Everyday survival preparedness should be based on common sense, practical solutions to real life problems specific to your unique circumstances, not based on the fear of one specific, cataclysmic event. The rationale behind this approach is that major catastrophes don’t often play out in one dramatic event that many fear based preparations anticipate. Some people choose not to prepare because they’ve watched others who have been prepping for some specific disaster for years, and yet, that specific disaster hasn’t occurred. This kind of fear driven preparation hinges on your apocalypse of choice to actually happening in order to validate your efforts. For example, if you’ve been prepping specifically for a solar flare, you kinda need a solar flare for everything you’re doing to make sense. Your buddies will be texting you asking when this solar flare is showing up. Friends and family will also be less likely to follow your example if they don’t know what is solar flare is. Or they do know, but simply don’t think it’s likely.
Common sense preparation operates on a different principle. It acknowledges the possibility of bad things happening and takes steps to mitigate their impact, regardless of whether these events actually happen. If you notice your tire has a slow leak, but you’re not in a position to get it fixed just yet, the decision to keep your portable air compressor in your vehicle is an acknowledgement of the possibility of loosing too much air out on the road. The air compressor in the vehicle now mitigates the impact loosing air out on the road whether you need it or not on any given commute. As long as we have contingency plans in place to sustain us through any potential crisis, our preparation is both justified and successful. Many people overlook a critical concept about how a real world societal or systemic collapse will likely go down. It’ll most likely be a gradual process, not an overnight occurrence. In fact, most things in life are a gradual process. You’ve probably heard of the ‘boiling frog’ effect or normalcy bias, where gradual change is hard to detect until it becomes critical, and by then you’re cooked.
Look at yourself in the mirror, you’ve been aging since the day you came into this world. However, aging isn’t an overnight occurrence, it’s been a slow, inevitable process. So is the decline of a system or civilization. For each of us, there will come a day when simple tasks become challenging. Not because of an instantaneous change, but due to a gradual decline in capability. I’ll be turning 40 this year and I recently suffered a distal bicep tendon rupture at a boxing class. Doctors fixed me up but regaining strength in the injured arm is like watching paint dry. Needless to say, I’ve become keenly aware of how important it is to have two strong arms, and I think that what I’m experiencing must be what it’s like to get old. I’ve got my sons helping me do things around the house and yard that I used to do without even a thought. Think of something as simple try to pull start a chain saw with a bad arm. Similarly, societal and economic structures eventually start showing signs of wear, pay attention to them. We experience a financial crisis here, a political upheaval there, all contributing to a gradual, but steady decline.
The United States, once considered an unchallenged global superpower, has been exhibiting all the signs of this slow decline. The 2008 financial crisis, the rise of other economic powers challenging US dominance, the growing national debt (yet the nerve to issue you a credit score), trade deficits, and a deepening political divide. All these factors are contributing to a shift in the global balance of power. America’s role as a global leader and its military influence are increasingly under scrutiny and will be tested more and more frequently. This evolving global perception of US and western dominance is indicative of a gradual shift, a slow collapse of the current system.
Here’s the bottom line, our preparation should not be for a single, defining moment of collapse but for the gradual process of change and transition. Further, your preparations should be specifically tailored to get you through the unique challenges you’ll face based on your geographic location and personal circumstances. Your goal is to survive and adapt through this transition. That is the essence of true preparedness, being ready for change, however, and whenever it may come. Mindset First. The Rest Will Follow.