Trev: Surprised to see this thread on TBN. Suggest you don't think too much about it. You don't want to know what it would really be like. Ranchman has it right. It would be nasty. The entire economic system of production & distribution is based on a system of monetized debt, i.e. the money you use came into being as debt and can never be paid back. When that collapses, and it will, it will be nasty, triggered by [you fill in the blank]. I see posts suggesting saving water, canned goods etc. Do that if it makes you feel better. You don't need water, a jug of bleach will do the same thing (or, silver ion filters). Bob DePugh was on the FBI most wanted for years until he turned himself in-dry dog food is cheap and well balanced says he. Trev, you don't want to know. In Petrograd 60 years ago they ate people-human flesh was a valuable commodity after the horses and rats were gone. How long will the hunting for game last with hordes fleeing the cities? Days at most. Trev, you don't want to know. If there is still a government around they will be grabbing everybodies stuff who had the foresite to prepare. You don't want to know. If you really want to get a sense of what you would need to prepare for, try renting the movie Boy & His Dog. Or read Pournelle's Lucifer's Hammer, or Wydom's Day of the Triffids, or, Brunner's The Sheep Look Up, or, Christopher's excellent No Blade of Grass. If you want a picture of a deliberate destruction of the economic system read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. But, Trev, you don't want to know. Preparing for a few days of power outage is simple. But "contingency planning" for any sort of real breakdown is another ball game, and, you don't want to know. Enjoy your tractor, your family, your life and don't think too much about what is coming. Just hope it's after you're gone. If I may paraphrase Mr. Freud, the purpose of life is to maximize your yield of pleasure while minimizing the cost in pain. JEH
