As per the title, western press is starting to doom post about mass shortages of food and fuel in the coming months if the Epstein Coalition doesn’t back down against Iran.
What if anything should we start stockpiling in anticipation of future shortages?
you should fill at least one garbage can full on gasoline because huffing is going to start getting real expensive so its best to stock up now
Can i use a styrofoam cooler? Its all I got.
spoiler
For anyone not getting the joke: This supposedly makes budget napalm.
Me and my brother made this “napalm” when we were like 12. It was fun to stick on trees and stuff and burn it but the fumes were ungodly. Huge flames though
If you dont have a garbage can available, just use the 30 gallon liner by itself
Same as you always should given you live in the west, at least 2 weeks of nonperishable yummy to you food and water to help absorb any price shock or disasters. It being yummy is key, if you get a bunch of random cans or beans/rice/grains you won’t eat there’s no point. If something you like that’s nonperishable goes on sale get one more, over time it adds up. This tier of prepping saved me so many times between jobs to the point when I lost my last job my food stores carried me and a laid off relative to both of us finding other jobs, well barely but it made it. Also, my local water tastes so bad and feels like it has a boil advisory like once a month, so water is useful.
This is overlooked by prepper sorts but workout or at least walk extra a few times week. Suddenly having to be physical whether it be for a new collapse manual labor job or just gardening is no fun to do out of the blue.
I already went through this at the very beginning of COVID. When China went into lockdown I was like, “well, they won’t let us starve, right?” I was reduced to “my only hope for salvation is the Communist Party of China” which was a real mind-blower. It was exactly the same as Deep Space Nine’s famous “root beer” scene. https://youtu.be/6VhSm6G7cVk
I should probably get around to watching Star Trek, mom was hella strict growing up and it was one of her explicit ‘don’t watch that tamagotchi’ shows.
Did you starve? Western press at the time said people were sealed in their apartments using steel plates welded together and bolted to the walls, as millions starved and died of COVID in their apartments
Nah, for the first two weeks we got a pass that we could enter and leave our apartment complexes once every two days. Mandatory temperature checks but no supply disruptions. App delivery isn’t what it is today so people still went shopping for food. We all were eating quite well, actually. Nothing to do all day but look forward to mealtimes and cook. Mealtime is always the best part of any incarceration, be it quarantine, hospitalization or airline trip.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
My parents lived in rural Puerto Rico when Hurricane Maria hit in 2017, and went through about 10 months without any power or water, and no access to the outside world for several weeks. They were quite well prepared, but a lot of people in their community were not and got a bit desperate. Disasters have this way of being foreseeable, but also catching you off-guard with how fast and world changing they can be. Their suggestion for disaster preparedness is, in order:
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Be part of and involved with a community of people. A group of people is so much more resilient than a hermit prepper.
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Have a cash reserve. You’re going to have to buy things, and electronic payment systems are easily disrupted. Cash was the #1 thing that people didn’t have, and needed.
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Have a plan for how you’re going to suddenly store a lot of fresh water. You don’t necessarily have to keep fresh water on-hand, but you might find yourself with only a few hours to fill up containers for the long haul.
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Have a gallon of gasoline in a fuel can. This last little reserve of fuel can really come in clutch. Cycle this every 6 months, or else it goes bad.
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Have non-perishable food in your pantry, and regularly use it and buy new. You want it to be real food that you regularly eat.
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Have a plan for how you’re going to cook if you don’t have access to electricity, natural gas, or tap water. My parents used a butane camping stove, their propane backyard grill, and then also often cooked at their nextdoor neighbor’s house (who had a gas stove and a big tank).
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Think about where you’re going to go if your current home becomes inaccessible or uninhabitable.
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Everyone has mentioned beans and rice but I will add a few other things.
Water. While this current crisis may not threaten the water supply, having a safe water source is very important for an emergency kit. A flat of bottled water is sufficient for the 72-hour kit that many governments promote having. In case of disasters with enough warning for preparation time, having water storage methods is also good. For longer-term periods, a way to purify water is important (but much more expensive).
Food storage. Your stored rice will not help you if it is eaten by mice or if it becomes a breeding ground for moths. Large food-safe plastic bins are good for things you have in large volumes like rice and flour. For things you will have in smaller quantities, I recommend mason jars of varying sizes. In general, these will help your food last longer and they also are much easier to dig through in a cupboard than a bunch of half-used plastic and paper sleeves of stuff. You can write on the jars with a permanent marker (label what is in it, and when it was purchased) and wash it off later with alcohol.
Diversify. Just rice and beans will get old quickly. Also stock up on oats, vital wheat gluten, peanut butter, etc, and things that can add flavour. Canned tomato products, spices, salt. And most importantly, learn to cook recipes that you enjoy with these ingredients, preferably ones that require minimal tools to make. Instead of thinking of it as “hoarding” for a disaster, think of it as having a well-stocked pantry.
You’ll only know if you practice. Simulate losing your utilities and see if what you already have is enough to survive. 72 hours is a good benchmark. The glaring problems become apparent within the first day.
