What's going on - (1-6-11)

[Bearman202]

A friend told me he went to the store tonight to buy a loaf of bread and ended up walking out prepared for WWIII. This is not a guy who is on board with the preparedness stuff at all. I have been pecking away for about eight months now, but I'm feeling an urgency about getting my stuff together. Is anybody else getting that? I know there is always the chance of the economy going away, a solar storm, etc., but this feels like something I can't define, and it's bugging me. Basically, I'm wondering if anyone else is getting that same sense of urgency, and if so, if they know what causing it.

[Monel]

I know where you are coming from. It's easy to focus on this stuff too much and get paranoid a bit. Things look bad all over but you still have to keep it together.

[HLorfing]

Bearman202...I am feelings this too. maybe i am a bit paranoid but it seems the more i research the economy the more I am getting scared. I do mean to use the word scared here. I have not been doing this long, only the last two months or so, but i feel this overwhelming sense to hurry and get this done. surely a sense of urgency. happy to see i am not the only one. I have started making plans, in addition to many other things, to be able to get on the net in case TSHTF. you guys and the net in general are a HUGE source of great info. hope we have time to get things together. i am going this morning to borrow a tiller to get started on the backyard, hopefully get the big things headed in the right direction. hope like heck we are wrong

[monkeybird]

I've had those feelings frequently. Mine come and go. I do think we're in dire circumstances, both domestically and internationally. We live in a dangerous world. When one of those urgent feelings happens, I just keep prepping and eventually I feel better.

What is worse is when you hear all the 'good' news about how much the economy is improving etc, etc, I wonder if I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill!

[Lowdown3]

Well, not much will change for us going into the new year. We will keep plugging away and putting away towards our plans.

Short term I think the only thing that will majorly affect most of us will be fuel prices. We will be rotating some fuel from a couple years ago but will try to hold out to at least $2.75 to refill if that's possible.

The hit at the gaspumps can't be avoided and could cause a bigger thing than we realize. A lot of families are just making it now. Add in $30. or so extra dollars a week to keep the family truckster filled and the situation could get dire.

[godisnum1]

I've definitely felt that same sense of urgency... and it's had next to nothing to do with the survival forums I visit & read. I've kept up with all the natural disasters that's taken place over the last year and a half or so, along with other related things such as all the animals dying off since New Years. Ever since these thoughts have started, I read & studied as much as I could to make sure I have the wisdom & knowledge to sustain myself and those I care about should something happen. I've slowly added gear & prep items along the way as well. Since finding several survival & prepping forums, I've struggled with being afraid somehow letting me believe that my gear will keep me safe. But the more I progress, the more I find comfort in the realization that my faith in Jesus Christ and the knowledge & wisdom I've attained is more than enough to keep me safe. If I have my gear, then all the better... but if I do not, I'll be ok.

I've talked to some of my Christian friends about everything that's going on and many of them say they believe they know "something" is happening and we're on the cusp of something big that's about to take place. There are many similarities in the book of Revelation in the Bible that seems to correlate with what's taking place, but I won't be foolish enough to say that's exactly what's happening (as many theologians will make and have made this mistake) Some others have said that "something big" has been coming "for a long time" (in a mocking tone). All I can say is that it appears that the eyes of some people have been opened or will be opened, while others are more comfortable turning their heads and closing their eyes to what's going on around them.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that you're not the only one feeling like this...

Bran <><

[Triple-sod]

It’s the same over here in the UK,

Economically: I think a lot of people expected the recession to be over a long time ago, yet you walk around my home town and 8-12 shops are still standing empty. After the coal mines closed in the 80’s-90’s a lot of the men went got into the construction industry, and with the housing boom they were doing well for themselves but now they have to scrape by on what they can find.

Politically: There calling it the ‘con-dem nation’, no one is happy with the way the government is taking things. When Tony Blair got elected in 1997, on the ‘new labour’ ticket most people were happy. Those on the left were glad to see their side ‘back in power’ even if the party had gone away from its socialist roots, those on the right were happy because at least the party was no longer avowedly socialist, and that suited those in the middle too. The Conservative/Liberal Democrat government that gained power in 2010 seems to be representing no one’s interests. I mean a few years ago it would be unthinkable, that a right wing tabloid like the daily mail would be running negative stories about a conservative lead coalition less than a year after they entered office.

The Weather: This has been an issue for some time, since around 2007 we have seen severe flooding somewhere in the country every year. Back in December we had the heaviest snowfall for years which caused massive disruptions. You saw shops with bare shelves, due to ‘panic buying’.

