So, what are you doing to prepare for the end of civilization?
Are you stocking up on canned and dry food supplies? Water?
What about energy sources? How would you heat your dwelling in the event of a sudden and permanent loss of hydro-electricity? Do you have a wood stove? If so, how many cords of wood have you stored?
How about oil lamps? How many of those do you have?
Chances are, the vast majority of people are not prepared for the end of civilization as we know it now, yet never have we — the rich, industrial nations — been so vulnerable.
That our modern, technological civilization is going to collapse has almost become the consensus of many. We’ve seen the devastating effects of climate change throughout the world, and it’s only the proverbial tip of a melting iceberg. There are many more weather-related horrors to come.
Climate change is probably the biggest man-made threat to modern civilization. There are other such threats, of course: nuclear war, terrorist attacks in multiple and increasingly more sophisticated methods.
Just as at any moment death can — and does — claim each one of us, so, too, at any moment, large swaths of our nations can be plunged into darkness, literally and figuratively, as power grids crumble under the forces of fire, wind and water — and earthquakes and all that accompany them.
We’ve all experienced power outages, and know too well how inconvenient they can be when it takes a day or two or three for the lights — and heat — to come back on.
But what if the lights won’t be coming back on for a very long time? What if they will never be coming back on?
What if oil and gas are no longer available for your city, state, province, nation?
What if grocery stores run out of food and close permanently?
Of course, people survived for thousands of years without the social infrastructure we have today. And depending on the extent of devastation we experience, humans would piece together civilization in time … maybe.
But in the meantime, the vast majority of people — that is, those who survive the initial meltdown of civilization as they know it — could not instantly revert to pre-electricity days.
In the dead of a northern winter, people would freeze to death in their apartments and condos and other types of dwelling that seem so practical when the power is on, but so impractical without electricity.
So, what can you do? What are you doing to prepare for a prolonged or permanent breakdown of civilization? Could you and your family survive by hunting and fishing? By chopping wood for heat?
Could you survive without civilization as we know it?
— Jillian
Jillian Page 
Yes, Jillian. Even at the age of 69, I can and would [and have] survive, as could my children and grandchildren. We hunt, fish, hike, camp, and garden to name just some of the “wilderness” survival skills in place. And most importantly, we are not far from forests.
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Nice!
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WTF is this??? All though I know wack-os who are 😵
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It’s something I’ve been meaning to write about after I heard comments from the past climate-change meetings. (Plus,I wanted to try out my friiend’s refurbished Lenova Thinkpad, which is quite decent for the price.)
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Good machine(ThinkPad). Initially, they can be a bit pernickety. But aren’t they(we) all. They have improved. I’m running an old T420, but it’s like a Mac-truck. Haven’t had a problem <=5yr. Cheers. And, as we all await the end-of-Roman-Empire, Happy New Year. Still waiting for an invite to a Cupcake party %*
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Yes, we really must plan a cupcake party.
This Thinkpad is a refurbished 140e, I think. It’s a cute little machine.
Meanwhile, I am looking to buy a laptop, too, but will probably opt for a new one. Not in a rush. Thought about a Mac Airbook, but they are super expensive.
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btw. Mac-Airs “super $”. They are grossly over-priced. And for that matter MS Surface. They all make too much $$ anyway. But gotta appease the Shareholders musn’t they %|
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I use a company-supplied Mac Probook for office work. Beautiful machines, and very fast.
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I am making the most of the opportunity to be with my family. That is of paramount importance whether civilisation is ending or not.
When a drone can put one of Britain’s major airports out of action for over 24 hours it just shows how vulnerable we are.
We know that in a time of crisis our governments will do their uttermost to look after themselves, and leave us hoi polloi to sort ourselves out. It does not matter what “flavour” of government. They are all essentially the same.
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Indeed. Governments have limited abilities when it comes to the aftermath of weather disasters. Rule of law slips away and could disappear in an “every man for himself” situation, i.e. looting and more.
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It’s the End of the World as We Know It https://g.co/kgs/e7QxCC
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Scary thoughts….I guess I’ll be going down with the 99%(my estimate)!
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Sorry you have a flawed premise that Global Warming is the greatest threat to civilization. It is not. You have been scared by the leftists.
But seriously, if there is an end of civilization, would you even want to survive it? I would rather be dead and in Heaven than be alive on Earth in a living hell.
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I was talking more about climate change than global warming, which seems to be a myth in my northern neck of the woods. It’s as cold as ever here, if not colder.
But you raise a good point: Would I want to survive “on Earth in a living hell”? I think if I had a choice, probably not. But circumstances would see many people surviving after the initial breakdown (for whatever reasons).
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Many issues wrapped up in your question.
1. Would I want to survive? Probably not. On the other hand, that’s easy to say sitting in my comfortable (heated) house with all of civilization and its mod cons working (at least as well as Hydro usually works). If actually faced with the issue, can’t actually say how I’d respond. I would a duty to myself, my family, and possibly whatever is left of civilization to do my best.
2. I’m scarcely a survivalist, but am a fairly capable person, with some limited outdoors skills. On the other hand, most city people in the world don’t live within easy distance of a forest/woodlands/hunting/fishing. Those who do live in such places forget that if cities collapse, they will be overwhelmed with refugees from those cities.
3. Disaster scenarios always make it sound like it would all collapse at once, like in a nuclear war scenario. In fact, it would be a very gradual shifting. Advanced countries would likely survive, because we have the resources to adapt. Life might get much worse, but society unlikely to actually collapse.
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