January 10, 2011 Preparation Is Not Paranoia Part 1 - Why?

I have decided to write these next series of posts for a number of reasons. Maybe it's because I am a fairly new father, maybe because I am getting older, maybe because I see the writing on the wall. Whatever the reason I felt that conversations around this topic should be have at a more intimate, regular person level rather than high level doom and gloom Dateline special.

What I am talking about it building your life around being prepared. Doing simple things that will could make life less stressful or save your life in the event of a large scale situation.

What kinds of things?

It could be from something as simple as getting laid off, or a little more damaging as a life changing accident, or something external that has drastic impact on your daily life. As I look as my life, my friends and family, no one is doing anything in a preparation mode that could assist you later on.

Think back to your grandma's house. What did she have in the basement? A freezer, a second fridge, a wall full of pickle jars, canned goods, cereal, boxes of food. Cash in a coffee tin hidden in the house. Why was that? Was she and every other grandma nuts? Absolutely not. She did it because that's how she grew up. She learned and practiced that in a time where you had no idea if the next paycheck was going to come. Didn't know if the crops were going to come in. They lived in that time where you had to be prepared.

Were they paranoid, no, the were being smart. That has been lost.

In today's time, technology and convenience rules. It has built a false sense of security and comfort in people's mind, going as far as removing the idea that it's even possible that the grocery stores may stop getting restocked, the lights may go out for good, or the water will stop flowing.

But when you start talking about preparing for an unknown event that may not happen, you start to get odd looks and eye rolls. That's where I came up with the name of this series, Preparation Is Not Paranoia.

I decided to write these next 3 or more blog posts about simple, little things you can do to prepare and at a minimum get a padding for your home in the event of a disruption.

I think to start off we need to list out some of the disruptions we may experience from the mild to the extreme and ask yourself

"How prepared are you?"

• Job Loss - What if you lost your job tomorrow? What if it took you 12 months to find a new one that will maintain your current lifestyle?
  
• Crippling Accident - An accident where you can't physically work anymore? What are you doing as a fall back? How would you support your self and family?
  
• Weather Event - As the winter months throw blizzard after blizzard at the country this year are you prepared if you are home locked for 3 days? Are your in a Flood Plain? What if a tornado wipes out your home? Hurricanes? Earthquakes? Fire?
  
• Financial Collapse - This is more probable as the Global Economy spirals downward. What if your Bank fails? All your investments disappear completely? Accounts vanish? Where is your money stored? Do you have any other types of currency other than dollars? Is it all electronic or do you have anything physical tucked away?
  
• Infrastructure Failure - I am in Minnesota and I was 2 blocks away and about 5 minutes from being on the 35W bridge when it collapsed. How are you prepared if other infrastructure components fail? Complete power grid outage? Water utility contamination or failure? No more gas natural or oil?
  
• Global Natural Disaster - The Yellowstone volcano erupting? Meteor strike? Polar shift? Major Solar Eruption that cripples everything electronic?
  

These are events of the unknown that we have no control over and are of major consequence to our lives. What are you doing to prepare? Do you live paycheck to paycheck? Do you have 6 months of savings to pay the bills without a job? Do you get your food for the entire week at the grocery store every week? Do you only buy Band Aids and Advil when you need it?

I am not out to scare and doom and gloom you to being paranoid I just think it needs to be paid attention to. Prepared for what disruption is entirely up to you.

What concerns me is that there is a crutch put on technology and the American conveniences around us that has reached a point of no longer being a crutch but life support. I do not think the majority of the population could handle or survive if something drastic were to happen. From that, in the event of a major problem, the unprepared become desperate. Desperate people do desperate things.

One aspect that needs to be understood now, this is a fact
If there is a Nation wide or Global wide catastrophe, the government's number one priority will the continuance of the governing body and organization of leaders. After that has been established then comes the assistance to the individual citizens. For a period of time, each one of us would be on our own to sustain ourselves until that order if restored.
The closest example of this was Hurricane Katrina and the bureaucratic process to get assistance rolling. That was one city and the core government was unaffected by the disaster to function. Expand that nationally and think about how long it will take and what kind of response would be sent out.

Coming next:
Part 2 - The What.

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