Leaving.
this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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AskBeehaw
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But how, specifically? Airports and train stations might be shut down. Roads could be blocked.
I mean I'm lucky because my state borders Canada. Roads might be blocked but you can literally just walk across the border. Some of the dirt paths crossing it are monitored on camera by the RCMP, but the entire border is just an open clearing so you can literally just walk.
I'm sure if the US broke out into civil war again, Canada would already be taking in refugees anyway.
Fair. You're lucky. I'm literally on the other side trying to figure out what the hell I'm gonna do.
I don't know a lot about your situation so cannot really make recommendations, but there's a pretty good chance you could still prepare for most incidents, be it armed conflict or otherwise. If nothing else, this should give you some peace of mind.
If you haven't already done so, stock up on the essentials - water (and one of those water filters or purifying tablets), food with a long shelf life (Huel or similar will keep you fed & healthy pretty much indefinitely) and some snacks. Buy a portable radio, a good flashlight and a powerbank with a crank or solar cells - don't bother with a generator. Assemble your personal first-aid kit with different kinds of painkillers and antibiotics. Get some soap bars, a toothbrush, some duct tape, a paper map of the area, a reliable multi-tool (Leatherman or Victorinox), some windproof matches, some pens and paper and a couple of travel-size tabletop games. Don't forget paper copies of all important documents.
Put all this plus clothes for three days in a backpack (don't forget a rain poncho) and you've got yourself a great tool that you can use to hide at home or if you need to leave in a hurry, e.g. because of a fire.
Keep some cash at home and/or on you at all times. Small bills are better in case there's no change available.
If you really need to leave the country or area during a large-scale incident, have you considered a lightweight motorbike that has good fuel economy, can be manoeuvered/carried around most obstacles and can still go pretty fast?
Also, keep in mind that the biggest challenge/threat in most emergencies is not the situation itself, but the people around you acting irrationally. Remember how Covid had people physically fight each other over 200 rolls of toilet paper.
If I may ask - where are you from (roughly), and do things really look that bad there?
I'm in Florida, and things here are relatively peaceful compared to the rest of the country despite our shitty governor. But I worry next year that will change, especially right before and after the election. As you know, we are on the brink of civil war because of Trump and his stupid fucking cult, and political violence has been ramping up. A store owner was shot for flying a pride flag in front of her shop this morning, for example. So it's clear a shitstorm is brewing here that needs to be prepared for. I made this thread to get ideas and to find out what other people were doing, in the States and out for their various political situations.
EDIT: Oh F, I thought I was responding to the Swiss fellow. My bad. Fixed
I'm in Florida
Aww, shit. I'm sorry man. Hang on, it's bound to get better eventually.
You have nice chocolate and you are the set for many of our action movies.
Thanks. 🙃 Though I sometimes wish less of those movies were about secret Nazi gold bank accounts. Oh well, can't have everything.
We've actually been to Florida in February, from Miami to Key West and back north all the way to Tampa. Lots of lovely places. Stuff was surprisingly expensive. People were mostly friendly and welcoming, though we generally avoided talking politics. We rented a "mid-size" SUV that was about twice as big as what's considered a big car here. Driving it felt kinda badass, though I was happy to have my very manageable Volvo V60 back after two weeks.
Back on topic: wouldn't the National Guard stop a domestic armed conflict? I mean, it still wouldn't be ideal, but all you had to do is hole up and lie low for a week or two.
The problem is that the military, including the National Guard, is stacked with right-wingers, so more accurately it would be those right-wing vets using army equipment to go door to door and shoot any LGBTQ+ or Black person they could find. And Hispanic, given how deeply anti-immigration they are. They already run 13 concentration camps all over the southern border. There's one here in Florida, out by the Everglades.
Which is why I worry so much about this. So many people dismiss it as a problem because they either don't know or deny the reality of the situation, and even I really don't want to believe it. Yet it's unfolding.
That being said, Florida is arguably one of the "safer" places to be in as we've been largely insulated from the political unrest that's transpired over the past few years, especially because of covid and the BLM uprising. That's largely DeSantis's doing because he was the first Republican to say no to the lockdowns, and that's what helped him rise to power. This shit going on the past year is a perfect example of the leopards eating the left's faces what with DeSantis campaigning to run for president... though thankfully, it's looking like his campaign isn't doing well. What a fucking fascist dumbass. He's such a fucking embarrassment. 🤦
I also don't want to think about what kind of a fascist shithole my city would turn into if the National Guard did forcibly lock it down to prevent a civil war. I'd take the civil war over the tyranny, honestly. At least with the civil war, you'd sort of have freedom of movement. The National Guard taking over would be the lockdowns all over again, which goes completely against the values of our state.
