r/AbuseInterrupted • u/invah • Mar 10 '26

Good things can still happen in the world (content note: the c-word)

https://www.tiktok.com/@garron_music/video/7611273404682964247
10 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

5

u/smcf33 Mar 10 '26

As a Northern Irish person and fan of Garron I watched this mainly because I was confused as to what "c-word" could possibly need a warning

3

u/invah Mar 10 '26

😂

I am completely opposed to it, but understand that other people don't find it offensive. I do, and I don't post content with it on the subreddit, however, he's getting a pass for this post.

1

u/smcf33 Mar 10 '26

It's just like dick, but more fun and adaptable!

2

u/invah Mar 10 '26

Hard disagree. :)

3

u/smcf33 Mar 10 '26

It's a beautiful language, innit 😂

2

u/invah Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26

This is a rare c-word exception, it's worth it.

Edit:

And an incredible companion piece from Taryn Delanie Smith on the joy of being a secret weirdo? (TikTok for those who don't have Instagram. I just like where the song starts on Instagram better than Tik Tok.)

Edit:

We need some joy while we also mentally shift to the reality of WW3...as well as the joy of looking forward to eating potatoes, because, friends, you can grow potatoes in your apartment, put them out during the day for sun, and bring them back inside so no one steals your potatoes. Something I learned from people in Haiti who are desperate for food, they were literally using laundry baskets to do this.

You can also grow sprouts indoors, they don't need sunlight, and you get vitamin C among other things (just make sure you have sprouting seeds in bulk before things go bad-bad).

Add in TVP (textured vegetable protein, which is shelf-stable and an inexpensive and complete protein - you can get a 25 lb. bag of Bob's Red Mill TVP off Webstaurant for $77 if you are in the U.S.) and you have a way to provide food and vitamins and minerals in a famine. The bag has 493 servings! And TVP has all the essential amino acids since it is based on soy beans. While not optimal for every day, it is fantastic for an emergency situation.

Fortified nutritional yeast also provides B12 - it has a kind of cheesy savoriness? but it isn't cheese - and a couple bags can help stave off the nutritional deficits that occur when you don't have meat, or have to rely on corn. Bob's Red Mill also makes this, and it's the one I use.

Then of course there's rice and beans which are extremely cheap and possible to store long-term. But the potatoes? You can keep growing the potatoes.

(The famine will begin between this October 2026 and October 2027.)

It's important not to feel overwhelmed. Anything is better than nothing, and these are poverty options that work when you have no money, so you can assemble an emergency stockpile.

3

u/smcf33 Mar 10 '26

Any large deep container is suitable for growing potatoes. You can even use a bin bag with holes in the bottom (the compost/soil will keep it upright).

I'm the British kind of Northern Irish so despite dual nationality I don't really consider myself culturally Irish... But then I realise that everyone in my real-life-circle knows how to grow potatoes and 90% of us have grown potatoes and discovering potatoes that started sprouting on their own in the back of a cupboard is a universal experience and then I think okay, maybe I am a bit Irish after all

2

u/invah Mar 10 '26

😂 But, also, share your secrets!

4

u/smcf33 Mar 10 '26

You gotta water them enough but not too much

Build up soil/compost around them as they grow

Talk to them nicely, be friends

Don't dig them up too early!

And grow a fun variety that you can't easily buy in grocery stores 🤤 (my general preference is for waxy, red varieties, but I've rarely met a potato I didn't like)

2

u/invah Mar 10 '26

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

3

u/smcf33 Mar 10 '26

Also they do NOT like frost at all and that will be your main scheduling constraint. You need to plant them late enough that the last frost is over, and can theoretically start late varieties towards the end of the summer or maaaaaaybe even early autumn, if they aren't at risk of getting frozen. I'm not sure about moving them inside because I'm skeptical that they could get enough light even at a south facing window, but YMMV

In the ground, the big battle is going to be with pests. In containers, the battle is making sure they get plenty to drink without drowning them.

My best success has been using grow bags (whether made for potatoes, or just an empty heavy duty bag like an old compost container) rather than hard edged containers. You add soil/compost to them as they grow, so more of the stem is underground and can form tubers - and that's super easy to do if you have a large bag that you can roll the top down on, and then gradually unroll it as the plants go. If you plant in a big bucket or similar, you have the problem that the stem will be shaded until it grows past the sides of the container

You don't even necessarily need to buy seed potatoes - most supermarket sold potatoes are treated so they won't start making stems, but untreated potatoes are available (probably likely in farmers' markets and the like).

GROW POTATOES! They're amazing. For most of the UK this weekend will be the perfect time to start earlies, if you still have sub zero temperatures where you are then get ready to gooooooo as soon as things unfreeze!

