I'll be at you're house during SHTF

[nakatomi]

Its 2026 and I think in my 32 years of life, I have experienced way too many "life changing events" that have occurred almost weekly. We are standing on the verge of War, Summers of Love, Economic Collapse, Racial and Political Divides, and the list keeps going on. I would have assumed that life would be different after Covid, where people would have figured it out. The reality is, most people in society have learned absolutely nothing and have desperately tried to cling to the past.

No one is prepared, no one cares, but everything good is currently on discount and its nice to have cash.

Agreed.

Preparedness isnt about paranoia or blind ideology. Its about staying adaptable and thinking independently instead of emotionally. Most people swing from one extreme to another depending on fear politics or whatever social pressure is popular that month.

What concerns me now isnt just economics or geopolitics. Its social fragmentation and normalization of extremism. More people across the political spectrum seem emotionally unstable isolated angry and heavily armed. Add social media amplification ideological tribalism and declining trust in institutions and you get an environment where random acts of political violence and mass casualty events become more likely.

That is why practical preparedness matters. Finances supplies fitness community communication and keeping a level head.

 

[Deleted member 16735]

People should be careful before dismissing everything as crazy because the underlying subjects themselves are real. Gain of function research is real. Serial passage research is real. High containment biolabs are real. The Obama administration really did pause certain gain of function funding involving SARS influenza and MERS research in 2014 because even the government acknowledged there were biosafety concerns.

What happened afterward is where the controversy begins.

Research relationships involving EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan Institute of Virology continued particularly involving bat coronaviruses.

That does not automatically prove covid was engineered or intentionally released and it does not prove every internet theory either. But there is a massive difference between saying "this is conclusively proven" and saying "there are enough documented facts here that the topic deserves scrutiny instead of emotional dismissal."

People should actually look into the timeline. Obama era restrictions. EcoHealth funding. Wuhan collaboration. Gain of function debates. Fort Detrick discussions. @grandpapeepap linked this before me and don't be too quick to roll your eyes on this.

Intelligence agencies themselves still do not have a universally agreed conclusion regarding covid origins.

You do not have to believe every conspiracy theory to recognize there were conflicting narratives political incentives censorship pressure funding questions and unresolved issues surrounding both covid policy and origins.

Before rolling your eyes maybe spend some time researching the subject outside of headlines and social media snippets.

I don't know anyone that isn't agnostic about "lab leak", the real issue is the anti vaccine and anti medicine sentiment. We are literally bringing measles back lol.

 

[nakatomi]

I don't know anyone that isn't agnostic about "lab leak", the real issue is the anti vaccine and anti medicine sentiment. We are literally bringing measles back lol.

The irony is this thread started with people talking about preparedness and how quickly society shifts under stress, and somehow that instantly became "tinfoil" territory.

Covid already demonstrated how fragile supply chains, institutions, public trust, and social order can become in a very short period of time. That should have been a wake up call regardless of where someone lands on covid origins.

You do not need to be anti-vaccine or anti-medicine to recognize that preparedness, redundancy, and healthy skepticism toward institutions are rational lessons from the last few years.

 

[shermanatortank]

RE: this idea that "covid came and went" and somehow life is now better than before.

I think that is an extremely narrow way to look at what happened. Covid may not have been total societal collapse but it absolutely exposed how fragile modern systems actually are. Businesses were shut down selectively. Some people were allowed to operate while others were told to absorb the losses. Restaurants got hammered. Small businesses got hammered. Some people abused relief programs too so it wasnt all innocent victims either.

But pretending it was just a temporary inconvenience because "life went on" misses the point entirely. A lot changed permanently after that. Prices went up. Restaurants changed pricing and staffing models. Supply chains got exposed. Trust in institutions collapsed. Schools were disrupted. People watched government effectively pick winners and losers in real time.

Society continuing to function does not mean the event was insignificant. It was a real world stress test and a lot of systems either failed or barely held together. The psychological impact matters too. Covid accelerated political tribalism social isolation distrust anger and institutional fatigue. You can still see the effects everywhere years later.

Most people probably forgot that it was years until shelves were truly fully stocked again. Even in 22-23, there would be random shelf items empty. Covid was definitely an event that gave just a taste of what could happen.

I remember going into the grocery store with my wife as the hysteria started. Laughing as people were grabbing canned green beans, artichoke hearts, anything. Embattled store clerks trying to stock shelves with whatever they had left.

