Border Collie
Inactive
Has anyone noticed a change in the board, or in themselves, concerning this Ebola issue?
For me, I've always been at least somewhat concerned about being prepared for familiar possibilities: house fire, car accident, tornado, ice storm, power outages, unemployment - dangers/risks to my family that most everyone is familiar with. (West coast swap /tornados/earthquakes/, South and east Coast swap /tornados/hurricanes/ )
Then, decades ago, I learned of other, non-zero, risks such as terrorist attacks, nuclear war (limited or not), the collapse of the dollar, bank holiday and financial crisis, biological attack, Y2K - dangers not many people were cognizant of, much less preparing for. Heck, most people (known from scientific studies) don't prepare for their meals 3 days hence.
One common factor to all of these, except the collapse of the dollar, is that all of these risks are *possibilities*, not certainties. That takes a considerable edge off the mental state when considering and trying to be prepared for them.
The collapse of the dollar (still speaking from my perspective) is a certainty. But the time is nebulous. In 1990 or so I came to the point in my adult studies to realize that like all fiat currencies before, without exception, the dollar would collapse. At that time, I figured it'd be within my life time or the lifetime of my children. Twenty years later, in 2010, as federal debt seriously entered the part of the hockey stick curve of compounded interest that goes from (apparent) linear to exponential growth, it was a little unsettling to conclude that the collapse was certainly in my lifetime and likely within a few years (4 years later, and still counting). So, the dollar collapse, while certain, is an unknown time in the future. So is my death, and I live with that fine. I have made peace with the Creator on His terms and have the assurance from the Holy Spirit that I am saved, have life insurance to take care of those I'm responsible for, so I'm prepped for that other certainty without a time, death.
But this Ebola outbreak, it's different for me, and maybe for some of you. Maybe I'm mistaken about this; I admit I'd *like* to be mistaken in my conclusion that this outbreak, this epidemic is a certainty, with a near/soon timeframe. My conclusion is that any vaccination will take too long to mass produce (the only vaccination I've heard of is expected to have 1 million doses by the end of 2015, and like the annual flu vaccination, they're not entirely sure they'll have made it to address the right strain, or a strain close enough to be effective. This virus can mutate, and as of a week or two ago at least one scientist/researcher expressed his belief that it had mutated to "burn hotter."
Without rehashing so much scientific knowledge shared on this board in it's forums, it seems to me a certainty that this will continue to spread in the USA, and kill many people.
There are many questions that I can't answer - will there be martial law, how will vital infrastructure continue to work with unwilling or dead employees that at some point the knowledge of the business goes away, will there be conscription, on and on and on. I don't think much at all about that, because I do not think I, nor anyone else, could know how it'll play out.
But the danger seems certain to affect my life, it's not just a possibility like so many dangers. And it seems to be near, months away from many people dying near me, and perhaps weeks away from a public panic. I don't know when, but this disaster isn't going to be put off by some Quantitative Easing program of the politicians.
I think the certainty and the nearness are what sets this risk apart from all others I've tried to address in my preparedness lifestyle (homesteading lifestyle, to be more accurate).
Is this issue/risk substantially different from all others for you? If so, how?
How are you addressing this any differently than other risks?
I've not lost a second of sleep over it. I do expect family members and people close to me to die. Next year. Maybe me. I've done what I can, and I'm actually trusting in God to handle all that remains. I've purposefully memorized and intensely studied scripture over the course of my adult life and passages come to mind as readily, more readily really, as childhood memories. Although deeply disillusioned with the Church and Christians, and wrongly angry with God from time to time, and "rusty" in my spiritual walk, my hope is solely in God, the Creator. He allows evil (the source of my wholly wrongful anger), and although I *feel* angry about that at times, I *know* that God is good. Whatever He does, by definition of who God is and what good is, is good. Whatever evil God allows to happen, is a good thing. God, allowing horrific deaths of little children in Africa from this disease, and soon here, is still and always good. Allowing His only begotten Son to be tortured cruelly and killed was a good thing. None understood it then, as I do not understand God allowing evil to often be unchallenged today. And this Ebola evil has all evidence of being unchallengeable for a few years, after tens of millions have died, or more.
