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04/06/2008: "Survivalism goes mainstream as society collapses"

Faced with a confluence of diverse threats — a tanking economy, a housing crisis, looming environmental disasters, and a sharp spike in oil prices — people who do not consider themselves extremists are starting to discuss doomsday measures once associated with the social fringes.

They stockpile or grow food in case of a supply breakdown, or buy precious metals in case of economic collapse. Some try to take their houses off the electricity grid, or plan safe houses far away. The point is not to drop out of society, but to be prepared in case the future turns out like something out of “An Inconvenient Truth,” if not “Mad Max.”

Barton M. Biggs, the former chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley, writes in his new book, “Wealth, War and Wisdom,” he says people should “assume the possibility of a breakdown of the civilized infrastructure.”

[ Unstable societies make responsible people nervous and paranoid. ]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/fashion/06survival.html?ex=1365134400&en=a6b25249a30293e3&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink