What steps would you take to prepare if you knew that five years from now everything would cost 10 times what it costs now — gas, food, electricity, solar panels, hybrid cars — everything, but your income would not change? What would you do now to be in a better place to cope?

* Do you have a bit of land and the skills to grow and preserve a good portion of your own food? If not, could you join with your neighbors and garden together on open land one of you owns?

* What about fuel to warm your home? Do you know how much firewood you could produce from one acre?

* What would it cost you to commute to your job if gas cost 10 times more — about $40 per gallon? Should you consider moving closer to your work, or getting a vehicle that gets better mileage? Maybe invest in an electric bicycle?

* Could you keep goats and learn to make your own cheese? If you don’t have much land, you could keep a couple of goats in a very small area and bring food to them. They love to eat twigs and leaves — perhaps you could harvest brush along public roadsides for their feed.

* Chickens can be great, sustainable sources of eggs and meat, but remember — commercial feed would cost 10 times more than it does now, so could you grow their feed at home?

* Would you plant some peach pits and have your own peach orchard?

* Could you grow your own herbal medicines?

* Or do you think it would be foolish to work to become more self-reliant, because you believe that if things got really bad, roving gangs with guns would steal your food and fuel?

* Are you already 50 percent self-sufficient? 90 percent? Tell us how you did it, and how it feels.

* Do you despair that we may be doomed? Or are you determined to choose a course that you think will assure you and your family of a good life, full of delight, no matter what comes?

* Whatever your perspective, we want to hear your thoughts. Discuss below.

Are you kidding me? I started working toward this when gas was only 86 cents.

I would continue down the path of less consumerism and more efficiency regardless of what the price of oil is.

Exactly John,many dont know that there are quite a few of us already doing this.Where we wont say but as for me personally I  am 30% or so self sufficient and working towards more.As for how much wood from one acre sustainably 1/4 cord can be had from a deep forest every year,far from enough to keep one warm the winter.I can manage with 4-6 cord.For me I'd do an electric vehicle or an engine fired from homemade fuel,they've been doing that in Europe for years.Can't do peaches up here,too cold sorry.Do I despair,no.Do I think this this is the kick in the butt this country's needed in the last 70-80 years YES!We've had it too easy too long IMO.

Now we have competition.We've sold off the industries that gave us cheap gas overseas and now we pay a premium for it.You heard the Saudis,they hit the nail right on the head.Why should they increase production for us?There is no gas shortage,if you'll pay $4.10/gal then thats what they're going to sell it for,simple as that.Too bad is what they;re saying and we have no clout with them anymore,they have better customers now.This is why I've been saying over and over again,stop using oil!!!Its too bad we've lost a lot of the ways of how we used to do things 70 years ago before OPEC,etc.Many wont survive this I dont think,many will move to warmer climates I am going to guess because up here fuel oil it going to be $4.50-5.50/gal this winter.Many are already going broke up here,many 'for sale' signs.

As far as roving gangs,well thats the chance one takes,good that one can still protect what he/she owns.I would have no hesitation of using a gun to protect what I owned,but I am not a nut in the woods with a gun,I use it only if I have to.

I think that we should not look at rising prices and think that the price of this or that commodity is going up. The reality is that our money, our currency, or means of exchange is being devalued.  This is being done intentionally. This is what we get for allowing our various (a worldwide problem..) means of exchanges to be created from nothing by a few ultra rich foreigners or world-based bankers.  To use a currency that can be debased,  most of us will pay the price of having less and less. A very few will wind up with more...it is NOT by coincidence, it is by design. The only real solution to that problem is a move to currencies that they can not do that to (barter is one way).  Monies based on and tied or pegged to limited supply commodities would be much harder to debase than our old debt-based paper nothings that we now allow them to create in unlimited amounts and at virtually no cost to them. Why should WE pay interest on something to someone who created that currency from nothing and then lends it to US?? We need to wake up and see that that system allows them to make us progressively more and more their slaves. Rather than just shoulder an increasingly heavier and heavier burden for our masters, don't you think it might be a wiser choice to work towards shifting our means of exchange towards one that cannot be artificially and continually declined in value? 

As far as living greener, using less energy,  consuming less, recycling,  polluting less, growing our own food? YES, I am all for all of those things!  Having been actively working in that direction for a long time.  Heck, I've been reading Mother's magazine since I was in high school (that was a long time ago...)

