We have been running a variety of polls over the last month or so when you visit one of our category pages. To find these polls go to one of the 5 main category buttons – as shown with the red arrows below. Once you click on one the new page will load and the polls are found on the right side toward the bottom of that page. Today we are going to summarize your answers to some of the poll we put up recently.

First up, we asked “How long should someone prepare for?” So far you have responded with “1 year” as the most popular choice with “3 months” as the second most voted for option.

Next we asked, “What disaster or emergency is your family most concerned about preparing for?” The number one answer has been; “financial crisis” which is almost doubling the next most popular choice which was “fire”. “Earthquake” rounds out the top 3 with “hurricane”, “power outage”, and “terrorist attack” being the next 3 responses.

Then we asked “Would you buy food that was grown in China?” Three out of every four or 75% of people said no. Five percent said they “only would if the prices were significantly better”.

Next we asked “What would you do in a disaster if people in your neighborhood came to your house looking for food and you only had enough for your family?” and the most popular choice with almost 50% was “barter with them for other things you my need” and the next most popular with 34% of the vote was to “share food with them”. The next most popular choice was 14% of the people would “get out your gun and tell them to go away.”

Then we asked “Would you buy freeze-dried jalapeños?” Of the 193 responses, 136 or 70% said to bring the heat!

We also polled “Have you ever tried living on your preparedness supplies?” Of those that responded 63% said they had. The remaining 37% had not.

Next up we asked “On a scale of 1-5 how confident are you in your preparations at your place of employment?” Of the 133 responses the most popular was “very unconfident” by 95 people or 71%. Only 7 people or 5% were “very confident”.

These are just a handful of polls on our site and we are working on making these more accessible so more people will share their opinions. It is fun and enlightening to learn from everyone and this information helps empower all of us to better understand emergency preparedness and for that we thank you and look forward to helping others learn and get prepared.

Thursday’s economic news was pretty bleak.  According to a CNBC article the number of Americans claiming new jobless benefits rose last week and consumer prices increased at the fastest pace in four months in July.  Prices are up, jobs are down; not a good combination if you haven’t prepared.

Our country is built upon an idea of government of the people, by the people and for the people.  In the end it’s the people who elect their leaders. Could it be that the poor choices and irresponsible policies of our politicians are simply a reflection of the sad state of mind, of the many who have elected these politicians?

Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that every American is to blame.  Certainly not those who are preparedness minded.  But if you look at individual homes in America, too many of them resemble the mismanaged financial crisis in our government.  Many are spending more than they bring in.   Many are struggling under a load of debt.  Too many wouldn’t be able to last even three days without the credit card and a trip to the grocery store.  There are some who are in this situation because of no fault of their own, but a large percentage of others have their heads in the clouds and don’t believe they need to change their ways.

These same people are the one’s who point their fingers at Preppers and mock with statements like “You shouldn’t hoard”, or “you are a doomsday-er aren’t you?”

If America is in a financial crisis, the real solution is individual responsibility.  Each person needs to look ahead, and make the necessary preparations for themselves and their families.  When the majority of Americans think this way, they will send the right people into political office and many of the problems we face today will no longer be an issue.

With our own economic concerns staring us in the face it’s easy to forget what happened in Japan just 5 short months ago.  Don’t remember?  Let me jog your memory.  Deadly earthquake/tsunami followed by a melt down of nuclear reactors.

So how is Japan handling the aftermath?  Let me share with you a recent headline:

Fears of food riots strike Japan after rice trading is halted due to a 40% price spike triggered by massive hoarding of the remaining radiation free rice supply.

Is it too far fetched to think that this type of rioting and stocking up might occur here in the US?  Not to me.  The reality is, the US is on a slippery slope right now.  While I haven’t personally seen a 40% increase in my grocery bill I have seen a good 4-5% increase and the amount of food in the packaging has gone down (by the way something we don’t do at The Ready Store).

Quantitative Easing, inflation, stimulus packages, debt ceilings, the non-existent housing market,  the roller coaster ride we call the Dow (down 500 one minute, up 600 the next, and down 400 shortly after that). It seems to me the US could very well be on the cusp of dealing with an economic Tsunami that could financially bury most Americans. A 40%  price increase isn’t just a problem for the Japanese but it’s a problem for you and me.

On the other hand maybe quantitative easing might work (third times the charm right?), inflation might suddenly become deflation, the economy might get stimulated, the unemployment rate will drop, home values will rebound strongly and the market will suddenly sky rocket.

Are things going to get better or worse?  As a country will our politicians be able to right the ship and turn things around?  I sure hope so, but I’m not going to bet my kids future on it.  Are you?

So the 500+ point loss in the stock market on Thursday really got a lot of people thinking.   And it go a lot of people scared.  But not you.  That’s because you don’t live your life worrying about the headlines of the day, you quietly prepare for the worst while hoping for the best.  In this way you don’t have to live and die by the news of the market.  You don’t have to live in fear.  Just consider some of the recent headlines:

“Three crises prompt global stock market slide” – BBC

“Dow Jones Takes Dive, Asian Markets Follow – Wall Street Reeks of ‘Fear’” – Christian Post

“Dow’s nosedive worst since ’08″ – Clarion Ledger

“Economy’s ills infect stock market” – Times Union

“Stock market tanks; Obama ‘recovery’ is a fantasy” – Washington Post

“Brace for a Global(economy) ‘Reboot’ and a War” – CNBC (marc faber)

With these kind of headlines it is so comforting to know that you are either partly prepared or fully prepared with Food Storage, Water Storage, Emergency Kits, and other emergency items.  There is nothing like the empowerment that preparedness can bring.  Preparedness goes a very long way to bringing you peace of mind.

So let the headlines keep rolling, you can rest easy, knowing you are ready, come what may!

Now, if you haven’t prepared yet, there isn’t a better time than right now.  Make sure you have an emergency plan for your family.  Take a look at where you are at with your plan and get started.  You don’t need to overreact.  Just methodically put your plan into action so that when the next crisis comes, you’ll be ready.  And belive me, there will always be disasters and emergencies.  So why not prepare now?