this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2023
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absolutely this. I see so many people who look at the very real possibility of economic instability, even in the temporary case, and are sure that the three most important things to get through it are guns, guns and guns. Some of them, maybe, know a little first aid. So I've made it a thing for me to be the guy in the apocalypse that can do a little bit of everything else. Canning, winemaking, cheesemaking, all the other various ways that people have figured out how to preserve food, and basic gardening and herb lore. I'm networking with people who know how and what to forage, nurses who know what basic supplies would be needed to treat minor injuries and diseases and how they can be improvised with what's to hand, and other like-minded people. Everyone is sure that in order to survive they're gonna need to be self-sufficient rugged individualists and that it's mostly gonna involve raiding and repelling raiders but if you look at times of uncertainty the people who actually survive know how to generate food and medicine from nothing and have small, tightly knit communities where they know and take care of one another. If your plan for economic uncertainty is just guns you're gonna end up dead of a bacterial infection next to a pile of guns. If, however, you know how to make soap from fat and ash, and have a sensible number of guns with which to acquire animal fat, and can generate food from the dirt, you're a lot more likely to actually do well. Economic uncertainty isn't going to be an action film.
This "me and a pile of guns" mindset is slowly changing. Covid and civil unrest helped a lot of people from all walks of life start thinking about these things for the first time or with a needed dose of reality.
They are realizing that it's not one person or one family with guns, but your larger community with larger needs. You all will have to obtain food, water, medical supplies etc. Like it or not guns, related gear and associated skills are an important piece of the puzzle, but not the entire puzzle. If your community is doing well, it will be a tempting target for all kinds of reasons. Remember that at the very best your usual first responders will be very slow to respond.
It won't be fighting all the time, even full blown war involves a bunch of boredom. You'll be doing the hard work taking care of your needs. You'll probably have a pistol on you, and rifles+kit nearby to grab quickly if needed.