Patriotic duty

Lakeman5 wrote: What are you thoughts on doing your patriotic duty. Our gov tells us not to hoard but I think they have not thought this through carefully. They tell us there is plenty of food in the pipeline so there is no need to hoard. I wonder if they just dont like the optics of shelves with some empty spaces on them. Meanwhile Taiwan is telling people to shop like crazy which will prepare them to sip and boost the economy. Not sure how to weigh all that but clearly its good to buy things that are not in short supply. How about buying gift certificates to restaurants? or just giving your neighbor some stuff they need? what else can you think of?

Excellent post!   I support "intelligent hoarding," or what we on this forum call "prepping."  Hoard enough to meet the needs of yourself & family for 3 months, and be open to sharing or donating excess supplies to neighbors, not-for-profits, animal shelters etc.  

We are a very smart bunch on here and respond to media....I don't believe in government conspiracies, because they ain't that smart to be that evil/crafty!  If they were smart, we would have developed a coronavirus after SARS (2003) and would have ample supplies for any pandemic threat (predicted for years). 

Let's face it, toilet paper and paper towels are a luxury, not a life-saving commodity.  Our water supplies are likely secure, thanks to planning that has taken place in that sector since 9/11 (I helped to write the regulations for protecting water/wastewater after 9/11).  Food and paper supplies are being cranked out constantly, I don't see mass starvation.....however, "stay at home" orders mean that we will not be able to shop on-demand as we are used to. 

Be safe, be smart, hunker down and we will beat this virus into the dirt.  We did it with SARS.  

It is a fine line.   

When stocking up (because I didn't have access to large warehouse type shops) was to buy extra goods, but only one item of each at a time - this would allow supplies for others (and the shop time to restock).  This is hard to do when everyone is panicking.     It also worked because we walk to the shop and I couldn't carry too much at one time!

The above is also one way I tried not to make it obvious that I was stocking up, and thanks to this site we had enough warning.