Urban Survival Planning - Getting your Relatives and Friends to Prepare

I have wrote on this site many times about the likelihood of all of us Survival Preppers having to deal with straphangers at some point in time after the collapse. Some of these straphangers will be relatives,...some will be friends,...some will just be acquaintances,...and other will be strangers. I would say that most of us are going to take in without question any of our relatives and close friends. I think that as much as we plan in our heads and prepare on the ground to receive, assess, absorb or turn away strangers,...it will be much different than we plan for.

But for now I want to talk to our family and friends. How nice would it be that everyone we know was as prepared as we are. Well that just ain't going to happen for a variety of reasons,...religious, financial and political beliefs and practices will get in the way. For some it just may be the creeping entitlement mindset that Americans have been given in increasingly larger doses over the past decades.

In any event, a lot of your family and friends,...I would think the vast majority of them, simply have not considered a collapse of any kind and what it would take to survive.

So what do you do? Have a sit down talk about the virtues of preparedness? Probably not. This is a two edged sword - you are exposing yourself and the fact that you are most likely prepared. If these people don't prepare at all they'll be knocking on your door.

Better to use the "drip" concept. Maybe your having a conversation with your someone, and a news report on a disaster comes up. You say "I wonder if those families in that area have stockpiled food and water?". Your relative say's "Why would you say that?" You reply: "Well, it just seems like a good idea, having some food put away and generally being prepared if you live in a disaster area.
If you friend of relative looks at you like you have two heads - then cross them off the list.

On the other hand you can always send a massive e-mail out to all your friends and family in the local commuting distance and declare yourself to be a survivalist stocking guns, ammunition, gear, food, water, medical supplies and you won't be receiving any visitors after the collapse unless they are similar prepared or can contribute to the survival team they will be joining. If you do this, you will probably be removed from several Christmas card lists.

I having lunch with several, lets call them "mid level managers" where I work. The topic of the Television Survival guys came up. Then the topic shifted to surviving in a city during a period of anarchy. One of the guys said "You know, I've been hearing on the radio and television about Food Insurance and all this talk about buying Gold." I replied "Sure, since all the mainstream analysts are predicting an economic collapse, people are getting ready."

This same guys then asks: "Getting ready for what?" I reply: "Since this economy is going to collapse,...probably preceded by massive hyper inflation,.....since most people only have three to five days food supply,...no cash on hand or means of payment such as silver or gold,....and since grocery stores would be overwhelmed by mobs during any collapse significant enough to impede commodities shipments or the real probability of hyper inflation which would create large groups of people who could not afford food,...since all this is not only possible by probable, it makes good sense to have some food, water and means for protection on hand."

This guy kinda chuckles then say's "Do you have food stocked for a collapse?" I said "Of course I do,..don't you? If you don't then it's something to think about. Maybe buying some silver as well." This guy then say's with a laugh "Well, I guess I know where to go." And I end the conversation saying, "Sure, just don't come empty handed."

Anybody out there having a hard time strategizing about how to approach their friends and relatives?

Urban Survival - USA FEMA Camps Controversy Is Still Around

I received three e-mails the past couple weeks on the notion of "FEMA Concentration Camps". Since in four months past, I did not get any comments or queries on these, I thought there may be some new information on the internet information or disinformation sites. While I did not spend a great deal of time looking into these, I did not find anything new,...no smoking gun,....nothing but old information.

What caused a stir on "FEMA Concentration Camps" was the initial attempt by Glenn Beck to de-bunk these camps. When Glenn Beck couldn't initially de-bunk these claims - that caused a stir,..."Oh My God, it must be true,..the Government is planning on putting us in concentration camps!!

Okay, lets hold on. Review the video below, showing one side, then go to the following websites, where Fox News, Glenn Beck and Popular Mechanics debunk the claim of FEMA planning and building camps to detain Americans in.

I do not believe the claim that there are detention camps being built for the explict purpose of detaining Americans. I know that FEMA has planned refugee camps in order to house Americans displaced from natural disasters ot other emergencies. Can these camps be used to forceably detain Americans? Of course they could be. Is there a nefarious government plan to incarcerate Americans for any reason? Probably so as the Government and especially the Military plans and develops Operational Plans for all contingencies. I would be surprised if the Government did not have a OPLAN on the books on how to deal with large groups of citizens disaffected by pandemics, nuclear strikes, large scale disasters and such.

However, is this plan specifically oriented towards detaining Americans under insurrection or martial law? I don't think so, but the distinction of what the reason is really doesn't matter as long as the plan, facilities and material are in place.

Anyway, I promised a couple readers to respond, but I wanted to thread the needle,....not inciting those who believe the worst about our Government, nor witness on the other side of the coin. Everybody needs to make up their own mind. And the bottom line is just how does this change the need or your individual plan on preparing for the coming collapse? Not much I guess.

Glenn Beck interview on Fox News on the FEMA Camps:



Other websites for both sides of the story:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rep/fema-camps-jesse-ventura.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,513024,00.html

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/23671/

Reader Response on Military Set to Intervene on the Coming Food Crisis

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com received the following anonymous comment on the post Food Riots Possible - Military Prepared to Intervene......"I do expect the problems to get worse and surely food will be one of those problems. As tempting as it is to jump on the bandwagon here I just don't buy this story. The funny thing is that I don't think Obama is really as smart as he thinks he is and therefore I doubt he has a clue about food problems. When and if that happens Obama and his administration will be caught flat-footed and will in all likelihood blame it all on something Rush or Beck said on air."

UrbanMan replies: 10-4 on Obama and his cabinent, legitmately appointed and confirmed by congress and the others (the Czars) all not being smart enough to get us out of this mess....but I think we are at the point that there is nothing the Administration nor Congress can do. The collapse WILL hit, the only questions are how soon and how bad; will it be influenced by other incidents such as war (possibly with Iran or North Korea, or wars between two non U.S. actors); or a calamity inflicted upon the U.S. like a pandemic or a terrorist attack - physical or otherwise like a cyber attack on the banking system.

side note: As I write this Gen. (ret) Colin Powell who was also former Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, was on T.V. saying the economy was getting better.....well, I guess he skipped Economic AND History at West Point.

The post on Food Riots Possible - Military Prepared to Intervene was intended to get people to think how they can mitigate the coming food shortage, riots by the hungry and possible homeless hundreds of thousands, and living in a military controlled environment. The military is prepared to act in side the United States in peacekeeping, population control, anti-riot roles with law enforcement powers. Go check the "Insurrection Act."

The military, including the National Guard, Reserves and Active Duty components are much too small to effect the control that will be necessary upon the large scale food riots and resulting problems across the U.S.

So what do we do? Well, the safest thing is to re-locate to a small population density area that is agricultural in nature, AND, prepare for shipment of food stuffs and other commodities to stop. However, that is just not possible for most of us. We have need our jobs and our lives entrenched where we are. SO, it all boils down to the basics,.....food, water, shelter, protection,...and a plan.

I was asked the other day just how much food stocked was necessary. My answer was as much as you can afford and physically stock. I don't think anybody can say "stock six months", or "stock 12 months supply". I do think the first objective would be to stock food to take you from late summer through the next harvest season which would be around nine months in most locales. But nine months does not take into consideration what if you can't grow enough food? What happens if commodities trade does not grow enough to provide the critical levels to survive?

All the food, water, and firearms won't be enough if you live in a riot infested and hence government targeted area. The government and it's principal actors, the military, is not going to be surgical in their application of control. I envision a confiscation and re-location program particularly in the denser populated areas to be necessary for government control to be effective.

Here's where your plan is necessary. You simply have to have a plan, preferably with contingencies (remember the PACE planning?), where you have a safe place to Bug Out to. This may be a rendezvous (aka RV or rally point) where other like minded people and families will meet you,...it may be a place where you have done some level of preparation on, such as pre-position of supplies and caches. It has to be defensible to some degree and have water accessible. And you have to execute that plan before you are caught up in military operations ordered by the Government to control the hungry masses before anarchy reaches critical mass.

Urban Survival Planning - Collapse Indicators: The Daily Crux

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com is now a fan of The Daily Crux by Porter Stansberry as he provides good insight into how the World economy and geo-political events will affect the United States through his site, The Daily Crux.

A couple of post headlines and orientation from each, from his website are posted below. You can go to his site to read the complete article. The take home lesson here is that Stansberry's Daily Crux is an essential information provider for us to format our own conclusions and indicators of the coming collapse. If I was you, I would bookmark it and refer back to it as often as you can, even several times a day.

Porter Stansberry: You must prepare for a crisis NOW
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The collapse of the euro will cause all kinds of big problems this year and almost surely lead to a huge correction in commodities. Does that mean the U.S. dollar's problems are just a mirage? Nope. Sooner or later the U.S. will face a stark choice...
If we let the euro fail, it will result in terrible short-term consequences. So the Fed will crank up the presses yet again. Quantitative easing 3 will be another $1 trillion effort, this time focused on buying European sovereign debt. The Fed must become the lender of last resort not only for the U.S. , but for the world. That's the last step before its eventual collapse. After that point, people will no longer flee to Treasurys (Treasury Bonds) when a crisis erupts. They will flee to gold.

