Bye Bye Society?

[Jackalope]

Where are you on the California water situation?  
Time to worry? Time to panic?  Who's water will they steal if they do indeed run out?

Don't tell Chthuuluululh (sp?), but we've been eyeing Oregon's water.  Might have to expand California just a bit.

Hands off, you filthy Californicator.

[The Grand Nudger]

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Humans haven't been around all that long. Have we seen anything on the scale of the last ice age? We survived through that but we were effectively cave men at that time. In fact it's probably fairer to say the human species back then was an entirely different one to what we are now. I don't think there's any comparison between surviving a global climate event like that and the occasional natural disaster. I think you're underestimating how hostile this earth can be, and how disastrous a global climate change might be. It's really quite impossible to say whether we'd survive anything of that scale and still have our technology, our cities and our agriculture, because we've never really faced anything on that scale.

I suppose how long we've been around depends upon the frame of reference.  We've moved faster and farther, and farmed more inhospitable environments -since- the ice age than we ever did before or during.  We have been getting better at this, not worse, over time.  If we woke up in an ice age tomorrow, we'd do better than we did the last time we woke up that way.   We didn't die off then........why would we die off now?  The Romans very literally ran out of available -energy- not so long ago.  We didn't die off then, why would we die off now? We've been facing challenges the scale of the ice age, and whatever this rock throws at us in general...since we've been here.

Ofcourse, but that's not any indication that it can't happen. Like I said, it was only 70 years ago that we saw the biggest war of our species. What makes you think wars are going to get any smaller? As technology grows, so does the destruction that can be sown with it.

That's just the baseline.  It would have to be bigger -and much, much more-.  There's this notion that we're getting better at destroying ourselves (and life in general) than we are at stewarding it.  That's not, strictly speaking for our own species, true.  Yes, we've been getting better at killing.  We've been getting better at plenty of things, and if you insist upon referencing only the one in a vacuum - then your appraisal of our chances will be predictably dismal, but probably not representative.  

Two words, spanish flu.

Sure, some new bug could do damage.  Probably won't kill us all - but if 2/3rds of europe was wiped out by Black Plague Redux  I'd call that an event.  I worry more about ag disease because those superbugs do exist, and have for at least 10k years - despite every effort.  With the exception of a short blip between the 30's and the 50's it's been no contest, we aren't even on the same level.  We continue to lose that fight today, all while consolidating our -global- food supply into just three of the most susceptible crops.  The reason that crop disease is, in my estimation, more worrisome than global epidemic...is that mainline ag cultivars are uniform, and cloned.  What kills one, kills all.  A disease could spread from Heartland USA to Heartland China and kill wheat indiscriminantly, whilst a disease in those two populations of human beings might find more resistance in it's way.  Food moves alot more than people do, as well. In the end though, a disease of crops or a disease of our own, the effect would be similar(we're pretty tight with our food)..tell you what though, I'd rather be sick /w food than healthy /w none. Hell, running low on food will bring on all sorts of sickness and disease, no need for any new superbugs. What we already have would suffice. We're already in a massive starvation event.

[Minimalist]

And in the meantime, the chinese and Indians take over the rest of the world peacefully.

I remember in the 80's when everyone was whining about the Japanese buying up American real estate and "the Japs are taking over."  What they did was make some bad real estate deals and look where Japan is now.

[Cinjin]

Sure, some new bug could do damage.  Probably won't kill us all - but if 2/3rds of europe was wiped out by Black Plague Redux  I'd call that an event.  I worry more about ag disease because those superbugs do exist, and have for at least 10k years - despite every effort.  With the exception of a short blip between the 30's and the 50's it's been no contest, we aren't even on the same level.  We continue to lose that fight today, all while consolidating our -global- food supply into just three of the most susceptible crops.  The reason that crop disease is, in my estimation, more worrisome than global epidemic...is that mainline ag cultivars are uniform, and cloned.  What kills one, kills all.  A disease could spread from Heartland USA to Heartland China and kill wheat indiscriminantly, whilst a disease in those two populations of human beings might find more resistance in it's way.  Food moves alot more than people do, as well.  In the end though, a disease of crops or a disease of our own, the effect would be similar(we're pretty tight with our food)..tell you what though, I'd rather be sick /w food than healthy /w none.  Hell, running low on food will bring on all sorts of sickness and disease, no need for any new superbugs.  What we already have would suffice.  We're already in a massive starvation event.

