The End of Mankind

It seems the more I watch T.V. or read a newspaper, the more faith I loose that people of the United States could ever survive a major disaster or catastrophe such as the one they are dealing with in Haiti right now. Many of us assume that if they were to be in an area where a major earthquake, flood, or other disaster struck, then the National Guard, the Red Cross, and their neighbors will be on the scene within hours to give us food, water, shelter and then help rebuild our homes and our lives. Wrong.
A perfect example lays in the wake of Hurricane Katrina on the Coast of Louisiana. Certain areas received a fairly fast response, while many others were simply "cleared" by Military troops to stop "looting"... But I digress.

Turn to any channel on television and you will see people so wrapped up in their lives and completely oblivious to anything or anybody around them. "Reality TV" is filled to capacity with idiots chasing money, fame and fortune at all costs. They scream and cry if someone doesn't replace the cap on the milk jug in the 'fridge. Now I know producers highlight these "disasters", but what percentage of the American population subscribes to this way of thinking?
If you get the chance, PBS had a great special called "Frontier House", where 3 family's from different backgrounds (one rich, one middle class, and a single fellow with his father) were placed into a 1860's setting and had to survive a summer in the Montana prairie. The outcome is predictable, what was not predictable was the fact that these families KNEW ahead of time what they were getting into, yet one family of the three (33%) was mortified that they could not bring modern makeup and toilet paper. Stating "I can't live without make-up!".
Now I know there are those that will step up to the plate and can pull through when they have to, but how many of these will turn on their neighbors and steal, or even kill to get what they need to survive? There are those in the survival movement who stockpile nothing but guns and ammo. I suppose they count on others to stockpile for them and they will come and take it later.
It is my honest opinion that those Americans that are already used to "going without" will be the ones most likely to survive a long term emergency. Those of us that have missed a meal once in awhile are more likely to be able to cope with missing another one. There is a good portion of the American population that will have a severe time with the prospect of not knowing where their next meal will come from. There are even those who will starve because the food available is not something familiar to them.

I guess my point to all this ranting is that each of us has to step back from our lives and look at it from the outside in. If your reading this, then you must be at least somewhat concerned. If you simply lost electricity for 3 days during a winter snowstorm, how would you cope? More importantly, how would your family cope? Your own physical and mental preparations will make the difference between a inconvenience and a tragedy.