The highest number of people planning to prepare for y2k I've seen yet. This was in a news paper. When? Is my question. When they decide that its time to start storing up some things you better get out of the way. Times they are a changing.

-- Army Girl (aGirl@ag.com), July 26, 1999

Answers

ah, the poll thing again.

i think in private, that's about right,

but i guarantee you, if you stop 100 people and ask are they preparing for y2k(in front of their friends and family members),

it'll be closer to 15 or 20 percent....

but remember, the red cross has now been beating it into peoples heads that they should prepare.

i remember when we were called "ALARMISTS" late last year for suggesting preparation AT ALL...

it wasn't always "3 to 5 days" folks......

do you remember when we were called "alarmists" for suggesting people prepare?????

-- SuperLurker (slfsl@yahoo.com), July 26, 1999.

I am glad that I am storing food now, we have been in a major drought in the northeast. Crops are drying up, there will not be much food from farms here. Next year whatever happens will only worsen things.. I can already see the problems.. All over the US, the weather is unbearble, no rain, which means crops die...

-- Cassandra (american_storm@usa.net), July 26, 1999.

There's 10 households on my street--only 1 in 10 is ready and that's me, the other's don't have a clue. So I would have to say the poll doesn't apply here.

-- GIJANE (GIJANE@GIJANE.com), July 26, 1999.

The operative phrase is "planning to prepare." Most of us are preparing (at some level)...not planning to prepare at some future date. There is a significant difference. Planning to prepare could mean finally getting off the dime and finding out that the opportunity for full preparation is long gone.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), July 26, 1999.

The key question here is, What's preparation anyway?

I know several people who are buying extra when things go on sale. Over the last year or so, they have gradually accumulated a couple of months worth of canned food and such staples as sugar, flour, shortening, coffee, etc. These people concede that this is a good idea in principle, and saves money in the long run. Call this preparation level 1, hardly alarmist to anyone.

Level two involves the purchase of items specifically for y2k, that you'd never have bought otherwise. These items vary from the prepackaged y2k survival freeze-dried kits to generators, wood stoves, oil lamps, underground fuel tanks, shotguns, sacks of nonhybrid seeds, etc. Advocating this level of preparation is regarded as at least moderately alarmist, since it implies loss of basic services for an extended period of time (weeks).

Level three is what some here have called "full" preparation, and what others consider minimal! Moving to the sticks, going off-grid, setting up arsenals within armed compounds, learning nonmechnaized agricultural skills, converting substantial assets into physical gold, establishing self-reliant "y2k communities", private water supplies and so on. This level implies essentially permanent loss of services followed by social collapse. And it's regarded as more than alarmist, it's regarded as bonkers.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), July 26, 1999.

Flint, my level of prep is probably between 1 and 2. Eg., several months of non-perishable goods and plus a means of water storage plus an extra cartank of gas to go in storage in the trunk in late November (in case of bugout). Since i am a wimp about guns, I don't plan on obtaining one unless things get REALLY messy. Since I live paycheck to paycheck, not much cash will be stuffed under the mattress. Other, more extensive preparation options are simply not economically feasible.

-- coprolith (coprolith@rocketship.com), July 26, 1999.

coprolith:

That's really about where I am too. More nonperishable stuff (not intended to last a longer time, but intended to feed the neighbors for a shorter period if necessary). I did get a wood stove, and use it to heat the house from sheer preference (better heat cheaper). Guns are a hobby, and take time and effort to learn to use effectively. Might be late for that now for those who haven't used one. I can't picture the requirement for a gun to go up appreciably anyway. And I've elected to use whatever money I can gather together to get out of debt, rather than stuffing a mattress with it.

Clearly, my preparations are against fairly local, fairly short-term problems. Not for long-term survival in a post-apocalypse world (a prospect I consider absurd).

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), July 26, 1999.

Flint: do you consider the notion that a post-apoc world would ever come to pass "absurd", or the notion that you could survive in such a world "absurd" ... ? Please clarify.

-- Count Vronsky (Vronsky@anna.com), July 26, 1999.

This was reported in my local (Wisconsin ) paper as "Vast Majority of Americans Unconcerned by Y2K". Then the SUB heading read " One Third will have extra food cash on hand." Talk about about a disconnect.

-- kozak (kozak@formerusaf.guv), July 26, 1999.

Cassandra,

Speak for yourself we re getting drenched in Wisconsin. The crops look great.

-- kozak (kozak@formerusaf.guv), July 26, 1999.

Count:

*Both* are absurd.

kozak:

No disconnect here. 2/3 see no problems, so they aren't concerned. 1/3 prepare, so they're no longer concerned, they're ready. For the lunatic fringe, *no* amount of preparation can alleviate concern.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), July 26, 1999.

coprolith, what makes you think you'll even be able to buy a gun? You'll become like a thousand other people trying to buy one. It's getting harder to purchase guns. I suppose you can buy one on the black market for mega bucks when the time comes, one without ammo that is.

-- rambo (rambo@ramboooo.com), July 27, 1999.

Flint my point was the use of the term "Vast Majority". To me that means 80-90%. In an election when one candidate gets 2/3 that not a Vast Majority.Semantics matter.

-- kozak (kozak@formerusaf.guv), July 27, 1999.

Flint,

I'm curious. What are your expectations of what will occur in a "level 1" scenerio verus a "level 2"?

If you are preparing for a level 1 then you must think there is at least the possibliity of problems.

Since I am convinced that it is going to be impossilbe to predict with any certainty EXACTLY what will fail then it stands to reason that it is possible that electricity, water, sewage, supply lines and and other such critical systems could also fail.

Why then is it "alarmist" for a person without a fireplace for example to purchase some means of heating in an emergency? Why would it be "alarmist" for someone who does not have any other light source other than electrical to purchase a propane lantern?

If a person decides to buy gold or silver expecting (as I do) that no matter what happens gold and silver will increase dramatically over the next few months why is that cause for concern? Good chance to make a profit, even if it is not needed as a hedge.

On your scale I suppose I am between a 2 and a 3.

I am only buying food that I will use anyway, always on sale. I have bought some things that if there is a major problems that will be useful and even necessary, but not too many things. I don't KNOW that I will need them, but I do think that there is a small chance that I will need them. I can afford to do this so I don't want to risk not having some things.

I have gotten completly out of the stock market, forsaking profits that are currently being made. I don't know WHEN the market is going to have a nasty downturn, but I am will to bet it will be soon. Even if Y2K is a BITR I think it will be much lower by years end.

I'm am an engineeer, I am not religious, I do not expect the end of the world, I do not belong to any militia group, I am not a member of the ARA. What I am is very concerned about what is going to happen in the coming months. The data is overwhelming that there are going to be some major failures. Why would I not prepeare as best I can for this?

-- John Beck (eurisko111@aol.com), July 27, 1999.