What exactly do we mean by Teotwawki? Here at SHTF America, we equate Teotwawki with SHTF America. Teotwawki means: "the end of the world as we know it" We do not perceive it as the end of the world, but rather a serious disruption of society, business, and life as we know it, that would persist for an extended period of time and create conditions that would be life threatening for a large percentage of the population.
SHTF America, or Teotwawki, is not a planned event. It is the chaos that erupts from an Act of God or Man of such magnitude, as to interrupt life as we know it; or to threaten our very existence. SHTF America can include, war, major earthquakes, pole shift, solar flares, emp’s, disease, or any other phenomena that has the potential to render civilization as we know it, void. This would include the disruption of our just in time delivery system for food, water, medicine, power and shelter. Major earthquakes are included at the teotwawki level when that earthquake is at the upper level of magnitude and occurs in Southern California, or New York where the largest percentage of our population is concentrated.
It is also possible that these conditions could be created by an extended economic collapse, but at SHTF America, we do not believe that severe economic conditons, even in a melt down, would generate the afore mentioned conditions, or an extinction type of event. As difficult as an economic collapse might be, we believe that without some physical phenomena of tremendous magnitude, like those mentioned above, a threat to life of a large percentage of Americans would not occur. Quality of life might suffer tremendously, but life itself would continue.
At SHTF America, we differentiate between a teotwawki event that has national implications and your run of the mill regional disaster caused by fire, flood, hurricane, tsunami, or economic meltdown, which can then be categorized as when the SHTF. These too require preparation, but an immediate threat to life and civilization can usually be mitigated, and the inconvenience though considerable for a time and for those affected, does not constitute teotwawki.
At SHTF America, we differentiate between a teotwawki event that has national implications and your run of the mill regional disaster caused by fire, flood, hurricane, tsunami, or economic meltdown, which can then be categorized as when the SHTF. These too require preparation, but an immediate threat to life and civilization can usually be mitigated, and the inconvenience though considerable for a time and for those affected, does not constitute teotwawki.
In a SHTF America scenario, major metro areas will likely be under martial law, and for good reason; residents of the inner city are not prepared for disasters of this extent, and there will always be those looking to loot, rob, assault, and enrich themselves at the expense of others, regardless of their race: there are now, without any emergency or excuse.
In Phoenix Arizona there is a tremendous amount of violent crime in the Hispanic American community. In this particular situation it is primarily illegal latinos committing that crime against Hispanic American citizens and other illegals. In the black communities across America, African Americans are victimized by other African Americans. Proximity is the major factor for most crimes. The same is true in white communities and also between the various races. Criminal activity has no boundary to race, only to character. Those that will harm others will do so no matter what their race, or what the race of their victim might be, so no one should take afront to the term "inner city resident" as applied to criminal elements of the population, since most crime occurs in the inner cities of America, and it is expanding into the suburbs.
The largest metropolitan areas, like DC to Boston, or Southern California pose, in the estimation of SHTF America, the greatest danger of all locations in America in a SHTF America scenario. The rationale is simple; that is where the most people live, and those people, by and large, are the least prepared for disaster. If past performance is any indication of future patterns of behavior, the good should be very wary of the bad, the ugly, and the unprepared.
After that the 100 largest cities or metro areas, and the bedroom communities of major metro areas are at risk. These suburbs will not be secure, unless they are secured by its residents who must be very well armed with plenty of ammo and directed by ex-miltary personnel or local law enforcement who know how to secure and protect the neighborhood. A shotgun or two and a hundred shells is not sufficient to secure your street. If your adversaries arrive, they will not be poorly armed, and they will not be alone.
There are only so many Law Enforcement Officers, National Guard, and Federal Troops. This personel will be deployed to secure governmental buildings first, hospitals, and other strategic assets within the inner city. You will be on your own. Exiting a city during a disaster is frought with peril, but probably better than staying behind. Even an exit of the cities before a pending doom, like hurricane Katrina and similar storms, create massive traffic tie ups on the freeway and dangerous delays.
Jim Rawles, a prominent Survivalist, recommends living in a community of less than 500 souls. This seems extreme to SHTF America, but we understand his perspective. The more people in a community, the more people that will not be prepared for teotwawki, and the more potential adversaries that will need what you have prepped. SHTF America believes that there must be a significant physical barrier, i.e. mountain ranges, or a critical distance between your community of modest size and a significant population center, as that barrier and distance may be the key to whether swarms of hungry, tired, hot and thirsty, and/or cold, maybe wet, and definitely stressed, metro dwellers will be able to reach your position.
The type and extent of the disaster and its proximity to your location will determine the level of threat for your survival and the survival of your family. Solar flares emitting an EMP or CME could send America, the world, or some parts of the world back to the 19th Century. The BIG ONE in Southern California would impact almost 18 million people. A similar event is possible in New York. Events like these in these locations would have physical, economic, and social consequences that far exceed the considerable impact of the terror attack on 911.
At SHTF America, we categorize these potential events as follows:
Level One Event: Forest Fire, Flood, Tornado, Medium Earthquake, Toxic Spill
Level Two Event: Hurricane, Major Tsunami, Major Earthquake, Solar Flare,
Evironmental Disaster, Volcanic Eruption, Civil Disorder
Level Three Event: Massive Earthquake, Nuclear Device, Massive Tsunami,
EMP, CME, Meteor/Astroid Strike, Pandemic, Pole Shift,
Massive Volcanic Eruption, Regional War
Level Four Event: Extinction type of event, global in scope.
Massive EMP or CME, Large Meteor, Comet or Astroid
Strike, Pandemic, Pole Shift, World War
Reason enough to become a prepper. Start your prep!
The type and extent of the disaster and its proximity to your location will determine the level of threat for your survival and the survival of your family. Solar flares emitting an EMP or CME could send America, the world, or some parts of the world back to the 19th Century. The BIG ONE in Southern California would impact almost 18 million people. A similar event is possible in New York. Events like these in these locations would have physical, economic, and social consequences that far exceed the considerable impact of the terror attack on 911.
At SHTF America, we categorize these potential events as follows:
Level One Event: Forest Fire, Flood, Tornado, Medium Earthquake, Toxic Spill
Level Two Event: Hurricane, Major Tsunami, Major Earthquake, Solar Flare,
Evironmental Disaster, Volcanic Eruption, Civil Disorder
Level Three Event: Massive Earthquake, Nuclear Device, Massive Tsunami,
EMP, CME, Meteor/Astroid Strike, Pandemic, Pole Shift,
Massive Volcanic Eruption, Regional War
Level Four Event: Extinction type of event, global in scope.
Massive EMP or CME, Large Meteor, Comet or Astroid
Strike, Pandemic, Pole Shift, World War
Reason enough to become a prepper. Start your prep!
