what do you think will happen

Hey,
Yeah there are so many things. every prepper is different.
personally im a general thinker. i'm prepping for everything.
but what i think is most likely would either be sudden mass-inflation and dollar collapse (whether US or CAN we're screwed either way).
or a solar flare, taking us back to the stone age. people dont realize how destructive a large solar flare (or emp) would be.
the majority of cars wont run as the computers in them will be fried, no power, no communication means. scary.

Tegan

It's a lucky dip really - take your pick;
The conflict with Turkey and Syria, South China Sea dispute, India and Pakistan over Kashmir.
They are your main military conflicts ATM.
Then we have the terror campaign - Al-Qaeda are looking to start recruiting in places like Yemen, and some African countries ( the Sudan comes to mind as the main one ATM in that region - but it's not alone).

Pandemics;
We have a whole heap here from the new version of the old N1H1 (now know as H5N3 -from memory) SARS, MRSA, Ebola, Anthrax - think you get the idea. I plane of passengers infected within 72 hours most of the world would be infected.

Near-Earth-Objects :- we are the target in a galactic shooting gallery ATM - have been since the very beginning of earths history - Law of averages - ones gotta hit one day 🙂

My favourite - A super volcano caldera goes off - the whole world would know that - we have 8 major ones ATM looking interesting.

Idiotic mining companies that continue Coal-Seam-Gas exploration and drilling and FRAKKING wells - we have increased earth quakes down under from this - look at the test well maps overlayed on the earth-quake maps - may be I am seeing things - but......

And this can go on all day with an endless number of possibilities.
My all time favourite and one that I see us heading for is a world wide shortage of water by 2030.

Current population growth and water consumption levels DO indicate at the very least a 40% shortfall in what will be available.
(some people in the US are already grabbing at this futures option by drilling from the state of Texas into the Ogallala Aquifer Aquifer. Under current Texas laws - if you can access this underground system - it's yours).

I am more concerned about the state of our fiscal affairs. Yes all the other scenarios are plausible and could happen in the foreseeable future, but this one is here and now. I keep hearing about this "fiscal cliff" that the US is on. Senate needs to vote through a bill that will freeze taxes, and it has to be done by end of year 2012. If not, than a law that was passed during the Bush years, states that the taxes for the poor will go up $450 /year, middle class $2200 / year and upper class $120K / year. It has been predicated that if this comes to pass, 2 million jobs will be immediately lost, we go back into a deeper recession than before, and we the people have even less money to live off...that coupled with the fact that the drought that we experienced this past summer will drive prices of grain, beef, pork, and pretty much anything farm related through the atmosphere!!!!....and this is all happening now...... What do you think?

I think I'm glad I'm not in Canada or the US but in the Southern hemisphere in a big beautiful country with a small population and still some flexibility with our interest rates to play with.

Canada is a great country and in short term emergencies we have proven to be much more civil to each other then our Southern neighbors. Would be interesting to see how "polite" we would be if there was a large scale event. As far as what the future holds... I think it is scary how many different things are getting hot all within the same time frame. Economies poised to fail all over the globe, impending water shortage, 3-4 large scale wars ready to go off, climate change, missing nuclear material. We might be able to wiggle our way out of one big threat, but combine a few threats going off in a 5-10 year time frame and we could be truly screwed.

I think you nailed it fairly well with your choice in scenarios. I still believe the 2012 economic forum data on a 40% shortfall in water by 2030 will be much sooner than that. There are multiple war zones around the earth at any given time - it's something like 7 or 9 at a time - just the intensity and popularity depends on there public awareness world wide. For now it is Convenient for your southern neighbours ( and our allies) to have the spotlight on these middle east hot spots ( as these current contenders have some old heavyweight backers - and some animosity and distrust still exists with these heavyweights) I think things will escalate in the near future and as prepers we had best have our acts together as I don't think money will be much use to us as time progresses.

its funny how we are on the precipice of another "global action" (Iran) and the elections going south for the current president. I didnt think Obama wanted to be considered a "war president" like Bush.

