28 Inconvenient Truths About TEOTWAWKI

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OCDMOM
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28 Inconvenient Truths About TEOTWAWKI

Post by OCDMOM »

Sorry this is depressing. Very thought provoking.





28 Inconvenient Truths About TEOTWAWKI

This list appears on my blog, but it has so many thought-provoking points that I wanted to send it to you directly.

Hundreds of articles and books have been written about TEOTWAWKI
(The End Of The World As We Know It), and many of them tend to
glamorize worst case scenarios and, ultimately, are not too
realistic.

The end of the world as we know it may hold realities that are
very, very different from our expectations. Consider these points:

1. Not everyone will survive. Ouch.

2. For many, circumstances will trump preparedness.

3. Preparedness will cost money. There's no way around it.

4. If you talk about preparedness, you'll be ridiculed. If you
keep your mouth shut, you'll miss out on establishing a support
system that is 100% necessary to survival.

5. A rural retreat won't save you. The federal government has
you in their cross-hairs, as does the United Nations.

6. Stored food runs out, eventually.

7. Even the best prepared survivalist Navy Seal can be brought down
by an infected ingrown toenail.

8. You probably aren't tough enough for what's coming.

9. Gold and silver may be useless if a world currency is
established. Using them may even be criminalized.

10. In a time of plenty, it's impossible to imagine the reality
of true scarcity.

11. Survival is easy for armchair quarterbacks.

12. Most survivalists and preppers are overly optimistic when it
comes to how much food to store, what scenarios to plan for, and their
ability to survive off the grid.

13. TEOTWAWKI will change the way you and your children and
grandchildren live. Forever.

14. The minute you bug out, your chances of reaching your retreat
destination are slim.

15. You're kidding yourself if you think your hidden caches
won't be found by others, eventually.

16. You won't know if you're ready for TEOTWAWKI until
you're in the middle of it.

17. Ultimately, a too-powerful government will be the biggest
threat to your survival.

18. Life will become cheap.

19. Free time will become a thing of the past.

20. There's nothing wrong with preparing for natural disasters,
but if you're not ready for a collapse of the American economy,
you're not ready.

21. Coming tough times will threaten even the best of marriages and
other close relationships.

22. Growing your own food is a bigger challenge than you ever
thought possible.

23. Depending on where you live and any drought conditions, a green
garden can be spotted from miles away, thus endangering your food
source and your family.

24. Dealing with human waste and trash will become your new
part-time job.

25. You'll discover exactly what you're capable of when your
family is threatened.

26. Formerly strong and capable people will escape their new reality
through booze, drugs, and/or suicide.

27. Protecting and nurturing close family ties will become one of
the most important things you can do.

28. Those who can accept and adapt will find survival easier than
those who hold on to the past or have unrealistic expectations of
the future.

None of these points are especially cheerful. In fact, they're
downright discouraging. However, the fact that you are preparing
for difficult times, as well as everyday emergencies, is very
ENcouraging! You're aware of storm clouds on the horizon and
you know it will hit eventually.

Until next time, prepare a little more every day!


Lisa Bedford


The Survival Mom

brianj
captain of 1,000
Posts: 4066
Location: Vineyard, Utah

Re: 28 Inconvenient Truths About TEOTWAWKI

Post by brianj »

A few other things to consider:

Prepare, but trust not in the arm of flesh.

Great danger will come from other people, but greater danger will come from your own mind in the form of discouragement, depression, etc.

A trained and disciplined marksman can do a great deal to protect himself and his group, but what he can do is nothing compared to what Heavenly Father can do. Father is your greatest ally in times of trouble.

No matter what you face in life, or the temporal consequences of your choices, you will be much better off if you don't compromise your relationship with your Father in Heaven.

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Separatist
captain of 1,000
Posts: 1150

Re: 28 Inconvenient Truths About TEOTWAWKI

Post by Separatist »

...and I feel fine.

DesertWonderer
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Posts: 1178

Re: 28 Inconvenient Truths About TEOTWAWKI

Post by DesertWonderer »

I'd say that is a pretty accurate list.

