The article gives the most realistic idea of how events may develop in Russia and Ukraine.
My brother visited Argentina a few weeks ago. He lived in Spain for several years. During the first week, he got sick with some kind of severe flu, despite the fact that the climate is not very cold and he also took care of his health. No doubt he got sick, as there are many new viruses in my country that cannot be found in the First World countries. Suffering and hunger will lead us to a situation where, in spite of food, housing and health care, while most others do not have them, and therefore they get sick and spread disease throughout the region.
What prompted me to bring this up was the fact that I actually saw how it started and posted information on the matter months before new viruses spread across the country and the news started talking about this new emergency for health care, which indicate that talking, thinking and sharing ideas with like-minded people will not help predict and prepare in advance. So I start posting what I have learned and what I have learned (either with difficulty or thanks to this forum) after all these years of living in a collapsed country that is trying to get out of an economic disaster.
Here's what I have today:
CITY OR SUBURBAN?
Someone once asked me how life was in the suburbs. Was it easier for them than for the townspeople. As always, there are no easy answers. I would like to say the suburb is good, the city is bad, but I cannot, because if I have to be completely honest, then there are some issues that need to be analyzed, especially when it comes to security. Naturally, those who live in the suburbs have land and livestock were better prepared. There is no need to have several acres of crops. A few fruit trees, a few chickens, cows and rabbits, and a small garden were enough for an "easy" life compared to those who stayed in the cities. Chickens, eggs and rabbits would provide protein, a cow or two - milk and cheese, vegetables and fruits would provide a plant-based diet, and some eggs or rabbits could be exchanged for flour for dough.to make bread and pasta, or sugar and salt.
Those who live in cities must govern as best they can. Since food prices have climbed about 200% -300%. People were forced to cut costs as much as they could so they could buy food. Some hunted birds or ate stray dogs and cats, others starved. When it got to food, the cities were in crisis. Lack of food or the inability to acquire it leads to the outbreak of riots and looting.
When it comes to security, things get even more complicated. Forget about shooting, those who dream of shooting enemies from 300 yards. Leave those dreams to couch commandos and 12 year olds.
Promotional video:
Some facts:
1) Those who want to harm you / rob you do not go with a pirate flag.
2) And they don't start shooting at you from 200 yards away.
3) They will not come on roaring motorcycles or wearing orange uniforms so you can immediately recognize them. Don't think that they will be dressed like in the movies.
4) A man with a wife and two or three children cannot watch from hiding for hours. It doesn't matter if you are SWAT or John Rambo, but that feeling tells you to warn you that there is a guy aiming a gun in your back when you are trying to install a water pump that just broke down, or you are carrying a big bag of dried beans that you bought in the morning.
The best burglar alarms anyone can have on a farm are dogs. But dogs can be poisoned. My friend's got all four dogs poisoned in one night, they all died. After all these years, I learned that even though a person who lives in a “safe” suburb is more prone to domestic burglary violence. Criminals know they are isolated and their sense of invulnerability increases. When they attack a suburban home or farm, they tend to stay there for hours or days, torturing the owners. I heard that everyone: women and children are raped, people were tied to beds and tortured with electricity, beaten, burned with burners. Big cities are not much safer for a survivalist who decides to stay in the city. He will have to face kidnappings, robberies,and risk a bullet in the stomach every second, because of the contents of his pockets or even because of his clothes.
So where to go? The concrete jungle is dangerous and so stay away from it all at your own risk. The solution to this problem is to stay out of town, but in groups, either living in a small community town or if you have friends or family who share your views form your own small community. Some might think that this kind of neighborhood will lead to the loss of privacy and freedom, but this is the price you have to pay if you want someone to help you when you need it. For those who believe that they will never need help from anyone, because they will always have their rifle at hand, examining the perimeter with binoculars every five minutes, and a first aid kit in their supplies at all times … Grow up!
SERVICES
Whatever scenario you face, it is more than likely that the quality of services will noticeably suffer or disappear altogether. Analyze in advance the possible scenarios which services may be affected by the crisis in your area. If there is no electricity to cook the meat in your refrigerator, then you can dry it or preserve it. Take care of the supplies you need to complete these tasks before you really need them. So you've saved the complete guide on how to cook meat in your computer … how do you turn it on if there is no electricity? Print out anything that you think is important.
WATER
No one can go on too long without water. The urban survivor may find the water is of poor quality, in which case a water filter may be useful, but it may be found that there is no water at all. When this happens in a big city with a population of over one million, the bottled water supply will run out within minutes. In my case, the tap water was not of the best quality. I see small black particles and some other things that look like dead algae. It doesn't taste so bad. Not good, but I know there are parts of the country where the water is much worse.
If you can dig a well, then place it at the top of your priority list.
Water should be listed above firearms, medicine, and even food. Save as much water as you can. Fill plastic bottles and store them in a cool place, preferably in a black trash bag to protect from sunlight. Water will of course absorb the plastic taste after a few months, but water that tastes like plastic is much better than no water at all. Predict demand at about a gallon per person per day. Try to provide at least 2-4 weeks of water supply. More would be preferable.
ELECTRICITY
I spent a lot of time without electricity. The real problem begins when you spend more than a few hours without lights. In the immediate aftermath of the 2001 crisis, half of the country was without electricity for 3 days. Buenos Aires was one big dark grave. People were stuck in elevators, food was rotting, hospitals with only a few hours of fuel for their generators. Without electricity, the days are much shorter. After the sun sets, there isn't much to do. I read by candlelight and flashlight, but after a while my head starts to ache. Crime also grows with the onset of darkness, so every time you leave the house, you have to carry a flashlight in one hand and a pistol in the other.
To summarize, life in a city without electricity after a while will start to depress you. I spent my nights alone listening to the radio, eating canned food, and cleaning my weapons under the light of my LED head torch. Then I got married, a son appeared, and it turned out that when you have loved ones around you, things are not so bad. The fact is that the family helps morally in such situations.
Speaking of lanterns. Have two or three LED head lights. They are not expensive now, but then they will be worth their weight in gold. A powerful flashlight is also needed, something like a large Maglite or better SureFire, especially when you need to check your property for intrusion by intruders. But for more mundane things like cooking, going to the toilet or working around the house, the LED headlamp is priceless. Try washing dishes in the dark, holding a flashlight in one hand, and you will see what I mean. LEDs also have the advantage of nearly a full week of continuous use, and the lifespan is almost forever.
You should have a stock of batteries as spare batteries and try to standardize as much as you can. I am using 12 Samsung NM 2500Mh AA and 8 AAA 800mh for head torches. I also keep about 2 or 3 packs of regular Duracell batteries just in case. They will expire in 2012, so I can forget about them for as long as I need them.
NM rechargeable batteries have the disadvantage of losing power after a certain period of time, so keep regular batteries and check the battery power from time to time.
After all these years of electrical problems, are there two points I would recommend having?
1) Obvious. Generator.
2) A charger that has both solar panels and a small manual generator. Do yourself a favor and get one or two while you still can.
GAS
The quality of the gas usually drops. Try to have houses and electric stoves. If electricity and gas are cut off, camping stoves can be useful if you have a supply of firewood or gall cylinders.
You will only be able to store a limited amount of compressed gas, and once stocks run out you are left alone if the stores are closed where you bought them. In any case, a city that remains without gas and light for more than two weeks is a death trap, get out of there before it's too late.
DIFFERENT MENTALITY
Once my wife and I watched the People and Art channel. It was a show where they showed a married couple for a certain period of time, and people voted who had the most annoying habit. We were in bed, at which time I usually fall asleep, but since the guy was a shooting instructor for the police, I became interested and stayed awake. At one point, the guy's wife says she's annoyed that her husband spends $ 500 a month on makeup. $ 500 for cream, special shampoo and conditioner, and nail polish! “What an idiot! $ 500 is a small generator or pistol and a few boxes of ammunition.”I told my wife. “This is the cost of food for two months,” she said. We were both thinking about practical use, this money, the money this guy was practically throwing away. After the crisis,money is no longer measured in monetary terms, but you begin to see it as a necessary commodity that you can buy: things like food, medicine, gas, or a private clinic bill. For me, spending $ 500 on makeup, and worse, on a guy? This is simply not acceptable. It seems to me that a person with such a mentality will not be able to survive a week without a credit card even in the event of a crisis.
