“Let people laugh. What do you care?” - This seems to be my motto in recent years. I’m sometimes the only masked person. I surely do not care. It’s staying on.
I love the prepping list. Several months ago, when I realized how bad food prices seemed like they’d get, I told my husband I wanted two extra 50# bags of rice in our pantry. He bought three. Those were in addition to a bag that had recently been opened, meaning we literally had 200 pounds of rice!! (We are a family of four.)
Come what may, we’ve got our dang rice for apparently every single meal of the apocalypse! I need to start acquiring more of all the other kinds of canned goods.
Ever since discovering this newsletter, I feel like this is part of educated, focused doomscrolling and it really is mentally healthy. I’ve decreased my Twitter doomscrolling. Thanks so much for keeping us informed, as always!
I'm going to be prepping to a certain degree, but I'm so angry I could spit nails. We knew. We knew the world was in trouble in the 70s. That's half a fucking century ago, mijos. So I did. I composted, I use as little plastic as possible, I don't buy anything I don't need, I take fucking Navy showers, and you know what? It doesn't matter. It didn't make a bit of difference. The planet is dying faster than we ever could have anticipated, and we're going to be pretty miserable. Oh, I'm old, 66, and I don't have to worry about it? It's looming, it's here.
I saw this coming years ago thanks to my late husband, who was something of a visionary. He died t 56 and missed all the drama. I’m 62 and will not live to see the worst of it. But my daughter will. I’m just glad she has decided not to have children.
Your posts are so grounding and validating. Outside of my small family unit, I can't even mention this stuff without getting head-patted or a dismissive "ok!" A tiny part of me still wants to warn, but the rest has dusted my hands of them &, in my diminished physical state, needs to focus on my own adaptation & survival. Luckily I have a large garden, a full pantry, a natural disinclination to follow recipes so I make some pretty solid meals with few ingredients. If I could only ditch the FT job & have all that energy for the important things... At 47, I have the option of early retiring at 55. Being debt- & child-free will improve my odds of not being lashed to a cubicle any longer than necessary & I can focus on the important work of riding out the rest of a very miserable future the best way I can.
Off-grid solar rain-catchment homesteading in HI for 10 years now, tipi dweller in the '80s, '90s in off-grid solar self-built straw bale in CO. If anyone wants dos/don'ts from a masked boomer, my 2 cents are free.
B.C.'s Lyrics
Strikes across the frontier and strikes for higher wage
Planet lurches to the right as ideologies engage
Suddenly it's repression, moratorium on rights
What did they think the politics of panic would invite?
Person in the street shrugs -- "Security comes first"
But the trouble with normal is it always gets worse
Callous men in business costume speak computerese
Play pinball with the 3rd world trying to keep it on its knees
Their single crop starvation plans put sugar in your tea
And the local 3rd world's kept on reservations you don't see
"It'll all go back to normal if we put our nation first"
But the trouble with normal is it always gets worse
Fashionable fascism dominates the scene
When ends don't meet it's easier to justify the means
Tenants get the dregs and landlords get the cream
As the grinding devolution of the democratic dream
Brings us men in gas masks dancing while the shells burst
All true. The world is predicted to change dramatically by the end of this century. I will be long gone but my grandchildren may inherit a world right out of the Arabian Nights and Scheherazade. Only a lot more violent as people fight over what is left of the earth. I am sorry children for the world we have left you with. I just wish I could have done better by you.
We did our own construction of a passive solar house 40 years ago in a rural area - which is now semi-rural. There is still plenty of forest and water as the new developments mostly replaced farm fields. Based upon the amount of trees, brush and such, the amount of wildlife shouldn't be much different than it was 40 years ago. As you can guess, the decline in bugs, birds, butterflies, bees, small critters, etc has been dramatic - no resemblance to 40 years ago. And very worrisome now is the recent very sharp decline in birds. Refilling the bird feeder much less often now.
