A lot of people think of TEOTWAWKI as a single catastrophic event. I call this the zombie apocalypse scenario, where you go to bed one day and wake up in a world of complete chaos the next. Obviously this is more of a fantasy than reality, as real world examples of economic collapse (like Argentina) and natural disasters (like Katrina) show that no matter how bad things get there is no situation in which there is not nominal government authority. Your pipe dream of making a living looting empty stores will never happen.

TEOTWAWKI as simply The End of the World as We Know it has already happened. Our lifestyles of cheap credit, plentiful food and American decadence are over and most people haven’t even realized it:

Suburban homelessness is at record levels, and the new homeless comprise former blue and white collar workers:

ROOSEVELT, N.Y. – Homelessness in rural and suburban America is straining shelters this winter as the economy founders and joblessness hovers near double digits — a “perfect storm of foreclosures, unemployment and a shortage of affordable housing,” in one official’s eyes.

“We are seeing many families that never before sought government help,” said Greg Blass, commissioner of Social Services in Suffolk County on eastern Long Island.

“We see a spiral in food stamps, heating assistance applications; Medicaid is skyrocketing,” Blass added. “It is truly reaching a stage of being alarming.”

The federal government is again counting the nation’s homeless and, by many accounts, the suburban numbers continue to rise, especially for families, women, children, Latinos and men seeking help for the first time. Some have to be turned away.

“Yes, there has definitely been an increased number of turnaways this year,” said Jennifer Hill, executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness in suburban Cook County, Illinois. “We’re seeing increases in shelter use along the lines of 30 percent or more.”

In a perhaps related note Minneapolis wants to limit the amount of time people can park at a rest stop to six hours.

Large retailers are cutting the number of brands they carry. Even Wal-Mart! Stock up on your favorite toothpastes now!

Pennsylvania man dies waiting for ambulance … for 30 hours. He made 10 911 calls:

Snow-covered roads, poor communication and a 911 center deluged with more than double the average number of calls during last week’s crippling snowstorms combined to cause Mr. Mitchell’s long wait, city officials said.

Ambulances were dispatched three times on Saturday, Feb. 6, to the couple’s home in the 5100 block of narrow Chaplain Way, but couldn’t get there because of the snow. Paramedics twice asked whether Mr. Mitchell could walk to an intersection, even after he told them that he could not because he was in too much pain.

Emergency vehicles were within blocks of his home three times — once so close Ms. Edge could see the ambulance lights from her porch — but did not make contact with him. They finally reached the home on Sunday morning, Feb. 7, but Mr. Mitchell was already dead.

Even A.B.C. is now running stories on how the debt will cripple our nation with tax increases and spending cuts that “aren’t even imaginable.”

China is dumping our treasuries.

The Kansas City Fed President is warning that our debt is unsustainable.

Crow Nation tribal members held a Tea Party where they called on the tribe to break from the federal government.

Credit card holders are facing “crippling” rate increases.

L.A. is set to lose thousands of jobs and will have its credit rating downgraded making it harder to borrow money.

Texas is challenging the E.P.A.’s greenhouse gas emissions ruling.

The U.S. almost had a failed treasury auction. If you only read one link, read this one.

The strengthening dollar is going to hurt our export market, thus our recovery.

Don’t expect to wake up to TEOTWAWKI. The decline of our lifestyles as we knew them started last year and in all likelihood will continue to do so no matter what plans either party comes up with. Are you prepared to live through that?

h/t Drudge and Survivalblog