I think there are different kinds of preparedness. Since I live in a area where blizzards are not unknown, and I have been more or less trapped at home for three or four days, I make sure I have plenty of canned goods, TP, batteries, etc. I try to prepare for the *likely* problems. Almost every location has its share of likely natural disasters, and a little forethought and common sense can make life much easier if the worst happens.

I can't possibly prepare for long-term disasters like war, except, as you said, looking far enough ahead to not be in the way of danger, if that's possible. Like a number of people I know, if the current occupant is still in the White House in January 2005, I will relocate. I have relatives who managed to leave Germany in the thirties, or I wouldn't have as many cousins as I do.