This Ebola is different that way, to me. A certainty, rather than a possibility.
Border Collie
For me, I've always been at least somewhat concerned about being prepared for familiar possibilities: house fire, car accident, tornado, ice storm, power outages, unemployment - dangers/risks to my family that most everyone is familiar with. (West coast swap /tornados/earthquakes/, South and east Coast swap /tornados/hurricanes/ )
Then, decades ago, I learned of other, non-zero, risks such as terrorist attacks, nuclear war (limited or not), the collapse of the dollar, bank holiday and financial crisis, biological attack, Y2K - dangers not many people were cognizant of, much less preparing for. Heck, most people (known from scientific studies) don't prepare for their meals 3 days hence.
One common factor to all of these, except the collapse of the dollar, is that all of these risks are *possibilities*, not certainties. That takes a considerable edge off the mental state when considering and trying to be prepared for them.
The collapse of the dollar (still speaking from my perspective) is a certainty. But the time is nebulous. In 1990 or so I came to the point in my adult studies to realize that like all fiat currencies before, without exception, the dollar would collapse. At that time, I figured it'd be within my life time or the lifetime of my children. Twenty years later, in 2010, as federal debt seriously entered the part of the hockey stick curve of compounded interest that goes from (apparent) linear to exponential growth, it was a little unsettling to conclude that the collapse was certainly in my lifetime and likely within a few years (4 years later, and still counting). So, the dollar collapse, while certain, is an unknown time in the future. So is my death, and I live with that fine. I have made peace with the Creator on His terms and have the assurance from the Holy Spirit that I am saved, have life insurance to take care of those I'm responsible for, so I'm prepped for that other certainty without a time, death.
But this Ebola outbreak, it's different for me, and maybe for some of you. Maybe I'm mistaken about this; I admit I'd *like* to be mistaken in my conclusion that this outbreak, this epidemic is a certainty, with a near/soon timeframe. My conclusion is that any vaccination will take too long to mass produce (the only vaccination I've heard of is expected to have 1 million doses by the end of 2015, and like the annual flu vaccination, they're not entirely sure they'll have made it to address the right strain, or a strain close enough to be effective. This virus can mutate, and as of a week or two ago at least one scientist/researcher expressed his belief that it had mutated to "burn hotter."
Without rehashing so much scientific knowledge shared on this board in it's forums, it seems to me a certainty that this will continue to spread in the USA, and kill many people.
There are many questions that I can't answer - will there be martial law, how will vital infrastructure continue to work with unwilling or dead employees that at some point the knowledge of the business goes away, will there be conscription, on and on and on. I don't think much at all about that, because I do not think I, nor anyone else, could know how it'll play out.
But the danger seems certain to affect my life, it's not just a possibility like so many dangers. And it seems to be near, months away from many people dying near me, and perhaps weeks away from a public panic. I don't know when, but this disaster isn't going to be put off by some Quantitative Easing program of the politicians.
I think the certainty and the nearness are what sets this risk apart from all others I've tried to address in my preparedness lifestyle (homesteading lifestyle, to be more accurate).
Is this issue/risk substantially different from all others for you? If so, how?
How are you addressing this any differently than other risks?
I've not lost a second of sleep over it. I do expect family members and people close to me to die. Next year. Maybe me. I've done what I can, and I'm actually trusting in God to handle all that remains. I've purposefully memorized and intensely studied scripture over the course of my adult life and passages come to mind as readily, more readily really, as childhood memories. Although deeply disillusioned with the Church and Christians, and wrongly angry with God from time to time, and "rusty" in my spiritual walk, my hope is solely in God, the Creator. He allows evil (the source of my wholly wrongful anger), and although I *feel* angry about that at times, I *know* that God is good. Whatever He does, by definition of who God is and what good is, is good. Whatever evil God allows to happen, is a good thing. God, allowing horrific deaths of little children in Africa from this disease, and soon here, is still and always good. Allowing His only begotten Son to be tortured cruelly and killed was a good thing. None understood it then, as I do not understand God allowing evil to often be unchallenged today. And this Ebola evil has all evidence of being unchallengeable for a few years, after tens of millions have died, or more.
This Ebola is different that way, to me. A certainty, rather than a possibility.
Border Collie
