My Introduction :) / How do people like us survive? General question for people with knowledge and

Text Navy

I am not by any means "new" to ATS. I have been a member for some time now. I've just never posted, so apparently because of this fact I must come up with an introduction. I got into "conspiracy theories" about 2004 when my sister and brother-in-law started reading Sylvia Browne. Some of her predictions include some of what are considered to be "conspiracy theories." I don't believe that conspiracy theory is a great term. I would prefer if they would just be called what they are, hypothesis or just plain old theories. Actually believe it or not the reason I have not put myself out here on ATS is because I truly believe that the more I do the more I will be watched by our totalitarian government.
Seriously, I have never even voted because I believe the system is totally corrupt and does not work, so regardless of the outcome of a vote TPTB will put in place who they wish. I actually had an idea for a thread which I will post underneath this introduction.

How Do People Like Us Survive?

I and my wife and my child are a low income family. We make less than 30k a year and barely over 20k mostly. We are doing everything we can to better our situation including college. I just graduated from a Massage Therapy program. However that does not help us now........I keep getting told by family members who are somewhat prepared, come on you need to get with it......get prepared.....get prepared......However it's not quite that simple. When you are at the point where you don't know if you are going to have rent, or electricity, or a phone. (which is necessary for my job, which is the only reason i'd be concerned about it, I have lived without a phone before) How in the world are people such as myself supposed to get prepared? I cannot afford a gun, which I would really love to have. I cannot afford or make space for oodles of nonperishable food items (in a 2 bedroom apt) If a SHTF scenario occurred then we would be S.O.L. if there was no gasoline readily available, no food readily available, or atleast at a decent price. Basically if it was hyper inflation, disease, attack, and/or Martial Law we were looking at, short of killing someone else or at best knocking them unconscious and taking their supplies and guns we would have no chance or atleast to me it appears that way. Haven't seen really anyone touch on this subject, it's just always been presented like get prepared......YOU BETTER GET PREPARED OR YOU'RE SCREWED!!!!......Well I guess we're screwed???? What I need is someone with military training to contact me and tell me how to make things from your environment, water filtration, weapons, shelter, give me a real life practical survival guide on how to make something from nothing, cuz that's pretty much all I got.

the universe will sort you out mate dont worry. door ways willopen when they need be, just be ready to grab that door knob.bide your time. look for the signs
and if none of that happens pray for it to end quick.

It's actually not as they say it is. You prepare by making your everyday life what you want it to be. What I mean is that you need to examine your values very carefully. Things are going to change rather extremely. You will be asked to choose the nature of your existence. This doesn't mean you're going to win the lottery because you believe that's the solution to your problems. You haven't examined your life, if that's the case. Think about why you want the things you want. Is it really the things you want or is it the illusion of respect you envision when you think of people with those particular objects?

What kind of world do you want for yourself? Think only about your solitary self now. You have neither the right nor the responsibility to decide for others - not even your own child. Do *you* want a world where you have to "measure up" all the time? Or is it enough that you do something well because you do it with your heart and soul and people love it for that reason above all else it may give? This is just one example. Your best examples will come upon reflection of your own heart.

If you're really still worried about the fundamental survival, think about this: where are going to build a bunker that no one can get into? How are you going to store enough food for some undetermined period of time until the flames, the fears, the desperation is quelled? Who can you trust? Will they help you too? Are you sure? When do you see those fears ending? Where will they end?

You see? You can be part of that world - and feed it - or you can drop out of it. It looks like your life has taken you to a place where your path is clear (to me, at least), but the choice is yours now. You must choose. The question is being asked of you right now.

reply to post by DragonSpirit2


I have come to the conclusion that networking now is the answer. Although I'm not in a low income situation (yet), I don't have the skills and knowledge that others do to survive it alone (although I'm a good learner and probably would learn on the fly).

You always have something to contribute... your mind. You have valuable knowledge / skills that will be different from others and you will be able to contribute those. As others will be contributing what they know (most probably won't know much but may have guns, etc...

Take the time now to read, read, read and learn, learn, learn. That is free, right? Knowledge, not things will be the most valuable commodity in a survival situation.