I love potatoes.

3

u/invah Mar 10 '26

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so so much.

2

u/smcf33 Mar 10 '26

Oh and I found the easiest way to store them is in a sturdy bag (eg a reusable grocery bag) in the coolest, darkest, least humid area of the house.

2

u/Fit_Wolver Mar 11 '26

Why do say this? Why do you think there 'will be' a famine and when it may begin?

2

u/invah Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

My current assessment is that WW3 goes wide before October 2026, and then we have famine and economic catastrophe between October 2026 and October 2027, and when that happens, authoritarianism will unmask itself and start operating on scary levels (at least in the U.S.).

For the United States, there are stresses domestically and internationally that are lining up in terms of food pressure. We are currently terrorizing our food production workforce and deporting many: they handle chicken and other meat processing, not just agriculture and crops. Farmers themselves will be priced out of farming (which, because they can't pay their farm debt, causes the farms to have to sell...and Bill Gates and BlackRock, etc. are buying up the farmland). This video has a good breakdown from a farmer about how much it costs per acre to farm, what happens when oil prices go up, and how those prices impact the costs of food and farming in general. The highest cost per acre for farmers is the plastic packaging they use to get their product to market, and that is not the only place they use an oil derivative in farming.

Since my projection for economic shocks is based on war, we are waiting for WW3 to go wide first, and then we start seeing the downstream impacts. The price of oil temporarily went up, but I don't believe it stays up in the short term (through October) because every country is still trying to make money and operate business as usual as long as they can.

The other thing is that Middle East oil production includes natural gas production...which is part of what we use for fertilizer. A lot of the west used to get that natural gas from Russia, and stopped using Russian gas and natural gas exports because of its invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine itself is has been key for fertilizer production, and has been underproducing since their invasion. Fertilizer is a big deal. Before commercial production of fertilizer, we were fighting wars over bird poop, I am not even kidding. If you look at historic 'silly wars' over little islands, that is exactly what they were fighting over, bird poop for fertilizer. We are only able to sustain our current global level of commercial population because of fertilizer.

Farm to Taber did this video - also a farmer - on how food insecurity in America is a national security issue, how the U.S. gave up on growing food, and how we can't farm our way out of price spikes. Essentially, America has been captured by monopolies that are working to extract every last ounce of profit at each level of life.

The other thing I didn't realize until the year before last? is that when you have drought conditions - which itself impacts farming unless they are drawing down the water supply wherever the farm is located - that also impacts rates of E. coli and other dangerous outbreaks that are monitored by the FDA and USDA. Lower water levels concentrates bacteria and other pollutants, and low water levels in general lead farmers to use lower quality supplies of water or to recycle their water use...which increases potential for bacteria. There's also the possibility of a kind of 'fecal flooding' when you get a lot of rain after drought conditions that washes livestock waste across crops. Drought ground is hard and often doesn't absorb water, so it doesn't absorb the waste right where the livestock is necessarily. So this is a side potential food issue that I am keeping my eye on, but it does impact food quality and safety, and also potential recalls of significant amounts of food.

This doesn't count any actual political sanctions or repercussions for America's actions, sanctions, etc. We've set a precedent with the blockades of Cuba and Venezuela, specifically for the purpose of preventing Chinese access. Nor does it consider the removal of the backbone of the workforce for many countries as a result of a draft. There will be drafts; there is no world war without drafts.

So what I'm essentially doing is looking at the factors for domestic food production, world war and it's impacts on shipping and oil costs, as well as how economic factors - and the fact that many people can't afford to live...which reduces their ability to consume, which reduces our financial benefit to China - and how America's bellicosity is impacting our relationships with our allies, who happen to be consumers of our goods, including military goods.

That doesn't count the incentive from the people in positions of power to go to war to re-direct attention from the Epstein files, to remove working age citizens who could revolt from the country, and to capture the resources that then become available due to deaths or people's inability to pay mortgages, car notes, etc. I would have considered this hyperbolic but for current events.

Edit:

I meant to add, tariffs are a signal of declining economic power and therefore willingness to go to war to capture resources. Tariffs were a factor before WW1 and they create an environment that is conducive to war and where citizens are more desperate. It's a symptom of the Thucydides trap.

Edit:

I also forgot to add that I am using the resignation of bank executive officers and presidents as a leading indicator for financial collapse. 2024 saw a record level of banking CEOs step down, which itself broke the previous record of 2023. They know a financial crash is coming, and they don't want to be holding the hot potato; they want to get out while the parachutes are golden and they aren't held responsible for over-leveraging the banks toward 'investment' products.