Selfsufficientish.com

Stockpile this stuff to survive!!!"
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#7. Guns, Ammunition, Pepper Spray, Knives, Clubs, Bats & Slingshots

Oh dear.

Do tha Americans know something we don't? Every other blog is about survival these days... are they showing Mad Max over there alot or something?

Dear oh dear...

To be fair that list is old, looks like the lead up to Y2K, where people where very paranoid and others where charging a fortune for little things.

The whole survivalist thing has changed for many people after the Y2K scare, I know of a few that realized the hippys had a point and now have a windmills / water turbines rather than gas/petrol generators. and I know of one bloke (in canada I think) that has a old chevy engine running on woodgas that provides his whole house with hot water and electricity. (in what he called a shed, that is bigger than my whole house!!) rather than be a "gas slave"

Never underestimate the ability of people with guns to shoot the very people they need to survive. I mean look at the selfsufficient concept, growing everything you need yourself is damn hard, all your food and all your heat and all your clothes.
Now look at selfsufficient-ish, grow some of your food, trade with others for other things you need, trade your time with others (this can mean working for a wage) trade your time with the community around you to get what you all need to make life better.

I can't imagine anything worse than been holed up with piles of resources going to waste knowing that I have knowledge and skills that can help people survive and make their lives better.

For some, there is a blurred line between survivalism, sustainable living, and self-sufficiency. Personally, I think they are poles apart (can you have three poles apart?)

Self-sufficiency is about providing yourself with what you need to live, by producing it yourself.
Sustainable living is about not battering the hell out of the environment you're living in.
Survivalism is about hoarding supplies in an I'm-alright-jack way.

I aim to be self-sufficient, and live sustainably, but in no way, shape or form am I a survivalist.

I think that just about sums up my feelings too, Contadino. Only I wasn't going to put it quite so politely.

Is it just me, or is there an absence of survivalists in Europe? I suppose the Swiss might count, what with them having big guns at home, and most French rural houses have a shotgun lying around, but I don't think I've ever come across anything like the Real Thing outside of the US. Anyone?

Green Aura wrote:I think that just about sums up my feelings too, Contadino. Only I wasn't going to put it quite so politely.

Ok Green Aura - put it your way and i'll promise to second you!!!

Don't know who wrote that list but they're wrong, there've been enough disasters to know that the first items to disappear are toilet paper, bottled water, and peanut butter.

Somewhere there's a real list, but I can't find it right now.

Green Aura wrote:I think that just about sums up my feelings too, Contadino. Only I wasn't going to put it quite so politely.

I sometimes think I'm too blunt when posting on this site, so I worked quite hard to temper that one.

just had another browse at that site - had to stop as it really freaks me out!

contadino wrote:

Stockpile this stuff to survive!!!"
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#7. ........... Bats & Slingshots

Oh dear.

Are the slingshots needed for when the bats start flying??

Just kidding...... what on earth do the authors think is happening?
Mad Max indeed..... I think I'll just stay here on my little bit of land & grow my veggies.... they'd never find me here anyway!

Julie.

Jon from Riff Raff wrote

Is it just me, or is there an absence of survivalists in Europe? I suppose the Swiss might count, what with them having big guns at home, and most French rural houses have a shotgun lying around, but I don't think I've ever come across anything like the Real Thing outside of the US. Anyone?

Can't remember exactly when in the 80s & 90s but, at about that time, the British survivalist magazine was a front for the BNP and had an extremely low circulation..... Perhaps the culture over here has a more social and co-operative ethos and less of the individualist, sod the rest, attitude.

On the attitude towards guns, see Michael Moores "Bowling for Columbine", it does explain a lot about it,

Love and Peace
Jim

On the 'stockpile this stuff..' bit,
40. big dogs
43. solar calculators
93. cigarettes
97. chewing gum

Oh, I shouldn't laugh, I know, but can you really imagine anyone stockpiling solar calculators in case there's a disaster?

Hmm, wonder what it would be like to live in a community of survivalists. Just a thought.