Survival of the human race.

I had a discussion with a friend on twitter last night about how many people might survive should the economy/world structure as we know it end. I had a much grimmer outlook and thought maybe 2% of the world would be able to make it more than a couple days without their coffees or shopping malls. @LianaBrooks on the other hand figured that number might be a touch higher. Turns out she lives in Gator/Snake land and they are both good eating with the right recipes. (Yes she has those too)
My wife and I might not be what you would call survivalists, but we are in touch with what would be necessary to survive in the wild for an indefinite time. I have my own small solar system for back up power, I can build a generator station from a creek or river and could build a home in the woods given some basic tools.
This summer past, my wife and I decided to try and light a fire in the back yard without anything other than a few sticks. It did take quite some time, but in the end we had a small flame going on.

We live up here in the frozen north, aka : Canada, and it does get mighty cold up here. Today we were out on a walk through the snow with kids in tow, and I asked my wife if she brought her flint. (Yes, she has a flint striker, was a Christmas present from last year.) She answered in the positive. (of course)
With a little scavenging around for grasses, and something to use as a decent tinder, (harder to find than you might think sometimes) we had a small blaze going in about 15 minutes. It wasn't much and it did take a little time to find the right material to get the fire going. In the end however we had a small blaze capable of being more. We didn't need the fire for any reason other than the practice so with a few kicks of snow it was all but out.

It was a nice little feeling to know that should the need be there, and the easier methods of making fire be unavailable for any reason, we could have a fire for the night, cooking, safety or whatever else we might want it for.

I do know this, should everything in society go in the dumps, my family will at least have a fighting chance of survival.
So what do you think your chances would be to survive if you were given only the barest of essentials?
The clothes you could carry, a basic knife and whatever you could drum up from around you...

Oddly enough it is this same thought that often starts the stories in my head, and on that note...back to my writing!

Oh, in case you didn't notice dear readers. If you look up on the left and right of this window, you will see a new link for my latest short story as well as a new progress bar for the next one. It is already going way faster than the last! Bad guys (and girls) can be very fun to write.

Merry Christmas all and see you after the holiday!