When you experience the lack of things that you previously took for granted, like food, medicine, your priorities will change. For example, I had 2 wisdom teeth removed last year. In both cases, I was prescribed antibiotics and Ibuprofen for pain. I took antibiotics (although I bought two boxes of the same prescription just to hold one box just in case), but I didn't use Ibuprofen, I added it to my pile of medications. Why? Because medications are not always available and I am not sure if they will be available in the future.
Making sacrifices in order to secure a better future is the mentality you need to have if you want to be prepared. There are things that are “nice to have,” but that must be sacrificed to get the essentials. There are also things that are not “essentials”, but that also play a big role in one form or another. My wife goes to the hairdresser once every one or two months. Of course it's not a matter of life and death, but it boosts her morale.
I buy an Xbox game or movie to watch with my wife just to relax. 7 or 10 dollars a month, they won't ruin me. Habits such as alcohol, drugs or even cigarettes should be avoided by the survivalist. They are bad for your health; cost a lot of money that could be put to better use.
GRAY / BLACK MARKET
After the crisis, it will not be long before the black / gray market appears.
In my suburbs, gray markets were even legalized after all. In the beginning, these were the products of artisans or semi-finished products. Districts and cities will create their own barter markets, and will also issue their own "coupons" that are used in the market.
But this did not last long. These tickets could easily be printed on a home computer, there was no control and eventually people went back to paper money.
These markets are usually located in warehouses or vacant land, and are run by a few wise guys and a few hired bandits or security. Anyone can rent a kiosk in these markets for about 50-100 pesos (about $ 20-30) per day and sell their goods and services. Peace in these markets is generally respected … let me just note that market leaders do not call the police if someone is trying to do something funny like stealing, fighting and taking advantage of a woman. It's not good for their business, and anyone who tries to hurt their business is surprised to discover how much pain the human body can get or get a free ticket to the next world. Sometimes even police officers provide security in these markets, for a small fee, of course. As always, you still need to be careful. They may try to mop your pockets or even attack you as soon as you leave the market. Once you leave the market, you will be on your own.
These markets have changed and many different products are now available. I visited my local market today. They had trouble selling stolen and fake brands of clothing a few days ago.
What can be found in local markets? Mostly food and clothing. Some are more varied than others, but cheese, canned foods, spices, honey, eggs, fruits, vegetables, beer, wine, and meats are generally available, as are baked goods and pasta. It's cheaper than supermarkets. Fresh fish sometimes appears, but people do not particularly trust products that require refrigeration, and they buy them in supermarkets.
Clothing is also popular and you can find copies of famous brands, fakes or even stolen branded clothing, and the same goes for shoes. Children's clothing, underwear, socks, napkins and towels are also in great demand. Some sell toys, but they are all Chinese, mostly of poor quality, although there are exceptions. Others sell tools as well as Chinese ones, but they are of poor quality. Some offer their services and materials for repairs, and are also willing to work as auxiliary workers.
After food and clothing, CDs, DVDs, movies, music, games for play station 2 and Xbox, programs are in third place. You can find just about anything there and if you want you can talk to the “right” guy and buy illegal items like drugs or guns and ammunition from the black market. The weapons are mainly FM High Powers, Surplus 1911s and Colt.45s, Sistemas, and old Colt Detective 38 special revolvers from police and military warehouses. The condition is not very good, but if you have money you will be surprised what you can find. Anything used by the military and police, including SMGs, Browning 50 BMG Machine guns, and even fragmentation grenades are available on the black market if the buyer has the amount of money and a little patience, of course.
GOLD
I completely forgot about gold. Everyone wants to buy gold! Pay cash”signs are everywhere, even on TV! Pay cash 'signs everywhere, even on TV! I can't believe I'm so stupid! I just didn't link it with what I read here, because they deal with household gold, like jewelry, either stolen or sold, because someone needed money, not gold coins you guys are talking about. Nobody pays the true price, so WARNING! Pay attention to the people who buy gold coins. Since it is impossible to determine the exact content (fineness) of gold, small shops and dealers will pay for coins as for jewelry. If I were you, I would: in addition to gold coins, buy many small gold rings and other jewelry. They should be cheaper than gold coins, and if there is a crisis,you will not lose money on them, as if you were selling high quality gold coins for the price of household gold. If I could travel back in time, I would purchase a small package of gold rings.
Thieves rip gold chains right from their necks and sell them in these small shops that can be found everywhere. It is most common in train stations, subways and other crowded places.
So, my advice, if you are preparing for a small economic crisis, it makes sense to take gold coins. You will retain their value and be able to sell them for real value. In my case, gold coins would be a great investment, saving me from losing money when the local economy crashed. Even if things go wrong, I can go to the bank and get real value for them, and the same goes for pure silver. But where I live, in my area, small dealers will pay only at the cost of household gold, no matter what gold you have. So, I have to say that if the crisis is severe, then gold jewelry is a more convenient commodity than gold coins. Forgive me for not talking about this before, but I didn't understand it until then,until I noticed the sign “Buy gold” when I visited my local market.
FIRE ARMS AND AMMUNITION
After the 2001 crisis, only the last idiots believed that the police would protect them from the wave of crime that followed the collapse of our economy. Many opponents of firearms rushed to gun shops for advice on how to protect themselves and their families. They will buy 38 revolvers, a box of ammunition, and leave it in the closet, presumably believing that this will magically protect them from intruders.
Yes, maybe you don’t think that firearms are really necessary, or your beliefs do not allow you to buy a tool designed to kill people. So you are probably asking yourself, is a gun necessary in a crisis? Will there be any difference? Having gone through one economic collapse in 2001, and still facing its consequences 5 years later, I believe I can answer this question. Yes, weapons are needed, pepper spray, machetes, battle axes, a stick with a rusty nail, or whatever weapon you can get your hands on.
Much has been written about survival weapons. Everyone in the subject of survival has their own idea of the perfect weapon. Some consider weapons from the point of view of a hunter, some only as a means of self-defense, while others adhere to both. Speaking of weapons, there is one misconception that I want to correct, and this is the point of view of what is the main weapon of the urban "survivalist" who should be in society, yes, even after the onset of BP. The main defensive weapon for the survivalist is hand weapons (so-called pistols, etc.). This is a weapon that stays with him when he goes about his business, in the city or works in his field. Survivor is NOT a soldier, even if you are a soldier your hometown, not a battlefield, and this holds true even in the case of BP. It will take a long time before it becomes possible to safely walk down the street with a rifle on his shoulder. Understand that the world is not only black and white. One day you wake up and hear on the radio that the economy has collapsed, and that the stock market is closed indefinitely. What are you going to do? You still have to go to the office / work / somewhere. Kiss your wife goodbye and go to the office with your shotgun on your chest? You won't get that far. Someone will shoot you or you will simply be thrown into jail or a mental hospital. What are you going to do? You still have to go to the office / work / somewhere. Kiss your wife goodbye and go to the office with your shotgun on your chest? You won't get that far. Someone will shoot you or you will simply be thrown into jail or a mental hospital. What are you going to do? You still have to go to the office / work / somewhere. Kiss your wife goodbye and go to the office with your shotgun on your chest? You won't get that far. Someone will shoot you or you will simply be thrown into jail or a mental hospital.
What I'm trying to explain is that it's okay to prepare for an invasion of a country by China, the Germans and the UN or the Martians. This is the extreme, least likely, worst-case scenario.
Rifles play a very important role in the survivalist's arsenal. But you must understand that 90% of the time, hand weapons will be weapons available to you at any time. You cannot compare to a foot soldier in Iraq who carries his weapon with him all the time.
What works in war doesn't work for a survivalist, especially an urban survivalist. Even if you live far from the city, you have to work, right? Or do you have workers who take on all of your day-to-day tasks, leaving you the ability to guard the perimeter with your rifle at the ready? The soldier is part of a huge machine; HIS job is to carry the rifle while others take care of his other needs. And a "survivalist" who is not part of a large group of survivalists has no one to back him up. When a beginner asks for advice on what to take for defense, some will recommend a rifle or carbine as their first defensive weapon.
Let's say a riot started in this guy's town. He still has to go to work every day. What should he do? Put a pump-action shotgun in your pocket? A pistol, even though less powerful, can be used for home defense and will stay with you wherever you have to go. If there is a flood, then he can still be evacuated by boat without leaving his weapon. I am sure that no rescue team will accept a person with a rifle in their hands. But what if your government, realizing that the BP has arrived and that they have lost control over the course of events, imposes an indefinite ban on all types of firearms? I don't know about you, but if things are that bad, then I want to be armed. You can hide the gun under your shirt. You cannot hide a gun under your clothes.
Now let's look at some of the options.
Hand weapons: revolver or pistol?
