Covid-like shortages for US consumers ‘within weeks’
Covid-like shortages for US consumers ‘within weeks’
www.thetimes.com
Covid-like shortages for US consumers ‘within weeks’
MAGA's gonna party like it's 2020!
224 comments
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Who CARES? I'm a Jesus Loving Church Going American and I FULLY Support this AS LONG as I still get to Bully GAY KIDS!
-LITERALLY Everyone who Voted for Trump since he LITERALLY CAMPAIGNED ON THIS!
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A really stunning amount of people, when confronted with evidence during the campaign (i.e. project 2025 or tariffs or what have you) simply chose to swallow whatever one sentence dismissal Trump issued; "Oh, he said he's never heard of P2025", "oh, no, we don't pay tariffs, the company does", etc. I know a fair amount of them now that are quietly eating crow and upset with the way things are going. The hot new thing I've noticed with the more normal half of MAGA right now is trying to come up with reasons why Trump is "acting so weird".
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I could give them a few reasons if they're struggling to come up with their own.
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And brown people!
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For heavens sake Johnson, didnt your mother teach you that its a wink and a nudge. You dont just say that stuff out loud.
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Y'all are gonna roast the shit out of me, but I really have a strong urge to buy toilet paper before all the weirdos start clearing the shelves (which I am fully aware makes me one of the weirdos)
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Bidets are good, decreases your TP expenses long term. Just a bit to pat dry.
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I wonder where most bidets are manufactured
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I want one so bad, but I can't get the husband on board. I have considered just buying it and installing it myself via the "do it anyways and ask for forgiveness" method, but dunno if butt spray is a battle I'm willing to choose yet. I just want to convince him it's a good idea.
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Having just spent 2 weeks in japan, I'm not looking forward to my first poop at home. Am going to be looking at cost of upgrading.
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Still have my emergency supplies from covid. During the really scarce time, I ended up buying some of those massive rolls that go in public toilets, totalled 2.4km of tissue paper in the box.
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We chose to do a little bit of "buying ahead." Where I would buy one pack of TP, I bought a second one, and when we use the first I'll get another. Nothing we're not going to use within a few months anyway, not looking to build a TP throne but just a bit of cushion. We were already mostly doing this anyway since covid because it seems like there's random shortages here and there that didn't happen prior, or at least not enough to notice.
Really, nothing beyond what I'd want to have for a natural disaster where we're on our own for a few days. Trying to be prudent without being a weirdo.
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Just wipe your arse on the curtains.
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I mean this is the reason there are shortages. People fear shortages, so they buy extra so they wouldn't be hit with the shortages, actually causing the shortage.
The whole toilet paper thing was hilarious
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I invested in a bidet shortly after the pandemic mania. I laugh in the face of toilet paper.
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Pro tip: buy a TP pack on whatever trip is one you wouldn't normally get. Do this every other trip until you have enough TP to last you 2 full normal gaps (the time between needing to buy whatever TP you buy)
Not just for situations like this, but if you're suddenly unemployed this can be a big deal, too
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I did. I live alone, so a single bulk pack will set me up for another year - and I was down to one inner-pack left from last year's purchase. So, fuck it, I'mma lock in my next year's worth of shitter paper at today's prices.
Went ahead and grabbed bottled & jugged water too - Not because I think I'll need it in the next 4 weeks of market downturn, but because if anything DOES go wrong (spring tornado, cyberattack on utilities, etc.) at least I have some on hand.
Doubled my canned good stash as well - Usually I keep 2 cans each of "my usuals" on hand and replace them as I use them, so I made room and stuffed the cabinet full for this spring/summer.
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Buy a fucking bidet
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Just take a shower of you're out of tp, you twat.
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You're so aggressive for no reason. I didn't even remotely suggest I actually bought the TP I was just commenting on my silly thoughts. Lighten up. It has to be miserable being so miserable.
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This rhetoric is just trying to butter us up for the impending next round of price gouging.
If something seems too expensive, don’t buy it and opt for goods with less headway for markup. Start cooking scratch meals and cut out the prefab stuff; you’ll take more time for food prep, but it will save you thousands in medical bills later on.