Dont forget the changing weather patterns including our jet stream that has and will continue to affect everything globaly as a result of our melting ice caps.

and

Aliens, lol, yes, im sure there are people that believe this as well. Be it a friendly contact or invasion, either one would change the human race. Think of the religious ramifications that would cause.

I think we'll face a global depression with huge inflation or a reset of the currency where you'll loose about half or more of your buying power. Governments are far more involved in the daily lives of everyone than they've ever been before, they will not give up that influence.
Everyone keeps using the phrase "when SHTF" like it's inevitable that government forces will just go away. I think it's far more likely that the government will stomp down hard on any "law breakers" with our new anti-terrorism laws that have been passed everywhere.
They have huge power and there's no way they'll give it up easily. There is no hiding from satellites, unmanned drones, electronic surveillance that will quickly expose those who would be targets. If find it incredibly hard to believe a lawless situation will go on for more than a few days before the troops show up and shoot first.

It doesn't matter who wins the US election, they'll do the same things. Continue to force their influence overseas, continue to devalue their currency.
They have no choice but to try to continue their game as long as possible. It's impossible to "fix" the economy. They're already 16+ trillion in debt now and they've promised another 200 trillion in the future that they have no way to cover. Those are the facts of it.

Natural disasters are no more likely now than they've ever been. Your biggest threat will be economic collapse and increasing government control.
They can take away all or part of your retirement money, anything you have on paper or just make them worthless. If it gets really bad they could appropriate any stores you may have.
Just look at what governments are buying today - same stuff we are - storable food, gold, ammo.

They may not be nearly so interested in your garden(s). You may not be able to afford the food in the stores but you need to eat 3x daily. Find natural foods, produce your own and you won't be at the mercy of them. We can do without a hell of a lot of our "stuff" but you will have to eat.

I think perfesser brings up a hard question every prepper must ask themselves at the end of his post. Can't you prep to much that you make yourself a target? If I have 50,000 rounds of ammo and the cops are running low, I am sure their is some law that allows them to "appropriate" it. Same goes for a huge store of food, water, fuel and so on. Best to prep amount large amounts of stores, but not too much that you make yourself an obvious target.

I think we will see severe austerity like we're seeing in Europe. If severe austerity happens in Asian, look for China to attack other nations. the middle east threat of war will be used as a cover to rally the masses around the flags of nato allies, however, the spin will be that we need severe austerity to support the war effort when, in fact, it is simply the US dollar collapsing.

My prediction for local effects in Canada is that 1) firearms licenses will be revoked during this time and then 2) severe austerity will proceed. This only reinforces the position to stock up on beans, bandaids and bullets. Then, the proper response to all of this is to organize General Strikes by everyone coupled with withdrawal of all assets from banking institutions. Formation of grass roots community response teams. This will force the government and banks to either cave to our demands, or use even more draconian measures to force compliance. Bottom line is it won't be easy or painless.

All of you military and police members... why would you support measures designed to enslave us all, including you?? It is time to decide if you are on the side of freedom and liberty or tyranny.

there's no solution to hit and run guerrila warfare... i think the troops in the middle east are finding that out quite readily these days.

Dont forget the changing weather patterns including our jet stream that has and will continue to affect everything globaly as a result of our melting ice caps.

and

Aliens, lol, yes, im sure there are people that believe this as well. Be it a friendly contact or invasion, either one would change the human race. Think of the religious ramifications that would cause.

Does it really matter? Prepping means stocking up for uncertain times. I really like the low risk of prepping as the stuff we put up is a win-win regardless of what happens. its always good to have food, first aid and defensive tools...

Canada is a great country and in short term emergencies we have proven to be much more civil to each other then our Southern neighbors. Would be interesting to see how "polite" we would be if there was a large scale event. As far as what the future holds... I think it is scary how many different things are getting hot all within the same time frame. Economies poised to fail all over the globe, impending water shortage, 3-4 large scale wars ready to go off, climate change, missing nuclear material. We might be able to wiggle our way out of one big threat, but combine a few threats going off in a 5-10 year time frame and we could be truly screwed.

Perhaps, Andy, but the last time there was big time unrest, most people lived in rural areas, grew their own food and relied on each other for help. Now, most are confined in big cities and would rather steal from their neighbor. Very different demographics these days...