[MattSavinar]

I get asked this question alot and my usual response is for the person to post it on this forum. I have a situation comparable to the poster whose post I am quoting below. This was originally posted about a month ago, but degenerated into arguments rather quickly.

I would like to reopen it for discussion.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his is my first post on the forum. After having absorbed information from here and various other sources for several months, I've come to the conclusion that a global economic crisis is fast approaching, followed by a decline of living conditions (of uncertain duration) to pre-industrial levels.

My primary problem right now is attempting to engage my wife in helping to prepare and plan for the future. My attempts to engage her with this have been met with a refusal to discuss the topic. I don't think it's disbelief; rather a wilful refusal to acknowledge the situation. In addition to the normal psychological resistance to such a profound change in the status quo, the big reason is likely to be that she was recently diagnosed with a chronic medical condition. Without medication, her condition would eventually deteriorate to a fatal condition.

Our situation is that both our jobs are heavily technology-dependent and likely to be gone sooner rather than later (I'm a programmer, she works for a pharmaceutical testing company). We live about ten miles outside a mid-sized city in a semi-rural area that's currently being suburbanized. Our debt consists of an $800 mortgage payment (recently refinanced 30-year fixed), and two car payments of ~$300 each, with several years remaining.

My wife's parents live on a "dormant" mini-farm about 100 miles away, with over 10 fallow acres, that they own outright. While they are currently "on-the-grid", they have many worthwhile skills, such as gardening, canning, hunting, woodworking, that I would feel to be very beneficial in the future. My ideal plan would have been to sell the house and cars (get rid of debt), and simply move in with them and continue preparations from there. However, even before TSHTF, I can see medical supplies becoming a real issue due to cost (without job-related medical benefits) and supply (lack of proximity to a good sized city). Furthermore, my attempts to plan are greatly hampered by the (understandable) denial my wife has demonstrated whenever I bring the topic up.

I was wondering how other peak-oilers with dependent SOs are planning for the future, and/or what advice they would give for someone in my situation. I hope this is the appropriate forum for this question

[jdmartin]

I guess from my viewpoint the answer is fairly obvious. The possible solutions would be:

1. Stockpile as much of the medicine as might be possible, assuming that it can be stored indefinitely in the right conditions.

2. Attempt to find a natural source for the main ingredients that work with the medicine and create your own medicine.

3. Attempt to control or eliminate the condition through diet, exercise, or other methods.

4. Do nothing and hope for the best.

I realize this is going to sound cold but it simply falls to reason that if there is a serious crash and if supplies become unavailable or unreliable, most of those who have not undertaken option #1 and cannot find a solution within options #2 & 3 are going to suffer and/or die. This is simply a fact of life. One only needs look at places in Africa or Asia to find locations where millions of people die from easily controlled diseases and conditions in the US and Europe. Dysentery, influenza, measles, etc are all vicious diseases that are relatively harmless here in the west but are eradicating in third-world countries.

Because isn't that to some extent what's being inferred - that the US drifts into third-world status?

If it was me options 2 & 3 seem the most achievable. Many medicines have some sort of natural product as their base - not many are completely synthetic. So that might be one avenue. And many diseases are simply manifestations of our current lifestyle (hydrogenated oils, for example, would not be found out in nature).

[Ludi]

A good basic book for dietary and herbal treatments for various conditions is "The Green Pharmacy" by Jim Duke. Duke is one of the most well-respected authorities on medicinal plants.

He has an ethnobotanical database here:

http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/

[Kylon]

Good info Ludi!

[skyemoor]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MattSavinar', '
')
My wife's parents live on a "dormant" mini-farm about 100 miles away, with over 10 fallow acres, that they own outright. While they are currently "on-the-grid", they have many worthwhile skills, such as gardening, canning, hunting, woodworking, that I would feel to be very beneficial in the future. My ideal plan would have been to sell the house and cars (get rid of debt), and simply move in with them and continue preparations from there. However, even before TSHTF, I can see medical supplies becoming a real issue due to cost (without job-related medical benefits) and supply (lack of proximity to a good sized city). Furthermore, my attempts to plan are greatly hampered by the (understandable) denial my wife has demonstrated whenever I bring the topic up.