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Yup. Your new best friends are rice, beans, white sugar, molasses, (did you know that brown sugar is just white sugar plus molasses?), salt, all purpose flour, oatmeal, and lentils. Bought in bulk. And use your local ethnic markets for spices and bouillons; They’re often 3-5 times cheaper than your local grocery store.
You can just buy one or two things per paycheck, if you can’t afford all of them at the same time. Or hell, get some friends together and split a bulk bag. I have a 10 pound bucket of rice (split from a larger 25 pound bag) that I have been working on for literal months. A 20 pound bag of rice can keep you full for so fucking long, as long as you store it properly.
Then you just add extra things when you can. Maybe you have potatoes, an onion, a clove of garlic, and some pork this week. So you make a loaded baked potato soup. Also, learn to dress up instant ramen. A scoop out of a giant bag of diced frozen veggies will do a lot. If you can afford it, add a soft boiled egg too.
“Nobody has time for flour, cuz you need to wait for it to rise!” Use baking powder recipes, or flatbreads instead. Learn to make biscuits and scones, if you want to bake. Tortillas are stupid easy to make; They’re literally just flour and water, pressed flat (fucking use an empty wine or beer bottle if you don’t have a rolling pin) and cooked on a flat hot surface like a skillet. I could literally fit the entire tortilla cooking process, from raw flour to finished tortillas, into an uncut 5 minute TikTok tutorial if I wanted to. Congrats, now you have tortillas for 2¢ each, instead of a 10 pack for $5. And they’ll fucking taste better than the store-bought ones, because they’re fresh and hot.
“I don’t have a rice cooker so I can’t make rice!” Do you think people have been using electric rice cookers for thousands of years? My brother in Christ, people have been cooking rice using the “just put a fucking vessel over fire” method for over nine millennia now. Will you likely fuck it up the first time, and accidentally make porridge? Yeah. But that’s a learning opportunity, and you only spent like 5¢ making that mistake because the rice is so fucking cheap.
“I can’t afford fancy cookware!” Go hit your local thrift store. I guarantee they have an entire shelf full of cast iron cookware and baking sheets for like $1 each, that you’ll be able to hand down to your grandchildren.
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I havnt finished reading Ive just gotten excited when you mentioned the sugar and molasses information.
For years I've only bought pure cane sugar. It is interchangeabe with white sugar, it also still has its molasses. If a recipe calls for a half cup of white sugar and a half cup of brown sugar, I just use a full cup of cane sugar. This works beautifully. Even a recipe that calls for caster sugar. I have placed it in the food processor and ran it for a bit to make it more fine, no issue there. It worked in the recipe beautifully. I do have molasses in my cabinet for its purposes, because they are some, but I don't understand why today we need white sugar and brown sugar differentiated when we have regular cane sugar. To bake a white cake (The only instance I can think where you would need white sugar at the moment) is pure vanity, not practicality.
I'm so glad you've mentioned it here
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How I make rice - it turns out quite nice every time -
1 cup of rice, 2 cups of water. If we plan on eating a lot of rice, 2 cups of rice, 4 cups of water.
Boil water. Add a pinch of salt, depending on my mood. Once water is boiling, turn heat down to lowest possible setting, put in rice, and put on lid. Set timer for 18 minutes. Do not open lid. When timer goes off, turn off heat, take off lid, fluff rice.
We could surely find a rice cooker, and probably a very fancy one, but I don't really see much use for it and it's just another appliance we have to find a place to put...
Also - it's weird you bring up the molasses thing - my wife just told me about this in the past year when she mixed up a batch of brown sugar. I've lived for decades and had no idea.
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Man, I'm really hoping our OT provider is able to help my kid overcome ARFID, because feeding him is hard enough as it is. We try to home cool stuff, but the tism gets the best of him and he won't eat a lot of 'normal' foods. Good times.
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As someone who doesn't live in the US, I'm looking forward to watching this unfold.
It's going to hurt Trump. I'm sorry a lot of Dem voters will be collateral damage but honestly, an economic shit storm of biblical magnitude is pretty much the only thing that can save you IMO.
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As an American I agree, though I have to point out something those of us living this shit nightmare know...