Food shortages (arguably caused by significant changes in global weather patterns due to climate change) often lead to civil unrest and even all-out war according to our own human history.  Being that you admit we're already in a massive starvation event, I'd say that makes world war far my feasible and the collapse of our society at the very least a legitimate possibility.  When a country can't feed itself any longer, there's nothing left to lose by taking aggressively hostile action against other countries.  Which isn't to say that I necessarily believe that world war is the end of everything, but I would say that our inaction over the obvious climate change could be our own undoing due to the nature of dominoes. 

Also, it seems your "everything is going to be fine based on the past" argument borders on the Normalcy Bias. No, it's not exactly the same, but some of those comparisons don't seem to hold up.  Which in truth, I'm torn about.  In one sense, I desperately want to agree with you.  Unlike many doomsday preppers, I DON'T want society as I've come to know it collapse.  I rather like going out to eat at Red Lobster once in awhile.  However, the cautious, realistic side of me knows that pretending everything is fine is extremely dangerous.  Everything is most definitely not fine with this planet's climate and this last year especially we are seriously starting to see the cracks in the dam.

[KUSA]

I am not the hardcore type of prepper but I do have a stash of necessity things. As everyone here is probably aware of, I do have copious amounts of guns and ammo that will help me through hard times (if I don't shoot myself cleaning them first).

Will we see see hard times in the near future? I'd give it a 10% chance. I think the U.S. Will have some type of economic dip that will cause the roaches to do stupid shit.

[The Grand Nudger]

When a country can't feed itself it's aggression is counted in the number of walking corpses they have to pile up at your walls.  You can only fight so long as your rations hold out.  Not saying this to disagree, just commenting on how a starving WW3 would be fucking terrible...but probably less lethal, itself, than the starving.   Imagine having the desire and the need to assault some neighboring city for food....but knowing that you're all just too weak to carry it out, lol.  

You've misread me.  Society as we know it -will- crumble.  That's just not a bad thing to me (I wish some parts of it would crumble faster than others, but meh).  Our society is built over the rubble to our great benefit.  Ours will be added to that pile one day.  Everything will be fine, for them...and I'm taking the hypothetical as a chance to live on vicariously through whomever (and whatever) we become.   Based on the past, we make a mean shit sandwich, when handed a turd.  Not really ignoring that we could still point to at and say "that's shit", just trying to keep it in perspective.

[dyresand]

It's everywhere in the entertainment, and even the news media -- the world is winding down quickly and headed for a dismal apocalypse.  Well, at least that's what 22% of Americans felt as of 2012.  It's believed that that percentage has grown.  I thought it perhaps interesting to get a general conspectus about the "end of the world" from those who don't subscribe to any religion.
I didn't post this for a religious debate.  Once in a while its just nice to have a thread that isn't chocked full of ridiculous ancient superstitions.  

So, some general thoughts/questions of mine:

Will any (or all) of the world's societies collapse in the foreseeable future?

Are we in danger of a cataclysmic reset due to:
Climate change?
War?
Viral outbreak?
Economic collapse?

Are you a doomsday prepper on any level?  (ie. you stockpile food/weapons/amo, etc)

What, if anything, do you feel would/could be the most likely catalyst for ushering in the "end of the world"?



Judgement free zone here.  I'm just curious what the average non-believer from around the globe feels about the possibility of an apocalypse.

Dyresand's Reply's

1. The media, Do not always trust what you watch on T.V. the news and information on the internet is unbiased and unchanged.
Reason. Faux news and hell even liberial media. 

2. Global warming - We are starting to do shit now before its too late, we would have been doing stuff earlier if exxon would have came out
with its research saying yes were fucking up the planet but now just decided to say yes were fucking up the planet. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2...er-funding

3. Viral Outbreak - CDC more or less has a plan for everything including zombies believe it or not so viral oubreak no problem. 

4. I'm prepared for pretty much anything including zombies (Florida + boat + uninhabited islands)