We do have an increase in wild turkeys and deer as this is now mostly a no hunting area - which brought with it a significant increase in deer ticks and chiggers. Also, the invasive Emerald Ash borer decimated all of the local beautiful Ash trees. Fortunately, plenty of other trees to take their place. But a real loss of biodiversity.
I've given up on any kind of "solutions" and now only think about adapting - as you're suggesting.
Regarding food, we're finding it's not sufficient to just stockpile some staples - we have to actually learn how to prepare these basic foods using limited ingredients and fewer modern conveniences. Surprises later might not be much fun!
I’ve been telling my friends who have teenagers like me if they knew their kids should better not spend money on retirement funds in the future? Because there won’t be a future for them in which any government body would pay them pension 50, 60 years from now?
I usually only get big eyes in return. They never thought doom could be *that* close and that “hands on” for their kids. They never thought that far (although 50 years is not that far to begin with).
People have NO clue what’s coming for them.
If they did, if the media and officials upped their messaging to prepare people for what will be happening, I’m sure the support for drastic change would be there.
But it would have to be told as hands-on stories people could personally and directly relate to.
After eggs, bread. Then poultry, meat, fish. Wheat is being ruined right now. The 'warm' winter will ruin the winter wheat crop. Hens, chickens, birds are dying off at a rate not seen since the 1930s Dust Bowl. Maybe old Ross Perot was right when he was part of GM and said, "where's all this 'research and development' going to?" We could of had electric cars in the 1970s. And I wouldn't count on fusion, because there are powerful forces (oil, gas companies) who don't want that. Not until you're very old and I'm dead.
Had a hard time "liking" this article as it's pretty depressing haha. But of course you're on point as always. As time passes the entire idea of altruism gets less and less sensible because it relies on civilization. As leaders mass disable/kill/neglect and put everything on the individual, there is very little value to care about anyone else other than yourself/your clan/your comrades. The the current "progressive" leadership is bringing upon us the nihilistic dreams of the RW crazies. Mass death. De-civilization. Survival of the fittest, etc. The best hope we have is stumbling through the remainder of our years and being able to have moments or brief spans of things similar to the 'old world' (pre-2019) and hope we don't drop dead or get shot in the process (if living in the USA or Ukraine).
"Spanish" flu originated in birds, jumped to pigs (possibly in a farm in Kansas) and then to humans.
From the CDC website:
"The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919."
Actually it kept spreading until 1921. It killed over 50 million people worldwide, probably more. More people died of this disease than died in WW1. 675,000 Americans died at a time when the population was around 100 million.
So, if the new vaccines are no longer working, we are in the same position people were in, in 1918. Except they knew nothing about how the disease was transmitted. We know. We have known for years, and chose to ignore the advice of wise people and follow the unwise ones.
Most world leaders have been very casual about the twin pandemics (covid 19 and avian flu) in recent months. I suspect that is because most of the covid 19 deaths are in older or immunocompromised people, and we are expendable.
I don't want to go like that, so I still wear masks and hope that the Enovid works.
I do not 'prep' because it is very easy for someone with a weapon to come and take things. I do have spare food, water, solar lights and a small radio, and a bug out bag because I used to live in Southern California, where they have a natural disaster every other week.
The climate crisis is the most important issue of our time, and it is the reason why we have the pandemics. I suggest living in the now, because, as Professor Guy McPherson says, "These ARE the good old days."
People around me are having babies like nothing is wrong. I don’t understand. These kids will catch covid endlessly and have to live through dramatic changes in climate if we all don’t get a clue quickly.
“Let people laugh. What do you care?” - This seems to be my motto in recent years. I’m sometimes the only masked person. I surely do not care. It’s staying on.
I love the prepping list. Several months ago, when I realized how bad food prices seemed like they’d get, I told my husband I wanted two extra 50# bags of rice in our pantry. He bought three. Those were in addition to a bag that had recently been opened, meaning we literally had 200 pounds of rice!! (We are a family of four.)
Come what may, we’ve got our dang rice for apparently every single meal of the apocalypse! I need to start acquiring more of all the other kinds of canned goods.