This won't hurt him. At all. His supporters by and large are what you'd expect from full on Stockholm syndrome victims.
They excuse, Sanewash, and pretend it's part of some plan to make them great.
His supporters? They can soak in their own bloodbaths and say it was Obama's fault or some Hillary conspiracy.
The one issue voters who sat out last time, the middle of the ground twats who thought their vote didn't matter, the Palestinians who thought Kamala's stance on Israel wasn't strong enough... Those are the people who have to suffer enough to motivate them to not be so fucking indifferent to things they don't fully understand.
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IMO it's not really the MAGA idiots you need to worry about. It's the influential people in the republican party who are supporting Trump.
You're right that the stereotypical trump supporter can't be dissuaded by economic hardship.
However, the people that thought Trump was going to deliver them never before seen profits through de-regulation can very easily be dissuaded be economic hardship.
An economic hole is forming, and if it's deep enough and wide enough Trump will be unseated.
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There's a lot of folks who are either.:
Vote republican by default, but a shock could change them.
People who vote for or against the status quo based on how the feel things are going. Trump lost in 2020 in part due to people voting against whoever was in office. Hilary Clinton probably would have lost in 2020 had she won in 2016. Trump won in 2024 in part due to similar sentiment to vote out the current party after the inflation that was likely unavoidable consequence of not collapsing from COVID.
Yes the MAGA cult is unwavering, and they are a huge factor in the GOP primaries and certainly an asset in the general election, but they are not enough to assure an election.
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This won’t hurt him. At all. His supporters by and large are what you’d expect from full on Stockholm syndrome victims.
This is such a tired narrative.
Yes, yes it will.
It is hurting Trump, Trump has historically low approval ratings, people all across the political spectrum are literally shocked in realtime right now at how fast his approval ratings are tanking. Bernie Sanders and AOC are getting bigger crowds than Bernie even got during his presidential campaign. If the Republican party, Democratic party and the entire system of checks and balances were functioning in the U.S. this would be catastrophic for Trump and for Republicans in general. It still might be if we can manage to survive this.
The one issue voters who sat out last time, the middle of the ground twats who thought their vote didn’t matter, the Palestinians who thought Kamala’s stance on Israel wasn’t strong enough… Those are the people who have to suffer enough to motivate them to not be so fucking indifferent to things they don’t fully understand.
Go spit your venom somewhere else and stop condescending people for seeing genocide as a redline.
Leftists voted for Kamala, the people who didn't vote were meaningfully connected to Palestinians or were Arab... in other words this wasn't political for them this was just a basic litmus test for whether centrist democrats can be trusted not to turn a blind eye to blatant horrific genocide against arab people while at the same time lecturing other countries about human rights.
You just directly chastised people who decided not to vote for a presidential candidate that was the previous vice president under the president that directly facilitated and provided political backing for a genocide of their people and homeland, do you understand how pathetic you sound? This isn't about Trump being worse, of course Trump is worse, what is pathetic is that you would in this moment of utter strategic failure on every level by the entrenched corporate leadership of the democratic party to resist against an openly fascist candidate... choose to pick on people adjacent to one of the most horrific genocides in modern history...
Let me re-emphasize to everyone who upvoted this fool, the person I am replying is admitting that they think their best strategy for appealing to more people with their viewpoint is picking on victims of a genocide. Do you really want to throw your lot in with people like this who are so bereft of strategies and visions that can appeal to everyone?.
By October 2024, Israel said it bombed 40,000 locations[4] in the Gaza Strip (which is 360 km2). By one estimate, as of April 2024 the bomb tonnage dropped on Gaza was more than 70,000 tonnes,[5] surpassing the combined bomb tonnage dropped on Dresden, Hamburg, and London in World War II.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_bombing_of_the_Gaza_Strip
the Gaza strip is only 360 square kilometers, the other bombed places being compared here are far larger areas, and yet there still has been more bombs dropped, almost every single one gleefully handed over by the U.S., on the Gaza strip than these other places.
