Why should we be so focused on preparing for 2024?
Over the last couple of years, many more people have come to recognize the value in preparing and getting ready for when times get tough. Prepping is no longer a fringe activity but is becoming increasingly mainstream.
That’s because many people are recognizing that the world is actually not as stable as they originally thought, and that all it takes is one or two things to go wrong for life to completely change for the worse.
For example, all it takes is for a collapse or a major interruption to occur in the supply chains and people will no longer be able to get the food and supplies like they are used to. This alone would throw society into mass hysteria and lead to rioting and societal unrest.
Here are likely to be the biggest threats to preppers in 2024:
Supply Chain Issues
This applies to everything from food to beverages to medicine to personal hygiene items to other common household products.
Unfortunately, today people are so used to being able to buy what they need and when they need it from grocery stores and supermarkets.
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But every store you shop at is dependent on getting products on its shelves from the trucks and planes shipping in everything from distributors.
Once this flow of goods is disrupted in any way, it’s going to have incalculable effects on the rest of society. People will panic, and societal unrest will get out of hand quickly. Stores would be forced to ration goods, and many restaurants would be forced to close down.
Cyberthreats
Cyberthreats have become significantly more frequent as society is almost entirely dependent on the internet and electronic devices.
Cybersecurity threats are the most severe to major power companies and banks. If major companies in either of these industries are forced to close down in response to a cybersecurity attack, it’s going to affect millions of people overnight.
Societal Unrest
Societal unrest has been growing in concurrence with tightened economic situations and heightened political tensions.
In 2020, we saw mass rioting throughout major cities across America largely in response to perceived political injustices. Those riots only serve as a glimpse of what could come in the future.
In the event of the supply chains collapsing, for instance, mass rioting and looting of stores is almost guaranteed to take place for any city or region that’s been affected.
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Mass rioting and societal unrest in this manner will cause chaos and violence in the streets, forcing businesses to board up and families to barricade themselves inside of their homes.
Economic Collapse
The threat of a complete economic collapse has become significantly more real due to the tightening economic conditions that we have been experiencing over the last few years.
Inflation has devalued the dollar considerably, the prices of food and water and other household supplies have been skyrocketing, rising interest rates have made it more expensive to afford homes and cars.
The monthly cost of a new truck or SUV, for instance, can approach the vicinity of a thousand dollars a month, while interest rates on used cars have gone up so much that they aren’t much more affordable either.
Even if an all-out economic collapse does not occur, people are feeling the negative effects of the tightened economic situation every day of their lives. Not only does it cause a significant amount of stress, it also makes prepping much more difficult as well.
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It’s simply less easy for people to afford buying stockpiles of food and other needed supplies when so much of their cash flow is going to rising housing payments, car payments, and other unexpected expenses that pop up.
Many people simply cannot afford to make the necessary preparations that would be sustainable for their families. For example, a typical family of four would need at least five thousand gallons of water stored to have enough water set aside for drinking and hygienic purposes for a six month period.
But storing that water will require families to invest in massive water tanks that are designed to store several thousand gallons of water, and those tanks can cause several thousand dollars individually.
Families already throwing several thousand dollars each month at basic living expenses won’t be able to afford buying those kinds of water tanks… which then begs the question, how can they feasibly store all the water they need to be prepared?
Natural Disasters
Some of the greatest threats to our way of life can come from mother nature.
Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions have been on the rise over the last few years, and depending on where you live in the world, blizzards, famines, droughts, flooding, and hurricanes present very severe risks as well.
Terrorist/EMP Attacks
The eruption of wars in the Ukraine and the Middle East, among other places, has made many people remember the days of 9/11 when the threat of a terrorist attack was very real.
A terrorist attack on the United States could target the power grid, such as an EMP attack, which in the worst case scenario would completely knock out electricity, the internet and cell services, banking services, and even most cars and planes.
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This would bring a screeching halt to the supply chains like we discussed above, and it would also result in a total economic collapse and mass rioting as well. An EMP device detonated high enough in the atmosphere would be one of the most devastating and long lasting attacks that could possibly occur.
Unexpected Illnesses or Injuries
Rising medical and insurance costs has also become a chief concern for preppers, and with good reason.
All it takes is one unexpected severe illness or injury to land someone in the hospital and knock them out of commission from focusing on their preparations.
And if insurance is unable to cover those expenses, it would inflict even stronger financial hardship on families as well, thus making it even more difficult to make adequate preparations like we just discussed above.
It’s an unfortunate reality that we don’t live in a very stable world. It’s also an unfortunate reality that prepping adequately has become very difficult due to the economic burdens that many people are feeling today.
The above threats that we’ve covered are likely to be the biggest ones that we’ll face collectively in 2024.
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