Ever since discovering this newsletter, I feel like this is part of educated, focused doomscrolling and it really is mentally healthy. I’ve decreased my Twitter doomscrolling. Thanks so much for keeping us informed, as always!
I'm going to be prepping to a certain degree, but I'm so angry I could spit nails. We knew. We knew the world was in trouble in the 70s. That's half a fucking century ago, mijos. So I did. I composted, I use as little plastic as possible, I don't buy anything I don't need, I take fucking Navy showers, and you know what? It doesn't matter. It didn't make a bit of difference. The planet is dying faster than we ever could have anticipated, and we're going to be pretty miserable. Oh, I'm old, 66, and I don't have to worry about it? It's looming, it's here.
I saw this coming years ago thanks to my late husband, who was something of a visionary. He died t 56 and missed all the drama. I’m 62 and will not live to see the worst of it. But my daughter will. I’m just glad she has decided not to have children.
Collapse has been trickling through for a while. No one knows when it will burst and flood everything.
But we’re closer every day.
If you are planning on becoming an island, you will not succeed.
We were sold a story of rugged individualism. Practicing that myth will doom your efforts. It that very mentality that has brought us to this moment.
You will need others. You will need good social skills. You’ll need to collaborate and cooperate more than you ever have.
Relationships will be our most valuable tool for survival.
Hoarding and isolating will not be a viable strategy. In fact, it will hasten failure.
And if you are thinking the worst is decades away, well, deadly wet bulb temperatures are going to likely debut this year for millions of humans.
Little by little, and all at once. That’s how systems collapse.
Time to remember our humanity.
Your posts are so grounding and validating. Outside of my small family unit, I can't even mention this stuff without getting head-patted or a dismissive "ok!" A tiny part of me still wants to warn, but the rest has dusted my hands of them &, in my diminished physical state, needs to focus on my own adaptation & survival. Luckily I have a large garden, a full pantry, a natural disinclination to follow recipes so I make some pretty solid meals with few ingredients. If I could only ditch the FT job & have all that energy for the important things... At 47, I have the option of early retiring at 55. Being debt- & child-free will improve my odds of not being lashed to a cubicle any longer than necessary & I can focus on the important work of riding out the rest of a very miserable future the best way I can.
Ok so how does my family apply for your solar panel off the grid commune?? I’m not even joking. Thank you for this post.
This piece immediately jumps my thoughts to this song from Bruce Cockburn - 1983 - The Trouble With Normal
https://youtu.be/kybkiiAKMOY
Off-grid solar rain-catchment homesteading in HI for 10 years now, tipi dweller in the '80s, '90s in off-grid solar self-built straw bale in CO. If anyone wants dos/don'ts from a masked boomer, my 2 cents are free.
B.C.'s Lyrics
Strikes across the frontier and strikes for higher wage
Planet lurches to the right as ideologies engage
Suddenly it's repression, moratorium on rights
What did they think the politics of panic would invite?
Person in the street shrugs -- "Security comes first"
But the trouble with normal is it always gets worse
Callous men in business costume speak computerese
Play pinball with the 3rd world trying to keep it on its knees
Their single crop starvation plans put sugar in your tea
And the local 3rd world's kept on reservations you don't see
"It'll all go back to normal if we put our nation first"
But the trouble with normal is it always gets worse
Fashionable fascism dominates the scene
When ends don't meet it's easier to justify the means
Tenants get the dregs and landlords get the cream
As the grinding devolution of the democratic dream
Brings us men in gas masks dancing while the shells burst
The trouble with normal is it always gets worse
All true. The world is predicted to change dramatically by the end of this century. I will be long gone but my grandchildren may inherit a world right out of the Arabian Nights and Scheherazade. Only a lot more violent as people fight over what is left of the earth. I am sorry children for the world we have left you with. I just wish I could have done better by you.
