Per the S.H.T.F. thread, isnt disease the real threat

[spam4einstein]

I was reading the long thread about the "best place to be" in a social breakdown. Most all posts were centered around a invasion or Nuke attack. Several years ago, while living about 1hr. from NYC during 9/11/01 I spent a few weeks thinking about this sad possibility. The first thing I did was put together a cache of firearms and ammo. To me it seems the more likley scenero of socitial breakdown would be a colapse of infutructure. Living in the burbs......we depended on supermarkets for food and city water. In a simple snow storm, may provisions would be scarce or a day or so.
If there were a supply breakdown for any more than a few days anarchy would insue....new Orleans..... These wouldnt necessarily be bad people, just hungry and desperate. In a short term disruption (several weeks) a firearm would allow you to be protected and come out on top in this situation.

I GOT A BIT OFF MY POINT. Anyhow I don't really think the greatest threat comes from a army invasion here. Rather some sort of supply disruption from a Plauge or catastrophic natural dasaster. This was one of the things that drove me to buy 7 acres to play with. I try to rely on nobody, or at least try to be able to outlast most. I dont expect anything like this to occur, but after living in a "dependent" style I never want to feel that way again. I go out to eat almost every day, but I take comfort in knowing I have the means to take care of my own.

[BigBoy]

About 10 years ago I read the true story of "The Hot Zone". Scared the bullspit out of me. It started with a history of where and how Ebola first surfaced and went on to tell about an incident that showed us just how easy it would be for the populace to be infected with an easily spread and incurable virus.
Since then I've always said that the next big thing to depopulate the planet wouldn't be comets or supervolcanos or even wars.

Sometime later I learned about the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19. It killed over 500,000 in the U.S. and more than 20 million worldwide. And that was before world and local travel was fast and relatively cheap.

[ibcnya]

I believe that we are being trained in a sort of way to follow blindly by the government because the the OMG! avian bird flu is coming! Be prepared because there's not much you can do.! Let's calm down and take measures that would allow sensibility people! It's beginning to be an epidemic that hasn't even happened yet.

[spam4einstein]

I agree, bird flu is just the "scary story" de-jour of the media right now. Lets not have a debate over the stupid bird flu scare.

[Grandmotherbear]

I well remember the swine flu debacle in the 70s. That was the next last millenium plague. Didn't happen.
When MLK was assasinated and I witnessed the spontaneous middle class evacuation of Washington DC and the gridlock and various disasters - I saw what happens when an infrastructure is overwhelmed & agree with your concept of the infrastructure freezeup or crumbling being the main threat,

[sullen]

OMG, there is a horse in Maine with Equine influenza......We're all gonna die!!!!!

[Arborethic]

Originally Posted by spam4einstein

I was reading the long thread about the "best place to be" in a social breakdown. Most all posts were centered around a invasion or Nuke attack. Several years ago, while living about 1hr. from NYC during 9/11/01 I spent a few weeks thinking about this sad possibility. The first thing I did was put together a cache of firearms and ammo. To me it seems the more likley scenero of socitial breakdown would be a colapse of infutructure. Living in the burbs......we depended on supermarkets for food and city water. In a simple snow storm, may provisions would be scarce or a day or so.
If there were a supply breakdown for any more than a few days anarchy would insue....new Orleans..... These wouldnt necessarily be bad people, just hungry and desperate. In a short term disruption (several weeks) a firearm would allow you to be protected and come out on top in this situation.

I GOT A BIT OFF MY POINT. Anyhow I don't really think the greatest threat comes from a army invasion here. Rather some sort of supply disruption from a Plauge or catastrophic natural dasaster. This was one of the things that drove me to buy 7 acres to play with. I try to rely on nobody, or at least try to be able to outlast most. I dont expect anything like this to occur, but after living in a "dependent" style I never want to feel that way again. I go out to eat almost every day, but I take comfort in knowing I have the means to take care of my own.

This isn't directed at YOU as much as it is towards the concept you proposed: The purchase of 7 acres will not give you any advantage against a 'plague'. By the time an urban dweller realizes there IS a plague, they have IT! For another thing, you cannot be self sufficient upon seven acres unless you are a total isolationist and have thorougly developed said seven acres for such a scenario.

I have FIFTY acres, and at my advanced age, I know that it would be extremely difficult for that amount of land to provide all the sustenance I and my wife would need. I do know that I can remove one cord of firewood per acre per year, without reducing the actual volume/population of the native trees. But in the event of a 'plague', I'm going to be cutting that wood by HAND, not with a Stihl chainsaw.

Now some organic gardners/farmers will take exception to what I say, but they are NOT considering what will happen if they have a day or two of ill health, while weather and/or 'bugs/critters' devastate their plantings. I've seen it happen to farmers that had DDT and more powerful insecticideds/fungicides at their disposal! 'Organic' farming and gardening is a luxury of a modern, urbanized, civilization. One does not see 'organic' systems succeeding in third world countries to any great extent.

Just as in the recent hurricanes, individuals will fair poorly, but those that have pre-existing relationships and value those relationships will fair much, much better!