PREPARING FOR THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT

Are you prepared for the big collapse, the downfall of the government, the end of the world as we know it?  Are you a doomsday prepper, or maybe just a little bit of one?  The vast majority of people aren't, and maybe that's for the best because prepping for a nuclear disaster, solar flare-ups, the complete collapse of government, a zombie uprising, or another ice age is stupid.  No, not just stupid, it's big time stupid.  It's stupid because the chances of any of those things happening are impossible or highly improbable.  Zombies?  Give me a break.  And if we really experience a doomsday event, how long do you think you can live in a hole, a bugout place?  You'd die sooner or later anyway, so why not go down the tubes with everyone else.

But all doomsday events don't have to be the complete end of the world.  If asked about believing in the end of the world as I know it, I'd say yes.  The world as I've known it is already gone, and the world as I know it now will be gone again before too long.  That's the way it works, you know.  Change is inevitable, and sometimes it's good, and sometimes it's not.  If I had my way, we'd still be living in a world without cellphones.  There'd be no Walmart or McDonalds, and cars wouldn't talk to me and expect a reply.  I remember better times . . . and I remember worse times.  My world, just like yours, will keep changing, so I can't expect to wake up in the same one every morning.  The world around me will be slightly different, and that's what I need to prepare for.

We had a power shortage here not long ago, and it lasted for about a day and a half.  No biggie, right?  It can get to be a biggie when you live in an all electric house like I do, and that little inconvenience (and it was little compared to a major event) started me thinking that I should be better prepared.  And the doomsday preppers aren't all wrong about some things.  We'd all be smart to consider what might happen if some major catastrophe came along.  Do you have a decent food supply?  Can you heat your house without electricity?  Do you have a gas generator in case of an outage?  Do you have a supply of water?  Is your home adequately safeguarded against invasion?  All kinds of questions come up, and my answers to them were woefully lacking.

My home isn't a fort, but it's secure.  I live in a safe neighborhood, and in a small town, and I own guns . . . several of them.  I've got two refrigerators and a big freezer, both of them worthless when the power is out.  I don't own a generator.  I don't store food or water.  I don't keep extra gasoline or other fuel around.  My income comes from a retirement fund and social security, and it's a decent living . . . unless there's a wholesale collapse of government and the economy.  And my biggest shortcoming is that I don't have a cash backup fund.  And I'm not all that worried about it.  If there's a wholesale collapse of government, money will be worthless anyway.  That's when you might need tight security, and lots of guns . . . and even then, you won't last long.

I don't buy into any of the doomsday prophecies, and I'd never spend good money on preparation for something that is not likely to happen.  But like everyone else, I should do a better job of preparing for short term emergencies.  That's one of my 2014 projects - to get better prepared.  The world as I know it will change, and how it changes is often unexpected.  I can't do much about catastrophic events, but I can do better when it comes to preparation . . . and so could you.