It's The End Of The World!!! (and the beginning of the Agrarian Wilderness)

[Thedus]

I have to vent this... because Lord knows my wife is steeped in this as much as I am.

My father-in-law has officially gone off the deep end.  I tried to be supportive at first, but now it's to the point of being scary... bordering on ludicrous.

About a two months ago my father-in-law started to think that perhaps there was something to all of this Doomsday stuff.  ...Then he read an article about solar flares, and he had an epiphany: the end of civilization will come at the hands of a monster solar flare that will hit us in December (...date to be decided, and subject to change).

At first it was cute.  The idea of a massive solar flare causing power outages... and bouts of minor hysteria.  It was something right out of a 50's B-Movie.  But the more he talked about it the more sever his vision of the future became.  He started stocking up on firewood (he's now up to 110 20' logs of oak that measure about 18" in diameter each), canned food, ammunition... about a month ago he started talking about how he's building up provisions to last for three months of isolation.  Now he's up to 6 months, and talking about rigging a water purification system to his downspouts so that they can have drinking water once the taps stop working.  He's also started burying valuables in sealed off PVC pipes in the backyard so come December the soil won't look disturbed and people won't be bale to find them.  He's purchased a large electrical generator and is now looking for a second (and possibly a third) to operate as a back-up for the first.  He's looking to purchase (or borrow) a saw that will cut through cement so that he can cut into the double cement wall between the garage and the rest of the house to create a hidey hole for additional valuables.  He's already begun stock-piling cigarettes - not because he smokes (which he doesn't), but becasue he's certain that cigarettes will become one of the primary forms of currency in the new barter system that will arise from the fall of society.  He also sees gasoline and silver as being key in this barter system - so he's been buying-up stock in silver, and stocking-up on gasoline. And he's got 2 acres of land, and has already started prepping it for massive gardening so that they will be "ahead of the game compared to everyone else" come December.  ...Because once the end comes we will have to grow it or shoot it if we want to survive.

What started as a casual and amusing thought has turned into a full-on obsession.  He now honestly believes that society will fall apart this December as a result of a monster solar flare that will fry all electronics on the planet, and that the result will be every man for himself for a minimum of 6 months.  However, my wife and I are sure that his time frame will increase to a full year before the end of the summer.

 

[beckmen]

Make him sit down and watch this:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5U4TtYpKIc" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5U4TtYpKIc</a>

[Nev]

It could be a temporary psychosis. That stuff happens, you know.

Have you tried getting him to see a shrink or something? And how old is he exactly? Could also be a form of dementia.

[Company Man]

The states are packed full of people like this. Over prepared, but with the world on possible the verge of economic colapse and war here and there and the flood of natural disasters, who knows... maybe there is something to this.

Even a new surge of 'zombie survivalists' are exploding onto the scenes.

Is being prepared out of question? No. It is not. Is getting prepared for one possible outcome, then yes. One should get ready for ANY event.

And tell him silver is a good choice, but a stock of gold would be good as well.

[beckmen]

Why would that shit have any value? Have we not moved past "ooh, it's shiny! Must have!"?

[BishopIII]

Of course useless shiny things would still have value: Humans are idiots! 

Either way, as CM said, it's good to have provisions in place for any eventuality, but fixating on one possible event is obsessive and foolish. Who knows? He could turn out to be right - we're long overdue for another megaflare!

[deezelboy]

Thedus, does he have much else going on in his life at the moment prior to preparing for the downfall? It could be an attempt to instil some level of control in a changing world?

I'm tempted to suggest trying to channel his behaviour towards a more positive outcome. Farming his two acres might not be a bad thing, for example. But tell him that stockpiling cigarettes is pretty useless (given the amount of tobacco farms in the US it's a bit like stockpiling gold next to Fort Knox), and worrying about looters and hidey-holes equally so (because looters are far more likely to hole up in cities, where they'd have anything they could possibly wish for).

But a nice, self-sufficient farm, that's something you could care for and take some meaning from even if the apocalypse doesn't happen.

[Company Man]

I just want to clear up that I am not saying the man is right, nor doing the right thing. It is a bit more off the line of reason sure, but it is not unwise to prepare.

At home... in America I have a GTFO/BOB* bag, and a SHTF* bag. Of course I have yet to make one here in China.

The reason is because I live in Tornado Alley back home, and near a flood plain. And redneck southern Illinois zombies... or whatever. Nothing is wrong with being ready. Food, water, ca$h, water, water, defense.

It is how far one goes that is unique to the situation or the mentality. Or for what they think the cause is.

*GTFO= Get The Fuck Out/Bug Out Bag= You need to leave home for 3 to 5 days and survive.
*SHTF= Shit Hits The Fan= Zombie Apocalypse, nuclear holocaust, worst case scenario. And survival needs to start and last for several days or 2 weeks.

I made a thread about this once I think.

[Company Man]

and worrying about looters and hidey-holes equally so (because looters are far more likely to hole up in cities, where they'd have anything they could possibly wish for).

Kinda disagree. Not all looter head to the city. Some start out cut off from the urban jungles and might naturally goto the city, while others might stay low and stick to the ruralness and stay out of sight thinking " no one will look here for me and my stuff. "

Looters come everywhere.

In New Orleans back in 2005, several headed to the outskirts where the wealthy homes were. While many were cut off and stayed inner city. The looting can be dictated by the disaster. And that come from a Military DOD ( Department of Defense ) manual that was released months after "Katrina" for riot prevention and urban destabilization tactics.

[NERMAL]

Agreeing with Deez about channelling his efforts into the farming side of his obsession, and also with CM on being prepared for more than just one stroke of bad luck.

When it gets to the point of being past the time that the shit hits the fan, Dad's going to look back at the previous year and maybe feel a bit shitty at the effort he's put in for no good reason. I'm no shrink, but I think it will be important to hold on to some positives like learning new practical skills to pass on to the grand kids. Anything so he does not think it was such a waste of time.

Then again all the news we get from the US tells us your all circling the bowl waiting for the suction to take you down anyway...

[deezelboy]

Kinda disagree.

I dunno. I'm thinking the major problem's going to come down to mobility and what people are going to want to steal. Any 'downfall of society' scenario is going to have to knock out the transport infrastructure in order to cause that downfall, so working vehicles are going to be in very short supply.

Looting in this situation would, I assume, come down to how far you were prepared to travel and how much you could realistically haul back. With cities and towns, you don't have far to go to snag what you want and move it back - most of it's within walking distance (although competition obviously becomes a problem!).

Heading out of the cities and towns, and food and water become more of a problem. You've got to travel further just to get the stuff that'll allow you to keep travelling. Any additional loot is going to become more of an encumbrance until you find somewhere to hole up and stop travelling, or find others to trade it with for the stuff that you really need.

The way I see it, outside of the cities, any looter is going to be way more interested in your food and water than your valuables. If they raid your house, they're probably more likely to stay there until they've used up all the food and water, and then they've got all the time in the world to search out your little hidey-holes in your home. More out of boredom and curiosity, I'd expect, as they'd constantly have the problem of whether it's worth lugging around your stash when they leave.

Interested in hearing your thoughts on this.

[Hieronymus]

Why December?  Is this about the Mayans again?

[Company Man]

Why December?  Is this about the Mayans again?

The Alien Invasion/Colonization from The X-Files was/is set for December 2012

[dude]

According to Assassin's Creed it'll be a solar flare.

[Company Man]

And Nicholas Cage as well.