OT: Too Much or Pragmatic?

[horshack.sixpack]

I just found out that a co-worker is going to part time. He's in a very in demand field that pays well. His wife will continue to work full time. His state reasons for doing so are that the country is heading south, the dollar may not be worth anything anyway and that is what he has been working full time to earn and he wants to spend most of his time at home to learn how to grow enough food to feed his family when it all goes to pot.

He is a consumer of far right conspiracies, but I was surprised by this. I guess that at some point the world could get back to a point that you grow it or kill it yourself or don't eat, but I didn't have that on my near term horizon. I figured the Pack would have all the right answers, so here I am. Seriously, this is a pretty good cross section of society on SPS. I'm curious as to what you think.

Except @paindonthurt, he'd just shoot it, whatever it is.***

 

[aTotal360]

Only time will tell.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Only time will tell.

I just need to know if I should be getting a 2014 Hyundai Tuscon. According to TWD, those things run forever and don't need any gas.

 

[FQDawg]

Learning to grow your own food is fine and, sure, could be a useful skill in the unlikely event of complete societal collapse. I don't know that I would give up a full-time job to learn how to do it. Seems like something you could learn about in your free time.

 

[ckDOG]

Really depends on what risk he's prepping for. I've considered what might happen during a chaotic global economic collapse/zombie apocalypse. I think I'd rather just meet my maker after the chaos that would follow than live isolated in a hole in the woods and deal with all the stress preparing for, enduring it, and dealing with the fall out (assuming I were to survive). I'm not arrogant enough think my individual survival is key to the human race or that I could fight off millions of desperate scavengers looking for food. There's no realistic way to arm yourself well enough to defend against a hungry mob. You are going to succumb to it one way or another. And that being the case, if your intent is to survive, your odds are likely better at being a better/more clever scavenger than an effective hoarder/defender. Numbers are not in your favor.

That said - it is smart to think about adapting during stressful time. We've all enjoyed a century of comfort relatively speaking. His family sounds better set up to comfortably handle something like a Great Depression or similar. If that's a risk he wants to mitigate, more power to him.

 

[YesIAmAPirate]

How many and what kind of chickens will he be raising?

 

[CochiseCowbell]

Learning to grow your own food is fine and, sure, could be a useful skill in the unlikely event of complete societal collapse. I don't know that I would give up a full-time job to learn how to do it. Seems like something you could learn about in your free time.

Perhaps he's learning everything, i.e. smelting, blacksmithing, etc. If you think a collapse will set the entire world back 8000 years.

 

[dorndawg]

I guess the doomsdayers might eventually be right but so far civilized society is kicking their asses.

List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[horshack.sixpack]

I guess the doomsdayers might eventually be right so far civilized society is kicking their asses.

List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I do recall that earth was going to run out of food sometime in the mid 70's. Seems that to date technology/R&D is able to outpace predicted resource constraints.

 

[mstateglfr]

Specialization is one of the major changes in our existence that allowed us to flourish in most every measurable way- financial, health, production, societal economy, education, etc etc.

Some rando in a specialized field that is in high demand who goes to part time so he can learn to grow food is really missing the mark, at least when it comes to maximizing resources.
If that is what he wants, cool, I guess.

Itd be less crazy and more justifiable(from a specialization perspective) if he just said he wanted to spend more time with his family. Specialization has created more time for us all, but it is largely wasted(opinion) so him using the time he has built up due to his specialized skills to focus on family would be a way of maximizing his time out of the office.
Growing a tomato? 17 that- those things grow most anywhere even if you do almost nothing. That doesnt require dropping down to half-time.




The desire to be in the know is really dangerous. It leads desperate people down some really dumb and dangerous paths.

 

[CochiseCowbell]

I guess the doomsdayers might eventually be right but so far civilized society is kicking their asses.

List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Florida has been predicted to be underwater in the next 10 years for 60 years.

