Ask Lemmy

OP’s data shows the U.S. is stocking up tremendously in April, and then maintaining year-on-year patterns after that with a slight downturn that doesn’t even compensate for April’s glut.

I haven’t seen this data before but it shows the opposite of the shortage I was expecting.

Cargo container bookings are down 60%. 60%! Thats an incredible drop, and it really hasn't even started yet.

I'm ready for a "Hot Tariff Summer."

I've been on a no-purchase kick for a while now, even before HitlerPig was elected. We have become such a culture of consumerism that it had started to disgust me. I've embraced the "re-use, repair, re-sell, recycle" philosophy. If i need something, i try to buy it used.

I'm a guitarist, so I buy used guitars when i get a good deal, clean them up, fix them, and re-sell them at a small profit. It puts a beautiful instrument back into service, allows a poor or new musician an opportunity to have an inexpensive but quality instrument, and its music makes the world a slightly more beautiful place.

I even went on a much-needed diet (down 80 pounds so far, and still going), and decreasing my consumption, and spending less money with evil corporations, is a primary motivation.

So let the shelves be empty of cheap Chinese-made consumer goods, i don't need them, despite how much advertising and marketing tells me i do.

The silver lining is that if tariffs become a longterm thing, people will be forced to come around to my way of thinking, and when the tariffs finally end, corporations may be surprised to find that nobody needs their shiny crap any more.

Most aren't even aware that this is coming.

I'm far less worried about the imminent supply shock to the economy and far more worried about the long term damage to things like the FDA. We've decided we're going to try to go from ~10% vegetarian to closer to 80% or 100% because I simply don't trust that thing like meat and milk can stay safe to consume. I do have a solid amount of food in my house, and if shelves start emptying I think I'll be okay for a bit, but that'll pass. I can't really leave this country, so I need to be planning for longer term problems too.

I'm soupmaxxing

Already have everything I should need for the next few years besides consumables. Considering buying a few buckets of emergency food from Costco. Other than that, bending over and lubing up because I can’t keep a cactus alive, much less crops.

I haven't actually been living for the past 30 years.

People don’t really know what to do, except save money, cut back on disposable spending, and watch carefully. Maybe buy some big things early like a laptop or EV now rather than wait for the shock. The big problems are a few weeks to months away.

My company layed off the newest hire, and bought $50k of materials we need for R&D for the next year and a half. Im in the process of buying a duplex instead of a single family as a hedge, so my cost of living will be low enough to survive on my wife's part time salary if we can keep a renter. I will be planting food producing trees and bushes, and building garden boxes after close, and learning canning.

Know your communities, people. That's the prep you need.

I have read testimonies from other people who have gone through economic/political instability and hardship. What i got out of it is that prepping will help for a week to a month maybe. But after that preppers just feel dumb after that as all that work didn't mean much long term.

The only thing that universally matters is having community ties. Unfortunately.... USA aren't very community friendly or even have the opportunity to create strong local bonds. As all community events are during work hours so only retired people part take in those.

Prepare? I'm poor lol