Preparedness, revisited

Hopefully, the three people who follow this blog recognize that I’m not big on panic or overreacting. It’s silly. It’s a waste of time, energy and physical resources. Still, as three bloggers I follow have pointed out, here, here, and here, the corona virus potentially poses some significant issues.

I don’t see some worldwide pandemic coming, especially not one of 1918 proportions. I do, however, think the following are reasonable things to consider.

1. Numbers of both those infected with the virus and those who have died as a result are suspect, given China’s less than stellar history of veracity.
2. China produces a significant number of items, or constituent parts of items, consumed in the West, including in the United States.
3. Such items include common, everyday convenience items. You know, things like toilet paper and other personal hygiene items. And OTC meds. And pet supplies. And, and, and…
4. This also applies to some common food items.

What I consider to be common sense, then, would seem to dictate that a reasonable person for who preparedness was part of a normal and healthy lifestyle, would keep those things in mind when doing their regular shopping. Please note that I do not think it is wise to spend your entire paycheck on toilet paper. You still have bills to pay and the sky is not falling, so please, don’t be stupid foolish. I plan on simply bearing those things in mind as I do my regular shopping. You, of course, will make your own decisions. I am simply encouraging you to consider the possibilities…and then to go on living your normal life. Running off to your bug out location and going into “lockdown” strikes me as more than a bit of an overreaction. Rather, remember that the whole “normal and healthy lifestyle” approach to preparedness tends to focus on likely, real world events. So, the cost of some consumer goods suddenly increasing seems to qualify. World wide depression as a result of the virus? Not so much.