 

[Dawgbite]

If he's financially able to work part time and live doing something he enjoys or at least feels that is more important to him and his family, more power to him. i retired at 57 and my wife retired at 55 because we were absolutely fed up with the corporate BS. We both do a little part time consulting work but it's very minimal. We could have both worked 10 more years but we decided living was more important than making a living.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Florida has been predicted to be underwater in the next 10 years for 60 years.

I'm going down there to check on it later this week, I hope. I'll report from the beach and let you know how different it looks from last year.

 

[WrapItDog]

he wants to spend most of his time at home to learn how to grow enough food to feed his family when it all goes to pot.

I would learn how to make gun powder, bullets, and booze.

 

[johnson86-1]

I just found out that a co-worker is going to part time. He's in a very in demand field that pays well. His wife will continue to work full time. His state reasons for doing so are that the country is heading south, the dollar may not be worth anything anyway and that is what he has been working full time to earn and he wants to spend most of his time at home to learn how to grow enough food to feed his family when it all goes to pot.

He is a consumer of far right conspiracies, but I was surprised by this. I guess that at some point the world could get back to a point that you grow it or kill it yourself or don't eat, but I didn't have that on my near term horizon. I figured the Pack would have all the right answers, so here I am. Seriously, this is a pretty good cross section of society on SPS. I'm curious as to what you think.

Except @paindonthurt, he'd just shoot it, whatever it is.***

If he's making good money and is worried about collapse, guns, ammunition, and some MREs seem like a better investment. Throw in some seeds and he can at least have something to plant if stuff really goes to **** and some time to learn how to do it (although I'd probably just take the guns and resort to cannabalism myself; farming without modern equipment looks like harder work).

But if he enjoys piddling and growing food in his own right and wants to spend less time working, to each his own.

I am pretty concerned about what happens when the US has essentially a sovereign default (which seems basically inevitable with current politics unless AI reaches a singularity), but I can't pretend to predict whether it's going to go to chaos or just look like a severe economic downturn. I also don't see any reason to think it's going to happen in the next 30 years rather than 60. Obviously there is social security and medicare coming to a head, but we could limp around for a long time before people decide we're no longer a safe place to store money (or it could be not that long, with the whole going broke gradually, then suddenly dynamic).

If I had $5M more dollars, I probably wouldn't do much different than I'm doing now. If I had $10M more dollars, I'd probably by 30 to 50 acres reasonably nearby and clear a few acreas towards center of it, put a small cabin and stock a pond on it and hunt and fish occasionally. If I had $100M more dollars, I'd possibly be looking at buying a small warm weather island and putting some solar and battery infrastructure on it (not sure how expensive that'd be and whether it would take up too much money) and a plane I could fly to get there and probably a small sailboat to keep down there. But all that is stuff I'd sort of like anyway. I certainly wouldn't quit a job to go grow food just in case unless I just loved gardening anyway.

 

[DoggieDaddy13]

If I had a 100 billion dollars, I'd buy social media platforms and build some big rockets.

And I'd buy some lawyers and lobbyists to make sure I could keep doing whatever the 17 I wanted to.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

 

[Pilgrimdawg]

Use that full time paycheck to buy more ammo. You can eat very well on deer, squirrels, rabbits, etc. Black birds and Robins if necessary taste a lot like doves. The river is full of catfish. A country boy can survive. Then if everything really goes south and turns nasty you will still be better prepared than most. Hopefully that never happens. Always prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

I just need to know if I should be getting a 2014 Hyundai Tuscon. According to TWD, those things run forever and don't need any gas.

Dune buggy. Afix a sail.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

I vaguely remember, a long time ago, a virus we paid our government to grow was released and it didn’t matter how much money you had. Shelves were bare. Money don’t mean a damn thing if there’s nothing to buy. Since then, money devaluation has increased 30%-ish. And no spending cuts in sight.

I believe at some point in my lifetime a barter system will be part of the purge this shitthole society is overdue for.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

I vaguely remember, a long time ago, a virus we paid our government to grow was released and it didn’t matter how much money you had. Shelves were bare. Money don’t mean a damn thing if there’s nothing to buy. Since then, money devaluation has increased 30%-ish. And no spending cuts in sight.

