Journal - Shoot The Bull!

There have always been the Chicken Little’s that say the sky is falling then there are the Ostriges that just stick their heads in the sand and go about life blissfully ignorant that the sky might fall. Which are you, have you have taken the “Red” pill1 or the “Blue” pill1 ?

Friends and family of mine are constantly hearing about choices to be made, supplies to be stored and plans to be made for the day that “Something” happens. What is the “Something”, well it might be a natural disaster such as tornado, hurricane, flood, earth quake, drought or any one of the many natural disasters that happen every day somewhere on the earth. It might be economic, political or something we haven’t even thought of yet. Back in the mid 90’s I was living in Texas when a ice storm hit knocking down trees, branches and most all of the power for a week or more in some areas. Normally people are looking for their local government or someone to pickup the limbs and trees to haul them off but in this situation where firewood was running out and it was cold outside people where holding others at gun point just to get a little wood to keep warm. That’s a pretty minor incident to cause people to go to these lengths. What do you think would happen if the electrical grid over overloaded and put the majority of the country in the dark for a week, a month or even longer? We have become so depended on our technology and services provided by our fellow man and the government that the slightest disruption in them can quickly put you in a “Survival” situation.

Let’s look at this scenario, the US has lost a majority of the electrical grid during a unusually hot summer and some freak chain of events started a cascading shutdown unexpectedly. When the grid goes down you can’t just go flip a breaker and everything is fixed, it takes time to bring it back up. With no electricity and daytime temperatures reaching 110F in some places that only see maybe the mid 90s normally. Water tanks in the cities and towns dried up within hours of the power going out so there is no water for drinking, bathing, flushing your toilets or for factories or restaurants to prepare food and wash the dishes. Business is ran by electricity so most all commerce shuts down, workers are told to stay home where there is no air conditioning, no water and quickly no food. With no electricity the grocery store’s fresh foods soon spoil in the heat and all you have is canned food but with no factories running to make more, no power to run diesel pumps so the trucks stop running or at least slow down considerably. I’m just scratching the surface here, how quickly will we spiral down the drain when the power fails. It’s not inconceivable to have a power outage lasting weeks or even months from this type of scenario. On the West and East coast over the past decade we have seen the precursors to this type of event happening already.

So what do you do? Go out and spend everything you have on a bunch of canned food, water and supplies? No, you need to be smart about your preparations, do you homework! I would suggest starting by reading these two books, both by James Wesley Rawles:

I also recommend Mr. Rawles’s web site www.survivalblog.com as a good source of information on how and what to do.

You tell me, what do you think might happen in the next months, years or decades to come. Watch the news and you can get some hints of what the undertones of society are. We are seeing the Tea Party protest, people are tired of the government constantly taxing us and taking rights away from us. The Constitution is being trampled on by our elected officials we asked to work in our behalf. People fear the government not the reverse as it was supposed to be. Conceal Carry Permit application numbers are exploding all over the US and people are demanding that their states relax firearm laws. What do you think the mood is in the US?

What about from the Biblical context?

Matthew 24 has the signs of the times when Jesus will return and many of them have been observed since the fall of man and are not explicitly telling us much. But what about Earthquakes, Oklahoma usually has about 50 per year, I read a report a few weeks ago saying we are on track to have around 90 this year. Even this may be a bit vague since I’m sure the earth will go in and out of active times when there are more or less earthquakes. You can read the chapter for yourself and see all the signs and you will find that they all pretty much exist now but have in other times also and will most certainly in the future. What I take from this is that we need to be ready at all times since you can’t actually know when he will return!

There are those that believe that there will be a great Rapture and the Christians will be taken up to be with Christ either Before the Tribulation, During the Tribulation or at the End. I know what I’ve been taught all my life but I’m still studying the word and haven’t yet settled on where I sit yet so it goes back to to being ready for all three. I believe I can with certainty tell you that if we get to stick around during the Tribulation it’s not going to be easy or pleasant so you better be ready.

