While watching recent news casts, and some reality show, which I rarely do, I began wondering, what DOES our future hold? Will we be prepared? Here in the good old USA, (The A is there. It just doesn’t show up too well on a white background). Our forefathers lived primarily off the land. Hunting, Trapping, Fishing, and Tilling the land. Yes we had merchants, who for the most part bartered their wares for their needs. We now live in a more industrialized nation. Few people are self sufficient any more. We mostly rely on someone else to provide our wants and NEEDS. NEEDS, being the operative word here. What I will be addressing today is our Needs. We all want somethings, but we can live without them. Needs is what it takes for us to maintain life. If for some reason our Dollar fails, what will we do? Revert to the way of our forefathers. Today we have a much larger population. Less farms, and woodlands. Less farmland means we have less ground to grow our food. Looking at it this way the farmer has an edge; very slight. They will be able to grow crops, plant gardens, and may, or may not, have a wooded area to Hunt and Trap, or somewhere to Fish. Will they be able to support all of us? Let’s probe deeper. When I was a child we had an 80 acre farm. We grew crops, we had a garden we planted every year. We had livestock, so we had meat, milk, and butter. We had chickens, so no problem with eggs, or chicken to eat. In our garden we also had berry bushes. We knew our neighbors well, even though there may be a mile or more from us. We knew if there was something we needed, and our neighbor had it they would help us our, maybe just out of friendship, or maybe they needed or just wanted, we would trade. Maybe it was feeding their livestock, or pets, while they were away for a day or more. Maybe, it was something to be made. My Mother was an excellent seamstress. My Father was pretty much a Jack of All Trades. Now, farmers have fields bigger than our farm. On the obverse side of the coin. Farmers will need fuel for their machinery, Electricity, to run some of their equipment. But if our dollar collapses, where will they be able to get the fuel? Barter for it? Maybe until the current supply runs out. Then WHAT? During this time how will people react? Will they be willing to help? Or will they become hoarders? Can’t blame them. Family comes first. So what will you and I do? Will we become Looters, or poachers. Living in the city now, I may become a poacher. Depending on if someone gives me permission to hunt or trap, or fish, on their land. Unlike the days of our forefathers there is little open wilderness to pursue these necessities. I can not see myself becoming a looter. I have heard depression era survivors, admit stealing bread or some food item to feed their family. Now with loss of so much open land, and the increased population, will there be enough wildlife to support all of us? There is a group out there referred to as “PREPPERS”. They tend to stockpile food, guns, ammo, etc.. How long will their stores last? In a prolonged dollar collapse, they too will be in the same boat as the rest of us. Personally I do not have the funds available to “prep”. So I will try to keep my rifles, and shotguns, in good shape, and buy a box of ammunition, when I have a few dollars to spare. (Note to self: invest in real traps, not just the ones I built). But I doubt I could ever amass enough to last. (Unlike my teen age hunting buddy, I miss occasionally). It is not like you could stock up on wild game, you need a freezer or some way to preserve the meat. Some you could make into Jerky, extending it’s shelf life. (If you know how to do that the old fashion way, without electricity). Communication: How will we communicate. If you are like me I must have the TV on or I can’t sleep. If for some reason it goes off during my sleep hours, I will awake, and stay awake until it comes back on. I am sure I will adapt, but not without a struggle. As a HAM radio operator, I will be able to communicate with other HAMs, until my batteries die. So I suppose I should look into getting some sort of hand crank generator made to be able to charge my HAM equipment. Or Better yet, I need to set up a small solar power system just to keep my batteries charged. (So you see we do have at least one option to electric power, (as long as the solar batteries last). We all need to prepare ourselves. I’m not saying I believe anything like such a disaster will happen. But as Benjamin Franklin said in reference to fire prevention: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. We need to hone our survival skills. As a whole I think the AMISH people now have the best chance of survival. Maybe I should look into buying a canoe.???? That Is How I See It. Afterthought: Tools are another thing we should be sure we have on hand. Post Views: 81