Older/wiser?
captain of 100
Posts: 538

Re: 28 Inconvenient Truths About TEOTWAWKI

Post by Older/wiser? »

I'd say "it's a good day to live, it's a good day to die, blessed be the name of the Lord",...

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skmo
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Posts: 4495

Re: 28 Inconvenient Truths About TEOTWAWKI

Post by skmo »

OCDMOM wrote: 1. Not everyone will survive. Ouch. Unless you're one of the Three Nephites or John, no one survives life anyway.

2. For many, circumstances will trump preparedness. But we're promised God won't give us anything we can't handle

3. Preparedness will cost money. There's no way around it. Quality always costs. Judging where the line is takes experience.

4. If you talk about preparedness, you'll be ridiculed. If you keep your mouth shut, you'll miss out on establishing a support system that is 100% necessary to survival. If you're sensible about it, you may share ideas with sensible people. Hanging around the fringe whackos can even give a decent idea or two. As much as I ridicule JR worshippers I've been known to attend shows and conventions to see what's new.

7. Even the best prepared survivalist Navy Seal can be brought down by an infected ingrown toenail. Luckily, basic medical knowledge is freely available, and even minor surgery isn't all that involved.

8. You probably aren't tough enough for what's coming. Luckily the Spirit can toughen you, if you're willing to let it.

10. In a time of plenty, it's impossible to imagine the reality of true scarcity. Only if you lack imagination. Those who ride motorcycles may have a hand up because as a survival tool we automatically think a block ahead of where we are and plan alternate choices without even thinking (at least I always have.)

14. The minute you bug out, your chances of reaching your retreat destination are slim. That's why your bug out spot should be your home. You choose to leave it only if it's in imminent danger.

15. You're kidding yourself if you think your hidden caches won't be found by others, eventually. But when it's hiding in my basement, there are several layers of security guarding it, the least of which has a terrifying bark.

16. You won't know if you're ready for TEOTWAWKI until you're in the middle of it. The same could be said about many things, which is why we're counselled to prepare as much spiritually, educationally, and physically as we can.

17. Ultimately, a too-powerful government will be the biggest threat to your survival. YES.

18. Life will become cheap. It always has been. While it's precious to God, you, and your loved ones, most of the rest of the world has always considered you expendable.

19. Free time will become a thing of the past. Public virtue already did.

21. Coming tough times will threaten even the best of marriages and other close relationships. Which is yet another reason to have the Spirit be an important part of your family.

25. You'll discover exactly what you're capable of when your family is threatened. But when you need, you can exceed your abilities.

26. Formerly strong and capable people will escape their new reality through booze, drugs, and/or suicide. I guess I was lucky to face that beast earlier.

27. Protecting and nurturing close family ties will become one of the most important things you can do. Which is one of the reasons I'm so glad to be as far away from family as possible. The less I depend on people the less I can be disappointed.

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harakim
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Posts: 2819
Location: Salt Lake Megalopolis

Re: 28 Inconvenient Truths About TEOTWAWKI

Post by harakim »

That's a very pessimistic list with no information backing the opinions. I think it will be bad and that list may even be accurate for most people, but I don't think the list applies even to the majority of people reading it. Survival is not as hard as people make it out to be in the collapse of an economy. In fact, there aren't many collapses in recent history that end in mass fatalities. Electricity and gas are such huge force multipliers and really, you only need a few essentials to live. A little preparedness can go a long way.

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Jason
Master of Puppets
Posts: 18296

Re: 28 Inconvenient Truths About TEOTWAWKI

Post by Jason »

It's going to be a ride...thank goodness for the plague!!! Will isolate and weed out good number of wicked folks before the game gets super serious...