Pros of Preparing for Tough Times:

Might make things a bit easier for you and/or your family
Even if no long term disaster happens, short term difficulties could be made easier
Able to help others that didn’t prepare
Leave the supplies for someone who is there if you are not
Biblical support to prepare for what ever may come your way “The parable of 10 Virgins, of the Talents”

Cons or Preparing for Tough Times:

Will need some storage space
Will have to do some research so your time is required
There will be a amount of money to be spent but doesn’t have to be huge or all at once
Although you need to keep your preparations to yourself for security purposes you will likely catch a bit of ribbing from your close family.

You need to make your own decision for what you nedd to prepare for in the near and no so near future and weather you need to store up a few supplies. What ever decision you make, you and your family will have to live with it and if the bad times do come you will have to face them and explain why you didn’t make plans to take care of them.

1The Matrix Movie 1999

Mike Jantz |

Survival Rules

Friday, January 15, 2010 at 9:43

I found these on the referenced web site and thought it would be good to include them here, word for word with my thoughts or changes in italics:

Survival Tips: Lessons in Misanthropy

Trust no-one!
You may trust yourself, but others would hardly be wise to trust you. It works both ways, which is why you should not trust others. Even someone that prefers to behave trust-worthy is loyal primarily to himself, or at least to his perception of what he is, and you’ll come second.
Do not assume that someone will do anything to help you, even if they offer to!
At best, they are attending their own agenda, but often they have malicious intentions and simply aim to harm you. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and anything that appears free has strings attached.
The more people know about you, the more they can use against you!
It would be self-destructive to provide your enemy with information about yourself that may be used against you. And remember, today’s friend is tomorrow’s enemy. Those that you trust today may eventually turn on you, either because of you or because of them.
1. The More People Who Know You Exist, The More People That May Come To Get What You Have!
  The Original Rule #3 is very true however I felt to add an addition twit on it.
Never make yourself dependent on someone else’s promises!
If you make yourself dependent on someone else’s promise, you’re dependent on this person to fulfill this promise. The person may have only an insignificant influence, but if you make yourself dependent of this person’s promises, suddenly this person has a means to control you.
Never make yourself dependent on someone else’s power!
A person that has power over you can make you do things you would not otherwise have done. This may range from neglect of those that deserve your attention to criminal offenses. This is why intelligence agencies try to determine your self-dependency when they assess your trustworthiness in security matters.
Making yourself independent on others’ powers can be difficult if you’re employed and hence dependent of your employer. If you have a job, make sure you can sustain yourself for months without getting a paycheck.
If you make plans that involve other people, never assume that they will do their duty!
Do not assume that people have a strong incentive to do what is essentially your work for you. If the responsibility for solving a task lies in your hands, other hands won’t solve the task, and even if responsibility lies in the hands of others, don’t assume that those people are responsible. Try to plan around those people if possible, or make a back-up solution.
Listen to your own heart!
Never ignore your gut feeling. If something feels wrong in your stomach, then it means you don’t have sufficient control. But be aware of the caveat that you may have learned to appreciate what others have told you to appreciate.
If someone makes a statement that may impact you, verify the statement yourself before you adjust your life according to the statement!
If someone tells you something, he or she does so for a reason, and the reason is usually to manipulate you in one way or another. It may not be straight-forward to determine whether a statement is true or false. If you verify the statement, you’ll know.
Remember that people don’t change!
Very severe actions are required to change someone’s personality, so unless you own a brainwashing facility, don’t expect that anyone will alter his or her behavior. An asshole will always be an asshole, no matter if he promises to be nice. People often find different names for their behaviors, convictions, and philosophies, but they don’t change.
Never acquire something that will cause you more grief to depart with than the joy it brings you to own it!
Remember that anything you own will own you back. You may have to make periodic payments to keep it working in which case the item requires you to work for it, or you may be afraid it might be stolen. If you acquire something, make sure it is worth it.
Alway solve the present problems, and only those!
A potential problem is not a problem until it becomes present. This does not imply that one should wait until the last minute to solve a problem. Instead, it means that one should not worry until one knows that there’s something to worry about.
Once a problem exists, take action to solve it. A problem will always solve itself if left unattended, but the solution will seldom be to your advantage unless you take control.
1. The old pilot’s saying goes along with this: During a life threatening emergency, Don’t Forget To Fly The Plain!
Do not expect to own something until it is in your possession!
If you expect someone to give you something, you do not have it until it is in your hands. Nothing weighs less than a promise.