Also, you’re only as prepared as your neighbors. So make sure they’re prepared as well.
A little bit. Have a week of pasta in the cupboard and some staples.
If it takes more than a week to spool up the state food reserves you’ll have bigger problems
Buy nonperishables, and dry beans and rice. It’s what I’ve been telling people.
One thing I am ahead of the curve on
Iodine pills will be worth gold. They help with radioactive fallout. No matter how many MREs you stockpile, you won’t want to live in the world after Israel launches all its nukes at once using the Samson Option. Ammo, I guess. Lots and lots of ammo. It goes FAST once you start using it and won’t be replaceable. And STFU if you do stockpile anything. You just make yourself a target for looters. You’ll need to become clans again, live in self-defense groups of 150 or so people organized into larger tribes and tribes organized into nations. Life will be nasty, brutish and short.
Ammo, I guess. Lots and lots of ammo. It goes FAST once you start using it and won’t be replaceable.
This is what right-wing preppers always include because their fantasy is mass murder.
Truth is, you want to be surrounded by people you trust. If you need to fight your neighbors, you already have a slim chance of making it. Even if it does get violent, laying low until the worst of it blows over is the best option. And after that, there will be no factories making ammo, so a bow and arrow is a far better option (like it was until the 1850s).
Don’t forget that throughout the colonial period, there was an overwhelming net flux from the colonies to the indigenous nations, who were far better at meeting people’s needs, and had been all along.
Correct take!
you see, with rising fuel prices we’d rather let food rot than give it to the proles.
no but on a serious note: even during a global pandemic with unimaginable consequences at the time we only had shortages due to hoarders. i highly doubt that the closing of a trading route will affect food production as much as a global pandemic.
there are 2 outcomes: you look stupid if you stockpile or you look stupid if you didn’t stockpile.
just act on whatever you think is more likely.
Counterpoint 2% of the global energy supply is used to make fertilizer. The majority which is produced and exported off the Gulf out through the Strait of Hormuz. It’s never been so over.
Russia is still a major petroleum-based fertilizer producer, so China and India’s fertilizer supply is safe at least (India also makes a lot of their own.) Canada is a major provider to the west but I can imagine as the cost of shipping goes up that’s going to leave Europe shit out of luck- too expensive to ship from Canada, Russia sanctioned, and the gulf locked down. US also produces a lot of their own but I’ve seen that US farmers already felt they had a fertilizer shortage because of the tarriff war driving up prices on it in the first place.
It’s because fertilizers isn’t just one thing. Going by the OEC website, I think we’ll be ‘fine’ when it comes to potassium fertilizers (it’s Canada’s and Russia’s game), but nitrogenous fertilizers and urea rely on the gulf. Either because its produced in the gulf, or because countries in Europe and East Asia produce those fertilizers with the gulf’s inputs. Morocco meanwhile is very dominant when it comes to phosphorous so we should be ‘fine’ there as well.
this is a completely valid concern and it WILL affect poorer people which is fucked up.
i just assume OP is from a western imperialist country
I am, yes.
I appreciate I’m in a much better position than most of the world, and less likely to suffer, but this crisis feels unprecedented in scope.
It’s going to be bad for areas where there’s already chronic deficits but not in the US, where there’s massive overproduction. There will be negative consequences - food prices will go up, especially for meat/animal products, smaller farmers will go bankrupt and the consolidation of the ag sector will accelerate, and a lot of imported fruits and veggies will be more expensive or less available, but it won’t be a torches-and-pitchforks situation.
I think American wallets are already sensitive to grocery store prices. I absolutely think in the summer, this place will burn. They might put it over the top after the SAVE act passes or they still the elections
I mean, I’d rather look stupid with a stockpile than the other way around. Better to be looking at it than looking for it. also https://hexbear.net/comment/6951751
Now that the entity has attacked Iran, my dear friends - for the well being of my people - I have a request for all of you.
But first some Context:
A lot of diaspora Iranians protested in order to legitimize an operation against Iran. A lot of people don't care about world events unless it affects them personally. An immediate and punishing hit to people's material conditions could spark serious anger and political action against this war from all sides. The media will manufacture consent, and defame and hide anti-war protestors. Even those in favour of a war - and vulnerable to hating anti-war protestors - will malleate in the face of actual consequences. This war will destroy the global energy market, and Dr. Roy Casagranda has predicted that hundreds of millions will die globally as a result.Request: Please make sure you have the essentials to be able to take care of yourself:
cheap staple carbs: bags of rice cans of nonperishable protein: beans cooking oils water - if your local municipality doesn't provide enough or clean water hygienic products full tank of gas (if applicable)If you live in the imperial core, and if it does not put you in danger to do so: As you make your purchases, be loud about how you are panic buying because this Iran war is going to hit harder than both Covid and the Ukraine war.
If you can purchase these items with a partner or friend - you can be loud by talking to your friend about this issue and let others overhear you.
