TEOTWAWKI:

"The End of the World as we Know I" (Acronym coined by Mike Medintz) (Spoken “Tee-ought-walk-ee”)

I saw this term used the other day in discussion on the "gloom and doom factor" of living in our sold-out country. And why we need to learn how to regain our primitive ways of steading and survival in the coming years. The discourse grew out of talk on the "if you were to move from where you are ,where would you go and what kind of people would you choose to have near you."

It was broken down into 2 types of scenarios


One, an affluent or even typically middle class family suddenly has little food in their pantry and no grocery store from which to stock up, no restaurants open, no gas to put in the BMW, no X-Box to play or HDTV to watch, and no mall to go to. Their credit cards no longer work, and the personal "connections" they're used to being able to make use of to get what they need are no longer available. Used to being self-contained (which is different than being self-sufficient), they may not have meaningful relationships with their immediate neighbours.

Two, a poorer or lower-middle class family, already used to partially getting by on their homestead garden, the basics of life, a 20-year old beater of a vehicle or none at all, and none of the unnecessary trinkets of modern city life. They have no credit cards to begin with, and are accustomed to working on a limited cash basis, even bartering with neighbors. Poorer country folks in particular are used to being relatively self-sufficient out of sheer necessity, and often have a strong sense of defending what is theirs and the means and willingness to do so while remaining willing to help friends and family in times of need.

In short, I see the first family rapidly shifting into freak-out mode, resorting to whatever daddy thinks necessary in order to make a flailing attempt to continue their prior lifestyle. As you rightfully say, civilization is but a thin veneer.

I see the second family getting by with far fewer and less lifestyle-shattering modifications.

Being a member of the 2nd class and being surrounded with other people just like me already, why would I move. Except to dodge the bullets..
Do any "living with Trashdigger" readers have thoughts on this?