Feeling Vulnerable?

tygger

Enlightened
Joined
Mar 15, 2002
Messages
762
Location
Florida
watching all the events unfold in New Orleans, etc., has given me a different perspective on disasters and my expectations from local and federal officials. i guess i was very naive. it seems any modernized western country is much more vulnerable to social breakdown than politicians would like you to believe. just imagine if there was some sort of world viral outbreak or something. it would most likely be chaos everywhere. i mean, hell, this was one hurricane everyone knew was coming and to this hour you'd think that area was part of a 3rd world country. it puts some things into perspective though. one of them is the unrealistic belief that help would immediately be on the way if some major disaster were to happen, in any major city. especailly with resources stretched somewhat thin due to deployments in the middle east, etc. all i'm saying is that it pretty much shatterd my illusion that "help is on the way" if something major were to happen, especially now. its a bit frightening to think of how vulnerable we really are, probably more so in large cities. human nature can be a scary thing especially when fear, need, and panic set in. anyone else been feeling a little vulnerable lately?
 

jtr1962

Flashaholic
Joined
Nov 22, 2003
Messages
7,506
Location
Flushing, NY
It seems that they're rapidly losing the control of the situation there. This only confirms my already very low opinion of humanity. :( Let's hope the authorities can bring back some order.

I used to think as you did. I learned that the basic systems to deal with anything out of the ordinary are fighteningly limited. The so-called thin blue line, referring to the police, is a very apt analogy.

I think I'm going to start making plans to stock up on enough necessities to get through several months seeing that when the sh*t hits the fan I probably won't be able to depend on anyone but myself. Anyone here know how long canned food will keep? I heard the figure 50 years once but I have my doubts.
 

Silviron

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 24, 2001
Messages
2,477
Location
New Mexico, USA
I've been ranting about the fragility of our society for years... Thinking about writing a book about it even.

New Orleans proves that American Society in general, and especially the cities, is/are one precarious step away from a complete breakdown. About the only relatively self-sufficient people left in the country are a few farm families, ranchers, hermits, weirdos like me... (and maybe the Mormons if rumors are true ;) )

New Orleans yesterday reminded me of Somalia 12 years ago.... People only trying to help, trying to save lives are shot at, relief shipments hijacked, TV crews having to hire armed bodyguards just to keep from being killed for a bottle of water, a candy bar or their equipment stolen. Really about the only difference is that there weren't Game Boys, Nikes and Plasma screen TVs in Mogadishu to be looted.
 

BIGIRON

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 9, 2004
Messages
1,879
Location
South Texas
Keep in mind that you, individually, are the first and last line of defense for your family and self. You have a choice of sitting around hopeing someone will show up to help or of assuming some resposnibility and taking action to help yourself, at least to some degree.

I posted in another thread of my belief that many of the residents of NOLA who chose not to evacuate but did prepare by stockpiling essentials are doing OK. You don't see them on the tv -- it's a lot sexier for the media to show you the huddled masses and victims crying because "no-one has done anything for me".

Please don't think I have no sympathy for the victims. I do.

The main thing this has done for me, so far, is to increase my dislike and distrust for the "news" media.
 

ledlurker

Enlightened
Joined
Jan 11, 2002
Messages
387
Location
Victoria, Texas -- USA
The Mormon doctrine is to have 1 years supply of everything you need for your family. A long time ago before the age of the automobile most rural and farm families had enough supplies for several months because they only went to town 4 or 5 times a year which was considered a treat. I usually have at least 2 months of non perishable food on and that is rotated. In a temperature controlled environment can goods are easily good for several years, most expiration dates are at least 18 months more from date of purchase. People look at me funny when I buy a case of diced tomatoes at a time.


BTW: there was a show on last week about a family that has 15 kids. It showed there grocery shopping habbits and the bill came to about $830. The info I missed was did they shop weekly or bi-weekly
 

zespectre

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 21, 2005
Messages
2,197
Location
Lost in NY
BIGIRON said:
Keep in mind that you, individually, are the first and last line of defense for your family and self. You have a choice of sitting around hopeing someone will show up to help or of assuming some resposnibility and taking action to help yourself, at least to some degree.

I posted in another thread of my belief that many of the residents of NOLA who chose not to evacuate but did prepare by stockpiling essentials are doing OK. You don't see them on the tv -- it's a lot sexier for the media to show you the huddled masses and victims crying because "no-one has done anything for me".

Please don't think I have no sympathy for the victims. I do.

The main thing this has done for me, so far, is to increase my dislike and distrust for the "news" media.

BigIron, I'm right there with you on that one. As a former LEO I KNOW just how impossible it would be for "officials" to handle any large scale emergency. I have seen a distressing trend where people feel "entitled" combined with a belief that "the government" will take care of everything and so lots and lots of people out there have stopped "bothering" with even the most basic self-support/emergency preparation because they can't even concieve that the resources might not be there.

