Are You Mad?

[Nix]

(7 August 2013, 16:13)NorthernRaider Wrote: I'm not mad but I am 100% totally disallusioned with the whole prepping scene, its fallen so far short of my hopes its almost not worth bothering with any more.

Explain?

Quote:...I was watch the discovery channel last night about super volcano ,they said that most people should have at least three days of food and water in case of a problem...

Three days? You must be joking, if Yellowstone goes off, it'll be more like three months to three years! Only goes to show how out of touch these people are with reality.

Seem to remember from a fascinating documentary I saw long time ago that it was when one of the largest calderas we know of in Indonesia went off, it caused Mankind to nearly perish. Tons of ash in atmosphere = no sun = no plants growing = no food! They reckon that this was the time when many of the survivors turned from vegetarian to eating meat. This was backed up by biologists finding out that the genetic mapping in our cell's mitochondria pointed to the present human population of Earth coming from descendants numbering only a few thousand around the exact time of the last Indonesian eruption.

Yellowstone is already overdue.

Must see if I can see this Discovery documentary last night for any updates!

[Steve]

I've been telling my friends there is a crash coming since 2004. in 2006 I bought a woodland and converted my home heating system to wood-fired, they thought it was a bit strange until their energy bills started to go up. Last year I sold up and moved to a smallholding in Wales, now they think I'm crackers again, but 11 of them just spent two weeks here on holiday so perhaps they're coming around, again.

My parents are completely different. I told them I was heading for the hills because the economy is screwed and they agreed. My Dad offered to buy me a tractor :-)

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(7 August 2013, 16:13)NorthernRaider Wrote: I'm not mad but I am 100% totally disallusioned with the whole prepping scene, its fallen so far short of my hopes its almost not worth bothering with any more.

I don't know what you expect from the "scene", but rest assured that your contributions are appreciated. In fact, I only found this board because of you - you visited powerswitch a few times and I was impressed with your approach to prepping.

[Debbie_F]

I got my husband into prepping by asking him what he's going to tell the kids when the cupboards are bare and they ask what we're going to eat.

I gave up approaching non-family about it, tired of being labeled an "extremist"

[Madgirl151]

As it happens, I probably am a bit mad however I dont think Im mad with regards to prepping which ironically is what sheeple i have attempted in the past to discuss it with have all thought about me because of this lol

I now dont discuss it with anyone other than my mam who still thinks im mad but is starting to come round about it all (which is lucky as i bombard her with email links to this site lol)

[RoadWarrior]

THE PEOPLE WHO PREP ARE THE SANE ONES, THE SHEEPLE WILL CALL YOU MAD IF YOU TELL THEM THEIR "WORLD" AS THEY KNOW IT WILL AT SOME POINT IN THE NEAR FUTURE WILL NOT BE TO THEIR LIKING...WILL SAY YOUVE LOST THE PLOT ....BUT AS LONG AS YOU KEEP ON PREPPING...IN ANYWAY THAT YOUR MONEY AND PERSONAL TIME ALLOWS MEANS THEY WILL BE FUCKING SORRY THEY NEVER LISTENED TO YOU....BELEIVE ME , DONT TRY AND CONVERT THE SHEEPLE UNLESS THEY ARE YOU FAMILY OR FRIENDS YOU LOVE AND WONT GIVE UP ON COME THE TIME. THE "SCENE " IMO ISNT A CLUB LIKE 30 RAMBLERS GOING ON A WALKABOUT OR SOMETHING YOU SUBSCRIBE TOO ....ITS A ONE PERSON OR HOWEVER MANY OTHERS YOU ARE NEAR TO ,HAVE THE TIME TO MEET UP ETC....IMO YOU CANNOT MAKE PEOPLE WRITE POST AFTER POST OF WHAT THEY THINK THEIR SHTF FANTASY WILL PAN OUT LIKE....MOST DONT OBVIOUSLY KNOW!! BUT CAN PREP FOR "WHATEVER" THEY THINK OR "WANT" TO HAPPEN ! THATS THE TROUBLE WITH FORUMS....SOME MEMBERS WANT THE NEW ONES TO POST .....BE ON THE SITE 18 HOURS ADAY....BE ALARMIST ALL THE TIME.....BE TOO OPINIONATED....DISS CERTAIN "CONSPIRACY?SCI-FI" THREATS( POLE SHIFT /OR BLUE PLANETS ETC). EVERYONE WHO PREPS IN GENERAL IS ON THE MONEY WHEN THE SHTF....DONT LET ANYONE PUT YOU OFF PREPPING! TAKE ANY FORUMS AND THEIR EXPERTS AND JUST TAKE WHAT YOU NEED(INFO WISE) AND DONT BE MADE TO FEEL A NEW STARTER WHO KNOWS NOTHING.....ENJOY IT FOR WHAT IT IS AND CONTRIBUTE IF YOU WANT......SIMPLE AS THAT ......AND NO "MOST OF US" ARENT MAD.....AS FOR THE ARMCHAIR PREPPERS.....YOU DECIDE....RW

