The thread below about criminals taking advantage of Y2k blackouts in order to loot caused me to think. There will be many many many people who will wake up to lights out on the 1st or the 3rd and BELIEVE that the lights will come back on in a few days or weeks. They will loot/protect many items which will be useless. Such as electronics.

The percentage of people who go "Oh sh*t! I shoulda bought a wood stove!" will be fairly small. People are capable of being in denial before during and after an event. Many people will die from simple confusion over what is and is not valuable anymore.

Liquor will go fastest because everyone (GI and DGI) will agree that it has value. It will also be consumed rapidly. I would expect that still making will become an important skill dang quickly.

Meat will disappeer rapidly as will any kind of drug. Cigarettes will be GOLD.

Got gas? Better hide it real good.

If things go down gradually and if the food supply holds out (either because there is enough to go around or because there is enough die off BEFORE food supplies evaporate) then you don't need to worry too much about protecting your beans for a while.

Let the fools die over their Tee Vees, computers and microwaves. Just keep a low profile and get outta town if you possibly can before TSHTF.

-- R (riversoma@aol.com), August 01, 1999

Answers

Actually, a "professional" thief doesn't mess with electronics. They are after cash, jewelry, art, stuff like that. No serial numbers to trace, good market without having to go through pawn shops or whatever. It's the amatures that will be going for TV's and VCR's. The thinking crooks will be looking ahead and going after guns, cash as usual, jewelry, and maybe food depending on their own circumstances. They aren't as stupid as they look. ;)

-- Don (dwegner@cheyenneweb.com), August 01, 1999.

True,

But I don't mind the fact that the more stupid criminals will be making unusually stupid decisions.

-- R (riversoma@aol.com), August 01, 1999.

rolls of insulation,a back hoe,there'll probably still be wood burning stoves left to loot,bolts of fabric,you can never steal enough ammo....too bad I'll be miles from a city.....

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), August 01, 1999.

River

nice post, and I would say true. Better to be in the country for sure with a gun at your side. The general level of the prison poulation is about 90(Bell Curve), so either criminals are nat as smart as the general US population (about 102) or perhaps these are just the ones that were dumb enough to bet caught.

At any rate, desperate people can become very viscious. Best to avoid confrontation if possible, but be well prepared for it.

regards,

Bob P

-- Bob P (Rpilc99206@aol.com), August 01, 1999.

R, WTSHTF, I imagine the rise of the Y2K Mafia: very skilled, very smart and very, very well armed. There will be power struggles, and the incompetent common robbers will be toast. Without any serious competition, the Y2K Mafia will hold greater control and will blackmail those who are defenseless.

-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), August 01, 1999.

Post Y2K "mafia" coule be a problem. Communities will need to band together for protection...forming "local police forces" if the police do not survive intact. I do not recommend individual action, except in extremis...because of the potential legal repercussions afterwards... For the sake of argument, I am making the assumption that the police will still represent law and order... Should they become the "post y2k mafia", we would be in a world of hurt...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), August 01, 1999.