A pistol for all occasions! Yes, I saw a video of a guy shooting his S&W in a second. I also saw the shooting gallery and the crowd in the back watching the event. Will he be able to shoot and reload him if he is in his car, driving and firing at the same time, while the bastards in the other car are firing at him? Hey, maybe he can. I know I can't. Can you?
In general, a revolver is more difficult to master than a pistol. Double actions are difficult and this affects speed and accuracy. Of course you can practice it, but I found that pistols are lighter, like many other shooters. Revolvers seem to be easier to maintain, but the mechanisms that rotate the drum and trigger are more complex and fragile compared to an automatic pistol.
Before everyone starts whispering evil voodoo spells at me for insulting their wonderful S&W or Ruger: I own a revolver myself and love to shoot them, I just don't think they are the best option for personal protection and I can see that everyone with who I spoke to in my country, who cares about safety, how I also choose pistols. Quality pistols are generally better protected from sand, silt and dirt than revolvers, where a small pebble caught in the mechanism can render the revolver unusable.
I personally had a problem with the new Taurus Tracker.357 magnum. After firing 7 drums as fast as I could, and when I tried to reload it again, I came to the conclusion that the casings were stuck because they had expanded due to the heat. I had to wait for it to cool down a bit so that I could recharge it. Such nonsense can help you die. I once saw a man walk into a gun shop and want to exchange his 357 magnum revolver for a 9mm high-rate pistol. He said that he was driving when bandits from another car started shooting at him. Several blocks chased him. He said he took out his revolver and started shooting them, and really quickly shot the whole drum. He wanted a higher rate of fire and faster reloading. Some will tell youthat they intend to use (bolt) rifles as defensive ones, counting each shot, without missing, on the one shot, one dead. I disagree with this. One shot, one dead is fine for snipers, but the survivalist should have other alternatives.
Also keep in mind that criminals are cowards and therefore attack in groups. The Survivor must be able to counter more than one intruder. Having a gunfight with two or three armed men, and at the same time loading the revolver drum is quite problematic. You can load about 15 or 19 rounds into a pistol, and that, of course, can change the situation in your favor.
A medical examiner who once lived in my area was killed last year. He was ambushed by 5 or 6 people as he left the restaurant. So he managed to kill 4 of the attackers and seriously injure the fifth. He practiced shooting regularly and carried a Glock.40 with him. I'm sure he was lucky, but I also think that his choice of weapons also played a big role in the end. If anyone is wondering, people in my country who are serious about self-defense are wearing Glocks. Those without Glock funds wear Bersas, FM High Powers or 1911 surplus.45s. At the beginning I was not sure about Bersa, but now I own two Bersa and am satisfied with their performance.
Caliber selection is a topic of much debate. Let's just say that 9mm, 40S & W and 45ACP are obvious choices. 40S & W seems to be the most adequate in FMJ and HP, while 9mm lacks stopping effect. While the 9mm lacks power compared to the 40S & W, it is more common worldwide, which is one factor to seriously consider when choosing a handgun in the case of a PSU. In addition, 9mm can also be used in a range of carbines and SMGs, another important fact to consider.
Cartridges for SMGs and 40S & W and.45 ACP carbines are also available, but they are not as popular as these 9 mm cartridges. Whichever you choose, store around 500 or better 1000 quality ammo for your weapons at all times. 100 rounds is not enough if the crisis drags on for a long time. Especially considering that at one point, the government, as a rule, limits the circulation of weapons and ammunition.
Rifles
I previously stated that the urban survivalist will use his pistol 90% of the time, that he must defend himself and his family from attackers. I am not exaggerating, this figure is quite accurately based on what is happening here, based on daily experience, even a little optimistic. The harsh reality has shown us that most attacks occur when entering or leaving a house, when you are most vulnerable. Almost no one is stupid enough to try to assault a fortified house with armed occupants. Trust me, the gene pool will clear itself out quickly enough as soon as BP arrives. So are rifles needed? Of course you do! There is another 10%, and that 10% can ruin your day. If you want to sit in a house with only one rifle, then switch to a semi-automatic. Ideally, you should have a bolt-action rifle and a semi-automatic.
Whichever you choose, try to stick to military calibers and military weapons if possible.
It may seem that I am against bolt-action rifles, but I am not. I think these are fantastic weapons, but I think the semi-automatic is a much better combat weapon. The idea of “shooting enemies” 300 meters away with your bolt-action rifle while they line up blowing their whistles and firing to notify the area is ludicrous at best. Bolt-action rifles have advantages over semi-automatic rifles, and accuracy is not the most important thing. bolt-action rifles like the Mauser are eternal and stronger than stones. They are simple, easy to repair and will serve you (within their limits, of course) more than any other weapon. For example, my Mauser 1891 broke down for the first time after nearly 100 years of faithful service. I repaired it using hardware from a replaced kitchen door. There are not many guns that do this. And it is a very valuable attribute once the SHTF and spare parts are no longer available. And this is a very valuable quality in the event of a BP, because and there will be no spare parts.
Stick to common calibers: 223, 7.62x39mm, or 7.62 × 51 (308)? I am not going to. If you prefer the 223 because it has no recoil, is lighter, or you like AR rifles, it's up to you. If you think 223 is more powerful than 7.62 read your physics textbook. Just remember what I said earlier, a survivalist is not a soldier in Iraq and you don't have the entire USMF to support you. You act at your own risk.
As for AR
I would not trust my life with a rifle that has more options than Rocky with a sequel … I think this means that there was a problem in the basic design and there is no solution yet.
About AK … everything has already been said. The most popular rifle on the planet, and popular not because of politics, but because it works. In addition, it fires medium yield, effective rounds, and is available worldwide.
SKS is good too, but I would have preferred removable magazines. Again, if you keep a gun clean, know its limitations, and feel comfortable with it, use it. A few shots of a 223 will kill someone just as well.
If you want a rifle that is as versatile as possible, buy an M1A or FAL 7.62 (308), with a barrel length like a carbine. Leave long barrels for hunters and bench shooters. Do your household chores with both rifles and you'll see what I mean.
Shotguns
Shotguns are good general purpose shotguns. The main advantages are: destructive stopping power and the ability to use special ammunition, like bullets of irregular shape and less lethal ammunition. I'm not sure about their role as weapons "inside the house".
Carbines and pistol caliber SMGs
If possible, I would choose an SMG reduced to a semi-automatic (only if necessary, of course fully automatic is better if possible), or another short, small pistol caliber carbine. The combination of a 9mm pistol and a 9mm carbine or SMG trimmed to a semi or full class III assault rifle has many advantages and is a great combination.
Some people think that a full car is a waste of ammunition. I don’t think so, of course, unless you know how to use your head and use this function wisely. If you can get your hands on a short barrel and collapsible stock, you will also have a weapon that can be hidden under a heavy coat. A target designator with a red dot will significantly improve accuracy. The advantage of the same ammunition for long and short barreled firearms should not be underestimated. Think of the cowboys and the Americans who lived in the wild west, they also knew the value of using the same rifle and revolver ammunition.
PART IV
Studying the Crisis at the University: Dark Omens.
It slipped from my mind!
This happened 4 years ago, almost a year after the December 2001 crisis. It was a social research course, and the teacher, I don't remember if it was he or she, was talking about different types of social pyramid. We even had textbooks with those cruel pyramids! The first pyramid explained the simplest society. A pyramid with two horizontal lines dividing the top (high social class), in the middle (middle class), and at the bottom of the pyramid (poor, proletarian). The teacher explained that in the middle of the pyramid, the middle class acted as a cushion between rich and poor, caring for social tensions. The second pyramid had a large middle section, it was the pyramid of the countries of the first world. At the bottom, very thin arrows show that there is an opportunity to move from the lower to the middle class,and from the middle to the top of the social pyramid.
The third pyramid showed a communist society. There, the shooters from the lower and middle class tried to reach the top, but bounced off the line. A small upper class, and one large lower stratum, softened by a minimal middle class dividing the pyramid. Then we turned the page and saw the darned fourth pyramid. Then we turned the page and saw the fourth pyramid. On it, arrows from the middle class led to the lower, poor class.
"What is it?" Some of us asked.
The teacher looked at us. "This is us"
"This is a collapsed country, a country that is turning into a third world country where there is almost no middle class, one huge lower class, and a very small, very rich, upper class."
"What are these arrows that go from the middle to the bottom of the pyramid?" Someone asked.
"This is a middle class turned into poor."