I believe at some point in my lifetime a barter system will be part of the purge this shitthole society is overdue for.

holy tin foil hat! I did not expect someone seriously suggesting our government grew a virus. I mean I think that Trump surely mishandled the virus, but never thought he grew it and certainly he greatly increased national debt in 4 years far beyond what even Obama did in 8 years, but still I wouldn't blame any one administration for the US ills we have seen/are seeing. It's a combined effort to govern this badly, which is about all the two parties have in common these days.

 

[ronpolk]

I can hunt and fish pretty good and enjoy doing it. But I (and I think most everyone) would be 17d in a doomsday scenario. Your co worker sounds crazy.

 

[Dawgbite]

Buddy of mine is a pretty big prepper. Lots of guns, stockpiles of ammo, barrels of water, and probably six months of food. He was pretty discrete about it but he was proud to show his stash to friends. He was all the time telling me I needed to buy this and stockpile that. He asked me one day why I wasn’t preparing, I told him that I was prepared, I knew what time he went to the mailbox every day.

 

[turkish]

I just found out that a co-worker is going to part time. He's in a very in demand field that pays well. His wife will continue to work full time. His state reasons for doing so are that the country is heading south, the dollar may not be worth anything anyway and that is what he has been working full time to earn and he wants to spend most of his time at home to learn how to grow enough food to feed his family when it all goes to pot.

He is a consumer of far right conspiracies, but I was surprised by this. I guess that at some point the world could get back to a point that you grow it or kill it yourself or don't eat, but I didn't have that on my near term horizon. I figured the Pack would have all the right answers, so here I am. Seriously, this is a pretty good cross section of society on SPS. I'm curious as to what you think.

Except @paindonthurt, he'd just shoot it, whatever it is.***

As long as he’s being financially responsible to the point he’s not putting his family at risk, I can’t see a single downside. Do you?

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

I vaguely remember, a long time ago, a virus we paid our government to grow was released and it didn’t matter how much money you had. Shelves were bare. Money don’t mean a damn thing if there’s nothing to buy. Since then, money devaluation has increased 30%-ish. And no spending cuts in sight.

I believe at some point in my lifetime a barter system will be part of the purge this shitthole society is overdue for.

They're not giving much attention to these problems in the future, yet they are our biggest obstacles. That includes viruses.

 

[MSUGUY]

He sounds lazy(smart actually) to me and wants to sit at home while the wife works full time. Prepping is a part time after hours occupation or hobby.

 

[paindonthurt]

I just found out that a co-worker is going to part time. He's in a very in demand field that pays well. His wife will continue to work full time. His state reasons for doing so are that the country is heading south, the dollar may not be worth anything anyway and that is what he has been working full time to earn and he wants to spend most of his time at home to learn how to grow enough food to feed his family when it all goes to pot.

He is a consumer of far right conspiracies, but I was surprised by this. I guess that at some point the world could get back to a point that you grow it or kill it yourself or don't eat, but I didn't have that on my near term horizon. I figured the Pack would have all the right answers, so here I am. Seriously, this is a pretty good cross section of society on SPS. I'm curious as to what you think.

Except @paindonthurt, he'd just shoot it, whatever it is.***

You have no idea what you are talking about on most subjects. Particularly on me.

But I don’t think that surprises many people on here.

 

[theoriginalSALTYdog]

I just found out that a co-worker is going to part time. He's in a very in demand field that pays well. His wife will continue to work full time. His state reasons for doing so are that the country is heading south, the dollar may not be worth anything anyway and that is what he has been working full time to earn and he wants to spend most of his time at home to learn how to grow enough food to feed his family when it all goes to pot.

He is a consumer of far right conspiracies, but I was surprised by this. I guess that at some point the world could get back to a point that you grow it or kill it yourself or don't eat, but I didn't have that on my near term horizon. I figured the Pack would have all the right answers, so here I am. Seriously, this is a pretty good cross section of society on SPS. I'm curious as to what you think.

