Everyone who has ever faced eviction, has that list, the list of stuff you can carry with you. Just in case, a backpack full of things you'd keep.

Years later, even if you're doing well, you still have that list floating in the back of your mind. "What would I be able to keep if I had to leave?"

This is an actually-existing bugout bag, and everyone who has faced eviction has had to think about it.

The most common cause of homelessness is unemployment.

And everyone who has been near that threshold, has made their own bugout bag.

These actually existing bugout bags, that people actually use, don't contain bushcraft crap and tactical amazon prime paramilitary nonsense. Not a rambo knife or firestarter to be found.

They contain bags full of pictures, a few books, a laptop, meds, cigarettes, spare underwear and toiletries, etc.

These actually existing bugout bags, the ones that actually get used, are used every day by people who find themselves homeless because 3 months ago they had to pay a dental bill, or had to get their car fixed, or got the flu and lost a week of work, etc

Every parent who's come near this, has at some point looked at their kid's toys and clothes, and thought about which ones they'd have to leave behind.

Every pet owner in that spot, has wondered what to do with their pet.

Half the population in some areas is now in this position, having to evaluate their possessions on the basis of what they can't leave behind. Thinking about bugout bags.

People who believed they were middle class, who thought they were not one bad thing from homelessness, suddenly having to wonder what they can keep.

People who've been here before, knowing that this time all their friends and loved ones are in the same boat, there is no one you can ask to hold onto things for you because they're all thinking the same thing.

People who have been here before, and just barely avoided homelessness because of a family friend who is now one of the 150,000 dead.

People who have been here before after a small problem snowballed into disaster, facing a more vicious punch than all previous crises combined.

And people who have never faced this before, who never thought it'd happen to them, suddenly having to think about that just in case.

And every single one, knows the name, face, and addresses of the people who chose to let this happen.

What happens when you've got millions of people not thinking of "what do I have to lose?" but "what can I physically carry?"