Dangers of becoming complacent

[bigpaul]

we are generally too over populated in the UK to be self sufficient, in a SHTF situation we would only be able to feed about 25% of the population without imported food, oil, and pesticides and chemicals, and even that figure is debateable.
basically your population figures are about right even if you used a different calculation, I think a 97 or 98% mortality rate is about right given that most people havent got a clue about where their food comes from or how it is grown, most wouldnt recognise it in its natural form and most dont even know apples grow on trees, they think it comes ready shrink wrapped.

[Sekwo]

(18 July 2023, 09:30)bigpaul Wrote: we are generally too over populated in the UK to be self sufficient, in a SHTF situation we would only be able to feed about 25% of the population without imported food, oil, and pesticides and chemicals, and even that figure is debateable.
basically your population figures are about right even if you used a different calculation, I think a 97 or 98% mortality rate is about right given that most people havent got a clue about where their food comes from or how it is grown, most wouldnt recognise it in its natural form and most dont even know apples grow on trees, they think it comes ready shrink wrapped.

Basically, if you remove petrochemicals and everything produced by Coal and petrochemicals (or e.g. produced in China by coal-power), we're back to a real economy like the 17th century. And, as a largely farming economy, we're back to 17th century levels of population.

The best way of preparing for that, is to start living something like that farm lifestyle, so your basic sustenance doesn't get cut by the SHTF. The problem for preparing, with a nuclear exchange, is that the best option is to leave any area that is likely to get hid or have fallout, or gets fallout. So, there is no point amassing land, or masses of food ... because you are likely to have to ditch as you leave.

[bigpaul]

well we would be back to pre industrial levels, around 1750 or so, pre industrialisation the population was around 8 million and was a rural economy. I think that it would be lower than that because most people dont have a clue about agriculture/horticulture and they would just starve to death.
in the 50s and 60s a lot of people grew at least some of their own food, home grown food tastes better than anything you buy in the supermarket, but these days not many do, gardens are either a kids play area or mostly its a general dumping area.
as for people leaving an area that is pretty much a fallacy, British people dont evacuate, Americans do with their weather patterns and their pioneering history but Brits dont. by the time it crossed their minds, and for many it wouldnt even do that, it would be too late.