Living in a Desert!!!

     In the modern world, more than 50% of people live in a desert. In the developed world, it is even higher, reaching about 74%. YOU probably live in a desert with out knowing it. How can so many people be living in a desert without even realising it?
     The answer is very simple. Those numbers are the percentage of the worlds population living in urban areas and almost every city in the world is a desert. Quite often VAST tracts of land concreted over with absolutely zero natural water.
     Sometimes, the city is built on a river but that river is usually polluted by the farms upstream which are supplying the city with food. Sometimes, a city may have lakes, even BIG lakes, but they are quite often stagnant and/or polluted by the rubbish of the urban dwellers.
     Take a quick look at the area you live in, in your head or on a map, and find out for yourself whether there is ANY potable water in the area you live. Generally, you are going to get a horribly nasty surprise. You are probably kilometres, or more, from ANY water source at all and, even then, it may not be usable.
     Have you discovered your nearest water? Now, get ready for another horrible shock. You probably won't be able to use it.
     When all of civilisation goes to hell in a handbasket, and your taps stop delivering water to you ... what is the first thing that you are going to do? Well, now that I've taught you to think about it, you are going to head straight for the water that you have just found, aren't you? BAD idea ... everybody else in the vicinity of that water is going to be doing the same thing and they probably are NOT going to want to share. Humans, as a rule, tend to be very tribalistic and territorial. This means that families/tribes are going to stake an area that has fresh water and they are going to defend it to the death.
     Why would they defend it to the death when it's just water? In reality, it is death to not defend it. A human can only survive, literally, for a couple of days without water. If the current tribe gets pushed away from their water source they would only have a couple of days to find another or die of thirst. The chances are that ALL decent water sources in the area will be defended and that means that the tribe will perish if they leave their current source. This makes it only sensible to defend it with everything you have.
     O.K., this means that you have to find a water source that not many know about or a VERY large water source, like a dam or reservoir, with areas that you can access without being seen. Does this make a difference to the usefulness of the watre source that you have already discovered?
     (A quick aside : if you live in a rural area and you have your own dam on your farm ... do not assume that you are safe. If you know it is there, so do probably a lot of other people and ownership is only backed up, at the moment, by an outside police force. A police force is supported by the civilisation we live in and, once that goes, so does the police force. Ownership is only decided by what you can keep for yourself.)

     O.K., now that we have come to realise that water sources are scarce ... lets look at a nastier side of water. Living in a City/Desert of any size means that you are going to have to get OUT of the desert before you can get a usable water source. If you live in a decent-sized city, something like New York or similar, then you have a VERY long trek ahead of you to get out. (Living in a city is NOT an optimum situation. It 'can' be done if you are HIGHLY trained in survival skills AND extremely lucky. It isn't, however, something that you want to try if you are a normal person.)
     Some one in New York City, can have up to a 40 kilometre trek before they get outside of the city. THAT is a ridiculous number. How long would it take you to walk 40km? A human being, when they stride out, has a walking speed of about 6km/h. So, you would guesstimate, that it would take you about 6 hours and 40 minutes to walk that 40km, would you not?
     That walking speed, of 6km/h, has a LOT of premises built into it. One is that you are walking on fairly solid, flat ground. (Large hills tend to slow you down a lot.) Another is that it is daytime with good visiblity. (Walking through a city, in the daytime, after the collapse of civilisation is NOT recommended.) Another premise would be that you don't have to keep stopping or detouring. (Stopping when you come across rioters/looters, or detouring around them is HIGHLY suggested.)
     Now, adding in all the factors that are going to be abounding when you try to get out of the city, to a safe water source, means that it is probably going to take you DAYS to walk the 40kms out to a slightly safer area. I say slightly safer because Urban areas are going to be absolute hellholes when this thing comes down. Even suburban areas, while slightly safer, are going to be hellish to get through. Taking all of the factors into account, if you're smart enough to move slow and dodge lots, it could take you an entire night to get 5kms.
     NOW, how far away is your water source?

     It becomes quickly obvious, after a look into your local area, that having a stored source of water that you can use to get out of that desert is an absolute priority. THINK about your water.
     And, think about this, leaving it until the last minute to grab some water is NOT a good idea. Your water is pumped by electricity and the "endless blackout" is possibly going to be your first warning that this stuff is going down. Once the endless blackout starts, it's too late to be thinking about getting water for your trip out of the Urban Desert that you live in.

Discuss the "Whys"??

OK. I admit it. I've been lazy and haven't been updating these pages.

Should I continue discussing the why's or should I get into the "hows"?
I'ts beginning to get very late, I think, and it might be a good idea to start getting into the hows and the whats. Gold has just hit USD $1611, amongst other big pointers, so I think that it might be more prudent to start getting into what we need to be doing.
If anyone wants me to get more into the "whys" then leave me a message but, for now, I think that I should be getting into what we need to be looking at.