Incidently, regarding the "energy shortage":  The north slope of Alaska contains untapped oil fields that exceed the volume of the reserves of the middle east. Estimates are that just this one untapped "Gull Island" reserve could meet the petroleum energy needs of America for the next 200 years and free us from having to import petroleum entirely. We need to ask Atlantic Richfield and the other companies involved why they are not tapping into these reserves that were discovered in the late 1960s-early 1970s and then made classified information out of. We could be paying less than $1.50/gallon for gas in less than one year, and be on our way to having a strong economy once again.    Don't take my word on this, research it yourself:  Google  "Gull Island Reserves"

It seems that the current "petroleum energy shortage" is more political than it is geological.

Any medium of exchange has a cost paid to its 'owner'... even those developed by free enterprise.

Oil prices include the cost of recovery and transport to the refinery. The demand is near what the pipelines and tankers can supply. Refining locations and capacity are also limited.

Its just for some... they ride the wave up and down. Demand will fall the next few years in the US as our economy ages... but the price will climb as the US$ continues to fall.

  I refused to be roped into a doomsday line of thought, the future is always uncertain and our way of life could be changed forever, it becomes a question of our collective ability to change also. Americans before the United States as well as since have faced great challanges and have always raised to the occassion. We are not facing a threat of the collaspe of our money system and facing world war on two fronts,  nor the aftermath and reconstruction of a civil war. What we are facing is the dying of a petrolum industry and the beginning of alterative enegry, we are facing climate change and must do things differently, we are facing food shortage for most of the world, (I collected for the poor back in fifties) inspite of these and other social problems I believe that we can over come this. My responsibilty is to make my foot print smaller by putting into practice use, reuse, use again, reuse again ect. grow some of my food, buy local, its your responsibity also. I'm now going to chop up the soapbox and put into outdoor furnace, a least will get a few BTU's .

                                                                       Gary

I am not participating.  God will supply all my needs.  I have done due diligence in preparing, and am confident that whatever I have not thought of, will be taken care of just the same.  It always has been.  I have no reason to doubt this now.

The main thing I think today's American has an issue that is a tremendous stumbling block, is that they are too much in the consumer mode, and not enough in a mode of doing things for themselves.  Katrina came along and people just sat and waited for "someone else" to do something.  We found out the hard way that the government wasn't going to do it.  We're seeing that in Myanmar(sp?)(formerly known as Burma).  The Chinese government seems to be doing as good as can be expected with the huge earthquakes they've had lately, but even still, there are hundreds of thousands of suffering people out there that the government hasn't been able to help.

So in the end, people are expecting "someone else" to "do something".  Today's citizen; today's society, expects "someone else" to be responsible.  We have to anticipate and do a certain amount of things for ourselves.  This society wasn't built by pure consumers.  This society was built by pioneers, willing to do for themselves, because there was no one there to do it for them.  They braved the uncharted seas; the undriven paths.  They conquered the land.  They didn't just sit around and wait for it all to be done for them.

So we have to take on the responsibility for ourselves.  Unfortunately, apart from a few on forums like this, I see most people either clueless that catastrophy isn't just something seen on tv (halfway around the world), but that it could happen to them tomorrow; or I see people complaining about how the government (or someone else) isn't doing enough.

Earth Home Project:
www.freewebs.com/stocktonunderground

I don't think anyone is suggesting the collapse of the monetary system... just a continuation of the devaluation.

Since most of the MEN forum participants are proactive, rather than reactive, we may wish to center the discussion around what changes we expect to see...

I am seeing an increase in wood/pellet use locally... and many more gardens. My uncle was even upset last Christmas when his organic farm saw a drop in consumers. I had to explain that more people are recognizing their ability to garden for themselves. Also see the Park'n'Rides (used for carpooling) with more vehicles in them.

But beyond that I'm seeing the sale of more landscape tools and snowblowers as people decide to forgo the lawn care and snowplowing services and do it themselves.

The changes in each region should be pretty interesting, as we all pay roughly the same for energy... but have a dramatically different local economy.

