Preparation for systemic breakdown.

[Little Raven]

Your country is falling apart around you. The institutions that you have known your entire life are on the verge of falling into violent authoritarianism before collapsing entirely. Between the growing wealth divide and the increasing fragility of supply chains, the economy is teetering on the edge of complete failure. And looming above it all - the implacable, unpitying specter of climate change, constantly forcing everyone and everything into an ever shrinking zone of habitability as the very ecosystems of planet die around you.

Maybe this is true, maybe it isn't....that isn't really the point of this thread. Assuming it IS true - what do you do to prepare? How does one best approach the collapse of everything around you? What steps are you taking in advance of Trump 2.0? (or whatever your personal nightmare scenario is)

Now, I'm not a prepper. I am a product of our current system, uniquely suited to living in it, and I have no illusions about how well I'm going to fare if we go all Mad Max. So my approach is limited. That said, there a few things that I've done that I think might be useful if everything goes to hell in a handbasket -

• Build your own firearm. This is actually a lot of fun if you're remotely into fiddling with machined stuff. It's also surprisingly easy and affordable, assuming you want the basic package. Just get yourself an 80-percent lower, drill it out, and then accessorize. (not gonna lie, this is a lot easier if you have access to a drill press, but you CAN do it with a hand drill if you want) Virtually everything you need can be shipped to your house. It's perfectly legal in most states, so long as you aren't going to sell or transfer the gun. And at the end of it, you'll have a weapon that nobody has any way of knowing about. I started with the AR, but my friend just completed a 9MM, and that looked even easier. Might try that one next.
• Make friends with your neighbors. Of my two tips, this is by far the more important. If things ever really DO go south in this country, there won't really be a shortage of guns about, but you're always going to need someone to watch out for you while you sleep. The world has seen several countries disintegrate in my lifetime, and groups that are more cohesive and more organized always do better than those that are not. The bigger your local circle of friends, the better off you are likely to be.

Lots of people recommend bugout bags or getting your passport or getting citizenship in another country - but I'm not really sold of any of those. If the situation is localized enough that leaving my house is enough to get me out of danger, then it almost certainly doesn't pose a threat to the system at large, so I'll be fine long term. And if the situation is bad enough that fleeing the country is the best option, then I fear there's no place in the world that I'm going to do better than on my home turf. We're a globalized civilization now. If we go down, I fear everyone is going down with us.

[YellowKing]

I've already decided that if the stuff really hits the fan (collapse of civilization, walking dead, nuclear war, etc.) I'm pretty much fucked because I have no survival skills outside of what I've learned in video games, and no real interest in being an alpha male fighting others to the death over resources.

The only plans I'm making right now are economic in nature. My organization was just acquired by another, and while my job is guaranteed by contract for two years, I'm prepping as if I'm going to be let go after that. That's still a fairly remote possibility based on everything I know right now, but having six months to a year worth of house payments squirreled away is going to make me sleep a lot easier at night.

From a political perspective <shrug>. I survived four years of Trump and a pandemic (so far) and I didn't do shit to prep for that.

[Jaymann]

Your country is falling apart around you. The institutions that you have known your entire life are on the verge of falling into violent authoritarianism before collapsing entirely. Between the growing wealth divide and the increasing fragility of supply chains, the economy is teetering on the edge of complete failure. And looming above it all - the implacable, unpitying specter of climate change, constantly forcing everyone and everything into an ever shrinking zone of habitability as the very ecosystems of planet die around you.

