It's been a good long while since I've had the time for a genuine blog post here, so I'm going to steal the time right now to make various comments on the state of the world as they pertain to crisis preparedness.
1. Note that Safecastle LLC is growing by leaps and bounds, especially in the last six months when the whole world has woken up to the fact that the economy is threatening to destroy pretty much all of what modern society has to offer. Those looking to sock supplies away at this late date are desperate. We and all other preparedness-related providers are scrambling to respond. Demand continues to trend upward. Unfortunately, supplies of available food and gear is finite and in many cases is being depleted faster than the capacity out there to replenish can deliver. And "deliver" is key. Transport and delivery is increasingly looking to be the weakest link in a deteriorating (or at least threatened) national supply chain.
2. There has always been a lively and imaginative subculture of doomsayers out and about. But these last several months seem to have given the type an injection of highly caffeinated HGH. The looming great depression is not enough to wail and moan about, so now we also have the threatening Yellowstone mega-eruption, a new ice age bearing down, the bird flu re-emerging, war in the Middle East (again), India and Pakistan in a staredown, a promised huge terror strike to test the new administration, Russia freezing out eastern Europe, and even a growing murmur in the American population that some might say sounds like the beginnings of widespread social strife. So yep--there's a lot to speculate about and potentially prepare for. The pundits who are so inclined are dealing with no dearth of material to work into their daily programming.
3. My personal bug-a-boo of the day is the socialism that once was creeping into our lives but is now front and center and in the spotlight. As an old Cold Warrior and a small business owner, I find it all very disturbing. The ways that the public are being frozen out of the governmental proceedings which are evidently aimed at bailing out a few powerful individuals is something that smacks royally of a last-ditch plunder-the-treasury effort just before the defenses break down and the marauders storm into the capital (metaphorically speaking?).
4. I have to admit that I too have been in prepping overdrive, looking to fill remaining gaps in our household's resource base. Friends and relatives who recently were merely curious about our line of work are now actively seeking our advice and assistance. I'm happy to do whatever I can for folks as that is why I went into the business, but I really don't know for how long our supply lines will be solid and dependable. The signs out there are real. The thing that even still most people can't seem to get past is that there could very well come a day when there aren't going to be needed resources available for purchase--convenient or not. Running down to the gas station, the hardware store, the grocery store, or the pharmacy for what you just remembered is not going to be an option if any of the current crises are brought to a boil.
For those of us who have been raised and lived all our lives in America, supply-chain failures, famines, or resource shortages are just completely off our radar. We have not truly experienced the depth and breadth of how those things ripple through a society and tear it apart if solutions are not visible on the horizon.
Most people recognize on some level now how close we are to the edge, though a majority still are in denial about it. God help us if and when conditions deteriorate much further and the masses break into a panic. If that happens, do not get swept up in it. Step away. Take refuge and bolster your defenses. In the meantime, get down to the grocery store, the pharmacy, and the hardware store. The doors are still open and the lines are manageable today.
..Get Ready ... Seriously - http://www.safecastleroyal.com
