I think it will only go in a bad direction.

Acknowledged. I will respect that.

Jeanette Isabelle

My joke about the zombies was harsh; according to Wikipedia martial law was imposed in America thirteen times. Every situation in America was brief and not the end of the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_law_in_the_United_States

If martial law is declared in America a fourteenth time, it will for a brief period like the other thirteen times. That is what I want us to put our focus.

Jeanette Isabelle

Hmmm, I stayed out of this thread before the lockdown anticipating a lockdown as threads of this topic are magnets for TEOTWAWKI posts. So other than to say an optimistic, “No worries, it won’t happen here”, I’ll continue to stay out.

Have fun fantasizing.

TPTB=The Powers That Be

Given that this thread, already on very thin ice and skating toward open water, is now on chaosmagnet's VERY short leash, I will add a small comment or two. And then duck-and-cover under my desk.

Words are important. The words "Martial Law" evoke the deepest of all fears. That's the reason such threads go ugly in seconds flat.

But standing back from such galvanizing words, it's important to recognize that all democracies, by practical necessity, have prior legislated measures available for dealing with a variety of emergency situations. If these are designed to be scalable to the problem at hand, and temporary in duration, and subject to scrutiny afterwards, they are not automatically the soul of all evil. They are nothing more than the best that can be done in a bad situation.

My 2c.

Thanks for re-opening.

TPTB=An abbreviation for the "the powers that be" avoids tedious discussion as to exactly WHICH official or government department is being referred to.

As regards martial law in the UK, I am not aware of it ever being been declared in recent times.
Likewise in the USA.

I consider it unlikely that martial law will be declared in either the USA or the UK.
It COULD happen though, and without veering into political argument, it seems reasonable to state that government powers are likely to be very considerably in excess of those powers whilst times are normal.

Requisitioning of goods and supplies, restrictions on travel, and the directing of labour are foreseeable consequences.

Disobeying instructions whilst under martial law could be a very high risk strategy indeed.

There is IMHO something to be said for a well buried cache of supplies for use after any serious or major disaster, including but not limited to martial law.
Floods, fires, tornadoes, heatwaves, blizzards, earthquakes, and other disasters are more likely and more worth considering.

The place for me to be, in the event martial law is declared, is in our gated community unless we experience a flood.

I know the smart thing to do is to be in our homes and follow all orders given by the military. What if Mom and I are on a road trip in another state when martial law is declared? Do we have to remain in our timeshare or would we be allowed to drive back to Florida?

Jeanette Isabelle

Probably the given orders will tell you about that. I guess it will depend on the reason for declaring martial law. There may be reasons that demand to contain people where they are (e.g. disease control). There may also be a requirement to obtain paperworks for travelling.
Is there a standard procedure for special incidents in the USA? In Germany a standard procedure is to listen to radio broadcasts refering to the incident and inform people who might not have received the message. Radio stations have to broadcast those messages upon request.
You may also have to consider the case of having to transit through a state with martial law between your timeshare and your home.