“You see, the income from the middle class is not enough to continue to function as a middle class. Some of the upper class are falling into the middle class, but the vast majority of the middle class are turning into poor,”said the professor.
After a few months, we saw that everything the teacher said turned out to be true.
CRIME
Even when crime was always at the center of attention in South America, my country was an exception. It was dangerous, yes, but nothing like what happened after the 2001 economic crisis. Once upon a time, children could play on the sidewalk or walk home from a party a few blocks away. Now everything has changed. Children no longer play on the sidewalks. I paraphrased a little. NO more children play on the sidewalk at any time of the day. Maybe a child rides a bike a few meters from the sidewalk, but always under the supervision of an adult. A child who rides a bicycle by himself will have his bicycle taken away and be beaten. Adolescents are a big problem. You cannot keep a 15 or 16 year old child inside the house all day, although they are old enough, and when the sun goes down,things get much worse.
Parents organize their own children's leisure time; or take them to someone's home or club and pick them up at a certain point in time. Taxis are sometimes used, but there have been many cases of girls getting raped, so that no parent should leave their son or daughter in the arms of a stranger. After many years of such a life, almost everyone has learned to be careful, sometimes they had to learn from their own experience. Almost no one leaves a door or window open or unlocked. They no longer chat with friends in front of the house. The bad guy can just see you sitting in ambush, point the gun and you yourself let him inside your house.
There is no longer a "bandit law". Once I heard people say: "You must not resist being robbed, give them what they want and they will leave." This rule no longer works. These guys are under the influence of drugs, epoxy glue, or just hate you because you have better living conditions than they ever dreamed of, because they were used as soon as they were born, so they will harm and humiliate you as they can. Allowing a criminal inside the house practically guarantees you and your family members will be raped / beaten / tortured and ill-treated.
I personally drew the line a few years ago, and decided, after one long, serious conversation with my wife, that no one else is allowed to get inside the house, under any circumstances. We decided that there are worse things than death. Having made a decision about this, I always made sure that the weapon was always with me. They will have to pay dearly for my life.
By now the most dangerous moment is when I (or my wife) go out / enter my house. A solid, safe house cannot be broken into easily, so criminals will wait until you stand at the door with keys in hand to pounce on you. This is why we become doubly careful when we approach our house, look around, and if we see anything strange, we will continue to walk around the block or continue to drive. And we don't even open doors when there are strange faces nearby. Whenever someone knocks on our door (and we don't know him / her), we reply through the second floor window. Criminals sometimes disguise themselves as employees of the electric company or whatever they want to fix. NOT! If there is something that needs to be repaired, then it can be repaired by them without going into the house. Everything inside your home is your responsibility and the company is not going to fix it for you. One way or another, it's better not to take risks, it's better to be rude than dead.
As for BP-driving. Windows and doors must be closed at all times, weapons must be at hand, and stopping at signs and traffic lights takes on a new meaning as soon as the BP comes. If everything collapses in your country, as in mine, you will remember me every time you see a traffic light. Never stop at a red light or stop sign if there is no traffic, especially at night.
Firstly, the police will not write you a fine for this, in our country, after several months, the police realized that they could not do anything and it is easier for people to get a fine than to risk their lives, and therefore they decided to switch traffic lights to permanent yellow at night, after 8 or 9 pm. This is, of course, very dangerous. Night traffic accidents are the most frequent and violent as cars crash into each other at full speed.
PART V
A LIST OF THINGS THAT "If I had to go through this again" YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE.
Nomad came with this theme. This is a good idea as it may help some of you avoid my mistakes. There are things you don’t think about until you start to need them, which means it’s too late.
So if I had to do it all from scratch? So, for example, if I had an alert 2 years in advance, if some fairy in a blue robe said: "Your country will turn into slops in 2 years"
There are several things I would like to do differently, and I would buy:
Food: I'll tackle the food problem shortly, but you can never have too much canned food or other long shelf life foods. This is probably one of my biggest mistakes: I overlooked the food problem.
I was talking to my wife today while driving and asked her the same question: "Nomad asked me," what would you do if you could go back in time, before the 2001 crisis."
My wife immediately replied, “I would buy food. Don't you remember that you could only buy one small bottle of butter at a time, it was the same with sugar, flour and milk? Don't you remember those empty shelves in the shops?"
Of course, more food, especially food that has a shelf life of several years.
Auto: I would buy a four-wheel drive car, although I live in the city. 4x4 allows you to drive on sidewalks or through vacant lots, away from blocked roads or riots. I've seen those with 4x4s just pull off the road, climb the boulevard and drive away, while the rest, poor vehicle owners, are forced to stay put.
4 × 4 has more mass and energy if someone tries to cut or ram you. It is better to continue driving if you hit one or more people (in the event of a riot) than to stop. The 4x4 is better prepared for off-road use and the engine is much better protected.
Generator: They are imported and very dear to us. I think that now they have begun to be produced here, too, but I'm not sure about their quality.
Good TV and DVD player: I know what you're thinking, "This guy is crazy." Please let me explain. Going to a restaurant or a movie is not only dangerous but also expensive. I think you will find a better use for this money if BP comes.
There are places in Buenos Aires where you can dine, go to the cinema or theater and have a good time in safety. They either have their own guards or negotiate with the police for added security. But these places are for tourists or very rich people. I have a good socioeconomic level, better than 96% of the total population, at least, but even I cannot afford to spend that amount of money every weekend or even two days off a month. There is an opportunity to go for a walk and we often walk, but let me notice that the surrounding view is not so good, and you can walk about 6 blocks in the same direction, after that you will already leave the territory guarded by a private security service, after that you are on the "everything depends only on you" earth. You can go for a walk (just likelike the millions who live in Somalia or Afghanistan go for a walk) like millions of fellow citizens, but I'd rather not risk it.
Just the day before yesterday, a young woman was waiting at a bus stop in my area holding her 6 month old daughter. The police officer who was chasing the bad guy opened fire with High Power without thinking about the passers-by (as they always do). The 9 mm FMJ (JHP, not allowed to use for average police) went straight through the baby's buttocks and through the mother. Miraculously, the bullet did not touch the child's internal organs and the mother also survived, spending several days in the hospital. We have many such cases where innocent people are shot by the police, and the stupid no JHP law aggravates the situation, since 124 gr. The 9mm FMJ punches through walls, windows and even bad guys, and innocent people end up injuring or dying.
So back to TV, good seats are too expensive. Popcorn, pizza, and a movie sound like a good plan. I'm not saying that you should spend all day in front of the screen like a zombie.
DVD copies can be found all over the place and only cost a couple of bucks. After the onset of BP, there will be many "why don't we watch the movie" nights. Whether you like TV or not, it's cheap, safe entertainment. Play station or Xbox are also nice to have. Even if the country collapses, there will always be this guy with DVD copies of movies and games.
Books: Yes, I almost forgot. If you love to read a lot, buy books now, even if you won't be reading them for some time. If the economy collapses, paper will become a source of income for many people. Thousands of scavengers collect cardboard and paper throughout the day, especially at night when people throw away trash. As a result, books are not cheap as they have the value of their own paper. In addition, it should be noted that the books are heavy, which increases transport costs for their delivery from abroad. Just as an example: while visiting my parents in Spain, I returned with three suitcases. The FIRST was full of books. Books cost about 80% -200% more than in the US or Spain.
WEAPONS AND AMMUNITION
I have always loved firearms, so I always had a gun. But I didn't have an adequate reserve for survival. If you don't have a good set of survival weapons, buy now or when your budget allows. Make it a priority, after food, water and shelter. There are several points of view on the ideal weapon choice. Get at least a medium sized pistol, a military semi-automatic rifle, and a.22 caliber pistol or rifle. (Try to get it all if you can, they are not that expensive). The kit will be complemented by a magazine rifle * (preferably of the same caliber as the semi-automatic rifle), a pump-action shotgun and something like a submachine gun or semi-automatic carbine of the same caliber as the pistol. I didn't bother to buy a.22 pistol until 2001I had to pay for the Norinco 22 pistol as much as I paid for the Ruger before the crisis.
OTHER
My advice is to see what you use regularly and what you expect to need after the PSU. See where these products are made. If they are not produced in your country, then they will either rise in price greatly, or they will not be imported at all after the BP. In my case, a good example (of many, many others) is the disposable Gilette blades. They are made in the USA, and now they stand like an airplane wing. But as I said before, check what is being imported. No problem to buy Cuban goods after BP if you live in Cuba. I would begin to think of them not just as goods, but as “gifts” to buy favors, build relationships with the police, officials, doctors, people from whom you need something. Things like wine, liquor, good pens, perfume,cosmetics and other "free trade" items can go a long way when you need to influence business or make "friends" in certain circles. A pleasant conversation can also be applied in these cases.