[SeasonOfPain]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('skyemoor', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MattSavinar', '
')
My wife's parents live on a "dormant" mini-farm about 100 miles away, with over 10 fallow acres, that they own outright. While they are currently "on-the-grid", they have many worthwhile skills, such as gardening, canning, hunting, woodworking, that I would feel to be very beneficial in the future. My ideal plan would have been to sell the house and cars (get rid of debt), and simply move in with them and continue preparations from there. However, even before TSHTF, I can see medical supplies becoming a real issue due to cost (without job-related medical benefits) and supply (lack of proximity to a good sized city). Furthermore, my attempts to plan are greatly hampered by the (understandable) denial my wife has demonstrated whenever I bring the topic up.

[kelee877]

this is an excellent post..as i am going through some major..medi cal problems..but I also think depending on what SHTF...then medical problems will shift..
nuclear war..well some have to bend over and kiss their butts goodbye..do you have your rad tabs
peak oil..slow decline in everything..cannot change that oil is running low

pandemic..well be prepared to stay in your house and this seems like the more of all. to hit first..well don,t eat chicken or any kind of bird do not get near them..

and instead of starting a new post on this how are the birds going to get the avain bug around where i live until spring..we have no birds that fly this far north for the winter..actually ours will starting heading south soon..so we have till spring to prepare..unless it is in the chicken we eat..

[Blueberry]

1.) Look at insurance stability:
a. is job that provides ins. stable?
b. look for a job that is stable, like a job in the state that doesn't run off the general fund, but off internal revenue, ie licencing fees. Or other jobs that have ins. and are stable.

2.) See if your condition is currently covered by your state's poor people health plan (this is risky, since public health coverage is one of the first things to go.)

3.) Move to Scandinavia, Canada, or a country that includes health benefits to citizens in taxes.

4.) Decrease dependence on meds, by being optimally healthy. Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease, is AMAZING. (Can't recommend it highly enough -- the guy is a genius.)

5.) Herbs

6.) Support groups increase health and life-expectancy. We're social creatures -- loved/understood people live. Bolding this, because people truly underestimate it.

7.) Get a list of all the meds that could possibly keep you alive, and if one runs out, get another.

About the inlaws:

1.) If you're going to sell the house -- I would recommend taking the profit and building a dome or small-framed house/cabin as far away from the main house as possible, lol.

You don't need water if it's near a well, you could compost, get an outhouse and have a few solar panels as your expenses allowed. Set up a garden and chicken coup, and voila -- homestead, and no inlaws.

[kelee877]

the only thing to keep you alive..is the foresight.....to prep

[Bubbling_Crude]

http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic6935.html

[Kylon]

This idea may sound ridiculous, but it may work Post Peak

The idea is to generate cancerous tumors of different glands, put environmental conditions to help induce production of certain desired chemicals, and then to extract it and destroy part of the cancerous gland.
The cancerous gland would be induced in an animal.

This could be used to produce many hormonal substances, such as melatonin(general all purpose regenerative hormone), estrogen, testosterone, DHEA, Luetinizing hormone(It's a GSK-3 beta inhibitor, so I might use it for a substitute to Valproic acid or Lithium for bipolar, as it theoretically would have the same effect as valproic acid or lithium, it is currently being looked into for Alzheimers, and GSK-3 beta inhibitors in general protect nerve tissue from damage(which means it might be good for neurodegenerative conditions in general)), insulin, thyroid, and many other hormones.

It would be somewhat difficult to manipulate their production, because many times they require other chemicals in the body to become active, but with the right environmental conditions, they may be able to be evolved into producing them.


http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic11472.html

[skyemoor]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Kylon', 'T')his idea may sound ridiculous, ...