(20 March 2022, 10:03)Straight Shooter Wrote: Let’s cut to the present day ......MB & CH .....been checking out some US prepper vlogs ....telling of many top stores being out of stock of foods of all types and prices doubling ....empty shelves are common place ...they even supply pictures and videos ........is it that bad in the US ? ......if indeed it is true , it will not take long to reach here in the U.K......it’s already started ....fact is it’s worldwide ....but America .....that’s big ! .
SS, those vlog sites are highly exaggerated! It sounds like a purposeful spread of needless panic and actual promotion of panic buying.
Vlogs and blogs by any prepper are not valid sources on which to base a philosophy or course of action.
Sorry to say that but prepper opinions and intelligence vary widely, as we all know. Chances are their photos/videos are staged.
Half the "survival" vlogs and You-tube sites are now the fronts for people with a side hustle trying to generate demand for their products or services so they can quit their day jobs. It is not like a few years back when forums ruled the communities and exchange of information was the goal.
I can find empty shelves if I try. There are several stores near me that are remodeling and have expanses of shelf empty. There is also the old footage from the Covid experience still available. Film does not care how old it is or when you use it.
There is some inflation, but prices are not doubling on most items. 10% is about the standard rate of increase on most food items and there is plenty of stock on the shelves at this point in time. We actually expected some inflation increase with the end of Covid, so 10% is not a shock.
Even though I live in a rural area I have two "superstores" within 7 miles of my house; a Kroger and a Walmart, (150,000sq.ft-200,000sq/ft). Those are two of our big box stores and typical places where you can go in one door, buy groceries, get a new wardrobe, have cancer surgery and get new tires put on your car. They are going strong and while the exact item and brand you seek may be gone today it will be back tomorrow or there is an identical replacement on the next shelf.
During the first Covid lockdown it got rough and they had large swaths of shelf empty, mostly paper goods and cleaning supplies, but that was two years ago and all the bog roll and ground beef has been restored.
What we are having is sudden emptying of some shelves during some event such as a snow storm or tornado and the replacement of that inventory within a week or two. That is just the norm for "just in time" computer inventory control.
Petrol has doubled in price, but that is purely political and artificial and everyone knows it.
People are also coming to realize that when someone speaks of "supply chain issues" they are really talking about items that our restrictions on China have stopped the import of. Shipping is a convenient scapegoat. It is not a "supply chain issue" if government restrictions are the reason for the failure to deliver. Shipping on other items is again fast and furious with items that are in stock arriving within 2-5 days on standard carriers.
Inflation is present but not on the scale I witnessed during the Jimmy Carter presidency (1976-1980) when I lost half my buying power in 4 years and mortgage rates went to %20+.
There is no doom and gloom attitude from the public and they are going about their business. There are more than a dozen homes under new construction within a couple of miles of my house, so confidence and expectations are high. We have not seen that level of activity since 2008 when Obama took over.
The population is not hiding in their basement waiting for WW3 to commence. Neither are they excessively concerned over the war in the Ukraine. Most consider it SOP for the Russians. It's just what Russians do. Even the most "Hawkish" do not feel we need to directly intervene. Doing so would be political suicide at this point.
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