I believe that the United States is today more vulnerable to catastrophes that have the potential to destroy the American way of life than at any time in our past.
The threats are varied and real. Islamic terrorists hell-bent on attacking America, while both nuclear scientists and materials are more available since the fall of the Soviet Union. A traditional nuclear attack would be costly, but a nuclear device used to create electromagnetic pulse (EMP) could damage our electrical grid so severely that it would take years to repair, essentially devastating our economy.
The same globalization that fuels America’s economy, and in turn the world’s, is a double-edged sword that could wreak havoc on us. Plague – natural or a form of bio-warfare – natural disasters, oil being withheld or peaking earlier than expected, could all trigger a calamity. The world economy is now so interlinked that “shock waves” from one sector easily transfer to others, unlike during the Great Depression. If the fall of the U.S. precipitated a severe global depression and loss of stability leading to regional wars or even a world war, it’s not inconceivable that we could spiral into a new dark age.
While this may seem overly dramatic, and I truly hope it is, I also believe it would be foolish, irresponsible, and perhaps even unpatriotic to not consider and plan for at least some of these contingencies. The quote with this blog’s title, “It is worth planning for.” is from Robert Heinlein’s essay on preparing for such events. It was true when he wrote it in 1945, and still is.
The level of planning will of course vary on how real you consider the threat, and where you live. I live in Falls Church, Virginia, a suburb of Washington D.C., so I consider planning to be absolutely essential. Why? If you live in a metropolitan area, what would you do if some short term but serious event or disaster meant a loss of electricity, water, gasoline, and natural gas for two weeks or a month? Do you have enough food and water? Do you have children or special medical needs? Would you be giving or seeking help? Additionally, the east coast’s population is very dense, so any multi-week crisis has the potential for escalated crime, or even starvation.
My purpose in starting this blog is to help clarify my own plans, to help others initiate and clarify theirs, and to illicit ideas, suggestions, and help from like minded individuals. The brand of survivalism I espouse is not pessimistic but optimistic; I will ensure that my family and I are survivors if the worst occurs. I do not associate with or tolerate those who endorse or mix racism in with their survivalism. Like some others, I believe that if the worst does occur, building supportive communities that will take advantage of the division and specialization of labor will be essential for attaining some level of civilization. But we must also be prepared to go the lone route.
If the worst occurred, think about all the things we now take for granted, aside from the utilities. Soap, eye glasses, bread, ammunition, shoes, even salt. Only in communities where specialists, chemists and cobblers for example, are allowed to focus on manufacturing certain substances and goods can we achieve some higher level of comfort.
Some of the areas I will cover include but are not limited to;
- Planning for short and mid-term events in suburban communities, to include detailed lists of items to have on hand, and how to prepare the home.
- Planning for evacuating to the Midwest, where my family lives in Nebraska, in the event of an obvious parading changing event, or if a mid-term event becomes protracted. This will include vehicle selection and preparation, etc.
- Security, to include securing the home, obtaining weapons, and related issues.
- Alternative energy, including solar, wind, human generated, ethanol, and so on.
- Manufacturing the essential products required for civilization (including beer!).
- How to approach and survive some of the various disaster scenarios we might face. This will mostly be done by collection and commenting on articles by experts and other survivalists.
- More areas as think of them, or as they are brought to my attention.
I hope there is time to prepare… and that the planning never needs to be put to the test.
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