My next door neighbors' expressed some interest in doing a small 2 family garden and I'm setting up a barn  for equipment and a few chickens.Its a start,hopefully in the right direction,our gardens pretty much planted;I need to acquire a freezer also.So yes me personally I am setting up for a 'long haul';we are seeing a slow demise of petroleum,we know now as a society that one fuel source in the hands of a few is a dangerous combination and must be dealt with foremost.Getting the mindset that this is indeed going to be the case from now on is no easy pill to swallow but a neccesary one.Thing is there are vast reserves of oil and gas untapped and untouched,more than we've ever seen;North Slope is just one.Getting to those reserves is a whole other story.North  Slope of AK is normally -60 with the wind blowing 100 mph constantly and the middle of the ocean is 10-25,000 feet deep,making oil recovery a far riskier business than it is close to shore.We've realized we've crossed the 'worth it' line and now its time to find or do something else.We've run the reciprocating engine past its engineering lifespan,we're way overdue to do something else.

I'm planting my garden now. It is my 23rd annual at this spot. My hot water is free (solar and woodstove coils). The car I'm driving still only gets 20-23mpg and it burns premium ($3.91/gal. for best price in county today). But it does have a cavernous trunk and serves well for my shopping and travelling needs for now. It gets driven seldom, because my work is at home and business comes to me. Between the car and the one ton pickup, both, the mileage last year was under 5000 total. They are both paid for long ago, and need little for upkeep, so investment in a thriftier ride is not cost effective...yet.... My home is solely wood heat, and two cords a year does me for heat and winter hot water. Usually the wood is bartered for my welding, or I cut it myself. I prefer to barter for it because my time is better spent welding. I have around 3-4 years supply of wood ahead, and need to increase my woodshed space so I can long-term store more. Self-reliance? yes, I've been working on that for a long time here. I've been stocking up my business supplies such as nuts and bolts and welding supplies for years. Whenever a good bulk deal comes up on ebay I buy. I shop a lot on ebay or online because it avoids driving. We're a-ways from town, and many local folks come here to my shop because its closer than the store in town. People ride bicycles around here more and more. Cars drive less and less. Town is dead-looking in the evenings, and even slower-looking in the daytime also, since the dollar is falling. Thankfully, for now, my cottage industry manufacturing gig is still doing well, even growing! I wholesale to a customer who markets retail online the fabricated products I produce.  Thats just one customer,  I also have a walk-in retail fabrication shop with many other customers. I have a lot to give thanks for, and I do it often. To God, and with the work I do for all of my customers, who continue to bless me with their business and referrals.

Just had to share all that lest some might think that I'm just a doom-and-gloom negative kind of guy.

Awareness of reality, however, is a very good thing in my book. Sometimes reality is not pretty. That doesn't mean I'm negative, just trying to help other's awareness....

Here's a good poem about awareness a friend turned me on to. It is a link to an online video at youtube, so you'll need high-speed internet to view:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P01ZxSb3SZM&feature=related

We've turned our thermostat to 52 degrees at night and raise it to 60 when we are in the house. If we want to be warmer we fire up the woodstove.

The heater is a kerosene monitor heater and can run on an inverter if needed. It only needs to power the fan.

We bought next years firewood already. Cheaper to buy it green at this time of year and let it season.

Starting tomorrow I'm riding a bicycle to work. It's a short hop. My wife is thinking as well. She would have to ride 3 miles on a main highway, so we are going to do a test run one weekend to check it out.

Our newly purchased fixer upper is in town and has a small lot. We haven't put in raised beds yet but will soon and if we don't provide all our veggies, we will at least provide some.

It's a fixer upper, so to save money, I'm learning to be a carpenter, plumber, landscaper etc. I'm calling myself an urban homesteader.

Under the scenerio projected, gasoline would be $30 per gallon... that  major highway would be just a unmaintained ribbon of asphalt with hardly a sole on it.

I've split firewood with an axe before, but sawing and transporting it without fuel would really be a new experience.

Hey John,

Regardless of what happens with fuel or food, 10 years from now I want to start transitioning toward retirement. We already grow most of our vegetables, and have room to expand to grow grain, so when time is not in such short supply we'll get some poultry and maybe a few goats. 

I'm only partially thinking about survival, though. Instead of looking into the swirling pot of fear to see what I might not have, I look forward to what I will have. The fuel crisis will continue to unfold as it's been doing for 35 years, but it won't change the fact that you only get one life. I think I'll live it more wisely with chickens.