[Straight Shooter]

I have long since stopped explaining.....even to family to an extent ....I go slowly with close family....I just do what I do and what I can on their behalf, I do FOR them.... no big deal its what dads do. I hope I never have to say " you should have listened to me you stupid dull bastard " .......but I very much doubt they will be around to listen....they will be busy with other more pressing stuff.

[TheFalcon]

I know im not mad,Its the sheeple that are mad and when their world crumbles and they were to busy drinking wine in their expensive wine bar to prepare and suddenly find themselves getting raped and their throats cut do you really think i will give a fuck

[Little Lou]

Yes, sometimes I think I'm mad. Sometimes I wish I was, and that the horrible reality of our present world existed only in my mind. But it doesn't, and I'm not, and prepping remains the only way forward.

History shows there've always been people like us. Sometimes myths and legends are made about them, as in the supreme prepping story of Noah's Ark. Sometimes they're only footnotes in history, like the few French aristocrats who quietly packed up and left just before the Revolution. Sometimes even their failures are inspirational, like Anne Frank's father who ignored those fellow Jews who told him the Nazis would never go that far, and quietly went on preparing his Secret Annexe. We've always been around, and people have always told us we're mad.

But we're not. Soothsayers of the past may have relied on dreams and visions, but we're basing our decisions on hard fact. We know what happened financially in the Weimar Republic - and what the government did in Cyprus. We know what an EMP can do - and that it could happen. We've seen natural disasters, society breakdowns, and even the results of an atomic bomb, and we know exactly how useless governments can be in dealing with such things. We know that ultimately we have to depend on ourselves, and there can be few things saner than that.

It's still natural to doubt ourselves. Other people ignore us and degrade us, and sometimes it can feel like the scene in Terminator 2 when the heroine is trying to scream a warning at the happily playing children but she is as invisible and inaudible to them as a ghost. It's the isolation of it that makes us think we're mad, which is why those who prep in families are far less likely to question what they do.

And it's why places like this forum are so important. I don't post much - I spend more time prepping than I do talking about it - but there isn't a day when I don't look in here to feel the reassurance of others doing the same thing. Every day I'm grateful to SD and everyone who posts here for creating an environment where we can all be our real selves.

Of course it's perfectly possible that we're all mad, but even that thought doesn't bother me. Put it this way, I'd rather be mad and wrong than sane and right. Better to be prepared for something that doesn't happen than to be caught unawares by something that does. Isn't that really what it's all about?

[Scythe13]

I have heard that hindsight is 20/20 vision.

When we are old, and we look back on our lives, that will tell us if we were mad or not. Or maybe even our children will look back and see us with their new-20/20-sight.

If nothing happens, then we are clearly all either delusional, or we are simply going through a time of uncertainty that our minds exaggerate. We then delve into this exaggeration and use it as a form of escapism. Like a bunch of nerds playing World of Warcraft, but running around the woods with bows and arrows. Harmless fun.

If something does happen, we are simply well prepared and vigilant people. Well done us.

IF something happens, but it happens after our time on this earth, we are seen as the doom-sellers of our generation, by the masses. There will be those that look at us as being advances and ahead of our time.

Personally, I am okay with believing it to be escapism. I enjoy it, and cause no harm to anyone. The challenge of becoming self sufficient is always good, and there is so much to learn that I never get bored of it.

Only hindsight will tell us if we're all a bit nuts, so for now, I am happy enjoying my 'escapism'. Best of all, if something does happen, at least I'll be able to escape haha.

[NorthernRaider]

Better to be ready with a dinghy and a paddle, slighty mad and to not need them, than to be unready, completely sane and up the creek without a paddle!!