I knew I had supplies to hold us over for a few months if needed. I never had to tap into them, but it's cheap insurance.

 

[Deleted member 16735]

The irony is this thread started with people talking about preparedness and how quickly society shifts under stress, and somehow that instantly became "tinfoil" territory.

Covid already demonstrated how fragile supply chains, institutions, public trust, and social order can become in a very short period of time. That should have been a wake up call regardless of where someone lands on covid origins.

You do not need to be anti-vaccine or anti-medicine to recognize that preparedness, redundancy, and healthy skepticism toward institutions are rational lessons from the last few years.

I actually have the exact opposite reaction from the past five years. I'm an scientist/engineer, I know many many people working in healthcare through the pandemic, the deaths are real, the impact to hospitals and capacity was real. The vaccine was produced in record time and it worked. The government response, regardless of how much fun (or not) you had during lockdown, seemed appropriate with what we knew at the time regarding the impacts to hospitals and also in hindsight considering a million people died. The bipartisan package to bailout companies and people who lost their job was actually surprising and was the right thing to do. Obviously there were negative effects to lockdown but it was likely the right thing in general even if you can nitpick details about it that wrekt as good as they could have been. I think it's only rational to be distrustful of institutions if you lack a science education and believe in a lot of the conspiracy. The source of covid wouldn't change my opinion on any of that. It easy to say what would have been good to do in hindsight but we literally had no hindsight. But yes, definitely exposed a lot of the weakness in infrastructure for goods but a lot of the increase cost was complete BS and just companies taking advantage of demand and a bunch of people sitting at home not burning gas money

 

[nakatomi]

Most people probably forgot that it was years until shelves were truly fully stocked again. Even in 22-23, there would be random shelf items empty. Covid was definitely an event that gave just a taste of what could happen.

I remember going into the grocery store with my wife as the hysteria started. Laughing as people were grabbing canned green beans, artichoke hearts, anything. Embattled store clerks trying to stock shelves with whatever they had left.

I knew I had supllies to hold us over for a few months if needed. I never had to tap into them, but it's cheap inssurance.

Yup that's the part a lot of people miss when they say "see, society didn’t collapse".

Civilization doesn't turn into Mad Max overnight. Even a relatively moderate disruption caused supply shortages, panic buying, staffing issues, inflation, institutional distrust, and exposed how dependent people are on systems they assume will always work normally.

And yes most people remember the toilet paper memes but forget shelves stayed randomly half-stocked for years afterward. Even basic stuff became unreliable for stretches. That was with trucks still moving, electricity still on, internet still working, and the government still functioning.

Covid wasn’t "the collapse" but it was more like a stress test that showed how thin the margins actually are.

 

[nakatomi]

I actually have the exact opposite reaction from the past five years. I'm an scientist/engineer, I know many many people working in healthcare through the pandemic, the deaths are real, the impact to hospitals and capacity was real. The vaccine was produced in record time and it worked. The government response, regardless of how much fun (or not) you had during lockdown, seemed appropriate with what we knew at the time regarding the impacts to hospitals and also in hindsight considering a million people died. The bipartisan package to bailout companies and people who lost their job was actually surprising and was the right thing to do. Obviously there were negative effects to lockdown but it was likely the right thing in general even if you can nitpick details about it that wrekt as good as they could have been. I think it's only rational to be distrustful of institutions if you lack a science education and believe in a lot of the conspiracy. The source of covid wouldn't change my opinion on any of that. It easy to say what would have been good to do in hindsight but we literally had no hindsight. But yes, definitely exposed a lot of the weakness in infrastructure for goods but a lot of the increase cost was complete BS and just companies taking advantage of demand and a bunch of people sitting at home not burning gas money

I don’t think preparedness and trust in science are mutually exclusive.

I have a science/engineering background as well, so I’m not coming at this from an anti-science angle. The deaths were real, hospital strain was real, and vaccines clearly helped.

My takeaway was just different: covid exposed how fragile and interconnected modern systems are. Supply chains, staffing, pricing, public trust, and institutional confidence all got stressed far more quickly than most people expected. Preparedness seems like a rational response to that, not conspiracy thinking.

 

[PlinkyDinky]

Better not to advertise what you have or what you’ll do.

An acquaintance told me that he knew all the LDS/Mormon families on his block and that he'd just steal their food storage if SHTF; he said it in a very "hurr-hurr" manner, but I don't doubt that he really meant it.

