Why is every normal variation in the weather these days a "national state of emergency?"
When I was young, it snowed, we shoveled. It rained and flooded, we sandbagged. We had multiple days above 100, power outages, water outages, thunderstorms, gust fronts, hurricanes, and tornadoes.
When it subsided, we cleaned up and moved on.
A couple of things we did and didn't do: We didn't build on a flood plain, or if we did, we built on stilts. If we built in tornado alley, we had an underground shelter, and didn't put tons of money into the house. In hurricane country, we chopped down any trees which posed a threat to the house, and kept our cars garaged.
We stockpiled water in jugs. Food in cans. We had a gas-powered chainsaw, and a block and tackle for clearing debris. Some of us had a generator, and we'd sometimes gather in one person's house for comfort because they could run A/C. We'd bring food and water as a way of saying "thank you." We'd work at night if the heat during the day was too much.
I recall one summer during a power outage we merely stayed wet in cotton clothing just to beat the daytime heat for three days until power was restored. In the old days, they did the same thing, but simply sweated into their clothing.
Every variation in the weather is normal. It's happened millions of times over the billions of years. Since when did normal become a crisis or a disaster? "Disasters" are normal. If people aren't prepared, it's Darwin's fault.
Back to the question: Since when did normal become a crisis or a disaster? Since media became involved? Since people lost the skill/art of basic human survival? Since people figured out how to scam the government for big bucks to cover what they were too lazy to prevent with a few simple and cost-effective measures ahead of time?
Call me stupid, but when I couldn't afford a tree guy, I watched one for two days then bought a pair of spurs and cut my own. "Sacrilege!" you say. Guess what his training was? He watched a guy for a day or two, and started doing the same.
Have we lost the basic survival skilled called "self-sufficiency?"
What's going on, here?