When will you suffer enough to realize that you were on a tiny, cynical island of people who thought we could ignore the plight of the Palestinian people as if it were an unconnected issue to the U.S. and as though the U.S. public could be calmed down by the likes of Chuck Shumer uselessly waving his hands around as the democratic party turned around and did whatever the hell AIPAC wanted.... and the world watched on as Israel committed genocide full tilt and unabated?
Why are you still talking like you represent any kind of majority coalition? ..like you represent the nexus of any kind of ideological or political consensus?
You are an irrelevant cynical voice yelling ineffectually into the void.
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Lmao hurt Trump? His cultists will be eating rat soup to survive and insist that the economy is great and America is on its way to being Great Again™, and that rat soup is just a necessary sacrifice on that path.
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The cultists, yes... but they're not the ones keeping him on his throne. If enough rich people lose enough money he will be impeached.
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After the great divide and maga has central USA, you guys can get back to work, but unfortunately the civil war is gonna suck
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They will, but that is nowhere near a majority, look at the numbers... they are cataclysmic for Trump.
The point is that it doesn't matter to Trump, and his cronies are going to try hard to make it not matter that these things are massively unpopular to the general public.
Can we stop focusing on the fact the 20% of most crazy Trump fascists won't change? We know they won't change... but there are a LOT of people who voted Republican or who didn't vote who are rethinking their choices hard right now.
Maybe it is too late, that isn't a point I necessarily disagree with... but your thesis that things can continue to get worse and it won't matter for Trump's core popularity has already been decisively proven stunningly false by every single damn poll out there of the U.S. (try watching some Republican town halls too, they are a madhouse of people screaming DO SOMETHING TO HELP US).
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I hate that you are right about that.
The cultists at jonestown were perfectly fine to die. The magas will die for him at well without complaint.
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It's unclear if it's going to save america, considering it's 1:1 out of hitler's playbook. He crashed the economy with tarrifs before going all in.
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...as someone who opposed the fascist-in-chief by civil means and will be wholly caught up in the economic maelstrom, i'm looking forward to watching this unfold, too: it's the only thing which might save us from full-blown armed conflict and martial law...
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Glad I've lived poor. Can easily weather the tide
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It's kind of a sad superpower, isn't it? Especially when you see people who have always been coddled living in luxury, start complaining.
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I grew up poor as hell. I broke the cycle in my family just in time to have to deal with this shit. My garden is looking like it's going to do well this year and if meat starts getting scarce I can go hunting from time to time or get some yard birds from the friends I get my eggs from, but god damn (or maybe I'll go vegetarian, wouldn't be the first time), I just wanted a little more time not having to live hand to mouth.
But I'll make it as long as flour doesn't get to be the price of beef. And I'll complain the whole fucking time.
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I've always thought this shit was pretty funny. Like, oh, we're going to have spaghettio's again? I guess it's fucking Wednesday.
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When there is a shortage of choice, with the same amount of people buying from a smaller supply, do you expect prices to stay the same?
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PLEASE GO PANIC BUY
United States of Corporations
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rump proves he still has no idea what a tarriff is:
“I am this giant store. It’s a giant, beautiful store, and everybody wants to go shopping there,” he said. “And on behalf of the American people, I own the store, and I set prices, and I’ll say, ‘If you want to shop here, this is what you have to pay.’ ”
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It's hysterical how he compares the US to a department store, a kind of store that is all but dead in 2025.
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And then he makes the surprized picachu face when people shop elsewhere.
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Thanks for sharing the archive link!
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If you deposed your dictator this wouldn't be happening.
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Nah, just roll over and yell "FREEDOM".
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Great. When do they start calling me essential then require me to work while everyone else is on lockdown?
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Can someone post the article, it's completely paywalled for me.
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Covid-like shortages for US consumers ‘within weeks’ Shipping data shows container traffic from China to the US is collapsing A shopper looks at nearly empty egg shelves in a grocery store. Apollo Global Management said there “will be empty shelves in US stores in a few weeks”, similar to those of the pandemic, and warned of “significant layoffs” next month
President Trump claimed he has already struck “200 deals” on tariffs with foreign leaders — even as one of America’s biggest asset managers warned that a fall in trade between the US and China will lead to Covid-like shortages within weeks.
