What's your Back Up Plan when the Shit hits the Fan?

[Philosoraptor]

My elderly neighbor needs meds, and he's afraid if there's a terror attack or natural disaster, he won't be able to get to the drug store, and within a few days, he'll be dead.

Like the people of New Orleans last year, he's afraid he'll find himself on the roof begging for rescue or worse. He's afraid that the infrastructure of our society could collapse at any minute, economically and in other ways. And of course he's afraid to lose his health care, which is his only life line.

It's in the air, economic collapse, and the always impending terror attack, and toss in a few earthquakes and volcanoes for flavor.

The thing about disasters is that no one is ever really prepared for them. But with these guys at the wheel, disaster is always looming, and we should all be making contingency plans.

Our lives are about to take a drastic turn, I hope I'm wrong here, but, I got a bad, bad feeling about all this.

[wake.up.america]

1. The selfish, me me society leaves many people vulnerable....

things will not get better until people start looking after each other.

Good luck!

[oscar111]

2. RECOMMEND BUTTON is at bottom of orig. post

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[oscar111]

5. Mutual Aid Societies

i have heard the term.. anyone able to tell us what they were?

revive them.

and work to kick the GOP out.

tell your neighbor to first of all keep a positive attitude. That is his greatest ally. His own strength needs to be maximized. Dental problems? tell him of Colgate Total, with antibiotics in it.. helps a lot, no prescrip needed. Get Orapik dental tool too... can reach pockets between teeth and end much pain.

tell him to focus on bush's twenty nine percent poll recently. there is some real hope.

[zippy890]

3. FEAR FEAR TERRA TERRA

I don't get it.

[libnnc]

4. We've got enough land to grow veggies on

And we're walking distance from the grocery store (for meat). We've got a bit in savings. Started saving cash in the house -- don't know what good that will do once the dollar bottoms out. Drive a POS. No car payment to speak of. Playing "poor mouth" until the coast is clear--whenever that is.

[oscar111]

8. dont wory about meat.. not really needed by the body.

keep canned veggies. Might become the new dollar bill if the dollar is tanked, tho i dont see that happening. Birdflu is my reason for canned food. 18 months is the chaos time for that. Store water.

[lindisfarne]

6. Sounds like your neighbor needs someone to listen and reassure

him they'll look after him in case of an (unlikely) terrorist attack or natural disaster. If he has family, they should reassure him to.

He's right to fear losing health care, although medicare/medicaid isn't horrid (my grandmother's on it) but in some areas, it's pretty hard to find a primary care physician that accepts it.

(It's unlikely but sometimes when the elderly start thinking really negatively , it could be a sign of a bit of depression. Even if the negative thinking is justified, it could be causing undue worry and stress (that can also lead to depression); the fact that physically, he is worried about being able to function in an emergency situation means he feels he's lost some degree of control over his life).

[Minnesota Libra]

7. Philosoraptor, I'm with you, I fully expect an economic collapse and.....

....our prestige in the world is going to plummet and will never recover to where it is even now. Our prestige in the world has already suffered thanks to that WH garbage but it will tank in the not so distant future.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

9. Been my choice for years now.... but I need to find a doc soon to

see if what I have done has been worth a hoot.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/068816627X/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product/002-7498499-7428002?%5Fencoding=UTF8
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/068816627X.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Murray ( The Encylopedia of Natural Medicine , LJ 5/1/91) has written another excellent book offering an alternative to traditional healthcare. He does more than merely list alternatives to over-the-counter and prescription drugs; his book also includes information on the causes of diseases, the side effects of both drug and herbal therapies, and practical advice on diet and exercise. A section on staying healthy is particularly good since it doesn't overwhelm the reader with too much information. Murray presents a good balance between the advantages and disadvantages of both natural remedies and conventional medical treatment. Although libraries that own the more in-depth encyclopedia by the author may not need this work, it belongs in all other libraries as one of the best guides to healthy living. With an excellent bibliography; highly recommended.
- Natalie Kupferberg, Montana State Univ. Lib., Bozeman

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

10. You near Arkansas?

Check out Future Visions Foundation. Folks there can let you know if you're going in the right direction- http://www.futurevisionsfoundation.org

We're planning to have a class on creating wellness gardens this winter. Locals who raise open pollinated plants will be teaching it. The gardens contain plants to be used for different ailments, and the folks will be teaching how to make tinctures, etc. Class will use the book found here as a text:

http://www.storey.com/books/book.php/y/6/p/0/isbn/1-58017-095-1
Herbal Remedy Gardens by Dorie M. Byers

[brokensymmetry]

11. If I only knew which problem would hit first....

Perhaps I should say, which flavor of collapse.

Personally, I expect it to be peak oil oriented - so if that's
the case, transportation of goods becomes all but impossible.
A garden becomes essential.

But it could be deflation - the present crash in commodities
says something about that. Best not have ANY debt in that
case. Or, it could be inflation - which means any cash
or savings becomes worthless.

If it IS the peak oil worst case scenario, I suspect
a lot of us will "graduate".