Many of the small towns have lost their own identity and are simply bedroom communities for the reasonably-nearest city. That is what my town is.

The local clinic belongs to a hospital chain, all the medical people are employees, so they have no real investment. I was talking to the local gas station owner, and he said he doesn't really know a safe way to pump gas out of the underground tanks using makeshift methods. And would they be refilled? The water association is local, most of the tanks are on hills, but if they lose power for very long, I don't think they could refill the tanks.

It's really hard to make plans because we don't know exactly how it's going to play out. Will the basic infrastructure remain? Will the people who keep the power running volunteer their time if the company goes broke? Fuel?

I suspect that we will be very, very sorry that most of our manufacturing is outsourced. Even if we did want to start it up, we don't have the machinery or the trained personnel or, in most cases, even the knowledge of what needs to be done. Exactly how long would it take to set up a shovel and spading fork factory operation?

The Waltons had it 'easy', because they owned their own place, had the tools they needed, had the knowledge to get multiple jobs done, and their family and social structures were already in place. The people of the town were already used to helping each other.

If the banking situation really crashes, and they forgave the home loans, that would give most people breathing space. But that's just one problem.

I am looking around my area at the multiple small acreages that are just growing grass. But our soil is quite poor due to the leaching of nutrients from the heavy rainfall. Agronomists say that 25" of rain per year, properly spaced, is relatively ideal. Enough, but not too much; we get twice that amount. The land is there, but where would the nutrients come from? Even the livestock here would starve if they didn't get supplement feed.

If there is a survival situation to make most people sweat, this is it.

Sue