We also had quite a few riots and protests with the students taking to the streets over the rise in tuition fees, before that there was all that business with the English Defence League, the Muslims and ‘anti-fascists’.

[ibetiny]

I'm with ya brother. I think as your preps expand and you meet more like minded people you will feel a little better. I too feel like there is something over my shoulder all the time but as I first got some food stored and most basic supplies gathered I started to feel much better about things. I cannot control the economy, or 2012, or snowstorms, however, I CAN control my household and as long as I know that I tried my best to prepare for hard times then there is nothing else I can do except put it in gods hands. Look at it this way, you now have several more friends you can count on when things get rough.

[godisnum1]

I'm with ya brother. I think as your preps expand and you meet more like minded people you will feel a little better. I too feel like there is something over my shoulder all the time but as I first got some food stored and most basic supplies gathered I started to feel much better about things. I cannot control the economy, or 2012, or snowstorms, however, I CAN control my household and as long as I know that I tried my best to prepare for hard times then there is nothing else I can do except put it in gods hands. Look at it this way, you now have several more friends you can count on when things get rough.

Absolutely! :)

Bran <><

[arcangel911]

Since I am newer, I also feel the urge... but I also forsee that this may be a few years before a "Financial Collapse". As far the US goes, we are mirroring the same pattern as several great nations before us. (Please note, I am not a historian, but this is what I have learned and come to notice...)

More recently, Russia whose history is a ghostly duplicated of our own... Over popluation, out of control spending, wars in Afganistan, food issues, Chernoybl ( BP out in the Gulf ring any alarms???), government who isn't exactly true to it's people... and after several years of "everything is ok" it all fell down. Took them several years to rebuild.

[Triple-sod]

Since I am newer, I also feel the urge... but I also forsee that this may be a few years before a "Financial Collapse". As far the US goes, we are mirroring the same pattern as several great nations before us. (Please note, I am not a historian, but this is what I have learned and come to notice...)

More recently, Russia whose history is a ghostly duplicated of our own... Over popluation, out of control spending, wars in Afganistan, food issues, Chernoybl ( BP out in the Gulf ring any alarms???), government who isn't exactly true to it's people... and after several years of "everything is ok" it all fell down. Took them several years to rebuild.

I totally agree with you about Russia mate. but to be honest, I wouldn't say it has rebuilt, it is still one seriously messed up country....

[biathlon]

I'm Jewish but have many Christian friends and they ALL tell me what will be the final sign is when fedgovcoinc decides we all have to have some sort of chip or tattoo that they call "The mark of the beast" in order to buy or sell anything.

Yeah, there's a renewed sense of urgency to my planning and preperations. $4.50 for a loaf of bread that sold for 2.21 last year, $4.97 for a bag of dried soup that sold for $2.35 last year, record numbers of US citizens on food stamps, as far as I'm concerned the economic catastrophe has already begun and it's only a matter of time before the real social catastrophe happens.

[arcangel911]

Triple Sod- You are correct, perhaps "Rebuilt" is too strong a word. But they are functioning again after poverty, famine and other serious chaos...

( I did like how the Russian's, when in the time of their collapse, ended up returning to the country areas due to food shortages. Shows me what is too come. Also, Russia had 40% of their populace growing food and raising food for the 60% in the city. To that I applaud them, and then look at how only 3-8% of the US population grows our food, which makes me concerned.)

But all in all, I have to agree that my prepping has begun to get a quickened pace, I am not sure what it is, call it a six sense or and angel on the shoulder pointing me in a direction I don't know... all I know is I better pay attention.

[WiseOwl]

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/209944

I hope most of this in untrue. I really dont believe anything unless I see it but dangit this is just too much coincedence

[Triple-sod]

Triple Sod- You are correct, perhaps "Rebuilt" is too strong a word. But they are functioning again after poverty, famine and other serious chaos...

Oh yeah, I take your point it is a functioning country and perhaps in a few years they will be doing relatively better than people in the U.S and Europe.

Very strange country though, I remember a couple of years ago there was a big football game over there and England being England a few thousand fans flew out to watch it. One piece of advice they were given was that if cops over there started accusing them of anything, the best thing to do would be to ask if you could pay an on the spot ‘fine’.....

( I did like how the Russian's, when in the time of their collapse, ended up returning to the country areas due to food shortages. Shows me what is too come. Also, Russia had 40% of their populace growing food and raising food for the 60% in the city. To that I applaud them, and then look at how only 3-8% of the US population grows our food, which makes me concerned.)

Not just that, how many of that 3-8% (I dread to think what the figures are in the UK) are commercial farmers? That whole modern system of farming is totally reliant on diesel fuel and chemical fertilizers.