,000.000 .there is no way on earth those bastards can control or disarm 53,000.000 million people and rising with every disaster. If you have read this and don’t prepare then that’s fine,que hours for no food or no gas,but don’t blame peppers for being ready .start now for just in case,you won’t be sorry.good luck
Anyone that has read Selco’s true shtf survial story will know shtf is pure hell.
Shtf changes people and the human psychology of survival by any means will be strong.
Most people believe after the event has passed, stores will be restocked.
Supposed they believed they would not be.
Not only was there widespread gang violence and looting on a city wide scale when Katrina hit,but there are videos of cops looting also.
If I ever see cops looting, there will be some dead cops….
Despite this articles premise, the fact remains that most of things described IN the article don’t point to general social breakdown, but fairly minor problems which disappeared within a few days or a week.
Of course, if you make the ASSUMPTION that in a more general disaster, things would go bad in every major city in the country, then it begins to look more like the usual “TEOTWFAWKI” scenario.
The problem is that aside from such places as Kosovo during the civil war – and of course in Third World countries like Somalia that don’t have any resources or workable governments in the first place – there is next to ZERO evidence of any country COMPLETELY falling apart to the degree where the entire population is scrounging for food or actively killing each other.
What usually happens is that a LIMITED degree of resource starvation and a LIMITED degree of violence occurs. The vast majority of people manage to eat, survive and not get killed, even if it was unpleasant for them for even several years.
Look at the people in Donbass in Ukraine – despite a civil war going on since 2014, and ongoing bombardments from the Ukraine military and a million refugees into Russia, they’re still alive and functional.
People who haven’t actually studied crisis events tend to imagine the worst scenario as the most likely scenario. In fact, such scenarios are constrained by a lot of factors which the theorist has not considered.
I have read articles that suggest that even if the US economy were to “collapse” – which by the way is impossible, since economies do not “collapse” – even in hyperinflation, SOME form of economy remains in operation even it is only barter – the worst that would happen is the US would be reduced to the level of, say, England or Greece, let alone Brazil.
Even at the height of the Great Depression, the vast bulk of the US population survived without killing each other. And declaring that “things have changed today” really isn’t proof of anything.
People also forget that the probability of an “End of the World” worldwide is even less likely. Even in spasm nuclear war, the bulk of the world’s nations would be mostly untouched.
Preparing for EVERY scenario prepares for NO scenario. Preparing for scenarios is a bad idea in the first place. It’s better to prepare for specific LOCAL CONDITIONS rather than overall scenarios covering large-scale disasters.
Good points,
Personally, my prepping is more just an insurance policy for stuff that does and has happened, like job loss, shipping strikes, storms, etc, in 08 we had a storm that only affected our little area, lights out for a week, no water for 2 and no potable water for 4 or more weeks, it happens, job loss is a very real concern, really would like to eat so make sure i have extra, shit happens.
World wide SHTF? Could happen, but if it does might not live through it anyway.
DON’T POO-POO MY DOOM! 🙁
Advice to all who prepare. Please prepare for fires! I had saved and worked hard for 10 years and lost everything int he fires in Norther California. We had no warning from the Sheriffs department as their system failed. Had I not kept checking by driving to a higher vantage point we would have never know and not made it. Seperate undergorund caches are critical unless you can afford a fire resistant storage unit. The way people acted during the evac was horrible I would describe it as a war zone combined with idiots.
Lessons hard learned:
1) use a police scanner and learn some basic codes. As I said they knew the fire was coming but failed to warn anyone. It was on a Sunday at 11 pm.
2) Multiple storage sites for your gear and food. Preferably underground.
3) If you live in fire prone areas invest in a water pump, large hose with a nosel. Have firmed or Familly assigned to helping during a fire. (Holding the hose, cutting brush etc).
4) Fire Breaks, Fire Breaks. Yes trees are beautiful and provide shade but guess what they are hot as hell ina fire storm. Out of 30 homes in my one neighborhood only 2 survived and they had NO tree’s next to them.
5) If you can stay and fight safely do it as the fire department will be to overwhelmed.