Apollo Global Management, which manages about $700 billion of assets, said analysis of China shipping data showed container traffic from there to the US is collapsing.
The consequence “will be empty shelves in US stores in a few weeks and Covid-like shortages for consumers and for firms using Chinese products as intermediate goods”, Torsten Slok, Apollo’s chief economist, said.
• Trump: I’ve made 200 tariff deals and spoken to President Xi
The White House claims that scores of trade deals are close to completion but has yet to release details of any. In an interview with Time magazine, Trump said that trade negotiations with foreign powers could be “finished” within “three to four weeks”.
“Ultimately, I’ve made all the deals,” Trump said in the interview to mark his first 100 days in office. “I’ve made 200 deals.”
Trump said that China’s President Xi had called him, despite China denying any contact between the two governments over the trade war between the economic superpowers. The president did not say when he and Xi spoke or what the two leaders discussed. “He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” Trump said.
Trump has placed punitive 145 per cent tariffs on imports from China, while Beijing has retaliated with 125 per cent levies on US goods. “There’s a number at which they will feel comfortable,” Trump said, referring to China. “But you can’t let them make a trillion dollars on us.”
Explaining his approach to the tariff policy that has triggered weeks of turmoil on global markets, the president compared the US to the world’s department store.
“I am this giant store. It’s a giant, beautiful store, and everybody wants to go shopping there,” he said. “And on behalf of the American people, I own the store, and I set prices, and I’ll say, ‘If you want to shop here, this is what you have to pay.’ ”
The White House suspended tariffs on other countries for 90 days this month as foreign leaders vowed to negotiate with the Trump administration, but it has not spared China.
Vowing to “fight to the end”, Beijing has restricted exports of rare earth minerals that are vital for manufacturing batteries and high-tech devices.
Apollo warned that a collapse in trade between the US and China would lead to “significant lay-offs in trucking, logistics and retail” next month.
The White House has softened its posture towards China in recent days, claiming that trade talks with Beijing were moving the right direction. China dismissed the claim as “fake news”.
Markets were subdued on Friday. US equities rallied earlier in the week, with the S&P 500 on Thursday posting its third straight gain of more than 1 per cent and the Nasdaq its own third straight gain of more than 2 per cent
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Let me put it this way. Today I spent over $700 on a massive amount of groceries and various toiletries.
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Jesus, Mary and Joseph and all his carpenter friends what the fuck did you spend 700 dollars on? Is that US?
Like I know you said groceries and various toiletries but the curiosity is tickling me.
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A few dozen eggs?
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Jesus, Mary and Joseph and all his carpenter friends what the fuck did you spend 700 dollars on? Is that US?
Eggs.
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Could actually be a lot of canned goods. The top shelf stuff is like $5 per can 😳
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Probably a lot of non-perishables, or like those camping meals with a 10-year life span.
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Stockpiling
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Yes, USD. I bought some fresh food (and do so regularly), but also a ton of non-perishables: lots of canned food, various kinds of rice, cereals, oatmeal, lots of water, etc. Protein and carbs. 48 rolls of toilet paper (I have a bidet so this will last me about two years), and so on.
I'm building up my reserves. I have a large pantry and several large cupboards to keep it all in, and could probably buy another $700 worth and have a place to keep it. I also cook at home for most meals and so I rotate through these food stuffs faster than you'd expect. There's no canned food older than two years, and most items are newer than six months. I generally buy more than I need, but not usually this much.
I'm not a "prepper" in an "underground bunker" sense, but I do prepare for emergencies and instability, whatever form it may take: political, yes, but I also live on several fault lines, so "the big one" might happen at some point. In the winter, ice and snow occasionally confine me to my home for a week or two at a time. They're all the same to me from a planning perspective.
The original price was $850, but I clip coupons and maximize sales and brought it down by over $150.
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As an individual I spend about 100 a week on groceries. My guess is stocking up for weeks of food which I've been slowly stockpiling myself. Or a large family 4-5+
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Last time I was in the states I figured it worked out to about 100 per bag of grocerys.
So they bought 7 bags. Or maybe 5 now.
Easy to do.