If you have successfully organized a community of people, please activate your groups to engage in this operation. Pretending to be independent couples and engaging at one popular supermarket (I.e. Trader Joe’s, Costco) simultaneously will much more likely trigger the panic wave that is required. Or to stretch your numbers further - have one couple talking, and everyone else buying a lot of items independently in a line - make it visible that large numbers of seemingly unassociated people are engaging in this panic.
If you have not successfully organized a community of people and are intending on attending an anti-war protest. Inform your fellow protestors of the seriousness of the economic consequences of this war. They are already primed to listen, so make the rounds and tell them to buy nonperishables like rice and beans as a matter of their own wellbeing.
Please do not instigate panic buying if you do not live in an imperial-core nation.
Outside of a successful operation, it will take months for prices to rise and consequences to settle in. You can turn every grocery run into praxis by engaging in repeats of this operation.
Because something like bags of rice is:
cheap big able to sustain you calorically for monthsAssuming you are not broke and/or in financial trouble, buy a shit ton and make a show of it. Please prioritize your own plans and well-being first.
This is our protest to the war.
i am not AmeriKKKan, my reality and that of my peers is completely different as my country is not at war and i cannot comment on whether what you proposed is the correct way of approaching this or not.
Nee ich weiss lol, aber der Ruf ging an alle in “the imperial core”.
Me and my wife were able to save a little bit of money in the past couple months and we used it to create like a little stockpile. It’s like two days worth of groceries but gives us the chance to talk about the Iran war with people, because a lot of people still think it won’t affect us but we are part of the US economy, the US is where we got our oil products from.
Let’s start a panic!
Get an ebike or an emoto I guess and learn how to make bucket potatoes
If your only bike is an e-bike, make sure it’s one that isn’t too difficult to pedal when the batteries are dead.
Also make sure it is balanced like a normal bike, so you can leave the battery out if needed.
what?
Some types of e-bike I’ve found rely on the weight of the battery to lower the centre of gravity of the bike. If you take it out to drop weight and try to pedal, the bike is less stable.
Yeah and get a small solar panel for charging it and your phone, better to get solar for the whole house but that’s not reasonable for everyone
Join a food coop. Make friends. Share more. Get involved in local politics. Promote community gardens. Build socialism. Make sure there are safe people in your community that know about self defense and community defense. Get involved in anti ICE patrols. Learn how to bake. Have a normal amount of food and supplements in your pantry. Make 48h kits. Basic disaster preparation is plenty. Long term stockpiles should be managed by a community organization like a free store or food cooperative. A warehouse is just better for that kind of thing than a personal closet.
Better to develop skills to serve your community than to make the most efficient list of consumables in my opinion.
Both seem wise.
While you both are correct, I kinda feel the empathy in the comment you’re replying to. The system is fucked, but as someone who just went through a self remodel, I really wish I just fixed a couple things cause completely rebuilding them takes so much more.
2-3 months of beans and rice, no more and no less
Iodine pills will be worth gold. They help with radioactive fallout. No matter how many MREs you stockpile, you won’t want to live in the world after Israel launches all its nukes at once using the Samson Option. Ammo, I guess. Lots and lots of ammo. It goes FAST once you start using it and won’t be replaceable. And STFU if you do stockpile anything. You just make yourself a target for looters. You’ll need to become clans again, live in self-defense groups of 150 or so people organized into larger tribes and tribes organized into nations. Life will be nasty, brutish and short.
I didn’t know there were Libertarians on Hexbear /s
Tbh, iodine being the first thing recommended feels silly to me. If you live anywhere near an urban center, military base, etc. Just assume you’ll be incinerated and don’t worry about it.
Iodine helps protects the thyroid but it will not stop you getting radiation sickness.
This is some classic conservative prepper fantasy cure-all nonsense.
Provided you aren’t in the immediate blast zone of a nuclear weapon the best you can do to protect yourself from alpha and beta radiation is to reduce your contact with fallout aka radioactive dust by:
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Ensuring your water and food supply does not contain fallout
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Not wearing or coming into contact with contaminated clothing.
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Be in an underground location with multiple barriers between you and the outside
If you can avoid contact with fallout for several days your radiation risk will significantly decrease.
Source: old government guides on what to do in the event of nuclear attack and this.
Who said it cures radiation sickness?
You made that up. I said it will be worth gold.I’m unclear why you think iodine pills will be worth gold when they don’t prevent radiation sickness.
You’re arguing a point nobody is making about iodine pills preventing radiation sickness.
What they do is prevent you from getting sick much later by flooding your thyroid with good iodine preventing the absorption of radioactive iodine, which is in fallout.
They’ll be worth gold. Who cares if they work or not? Do you know an Alpha Black Lotus isn’t worth anything? It’s just cardboard and ink. It’s worth something because people believe it’s worth something.
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Get a Sawyer squeeze for water filtration too Imo, better then iodine in non nuke emergencies.
Having a food/water buffer of 2+ weeks is a no-brainer regardless of geopolitical situation.
Try to get a similar buffer with any necessary meds. Claim you dropped them or smth and get early refills. Telemedicine can also sometimes be used to double up. I try to have 1-2 months extra plus a weaning plan.
Community organizing will always be the most effective.