🤔 Given that... I suppose I actually should figure out some way to sneak out of the city under cover of darkness, or something. To get away from that. Has anyone here considered a way to do such a thing?
Organize an anarchist underground, probably in unarmed roles as I know nothing about guns. Organize networks of mutual aid and safe houses like the Syrian opposition did in the early stages of their civil war.
Yessss. May i help you with preserving knowledge and helping you farm?
Keeping the archives of radical history alive is pretty much my speciality
So, your one word answer to OPs question would be "ranting" ?
Why on earth would you reduce what I said to that?
Because he's a dick
That seems to be a pretty odd read of the comment thread you're responding to.
Without a steady supply of meds, water and electricity, I wouldn't last a week, so my plan would be to lay low, sleep with a butcher's knife under my pillow, and wait for it to end before my stash of month's worth of meds runs out while half-starving on canned food. If things haven't stabilized by then, go on a murder spree until someone kills me.
Take car. Go to mum's. Kill Phil, grab Liz, go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over.
Yeah medication is a pretty big Achilles heel.
I am fortunate that I do not YET have the need for maintenance medication.
At some point in my life however I very likely will.
When that day comes, I can only hope that things are more settled down than they are now.
Otherwise, I’ll have to really stock up on rat poison!
Fun fact: some of my meds are low concentration rat poison. But otherwise, unless you have a rat infestation, I wouldn't recommend it.
Yeah, warfarin was what I was referring to.
I expect to need a new aortic valve at some point, and I’ll likely need blood thinners.
So, rat poison it is!
😟
Also leaving. If I can't get on a plane or ferry, I'm stealing a boat and setting course for France. I'm under no delusions about my survival skills in any kind of conflict, but I've lived near the sea long enough that I could drive a boat well enough to get to the nearest neighbouring country.
I'm staying right where I am. I live in a country (non-US, not really wanting to be more specific) where there is a clear geographical divide between the two sides, and I'm deep into the territory of the side I prefer and think would win easily.
Also, I have anarchist friends, and that's who I'd personally be turning to if I needed help or was able to be helpful to others.
As I've told my partner, if there's instability to the point society is breaking down my plan is to die. That's it. My only plan is to die. Once my hormones run out that's gg for me I'm not going back to the wrong hormones while everything collapses I just plan to die.
Now if there's a path to escape back to civilization I'll see what I can do but if my country (USA) is in (open) civil war it doesn't look good for the rest of the world
:(
Why not expatriate to Europe?
That’s way more expensive. And if we’re talking global instability it would be even harder to get there. My best guess is to go to Canada in a more localized instability.
We've got plenty of food, water, medical supplies and emergency power. Which means we and a bunch of geographically close friends would either make it through the first months relatively unscathed in our own house, or get killed early in the game for our stuff. If the war came geographically close, we could cross the border to two neighbouring countries within a couple of hours (car) or a day (bike).
I was considering buying a gun, but as the saying goes: a gun without the training means your attacker just got a free gun. Around here there are better ways to protect oneself.
Luckily civil war is highly unlikely around here, and I'm immensely grateful for that. At the moment I'm more worried about a power outage or some other shortage.
If I may ask, are you in Europe?
Eastern Switzerland.
Oh shit, you're lucky. I hear you guys have enough nuclear shelters to house your whole population plus 20% when the shit hits the fan. You have it good.
We here in the States are still debating if abortion and nationwide health care should be things. 🤦
Heh, yes we do. There's actually a small bunker in the basement of our house. Though if Covid is anything to go by, the real threat will be the people trying to kill us for our toilet paper and instant noodles. It's a fscked-up world.
I am an admitted prepper.
I am very sufficiently protected from a disruption to food supplies.
I am of the mind that bugging in is better than bugging out.
I would probably keep working until things ground to a halt (I can work fully remote) and monitor the state of things as far as sending my kids to school.
Honestly though?
I don’t see civil war as a real threat where I am at.
Sure there are flare ups of violent events from time to time, but there is no real concerted effort by either side to bring things to a more constant and real level.
The fact is, life is still much too easy and the problems we face much too far removed from basic necessities that I could really see any one group pushing us into a civil war.
I hope I am right…
I hope you're right, too.