Barbara

http://www.barbarapleasant.com  

Barbra,

   Like your slant, fear is not the issue change is. Body by Fisher were in the carriage business in the horse era, when all business assoicated with horses were folding up and going out of business because of the automobile, they didn't, they simply change to making car bodies. We will have to change also to a different engry source, I would guess electric as there are many means to generate. I do think we will be buying food closer to home and maybe small mom and pop farms could fill a niche? Transportation is always the big problem, has been since the beginning and will always be a challange. The Victory gardens of WW2 will start springing up, read in one of the posts about some neighbors working together.

                                                             Gary 

Barbra,exactly what Gary said,though I may add also that for people of our age group(45 and younger)the real realization is that there is going to be no 'retirement' per se for us because by the time we get to your age the 'cost of life' will be so prohibitive that any 401k savings or investments will be gobbled up by the tiny value of our currency by that time.So for us who are 45 and younger getting to know how to get by with nearly nothing is going to be very important.

Making and buying food,drying clothes outside,very rarely driving anywhere, making our own power( because in 20 years the cost could be .50/kwh or much higher)will be necessary.The large majority of us will be extremely poor,many crushed under debt loads ten times our iuncome.

Now its all in the way one looks at it.I'm not roped into a doomsday projection either,though the world is changing right now rapidly,and not in our favor on this side of the world.Europe and Japan have been dealing with the same issues we have had crop up for generations.

It is hard to imagine things costing 10x more, five years from now.  All I can do is what I can do today.  I am only on year 2 of having a veggie garden, and I am slowly learning to cook from scratch (very slowly!).  Making a transition to consume less is not easy and not quick.  I feel I am heading the right direction, toward being more self sufficient and more efficient.  My timeline goes far beyond 5 years.

Garden.  Get a garden going.  Also, adjust your diet now.  Find meals that are less expensive, and if at all possible, learn to cook at home and use real food, not processed and packaged foods (easy meals, the microwavable kind).  Those easy meals are much more expensive than the raw foods that someone can prepare, cook and eat, saving a lot in a month; especially if you're cooking for a family.

You need a dog or two to keep people from pilfering your garden, but the dogs eat too, so you'll need to get dogs capable of running people off, but not so large that they cost a bunch to feed.  Train them to stay out of the garden, but situate the garden so that they can protect it.

Set your thermostat up in the summer and a little bit down in the winter.  This will let your body to adjust to termperature so that if electricity is even more expensive in a few years (and it will be), then it wont cost you so much to be comfortable.  I can tell you that when I was growing up, we didn't even have A/C and I don't recall being that uncomfortable.  It has only been since I have become spoiled to A/C that I notice when I don't have it.  So learn to be comfortable without it, or at least with it used a little bit less than now.

I hate to sound like a greeny (although I have many of the same sentiments), but changing your household light bulbs (over a period of time) to compact flourescents will save a bundle on the electric bill.  My wife and I did this several years ago, and I can tell you that this is true.

In addition, go to a wholehouse demand water heater.  We bought one after a hot water tank burst and flooded our house (and ruined carpet, etc).  The demand water heater has no tank, so it only uses fuel to heat water, when there's an immediate demand for hot water.  So while you're off at work (or on vacation) no fuel is being used, because no hot water is needed at that time.  We saved a bundle on natural gas, and noticed this the first month or two.  It was also a good selling point when we sold the house, because the buyers liked the idea.

In our house we've built in the country, we installed another whole house water heater (this one runs on propane) and we are grateful to have it.  We hardly use any of the propane at all.  It's very efficient.  We only use propane for cooking and for this water heater, and in a year's time, our propane tank has never dropped below 50% capacity.  And it's only a 250 gallon tank, so our propane usage is minimal thanks to not having to heat water all the time (even when it's not being used).

There are nother money saving measures that can be taken, but these are the big ones to start with.

Earth Home Project:
www.freewebs.com/stocktonunderground

I think everyone is missing the scope of what is being suggested. There will be no road maintenance. Road maintenance is mostly paid for through gas taxes... 

Employment will be hard to come by, and anything transported distance will be exhorbitant in price.

Few people are going to be able to become self sufficient within a year or two.  It takes a lot of money and a lot of know-how.  Most people who are self sufficient became so through years of effort and sacrifice.  So I believe it's going to be a long process.

