Zombie Apocalypse Poll

Despite the jokey title of this blog post I’m seriously interested in hearing where our readers are coming from regarding our future economic/social situation in 2012. To that end I’ve crafted a poll that you can find on the right top side of this blog. The poll closes on the 31st and I’ll post the results in the new year. Feel free to also leave a comment below. What is your outlook for 2012?

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25 Comments

  1. If the Euro crashes, which it will, then the dollar will not hesitate long to follow suit. It is a mathematical certainty that the dollar will eventually crash because that is what fiat currency always does in the end.

    Some idiot just figured out how to make avian flu airborn. They’re storing the new germs in some unsecure lab (no armed guards, only a locked room) near Seattle (I’m not entirely sure of the location). Avian flu is 50% fatal. I suggest everyone get at least a N95 or P100 dust mask, or better, carry it on them, and store at least a month of food and water and a way to cook off the grid so if it gets out you can hole up. And a lot of bleach, and an antiviral like Tamiflu. If possible have the things around to make a positive or negative pressure safe room – a great place to learn how is at http://www.alpharubicon.com.

    They are about to put S.1867 into law. This bill allows for indefinite detention at Gitmo of anyone, including Americans arrested on American soil, even suspected of supporting terrorism against the US or any of its allies. It doesn’t define this “support”. Perhaps if they caught you bringing food to #Occupy protesters that would be enough, since England has declared its Occupy movement a terrorist group; or even blogging to complain about the US Gov could be construed as “support”. (If so I’m already dead meat).

    They have already built the FEMA prison camps, with one-bid contracts to KBR granted in 1999 and 2006. KBR has last week put out an ad for subcontractors to provide catering, portapotties, laundry etc. for these prisons. In 2009 they had help wanted ads for guards.

    There is a list of prison locations floating out there, but I checked them all and most of them are state or federal prisons. I am not sure these camps are going to be shown on Google Earth.

    Folks, the Schumer is about to hit the fan. Please prepare and take care of yourselves.

  2. We are prepping for economic hardship. Our goal is to live a more simple, self reliant lifestyle while learning the necessary skills to share with our children. Unfortunately we do not see the economic situation getting better without a paradigm shift… we are certain there will be no Zombies though ;o)

  3. I remain an optimist. There is certainly no lack of things to worry about, but despair provides neither light nor energy to work for changes. I see so many sparks of interest and positive actions. I’m looking forward to a year of hope.

  4. Speaking of zombie apocalypse, did you see the recent news that a University in Rotterdam mutated Avian flu so that it can be passed human to human by aerosol (the same avian flu that has a 60% mortality rate but is only spread through direct contact with birds)? And now they want to publish how they did it? BTW, the virus is under “lock and key” in the University basement, but it’s not under any other security. Might be something to look into getting prepared for.

  5. My family and I often joke about our plan for the Zombie Apocalypse. The exercise helps us figure out what is essential in our lives, and helps us narrow our luxuries down to whats really important to us. This gets mirrored in our “real” lives, where our focus is self-sustaining. But lets face it, homesteading in a post-apocalyptic world just seems that much cooler.

  6. I think the collapse of the European Union is inevitable. When that happens the cascade effect on the U.S. banks that hold European sovereign debt and on the U.S. economy will make the recession of 2008 look like the good ‘ol days. I’d feel sorry for my adult age daughter and grandson, but they’ve already moved back in with us.

  7. Either Yellowstone will erupt or Solar storms will cost the Earth to shift causing countless calamities. We’re all dead no matter how we cut it, so the best thing to do is ENJOY,

    have plenty of sex, travel, exercise, make other people smile, do all the things you dreamed of doing because it all ends next year and there’s nothing you can do to survive it. And if you do survive it, you’d be wishing you didn’t.

  8. Um, hype and hyperbole are more interesting than my vote: stay the same. Things are stupid, but remember the price/wage controls under Nixon and Carter, and all the other calamaties that inspired the last most recent back-to-the-land movement. Then wind the clock back to the hubris of the Progressive era and its spawn: the Lost Generation, Beatniks, and Hellen and Scott Nearing’s “The Good Life”. Our society is not permanent but I don’t think that the headlines of today indicate any seriously imminent catastophe. YMMV, I guess. -Randy

  9. There is always FUD, and when you are feeling pessimistic anyway it’s easy to fall prey to terminal jitters and overreact to minor news (especially when the media loves to over-hype it without explaining everything).

    While I worry that the western world is going into a long slump, I expect the next few years to be fairly stagnant and we might as well all get used to the hangover — the Alka Seltzer isn’t arriving anytime soon.

