My brother made a comment at lunch that reminded me of earlier thoughts about preparing for the collapse of civilization. I don't think it's imminent, but you can never be too careful. So on that note, what kind of planning can you do to prepare your body? Among the procedures that would be important to receive before civilization collapses are the removal of wisdom teeth, lasik eye surgery, appendectomy, and possibly sterilization (particularly for women who don't want to give birth with stone-age medicine).
Assuming you can't take any physical objects post-apocalypse, what other preparations could you make? I'd learn more chemistry, botany, and mechanics.
I would take a bunch of roids if I knew it was coming.
And a broad spectrum immunization, too.
Eat! You'll want some fat on your bones for when the famine comes! Also break into a lab and get some radioactive goo all over you so you get super powers, those would come in handy I'll bet.
The collapse of civilization doesn't lead to anarchy. It leads to despotism.
Anarchy never really lasts for long. It's a completely unstable state of affairs. Human nature is such that there are always plenty of people willing to organize and seize power when a government falls. The Russian revolution and the collapse of the Weimar Republic are recent examples.
If you're convinced that the current government is inevitably on its way down in your lifetime, then the best path from an entirely selfish standpoint is to figure out which group of thugs is likely to make itself the next government, and join them.
If you don't join that group, then no amount of personal preparation is likely to help much. Survival in times of turmoil is not a matter of personal physical skill and conditioning. It's a matter of political skill and postitioning.
And some bad news, Michael: As a blogger who has conspicuously supported the current government, in the event of such a collapse you're likely to die in an early wave of political purges. As a commenter on your blog, I would probably be in the same wave. Do you think that the thugs with the guns would say "Allah Akbar," "Long live the revolution," or something else? Or maybe: "None may oppose tolerance and diversity"?
Learn a martial art. Study Spanish.
If you can't take physical items with you, then learning every skill you can would be helpful. I personally recommend watching episdoes of MacGuyver. I have thus far learned that I can:
1. Build a bomb with a trash can and an old shoe.
2. Escape from prison using a bungee cord and a mattress spring.
3. Impress people with my ultra-soft mullet.
4. Drive through 10 seconds of fire in an 1987 Chevy pickup and make it through without damaging the paint.
Take notes, take notes.
If civilization collapses, there will be an immediate economic vaccuum for the providers of abused substances. That is why I am going to start buying cigarettes, tobacco, and in 8 months or so, alcohol. Having it on hand will keep food in my belly when the commies come running over the hill.
BB: You must have read my earlier post about how anarchy isn't an equilibrium state :) I doubt I'm high profile enough to attract attention of any purgers, but I suppose you never know.
DD: Good advice about addictive substances. Do cigarettes expire?
DeoDuce, I have the same idea, except I'm stocking up on ammunition to "convert" to other consumables. Cigarettes and alcohol are probably first on my list, since, like you say, they are very liquid.
Other useful skills to learn:
Basic field medicine (stuff like in the book "Where There Is No Doctor").
Tracking and hunting.
How to distill alcoholic beverages.
Clayton Cramer also sent me an email with a link to his post about rebuilding civilization from a garbage dump.
I definitely need more guns and ammo. And high quality knives.
Learn how not to be seen. It's much easier to avoid hoards of roaming brigands if they don't know you're there. After the brigands starve to death, knowing how to farm, and having basic mechanical skills would be invaluable.
wasn't there a book "how to make an ar-15 from two rocks and a stick"? need some firepower, everything else will come.
Won't somebody please answer the question "Do cigarettes expire?" This page is on the front page of a Google search for that question and it doesn't have the answer.
I suppose the real question is "Will smoking stale cigarettes increase my risk to lung cancer?"
It is a shame to let those old fags go to waste though.
Just a thought, tobacco is a dried leaf like tea.
I read that tea's recommended shelf life is from 18 months (for loose tea) to 36 months (teabags) , if in airtight packaging.
Teabags are processed differnt somehow, not leaves afterwards.
Maybe applicable to fags, but don't quote me.