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I'm no expert, but here are my thoughts: 1) Don't die in the initial strike. Take a working vacation to the countryside when things look tense if you live near

I'm no expert, but here are my thoughts: 1) Don't die in the initial strike. Take a working vacation to the countryside when things look tense if you live near obvious targets. 2) Have a few months' worth of food and water on hand 3) Skill with guns, ammo, and guns, in that order 4) Friends. Have friends who also have a modicum of preparedness and useful skills, or be good at making them 5) Healthcare and sanitation. Know the basics, have the basics. That's a start from some rando on the internet

chakalakasp 5y ago
Ok. That gets you to stay alive for a few months. Now, imagine a world in which there will no longer be any agriculture, fuel, easy access to clean water, electricity, heating, medicine, health care, communications, government, supply chains, or law enforcement. The food supply that was available at stores and in homes has now run out. Fertilizer is no longer available, contemporary farm machinery that runs on petrol won't last long as the petrol dries up (and when they break down, won't be repairable due to DRM). Wildlife might supply enough calories to feed a small fraction of one percent of all people currently still alive. This would go on indefinitely. Preppers look at surviving a nuclear war like it's an adventure where all their Eagle Scout skills will finally be put to use. It's really just slow, heartbreaking death from starvation and disease, with horrible violence from desperate people and regional warlords mixed in. Think "The Road", without the extreme environmental destruction. Note that this wouldn't be everywhere, just in targeted countries. US, Canada, NATO and NATO leaning Europe, Japan, both Koreas, China, Russia. Those not targeted would be looking at this whole thing kinda like insert "it's free real estate" meme here And if nuclear winter is a real thing, which most contemporary modelling suggests it is (though this is not settled science and some modelling suggests it isn't), likely there won't be an environment conducive to growing crops anywhere in the world for at least 5 years. A lifetime Prepper Magazine subscription won't help you there.
- NoImmatureAdHom 5y ago
  > It's really just slow, heartbreaking death from starvation and disease, with horrible violence from desperate people and regional warlords mixed in. Think "The Road", without the extreme environmental destruction. Yeah. People do live through those kinds of times, though. And I'd wager at least a few end up thinking it was worth it! Perhaps the Black Death was comparable in that sense, in that it killed 30-50% of Europe? I also do have some hope that we wouldn't slide back in to warlords, disease, and famine everywhere. Everyone alive will have pretty deeply inculcated norms around fairness, cooperation, and institutions. In some of the less destroyed areas perhaps we'd be able to organize and rebuild a semblance of our current life reasonably quickly (albeit much more local). P.S. fuck DRM :-)
  - t-3 5y ago
    > Everyone alive will have pretty deeply inculcated norms around fairness, cooperation, and institutions. Sorry, but this is extremely naive. Take some time to talk to people who live in high-crime areas and learn about what life is like without those norms. Now imagine everything 10000x worse, because modern society and infrastructure means starvation just doesn't happen all that often. People kill each other over money today, when food becomes more valuable, you don't want to be there...

chakalakasp 5y ago

Ok. That gets you to stay alive for a few months. Now, imagine a world in which there will no longer be any agriculture, fuel, easy access to clean water, electricity, heating, medicine, health care, communications, government, supply chains, or law enforcement. The food supply that was available at stores and in homes has now run out. Fertilizer is no longer available, contemporary farm machinery that runs on petrol won't last long as the petrol dries up (and when they break down, won't be repairable due to DRM). Wildlife might supply enough calories to feed a small fraction of one percent of all people currently still alive. This would go on indefinitely. Preppers look at surviving a nuclear war like it's an adventure where all their Eagle Scout skills will finally be put to use. It's really just slow, heartbreaking death from starvation and disease, with horrible violence from desperate people and regional warlords mixed in. Think "The Road", without the extreme environmental destruction. Note that this wouldn't be everywhere, just in targeted countries. US, Canada, NATO and NATO leaning Europe, Japan, both Koreas, China, Russia. Those not targeted would be looking at this whole thing kinda like insert "it's free real estate" meme here And if nuclear winter is a real thing, which most contemporary modelling suggests it is (though this is not settled science and some modelling suggests it isn't), likely there won't be an environment conducive to growing crops anywhere in the world for at least 5 years. A lifetime Prepper Magazine subscription won't help you there.

NoImmatureAdHom 5y ago
> It's really just slow, heartbreaking death from starvation and disease, with horrible violence from desperate people and regional warlords mixed in. Think "The Road", without the extreme environmental destruction. Yeah. People do live through those kinds of times, though. And I'd wager at least a few end up thinking it was worth it! Perhaps the Black Death was comparable in that sense, in that it killed 30-50% of Europe? I also do have some hope that we wouldn't slide back in to warlords, disease, and famine everywhere. Everyone alive will have pretty deeply inculcated norms around fairness, cooperation, and institutions. In some of the less destroyed areas perhaps we'd be able to organize and rebuild a semblance of our current life reasonably quickly (albeit much more local). P.S. fuck DRM :-)
- t-3 5y ago
  > Everyone alive will have pretty deeply inculcated norms around fairness, cooperation, and institutions. Sorry, but this is extremely naive. Take some time to talk to people who live in high-crime areas and learn about what life is like without those norms. Now imagine everything 10000x worse, because modern society and infrastructure means starvation just doesn't happen all that often. People kill each other over money today, when food becomes more valuable, you don't want to be there...