Except @paindonthurt, he'd just shoot it, whatever it is.***

Be better off keeping the job, getting a greenhouse, stocking up on ammo and MRE's, and getting a water collection/filtration process.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

holy tin foil hat! I did not expect someone seriously suggesting our government grew a virus. I mean I think that Trump surely mishandled the virus, but never thought he grew it and certainly he greatly increased national debt in 4 years far beyond what even Obama did in 8 years, but still I wouldn't blame any one administration for the US ills we have seen/are seeing. It's a combined effort to govern this badly, which is about all the two parties have in common these days.

The evidence that Faucci petitioned congress for money to experiment gain of function capabilities for decades is 100% irrefutable. That’s not a red hat vs blue hat debate. That’s an our government is FUBAR argument.

On top of that, the plain fact that our lawmakers and administrative branch of govt are deep in bed with a communist regime that just made Russia its own vassal state should be worrisome enough. The plain fact that China, Russia, Iran, and their allies have concerted efforts to undermine the diplomatic and economic power of the U.S. should absolutely be the Archduke Ferdinand lightning bolt to wake folks up. But the Federal Department of Education has made sure we don’t have many people who recognize this truth.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

I just found out that a co-worker is going to part time. He's in a very in demand field that pays well. His wife will continue to work full time. His state reasons for doing so are that the country is heading south, the dollar may not be worth anything anyway and that is what he has been working full time to earn and he wants to spend most of his time at home to learn how to grow enough food to feed his family when it all goes to pot.

He is a consumer of far right conspiracies, but I was surprised by this. I guess that at some point the world could get back to a point that you grow it or kill it yourself or don't eat, but I didn't have that on my near term horizon. I figured the Pack would have all the right answers, so here I am. Seriously, this is a pretty good cross section of society on SPS. I'm curious as to what you think.

Except @paindonthurt, he'd just shoot it, whatever it is.***

I'm 56 seriously and doubt there will be any type of collapse in my lifetime or in the near future. I do think society will continue to decline with random and organized violence being much more common. Food and materials shortages will be more common, and if the political landscape goes the way I think it will, look for rationing of gas and energy at some point. Every civilization is about three meals from chaos.

Great on him if he can afford it, but he can easily do the garden and learn/hone skills while working full time, all our grandparents did it.

Buy land very near where you live, or shelter in place, the bug out philosophy really doesn't work because travel will be very difficult and gas may not be available. I read some that as far as bang for the buck, catfish produces more protein than cows, hogs, goats, chickens, etc., so he may want to try that on a small scale.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

Be better off keeping the job, getting a greenhouse, stocking up on ammo and MRE's, and getting a water collection/filtration process.

Yes, drinking water is the most valuable and important resource in the history of mankind.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

The evidence that Faucci petitioned congress for money to experiment gain of function capabilities for decades is 100% irrefutable. That’s not a red hat vs blue hat debate. That’s an our government is FUBAR argument.

On top of that, the plain fact that our lawmakers and administrative branch of govt are deep in bed with a communist regime that just made Russia its own vassal state should be worrisome enough. The plain fact that China, Russia, Iran, and their allies have concerted efforts to undermine the diplomatic and economic power of the U.S. should absolutely be the Archduke Ferdinand lightning bolt to wake folks up. But the Federal Department of Education has made sure we don’t have many people who recognize this truth.

Please provide evidence on Faucci and who is deep in bed with Russia. I know that it was proven that the Trump campaign in 2016 shared campaign secrets with the Russians for help getting elected, but I've not seen any evidence of them being "deep in bed with a communist regime". I just assumed they were using whatever advantage they could find and the Russians were a useful tool at the time?

I've never heard of this stuff and might learn something. I don't wear red or blue hats. I find them to constrict blood flow to the brain...

 

[mstateglfr]

The evidence that Faucci petitioned congress for money to experiment gain of function capabilities for decades is 100% irrefutable. That’s not a red hat vs blue hat debate. That’s an our government is FUBAR argument.