6) Looters: We have lots and they are getting away with it. I wish I would have never left. At least I could be there protecting my neighborhood.
7) Always and I mean always have insurance. Good insurance. I would be finiancially wiped out if I had not over insured.
8) Unless you ever have lost your house to a fire and all lost all your possessions please keep your Monday morning comments to yourself.
I deployed (LE tactical unit) to Katrina, Rita & Wilma, followed these extended deploys up with a few smaller disaster responses. I saw it all, from the best of humanity to the worst traits the human animal can muster.
A few things I observed:
There is/can be an initial calm following any major disaster. People unsure how to react, how long/intense the situation may end up being, unsure if help is coming, etc. It doesnt last however.
Long about day 3-5 without overwhelming support response, is when things begin to go sideways. I know, I watched it many times. There are those that plan for and immediately take advantage of such situations, but by and large they are few. These types are generally target specific indivduals, work mostly by hit & run and dont stay long in any one area. They are often not from the very area they target. Your biggest threat is those that know you..or of you. Neighbors, etc that are local and know where your stuff is/might be.
Its only when A: help doesnt come or B: they see others “getting away” with the chaos, looting, etc..that something kicks in..a feeling of “if I dont get mine now, there will be none left” type of thinking.
Its when Every man for himself becomes the rule of the day, is when one needs to worry. It is often not “panic”, rather a premeditated plan that took root over the previous few days of depravity…this makes it a touch more dangerous.
The absence of law & order can bring out the primitive in people who you might never suspect it. Trust no one 100%, not even yourself…youd be surprised at what “normal-God fearing “people will do.
If you have it, they will want it. Doesnt matter what it is..the lack of necessities/commodities/access to “stuff” can draw out a desire to “obtain” anything & everything, sometimes by any means possible. I looked at it sorta like hording by desperation. This is why we see people floating big screen TVs they looted from the electronic store thru the flood waters. There is no power, no cable and the TV is ruined…but that doesnt matter. It was the chance to get “stuff” and they will kill for it. I have witnessed desperate people hoard/steal some very wierd & sometimes totally useless stuff, for no reason. Nothing is safe, know this!
Finally, my best advice is become the grey man, no time more important than when SHTF. If you can do so well before hand (ie: life style), no one will know to come looking for you or your preps. One can have all the security, guns, etc in the world, but if they know you have it and they dont, eventually the numbers or the lucky will get it from you and have no problem taking it from your cold dead hands! The best plan is keeping it to yourself, be ready to defend it and also leave it as the case may determine, but a good plan and Opsec in place, you can ride out some very tuff times, with no one the wiser.
Sgt7
Yeah…live through and the aftermath of a few hurricanes to get a taste of the REAL world. The LONG gas lines…..after your 250 Gal + are burned up/given away…..try just FINDING gas to wait in line for. That and no food as you would normally “expect” at stores…no parts for your chainsaws…ANYWHERE. Also…5 gal gas cans (plastic) for 50 each…..IF you can find them. Prepare now…the worst is yet to come!
In a way it is unfortunate that a lot of folks that pooh-pooh the idea that in a disaster things go down hill quickly, have never personally been there. I was prepping before it was called prepping, having seen the riots of the 1960’s up close, from ground zero. And then hurricanes. Every negative thing written about disasters is true. I find that every single person that laughs this off just hasn’t experienced it. Take the case of my daughter, a gentle soul who now carries concealed after a few incidents out West that she was lucky to escape from alive. Her reply to anyone that pooh-pooh’s just how bad things can get is to remind them, “You only think that because nothing bad has ever happened to YOU.” So with all nay sayers.
“Hack”…solid comments…
Preping is really just a common sense approach to being forward thinking. It’s a little more complicated and thought out than living with a below ground wine cellar “in the event” wild fires unexpectedly were to ravage the Santa Rosa-Napa-Sonoma vineyards.
