Wow. Just wow. That woman is SO out of touch…
1. Food storage. "Doomsday" prepping assumes you're going to have a higher caloric need than today, simply because you're not going to have gadgets and utilities to power them doing the work for you. I generally assume 2400 calories for adults and 1600 calories for kids (a total over-estimation there, but the math is going to work out…) So let's say I store a year's supply for a family of six. 11200 calories per day, 365 days worth. Typical "disaster" prepping assumes 1200 calories per day per adult. That means I have a year's supply of food for 9.3 adults. Or a one month supply for 112 adults! I live in an apartment building, and I live alone. But I could feed everyone in this building for a MONTH all by myself with a good family year's supply.
I'm not really expecting to do that, but y'know, the possibility exists.
2. Weapons and ammo. Let's be honest, since we're on a gun forum here. This is what she's really concerned about. We have what we have, and like most people we generally intend to keep it and to decide for ourselves which people we're going to help. And we tend to prepare to defend ourselves against whoever might take what we've got. If she thinks that's not going to be necessary, then frankly she's a moron. Quite simply a moron. Look at Katrina. Look at Sandy. Look at Haiti. Hell, even look at Japan in isolated incidents (though I'm pleased to say there was shockingly little of that kind of behavior in Japan…)
When people are desperate, even the most upright person will be tempted to crime. Those who are used to it won't hesitate. And yes, the government is a threat too, in that regard. If they come to take what's mine, then I cannot use it to care for those I care about. Fact is that I store what I have stored for the people I care about. They don't live with me, but they're near enough that I can get it to them. And you're gonna have to kill me to get it, because if you do, they could die. Therefore trying to take what's mine is an attempt to kill them and me. I'll respond in kind.
That's not "selfish", it's SELF DEFENSE.
3. Knowledge and skills. No matter how much STUFF you have, you don't have enough. Not for yourself and your loved one, not for barter or trade, and not for charity. You don't have enough. Given this, you've got to IMPROVISE. I fully expect that I'm not going to be trading my skills and knowledge for stuff often in a disaster. Probably I'm going to be giving a lot of it away for free. Because I don't want people to die any more than anyone else does.
I have some lightweight, high-value, and sometimes high-cost prepper gear. But I don't need my personal stove and cookset. I can make a basic hobo stove in a few minutes with a can and some steel wire and use any pots and pans. I wouldn't want to carry it far, which is why I bought what I did for myself. But I can make what others need. The same goes for a lot of things: I bought the stuff I want for myself, but I can always improvise for others. And indeed, I expect I'll do so.
Hopefully there'll be some relief regarding food if the disaster goes on for long, though, because that's going to run out for people with or without my help, whether or not I were "selfish" with my stores.