On top of that, the plain fact that our lawmakers and administrative branch of govt are deep in bed with a communist regime that just made Russia its own vassal state should be worrisome enough. The plain fact that China, Russia, Iran, and their allies have concerted efforts to undermine the diplomatic and economic power of the U.S. should absolutely be the Archduke Ferdinand lightning bolt to wake folks up. But the Federal Department of Education has made sure we don’t have many people who recognize this truth.

Like so many conspiracy posts or rants, this covers so much that it becomes difficult to even respond to. Why is it that so few conspiracy folk post about 1 baseless claim at a time? Why is it so common to instead toss the entire casserole against the wall and see what sticks?

- Did Faucci ask for money to develop covid-19? That is what you claim in your prior post, but you dont support it with your comment here because you just claim that Faucci asked for some money to fund research. Surely you can see how those two are not the same thing, right? Below is a snippet from an article that is posed up on congress.gov and you can easily see that the NIH did not approve(or therefore fund) research that would make covid19 more dangerous to humans. Furthermore, because research on this group of prevalent viruses, vaccinations were quickly made.

https://www.congress.gov/117/meeting/house/114270/documents/HHRG-117-GO24-20211201-SD004.pdf

Newsweek contacted the NIH for comment from Fauci and received this statement: "NIH has never approved any research that would make a coronavirus more dangerous to humans.
"The research we supported in China, where coronaviruses are prevalent, sought to understand the behavior of coronaviruses circulating in bats that have the potential to cause widespread disease. The body of science produced by this research demonstrates that the bat coronavirus sequences published from that work NIH supported were not SARS-CoV-2. "More importantly, because of similar research to understand coronaviruses, we were able to move swiftly to develop vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and save lives."
The health agency issued a statement in May explicitly denying having "ever approved any grant" that would have supported GOF research to make coronaviruses more dangerous to humans.

- Who in our government is deep in bed with a communist regime that just made Russia its own vassal state? I honestly dont think you know the meaning of the words you typed. Do you know what 'vassal' means? If so, why is Russia its own vassal state suddenly?

- Yes the US should be concerned with Russia, China, Iran, and others. Add North Korea in. Add some Middle Eastern countries in there. The US should be, and is, concerned with all of those countries. Its well known that all those countries have, and continue to, periodically undermine the US' goals. That doesnt mean we should start WW3. If that isnt what you mean by referencing Archduke, I am not sure why you mentioned him.

- I really like how you managed to complain about the federal Dept of Ed. This is a Dept that has been under Republican leadership for 12 of the last 22 years. Apparently a Dept that has been under the leadership of 4 different presidents, with half of them D and half R, has actively kept the people from being able to learn and recognize 'the truth'.




17ing clown.

 

[johnson86-1]

I'm 56 seriously and doubt there will be any type of collapse in my lifetime or in the near future. I do think society will continue to decline with random and organized violence being much more common. Food and materials shortages will be more common, and if the political landscape goes the way I think it will, look for rationing of gas and energy at some point. Every civilization is about three meals from chaos.

Great on him if he can afford it, but he can easily do the garden and learn/hone skills while working full time, all our grandparents did it.

Buy land very near where you live, or shelter in place, the bug out philosophy really doesn't work because travel will be very difficult and gas may not be available. I read some that as far as bang for the buck, catfish produces more protein than cows, hogs, goats, chickens, etc., so he may want to try that on a small scale.

If you're really talking about societal collapse, most people don't live in a place where they can realistically shelter in place. For practical purposes, that's going to cover most disasters where at worst you need to have food and water for a week (or three, although I can't really come up with anything off hand in the US where you needed to take care of yourself for longer than a week).

But if you're prepping for the zombie apocalypse or whatever, you need to try and get off the beaten path, and the larger the metropolitan area you are close to, probably the more off the beaten path you need to get because the more people will be desperate to take whatever you have stashed. Again, unless you're planning on the lots of guns and ammunition and canibalism route like me, in which case you don't want to get too far from your major food sources.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Please provide evidence on Faucci and who is deep in bed with Russia. I know that it was proven that the Trump campaign in 2016 shared campaign secrets with the Russians for help getting elected, but I've not seen any evidence of them being "deep in bed with a communist regime". I just assumed they were using whatever advantage they could find and the Russians were a useful tool at the time?

