survivalism

[watertrade]

At the best of times I'm a pretty anxious person. In the last couple of years I've had this feeling that I would like to be able to jump in the 'bug out' truck and take off from the gangs of people suffering from the collapse of society - at least until the military takes back control.

Things like the events that followed Hurricane Katrina in the states make me worry.

I know Canberra isn't like to be flooded with thousands of people displaced fighting for survival. But... ?

A paranoid side of me would want to be prepared just in case.

Is there anyone else giving this kind of thing some thought? Letting the paranoia take over?

****

Survivalism is a commonly used (and often mis-used) term for the preparedness strategy and subculture of individuals or groups anticipating and making preparations for a future possible disruptions in local, regional or worldwide social or political order. Survivalists often prepare for this anticipated disruption by learning skills (e.g., emergency medical training), stockpiling food and water, preparing for self-defence and self-sufficiency, and/or building structures that will help them to survive or "disappear" (e.g., a survival retreat or underground shelter).

The specific preparations made by survivalists depends on the nature of the anticipated disruption(s), some of the most common scenarios being:

1. Natural disaster clusters, and patterns of apocalyptic planetary crises or Earth changes, such as Climate Change bringing on tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards, and severe thunderstorms, etc.

2. A disaster brought about by the activities of mankind: chemical spills, release of radioactive materials, war, or an oppressive government.

3. General collapse of society, resulting from the unavailability of electricity, fuel, food, and water.

4. Monetary disruption or Economic collapse, stemming from monitary manipulation, hyper-inflation or world-wide depression.

5. Widespread chaos, or some other unexplained apocalyptic event.

Edited February 23, 2008 by watertrade

[marsha]

always i am in the midst of preparing the most awesome desert travelling vehicle, wa the place for survival head up old stock routes for fresh water wells make yourself familiar with outback springs and bush tucker dance under the stars coroboree now we have the blessing in disguise we have life white man now be brownfella.

[ThunderIdeal]

i'm actually with you 100% watertrade, in fact i'm always very mildly prepared to flee the city

however i wouldn't be any better off than most of the masses.

my real plan is the same as my regular life plan - to start an organic farm in the middle of fuggen whoop-whoop and be completely self reliant for my NEEDS and even somewhat reliant for my WANTS

and if you think about raiding my food and medical supplies.... i'll shoot you

[watertrade]

and if you think about raiding my food and medical supplies.... i'll shoot you

haha -

Too busy shooting each other to realise everything is fine. ;)

Maybe I should change my first post - it sounds a little - aggressive. I'm a nice guy really.

[ThunderIdeal]

we need solidarity man.

we need to shoot everyone TOGETHER.

how can we be expected to survive without SHOOTING?

on a serious note, i hope you realise that you're trail-blazing plan, in most scenarios, probably won't be as effective as setting up somewhere. you could improve your likelihood of survival by including seed for food crops in your survival gear, but in reality, we may have to deal with extreme conditions necessitating a farm operation with tons of biodiversity (including old-world crop varieties), permaculture-type innovations and modern technology.

[ThunderIdeal]

although i guess you can stockpile for years and years of voracious eating.

it would be really helpful to somehow anticipate the nature of the hardships we will face. i tend to think we will face a very broad spectrum, but that's me i'm a full-on doomsayer.

edit: anyone selling any cheap, remote land??

Edited February 23, 2008 by ThunderIdeal

[watertrade]

The way I see it is that things would only be bad for a couple of weeks at most. Unless of course in the event of real global breakdown.

If you have to live long term and start growing crops I would have no chance - I kill more than survives.

In which case, as you say, solidarity is the only way - You grow the crops and I will... ...? Water them? Pick flowers for lovely centre pieces at the dinner table. ?

I should work on those survival skills.

[XipeTotec]

ofcourse, if the prophecies are correct, you probally won't have the opportunity for atleast a few years, to settle and grow crops.... you know, with all the man eating man scenarios.

