As the administrator of this site lies struggling for his life in the hospital today (And no, I am not exaggerating....if you want to tell him something now would be a good time to do that by Diner PM, or him drop a thank-you note.), I am just thinking back to how I came upon this site, and what kept me coming back in spite of all the "negative waves" I received from a lot of people in the beginning (including RE).
I have to give RE credit. In spite of frequent bitching by the "freedom of speech" crowd, it was the editorial policy here of "Say anything you want, but be prepared to back it up or be deluged with a boatload of truth" that attracted me in the first place and has kept me coming back. I have often heard things here from a bunch of fairly smart people that made me rethink my own preferred narratives...and believe it or not, caused me to modify my views from time to time.
Over the five years I've been checking in on most days here, a long string of preppers, survivalists, eco-terrorists-in-training, revolutionaries and malcontents have fought it out with those who wanted to come here and argue that the world was in fact NOT actually going to hell in a handbasket and everything's fine.
I don't know what happens now if RE bites the dust. I expect this site will fold, or at best become a dead site. I hope it stays up, and I will try to help with that. This site is RE's real monument, and not the fancy tombstone he's had so much fun creating (although I don't begrudge him the fun he's obviously had getting that silly thing made.)
I'm not sure what I'll do with my time. I discovered years ago that I wasn't likely to become a famous blogger (missed the time window, if nothing else) and so I found a place to write here on the forum, mostly behind the curtain. Not sure who I'll argue with now. RE is the best person I ever found to argue with. Always willing to go to the mat over just about anything, and not always right (although always certain).
That's important. Who wants to argue with somebody who's always right? Like arguing with God, it's a low-pay-off proposition, and gets old really fast. RE is wrong often enough for me to enjoy the verbal sparring and maybe win one every once in a while, and I like that.
But...what I wanted to do is take a survey, and ask for you to please vote, and more especially to comment in more detail, about when you became collapse aware. What made "the lights come on" for you? When was that? Where were you? Did it change your life at all?
I know exactly when the lights came on for me. It was when I read Ruppert's PO book at Christmas in 2010. Since then my outlook has changed radically and my way of life, if not radically, at least noticeably. I have not changed the world, nor was it ever my intention to do so. I'm primarily a selfish fuck whose interest is staying alive and maybe doing something to better the circumstances of my own somewhat spoiled (but still decent) kids and any children they might have. I came here after getting tired of the (mostly) alt.right commentariat on Jim Quinn's site The Burning Platform. It was RE's Diner proselytizing that did it. Advertising works, for better or worse.
RE has always said the lights came on for him when Lehman went belly-up in 2008.
So, when did the lights come on for you?
A lot of people read this forum who have never written a word here. I know that. (Thanks for reading, btw.) If you don't want to comment, at least vote in the poll. Your location will not be tracked (unless it already is) and nobody from here will try to sell you anything (Unless you're local and you'd like to get a great deal on a pig. In that case PM me instead of RE.)
The poll might not have every possible scenario covered. That's why the comments are important. Please take the time to comment, even if you never comment. I never conducted a poll before, either.