The best that people can do right now, since most haven't been working on this until now (if now), is to start preparing to give up conveniences and luxuries.  A/C is something we did without before and didn't miss it.  We'll miss it now, but the truth is that if we lose the grid, we lose A/C.  I'd rather be able to give up A/C on my terms, not in crisis mode.  At least up your thermostat so that you're used to warmer conditions.
It is funny to me seeing people that say they can't be comfortable in the summer if the temperature is above 72.  They have to have the thermostat set low, and in a lot of cases, I'll see them set it at below 70.
Yet, in the winter, when the temperature is 68 or 70, they think they have to have the thermostat set up to 78 so that they're warm.
Why is it that 78 is the target in the winter, but in the summer it's 10 degrees lower?  I don't get that.

As far as being able to be self sufficient with food, growing a garden (as stated several times already) is the way to go.  However, in the city, I'm not sure you'll be able to adequately protect your garden.  You're going to be robbed by the people who have not prepared.  In some neighborhoods, they'll just kill your dogs and take the food (and damage the garden in the process)(whatever they don't take, they'll destroy).

My advise for anyone serious about being self sufficient if there's a serious crash, is to move to a rural area.  I doubt anyone in the city is going to be able to fair well unless they have a lot of money for resources (that they stock up on ahead of time) and have guns to protect what they have stored.

Earth Home Project:
www.freewebs.com/stocktonunderground

I imagine I would be okay if prices go up dramatically.  I have always gardened (flowers, food, herbs) and can cook, make cheese, and some other self-sufficient chores.  I enjoy that type of thing, so wouldn't feel bad if it became more "valuable" to society as a whole.  I grew up hunting/fishing and raising chickens also, but live in the inner city right now.  2 years ago I bought a 12 acre field well out of town and off the main roads.  I have put in a pond and planted over 100 trees (including nut trees) and will plant fruit trees next.  I'm ready to add a small home, garden, and go off the grid with no mortgage.  What worries me is how many people ask me if I will feed them or take them in if things get bad.  They don't seem to be joking and it really isn't funny.  If they think things will be bad, why aren't they adjusting now?  At 54, I just don't see how I could take care of endless numbers of people as dead weight.  I could certainly set up a soup kitchen.  I have been advising dozens of  (willing) people on gardening and routinely give away easy edible perennials with advice as to placement.  I could not fend off the "robbers" alone.  I look forward to creating my retirement home in the country and leaving behind the city grind but do worry about lawless behavior; people in Dallas seem so callous toward each other that it is easy to imagine.

I'd start downsizing immediately.  Which is what I am trying to do right now.  I am absolutely terrified of the future right now.

I already garden and can.  But that doesn't pay the taxes and utilities.  Livestock feed is already through the roof.  You can only grow so much grass and then there are the doughts to contend with.

Right now my health is good, but I'm going to be 59 in a few days.  Will my health let me continue to do the things I am doing 10 or 20 years from.  Probably not.

I try to remain confident that the future will sort itself out, but I'm not sure at this point it will.

I think an important omission in many of these types of discussion is family.  Because of our affluence, the family has been abandoned, where it was once a life-line.  Until now, we could afford to split our families apart and scatter all our relatives across the world.  For some, families provided nothing that couldn't easily be bought or replaced in some fashion.

I think people need to try to reconstitute their extended family networks and relocalize them.  When my mother was growing up, she knew everyone in her neighborhood.  Why?  Because she was related to practically everyone in the neighborhood.  Families can provide each other with a variety of valuable services.  I'm sure the site members here could make an extensive list of the basically free or easily bartered yet valuable services that can be provided within a local, extended family group.  For example, my sister would be struggling without family-provided daycare.  My wife and I would simply go under without it.  Home schooling from grandma-in-law is a nice perk, too.  Why does every person in the neighborhood need a tractor?  They don't, but it's a lot harder to develop trust among strangers than it is among family.  The old saying that blood is thicker than water is going to ring very loudly once again.  Sharing tools, knowledge, and equipment among an extended family will eliminate a huge amount of redundancy and associated increasing costs.  Not everyone needs to have goats, chickens, and plow mules if there are the types of strong bonds that can exist among family and permit greater sharing. 

A neighborhood composed of an extended family also presents a much better security situation, too.  Everyone knows everyone.  You know who belongs and who doesn't.  You instinctively watch out for each other.  In today's typical neighborhoods, people have no idea what is or isn't a suspicious activity because no one know's anyone else. 

Families are likely to be the future retirement plan for all but the rich.  My mother tells me that things like nursing and retirement homes were for the rich only in her day.  The poor took care of their own; they didn't send away their elders.  I don't believe most people will be able to retire financially, so I hope they have treated their children well.  The state won't have the resources to care for us.  We'll need to revive the idea that each generation in a family cares for the young and the old, because no one else will be able.

