Learn anything from disasters so far?

[americandream]

In finality, I'd rather lose my life then my mind.

True. Who was it who once said: Rather death standing up than life on your knees.

[PrestonSturges]

Pops, I'm in eastern NC. Your thread starts with Learn anything from disasters so far, so economy, weather, disasters, whatever, they interrelate. I even considered a job at Hatteras, and was supposed to be camping at Ocracoke but knew I would be evacuated. You prep with the resources you have, that community stuff, is very true. And for all the wrath here about people of faith, they respond quicker, work harder, and they are the very definition of a small community. So when that disaster hits your community, or peak oil does whatever, it won't be your atheist neighbor that comes over to help. It will far more likely be your neighbor who trodded off to church or synagogue every weekend, after they take care of their own. Hope you can wait.
Government/insurance can only blunt the pain

Well I was up in PA hanging out with volunteer firemen and such and one fellow as talking about how he'd lived in NC for a while years ago, but didn't like it. It's actually pretty nice to be around people who don't give a rat's ass about your religion or demand to know if you have a personal relationship with jesus, or who would have a heart attack if you told them the Rapture was from a crappy paperback and not the Bible, or worry about electing a politicain who will "stand up to the NAACP." It's nice to just shake off all that tribal crap. And in a pinch I'd have a lot more trust in the EMT or VFD than a church based service.

[americandream]

Drivel is on the loose.

Pleased to hear that I am educating you. It speaks well for your level of understanding that you recognise the essential drivel behind (futility in) agitating for a conservative agenda (climate included) that is a foregone conclusion for our masters of capital.

Well done. Here's a gold star for you!

[Lore]

In finality, I'd rather lose my life then my mind.

True. Who was it who once said: Rather death standing up than life on your knees.

Or was that "give me liberty, or give me death". Even in their naiveness, the founding fathers in the US understood the dangers of the new republic falling pray to some extremist Jesus jokers.

[americandream]

In finality, I'd rather lose my life then my mind.

True. Who was it who once said: Rather death standing up than life on your knees.

Or was that "give me liberty, or give me death". Even in their naiveness, the founding fathers in the US understood the dangers of the new republic falling pray to some extremist Jesus jokers.

True. Simpletons relish in the company of others. Validates their intellectual laziness, especially where the convert is edumicated.

[roccman]

I've been working my plan since 2003 - all that is left is a lawnchair and handful of popcorn.

i have quit "spreading the word" - would rather stick my head in a wood chipper then have the "back in the 50's there was this guy...who made two predictions"...conversation AGAIN!

i continue to monitor news daily / hourly - i think i only need to be 1 hour ahead of everyone else....i think, but who really knows.

and this is what i think i have learned - that all i have done at the end of the day will mean squat if those around me have not and there is a near 100% chance this is the case.

so

it has been an utter and complete waste of time - a mammoth amount of money - a herculian amount of stress - to WORK THE PLAN.

there you have it pops -

I could have spent 100K and traveled the world 5 times over with my family and their friends and spent the last waking hours of the human project looking at the photo albums and laughing....

[cynthia]

RM--
Everything I have done up until now leads to the next thing. While I have a "script" there is room for improvising.

If you have regrets, make moves to correct them sooner than later.
"Make a plan and work it." I visit that motto almost as much as, "I have the talkin' part done."
Thanks for stopping by. Please visit more often!
cynthia

[papa moose]

and this is what i think i have learned - that all i have done at the end of the day will mean squat if those around me have not and there is a near 100% chance this is the case.

are you referring to the mutant zombies eating your brain after you eventually run out of ammo or questioning why you would want to survive if all your nearest and dearest have starved to death?
You sound very bummed out... tho considering the prevailing topic here at PO.com i'd be surprised if the majority of posters didn't suffer from some level of depression.

[Newfie]

Roccman,

I hear you and agree with much of what you say. I feel your despair. Neighbors can be a help or hindrance. I think I have found, for us at least, a way around your dilemma. Perhaps something similar could work for you?

I live in Center City Philadelphia, my immediate neighbors are mostly U of Penn folks who can whip up a mean thesis, but that's about it. Not much help there. As you go out the neighborhoods quickly get very poor and those blokes are more able to care for themselves, but I doubt they will feel much sympathy for my kind.

However, upstate PA I have a tiny hunting cabin in Dairy country. Surrounded by well armed farmers. Do I have something to contribute to them should the need arise, so that I can carry my weight? Perhaps.

And, in Newfoundland, there is the ancestral homeland. Local population about 100, but more scattered at intervals around the bay. No address', just 'General Delivery' to the town PO. Lots of folks there with my surname. Many, but not near enough, still plant a small garden. If I arrive with a bucket of seeds at the right time I might be well received. And I have the conveyance.

So that is my plan to avoid you problem...............I hope.

[Daniel_Plainview]

and this is what i think i have learned - that all i have done at the end of the day will mean squat if those around me have not and there is a near 100% chance this is the case.

are you referring to the mutant zombies eating your brain after you eventually run out of ammo or questioning why you would want to survive if all your nearest and dearest have starved to death?

Good question. I also would like an augmented explanation from Roccman.

One observation: if the planet is forced to reduce its population from 7 billion down to 2 billion (or 1 billion), it's very likely that those 5 billion dieoff candidates will be the least prepared, and the most likely to steal, kill, plunder and pillage before they expire.

[Duende]

I've learned that in the event of a major emergencies that the government will not be there to save me. I think Katrina showed that pretty clearly. So, you won't find me sitting on top of my roof waiting for the chopper to come bail me out. I'll take it upon myself to deal in that circumstance.

