US breakdown and civil war in 1 - 2 years?

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Archaic Revival Anyone?

Also check out the Dmitri Orlov speech below that article. Here's a quote: "Once these institutions run out of resources, there will be a period of upheaval, but in the end people will be forced to learn to deal with each other face to face, and Justice will once again become a personal virtue rather than a federal department." Imagine that! Justice will be a personal virtue.

Yes,

I read that the other day. Great speech....what a funny guy.
"I think I prefer remaining just a tourist, because I have learned from experience, luckily, from other people's experience, that being a superpower collapse predictor is not a good career choice. "

Don't just stock up on bottled water and lentils

When it all comes crashing down, our fiat money just may have zero value. It'll all go back to bartering; and precious metals such as gold and silver should be an investment to seriously consider stashing away in your bunker. Silver bullion is trading for about $13 an ounce now, so...it's either that or goats.

James Howard Kunstler nailed this one

I highly recommend THE LONG EMERGENCY by James Howard Kunstler for anyone who is interested in this topic. That book scared the crap out of me. However, I learned a lot. His predictions about the disintegration of the United States into separate factions rife with unrest seemed dead-on accurate. He was the least pessimistic about the northeastern United States (w00t w00t!)

I need to start stocking up on provisions. Can anyone point me to someplace online where someone has posted an actual list?

Something like this:HOW TO STOCKPILE 3 YEARS WORTH OF STUFF FOR POST COLLAPSESomething like that would be very, very helpful.

I have some ideas of how to begin on my own, but I could really use some help!!

I think the hardest part

I think the hardest part will be how to pay three years worth of rent without cash.  Also, the city should be fun without garbage pickup and mass transit.  Probably wouldn't hurt to look into a place in the hills, with a well and land to farm.  I know for a fact some of us will be royally screwed; my whole business runs on the presumption that consumers will continue to use credit cards.

rent, lol.

Great article, I didn't comment on it when I read it last week. The Long Emergency was a great book, and illustrated some very important points in regards to survival, and justice.
I think makeshift shelters in the woods are going to be useful, as well as regular camping tents. I also think being adaptable to various conditions will also be crucial, Orlov cites setting up communities / farms in abandoned university campuses and office parks. Scoping some of those out before hand may be a cheap alternative to stocking up on crap, and building a new more formal home.
A used book on foraging would be useful, and so would knowing how to plant potatoes + grow Kale.
Here are some links as requested by 2112 rocks.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4528971_stockpile-emergency-food-supplies.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_4528971_stockpile-emergency-food-supplies.html
Some good data there, hope it helps.
The most important thing for survival IMO, is having a plan, and a community to work with. Daniel P keeps bringing up Transition Town as one possible model for survival post collapse (IMO if it happens. I'm still agnostic.)
In any case, I hope to see Evolver keep growing, so that discussions like this can go a little deeper. Time to get back to work.

ps

fyi firefox really butchers formatting in here.

escapism as survival

i didn't extensively review the framework of the transition town but the title itself seems to imply a willful ignorance of the way that such a collapse would hit urban centers...Although I try to approach these hypotheses with healthy skepticism I have always entertained the notion of an imminent breakdown, so i do find it plausible that things could spiral downward very quickly from our current situation.however, if this thinktank's predictions are true, only a very small minority of us are going to have the luxury of hiding in the woods with training in subsistence methods. The large majority of us will be trapped in urban areas, or well-populated suburban areas, without the option of individual retreat into a secluded rural scenario. Also Mr. Moore, while you are on the right track by thinking to reclaim existing structures, I can almost guarantee that in the event of this hypothetical crisis, universities and office centers will likely be quite the opposite of abandoned. As they are obvious concentrations of valuable material resources, they will probably be some of the first sites to be seized by the military.Whether in violence or community, we are going to have to face each other. You can't realistically hide and wait out a civil war. When the US does civil war, we do it big. Hiding in the woods is in my opinion, an individualist fantasy. I personally don't have any immediate solutions to widespread urban warfare, (which, i must mention, has already been going on for decades, just downplayed because of the color and class of the casualties) but these are some things we should be considering.

Interesting perspective

Interesting perspective Claire. War isn't really something I put into the equation. I think its possible that lack of proper funding may rule out the long term possibility of war, but that said, how could one know for sure.
Lots to think about now.
When I thought of government action in this sort of situation, I used to think more of a grab the trouble makers quick and lock them all up scenario than a fire fight like Alex Jones (conspiracy radio personality/christian militarist) suggests may happen.
If war breaks out, its going to be a super strange psychological situation for us. I have no inclination to fight some one... but if it is for survival, who knows, maybe that Krisha/Arjuna thing would happen.
As for transition town, the trick would be to start now in rural, suburban,and urban centers. The model doesn't work as well for cities, but it could be kind of useful if there wasn't all out war happening at the same time.
Thanks for the thought provoking comment!

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"Banish the word 'struggle' from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we have been waiting for." — Hopi elders

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