An additional point for planning for the future should be the idea of consolidating households.  Everyone has to have their "own" everything these days, creating huge amounts of consumerist waste.  However, most won't be able to afford that in the future.  For those who have cultivated and maintained good family relations, they'll have the benefit of being able to put several generations under one roof.  My extended family members have already been discussing this.  It's likely that the expense of maintaing isolated nuclear family homes is going to become prohibitive, causing the households to collapse.  It's going to be more of a hardship to get yourself across the country in the future, so moving closer to a group of good family members is at least a step in the right direction.

While peole tally up their material resources, we should be just as sure to count the number of family members standing behind us.  They could end up being much more important to our future survival. 

It's obvious that there are varying degrees of this.  For some of us, we feel the need to be prepped to the hilt in case we have to be fully self sufficient.  Others just want to save a few bucks.  So there's different amounts of "being prepared".  I think the main thing is to at least make the attempt.  Do what you can, and when you achieve one level of preparedness, go for another.

Some people are going to be limited (by funds, knowhow and/or time) on what they can prepare for.  For instance, there's a limit to how self sufficient you can be while living in the city, due to silly ordinances such as not being allowed to keep fowl, or not being allowed to have roosters (yet you can have low stereos, loud kids and loud dogs)(just not productive livestock).

Without birds, you have a tougher time maintaining control of mosquitos (other than using poisons).  It's harder to till and fertilize a garden (without chemicals).

Cities have ordinances against livestock, so you can't keep a hog for garbage disposal.  You can't keep livestock for meat.

With limited backyard space, it's hard to keep a garden sufficient to supply a family with food.  Plus, a lot of ordinances wont allow a good sized garden (unless you can control weeds adequately on property lines).

However, there is stocking up that can be done in the city; although this requires funds.

I'm thankful that I live in the country, and that we have a good sized garden (in fact, more than one).  We don't yet have livestock, as I haven't had time (or funds) for fencing yet. 

I am building a new house (an earth home) and am hoping that when done, it will require less heating and cooling, so this will be a level of self sufficiency.  I don't see finishing the house for another year or two (funds currently limit us), but after that, I'll fence the place and we'll add a small amount of livestock (to start with).

I'm hopeful that those in the city can find more inventive ways to approach self sufficiency, and more confident of those of us living in a rural setting.  I'm glad this thread exists, and hope that if there are those out there with questions, that they try to get them answers so that more will be able to achieve or at least approach self sufficiency.

Earth Home Project:
www.freewebs.com/stocktonunderground

   Their is nothing different today that wasn't the same as yesterday. Forcasting the future is like praying for rain. Most of us prepare for the unknown, even though we don't know what the future will bring. Our abilities to make changes when needed is what has kept the human race a viable entity of life.  Life today is getting more complexed, this is assured by the fact of us wanting more materialistic comforts. My wife is a teacher who teaches 2nd grade. I am a retired engineer. We have down-sized and simplified are life styles after years of having most anything we wanted.  We have also been avid readers of Mother Earth News since I was in my early to late 20s. I am 53 now, my wife is 47. What we have been able to learn and teach has been to show through example. Honesty, truthfulness, lovingkindness, creating a garden to sustain us and grow spiritually with.  I honestly do not believe in a doomsday scenerio for the future. My Grandfather who was born in the early 1900s, lived through the great depression, and watched as the world changed around him. His success in life was his, as he would say,my mantra, "Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without".  As for roving bands of vigilanties, I'll turn them into farmers and teach them buddhism, after I feed them.

What a frightening concept -- 10x the price of everything in 5 years with no salary raise in sight?  That would probably result in a social meltdown on the scale never seen before in the U.S.  I think what we need to do is PREVENT this from happening, not prepare for it.  Preparing for it implies that it will happen and we can do nothing to stop it.  I will not lay down and let this happen.  I have young children and I think they deserve a better future with organic food, clean, renewable energy and peace world wide.  Guess that's why I'm a subscriber to Mother Earth News!