In the case of moderate-scale emergencies, I believe the government is still able, with time, to cope with the effects. The tricky thing is that, as climate change progresses, the likelihood of multiple moderate-scale emergencies accumulating more or less simultaneously (or back to back) will really test the system.

And then there's resource depletion-related emergencies too, is a whole other barrel of monkeys.

As far as personal emergencies go, insurance is still the way to go for the foreseeable future.

[Pops]

OK, now that I took out the trash...

Man roc, you spent $100k on something and you have nothing of it left?
I've never really been much of a bunker/guns/wheatberries guy, if I decided to move to a condo in the city, my auction wouldn't look like anything out of the ordinary for a country bumpkin. My first rule is Don't Buy, though I admit it's the hardest...

But you're right on one level, I couldn't survive a concentrated attack by heavily armed and starving soccer moms either. I give it a low probability though so prepare accordingly.

--
In a small community, church affiliations are important for the very reason fish illustrated. Often, believers (who by definition believe completely in their faith) believe whoever doesn't believe as they do is not only wrong but bad and probably downright evil. In a small community, that could be dangerous to the unaffiliated in a really bad situation.

Personally, as an agnostic raised in a family of small town Baptist Deacons and Sunday School teachers, I don't even posses enough hubris to disbelieve! I haven't worked up the fear to join out of self preservation though either.

However a person goes about it, local connections for help are probably most important - after taking responsibility for yourself to not be one needing help.

---
On the original topic of wealth and resilience:

And U.S. facilities are not ready for these stronger storms. In its most recent "report card" assessing the nation's infrastructure -- everything from the resilience of the power transmission and distribution systems to the integrity of crucial water and sewer networks -- the American Society for Civil Engineers was unequivocal: These critical facilities are often woefully underfunded, aging and in some cases nearing failure.

The organization gave the nation a grade of D overall and estimated that some $2.2 trillion over five years was needed to bring that up to a B.

And this is particularly striking, much more infrastructure investment goest to cheap growth than goes to servicing the existing infrastructure - and the newer the infrastructure, the shorter the expected service life:

Many water infrastructure assets, for example, have exceeded their service lives and need to be replaced, according to the Congressional Budget Office's 2010 water infrastructure report. Among them: cast-iron pipes from the late 1800s with a 120-year lifespan; post-World War II pipes with a 75-year lifespan; and treatment plants built in the 1970s and '80s that have useful lifespans of just 15 to 50 years.

Link

[Pops]

A somewhat related post at TOD by Bardi:
Why decline is faster than growth

[ritter]

On the original topic of wealth and resilience:

And U.S. facilities are not ready for these stronger storms. In its most recent "report card" assessing the nation's infrastructure -- everything from the resilience of the power transmission and distribution systems to the integrity of crucial water and sewer networks -- the American Society for Civil Engineers was unequivocal: These critical facilities are often woefully underfunded, aging and in some cases nearing failure.

The organization gave the nation a grade of D overall and estimated that some $2.2 trillion over five years was needed to bring that up to a B.

And this is particularly striking, much more infrastructure investment goest to cheap growth than goes to servicing the existing infrastructure - and the newer the infrastructure, the shorter the expected service life:

Many water infrastructure assets, for example, have exceeded their service lives and need to be replaced, according to the Congressional Budget Office's 2010 water infrastructure report. Among them: cast-iron pipes from the late 1800s with a 120-year lifespan; post-World War II pipes with a 75-year lifespan; and treatment plants built in the 1970s and '80s that have useful lifespans of just 15 to 50 years.

Link

Fun stuff. I work with a bunch of civil engineers. Their daily toil these days is to design band aids for infrastructure failures. Cheap band aids. No money in the public coffers, dontchaknow.

[Repent]

I bought a very large and expensive tent this year in the event I'm rendered homeless and I still have to live somewhere. Sleeps 10 people and has an electrical outlet.

(I told the wife and kids its just for camping)

[Loki]

My question is not about politics or even so much about economics, we'll never agree about those, my question is about how you view your personal preparations for disasters in light of current political/economic climate?
Do you rely on the Ministries of Love & Plenty, or your insurance company... what do you do to protect yourself?
What do you see happening as available oil declines; do we become more willing to help each other or less?

I imagine that as natural disasters increase as a result of climate change and our economy declines (partly as a result of peak oil), the availability and effectiveness of insurance and gov't emergency assistance will decline. Probably best not to stay too dependent on them.

I wouldn't expect the government would help me much in the event of a natural disaster, except maybe indirectly through the Red Cross, or to rescue my ass if I was bobbing down the river. I know a bunch of handy farm folks and have family nearby, I'm sure I could call on them for basic help. And I have my preps, of course, plenty stored food, multiple water purification options, a small back-up power system, etc. And of course the “garden,” the 15+ acre vegetable farm I live/work on.

I don't have much in the way of insurance when it comes to natural disasters, but I also don't own much of value. I have liability insurance on my old truck because the state requires me to (<$50/mo), and comprehensive insurance on my little motorcycle because it costs the same as liability ($99/yr). That's the extent of my insurance. Health insurance would be fantastic, but everything in my price range is a sick joke---I imagine the Republicans will repeal Obamacare before I see any benefit from it, god forbid the working class should get any health care.

The main natural disasters I'd face are earthquakes and floods. I can't see how an earthquake would cause any serious damage to my property, I live in an RV, it'll just sway with the quake. I suppose my storage unit could collapse and I'd have to sort through the rubble to pick out my junk. Floods are a bigger threat, so I made an effort to site my RV well above the floodplain.

I'm most worried about fire, if the RV goes up in flames I'd lose all my favorite stuff---but it wouldn't be the end of the world. I'd be most bummed about my computer files and my guns. Been thinking of getting insurance for the RV, maybe this thread will motivate me to look into it.