I have grown somewhat weary of 'Doomsday Preppers'. The scenarios that some of the families were preparing for were somewhat ridiculous. While I can see the value in having about a week's worth of food and a two week supply of water at the ready, anything more than that seems a wee bit over the top. I do admit that the first few episodes had whipped me into a low grade prepping frenzy (I bought a case of baked beans and green beans at Costco…don't call me unprepared!) and I was seriously contemplating buying a generator, but I have since calmed down. Luckily, each passing episode since the series debut featured bat sh*t insane chicken little types prepping for tsunamis and super volcanoes, and that took the wind out of my prepping sails. Otherwise, I was about another full episode away from using cookie sheets as makeshift armor for my car (cookie sheets are bulletproof, yes?) and strapping a shot gun to the hood and going into Road Warrior mode just to get to the train station every morning.
However, the recent outbreak of news stories featuring bath salt fueled lunatics eating faces and self-styled Canadian Hannibal Lector types going on the lam has me rethinking my doomsday preparedness. While I don't believe in zombies or the living dead (or Bigfoot or ghosts or black bumper Mennonites), I do believe we are on the verge of a semi-serious societal breakdown. The markets are on full-blown life support, propped up by central bank intervention…the Eurozone is in worst shape than is being reported, and Germany can't bail everyone out. The inevitable crash is going to be more spectacular than what we witnessed in 2008. This particular administration has spent trillions propping up the banks. When the house of cards comes crumbling down again, the government will find itself out of solutions. Printing more money will not prevent or soften the blow from what's in store. People are going to get desperate and desperate people can sometimes do unthinkable things. Getting a stronger lock for the front door is on the agenda, that's for sure…but reinforcing the walls of the house with cement and cutting murder holes into the frame are not.
So, yeah….I feel I need to prepare to take care of the family should we hit a rough spot down the road. What are 'prepper' essentials? I'm not anticipating the power grid going off line or a major disruption of water service…but life might become sportier, certain items harder to find or obscenely expensive…I'm just not sure what those items would be….
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