Here are three suggestions -- eat less.  I know that sounds somewhat silly but after a recent trip to a local Wal-Mart all I can say is GROSS.  Morbid obsesity is becoming commonplace.  The worst thing you can do to yourself is eat, eat, eat.  Everyone should be slender.  It means less wear and tear on your joints, less heart stress and you can avoid rampaging diabetes if you loss weight now.  Self-control is very hard especially with so many goodies, saturated in sweet corn by-products, but thin means more energy and substantially better health.  Also quit smoking.  It smells vile and people fall asleep smoking and burn the house down.

Encourage World-Wide use of birth control.  I know this is controversial but the US, Europe, Canada and Japan have all achieved zero population growth which has led to a better standard of living for those populations in general.  Less poor people means less starvation, less disease, less building shacks in low lying areas, etc.  Of course, politics control whether women have access to birth control or not.  But it seems cruel for a woman to produce 18 children if she can't even afford to feed herself.  Politics and religious views need to change and accept that this is a small world and a smaller world wide population means more resources in general.

Most importantly of all -- VOTE!  Tuesday, November 4, 2008 is right around the corner.  This is our chance to pick a president who is aware of the effects of GLOBAL WARMING and willing to invest in a new Manhattan Project to develop clean, cheap, renewal energy, work toward a better future and who will end the unnecessary War in Iraq.  Everyone, of course, should do all they can individually to raise organic food, reduce their carbon footprint, use mass transit, etc. but we need leadership that will set the standards in helping America reach a brighter, cleaner, better future. 

I am not just praying for a better tomorrow, I am working for it.  Everyday.  I hope you all will too.  I don't want my kids or any one else's spending their future eeking out a sub-poverty existence in fear of roving gangs with guns who steal food, etc. 

We have ten acres and a travel trailer on it. We are working on our well. We do have electricity.I built a composting toilet and a solar shower that work very well. We are in the process of selling our house and when we do we will move out there and build a small cabin. We will grow vegggies and fruit and preserve and cann them. We are going to raise chickens, rabbits, and a couple of goats to start. We will slowly become as green as we can as time and money allow.

The first step is to get out of debt and we have become 85 percent towards that. We have tons of trees so we won't run out of wood in this lifetime. Time to start living our dreams and stop working for someone who is living theirs.

The gang thing does not bother us. If you are hungry come and eat, but if you try to steal form us, I saw a sign on a gate that I thought was appropriate- No trespassing survivors will be prosecuted!

The issue of water was mentioned.  It would be prudent to have some kind of means of collecting and storing rain water, and then being able to use it.  We currently have a few barrels, but hope that we will eentually collect more water from roofs and pipe it to a cistern or two.  From there, we hope to be able to pump from the cisterns to water the gardens, or possible water the pasture.

Another measure we have taken, which I realize not everyone can afford, is that instead of a standard septic tank, we put in a water treatment system, an aerobic septic system, so that after it does it's purification of waste water, the water is then sent out through a sprinkler system to our pasture.  This frees us from using water from our well.  We're essentially reusing water that we've used already, so it's a more efficient use of an increasing more valuable resource.

Water will definitely be an issue in coming years.  Search the CIA website and there are research papers on water resources.  Specifically, there are papers that predict drought in different parts of the world.  The CIA tracks this because of potential wars and other conflicts worldwide, as well as water issues specific to the United States.  Most people don't realize that the way they currently use water, they will not be able to continue doing in the next decade.  So a very good prep is to be able to use water more efficiently now, before its forced on you (due to government regulation, forced rationing, and/or other shortages).

Earth Home Project:
www.freewebs.com/stocktonunderground

I think we are 75% prepared.  Our best friend throughout our married lives has been & is a budget, the enjoyment of watching it work, it's security and being absolutely rewarded by it.  Totally debt free.

5 acres of land, 1 acre in water, heavily stocked with fish.  Drilled 200' well and on rural water.  2500 sq ft garden every year.  Water filter in prep. area.  Large pantry & freezers. Fish are fed by buglights every night, and with oatmeal once/day.   No major concerns regarding water or food.

Planted 750+ evergreen trees many years ago for wind, noise and privacy protection around property border and northwest of buildings, mature now and could be (reluctantly) used for wood burning (fireplace) in an emergency. Keep a nursery of small trees and replace any that die out quickly.  Trees when cultivated grow fast.  Have used wood pellet heat for many years, provides 95% of home heat requirements.  Keep several years ahead in storage, rotate and add each year. 