For example, you need to change your driver's license after BP. The problem is that in the corresponding office there is a shortage of staff (25% had to be released, 50% are on strike over a wage increase), so you have to wait 4 months before an invitation to a meeting. You turn to word of mouth and find Betty. So Betty hasn't dated since she was ten, she weighs like a healthy manatee (although not THAT cute), and you sweetly ask her to help fill out the papers, and even though she's cold as popsicles on a stick, you keep calling her by her name, and when you break up with her, she smiles and says goodbye to you.
The next day, you drive by and give Betty a Revlon lipstick for “helping” her fill out papers that included difficult questions like “name?”, “Age?”. Lipstick cost $ 4 before BP, then $ 20, and 2 months later it was no longer imported. Revlon saw that there was no longer a market for the $ 4 lipstick that now costs $ 20, and the segment of the market that used to buy it is now spending their money on something else, like food, so their marketing experts told them the $ 4 lipstick was no longer cost effective. Betty loved this particular lipstick, she thought the lipstick made her look like Cindy Crawford (poor Betty), but she couldn't spend $ 20 on her looks and when she finally decided to give up the £ 40 M & M's she ate a month and so save up for lipstick,the girl at the pharmacy told her that this lipstick was no longer imported into the United States. When she sees your gift, her face shines, and she tells you not to worry and asks "how is your driver's license." You say that there are some problems, it seems that the replacement will take 4 months, and ask her if she can do something about this … in short, you get my idea.
Other times, people let you know they want a good old bribe, and for $ 50 or $ 100, depending on the situation. I used "gifts" (perfume) to get my passport faster, saving several months, and bribes every time the police stopped me "for a check." I know this does not apply in first world countries where most officers are honest and selfless, I do not mean anything offensive to law enforcement, but please understand that this does not apply in third world countries, so I am not at risk of being shot by an evil cop for a legitimate bribe. One day I was stopped by a policeman and began to find fault. I told him "OK, officer, I understand that you want to write me a fine." He didn't want to write me a fine, he wanted money, and the situation was getting nasty. I will never repeat this nonsense again
FOOD
Complex issue. It affects all of us, even if not all the same. Remember that after BP, whether you have time to prepare for it or not, food will always occupy your mind. If you don’t have it, you’ll do ANYTHING for it, and if you’ve prepared, you’ll worry about whether you can mine it in the future. Once you see that food prices have skyrocketed by 200 to 300%, or simply not, you will understand how valuable commodity it is. For those who think the US will never have a food problem: visit my country. Despite the fact that there are desert areas in the north, most of the country is a fertile "pampa".
After World War II, Argentina practically fed Europe, Argentina was known in Europe as the "granary of peace". Cattle and wheat were enough to feed our country and another continent. So what happened? Why do so many people have little or no food and end up eating garbage? I mean, the earth is still here, isn't it? Yes, the country has remained the same country that was called the granary of the world, but something has changed. Several large, multinational corporations such as Benetton have bought hundreds of thousands of acres of natural resources. I don't know how many exactly, but I remember that the media started talking about the preservation of the country's sovereignty, which was threatened by this massive land acquisition, so you can imagine how many acres were bought. The media mysteriously left this topic behind.
Another important factor is that in our time, with our new economy, selling Argentinean food in Argentina is not good business. Why sell a kilo of meat on the local market for 17 pesos when you can sell it in Spain for 17 euros and 1 euro is 3.5 pesos? All this, combined with huge unemployment, wages insufficient to buy the minimum calories for an average family, and high prices led the country to slowly begin to suffer from hunger.
Again, I can point to the exact moment when the whole country realized what was happening. It was bad after the 2001 crisis, but people in Buenos Aires, the capital and the richest province, did not realize how bad things were in other provinces. This was until the teachers discovered that the children had learning problems. They noticed that children have problems with concentration, they are drowsy, and they find it difficult to solve mathematical equations. They later realized that this was due to insufficient nutrition, the children were not getting the minimum amount of nutrients for healthy body function. The turning point was when the journalist was talking with a little girl 8 or 9 years old. The reporter asked the usual question, which children are asked - who she wants to be when she grows up. The girl, crying, said that she didn’t want to be anyone, she didn’t care. The lady askedwhy is she crying. She replied that she was crying because she was hungry, for several days she had not eaten anything, and only then I noticed how skinny she was. It's horrible to see children starving, I think we've all seen pictures of African children dying of hunger. But when you see the same children, only speaking your language, with your accent, in your country, it hits the nerves.
People talked about it for weeks, interviewed pediatricians who confirmed that the number of children dying of hunger has skyrocketed in the past few months. So no matter what happens, hurricane, economic crisis, earthquake or meteorite fall, food and water always come first.
Ideally, you already have a food project and have food for a year at your disposal … No? Hmm … so I didn't have it when the BP came; I was always afraid that supermarkets would be closed and my family would be left without food. If you haven't yet organized your food needs, do as I do; start buying a little more than you need every time you go to the supermarket. Here's what you need to look for when accumulating food, in descending order of importance:
1) no need for freezing;
2) high nutritional value per unit volume;
3) long shelf life (on the shelf), 1-5 years;
4) they do not require water;
5) they do not need to be cooked.
It follows that you need canned meats, tuna, vegetables (in cans), pasta, dry soups, chocolate, milk powder, jams, soups, rice, and dried beans. Tinned food in cans behaves well if they have to be stored for a long time on the shelf. As a rule, they already have water in them, and you do not need to add it, you eat directly from the can. Just do not pierce them, if this happens, air can enter the jar and ruin it. If the jar has a dent or dent, eat the contents faster. If the can is open, remove the food from it. My favorite canned food is tuna. It lasts forever, it contains a lot of proteins, and no matter how often it is eaten, it is always delicious. It can also be paired with rice and frozen vegetables.
Canned fruits and vegetables in jars are good too, but they are far less vitamins than fresh ones, and you will lose most of them if you don't drink the liquid in which they float. Making pasta requires a lot of water, but this is one of the best ways to store carbohydrates in a convenient way. Flour and wheat can also be stored in large quantities and are nutritious but require more preparation.
We became quite independent of the refrigerator, and only used it to store frozen pasta, pizza, and frozen vegetables. We froze almost everything, because everything lasts longer, almost indefinitely, and because if the lights are turned off, a large mass of frozen food will sit for hours, even a day or two. The larger the mass of frozen foods, the longer they will be stored. The survivalist, especially the urban one, should rely on the refrigerator to a minimum. This is why canned food and chilled dry food are your best friends. In addition, those who are left without fresh fruit for a while knows that after a while the skin becomes ill. Ulcers soon appear, especially on the sensitive skin on the lips and mouth [editor's note: this is called scurvy]. When you start eating fruits and vegetables, it will pass.
It happened to me once - spent too much time without fresh vegetables and my mouth turned into a chaos full of ulcers. A week of regular consumption of fresh vegetables - and the symptoms disappeared. This is why you should try to supplement food from storage with fresh food. A little, only 2 or 3 fruit trees in the garden - and you get a nice small orchard. You do not need to feed from it, you only need sometimes some fresh vegetables or fruits.
Right now as I write this, we had elections this Sunday, we elected senators. It seems that in one of the northern provinces, people handed in identity papers for a basket of groceries, and some for water, or 10 pesos (US $ 3), then they were taken to sleep in a flophouse to make sure they voted. The next day, the candidate's men led them to vote, transported them in livestock trucks like animals. When they arrived, their documents were returned and given a number on the list to vote for. The thugs accompanied them and made sure they voted for whoever they needed.
HEALTH
See your doctor NOW. Get yourself in order. Visit your dentist to make sure your mouth is in its best shape. There is nothing worse than a toothache when there is no one to treat it. Remember that doctors in the future may not be as available as they are now. For example, I had an eye surgery to get rid of my vision problems. Now I can see perfectly without glasses. The advantage of laser surgery is not limited to the absence of the need for glasses (which can be broken and almost impossible to replace after PD).
Even people react to you in different ways. People are primarily animals that obey instincts. Bad guys will look at you as a weaker person if you wear glasses. Maybe they don't know on a conscious level, or maybe they do, but they react differently. This is not my imagination, this is the real state of affairs. Old people and women are especially vulnerable. After old people, women and children, there are people of small build; the smaller you are, the weaker you look, the more likely the bad guys will target you. It sounds cruel, and it is really cruel, but this is how it goes. A young man with a well-formed body, broad shoulders, muscular arms, and on his face written "from … from me" is a less likely victim of petty robbers. If a professional group is targeting you, then that's a completely different story.
