many will pay attention when they are hungry. We waste too much food. When I was growing up my Mother or My Mam would put my food down in front of us. we never said we didn’t like it. we ate it because we didn’t know where the next meal was coming from. While my family was one of the lucky ones because my Dad had a job. we had only one other family on our block whose father had a regular job. If they had a father! each day we had different kids and people at our table. My Mother knew how to stretch out the meal to feed many that needed it. We had a fire station on the corner. they also fed many people. some would go there each day to sweep and clean the station for a meal. My mother ran a store and would prepare a can of dried beans with a packet of salt and pepper for the homeless men that lived down by the docks in Detroit. all they needed was to add water and set it on a fire to cook. it would make a large cup of soup that went a long way to keep them from starving. The owner of the store was sickly and hired my Mother to run it. he told her to toss out the beans because no one would buy them. so she gave them away to people that needed them and brought home enough to make soup for the many on our block that was hungry. People didn’t think of what we didn’t have. As I look back I realize just how little we lived without. We had no phone, no TV, no hot water tank, no central heat, and no microwave. no refrigerator, no car, no carpeting. no lawn mower. no dishwasher no clothes washing machine or dryer. Many things we take for granted today. by the time I was five I lost my brother. no, he didn’t die. his parents moved down south where his dad found a job. His mom, my Mam saved me when my mother had her kidney removed. Grady and I shared a tete as my mother recovered. I had two mothers. one white and one black. We had no time for racism back then. When life got better and we acquired a car I went up to Canada on the farm to live with my cousins. I learned the land, and how to drive and fix cars and trucks. I learned how to share without seeming to be giving charity. Learning to barter so that we all would benefit. These are skills that many will need to learn quickly or die. Many will die with food at their feet. Ignorance shall kill more people than lack of food. Our kids just have too much. They hold everything as having little value. when it breaks we just buy it new. when our clothing has a small hole it is tossed away. My Mother had a treadle-powered sewing machine. she repaired our clothing and for many neighbors’ as well. As we outgrew them they were handed down to a brother or sister or neighbor. When worn out was cut up for patches to cover the knees or backside. Even to make quilts that kept us warm in winter. It won’t be the stores of food and water that will save us. They will run out. Without the skills to replace it all, we have just delayed the inevitably of our end. Knowledge weighs nothing. the ability to start a fire with only a knife is but one skill that is easy to learn. Learning what to have with you and how to use it will save you and the people with you. Your children are your biggest asset. All the things put aside should be used to get you to the point where you can survive. Knowing how to organize with your family and neighbors will make it easier and safer. Starting now to prepare them for when the SHTF will ensure they will survive. How well, is what knowledge they have? The end of America will come from hunger and need. Only we as citizens can prevent it. it will take smaller governments of locals that provide order and protection that ensures that all produce their share of the work needed. it won’t all be labor or even the same . The danger will come from everyone wanting to be the boss. People that compile forces that don’t protect but just rule. usually unfairly. Forming a basic democratic government quickly is best. having both laws and a way to enforce it. Laws that may be distasteful and must be enforced against the family are hardest, but necessary if long-term survival is the goal. The danger of gov. by force is the worst danger. What will be the biggest danger for America? electrical power! its interruption will be the single thing to bring us down. Our enemies know this. This is where they will strike. Without energy independence, America will fall. Start with your representatives. Our president has put us in danger. Having a way to use our grid manually is critical. protecting from EMP. natural or man-made events must have plans to recover and quickly. having communities that are secure and not hungry is one less thing for Gov. to do. It is time each of us does our part. The biggest thing is controlling gov so it doesn’t become a military dictatorship. I hope I have given enough food for thought.——– I, Grampa