Have generator, sine wave inverter, grid charged battery system to power heat related items & basic necessities if the grid goes down.  Installed a few small solar systems to (1) each keep a couple of golf cart batteries charged & (2) power outside security yard lights.  Feel it is better to use several small solar systems rather than one big one as I can cycle the batteries into the home inverter system while the other batteries take their turn at being recharged by solar.  Plus as the pole mounted solar systems are scattered around, it is less likely wind or theft damage would occur to all of them.  The generator runs daytime major loads, while the inverter will take care of the basics during the night.  No major concerns over heat or short term grid power.

Retired in our 50's. We work on our place heavily, anything goes wrong, we fix it asap. Store gas & diesel for vehicles, generators & equipment.  Most all maintenance and repairs are tackled, most we fix, some we don't and require outside help.  We currently have some moderate concerns about fuel costs. 

No animals other than a marvelous GSD who we pay very well to keep us company and alert us to outside intervention. 

Our blueberries, strawberries, gooseberries, pear tree are mature and produce well.  We are growing elderberries and have learned how to tinture and use some herbs puchased online.  

For whatever reason, we absolutely do not think it is foolish to become self-reliant.  Part of a healthy preparation system is to have guns and ammo. for you & your's protection.  If we should have to call for 911 help, the first thing that will happen is we wait, wait & wait some more.  We are both trained and prepared, no major concerns. 

We are very determined, we are not doomed.  Think folks, get healthy, learn things.  Put together a budget, use it.  It's not about how much money you make, it's about how much you spend.  Forget about keeping up with whoever. If you are convinced by the media that "big oil" is going to get richer, then stop in at your local Edward Jones investment firm, buy some "big oil" mutual funds. (not affilitated with them only as a customer) and try to turn that "bad news" into something positive for yourself.      

I would also suggest investing in huge industrial sized water purification systems.  With less and less water available, large cities in coastal areas will need this equipment to get their drinking water, because fresh water sources aren't going to be adequate to supply them.  This is when this equipment is going to sell like hotcakes.

Earth Home Project:
www.freewebs.com/stocktonunderground

No one is staying within the premise of the question. Does anyone actually think the climate will change in five years do to economic factors?

Think more along these terms. My property tax will be 10 times today's. The cost of a cheap set of work boots will be $400, the cost of socks about $8 a pair... and briefs around $12.

So answers to would you be able to afford the energy/equipment to get water to your home? How would you heat it? Do you need to purchase the energy source to heat it? If not, what are the underlying ongoing costs of attaining the energy source... i.e. chainsaws, splitters, transport?

Would you be able to afford the cost of shelter... i.e. taxes, insurance, maintenance?

How would you feed your household? What are those items you buy, or have underlying ongoing costs to acquire?

What would you change going forward? Not what changes have you made.

No one is suggesting this is the future... just asking what if? What would be your priorities for change from your current situation?

John's right,what if a weeks worth of todays kind of groceries cost $1200?I'd be pretty much doing what I have been doing....doing it myself.If I cant afford it I find a way to either do without or do something else,this is where 'thinking outside the box'comes from.I think as a whole we could do a snootful better than we have been the last 20 years or so in the originality department.

As far as priorities,palatible food,water,heat for all under my roof.I would try my hardest to make an energy souce(ie my own fuel)but if I could'nt there's still the old 2 man saw sitting under my woodshed,lol.It is hypothetical but heading in that general direction quickly with no signs of looking back.

We have let the big money people decide for us. We will sit here and complain about it but continue to go right along with it. I have watched as people vote on their government as if it is their savior and is going to make everything better. Have things gotten better after 40 years. Alot of people have strayed away from their faith but all my needs have been provided for.

As long as the big money people are pulling a profit they do not care what it cost us little people and they do not really think what the effects are on our world. Until it starts affecting their god(money) they will continue to go through life the same way we are going now.

I will sit back and thank GOD for everything I have and watch the great minds of the world make the world a better place to live.

Your kidding me right. You have a Prius that will never need maintenance, oil change, tires... it will last forever (new one would be 10 times the present cost). And it doesn't need a road to travel on... one of those new fangled hover ones. Or you forgot that gas taxes pay for road/highway maintenance?

Your lodgers are part of your income... you would need ten times as many to achieve today's results.

Even PV systems would be worthless, if they fail the replacement parts would be exhorbitant.

The loss of something as cheap as a hand tool would be devastating. You would see people literally begin painstaking save evey item for some unforeseen future use.