[Kartographer]

"You either prepare and stand on your own beholden to no one or you become dependent on others to provide your basic needs and become their ‘serf’. Me I don’t want to be beholden to anyone for providing what is needed for me and mine. I certainly don’t want to have to kiss some ‘gubberment’ third class bureaucratic to try and coax some help from them, I don’t want some ‘jack booted’ thug herding me in line and telling me where to stand, sit, eat or sleep. And last but not least I don’t want to be shut up in with a bunch of ‘zombies’ and have to worry about not only trying to get basic necessities but having to fight to keep what I manage to get."

It is your choice you can prep or you can stand around on a bridge waiting for FEMA to bring you a bottle of water, a MRE, a warm blanket and a kiss for your boo-boo and maybe you can even get your picture as you stand there on the national news.

[Smokin' Joe]

Geeeez, Kart, you should know me better by now.

What preps I have taken are played close to the vest, and I am prepared to defend them.

I encourage others to do so.

I am neither anticipating needing to take from others nor becoming someone's serf.

Trade will be optional. I've read Selco and Ferfal and their comments in that regard made sense to me and should be required reading by all.

I have skills as well.

We aren't sitting perfect, but for the income level and not being economically leveraged at all, we're all right.

I have turned the soil with a spade before and can do it again, if I need more room to plant.

I even have a better neighbor now for such events, and we have established a mutual defense zone if things go badly.

Anyone who thinks they are going to survive alone better be very far removed from the madding crowd.

As for billionaires, maybe they will be able to roll up their sleeves and survive, maybe not. They will have huge adjustments to make, and for some of them, that just won't go well. For those of who have been dirt floor poor before, we know what we can handle.