I didn't bother telling him that they're 1) probably not the pushovers that he thinks they are, 2) probably armed and willing to act accordingly if he rolls up to try and rob them, and 3) probably willing to share within reason if he were to actually ask nicely.

 

[PlinkyDinky]

Covid wasn’t "the collapse" but it was more like a stress test that showed how thin the margins actually are.

I still can't get over the person who told me that we were gonna be just fine because "we have the supply chain to protect us."

 

[grandpapeepap]

Remember doomsday bunkers usually have an intake/exhaust that one can use to flush out entrenched people

 

[Deleted member 16735]

I don’t think preparedness and trust in science are mutually exclusive.

I have a science/engineering background as well, so I’m not coming at this from an anti-science angle. The deaths were real, hospital strain was real, and vaccines clearly helped.

My takeaway was just different: covid exposed how fragile and interconnected modern systems are. Supply chains, staffing, pricing, public trust, and institutional confidence all got stressed far more quickly than most people expected. Preparedness seems like a rational response to that, not conspiracy thinking.

I agree with that. A lot of the weakness in supply chains is because of markets. Markets price goods by supply before demand so they can't produce extra and stockpile or it will be called price fixing. But covid pulled in both directions. There was initially delays in shipping good but over time there was also increased demand because people were sitting at home spending money on goods rather than vacations and gas. For a great example of the absurdity of markets, Texas produces much more oil than it consumes and yet the price still has nearly doubled there due to Iran. What you find is during these times of crisis that companies are "forced" to change more yet somehow come away with record profit.

 

[PlinkyDinky]

Remember doomsday bunkers usually have an intake/exhaust that one can use to flush out entrenched people

I, too, have seen The Dirty Dozen!

 

[grandpapeepap]

I, too, have seen The Dirty Dozen!

extra points if you chain the door closed so they cant get out

 

[lopez1171]

Reminds me. I have to get with my buddy about a new meet location if need be. Things have changed since last time.

 

[Gawernator]

RE: this idea that "covid came and went" and somehow life is now better than before.

I think that is an extremely narrow way to look at what happened. Covid may not have been total societal collapse but it absolutely exposed how fragile modern systems actually are. Businesses were shut down selectively. Some people were allowed to operate while others were told to absorb the losses. Restaurants got hammered. Small businesses got hammered. Some people abused relief programs too so it wasnt all innocent victims either.

But pretending it was just a temporary inconvenience because "life went on" misses the point entirely. A lot changed permanently after that. Prices went up. Restaurants changed pricing and staffing models. Supply chains got exposed. Trust in institutions collapsed. Schools were disrupted. People watched government effectively pick winners and losers in real time.

Society continuing to function does not mean the event was insignificant. It was a real world stress test and a lot of systems either failed or barely held together. The psychological impact matters too. Covid accelerated political tribalism social isolation distrust anger and institutional fatigue. You can still see the effects everywhere years later.

Is this AI? Very chatgpt sounding with the freshman English major style

Yeah, it exposed the obvious: people are NPC's and dumb.

In reality, COVID barely affected healthy people at all. Many didn't even have symptoms from exposure. All the disruption was for nothing. It was just a Chinese lab experiment. It also showed the power of MSM propaganda. People were denying the facts for years.

 

[grandpapeepap]

 

[nakatomi]

Is this AI? Very chatgpt sounding with the freshman English major style

Yeah, it exposed the obvious: people are NPC's and dumb.

In reality, COVID barely affected healthy people at all. Many didn't even have symptoms from exposure. All the disruption was for nothing. It was just a Chinese lab experiment. It also showed the power of MSM propaganda. People were denying the facts for years.

LOL you are fake. I did well on the SATs and school so thanks?

"COVID came and went" is exactly the mindset being criticized. That’s not "SHTF fantasy" it’s literally what happened in real time.

 

[Gawernator]

LOL you are fake. I did well on the SATs and school so thanks?

"COVID came and went" is exactly the mindset being criticized. That’s not "SHTF fantasy" it’s literally what happened in real time.

The lady doth protest too much, methinks?

COVID did come and go. The outdoor mask wearers are openly and brutally mocked by anyone under 35. Nothing ever happens (tm)

 

[grandpapeepap]

He protests too much like someone that would bring up their security clearance right

 

[Gawernator]

He protests too much like someone that would bring up their security clearance right

I don't have a clearance, if you mean me. ? wat
You shadowboxing again bro