"Do you believe in global warming?" If you want to make a certain percentage of people wish they could stone you to death, just voice that question in public. I recently saw a forum attempt to discuss this subject in a reasoned manner, and one member who obviously saw himself as a true intellectual, an "enlightened one", attempted unsuccessfully to communicate with the savages by repeating in all caps that there is "NO DEBATE!!!" as to the validity of the theory; anyone who doesn't accept it as proven fact being, in his view, a degenerate not yet evolved from the apes. You know, like people from Alabama (wink, wink). Indeed, even referring to it as theory rather than settled scientific fact is, as far as these people are concerned, heresy. And I use that word advisedly because it is indeed their religion, just as surely as is evolution for many of the same folks.
Note here that I am not claiming that there is no truth to either global warming or evolution; rather that I do not accept that there are only two possible conditions: believing the whole, complete package or being a superstitious fool. I submit that anyone who demands that you accept anything springing from the mind of man as absolute, proven fact is either intentionally misleading you, or is himself a superstitious fool who really has no understanding of the way science, defined as the study by man of the world he inhabits, really works.
So what does all this have to do with survivalism and prepping? Simply this: most preppers and survivalists, wittingly or not, have an idea in their minds as to just what they are prepping for. That includes me. For the record, I think the most likely shtf scenario is a descent into totalitarianism, helped along by overpopulation and monetary collapse. I arrive at that conclusion by observing that it is actually happening now, as well as studying how it has happened many times in history, by many civilizations.
But I try to keep in mind that other things can happen, too. Encroaching totalitarianism would be a moot point if, for example, Yellowstone suffered a major eruption tomorrow, or an asteroid the size of LA hit the earth next year.
My point is that we should all be open-minded and learn all we can about a variety of possible threats, so we don't spend all our resources preparing for only one eventuality.
That includes reading about this global warming thing and learning about both sides of the debate (yes, there is one). If there is any truth to the global warming theory, we need to give it due consideration in our plans and preps. But I wouldn't go so far as to put all my resources into an orange orchard just outside Huntsville, just yet.
Want a good source of information about global warming? Click here to get a free pdf download of the book "A Skeptical Layman's Guide to Anthropogenic Global Warming" by Warren Meyer. Otherwise I'll be forced to label you a Global Warming religious fanatic.
Original: http://alabamapreppersnetwork.blogspot.com/2009/03/about-global-warming-thing.html
Note here that I am not claiming that there is no truth to either global warming or evolution; rather that I do not accept that there are only two possible conditions: believing the whole, complete package or being a superstitious fool. I submit that anyone who demands that you accept anything springing from the mind of man as absolute, proven fact is either intentionally misleading you, or is himself a superstitious fool who really has no understanding of the way science, defined as the study by man of the world he inhabits, really works.
So what does all this have to do with survivalism and prepping? Simply this: most preppers and survivalists, wittingly or not, have an idea in their minds as to just what they are prepping for. That includes me. For the record, I think the most likely shtf scenario is a descent into totalitarianism, helped along by overpopulation and monetary collapse. I arrive at that conclusion by observing that it is actually happening now, as well as studying how it has happened many times in history, by many civilizations.
But I try to keep in mind that other things can happen, too. Encroaching totalitarianism would be a moot point if, for example, Yellowstone suffered a major eruption tomorrow, or an asteroid the size of LA hit the earth next year.
My point is that we should all be open-minded and learn all we can about a variety of possible threats, so we don't spend all our resources preparing for only one eventuality.
That includes reading about this global warming thing and learning about both sides of the debate (yes, there is one). If there is any truth to the global warming theory, we need to give it due consideration in our plans and preps. But I wouldn't go so far as to put all my resources into an orange orchard just outside Huntsville, just yet.
Want a good source of information about global warming? Click here to get a free pdf download of the book "A Skeptical Layman's Guide to Anthropogenic Global Warming" by Warren Meyer. Otherwise I'll be forced to label you a Global Warming religious fanatic.
Original: http://alabamapreppersnetwork.blogspot.com/2009/03/about-global-warming-thing.html
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