Talk to your doctor more. As a little prince, never hesitate to ask questions. Take this as a general line and you will learn a little about everything. Mechanics, doctors, police officers - you can always learn something from the professionals. As a survivalist and intelligent person, you should try to learn a little about everything. Always be curious. This is how I learned to diversify my antibiotic portfolio. The doctor told me that the body gets used to it, if you always use the same one, it makes the only antibiotic less effective, especially for young children, so now I keep different types of antibiotics.
Training 3 times a week, a couple of hours will keep you in shape. I train at home; I have a bench and weights. Try to combine aerobics and weight lifting. Punching a punching bag is a good exercise, if done correctly, most of the muscles work and you will give yourself a stronger punch. Remember that the punching bag is not a complete replacement for a sparring partner; the punching bag does not weaken and does not retaliate. Still, this is a good exercise.
Treadmills and cycling are good too. Reflect on this topic and create your own routine, go to the gym and talk to a professional if possible. Whatever you do, you must have a healthy body; it's useless to shoot a hundred yards if your belly hangs halfway off the floor and you can't run the same distance without an oxygen mask. I know shooting is fun, but training is not. At least in general, after a while you will enjoy it, you will definitely have increased stamina and morale, and you will look forward to working out.
A survivor who spends 3 hours a week perfecting his shooting and 0 hours a week on his body is doing the wrong thing. Imagine that you have to run away from a mess / shooting / attack or fight with your bare hands with someone who suddenly attacked you. This always applies in life, before or after BP - you need to know how to fight with your bare hands. You don't have to be Bruce Lee or Mike Tyson, just know how to land a glorious punch, cover your face, or learn something like martial arts lessons.
Once I got into a pretty nasty fight. It happened at my mother-in-law's house, which proves that anything bad can happen anywhere, anytime. The guy my wife's sister was dating got into an argument with me and switched to fists. He had problems with the police (beat his ex-girlfriend and was proud of it) and spent 2 years in prison for stealing cars. My wife's sister discovered a mysterious bruise on her body from "falling while training." So that guy wasn’t my favorite. Anyway, he suddenly grabbed my neck; I grabbed his hand with both hands, one by the wrist, the other by the elbow, and turned it around. The effort made him let go of my neck, and I continued to twist him. He punched me with his other hand, but he was at a disadvantage, so it was just a sideways punch. He was pushingand his back was opposite me, so I placed my left hand around his neck, bending his elbow over the Adam's apple. The guy got pissed off, so I decided to keep him until he passed out, or he seriously hurt me. I worked this stifling movement on my friend, the one with the farm, which I already mentioned. He told me that after 30 seconds, the strangled person loses consciousness, and after 60 seconds, he dies if you continue to strangle him.
So, I put my hand firmly on his neck, firmly holding my left hand with my right, pressing as hard as I could. The guy is crazy. He threw me against the walls, trying to throw me off my back. He began desperately clawing at my biceps. And I? And I just held the grip around his neck, mentally counting. As if by magic, after 20-25 seconds he lost all his strength and fell to his knees like a rag doll, and I let him go.
Meanwhile, my wife, her sister, and my mother-in-law were screaming for me to stop. When he got his breath back, he said I was crazy, and he was only joking. Not believing a word, I apologized and we both entered the elevator as we were leaving. As soon as I closed the elevator door, this bad man attacked me again. I think he was insulted in front of the woman he beat. He tried to grab me just as I did. I knew this was getting out of hand and almost lost my patience with this clown.
I took a serrated knife from my pocket and pressed it bluntly against his hand. It immediately dawned on him, and he let me go. Then I kicked him towards the elevator, pressing on his neck with my forearm and with a knife around his neck. He immediately calmed down, he apologizes, and so on and so forth. When we got out of the elevator, I told him that if he comes close to me or my family again, I will put a bullet in his head. I never saw him again. That guy was a thief and beat women and I didn't give a damn about him. In addition, these are the kind of rats that break into your house when you are not, or even worse.
But I am ranting again. I mean, it's good to practice defensive moves, especially if you're fighting someone who knows their stuff. A friend of mine is doing judo. He won the state championship and was third in the national finals.
Train as if you were actually fighting. It's not good to be strangled, but you need to know what you are working with and how effective it really is. Keeping fit is also beneficial because it makes you less susceptible to illnesses such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and supports the overall immune system.
It is always helpful to know first aid procedures. I will go to the Red Cross courses this summer. Carry first aid equipment and other special medications you may need. If you take your medications regularly, try to have at least a year's supply. Medicines are expensive and difficult to obtain, many are made in other countries, and if PD happens, they will become unavailable. My father-in-law has Parkinson's disease and needs a drug that is no longer imported. He asks friends who are traveling to bring him.
I keep a bunch of drugs as large as possible. Aside from the standard first aid gear that you usually keep at home, I focus on Ibuprofen and antibiotics for children and adults. Antibiotics are valuable here with all the viruses floating around. Lung infections are especially dangerous. Also remember that keeping your home clean and ventilated is essential to prevent disease. It is difficult when the city is full of garbage, cockroaches and rats, but it can be done. Cockroaches are a problem, but I keep them under control to some extent by spraying them with poison around the house.
Which reminds me of storing rat and cockroach poison. Utilities are generally bad, and scavengers are no exception. Once they went on strike for a week, and you could see rats running around the piles of rubbish that people throw on the sidewalk. Of course, this is an unhealthy situation. And it helps to spread diseases around the city, do not forget about that.
PART VI
SAFETY AGAIN: KIDNAPPING
The kidnapping theory is simple enough, but it has developed into a complex problem that takes several forms, and the survivalist must study them in order to better protect his family and himself. The way the kidnappings just came out of nowhere is amazing, to say the least. There was a time when people hardly heard of kidnapping for money, and for a couple of months, after the economic collapse, this threat looms over everyone. The news reported 3 or 5, and sometimes even 10, kidnappings a day in Buenos Aires.
Over time, the news broadcasts left this topic and you will no longer hear about the kidnapped people. Does this mean the abductions have stopped? No, I do not think so. I still hear about abductions in my environment, about quick abductions (I will explain this term later). Since my area is “good” compared to most other areas in Buenos Aires, I can only conclude that kidnapping is still VERY common, but is no longer reported by the media for obvious political reasons. Why do kidnapping come first? In a country where there were practically none?
Because as soon as the economy collapsed, there were many poor people who did not have enough money to feed their families. This is the main reason, but not the only one. After the first riots and looting, it became pretty obvious that the government and the police did not really control the events.
Since they stopped imprisoning for crimes, people realized that they would not be punished, and began to lose their human appearance. Suddenly, bank robberies, thefts, abductions and murders of people became just a matter of personal morality, audacity and determination, and punishment could be forgotten.
1) the first type of kidnapping that appeared has become the most common. The gang intercepts a person while walking or driving a car. Well-organized gangs, 5 or 6 people at least, with battle rifles (SMG) and communications, intercept the victim in two or more vehicles.
Do not misunderstand me; these guys know what they are doing. In most gangs you will probably find a (LEO gone bad) werewolf in uniform who decided to increase the very small police salary that the government pays him.
The victim is taken away to one of the many impoverished suburbs of Buenos Aires. They call for a ransom, an absurdly huge ransom, and bargaining begins. The person is kept for several days, maybe even a couple of weeks. If a month passes, and the person is not heard, you can forget about him, he is already dead. Sometimes they torture him, wrap his mouth with (tape?) Tape "like on TV" and the victim dies from suffocation, or from heart complications and health problems, or they (the gang) can simply shoot the unfortunate man out of fear that they will be caught. They are afraid of being caught, not because the police are efficient, but because in most cases the kidnappers KNOW the victim. An employee, friend, neighbor, or relative who knows that X has money available to Y, that X is rich, or has sold something, or inherited a large amount of cash. These abductions are usually particularly brutal; the victim's voice is taped and sent to the family, fingers cut off and other very creative ways to get the kidnapped's family to pay. Victims survive 60-70%, adjusted in one direction or another. Little.
2) the second type of kidnapping is called “quick kidnapping,” because it happens quickly and requires less money as a ransom, so the family can collect it in an hour or so, and if everything goes according to plan, the victim is released within an hour or two. This is the most popular type of kidnapping that we see in my country today. Even the police advise to pay and forget if the criminals ask for a small ransom. The victim is chosen randomly, guided by clothing or behavior (so that he or she can be easily controlled, the most defenseless species).