These "nightmare scenarios" could plunge the world into a new crisis
Thursday, January 20, 2011
What could cause an economic collapse in 2011? Well, unfortunately there are quite a few "nightmare scenarios" that could plunge the entire globe into another massive financial crisis.
The United States, Japan, and most of the nations in Europe are absolutely drowning in debt. The Federal Reserve continues to play reckless games with the U.S. dollar. The price of oil is skyrocketing and the global price of food just hit a new record high. Food riots are already breaking out all over the world. Meanwhile, the rampant fraud and corruption going on in world financial markets is starting to be exposed and the whole house of cards could come crashing down at any time.
... So we had all better be getting prepared for hard times. The following are 12 economic collapse scenarios that we could potentially see in 2011...

#1 U.S. debt could become a massive crisis at any moment.

#2 Speaking of threats to the global financial system, it turns out that "quantitative easing 2" has had the exact opposite effect that Ben Bernanke planned for it to have.

#3 The debt bubble that the entire global economy is based on could burst at any time and throw the whole planet into chaos.

#4 As the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve continue to pump massive amounts of new dollars into the system, the floor could fall out from underneath the U.S. dollar at any time.

#5 One of the primary drivers of global inflation during 2011 could be the price of oil. A large number of economists are now projecting that the price of oil could surge well past $100 dollars a barrel in 2011.

#6 Food inflation, massive food riots in various spots in the World; what is going to happen if global food prices go up another 10 or 20 percent and food riots spread literally all over the globe during 2011?

#7 There are rumors that simply will not go away of massive physical gold and silver shortages. Demand for precious metals has never been higher.

#8 The U.S. housing industry could plunge the U.S. economy into another recession at any time. Record low new houses and massive foreclosures scheduled.

#9 A combination of extreme weather and disease could make this an absolutely brutal year for U.S. farmers. A winter of new cold weather and snowfall records set across the United States .

#10 The municipal bond crisis could go "supernova" at any time. Already, investors are bailing out of bonds at a frightening pace. State and local government debt is now sitting at an all-time high.

#11 The quadrillion dollar derivatives bubble could burst at any time.

#12 The biggest wildcard of all is war. The Korean peninsula came closer to war in 2010 than it had in decades. The Middle East could literally explode at any time.

Mayors of major U.S. cities say defaults are certain
Thursday, January 20, 2011
The mayors of Los Angeles and Chicago said the financial strains still weighing on local governments in the wake of the recession may cause cities to default on their bonds.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat, said municipalities are being squeezed as states move to balance their own budgets, a step that can involve taking more funds that would otherwise be sent to towns and cities.
"There's no question you'll see some cities in default," Villaraigosa told reporters today at a press conference in Washington , where the U.S. Conference of Mayors is meeting. "The difference between us and the federal government is they can print money.

America 's "day of reckoning" has arrived
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Call it a Day of Reckoning or a Point of No Return. Either way, it has arrived. Cities and states are in forced cutback mode except for Illinois , which managed to kick the can down the road with massive increases in taxes.

A huge threat to your freedom is gathering strength (WARNING: extremely controversial post)
Friday, January 14, 2011
"What is government if words have no meaning?"
Jared Loughner reportedly posed that question to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords at a forum two years ago. Perhaps unwittingly, Loughner answered that question himself by murdering six people and attempting to murder fourteen others, including Giffords. In doing so, the young nihilist effectively privatized government's central function.
Shorn of the sophistries that provide it with a moral disguise, pared down to its essentials, political government is the systematic use of exactly the same kind of criminal violence employed by Loughner, only on a much grander scale. This was illustrated the day before Loughner's murderous rampage, when agents of the government ruling us used a remote-controlled drone operated from the safety of an office building in Nevada to murder six people in Pakistan 's North Waziristan region.

Americans were not admonished to observe a moment of chastened silence in memory of the victims of that exercise in criminal violence. This is, in part, because observances of that kind would quickly become tedious: Since 2008, Pakistan – a country with which the government ruling us is not formally at war – has endured at least 250 drone attacks, in which roughly 1,400 people have been killed.

According to the most conservative estimate of "collateral damage," only a tithe of those slaughtered through drone strikes are "militants."

Hundreds of civilians have likewise been massacred in the ongoing "surge" in Afghanistan , many of them in nighttime raids by "Special Operations Forces" – that is, death squads – whose behavior is not easily distinguishable from that of Jared Loughner. At least a hundred thousand civilians have been annihilated in the continuing war in Iraq , which was inaugurated for reasons just as delusional as anything that percolated in Loughner's distressed mind.

For those who worship at the altar of the omnipotent State, mass murder of this kind is an exercise in sanctified violence. In a 2009 interview with Foreign Policy magazine, Bill Clinton – who has repeatedly denounced "anti-government" speech as a form of criminal sedition – defined terrorism as "killing and robbery and coercion by people who do not have state authority." (Emphasis added.) What this means, of course, is that "killing and robbery and coercion" by duly authorized agents of the State isn't terrorism,…it’s policy.