I’m simultaneously amused and dismayed at some of the comments at the bottom of this article by people who think that those of us who are stocking up on months, even years worth of food and other necessities of life are paranoid nutjobs with no connection to the real world.
And y’know, I think they’re exactly right.
Why be prudent now when the government can provide for us later?
Why scrimp and save and buy things that are useful when buying that Chinese-made plasma-screen TV will do more to stimulate the (Chinese) economy?
Why buy extra food and build up a substantial reserve pantry when we can rest assured that, no matter what, food will ALWAYS be available at the grocery store? (except when snowstorms, strikes, food riots, crop failures or other disasters strike)
Dang that I didn’t buy food when I should’ve stocked up, because the wife and kids are hungry right now and not too happy that we bought a much bigger house than we could afford on an adjustable-rate mortgage, and now our payments have skyrocketed, we owe more than the market value of the house and my industry is laying off people like blood gushing from a trauma patient.
Each one of us has choices as to how we spend the money we earn. It’s just that some people choose to spend money on really stupid things.
I’m having a hard time understanding what’s stupid, paranoid or disconnected from the real world when it comes to having a year’s worth of food for myself and my family. Is our collective memory as a society so short that we forget that little over 100 years ago, most families had at least several months worth of food in their pantry or at least easily obtainable in their communities? But now most of us are so far removed from the source of our food that if something — it could be multiple things — interrupts the supply chain that fills our grocery stores, we could be days…maybe weeks??…without food or other items. If having several months worth of food on hand made sense 100 years ago, how has it somehow become a ridiculous idea today?
Or to look at it another way, what good is it to have a 24-hour grocery store nearby if their shelves are empty? SOMEBODY obviously bought food and emptied the shelves, so why weren’t you among them?
Because they’re open 24/7. You didn’t “need” to go to the grocery store when you should’ve gone, just in case. Now you’re hungry.
But because the store is open 24/7, I’m sure they’ll have something on the shelves.
Eventually.
Whenever.
Well, there’s always Dumpster-diving.
Or you could stock up now while you still can.
What’s your excuse?
Tags: american preppers, emergency preparedness, food riot, food riots, food shortage, food shortages, food storage, grocery riot, grocery riots, grocery shortage, preppers, prepping, shtf, stocking up on food, wtshtf
Great Post!
Thank you for the encouragement, Tom. I’m glad I found your site as well!
You know, we always have extras on hand. After one of the major hurricanes (can’t remember if it was Andrew or Hugo) one mom was interviewed and talked about how her children were hungry and thirsty and she felt bad that she couldn’t even get them a drink of water. That has haunted me ever since. I would never want to be in that position, no matter what the reason.
I’ve tried to use the parent/child angle with friends who are my age and have kids. It’s sinking in with some of them…but not all of them yet, unfortunately.
Just curious, do you have any links on post-hurricane interviews from parents who weren’t prepared?