The kidnappers already know that this low-profit, but fast and not very risky method of kidnapping is very profitable in the long run and does not involve complicated and expensive logistics when you need a place to keep the victim, food for her and someone. who will guard 24 hours 7 days a week.
The victim of a “quick kidnapping” rarely leaves the car / van where they are placed. The survival rate for such crimes is much higher than for the first type of abduction, say, about 90%. This does not mean that the victim is in good hands. Girls are almost always raped by the whole gang. Men are treated a little better, if only a little beat up if they cause problems. Survival opportunities are higher because kidnappers usually don't know the victim and have no time to worry about what-ifs, get scared and get rid of the victim, and because the police are almost never involved here. As I said, when they ask for small amounts of money, they recommend simply paying.
3) the third type of abduction is not nearly as dangerous as the previous ones, but it is better for you to know about it in order to be prepared. After all, it's about preparing and covering as many scenarios as possible, isn't it? "Virtual abductions" take us all by surprise. You need someone who knows that a rich person is going out of town or will not be available for a certain period of time, and is able to take advantage of this. He will call the family and say that X has been kidnapped and they have 30-60 minutes or a little more to pay (depending on the time at which it will be impossible to contact the person). The family pays and subsequently discovers that it was a scam.
Someone could take advantage of the real kidnappers by claiming to be the kidnapper and demanding ransom before the real kidnapper has contacted the family. This "virtual" kidnapping is not so popular anymore, although some are still underway. The smartest people always make sure to know where all family members are, and communicate by cell phones or speak when they are not in touch, so as not to get into such a situation.
I devote so much time to kidnapping because I firmly believe that if an economic crisis occurs in your country for any reason, desperate and immoral people will quickly learn the high art of kidnapping and Americans will have to deal with this threat that they are not used to. … I personally know a person who escaped from kidnappers 3 times. He once climbed over the rooftops, removing a sheet of metal in the room, and twice jumped out of a moving vehicle. You must think that he is 7 feet tall, all so muscular and trained in one of the best self defense schools … of course not. He is short, stocky, with a barrel chested, now in his 50s and looks like the Italian butcher next door.
What's his favorite weapon? A frag grenade and a 357 revolver. The last time I heard of him, a grenade was rolling in his car, on the floor among the pedals. It can get stuck under the pedals, and at least once he crashed the car because of it.
On one occasion, he even shot his mother in the thigh with a 357 magnum. An escaped mental hospital patient entered his mother's house through the backyard. The old woman called her sons, and the first to arrive was the "guy with the grenade." As soon as he entered the house, he saw the man and without a word shot him, missed and wounded his mother in the thigh. The unfortunate runaway psycho froze right where he stood when he heard the shot.
Immediately after that, another son arrived, saw a bloody mother on the floor next to his brother and thought that she had been wounded by a fool. Thank God they stopped him before he blew the poor man's head off. This person, of course, does not know anything about the correct equipment and defense tactics. But! Respect for anyone who managed to escape the kidnappers three times. So what can we teach us? That even if you have chosen a slightly “exotic” weapon or even an unsuitable one, DECISION, INTERNAL POSITION (and a good dose of good old luck) significantly affect the result. Exercise helps a lot, and so does equipment, but in the end it all comes down to attitude towards life.
This person knows nothing about weapons, the art of shooting and tactics, but his mind is set for survival. No doubt he has a few bad guys on his account, although I will never know about that. He managed to survive and thrive in the harsh paper recycling business dealing with paper collectors who are not pioneers at all, if you understand me. His recycling company has made him and his family rich, especially now that many of the poor are stealing paper and cardboard to survive.
Bragging about the people you killed is not a survival habit that you should get rid of. If you have trouble closing your mouth when it comes to these things, you better do some serious work on yourself and change it. The same goes for new guns, large supplies of food and equipment that you can be proud of. Words spread quickly, so keep them to yourself.
“My Scout / Squad M1A1 is SO cool! Shoots like a champion. It costs a fortune, but I figured to buy it before the collapse in XXXX! . You say that to a mechanic, a guy you've known for years. But it so happened that the conversation was overheard by a person whom your friend recently hired, and you do not know him. Just as you don't know that he has a drug problem, and he is looking for something to sell that is bad.
A few days later you get targeted when you leave the office, and that guy says, "fire the guns."
So what can you do to protect yourself and your family from kidnappers?
Keep quiet about anything that has economic value and your family's schedule. Be especially wary of the poor and drug addicts who always need cash. Don't trust your employees with the internal affairs of the business. Remember that usually the informant is someone from the victim's environment.
Make it easy. I know people who, although they can afford any car, drive modest cars. Even the private school where I studied and in which there was a compulsory school uniform convinced parents to buy their children a regular uniform. Children dressed in private school uniforms are often kidnapped.
Learn to drive smartly. Never let other machines cut your escape routes. Body armor can play a key role in rescuing from a well-ordered kidnapping.
BP-DRIVING
Sit back and have a cup of coffee, because this is a long conversation that deserves a book in itself. I will try to summarize everything I know and tell you how driving has changed since the economic crisis. As always, the criminality situation directly affects the way you drive a car after BP. Just like the price or availability of parts determines what kind of car you have. There is one more factor worth considering: as I said, the quality of services will decrease after BP. This means that the roads will take on an unusual appearance.
People from the first world countries are used to good streets and roads. And I'll tell you what: just a few months without maintenance, and the street will look like it was after a bombing raid. Rains and temperature differences destroy the road surface very quickly. There are now truck-sized holes in the streets of Buenos Aires. There have been cases when cars actually fell into these craters, so you can imagine the state of the streets.
It is best not to drive low cars that are built for excellent road surfaces, if possible. That's why I said that if I could do it all over again, I would buy a 4WD SUV. This doesn't mean you have to buy a giant 4WD truck to drive around town all day. This is impractical and you want a fast, agile vehicle that gets away from rework quickly. A mid-size SUV is what you need for the speed and power of an all-wheel drive. If you're stuck at a roadblock just because your truck is too (fucking) big to get around, why would you need 4WD then?
In this regard, there is a large selection. The small Suzuki 4x4 is a good option, although somewhat fragile for my taste, the Jeep Wrangler may be a little better. Either way, remember that your vehicle should be a compromise between speed, agility or agility, and 4x4 grip.
OK, you've spent a few hours online, found the best option, and bought your chosen new car for BP conditions. Is that all? No Unfortunately. Choosing the right vehicle gives you a tool, but you still have to learn how to use it, and this is not learned when getting a driver's license, in fact, quite the opposite. I see you are thinking, “Go FerFAL, sleep. Your brains are exhausted, you are persecuting. Let me explain.
Close your eyes. Look inside yourself. Find the correct driver inside you, who was born the day you learned to drive. Do you see him? Good! Grab it before you crawl away. Now hit him, choke him, kill him. I killed mine a couple of years ago. I drove for two years as I do now, until I learned to react automatically. What does it mean? I don't swerve anymore when something approaches the car; I continue to drive as if nothing happened. A dog runs in front of the car, and I don't move an inch, the ball hits the windshield - and nothing. I killed that internal politically correct guy who said “Look! You're going to hit someone / something now! Roll up! After BP, this reaction can kill you.
Guys, you have to be prepared for people to throw objects into your car, stand in front of it, so you stop or crash against a traffic light / tree / whatever and they can rob you. It takes time and determination, but you MUST get to the point that if the windshield is broken, you continue to drive as best you can, if you throw crooked nails on the road and puncture the tires, you drive calmly, always drive, no matter what, until you arrive to a gas station or other safe place. You must drive non-stop, especially at night and in the early morning. Of course, this is not always possible. Sometimes the traffic is too heavy and you have to stop. Then slowly approach the cars, and keep driving slowly until the green light comes on. Never block your escape routes,driving too close to the car in front of you. Leave about 5 meters in front as room for maneuver.
No one in Buenos Aires stops at a red light at night. This is why many counties have decided to install yellow lights at traffic lights all night to reduce accidents. There are places in Buenos Aires where people don't stop at traffic lights all day. Today, on my way home from university at 1.30 pm, I drove through a red light right in front of a police patrol car. The policeman didn't react. He realizes that whenever possible, no one stops on the Dark Road (the road I take home). It will take more than one night. It will be at least a few months after BP for the cops and authorities to grasp the new reality. But most of the patrol cars are aware, and will even drive the red light themselves.