I'm hoping that Katrina wakes up at least some people to the real facts of life such as...
Ultimately YOU have to take care of YOU and you can't expect others to do it for you.
All of those resources and luxuries you take for granted can be gone in an hour or less.
No society is more than three meals away from a revolution.
 

jtr1962

Flashaholic
Joined
Nov 22, 2003
Messages
7,506
Location
Flushing, NY
zespectre said:
I have seen a distressing trend where people feel "entitled" combined with a belief that "the government" will take care of everything and so lots and lots of people out there have stopped "bothering" with even the most basic self-support/emergency preparation because they can't even concieve that the resources might not be there.
And this culture of entitlement was created by years of politicians pandering to every little whim of their constituents, combined with endless entitlement programs. No quicker way to cripple a person than to do for them what they should be doing for themselves.
 

Chris_Medico

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 23, 2004
Messages
179
Location
Central, North Carolina
I do think that we all expect the government to take care of us. We expect the school system to provide our kids with their complete education. We expect our insurance companies to pay for our losses. We expect social security to pay for our retirement (the reality of this one I do believe is finally coming home). We expect some other group to ________ (fill in the blank for yourself or I could be typing all day).

Personally I think we should all expect more from ourselves. I expect my RV to be completely stocked and ready in case of an emergency. Why? Because I stocked it. I keep my generator tuned up and ready to go year round. I have 2 vehicles and one is kept in the driveway full of fuel at all times. I contribute the maximum allowed in my 401K. I don't have kids but if I did their education would be much more than what the public school system threw at them. There is more but I think you get the point.

By relying on others and not in our own capabilities we are turning over control to those "others" and setting ourselves up for failure. Also it gives you a good feeling to know you are ready for most things that can happen.

Being well prepared helps you assist your fellow man when they need it most too. I practice what I preach in this area too. I'm sending one of my generators and other supplies to the hurricane area.

Chris
 

C4LED

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 30, 2005
Messages
463
Location
East Coast, USA
I agree people should be way better prepared. I am.

However, with all the money being spent on special interests - like the $14 Billion congress just gave to the oil companies in tax breaks - it's reasonable for people to expect that at least a piece of that could be spent on rescue efforts in the United States.

See article:

"Unless you plan to drill for oil in your backyard, you won't reap a lot of tax breaks from the energy bill approved by Congress last week. Most of the $14.5 billion in tax incentives went to oil and gas companies and electric utilities."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/block/2005-08-01-breaks_x.htm
 

KC2IXE

Flashaholic*
Joined
Apr 21, 2001
Messages
2,237
Location
New York City
Welcome to reality/nightmare

Some of us have been thinking about these problems for a LONG time - unfortunately, because some of the scenarios people talk about are VERY non-pc, and (lets face it) some of the people are nuts - these "survivalists" get a bad name

Unfortunately, what's happening in NO has proven some of their case - society HAS broken down in NO - now let's say there WAS no place to evacuate to? That is the worst case the "survivalists" talk about, and always gets the worst (and most) publicity

When you really watch what they spend MOST of their time talking about - it's how to be prepared to survive weeks to months without outside help.

CASH on hand helps in most scenarios, as there IS still an outside world, and it helps you "Bug out"

WATER (clean water) is crucial - let's really face it - the most critical shortage in NO right now is CLEAN water - sitting on your rooftop, if you have food and water may not be FUN, but it's survivable (in general). You have to figure on needing a MINIMUM of 1 gal/day/person, and better to have 2-3gals/day/person, and have a weeks worth - yes folks, figure on 20 gals/person - 7 as a minimum

Food - preferably stuff that does not need COOKING - you have 72 hours worth? Do you have a months worth of dry/canned food (can need cooking) in your house?

Do you know what hazards are in your area? Chemical plants? Do you live in a flood plain? Earthquake zone? Tornado Alley? Hurricane area (NYC is one - city is 3rd most at risk - after Miami and NO). Forest fires? (and we won't even discuss "the end of the world as we know it" (TEOTWAWKI) scenarios - the ones that give survivalists their bad rep)

Probably the most important thing is MIND SET - you're "Feeling Vulnerable" title is right on the mark - you are FINALLY aware of what a lot of folks have known all along. They (we) TRY to do things to mitigate our risk - and the awareness of the risks is the first step

You (and in my case I) may not choose to prepare for TEOTWAWKI - but I know I prepare for blackouts, ice storms (read the stories of the great NE ice storm of the 80s), hurricanes, etc

One thing this storm did was make me change some of my plans - My plans for a hurricane has always been "shelter in place" - I live 100 ft above sea level, 3-4 miles inland. Flooding will not be an issue. I've always planned on having my family hunker down, and I was going to go do my volunteer disaster work. My plans have stayed the same for a Mid Cat 2 or lower - above that? We bug out - I know exactly where we are going - 120 miles inland to a friends house. Once my family is there, and secure, THEN I will return to do my volunteer work
 
Top