It’s planning your and your families survival…setting your mind “ahead” to the possibility that when the downtown area 14 miles north of me with it’s concentration of 20 and 30 and one 40 floor high-rise condominiums suddenly looses all electrical power for a 30 day period and the ONE (and only market) Whole Foods store locks it’s doors and people start streaming south on their bicycles to “raid” groceries in our area, I and mine are not caught anywhere near the panic. It’s having REAL maps like the Texas Map Gazette pre-marked with egress routes away from this county and headed toward my already prepared redoubt out in east Texas. It’s knowing the 9 crucial things to have to overcome NO MORE ATM’s that dole out funny money. It being inconspicuously armed at all times (guns in the floor board of the car or truck),a bug-out bag in the backseat with broken in boots, extra socks, poncho, 3 to 4 water bottles, and on and on and on.
HELL, I was 11 years old when I learned the motto”Be Prepared”.
I lived in overseas countries with the military. True warriors never retreat…but as Chester Puller eloquently put it at the Chosen Reservoir, “men, we ain’t retreating, we’re just fightn’ in a different direction”. Well, some Marines were able to adjust their thinking…but others, rolled up in there sleeping bags and hoped they wouldn’t be found.
Revisionist histories have been pouring out for decades. As one of the elderly, I often find myself alone in realizing that things simply were NOT the way they are currently portrayed. Since the “elderly” are supposed to become senile and start losing their memories, MY memories are easily sloughed off and ignored. “You just aren’t remembering correctly,” is what I am told.
I remember when they pushed ZPG among the educated (to reduce the intelligentsia)….I spoke out loudly (to a deaf audience) that THAT was their REAL reason. To no avail, many of my generation chose to be childless. Now look at what we have.
I remember when the eco nuts were insanely screaming that we were headed toward another ice age. Most of my generation listened, grew concerned, but didn’t really do much to change our lifestyles. Today’s group of kids have been inundated with global warming ideas and BELIEVE EVERY WORD OF IT. I guess TPTB’s methods got better…as they were dumbing down the populace.
I remember when we taught that we were a republic. It is almost impossible to convince people of that now or that their minds and educations have been manipulated to believe otherwise….Even PHds say we live in a “democratic” society (or some variation thereof). We do not. The word democracy does not appear anywhere in our Constitution, but the word republic does. It is even in our pledge (Perhaps that is why they are constantly trying to get rid of it and the flag.).
I have a copy of a fifth grade history book which devoted an entire chapter to Christianity (along with 4 other world religions), but now that chapter has been replaced with a chapter on Islam and Christianity has been moved into the “other” 4 world religions group.
You used to be able to say, “shut up”, but now it is considering swearing. You used to know that boys were boys and girls were girls. Now it is anyone’s guess.
The lines between truth and fiction have become so blurred, I do not even know if I am offending someone else or not. I am CONSTANTLY AMAZED at what passes for “hate speech”.
The world has now been turned on its head (for all practical purposes), so why not rewrite the disaster scenarios. Personally, given the generation that will next be in charge, I find it to be overkill. They already don’t know true history, don’t have a work ethic, are terrified of their own shadows. We have no borders. Everybody except Americans are welcome in America…..Everyone can commit a crime in America and get off scot free (in the press of ideas) except Americans (in particular, white males).
It ain’t a pretty picture. It is what it is.
Keep your head down and mouth closed. Look out for yourself and those you love and care about. Do what you can, while you can for the days grow short and the darkness threatens to engulf us at any moment.
Keep the faith.
I live in public housing in Toronto and its already so crime ridden in the best of times.If there was an extensive power outage or disaster the tenants would be on their own especially the seniors.
In my building few people prep and expect the city to come to their aid.Any sane prepper would not keep their stuff on site as the risk of theft is high.As well the reps keep an eye on the tenants and report everything back to management.Its a recipe for disaster and people will not pull together .The predators here will rob and harm the weak as management already allows them carte blanche.
Sad to say but thats what will happen in a disaster that goes past 48 hours I hope to be gone
I know of people who have a three year food supply, in-house well, propane generator with 2 yrs of propane, enough guns and ammo to start a gun store, secured home and multiple layers of defense.
Yep, I know people like that. 🙂