Maybe this is true, maybe it isn't....that isn't really the point of this thread. Assuming it IS true - what do you do to prepare? How does one best approach the collapse of everything around you? What steps are you taking in advance of Trump 2.0? (or whatever your personal nightmare scenario is)

Now, I'm not a prepper. I am a product of our current system, uniquely suited to living in it, and I have no illusions about how well I'm going to fare if we go all Mad Max. So my approach is limited. That said, there a few things that I've done that I think might be useful if everything goes to hell in a handbasket -

• Build your own firearm. This is actually a lot of fun if you're remotely into fiddling with machined stuff. It's also surprisingly easy and affordable, assuming you want the basic package. Just get yourself an 80-percent lower, drill it out, and then accessorize. (not gonna lie, this is a lot easier if you have access to a drill press, but you CAN do it with a hand drill if you want) Virtually everything you need can be shipped to your house. It's perfectly legal in most states, so long as you aren't going to sell or transfer the gun. And at the end of it, you'll have a weapon that nobody has any way of knowing about. I started with the AR, but my friend just completed a 9MM, and that looked even easier. Might try that one next.
• Make friends with your neighbors. Of my two tips, this is by far the more important. If things ever really DO go south in this country, there won't really be a shortage of guns about, but you're always going to need someone to watch out for you while you sleep. The world has seen several countries disintegrate in my lifetime, and groups that are more cohesive and more organized always do better than those that are not. The bigger your local circle of friends, the better off you are likely to be.

Lots of people recommend bugout bags or getting your passport or getting citizenship in another country - but I'm not really sold of any of those. If the situation is localized enough that leaving my house is enough to get me out of danger, then it almost certainly doesn't pose a threat to the system at large, so I'll be fine long term. And if the situation is bad enough that fleeing the country is the best option, then I fear there's no place in the world that I'm going to do better than on my home turf. We're a globalized civilization now. If we go down, I fear everyone is going down with us.

Jeez, who pissed on your cornflakes today?

[Skinypupy]

I've already decided that if the stuff really hits the fan (collapse of civilization, walking dead, nuclear war, etc.) I'm pretty much fucked because I have no survival skills outside of what I've learned in video games, and no real interest in being an alpha male fighting others to the death over resources.

The only plans I'm making right now are economic in nature. My organization was just acquired by another, and while my job is guaranteed by contract for two years, I'm prepping as if I'm going to be let go after that. That's still a fairly remote possibility based on everything I know right now, but having six months to a year worth of house payments squirreled away is going to make me sleep a lot easier at night.

About the same here. If it all goes to hell, I'll be basically worthless in the apocalypse.

I'm cool with a few of my neighbors who have guns though, so maybe some sort of alliance could be arranged.

[Brian]

While things are certainly bad, I think the collapse of society is still far enough out that I don't think I'll have to worry about it in what little remains of my lifetime.

Our (adult) kids might have to worry about it but neither of them have or are planning to ever have children so I really have no plans.

That said, I do have a smallish collection of guns and ammo that they will inherit and the oldest child, at least, knows enough about wilderness survival that she stands a pretty good chance in the dystopia future.

[Holman]

Fans of apocalyptic fiction love the idea that systemic failure means we'll all turn on each other in a Hobbesian hellscape. It makes for a kickass story.

But experience (as seen in natural disasters, wartime, political collapse, and even plague and famine) is that people help each other. When it comes down to it, vanishingly few people actually want to turn their home into an armed compound or fight their neighbors for food or fuel. Instead, they figure out how to share out and make the most of what's in everyone's pantry and everyone's expertise and everyone's soul.

[Jaymann]

As Bill Burr pointed out: Preppers are just collecting food and guns for the baddest fucker on the block.

[Smoove_B]

But experience (as seen in natural disasters, wartime, political collapse, and even plague and famine) is that people help each other. When it comes down to it, vanishingly few people actually want to turn their home into an armed compound or fight their neighbors for food or fuel. Instead, they figure out how to share out and make the most of what's in everyone's pantry and everyone's expertise and everyone's soul.

My neighbor is a unrepentant Trumpaloo and I will cut him open like a Tauntaun and wear him like a skinsuit without hesitation to keep warm if shit goes down.

[Little Raven]

My neighbor is a unrepentant Trumpaloo and I will cut him open like a Tauntaun and wear him like a skinsuit without hesitation to keep warm if shit goes down.

