[jmuguy]

Well for one thing - you'd get by a lot better with beans and rice and a functioning garden than overpriced dehydrated meals. And what I'm referring to by buckets (that is a lot/years supplies) of dehydrated food and who is being targeted are companies like this https://www.mypatriotsupply.com/pages/about-us

"We’re taking steps for survival for what we all know is coming. Today." I mean, come on.

Maybe I'm just beating around the bush too much - what I'm making fun of are people that are "prepping" for the end of the world. It is a silly (and strictly American, I imagine) fantasy to think that you're going to ride out the end of days sitting on a pile of guns and MREs. That is who I'm making fun of, and yes those people exist.

[K0balt]

Well, even though I am in general sympathetic to and even a proponent of disaster preparedness, there are undoubtedly people preparing to “ride out the end of days sitting on a pile of guns and MREs.” I have brushed against a few in my life. I count them as useful idiots, because now I know where there’s a pile of dehydrated food, if push comes to shove.

That said, I am convinced enough of the decay of western civilisation in general that I moved to a remote island nation and built a self contained off grid community, so I guess I am actually the extreme case of prepping. That’s certainly true, in a way, except it’s where my daily food, water, and power come from, and I am surrounded by a thriving community of family members and good friends. I honestly never thought I would see a cataclysm within my lifetime, so this was a legacy project for me, but it seems I may have been optimistic lol.

But I do agree with you that there are some nutty fruitcakes out there that are actually hoping for something bad to happen so that they can have their moment of glory, I suppose? It’s actually kinda sad.

I would say though it is uncharitable and even foolish to portray everyone who doesn’t have complete faith in the continuity of our Jenga Castle, especially in the context of recent events.

[jmuguy]

One of the principles of HN is to take the strongest meaning of an argument, instead of the weakest. I am not casting everyone who prepares for a disaster into the same bucket - I have specifically said I think that people who are attempting to prepare for the literal end of the world by stockpiling supplies are silly.

There are IMO a very small set of circumstances, out of many likely full collapse scenarios, where your average American (and make no mistake - I am specifically referring to Americans here) stockpiling junk is going to actually survive for very long.

This has nothing to do with faith in our society or institutions just that is uniquely American to think that you can buy your way out of any circumstance you can imagine.

[tristor]

> Well for one thing - you'd get by a lot better with beans and rice and a functioning garden than overpriced dehydrated meals.

The lived reality of the "Snowpocalypse" says otherwise. "A functioning garden" doesn't produce food when it's 2F (-16C) outside and there is a foot and a half of snow on the ground. Beans and rice require soaking/washing and cooking at high temperature to be edible, dehydrated food does not.

I have beans and rice on hand always as well because they're staples in my diet, but it's ridiculous to consider them comparable in the situation where you don't have power (e.g. no way to heat food easily) and the weather makes the outside dangerous and not conducive to gardening/food production.

You're just doubling-down on a strawman, and it's frankly utter bullshit. Be better.

[shrubby]

Sorry about this, but buckets. Buckets. Wow. https://youtu.be/rOH37W0jPpA?si=eIa_dcA9JLPvXRNK