Edited February 23, 2008 by XipeTotec

[ThunderIdeal]

ok heres a basic strategy watertrade

step A. you kill the men, we both eat the men.

step B. i grow the crops and feed the men.

step C. same as step A.

[ThunderIdeal]

the event of real global breakdown.

yep, i'm a genuine doomsayer.

[Vertmorpheus]

You can distill water from people you know... isn't that handy?

VM

[ThunderIdeal]

is that cannabalism?

cuz if so, that's how me and WT are gonna get our water. we're gonna survive on human products only.

in fact, his name is starting to make sense.

Edited February 24, 2008 by ThunderIdeal

[Torsten]

In my late teens I was friends with a moron, ahem, I mean mormon, and even though I did not get involved in the religious side of things I did really enjoy learning survivalism with him. Learned to shoot [crossbow, rifles, etc], fish, trap, camp, kayak in everything from the summer desert to winter at Mt Kosciusko. We only ever took 2 days of space food with us and vowed not to touch it unless we were seriously putting our safety at risk without it [not difficult considering how disgusting that stuff is]. We suffered badly at times, but most of the time did pretty well.

Even though I dread the thought of camping or gutting critters for lunch, I am confident that I can easily survive in any part of australia for extended periods of time in any climate [provided I have a few hours to get my kit together] and that alone has always given me a certain confidence. I am not like those folks who actually enjoy this lifestyle [i prefer 3 star accomm as a minimum ], but given the right motivation I don't mind it.

Then again, I am unlikely to be found in a city below sealevel with a hurricane approaching

[watertrade]

is that cannabalism?

cuz if so, that's how me and WT are gonna get our water. we're gonna survive on human products only.

in fact, his name is starting to make sense.

:D

only the best distilled water is served.

its only at the end of the meal your host starts to discuss the need for real survival techniques and the role you could play...

owwww spooky.

Edited February 24, 2008 by watertrade

[XipeTotec]

Soylent Green is PEOPLE!!!!

great, thanks for ruining the ending.

[The Dude]

This whole "The Secret" Hippie shit about the power of attraction has me thinking that our futures are what we project, and paranoia creates its own forgone conclusion. It also reminds me of the movie 12 Monkeys and how the 'apocalypse' was manifested by these doomsayers with some kind of sick obsession with the end of the world, and seeing their prophecy come true.

Revelations and the Apocalypse and yadda yadda is meant to be a misunderstood allegory relating to the astrological end of the age, or the precession into the age of aquarius. Although I'd say that the astro-symbolic significance may well mean that the end of an astrological age will come with some kind of death/rebirth mirrored here on our planet.

One last tangent, I think I recall something about about Hindu belief regarding these days as the final age in a great cycle and this being the final age of Kali the death bringer. muahahahaha!

Death inevitably leads to rebirth. I want to survive with this here human vessel and all it's collected experiences, but I'm sure my soul or whatever the fuck would do just fine to die and be born again in some incarnation somehow.

still, lets try to survive this shit without having to kill each other, really.

[apothecary]

I call it post-apocalyptic paranoia, and yes, I know what you mean

[shruman]

Would'nt it be Pre-apocolyptic paranoia?, I mean if the apocolpse happens it wo'nt be paranoia will it?

Is it even possible to have paranoia of events passed?

I'm so pesamistic there aint a need to worry cause we'll all be dead.

[ThunderIdeal]

apocalypse, if this isn't already widely understood, means revelation.

anyway, it's the age of kali-yuga. theres a small chance i'm mixed up but i believe it means material illusion. this is the age of illusion.

[The Dude]

apocalypse, if this isn't already widely understood, means revelation.

anyway, it's the age of kali-yuga. theres a small chance i'm mixed up but i believe it means material illusion. this is the age of illusion.

Isn't any FORM by default a perversion of the untainted pure source? all creation is imperfection, or illusion. So as soon as anything existed ever, we have entered the age of illusion. Even the idea of age or a chronological passing of time seems illusory as in the higher dimensional planes all these 'instances' are a continuum anyway.

