Any society is three meals from revolution
This probably won't be a starvation situation. This will be a supply crunch for all the cheap shit at Walmart and Target that Americans love.
WTF, this bullshit again.
Well... look who's president again. Just saying
I have the worst timing …. I’ve been trying to eat my way down to an empty freezer. I bought a chest freezer in covid and kept it full ever since, but it really needs to be defrosted. I still have more stuff in there than can fit in all my coolers and in the fridge.
But maybe I should restock while I can and try again to defrost in four years
There any sense on what would be good to stock up on now? When I've searched this, the advice is usually pretty worthless. Just advice indistinguishable from general prepper stuff. I've seen recommendations to stock up on things like flour, things that the US produces domestically in abundance. But some necessities are going to be more vulnerable to disruptions in shipments from China than others.
Anyone find a good guide or have a sense of what basic household necessities are going to be most vulnerable to disruption of trade with China? I'm not concerned with things like consumer electronics right now, those are luxuries. I'm talking basic food and household staples. I don't need the standard prepper list that's meant to prepare you for grave natural disasters. What's really needed is an analysis of precisely what necessities are most likely to be interrupted by this.
Has anyone seen such a list, or have a sense for what necessities are most vulnerable here?
My advice is if you need something electronic or mechanical and it’s expensive buy it now. I just replaced my hvac last month because I know this summer will be a mess. Most air conditioners are made in Asia. You want an e-bike, buy it now.
The more parts something has the more likely it’s going to be affected by tariffs.
Start growing some food if you can it’s a great way to be more resilient. I’d recommend buying things like coffee and tea and chocolate that are not easily grown in the US. There’s actually a pretty bad chocolate shortage right now I believe.
Also for other stuff, buy used, in thrifts or on eBay. Not only are you recycling, most sellers are individuals rather than big corps. Also, if you have old stuff you are not using, it’s a great time to sell. My eBay sales are up 10% this year.
Big fan of buying used on eBay, here. Works amazingly for clothes, too. They aren't nearly as poor quality or as dirty as people would imagine. I can get brand new shoes or pairs of pants for $10-$20 per pair!
It's impossible to know, the economy is complex. Even your example of flour may be affected. Many things aren't done by hand, and if a machine used in producing flour needs parts that's sourced from China, there could be a problem that disrupts production. Many things from China comes by ship there's already been a significant drop in shipping from there. Remember it takes more than a month for a ship to cross the Pacific, and from there it may need to go by rail to where you are. If you live towards the east coast, it will take longer, and if there's disruptions at the Panama Canal, there could be even more of a delay.
Shipping was busy before the tarrifs, companies were frontloading and warehouses are full. But if people start panic buying, that'll empt the warehouses really quick and it could be months before anything new gets shipped in and who knows what the prices will be?
Some stuff that's made in China might be fine if no one panic buys is. Some things made in USA there may be shortages or massive price increases because they need materials from other countries to manufacture them.
So the generic prepper stuff is pretty much the best anyone can offer you. Make sure you have a month's supply of everything you need, more if possible. You'd need to know the specifics of every industry's material needs and also know what people might panic buy to be able to be more specific than that.
This is why Trump's broad tariffs are insane, it's just pure economic chaos that's going to hurt Americans more than it will hurt anyone else in the world.
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