The biggest wars/upheavals always seem to have "run-ups", a series of minor quakes before "The Big One" and resulting tectonic shifts. The "little" quakes happening all over the globe and making "news" only mark the stage of cycle we are at in the present.
It is impossible to predict exactly where and how our world will finally explode in its next paroxysm, though I believe folks here have probably narrowed down the most likely scenarios generally. And unlike the majority, we've tried to prepare for the storm.
In the event, preparations DO increase probability of survival. But surviving for what? For how long?
Fact is, many here have collected (survived!) more decades than the mean, we might even be getting "old". :-) So the "END" draws nigh whatever happens.
My preps are the manifestation of hope to be a plank in that bridge to another tomorrow. A bridge I might or might not personally cross but one I hope that those I care about can cross.
Because there is always a tomorrow. And there should always be hope of a better one, supported by the deeds and stores we put aside now, even as the storm clouds gather and the ground trembles beneath us.
Frankly, I can now join with those who say life can seem a real bitch when getting old, things hurt or don't work so well anymore and you know all Hell is about to break loose. But as long as you are still willing to say, "hold my beer, watch this..." it's ALL good. "Easy" was never really part of the bargain.