Just my thoughts on the matter...

reply to post by CosmicEgg


In reading your post, , it occurred to me that those with the least amount of things to begin with are at an advantage in a survival situation as they will need less time "mourning" the loss of things that don't really matter and also will be more capable of living without them.

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


And that, my dear friend, is exactly what is to be realized. It's not about what you have. If you have no stuff, no one is going to harm you to take it. Your existence is of little interest.

Several years ago, I was "led to" meditation by some rather extraordinary events. This led me to certain realizations, but also receiving direct recommendations on how I was to alter my life. Of the many recommendations I received, two were directly applicable to the question at hand. Those were:' Fly below the radar' and 'Become invisible'. I have done both. No one in the world has the slightest interest in me and I very much will it to continue that way. Other messages I received had to do with day-to-day existence when living with nothing. It's just so wonderful, so peaceful, so *real* to live this way. I have no wants, so I cannot be manipulated. I have only peace of mind, and that comes from within. There's no taking that from me.

I posted something very similar on another thread but I think it may be more relevant here so with some indulgence I will say just about the same thing once again. You may have to consider getting yourself more involved in the "game" for your own advantage. You can decide just what is important to you.

We know some of the names of the top players in this economic charade for decades, centuries, or even millenia it seems. But now and then some new upstarts come along, some middle-level players that have managed to gouge out a big piece of the action for themselves and want to start adding some of their own rules into the game. That keeps some of the old-timers on their toes and sharp at their game.

It would become boredom to just have it all sewn-up so these new upstarts add a little spice to keep the game interesting. But in order for these middle-level players that have risen in the ranks to make it nice for their buddies they have to meddle with the economy so that those who know what's coming can have a little of the action.

This past decade was a big payday for many folks, they are farting through silk now but they know they can't play it till everyone else is out of the game. So at the moment they are re-thinking their strategies because they just about dried up their best milk cow. There are some other good milkers but they are working for other dairies across town. It is now getting just a little dicey around the card table and some of the players are looking at their watches to see if it might be time to call it a night. If they do call it, that is not good for us. We need them to keep playing.

The first decade of this millenium had a lot of upstarts really starting to show their skill at milking and thought they had some place to go after the game, but now they have realized many of their opportunities are closing. They may have just cleaned out their favorite casino and will now have to try their luck down the street where it has been less friendly.

I have been watching the game for awhile and though I absolutely hate some of the players, especially the upstarts, they made their game so obvious I had no choice but to play along and bet on their action. I have done well for myself by just paying attention. Fortunately I am not greedy and just wanted some modest security and keep a low enough profile I could cash out my meager winnings and leave the game with no one grumbling.

You yourself might have to bite the bullet if you didn't make out in the past round, who knows when such opportunity will present itself again? You may hate some of the players but you may have to draw your own ethics line and just look out for yourself while staying true to what you believe to be correct and acceptable.

I don't have the desire to play the game some of these people play, the rewards are just not worth the cost of the bodily commitment. A modest home along a quiet lakeshore may actually be more desireable than the biggest mansion on the outskirts of a noisy city, a new Jetta may be just as fine and less conspicuous than a new Ferrari. Those are choices you will have to make. Everything is obtainable if you know what you want. Some are just hooked on playing the game.

How Do People Like Us Survive?

One step at a time. I have been there and know how much it sucks. Try and build a good community network as it can help in dealing with a lot of problems. Support Ron Paul, if government has any chance of turning this around he is a key player.

This is a very good question. My family sounds a lot like yours and I honestly have no clue what we do if something like that hit us tomorrow. We have no plans, no special or easily accessible supplies, anything like that. We live week to week, so we can't afford really to buy anything that we don't immediately need. We have camping stuff but it spread around through three different places--not much good to us at the moment.

My best plan at the moment, would be to try to make it to my mom's. Its not horribly far and is very secluded. My mom is also a bit of a packrat and always has extra food. They also have guns/hunting/camping supplies out there.

I don't think you can ever be really prepared for every scenario. What you have a stockpile of food and supplies but you have to evacuate immediately and can only bring what you can carry? What if you have a place to go to but travel is out of the question?

Personally, I am hoping that nothing horrible happens for quite sometime. My kids are little (3 and 1) and the thought s hitting tf is terrifying.