Oh man. That's the hardest I've laughed all day. I'm going to clean my monitor now. And remember to be more careful reading Smoove posts while drinking Coke Zero in the future.

[Unagi]

But experience (as seen in natural disasters, wartime, political collapse, and even plague and famine) is that people help each other. When it comes down to it, vanishingly few people actually want to turn their home into an armed compound or fight their neighbors for food or fuel. Instead, they figure out how to share out and make the most of what's in everyone's pantry and everyone's expertise and everyone's soul.

My neighbor is a unrepentant Trumpaloo and I will cut him open like a Tauntaun and wear him like a skinsuit without hesitation to keep warm if shit goes down.

[Kraken]

While things are certainly bad, I think the collapse of society is still far enough out that I don't think I'll have to worry about it in what little remains of my lifetime.

Yeah, my plan is basically to die first. Civilization just has to hold it together for another 10-ish years, or 20 if I'm cursed with a long life. I think we can keep bumping along the bottom for 10 years.

Fans of apocalyptic fiction love the idea that systemic failure means we'll all turn on each other in a Hobbesian hellscape. It makes for a kickass story.

But experience (as seen in natural disasters, wartime, political collapse, and even plague and famine) is that people help each other. When it comes down to it, vanishingly few people actually want to turn their home into an armed compound or fight their neighbors for food or fuel. Instead, they figure out how to share out and make the most of what's in everyone's pantry and everyone's expertise and everyone's soul.

Like Mr Rogers said, "Look for the helpers." Better still, be one if you can. I have some skills, like gardening and cooking, that would be valued, and I'm on at least polite terms with all my immediate neighbors.

[Zarathud]

With diabetic children, apocalypse means the end of insulin delivery and eventually dead children. If I’m still alive, I’ll be a shadow willing to die for any convenient cause.

[dbt1949]

I am too olde and in too bad of shape to survive. So it's hari kari for me as soon as all the sweets are gone. And I'm taking all my stuff with me so I'm burning the house down too.
After removing the rotor cap on my truck.

[malchior]

But experience (as seen in natural disasters, wartime, political collapse, and even plague and famine) is that people help each other. When it comes down to it, vanishingly few people actually want to turn their home into an armed compound or fight their neighbors for food or fuel. Instead, they figure out how to share out and make the most of what's in everyone's pantry and everyone's expertise and everyone's soul.

My neighbor is a unrepentant Trumpaloo and I will cut him open like a Tauntaun and wear him like a skinsuit without hesitation to keep warm if shit goes down.

Do we have the same neighbor? Mine looks warm. He is the type who appears to be wearing a sweater while mowing his lawn in the summer.

[gameoverman]

My problem with preparing for a systemic breakdown is mainly two things. One, I live in Los Angeles county. It's highly populated and you need to drive on the freeways to go anywhere and get there in a timely manner. People simply going to work in the morning can clog the freeways. In the event of a systemic breakdown, no one is going anywhere. The other problem is that even if I could escape, what's the point of doing that if it means I leave everyone else in my life behind? Let's say I make it into the mountains or to the desert, now what? I live there by myself or with the random strangers who also escaped there? Where's the fun in that?

My feeling is that in the event of a large scale breakdown, it would be best if mostly younger people survived. There is going to be a shiat ton of work to do after the breakdown to rebuild communities. There will need to be lots of reproduction going on to rebuild the population. It will not be a kind world to those of us who are more grandparent age rather than new parent age.

[Blackhawk]

20 years ago, I'd have said my plan in a Mad Max scenario would be to get away from other humans and disappear into the wilderness. I do have the skills. Unfortunately, I now also have one paralyzed shoulder and am in such horrible shape that I'd have a heart attack the first time I encountered a moderate incline.

So I'll just huff the silver paint and do what the boss tells me like the rest of the drones.