  10. The first post by Penny Pincher sums it up. Something is going to happen one way or other and using the Boy Scout motto of “Be Prepared” is about the smartest and most rational thing you can do at this point. Having storable food, some backup cash (in various forms), maybe a 4×4 truck, a couple of first aid kits, etc. are not bad ideas. Learning new skills like canning, sewing, building fires, metalworks are also smart ideas. If you ever have to move for some reason on a moments notice, you will be much more confident knowing you can support your family with your various skill sets. During WWII, those who were not afraid to get up and move had a much higher survival rate then those who stayed put. My dad is a good example of that. Get to know your neighbors and help them. Start a monthly pot luck and invite your next door neighbors and share your newfound skills.

    My better half was born in the former Soviet Union. She never thought her country would collapse. No one did, but it did. All of the signs happening here right now in America are the same signs she went through in the 80s. Riots, empty stores, rising prices, massive debt, a growing police state, etc. Simple things like knowing how to grow your own food will be so important within the next 5, 10, 20 years.

    God Bless everyone!

  11. I don’t think things will get better. I prepare for bad things like food shortages or high prices. However, I cannot afford all the preparations I would like to have (gun). And, I don’t really have much food and no water…sigh. The world won’t end in 2012, in my opinion. Even the Mayan experts disagree with the popular culture scare. For a large part of the population, I expect things will be much worse because of the EU collapse.

  12. I don’t expect apocalypic disasters…just a slow decline: climate change, oil depletion, increase in the bimodal distribution in incomes…and that’s just in this country. It’ll be worse in many other countries. Sorry, but that’s my opinion. Too much data backing it up.

  13. I think things will get worse…, BUT…

    I think amazing things will come out of it. People will look more to each other and begin living a world that could be. We already have a MASSIVE underground economy of unpaid workers – mothers, students, volunteers, mad scientists, passionate organizers, teachers, and people who just cannot help themselves when it comes to sharing knowledge, sustenance and love (like Erik and Kelly). Capitalism cannot live without this base of unpaid labor – but this base CAN and DOES live without capitalism.

    The pain that will come with collapse will give birth to possibilities that will amaze us. We’ll be so in love with the shift that we won’t care that the lights go off at 6:00pm and we have to wash our clothes in the bathtub.

    Watch “The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil.” http://www.powerofcommunity.org/cm/index.php

    Our belief in ourselves, each other, and something better can topple these parasitic mofos once and for all. Thank you for this opportunity to rant. =)

    All power to the peoples!

  14. I’ve no other choice but to hope they’ll improve for me personally, but I don’t think the neighborhood/city/county/state/country/planet is going to ride any sort of upswing until it continues on its downward arc across the next year.

  15. I agree with b2bhomesteader wholeheartedly and cannot add much to that thought stream. My family is planning for the worst, hoping for the best, but expecting things to basically stay the same. If I had more hope that the electorate would consistently vote their own best economic interests, I’d have a lot more hope, but books like, “What’s The Matter With Kansas?” illustrates my underlying pessimism. Suburban farming is one idea that I have put into action over the past couple of years and I hope to just continue growing and expanding the Suburban farm.

  16. While I sort of believe things are actually going to get worse, I voted that they would get better, because it’s just really important to have a positive attitude. That doesn’t mean, though, that I’m not going to continue to increase my preparedness, because being prepared for hard times almost inevitably means that they’re just LESS HARD!

  17. i believe it will totally depend on where people are out in relation to the global economic system vs. a community minded/centered system. the more people buy and work with and in the large corporate structures, it is going to become worse. for communities that are buying/working/trading/consuming together, it is going to get better.

  18. Stuff’s going to get worse, but people are going to prove way more resilient and will just deal with it.

    Our group of chickens raised for the table have gotten big enough to start dispatching and cleaning up for freezing (that’s our poultry for the winter and spring, basically), and I’ve got seeds to sow for spring and summer crops. Will it be a lot of toil and trouble? Toil yes, trouble not so much.

  19. I guess “better” and “worse” are very relative. Sure, economic decline will be hard on a lot of people, myself included, but it will also help out the environment. So I ended up not voting at all.

  20. I could not answer the poll. My first thought was things will get worse. I was thinking from a world wide view, economic, food wise, etc. But I thought a again and decided that really those things don’t matter. I expect things around my house to get better. My love for my wife will grow and I hope hers for me. We may spend more for less, have shortages of this or that. But those are not a good measure of better or worse in my life. So my answer is that I purpose to have a better year no matter how the rest of the world does.

  21. Well, things are going to get better for ME anyhow. I buying a house for the huge yard to garden, and our payments are going to be less than our rent.

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