brianj
captain of 1,000
Posts: 4066
Location: Vineyard, Utah

Re: 28 Inconvenient Truths About TEOTWAWKI

Post by brianj »

harakim wrote:That's a very pessimistic list with no information backing the opinions. I think it will be bad and that list may even be accurate for most people, but I don't think the list applies even to the majority of people reading it. Survival is not as hard as people make it out to be in the collapse of an economy. In fact, there aren't many collapses in recent history that end in mass fatalities. Electricity and gas are such huge force multipliers and really, you only need a few essentials to live. A little preparedness can go a long way.
Like you I believe that is a pretty pessimistic list. Your chances of reaching your retreat are slim? If you can read the writing on the wall, you can drive to your bug out location (if you have one) before it is too late.
But I also don't believe a little preparedness will be sufficient for most people. Without law enforcement, desperate people won't allow you to farm your own land - they will kill you for whatever food you have before you can harvest crops. Without electricity and the rest of our infrastructure many people will not have enough water to survive, much less for watering crops. At the Urban Homestead website you can read about a family of four who grows all their own food on one fifth of an acre (8,712 square feet). Where I live most home lots are 5,000 square feet or less, with pavement, buildings, or patio space covering a majority of that area.

So far nobody has attempted to rebut my first post on this topic. I am confident that if we are sufficiently close to the Holy Ghost, we will be guided safely through almost anything we have to face. Perhaps we will be provided refills of food like the widow of Zarephath. Maybe we will receive manna as Israel did during the exodus. Or we could develop such great faith that we don't need to eat. And if we are called upon to leave mortality, we will be on the right path and ready to serve as needed.

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harakim
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Posts: 2819
Location: Salt Lake Megalopolis

Re: 28 Inconvenient Truths About TEOTWAWKI

Post by harakim »

brianj wrote:
harakim wrote:That's a very pessimistic list with no information backing the opinions. I think it will be bad and that list may even be accurate for most people, but I don't think the list applies even to the majority of people reading it. Survival is not as hard as people make it out to be in the collapse of an economy. In fact, there aren't many collapses in recent history that end in mass fatalities. Electricity and gas are such huge force multipliers and really, you only need a few essentials to live. A little preparedness can go a long way.
Like you I believe that is a pretty pessimistic list. Your chances of reaching your retreat are slim? If you can read the writing on the wall, you can drive to your bug out location (if you have one) before it is too late.
But I also don't believe a little preparedness will be sufficient for most people. Without law enforcement, desperate people won't allow you to farm your own land - they will kill you for whatever food you have before you can harvest crops. Without electricity and the rest of our infrastructure many people will not have enough water to survive, much less for watering crops. At the Urban Homestead website you can read about a family of four who grows all their own food on one fifth of an acre (8,712 square feet). Where I live most home lots are 5,000 square feet or less, with pavement, buildings, or patio space covering a majority of that area.

So far nobody has attempted to rebut my first post on this topic. I am confident that if we are sufficiently close to the Holy Ghost, we will be guided safely through almost anything we have to face. Perhaps we will be provided refills of food like the widow of Zarephath. Maybe we will receive manna as Israel did during the exodus. Or we could develop such great faith that we don't need to eat. And if we are called upon to leave mortality, we will be on the right path and ready to serve as needed.
I don't think that we will develop faith not to eat or we will get manna or anything. I'm not saying it's impossible, of course. I think the leaders of the church have stressed a year of food storage (and now 3 months plus a long term supply) for a reason. I think if one hasn't done that, oneprobably isn't going to be miraculously saved. I think trusting in one's year of food storage over God would be a mistake. I think that God will provide for those who give him options.

CharlesIngalls
captain of 50
Posts: 73

Re: 28 Inconvenient Truths About TEOTWAWKI

Post by CharlesIngalls »

My biggest problem will be that in order to survive on my food storage and what I can grow right now, I will have to cut my caloric intake in half. Need to do that anyway but like I said, that's my biggest problem.

brianj
captain of 1,000
Posts: 4066
Location: Vineyard, Utah

Re: 28 Inconvenient Truths About TEOTWAWKI

Post by brianj »

CharlesIngalls wrote:My biggest problem will be that in order to survive on my food storage and what I can grow right now, I will have to cut my caloric intake in half. Need to do that anyway but like I said, that's my biggest problem.
It sounds like it's time to buy more food storage. Or maybe to start eating better.

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