I've never heard of this stuff and might learn something. I don't wear red or blue hats. I find them to constrict blood flow to the brain...

Every thread... I swear it eventually turns political in every OT thread.

It's not your response at all. It wasn't the post that started it. You were baited by the tone of the original post.

I find it crazy that every OT thread turns into a politically themed internet battle of Left vs. Right. Some are obviously going to spark debate. When I shared the Miller Light commercial, I knew we would have some back and forth. I can handle that unless it gets personal. IMO, it makes the person who starts hurling personal insults look silly to me because this is still the internet.

Do we like to fight that much? It feels like we do sometimes.

 

[POTUS]

holy tin foil hat! I did not expect someone seriously suggesting our government grew a virus. I mean I think that Trump surely mishandled the virus, but never thought he grew it and certainly he greatly increased national debt in 4 years far beyond what even Obama did in 8 years, but still I wouldn't blame any one administration for the US ills we have seen/are seeing. It's a combined effort to govern this badly, which is about all the two parties have in common these days.

Our government has been funding "growing viruses" for a long, long time. This is not a controversial opinion. It's a fact. Virology is a thing after all.

Was COVID-19 leaked from a lab in Wuhan that was doing gain of function research? We'll probably never know for certain, but that theory is not even approaching tin-foil-hat level conspiracy. It's curious to me that the very people who most ardently "trust the science" have such an aversion to asking questions and positing hypotheses (you know, like in the scientific method).

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

If you're really talking about societal collapse, most people don't live in a place where they can realistically shelter in place. For practical purposes, that's going to cover most disasters where at worst you need to have food and water for a week (or three, although I can't really come up with anything off hand in the US where you needed to take care of yourself for longer than a week).

But if you're prepping for the zombie apocalypse or whatever, you need to try and get off the beaten path, and the larger the metropolitan area you are close to, probably the more off the beaten path you need to get because the more people will be desperate to take whatever you have stashed. Again, unless you're planning on the lots of guns and ammunition and canibalism route like me, in which case you don't want to get too far from your major food sources.

I understand, but consider traffic will be gridlocked, roads may be closed and gas stations may not be open. What if there is some type of EMP disables vehicles? Best to figure out how to "shelter-in-place" for at least a few weeks at home. If you're in a close knit neighborhood, you could all band together.

If I believed in owning firearms (and I don't and I love Hillary), at the residence i slept in every night, I'd have a gun safe full of ARs and hand guns with high capacity mags with thousands of rounds of 5.6 and 9mm to go with my food stores, drinking water and generators.

 

[Boom Boom]

If you're really talking about societal collapse, most people don't live in a place where they can realistically shelter in place. For practical purposes, that's going to cover most disasters where at worst you need to have food and water for a week (or three, although I can't really come up with anything off hand in the US where you needed to take care of yourself for longer than a week).

But if you're prepping for the zombie apocalypse or whatever, you need to try and get off the beaten path, and the larger the metropolitan area you are close to, probably the more off the beaten path you need to get because the more people will be desperate to take whatever you have stashed. Again, unless you're planning on the lots of guns and ammunition and canibalism route like me, in which case you don't want to get too far from your major food sources.

EMP/power grid collapse is the prep point for me. Society will come back, but it will take months. FEMA won't be there for that many people. You'll be on your own. At best, best, the govt will start tossing some MREs after a week or two.

 

[Boom Boom]

Yes, drinking water is the most valuable and important resource in the history of mankind.

Lifestraw. $5.

 

[Rupert Jenkins]

Its proven that Trump made a deal with Russia to get elected ? Is that what the Durham report said ? Is that what Mueller said ? Or have you been reading the Steele dossier and chatting with Adam Schiff ? Or did the 51 "intelligence" officials tell you that ?