Cold again. Probably just cool and damp later, but cold this am. We got drizzle yesterday, despite the weather liars at openweathermap.org assuring me that we would not. The national forecast had us in the rain zone. It wasn’t bad really, or long, and as I headed north I was back in sunglasses pretty quickly.
Gas prices are rising pretty quickly even here in Texas. Markets are pretty distorted, and demand is all over the place. I don’t see any reason for it to get better anytime soon, and lots of reasons for it to get worse.
In fact, that sums up my outlook on pretty much any subject at the moment. I don’t think sanity and practicality are going to break out. I see a doubling down on the insanity instead. And I see it building to a head, and then coming apart kinetically.
Now some people around here have chided me (in the spirit of goodwill, I believe) that I was too negative- “the end is nigh” ” the end is nigh-er”… but I don’t think it’s “the end” that’s nigh, but a massive disruption, a massive change in pretty much everything, except human nature. I did not know the mechanism, but pestilence, war, and famine are always good bets. Current world events seem to be supportive of that belief, if not yet settling on the mechanism. And don’t forget to embrace the power of ‘and’ when it comes to mechanism.
I find myself wondering if I was negative enough. My recent lull in prepping and lack of enthusiasm in the face of everything would seem to indicate that I wasn’t taking it seriously. Well, now we seem to be at the elbow of the curve for a lot of things, food prices, gas prices, violence, and I’m feeling a bit anxious that I let too much time slip away.
If you are feeling that too, I think we need to shake it off, take the time we have and USE it. Anything that improves our position is worth it, with any prep being better than none. I’m still living by my requirement that nothing I do can be irrevocable, but I’m willing to burn a bridge or two if I have to now. Nations are starting to do the same. Several have now announced bans on export of food, or fertilizer, or fuel. If shortages are coming, nations and people are acting to secure their own needs first. I recommend doing the same. DON’T be that guy, faced with empty shelves, crying “why didn’t you leave any for me?”
Unless you are someone’s minor child or legal ward, no one has any obligation to put your needs ahead of their own. That is not the way many of us are used to thinking of the world, or even living our lives, but that is the base reality. No one is coming to save you. Plan to save yourself. After that, if it’s what you want, plan to save others.
All of it is a lot easier with stacks of needful things. Get busy.
n
