Prepared?

R

Rick Leeson

Joined
May 20, 2000
Messages
198
Most of my life has been filled with organizations preaching, “be prepared”.

Civil defense has long advised people to have at least two-weeks of emergency food, water, medical, and miscellaneous supplies stored in the home. Hopefully in the event of any disaster a person would be self-sufficient in their home until normal services and civil order was restored. Civil defense printed materials (1960’s) advised people to store firearms and ammunition to protect themselves and their property BEFORE it became politically incorrect to advise people to do so.

Has been commonly recommended to drivers to keep first aid kit, flares, flashlight, water, small shovel, tow-chain, jumper-cables, duct-tape, few hand tools, and etc in their vehicle at all times in case of an emergency while traveling.

Coast guard requires emergency equipment to be carried on boats.

FAA requires emergency equipment to be carried on aircraft.

There are emergency survival gear recommendations for day-hikers, hunters, river-rafters, backpackers, campers, skiers, mountain-climbers, fishermen, and including just about any activity outside the home.

Yet many times people approach me with no gear asking for help. The most common requests are: Can you give me a jump, but I don’t have any jumper cables; Can you pull me out, but I don’t have a chain; Can you spare some water, I don’t have any, Have you got any matches, a knife, some pliers, flashlight, or whatever?

In spite of all the “be prepared” literature few people I come in contact with ever possess basic emergency items/gear with them. Maybe they believe the rest of the world is obligated to take care of them? Perhaps they just refuse to take responsibility for themselves?
 
Rick Leeson said:
Maybe they believe the rest of the world is obligated to take care of them? Perhaps they just refuse to take responsibility for themselves?
Click to expand...

Maybe they're the chattle the ravenous hordes will feed on while the rest of us are settling down for the long, hard night?


Ok... that was maybe a little over the top, but I bet you get my drift. :)
 
Reminds me of a joke:

Two guys lead a camel to an oasis to get some water but the camel won't drink. So they come up with a great idea. The first guys says to the second guy, "I'll put the camels head in the water and you suck on his rectum."

After a few minutes, the second guys says "Can you lift his head a little higher, all I am getting is the sand from the bottom."

Take care of yourself. You can't make others do things that only they can do for themselves. If you try, you'll just end up with a mouth full of sand.

;)
 
They think "it", whatever that might be, only happens to other people.
And yeah, I think they believe that the rest of the world, society, is supposed to take care of them. It takes a village, you know :barf:
Some of my friends and I refer to the "helpless majority" as parasites, leeches, oxygen thieves, etc. That's what they are, IMO.
 
I think part of being prepared involves being aware of, and appropriately preparing for, the facts of your environment. One of those facts is that most people are as helpless as sheep in a big emergency. Most people will never prepare, and there is very little that can be done about it.

Now, being "helpless" and being "useless" are two different things. I think most helpless people will still be useful in an emergency. They just can't do for themselves when it comes to providing the basics. They can, however, be shepherded into productive roles performing various tasks.

The theory under which I operate in my disaster preparedness is that I will need to support at least 3-4 times my household population. That support is an investment which I believe will return extra labor, security, and a generally better chance of "weathering the storm." Safety in numbers.

They (the mob; the leeches; the ignorant masses) will never be prepared. But I think there is something to be gained by being prepared for them.

The ones who should be left to rot ore those who are both helpless and useless :)

Scott
 
I think its mainly the lifestyle... Most of us have never had to suffer anything worse then a power outage!

We want food... we go to the grocery store.

We need something fixed, we call a mechanic

We need something at the house, call a handy man

I've got the mechanical side, I'm going after the grocery store :D

Most people never have it occur to them to be prepared... "It wont happen to them" if it even gets that much attention in their minds.

:)
 
During the Millineum scare there were people going to the Mormon Church websites and getting their membership lists. Makes you want to be sure you have plenty of ammo in your preparedness kit.
 
Most of the time, when I ask people why they don't have or carry this or that, they say, "I didn't feel like carrying it" or "I didn't want to bother."

They're serious about not being prepared, too. I have convinced only a few immediate family members to carry the Photon Microlight on their keyrings.

People seem to think if they prepare for a problem, it will appear. If they ignore it or pretend it cannot happen, then it won't.

Many just don't want stuff in their pockets. Someone I know uses his cell phone as a timepiece and as a flashlight. A minimalist, he doesn't like wearing watches (I sleep with mine on) and he says he can use the lighted screen on his phone to see in an emergency.

That's nowhere near good enough for me, but then again there are all kinds of people out there.
 
"During the Millineum scare there were people going to the Mormon Church websites and getting their membership lists. . . ."

You mean, as in targeting those with supplies for later robbery? No offence, but I would be skeptical of that without some kind of verification.

Scott
 
beezaur said:
"During the Millineum scare there were people going to the Mormon Church websites and getting their membership lists. . . ."

You mean, as in targeting those with supplies for later robbery? No offence, but I would be skeptical of that without some kind of verification.

Scott
Click to expand...
Well , the Church changed their guidlines for Ward websites because of it.
 
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