1. What makes the idea of SHTF Scenarios so appealing and easy to day-dream about?
"There is nothing so exhilarating as being shot at and missed." - Churchill
People are naturally drawn to the idea of reaching the brink of existence and surviving through their own abilities. Flip side: people are naturally scared of being overwhelmed by circumstances unto death, and want to do anything they can to avert tragedy.
People are also bored out of their minds with their daily routine, and pine for some kind of unavoidable excitement. Being unable to choose dramatically different lifestyles (thanks to debts, needs and social ties) people dream of something outside their control compelling them to sever ties and live excitement. Hence the popularity of TV/movies.
Being a long-term Boy Scout as a kid, the "be prepared" was ingrained (not that it needed much help to). Preparation can only be ongoing if you believe it will be needed eventually.
Most people live on a razor's edge: cut a power line, cancel a credit card, and/or stop a paycheck and personal collapse is imminent. Turn off the TV and half the population would be zombified. Most couldn't survive on their own for more than a few days ... at which point they, potentially in large numbers, become YOUR problem. Last summer there was a run on gas in this area; no gas meant no getting to work (or more precisely, no coming home from work - much worse), which soon could lead to no paycheck, no grocery store restocking, no electricity, and finding myself in an apartment complex with a thousand comparably unsupplied and distressed people.
Finally: S
does HTF at times. New Orleans flooded - 80% of a major city suddenly underwater. NY blacked out - a million people per square mile with no functioning infrastructure. LA riots - city on fire, police/fire/military pulled out. Indonesian tsunami - quarter million people dead in minutes. ... and so on, overlooking the overlooked incidents which did not involve newsworthy populations yet affected the residents just as much.
2. Of all of the situations out there, Skynet, Zombies, Civil War, Jihad in America, etcetra...what's the most likely SHTF in your opinion?
Grand scenario? Civil war. Methinks we're approaching a point where political issues have been clearly divided, and dialog is becoming pointless as those on each side have little interest in mutual understanding with their demonized opponents. Personal and national debt is heading toward the breaking point. Fiat currencies tend toward hyperinflation. Illegal immigrants feel just as much a right to be here as anyone else - by the tens of millions, multiplied by their friends. City cores rotting out. ...at some point, enough people will simultaneously find reason to stop cooperating, and quickly learn that power comes from the barrel of a gun.
Personal scenario? Environmental disaster or financial breakdown. One well-placed tornado and my world reboots. Paychecks stop for too long for whatever reason and I'll face not having a self-sufficient homestead.
