Originally Posted By: Madcat39
I saw this article today and I think it is a good one for all of us to read, as it addresses many of the things we are talking about in this thread

http://www.survivalblog.com/2010/01/coa_analysis_of_common_surviva.html

The author changed my perception on a few things. The range you can actually expect out of your vehicle during a societal meltdown and the number of looters/raiders that one would be faced with in the cities being the ones that gave me the most to think about.


Thanks, Madcat. The author certainly has put a lot of thought into it and seems to cover the gamut. He's appropriately bleak.

However equipped anyone thinks they are, no one (except maybe sociopaths) can really be prepared mentally for the awfulness of such large scale calamity scenarios. Materially, maybe. But not even Warren Buffet or Bill Gates with all their billions would be safe. Unless they were barricaded on a deserted island and had a lot of faith in their staff doctor(s) and armed guards (in case a boat of hungry people goes astray).

Most people's very lives depend on a fragile triad made up of the transportation network, power grid and finance system. All three of these systems depend on the other two and they are all three unbelievably fragile.