June 18, 2007
by Pam in FL
Hi Steve,
If ALL that happened was the banks, ATMs and credit cards were non functional my family would be ok financially speaking for a good number of months. However, the reality is that others who are not so able to cope are going to loose it both financially and mentally really quickly. I think the real question, within a week or so of sustained fund unavailability and total market crash, is can you manage and function within the inevitable panic and social breakdown that will occur? Once people begin missing a few paychecks in the "just in time" salary system many people are living under, just going outside will be really dangerous in short order, either by panic strickened citizens, mugging or various "curfew managers" trying to keep the peace.
I think those that don't prepare often are unable or unwilling to think things through as events follow like falling dominoes. Very rarely does one event just happen. Instead one thing triggers another and then another. Look at Katrina. It wasn't just a storm. It was a storm, complicated by flooding, complicated by destruction, complicated by a large population, complicated by lack of help and on and on to this day.
The simple truth is this so called civilized world is still very much operating on a survival of the fittest basis. If one chooses not to prepare at all, then by default they will be the most likely to die first. Too bad if that's harsh, it's just reality. Some think they can gamble and win but just like at the casino, the odds are against you.
People would do well to start preparing by just thinking about the interconnectivity of events and how they hope to live after the fact, whatever form that may be.