There are also people on the street. People in First World countries have almost no problems compared to people who don't know where they will go to get money next week to feed their families, or where they can finally find work. Fights between drivers in First World countries can end in a few hits at worst. Here people are so nervous and aggressive that they often kill each other. And these are not exceptional cases. BP and the sheep will be aggressive and dangerous. They will start a fight for the smallest reason, simply because they are nervous or angry at the whole world. Can you fight a deadly battle with a stick or with your bare hands? This should be taken into account when equipping the vehicle with weapons. Always bring a firearm with you, but it can be overkill when dealing with a crazy driver. Sticks and pepper spray are sufficient in most cases when facing an unarmed enemy. I always keep a can of pepper spray and a small stick in the car, in addition to a 9mm pistol, which is also possible with me.
The tactics for using pepper spray are as follows:
The furious driver starts a fight about XYZ.
The mad driver is chasing you, beeping a siren, flashing headlights and cursing.
You slow down and allow him to move into the neighborhood.
9 times out of 10, the mad driver will roll down the window to better curse you.
And that's when you grab the pepper spray, lower your glass, and while he swears, you suddenly spray him with the spray.
Then he will definitely stop chasing you. Consider that you have avoided even more violence when you would have to use force to the point of murder. I have had problems with other drivers more than twice. One Saturday night, a guy in an armored truck was chasing me for blocking him several times, he blinked his headlights and kept up. I don't know if he was crazy, drugged, drunk, or wanted to rob me. This time, a smaller and faster car allowed me to slip away from the mad driver. On another occasion, the driver broke my right mirror. One day a guy got out of the car at a red light and started hitting my car. Of course, I didn't get out of the car. It would be stupid and dangerous. What I've done? I left some space between my car and the one in front. The guy hit my car on the right. I switched to reversecaught him between mine and his car and ran it between cars like a burrito. He fell, and I didn't ask if I had hurt him badly. I think not very much, because there was no dent or pothole left on my car, so it didn't bump into his body very much. Anyway, I don't care. I drove back a few meters, shifted to first gear and was like that.
You must know your car and what it can do. Turning 180 degrees with the hand brake is not very difficult, and after practicing for a day or two, you should be able to do it easily. If you are being chased and the situation is serious enough, suddenly hit the brakes and you will break that car in front, destroying the radiator and engine. You hurt your butt on your car, but it will drive, and the other will not.
Cars blocking the road (thieves, robbers) can be avoided by turning 180 degrees. If you can't go back because their cars have cut that path too, don't smash the car to pieces as fast as you can on TV. You should: SLOWLY position the front bumper of your car against the rear wheel axle of the car blocking the road (they usually park the car FACE the road to cover more space) and accelerate. The luggage compartment at the back of the car is not nearly as heavy as the front, where the engine is, so when you accelerate it will swing out quite easily. While you are doing this, shoot and they will stay away from you.
These are just a few defensive driving techniques. If possible, take a defensive-suppressive driving course. In my opinion, they are as important as shooting lessons. I almost forgot. Like many, I love listening to music while driving, and I'm used to playing it loud. I quickly discovered that this is not a good idea, as you cannot hear what is happening around you; eg shooting, squealing, loss of control. Make the sound so quiet that you can hear what is happening. Or turn it off entirely if you're in a hazardous area.
Of course, windows and doors must always be closed. Also try to keep at least half of the tank, gasoline in cans. Sometimes an outpost on the road will force you to take another road that you did not expect. It's good to have extra fuel. If there is no space in the car, try to have at least one small canister. And, as always, watch the road. But not only behind other cars and people, but also behind potholes on the street (they can be the size of a crater), cobblestones and other objects that the bad guys might have planted to make you crash or stop. Watch the road for a long distance to avoid all this.
Will not announce BP Day. Yes, there are milestone events, milestones in history. But they take time, society changes little by little, until the new reality comes into its own. In a few months, people will be talking about the "before and after" event that changed their world. It could be September 11 for you [approx. translation: August 1998? 1991? 1993? Before and after the Collapse?], But for me - before and after 1: 1 ($ 1 = 1 peso) or life before and after the 2001 crisis. People use this expression in their daily conversations. “So you've been to Hawaii? Wow! " "Yes, yes, but we drove up to 1: 1, now we can't afford it."
This is a time of uncertainty, while people get used to the fact that the world has changed, it takes time, months and years, and this is a SLOW decline, a slide. One day you start to see more beggars, prostitutes, unpainted houses, cars will look more shabby because people don't have the money to fix them, until one day you say to yourself, "Wow, 6-12 months ago it was not like that." BP can happen in seconds, but it takes months to comprehend.
This is why your mind must be open, let your eyes look and your ears listen, to always be ahead of the flock.
Financial stability and relocation: the survivalist's greatest trait
Which brings me to the final opinion about survival, to the conclusion about survival during a big crisis.
Money. Paper, gold, silver, but mainly in the accounts of a couple of "safe" countries, as well as those invested in real estate.
There were people here who had passed from the middle class to the poor. Passed through hell. And I can say for sure that people with solid finances lived better.
People, our society move money. Not only paper money, but also bills and virtual money. For money to be abolished as a class, a global collapse must occur, practically the end of humanity.
One country or several, even a continent may fall into poverty, dragging its paper money with it, but the other end of the world will rise in proportion. I sincerely believe in this, and history shows that there are always the defeated and the victors, the conquered and the conquerors, there is always yin and yang.
It is more than likely that at a time of economic collapse, civil war, or natural disasters in your country, you will be able to escape to green, safe places.
Yes, thousands of Argentines have already done it, and my family and I am going as soon as I can. My parents told me last week that they met old friends who had recently moved to Spain. The bad guys rushed into their house when the owners were inside, and I don't know exactly what they did, but it must be something terrible that they were fed up with life in danger and moved to Spain with their daughter.
I am a citizen of the world and I have no problem moving out if necessary. I highly recommend that you think about it because it might be the ultimate survival solution. Despite the fact that I believe in the idea of "my home is my fortress", I do not believe that it is possible to fight all the hungry, going crazy people.
From a long perspective, a permanent normal world like we're used to, think about moving to another country, far away, and plan accordingly. This means - have money in your accounts, ready-made documents and passports, m. learn a second language.
AND FINALLY - SOMETHING RELATING
Let me remind you and myself that survival is just survival, it is needed not for the sake of life itself, but for the sake of a happy, full life.
Be prepared because this is the smartest thing you can do, not because you anticipate BP and other adversity.
Do not think (be wrong) that BP will be a new start for you, all your problems will evaporate and you will start all over again in a wonderful new world.
It won't work. On the contrary, things will get worse, small problems will grow into big, more serious ones. If you drank, you will drink even more, if you are often unemployed, you will be unemployed for years, if you are sick, it will be more difficult for you to get medical help. Things will get WORSE.
Someone asked me: "How is it that you shoot criminals from 200 meters, and the police do nothing with them?"
BP, like any other crisis, is unfair. Absolutely unfair.
Good, honest people suffer, and vicious ones flourish, the police will never protect you, but they will definitely come when the criminal writes a false denunciation on you. Like this.
Whoever thinks that BP is a chance to start all over again - better think and put your life in order NOW.
It is often thought that the survivalist is a grim fatalist who believes in the Last Judgment. This is not so, a real survivalist should not be like that.
People with negative attitudes will have a difficult time during a crisis. Positively minded, good-natured people will pass through it.
Know that there are dangers and unpredictable situations, and prepare as best you can. But never forget to live your fullest life.
You and I do not know how long we are here on Earth, so do your best every minute.
The survivor should not be a pessimist, he should always be positive, happy, and enjoy life more than anyone else, because he understands that every minute of the world is valuable and unique, and does not take it for granted.
It seems to me that a survivalist should be energetic, healthy, inquisitive, with a sense of humor. He is in good shape because he takes care of his body and the body takes care of him, he is curious because he thinks that it is important to learn something new all the time and he likes to learn, he has a good sense of humor because he is confident in himself, and treats others as he would like to be treated.
This is how we should behave. The survivor is 90% life position. And even if BP does not happen in our life, this position will make life richer and more fulfilling.
There are things in life that we can control and that we cannot; the survivalist's mindset is such that he controls what he can control and accepts what he cannot.
So, if you have this mindset, whether you have a completely independent household or a little capital, some supplies, a couple of guns and suitcases collected for an emergency - head up, a tail with a gun, you are a doctor or an accountant, a truck driver or a plumber, you are proud. from a rare breed.
You are the best, without a doubt.
