Thursday, July 28, 2016

Gauging The Mood of the Country.

Some recent conversations I have had with people I interact with on a regular basis has opened my eyes a bit to just how many people I am around who seem to share pretty much the same opinions and outlook that I have on the situation we are all facing in this country and what people as individuals can do to prepare for what we all seem to see as the short trip we are all taking, in a hand basket, to someplace very hot that isn't Texas.

The interest in storing food, common interest in firearms and the decidedly right side of the spectrum political opinions pretty much caught me off guard at first but it seems to be more prevalent than I would have imagined.

I was quite surprised to hear one fellow had been canning food for years and actually had chickens when he only lived a couple of miles from where we were sitting.
I heard of another fellow we were all familiar with who also had chickens and other small livestock within a fifteen minute drive.

One has been interested in and around firearms his whole life and has just started expressing an interest in "prepping" for lack of a better word because I have never really liked that one.

Not wild eyed survivalist sentiments, more of a family man who doesn't like what he sees coming and wants to some sort of food storage for at least emergency contingencies.

This was just one conversation.

It is not the only one I have had recently and the common thread seems to be that people are thinking they need to do something because of a nagging feeling that all is not well and may just get worse real quick.

I'm pretty certain that none of these people I have been talking to spend near as much time as I do wallowing in the Doom and Gloom corner of the internet nor have the faintest idea what the Baltic Dry Index is or why it should matter to anyone in the first place.

These are just average working class Americans and they are worried.
Rightfully so I am afraid.

I am pretty sure that these are not isolated sentiments and that conversations like this are happening all over the country every day.

Just for my own information, I am interested in seeing if any of the sixteen people who read this blog every day are hearing conversations like this lately also.

Let 'er rip in the comments please.



20 comments:

A Texan said...

Yeah, I'm hearing the same thing. I am pleasantly surprised at how many people are putting away food, and hoarding guns & ammo (of course, I live in Texas).

I had a guy yesterday ask several other people, and me, in separate conversations, if we would be interested in buying suppressors at a very reasonable price. He was shocked when every person said something to the effect of "HELL, yeah! When and how much?" To shoot pigs, of course (again, I'm in Texas).

Even my decidedly anti-prepper wife is now interested in canning. Some serious ca-ca is coming down. I'm somewhat concerned that it'll occur either just before the election - to either tip it to Hillary or cancel it - or just before Inauguration Day, if Trump wins. I'm just sayin'.

idahobob said...

I've been hearing this subject being brought up more and more at church.

It seems that more folks are not only waking up, but are willing to listen to the truth and do something about it.

Time is getting short.

Bob
III

Irish said...

Some talk like that here in my neck of the woods also. Not so much on prepping though. I think it's because we are population dense around here plus there are lots of liberal anti gun towns that will be easy to "borrow" stuff from if the SHTF. :-)

Anonymous said...

Yes I am. People are rightly concerned and looking for info and I suspect some reassurance they aren't the only ones feeling that way. It's better to be in the shit with others than alone I guess.
maxx

MattB said...

Yep hearing the same stuff around my area in Texas!

Anonymous said...

I've heard some comments from those around me at work about events going on around the world and our country (USA). Mainly 'need to buy a gun for impending zombie apocalypse', but said with more conviction then joking around. Only one commented about storing food though. Another got into Brazilian Jujitsu (better than a gun because your body is the weapon!). All of these comments begin with 1)price of food nowadays 2) weather extremes causing system fail 3) terrorism.

Ken said...

mornin'Busted...yeah, been part and parcel to those conversations in these parts too...some neighbors and i have been discussing fortifying our positions, lines of sight, routes of egress, etc...one has a deer lease with only a few like minded folks allowed that we've been stocking for a worst case scenario bol...not completely off topic, i've had twice as many hits from russia as the fusa...canada, uk, france etal have been burning up my stats this last month ??? make of it what you will...

...KeepTheFaith Shipmate...

Grog said...

I've heard the same conversations in my area, but most of them are just people venting in irritation, not many are serious about the near future, that would require a change of thought they're not willing to make.



Dennis Roe said...

Well this is jersey, which isn't even America anymore, but it depends if I'm in the sticks around working stiffs, bikers, etc., these trends of thought just seem like common sense even if looked at humorously. dark humor used to offset the depressing clouds off in the distance. In the beach towns [its a dinky state all accessible by Harley] they think you're a negative asshole, a doom and gloomer. I don't even bring it up. This crazy circus will just keep rockin and rollin, no worries. After all they're all benefitting, section 8 at one end of the bar, govt workers, retired cops and firemen, schoolteachers, lawyers and bullshit artists at the other. Don't rock the boat.

Gary in Bama said...

Phil people I never thought would consider "stocking up" are scared and doing it. In the rural south guns and ammo canning and gardens are the norm. What gets me is its not just crazy Republican conservatives like me. It's got even liberal democrats scared something bad is coming.

Anonymous said...

been doing it for years

a good stockpile that seen us between bad years and weather aftermaths


our lives live better now and for whatever comes later

humans in my area that adopt such strageties are few

the rest are "walking dead"

Wildflower

Anonymous said...

Flyover country, here, kansas city area. Mom is 78 years, still pretty sharp. She says she and her friends talk about it, like the whole country is under a black cloud. Not like anything they have ever seen before. There's something out there the self honest folks are feeling in their bones.

Oldfart said...

I'm just across the river from you and well over half the families on my street are canning or storing or raising chickens or rabbits. We've had three small families buy homes, then tear up the yards and plant gardens. Two have built smaller homes (mother-in-law houses?)for other family members. Nearly everyone has some sort of system for catching rainwater in spite of state laws that make such actions illegal. We seldom talk about it much but I believe there are enough guns and ammo tucked away to outfit a small army. The only thing I'm unsure of is whether or not we have the collective will to resist. I guess we'll find out...

Sixbears said...

It's happening here too. People are worried -and rightly so.

Randy said...

Yup, hear much the same. have had family meeting to discuss what if's. never in my 63 years would i have thought i would feel compelled to have discussions like that with my family, but here we are.

Eclectic Kelvin said...

Well i read your column almost every day but would probably be the 17th person on the list. My wife and i try to put away as much as possible when we can but it is hard when we are stuck out here in Northern Ca. in an apartment for another two months before we get to go back to South West Alabama where we own a home outside a small town. We plan on what we will need. Getting our garden back up, back to canning, dry food storage and ammo. We will be driving back and are only taking what is necessary I hear almost nothing from our neighbors up here in the Bay Area. Their main worries seem to center on if their cars get dirty. These people are sheep and that is scary. Will be traveling home a month before the election through the South West. That ought to be fun.

Anonymous said...

one reminder

keep your mouth shut and teach this also to all involved

their will be others ready to remove by force anything they want because somebody blabbed to others what you are doing

Wildflower

Spud said...

There is myself...just south of you wildflower.....

Spud said...

My main concern, are those which know where I live....never have been able to convince anyone else to prep :-)

Spud said...

My main concern, are those which know where I live....never have been able to convince anyone else to prep :-)

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