Bread and circus will quickly turn to riots and bloodshed once the supply of one or the other dries up.

That being said "preppers" need to start banding together sooner rather than later if they hope for any real chance of longterm survival. An individual or dual family in the sticks may outlast the good-natured suburbanite armed with a case of Costco bottled water. But once mobs start roaming like locusts, small farm "compounds" will bear a similar futile resemblance to the yuppie with a SUV who thinks he will just "head for the hills" once the ball drops.

The accumulation of value goods is one thing, but the social side of prepping should not be overlooked either.

SH, thanks, I read this to my dad over Thanksgiving and he turned into this <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />!
J

Very interesting thoughts damon. I agree. I also personally find it hard to find like minded people in my area. Then there is the aspect of trust. I see the need to try to network but also tend to be very guarded about what I know and what I have. I also would expect the people that I will want to work with would be the same. So it's a bit of a conundrum.

This reminds me of a time in 1999 when a friend called me up and told me he had just brought home 30 gallons of water and had enough food for a month. He then says, "Have you stocked up on items in case Y2K hits?"

I simply say, "No, I have guns."

There's a pause for perhaps 20 secs and he says, "Well, if anything happens can I bring my food and water over to your place?"

It wasn't until later that I thought about how my reply must have sounded to HIM. LOL!

this thread really hits the nail on the head.

I hear you and I think that you are right-on when you talk about the balance between looking for like-minded folk, and being rather closed about one's own worldview and corresponding activities. I guess what I am getting at is maybe we should take a bit more of a chance, look for tangential topics of conversation that are still acceptable in polite conversation but can very easily drop hints to the like-minded. Given that you live in Michigan, I would think fishing and hunting (maybe even re-loading) are ok jump off points, vegetable gardening and making one's own bread are even a step down from there in "offensiveness." Ham radio, Beekeeping even backpacking/camping...the list can go on and on. And that is just in the activities. When it comes to worldview/morality conservative churches/synagogues (or if you are able, the American Legion/VFW) are also great places to meet people who understand the value of family, commitment, and history. Just saying, the greatest force-multiplier is not the extra gun in your pack, it is the extra gun in the hands of your buddy next to you.

I agree. Thankfully, I am in a gun club packed with like minded people, many of whom have actually been in a place that possibly resembles what the U.S. may look like if the SHTF.

Great ideas damon, bottom line take the time to get more involved.