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Everyone ready to start intermittent fasting without choice?
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It’s one way to lower the obesity rate.
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Strategic... They stopped paying for wegovy first to get people desperate.
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Grateful at this moment for my wife who grew up food insecure who stocked up several months of food. That will run out though eventually.
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Food is one of the few things we export more to China than we import.
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I'm gonna combine it with intermittent non-pooping.
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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?
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I think the tp during COVID was kind of a fluke. It could have been anything. Laundry detergent, some food product etc. TP was just what the news hung their hat on so it's what everyone thought about when they went to the store.
I'm personally buying rice, beans, and lots of spices to make some delicious meals and wait out the price shocks of food.
Besides that, I mean what do you really need need when it comes to this stuff? I can think of a few things but it's a very short list. Really we're just going to have to ride it out and hope it doesn't get bad bad
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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.
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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!
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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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If you're just worried about the possibility of shortages and not being able to get food easily then stock up on things that will last a long time in the freezer, is something that you will regularly use regardless, and won't break you to buy in bulk.
Even with some of the prices already going up a little bit chicken is a good example, you can go by huge packs of it at Costco for a reasonable price still at the moment and other similar stores, vegetables like broccoli florets tend to hold up decently in the freezer for a little while (4-6months) and there multiple types of bread that deal well with being frozen and then later thawed out if you use bread a lot.
Basically instead of trying to hyper optimize like some type of prepper just look at what you generally go through, evaluate what out of that is something that will last in a freezer for a good amount of time, and then bulk up on it and just continue using your food like you normally would. Worst case scenario you saved tiny bit of money by buying in bulk which usually comes with a slight savings. Best case scenario shortly after your bulk buying price is Skyrocket and you can try and ride it out off of your supplies.
Avoid the toilet paper problem by getting a bidet, I spent money on the nice $300 one it has heated water which I like and now a single pack of toilet paper from Costco is like almost a Year's worth of toilet paper because I only use it to help dry a little faster than the weird but hair dryer does so i use almost nothing
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If it's really like Covid, toilet paper will be the first thing to go.
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I installed a bidet like two weeks before that entire shortage started. I have never felt more smug about a decision.
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I agree.
90% of toilet paper is apparently domestically produced in the USA.
Doesn't matter. The shortage wasn't rational then and it won't be rational this time. It will just be the first thing people hoard.
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Keep in mind that flour might be in abundance now, but if everyone in the country buys it, the supply might drop quickly.
Apart from that, dried beans and lentils are probably a good source of nutrients, easy to store and last for a while.
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I just want to add this here, in the hopes that people see this.
From what I have read the shortage of toilet paper during Covid that became a meme representing the whole experience of supply chain shocks is actually misplaced.
The major reason there was a shortage of toilet paper was not really because there was a panic buy of toilet paper that cleared the shelves out, or rather that happened only after there was a genuine shortage cause by the fact that a massive amount of people moved from using toilet paper at their jobs, in their employers bathrooms, bought from a B2B company and delivered by a truck specialized in delivering supplies for businesses... to buying toilet paper from distribution networks positioned to deliver products to consumers in grocery stores and such.
Those are seperate logistics networks with seperate companies, seperate delivery trucks, seperate everything, distribution and sales of toilet paper not smoothly adapting to the shock of Covid was a product of this, not just some purely irrational fear in consumers, there is a legitimate reason it happened and it won't likely happen again unless there is mass unemployment... at which point there are bigger problems....
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Buy a chest freezer! It opens the world imo.
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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
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You think things will be better in Trump's 3rd term? 🤔
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Let's see how long they can survive on thoughts and prayers.
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Any society is three meals from revolution
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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.
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All the sugar addicts are going to flip.
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Have no fear, Classico Pasta sauce should fare just fine, because their main ingredient is now water! Also now that it's the main ingredient, they can just dial it up as much as they want without it moving up the list anymore!
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Hit the Magas where it hurts - Walmart.
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All the qons would have to do is cut the power while the shelves are empty, point at the trans and the POC and the liberals, and tell their base that they took their stuff and that BLM/"antifa"/illegals attacked the energy grid...