We did our own construction of a passive solar house 40 years ago in a rural area - which is now semi-rural. There is still plenty of forest and water as the new developments mostly replaced farm fields. Based upon the amount of trees, brush and such, the amount of wildlife shouldn't be much different than it was 40 years ago. As you can guess, the decline in bugs, birds, butterflies, bees, small critters, etc has been dramatic - no resemblance to 40 years ago. And very worrisome now is the recent very sharp decline in birds. Refilling the bird feeder much less often now.
We do have an increase in wild turkeys and deer as this is now mostly a no hunting area - which brought with it a significant increase in deer ticks and chiggers. Also, the invasive Emerald Ash borer decimated all of the local beautiful Ash trees. Fortunately, plenty of other trees to take their place. But a real loss of biodiversity.
I've given up on any kind of "solutions" and now only think about adapting - as you're suggesting.
Regarding food, we're finding it's not sufficient to just stockpile some staples - we have to actually learn how to prepare these basic foods using limited ingredients and fewer modern conveniences. Surprises later might not be much fun!
This is blistering.
I felt every word.
I’ve been telling my friends who have teenagers like me if they knew their kids should better not spend money on retirement funds in the future? Because there won’t be a future for them in which any government body would pay them pension 50, 60 years from now?
I usually only get big eyes in return. They never thought doom could be *that* close and that “hands on” for their kids. They never thought that far (although 50 years is not that far to begin with).
People have NO clue what’s coming for them.
If they did, if the media and officials upped their messaging to prepare people for what will be happening, I’m sure the support for drastic change would be there.
But it would have to be told as hands-on stories people could personally and directly relate to.
After eggs, bread. Then poultry, meat, fish. Wheat is being ruined right now. The 'warm' winter will ruin the winter wheat crop. Hens, chickens, birds are dying off at a rate not seen since the 1930s Dust Bowl. Maybe old Ross Perot was right when he was part of GM and said, "where's all this 'research and development' going to?" We could of had electric cars in the 1970s. And I wouldn't count on fusion, because there are powerful forces (oil, gas companies) who don't want that. Not until you're very old and I'm dead.
Had a hard time "liking" this article as it's pretty depressing haha. But of course you're on point as always. As time passes the entire idea of altruism gets less and less sensible because it relies on civilization. As leaders mass disable/kill/neglect and put everything on the individual, there is very little value to care about anyone else other than yourself/your clan/your comrades. The the current "progressive" leadership is bringing upon us the nihilistic dreams of the RW crazies. Mass death. De-civilization. Survival of the fittest, etc. The best hope we have is stumbling through the remainder of our years and being able to have moments or brief spans of things similar to the 'old world' (pre-2019) and hope we don't drop dead or get shot in the process (if living in the USA or Ukraine).
"Spanish" flu originated in birds, jumped to pigs (possibly in a farm in Kansas) and then to humans.
From the CDC website:
"The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919."
Actually it kept spreading until 1921. It killed over 50 million people worldwide, probably more. More people died of this disease than died in WW1. 675,000 Americans died at a time when the population was around 100 million.
So, if the new vaccines are no longer working, we are in the same position people were in, in 1918. Except they knew nothing about how the disease was transmitted. We know. We have known for years, and chose to ignore the advice of wise people and follow the unwise ones.
Most world leaders have been very casual about the twin pandemics (covid 19 and avian flu) in recent months. I suspect that is because most of the covid 19 deaths are in older or immunocompromised people, and we are expendable.
I don't want to go like that, so I still wear masks and hope that the Enovid works.
I do not 'prep' because it is very easy for someone with a weapon to come and take things. I do have spare food, water, solar lights and a small radio, and a bug out bag because I used to live in Southern California, where they have a natural disaster every other week.
The climate crisis is the most important issue of our time, and it is the reason why we have the pandemics. I suggest living in the now, because, as Professor Guy McPherson says, "These ARE the good old days."
People around me are having babies like nothing is wrong. I don’t understand. These kids will catch covid endlessly and have to live through dramatic changes in climate if we all don’t get a clue quickly.
Excellent as always. You seem to scare people away which means you're doing something right.