Germany doesn’t get everything right.

Two em dashes though.

The existence of an article specifically about his opinions on a theoretical tax shows just how disproportionate the power of being wealthy is. When is the last time any of you were consulted on a tax policy that would affect you?

Farming isn’t something that is easily picked up and takes years of practice. Which means that the ones who realize your point end up actually just becoming homesteaders and aren’t really labeled as preppers. Off-grid living does have a fair bit of popularity as well. Homesteading is really difficult, and many fail. It isn’t something that you can drop a few thousand in as a hobby and act like you’ve got it figured out. Homesteading means actually moving and living your ideals. So imo a lot of what you describe is that prepping can be treated like a hobby, something you obsess over and throw some money at to feel more protected. Homesteading requires reworking your entire lifestyle and can’t really be done as a hobby. The ones who have made that lifestyle change aren’t described as preppers, they aren’t waiting for an event to suddenly change their lifestyle where they have to adapt. They have already forcefully changed their reality so they could make the changes on their own terms and timeline.

I agree with you, hoarding might help you in the aftermath of a storm, but isn’t going to do much in an actual collapse. Even farmers would be in danger of starving if fuel became unavailable. Subsistence farming and modern mechanized farming are very different.

The ultimate preppers are just called Amish.

People have been doing something about it. That’s what all the weird return to office intiatives were about. City governements are scared that the downtowns will spiral into collapse so they coerce all the companies that still have downtown offices to get their employees back and spending money at restaurants and such. If the restaurants go out of business and store fronts sit vacant, then there would be no reason for companies to pay a premium for downtown office space and the whole thing collapses Detroit style. Commercial real estate failed to price in remote work, and the covid shutdowns made it obvious just how overpriced and overleveraged it all was.

Volunteer at a farm. When everything is far away and stuff needs to get done, you learn how to be resourceful and get by with what you have available to you.

Does betteridge’s law apply to questions that haven’t been answered yet?