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“I am this giant store. It’s a giant, beautiful store, and everybody wants to go shopping there,” he said. “And on behalf of the American people, I own the store, and I set prices, and I’ll say, ‘If you want to shop here, this is what you have to pay.’ ” - Trump
What a god damn clown. I can't tell if he's to stupid to realize what he's doing... or knows exactly what he's doing, and giving the most moronic responses to his actions. Basically, I can't tell where on the IQ range he is, from "can't wipe his own ass" or "actual genius"
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He's exploiting exactly the same weakness that llms exploit to appear so smart: he just sounds confident all the time, and since people use confidence as a shortcut to evaluate accuracy, anyone who isn't paying attention to the actual substance is going to just nod and smile at the confidence and assume everything is perfect.
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"Can't wipe his own ass" except he knows how to game the US system to benefit himself better than possibly anyone else.
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I'm living the dream with individually wrapped quilted 3-ply tp rolls and $1.75/doz eggs. Current version of the us sucks balls.
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I think they’re just trying to get us to panic buy stuff again
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No, they don't know what the fuck they are doing.
There is a difference, the difference being that they don't understand how badly this is going to end for everyone.
This won't be "covid like" shortages because covid was chaotic and unpredictable whereas this is a result of a very predictable progression of the U.S. into fascism.... and the shortages as a result from that as other economies disentangle from the U.S. economy will be long lasting and indefinite not transient like the crisis point of a pandemic.
There is no "weathering" an existential loss of trust.
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And people probably will.
For the most part, the US has staple foods covered internally. We import stuff like coffee, but grains and potatoes and chicken/pork/beef are all here. I expect that when people see the shelves for electronic trinkets go bare at Walmart, they will panic buy food. This will end up like covid food shelves; a bunch of scary videos of food shelves being empty, but then restocked within a week.
That'll mean you may not be able to get things at the grocery store when you want them for a while.
I had happened to buy a small chest freezer just before covid, and that ended up being such a good investment just then. Looks like it will be again.
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The USA is highly dependent on China for animal feed supplements (all the vitamins and minerals and amino acids that they add to raw grain to make it a complete diet for factory farm raised animals).
About 50% of all the staple crops are exported, and that market will collapse. Farmers may choose not to plant anything if the market prices are too low to cover their operations.
Normally all the trucks and train cars get filled up and take our food products to the ports , empty, then fill up with imports. Since we will not be exporting, the costs of running empty trucks and trains all over will double the transport cost components. Even for distribution of domestic food items the transport system will not be efficient any more.
It's a complex system of interdependencies that will unravel in unexpected ways.
We are definitely not covered for what will happen.
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Buy them return if it does not happen.
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Why is he being allowed out of his room?
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sad richmond noises
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They even let him back on twitter.
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WTF, this bullshit again.
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Well... look who's president again. Just saying
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i blame carter
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He's history's greatest monster!
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It’s all the drinking of liberal tears. And the drinking of conservative tears. And the drinking of the tears of the middle class. And drinking of the tears of poor people. And just eating fucking crow all the time cause he’s a goddamn moron. I’m sure there’s a lot of otherreasons. Those are just a few.
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The article is behind a paywall. Do you have other sources?
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There are actually quite a few things at WalMart made in the USA. That was big news in the 90s? early 00s? Do stock up on medical supplies like diabetic test strips and maybe get that new glucose tester today. I bet business in Thailand and Cambodia booms this year.
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They really want to pick up where they left off huh
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I bet the US bomb stores are still fully stocked for *srael.
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God that censorship of words you don't like bullshit is so annoying.
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There is such an abundance we will have to use them against our civilian population just to keep from throwing them out.
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I feel like these articles might not be true and then we all act like the sky is falling and then it doesn't. Like yesterday I saw posts about Trump wearing blue. But lots of people wore blue. I think there's bait going around
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Like yesterday I saw posts about Trump wearing blue. But lots of people wore blue
Do you really need it explained that the joke is conservatives whine about whatever the "other side" wears?
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Would be great if that was the joke. But it wasn't.
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Anything that hurts americans is a good thing.
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Indeed. It is quite fascinating how much pain Americans can endure.
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