American Blackout: Why is Nobody Helping Us?

"Why is nobody helping us? What are we supposed to do?"

The line above is from National Geographic's "American Blackout". The teen girl uttering the words is confronted with the reality that she and her companions are indeed on their own, with no government or other help coming to her rescue during a national disaster. She looks more like a lost 4 year old in this candid moment, despite the character being of college age. You can see that this is the first time she's ever been without the psychological and sociological aid from her "Big Brother".

The program starkly depicted the fact that Americans have become a child race, dependent on our Nanny government always being there to assist us. Most folks have zero preps. If we've seen anything from Katrina and Sandy (localized disasters), it's that you're on your own for a least a few days following a destructive regional event. What would happen if a national blackout occurred? I suspect the producers of the show at NatGeo decided to end the blackout at 10 days, as taking it any further along would've lost the family-friendly Sunday night tv rating they needed to build viewership.

I think the toughest thing will be the need to shoot others in defense of your family. "American Blackout" gave us a hint of the violence that would result once Americans had missed the critical nine meals that separates our society from chaos. As law-abiding citizens we have so many inhibitions against killing that it takes weeks of Army basic training to overcome the innate and learned inhibitions against lethal violence. The old Soviet Military intelligence bureau took the anti-killing re-socialization training used by all military units to an even grimmer high. Victor Suvurov, an ex-Soviet spy, tells us he was trained to kill dogs and cats with his  bare hands for practice. Apparently, he used his thumbs on their eyes...

Food, water, medicine, self-defense for at least a few weeks are MANDATORY!

Note: have a good old-fashioned mechanical can opener. I have an industrial one. Electrical can openers aren't any use with no power. Cans are wonderful, but it's a bitch to open one with only a rock or knife.

Rick

WTF are Zombucks?

Excuse my French, but just WTF are Zombucks? I found myself asking this very question while cruising the Provident Metals gold, silver, copper website. Apparently, they are private rounds available in silver and copper from the Provident website in one ounce form. The pricing is just a hair under an American Silver Eagle one ounce coin.

When I first saw these "rounds" I figured it was a gag coin of some sort. Certainly nothing precious that might interest me from an investment or survival standpoint. However, it turns out that they are indeed serious attempts at alternative money in a post-dollar world! Believe me, I do have a great sense of humor, and can appreciate irony and satire in all of its forms. However, we're talking about survival here, not a stand up comedy routine at your local Improv. Survival in a world with a devalued or valueless dollar is very serious, and preparations for such an occurrence are crucial. The aforesaid preps may even mean the difference between life and death for yourself and your family. I don't know about you, but I have ZERO interest in explaining to some trading partner that my money isn't a joke, but real silver, copper, etc.

I think I'll stick with junk US silver (pre-1965 dimes, quarters, halves, dollars) and American Silver Eagles. When people are hungry they're not in the mood for wry humor! Using some silver round with a zombie image on it just might get you shot by a potential trading partner who doesn't get the lame joke. As a normal living human I can die from a bullet anywhere on my body, not just the zombie kill shot to the head!

Rick