The end of the world as we know it
… unless you’re Amish or a very serious survivalist, you’re going to die
Yeah, pretty much.
19 Responses to “The end of the world as we know it”
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February 22nd, 2011 at 10:38 am
Meh. My ovaries are way past their expiration date, not much point in me living anyway.
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:35 am
Sounds like all the barbarians will be all right then…
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:41 am
Lots of Amish not that far from me here in Iowa. Guess it’s time to go make friends.
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:42 am
Step 1: Load everything useful into a truck
Step 2: Find Roberta and Tam.
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:53 am
Amish surviving? Heh. Pacifists with food supplies would be dead or reduced to slavery in any hypothetical Mad Max scenario.
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:58 am
But damn will I look good in my colander and leather banana hammock!
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:59 am
You guys forget the GOLDEN RULE.
He who has the guns has the GOLD.
So I doubt the Amish will survive.
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:01 pm
The problem in a true TEOTWAWKI is that few of the Amish will survive the plundering phase to use their superior farming skills for long term gain. It doesn’t help to know how to plow using horse or ox when the last cow has been shot by a hungry guy with an AR15. Marauders will always have the advantage since you cannot defend a growing area at the perimeter and still have enough space inside to feed everybody you need to hold the perimeter.
To survive a complete break down of society, you need to be able to stay hidden for a couple of years, while the rest shoots it out. After that you probably can come to an arrangement with the local chieftain, since every ruler needs ruled to make his efforts worthwhile.
So, sorry, it’s not the Amish but the Mormons who survive.
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:15 pm
You can find Amish and Mennonites at gun shows in northern Indiana and even at the big ones in Indianapolis. Yoder and Gabriel are armed. They don’t “flex” them, but they have them.
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:26 pm
The death rate is 1:1. The amish and survivalists are going to die.
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:46 pm
@Shootin’ Buddy
Really? Amish pacifism must be a lot like the quaker kind of my ancestors then. In other words, not so much.
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:34 pm
If that situation ever seems imminent, I’m headed to the swamps to be with the rest of my family. A swamp you know that other people don’t is probably a pretty good place to hole up for a while….
February 22nd, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Dave,
Yes. Three or Four Indy gun shows ago, I saw a Mennonite with his sons walking the show. He had a bolt action centerfire rifle, a shotgun for sale and a .22 pistol (a SIG) in the box which he just purchased.
I looked over the rifle and then nodded at the pistol. “Is that for rats in the barn, brother?”
The Amish use the Mennonites as cut outs, trading with them often. I don’t think the Amish have an HK91 and a dozen ready mags in a chest rig, but I know that they are not unarmed.
As a kid, my family was really into horses (father still is). My father was a great trail rider (they go out in the woods and hills and ride horses) and he would take us to the Amish black and leathersmiths in Southern Indiana. I saw guns about the shops and barns (I was never allowed in the houses).
February 22nd, 2011 at 2:01 pm
F@ck that noise. I don’t need the Amish, I’ve got Dennis Quaid on my side. He’s worth like 20, 25 amish dudes.
February 22nd, 2011 at 2:33 pm
The Amish might have guns, but it’s against their religion to use them on people. They may hunt though.
Also 80% of the Amish population are non-farmers. They’re mostly shopkeepers and tradesmen now.
February 22nd, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Oh, I don’t know. I’m not a serious survivalist, and I have a bunch of skills that I think would give me a ‘one up’ on most people, like flint knapping, or the ability to make a lamp out of just about any kind of animal fat or vegetable oil. Just stuff I picked up for fun.
Oh, and if you really think civilization is coming to an end, invest in flintlock firearms. You can make black powder, you can knap the flints from stuff like old toilet bowls if necessary, and you can scrounge the lead for the bullets. That way you aren’t relying on modern chemistry for your powder or primers.
February 22nd, 2011 at 5:54 pm
I think the single most useful piece of information from James Wesley Rawles book(s) was to have your bugout destination be more than one gas tank away from a major population center.
In his book(s) the heroes chose a place about 20 miles north of my Idaho home. My bugout place is 40 miles east. That is 340 miles from the Seattle area. You need a full tank and open roads to make it without a refill.
One of the things overlooked in Rawles book(s) is depending on the time of the year that area has anywhere from a few million to hundreds of millions of pounds of food (wheat, peas, lentils, oats, barley, beans, and various other stuff) in storage ready for export to the cities and overseas. There are a fair number of cattle, sheep, and hogs too. Even if the crop yields for the next few years were just 5% of normal they could sustain themselves and probably still export a little bit.
A nearby hydro-electric facility can supply all the local needs for electricity. Oil based resources would be a problem as would pharmaceuticals. But most people in that area would get by fairly well compared to the urban centers–assuming the hoards couldn’t make it that far.
February 22nd, 2011 at 6:48 pm
End of the world…women and children hardest hit…
In all seriousness though, older relatives who grew up in rural areas and lived before and during the Great Depression would be a huge asset for the knowledge of other ways of doing things. Most of them now are on
so many different medicines that you would have to question how long they would survive without them.
Other than high blood pressure I’m in fine shape in that regard and know enough about farming, gardening, and hunting and have a large family in the area. We also have a well and I know of three springs in the area that I’m not afraid to drink out of.
February 22nd, 2011 at 7:31 pm
One thing most forget is crops are not food, just plants for most of the year. Sometimes just bare plowed dirt. The end of the world will use up ready made food and by the time those crops turn into something you can actually eat all those Amish farms will be expanded and highly protected by the neighboring citizens.
In farming country travelers will have to cross rivers and plowed fields and is real damn hard. If you ever have tried it you’ll get back on a road after a couple of miles. All those back roads have farm houses. Houses with farmers with guns, relatives and neighbors. Doubt if raiders would get too far before getting interfered with to death.
As too living in the back of beyond to avoid the Golden hoard – one family isolated is an inviting target for those hungry punks (the ones in the tavern on Friday night) living in the village down the road.
You want to live long term, live where you can, not where you vacation.