Re: Hi Ho silver!!!EDITED
Yeah, you're right about the widespread violence, scams, and shortages that will be the result of government plans for chaos, but there will be one thing that most of the general public won't be able to compensate for....WATER and sewage disposal.
I say "MOST" because even if you have a well that provides decently clean drinking water but NO SEPTIC TANK, there is going to be a general health problem in mainstream society (especially cities) because of sewage buildup.
An EMP (ElectroMagneticPulse) can result from a strong solar flare (CME, Coronal Mass Ejection) or any strong explosion (especially nuclear, but it can be also be a CONVENTIONAL bomb that will effect local power usage) that will destroy/burn out (fry) most electrical circuits in existence today (modernized circuits can be SHEILDED, but few are). That doesn't just mean that America will have no power, it also means that public services will no longer operate (no sewage disposal, no municipal water being pumped, no communications, no telephone cell towers, etc.).
There have been rumors that some other countries have considered causing an EMP by causing a nuclear explosion a hundred miles or more above the U.S., but we also can't rule out the U.S. goverment doing this to us as a last resort when the time comes (miltary and police circuits have been SHIELDED).
So, prepare all you want, but even with the hyperinflation scenario, once it becomes even difficult for utility workers to get to their jobs every day, a power shortage will knock out cell towers, public services, etc. and the general public is going to start experiencing problems unimagined (the unforseen health problems, etc.).