Random Thought Thread

Matthew Gregory said:
This right here. That’s why I know you’re a survivor, buddy. The apocalypse fantasy is something that most people who are too comfortable in life came up with, sort of an extension of teen angst that’s still rolling into their forties.


Always remember the immortal words of my buddy Patrick, gang -


“It’s way too late for pessimism, man. “
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I've always thought of it as a fantasy, but I never made the connection of it being an extension of teen angst. I think you're probably spot on; Romanticism and teen angst.

In a similar vein, there seems to be other "fantasies" floating around:

My Long-winded opinionated observations
"live off the land so you don't have to work a 9 to 5 and you survive the apocalypse": the "avoid a 9 to 5" portion seems to be more common among younger people (early to mid twenties) that don't realize the work, knowledge/skill, and resources/equipment that goes into farming/realistic homesteading; how much land it requires to be sustainable and/or profitable. Plus, You still need contingencies if your crop dies from disease, drought, etc. It seems like a lot of younger people aren't even aware of property taxes and Zoning restrictions.

Without a significant amount of land, you're not growing enough to feed your family all year. There also aren't vast herds of wild game (at least out here) any longer. The days of mountain men are gone for most of the populace.

"emergency wilderness survival":
This spawns the whole "I need a knife that can't rust, be broken, and never dulls" mentality that breeds thick knives that cut poorly. People think they'll be stranded somewhere and be able to survive months on end. Odds are you're not going to make it if you're stranded more than a couple weeks (at best). Your knife isn't going to rust out in that time frame and if you're not prying boulders like a moron, you're not breaking it either.
The average american's lack of cardio, first aid/medical training, wilderness knowledge, and general skills will fail and lead to death far before you need to be concerned about your knife.
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Don't get me wrong on either of the items above, I'm not sayingdon't bother being prepared or that over-preparing is bad, etc.

I'm just saying there needs to be a healthy dose of realism or, in my opinion, you're going to waste a lot of effort and resources because there's no way to cover all possibilities and/or contingencies; it makes more sense to focus on the most probable/likely scenarios.
 
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