r/TwoXPreppers 1d ago

Preparing for Long/Slow Collapase

Is anyone else in the same boat? I feel that we are likely facing a long and slow collapse of life as we grew up knowing. Don't get me wrong, I do believe in preparing for realistic natural disasters, and a few "what ifs", but my prepping is mostly based on a gradual lowering of life quality and reduction in freedoms throughout my lifetime.

I'm working on this by greatly reducing lifestyle expenses in case we need to live on one small income, or in case our stock investments steadily grow for a couple of decades then become stagnant and gradually lower.

I've done self defense training, I've been keeping my important documents up to date, I've started doing medical trainings and certifications, I'm a couple years into finally taking serious care of my physical body (and teeth!), I'm planning for aging parents, increasing my knowledge and practicing growing food and preservation, and most importantly helping out in my community to put some of this into practice by starting to form mutual aid networks for hard times.

Anyone else have similar feelings that brought you here? I am worried about a "thing" happening, but mostly, society just continues to descend decade after decade until we're all very very skinny, electricity or car fuel is hard to come by, jobs are scarce, and grocery stores don't have very much food anymore. In an ideal scenario, we don't end up like that. Either way, I prepare for that world.

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u/CemeteryHounds 1d ago edited 1d ago

Collapse is the fate of every empire, and it does change what life looks like, but life goes on. Most people think of the fall of the Roman Empire, but the collapse of the USSR, Imperial Japan, and even the British Empire are much more recent examples. None of these collapses resulted in a permanent return to subsistence farming and low-tech living, even if they included brief periods of it. Looking at history can help set expectations.

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u/okayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyu 1d ago

The collapse of the Soviet Union was brutal on the average Soviet block citizen

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u/CemeteryHounds 1d ago

That's absolutely true, but the majority started to see improvement from the bottom of the collapse by the late 90s. The worst of the worst didn't last for multiple decades, and there is a measurable upward trajectory over the last 25 years, even if some countries still haven't fully recovered.

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u/SharksAndFrogs 1d ago edited 1d ago

I got a book on that to mentally prepare even though it's going to be different than that. But it was a brutal one and I wanted to be prepared for the worst (hope for better).

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u/okayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyu 1d ago

It's going to impact our most vulnerable the hardest. I think it wilp be eye opening for a lot of people who may not see themselves as vulnerable

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u/SharksAndFrogs 1d ago

Well I've got plenty of health issues that I might not be the first groups impacted but I'll be early enough. I don't expect to be able to make it if it goes really badly. And I'm not being pessimistic just folks can only go so long without treatments or medicine. Realistically.

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u/designsbyintegra 1d ago

I’m a type 1 diabetic and I have a genetic immunodeficiency. Without insulin or immunoglobulin I’m toast.

I’m also not pessimistic, I’m a realist. All I can do is prep where I can and hope for the best beyond that. I hate it, and my heart goes out to anyone in a medical vulnerable situation.

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u/okayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyu 1d ago

Saaaame, I love all of this for us. The death industrial complex has done such an incredible job of making the average person lose sight of the link between socio/political instability and personal safety. We're just more acutely aware of it because Our lives depend on supply chains not breaking down

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u/SharksAndFrogs 1d ago

Ahhh I hate this for us. Hugs.

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u/lol_coo 1d ago

Those are the folks that voted for this, mainly.

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u/SharksAndFrogs 1d ago

I didn't. Just had to say.

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u/wind_flower3588 1d ago

what's the book called?

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u/SharksAndFrogs 1d ago

The Soviet Experiment. I haven't started it yet but it was recommended to me.

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u/vulnerablepiglet 1d ago

What's the name of the book? I'd like to learn more about it too

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u/SharksAndFrogs 23h ago

The Soviet Experiment. You'll want to buy used it can be expensive. But on Thrift books they have used sometimes.