Are You Prepared for Trouble or Hard Times?

I had a minor procedure done at a dermatologist’s office, and the doctor and nurse were awfully chatty. They wanted to know what I do for a living. I told them I spend a lot of time on a Web site dedicated to preparedness and survival.

I mentioned that one of my readers had purchased a supply of storage food recently. The nurse had no idea why anybody would do that.

The doctor on the other hand was more aware of the reasons for getting prepared, but it was clear he didn’t take the subject too seriously. He said he had lots of bags of mixed nuts at home, and he thought he could survive on that for quite a while.

The nurse was interested when I mentioned wild edibles, such as purslane and said she’d Google it when she got home. I hope she remembered to do so.

This little exchange was a reminder to me. Those of us who are preparing to survive everything from emergencies to hard times can forget how far removed we are from Populus Americanus, as I sometimes refer to the masses. It’s sort of an “us” and “them” thing. They just don’t see things as we do, and you wonder how long before at least a few catch on.

After all, the economy has been in the dumps for quite a while now. But maybe it hasn’t been bad enough for folks like the dermatologist and his nurse. There’s a lot of talk about a recovery, and they both still have their jobs. The doctor hasn’t had to dip into his stash of mixed nuts yet.

Some call what we officially went through a few years ago the Great Recession. Someone else has called it the Greatest Depression. I think the latter phrase is more correct. But there’s more to come because we’re repeating history.

While most of us are familiar with history surrounding the stock market crash of 1929, it was European defaults that made things even worse in the 1930’s. People thought things were turning around in 1930. But it was the collapse of an Austrian bank in 1931 that made trouble for Europe.

The two parts of the Great Depression brought Hitler and FDR into power in their respective countries. What changes will we see this time? Keep your eye on Europe.

How well prepared are you for life to change as we’ve known it? Do you have more than bags of mixed nuts set aside?