I never heard about the etymological relationship of Apocalypse to the word Revelation. As far as I understood it was more of a direct association to 'reveal' as revelation is a revealing of truths. At the same time the truth is never hidden, just hard to see. If it is hidden anywhere then it's all hidden in plane sight, so revelation isn't really revealing anything, just seeing things in a new light, maybe with the help of culling old ideas through some form of personal, paradigm apocalypse, we strip down our perceptual filters and "TRUTH" is revealed from behind the occlusion of our own preconceptions... Maybe you are right making this connection.

The man that seeks with with old thoughts often sees, but rarely finds.

time for a change of ideas perhaps.

Cuz Im praying for rain

And Im praying for tidal waves

I wanna see the ground give way.

I wanna watch it all go down.

Mom please flush it all away.

I wanna watch it go right in and down.

I wanna watch it go right in.

Watch you flush it all away.

Time to bring it down again.

Dont just call me pessimist.

Try and read between the lines.

I cant imagine why you wouldnt

Welcome any change, my friend.

I wanna see it all come down.

Edited February 25, 2008 by The Dude

[devance]

The Apo as biblically described has 200 mile winds for 6 months and earthquakes.

The reason is not nuclear war although that would a beginning but the continents very fast shifting position.

I don't think survival as far as the movie "The War Warrior" is going to be applicable except to a movie screen writer for conflict of water.

So how to do, well somebody will.

As a theorithcal plot the terrified survivors in a bunker, time travels 6 months into the future so no resources are needed.

The nasty side at least for the Morlocks [fascist or commie] militariy in the bunker don't and are attacked by demons, so they would go mad.

Biblically 'They seek death but can't find it.

Not Sociallcally inclusive as far as every grownup child in the nursery. Just 2 out of three.

A plot that will never will be on TV as there is no drama.

And any dependance on the politicals or military.

[devance]

Aso the bibal describes another one, a apo 1000 years in the future.

So very complex.

The end of age cults don't think theres a very long time to go with Nukes and all..

This isn't the end of the age [1,000 years ] of man on earth.

[Or Female for finer reasons]

[ThunderIdeal]

dude, found this.

the age of kali-yuga refers to kali (pronounced kah-lih), a demon not to be confused with the goddess kali (technically Kālī, pronounced kar-lee). apparently the four ages begin with a kind of golden age where man's morality is intact, and each age sees man lose a quarter of his morality... so in kali-yuga it's like a four-legged animal standing on one leg. it's the furthest man can be from god.

my quick research was prompted by me recollection that "maya" is what means 'material illusion'.. so kali yuga just means age of kali (the demon). btw it is contested whether or not we are in kali-yuga.

i like this passage:

Maya, is the principal deity who creates, perpetuates and governs the phantasmagoria, illusion and dream of duality in the phenomenal Universe. For some mystics[citation needed] this manifestation is real, but it is a fleeting reality; it is a mistake, although a natural one, to believe that Maya represents a fundamental reality or Truth. Each person, each physical object, from the perspective of eternity is like a brief, disturbed drop of water from an unbounded ocean. The goal of enlightenment is to understand this — more precisely, to experience this: to see intuitively that the distinction between the self and the Universe is a false dichotomy. The distinction between consciousness and physical matter, between mind and body (refer bodymind), is the result of an unenlightened perspective.

all this hindu talk is making me itch to post a summary of one of the chapters in the bhagavad-gita.

[ThunderIdeal]

ahhhhh the entry for kali on wikipedia is a trip. much more interesting than the basic perception i had, and truthfully much more in line with the kali mushroom trip which i described here some time ago.

[Francois le Danque]

ii just skipped down the page to find this thread has gone from survival to "kali vs kali". i was just going to say that my girlfriend's family used to stockpile supplies and go without electricity to practice for when bird flu destroys the earth.

their stupidity greatly annoys me.

Thunder: "we need to shoot people TOGETHER" nearly made me fall out of my chair lolling.