The year is 2018. Looking back, everything in the good old days of 2011 and 2012 seem like a distant memory. And yeah, at the time those good old days did not seem so good. But now they do. Why? The world and society as we knew it are long gone and we are left with a new world, a world without conveniences, without power and without a consistent and reliable food supply.
What I have described above, in my own words, is the scenario described in a new eBook written by Todd Sepulveda, the chief guru at the Prepper Website. In his book, titled “Education After the Collapse”, Todd describes a fictional community surviving in the aftermath of an economic collapse. It is not a pretty picture and most certainly will make you want to sit back and think (as well as ratchet up the preps more than a little bit.)
But his intent is not to scare and not to create panic. Rather, with this brief introduction, the intent is to set you on a track for thinking about an aspect of prepping you rarely hear about: the education of our children and the leaders of our next generation.
Earlier this year, I ran across an blog post on the Directive 21 site that asked the question: What if Nothing Happens? The context was that of prepping. You know what I mean: the time, the expense, the worry, the whole shebang. Is it worth it and more to the point, will all of this effort be wasted?
Now I happen to know that a lot of naysayers out there will point to the year 2K brouhaha as an example of why prepping if folly. Myself, I like to think that I bring a very unique perspective to that particular time since, as an old COBOL programmer, I knew how the computer code of old would blow up with the turn of the millennium. I also know many people who were frantically involved in code conversions and even I provided a bit of consulting to the telecommunications industry in that regard.
So why was Y2K a non-event? I would say that the diligent preparation on the part of governments and businesses played a really huge role in insuring that our utility companies continued to work, the ATM machines continued to function and that daily life continued without a hiccup. (That is not to say that I did not have $5,000 in small bills hidden under my mattress, however.)
Coming back in to the present, we have six more months for the Doomsday 2012 events yet to unfold. And now that the end of the Mayan calendar has pretty much been dispelled, what is left?
There is no question about it. I am a some-times recluse. I enjoy my home, my dog and my little family of two and can go for days without talking to anyone else outside these four walls. Given a choice of staying home and watching a classic period piece on TV or going to a party with dozens of people, well, the choice for me is clear.
Yet from time to time, it feels good to be a social butterfly. Get me out on the dance floor or at a small gathering and I will bloom and shine. And so it is. We as humans crave our privacy while at the same time we long for the intensiveness of a satisfying social experience.
So how do we find the right balance, especially when it comes to living the preparedness lifestyle? On the one hand we need to feel secure that our “stuff” is safe and that out painstakingly gathered preps will be there for our use when and if we need them. On the other hand, we need to defend ourselves, our homes and our loved ones from physical harm. Is this something we can do on our own in isolation or would we be better served with some help?
There are times when I just noodle for awhile. What I mean by that is that a get a notion in my head and rather than do a knee jerk response, I send the notion in to the far reaches of my brain where it may or may not surface again. Such is the case with the National Geographic show, Doomsday Preppers.
Last year, when the show premiered, I was excited, thinking that in spite of the title, preppers and those who embrace the family preparedness lifestyle could finally find some mainstream acceptance. After all, many have thought of us as “nut jobs” and most certainly, many of my big city friends refer to “Gaye’s little survival thing”.
But after that first season, I was disillusioned with the entire premise of the show. The participants were indeed portrayed as extremists and for the most part, a bit off. It was not that what they were doing was so bizarre – well maybe some of it was a little off the wall – but that each family portrayed in the show appeared to be laser focused on some future apocalypse to the exclusion of living a joyful life in the present.
Following a tip from a fellow blogger, I watched the 2009 documentary, Collapse. In this film, investigative journalist Michael Ruppert details his unnerving theories about the inexorable link between energy depletion and the collapse of the economic system that supports the entire industrial world. Unnerving is putting in mildly. Ruppert’s view of world collapse is frightening and depressing.
After watching that piece, I was nosing around on Netflix and saw that another collapse-type film was available for streaming so tonight I settled in to watch National Geographic: Collapse. This time I got another view – a far less gloomy and cautiously optimistic view – of world collapse.
Unlike the Michael Ruppert, documentary, this National Geo film spins our world situation in a a bit more optimistic manner. It suggests that there is room for change and if we do so our society will sustain. But I digress. Let me begin with the question:
Is our civilization so absorbed by the spoils of our success that we can not see the dangers right in front of us?
Being a night owl, I watch ABCs Nightline following our local news at 11:30PM. Imagine my surprise (and disgust) when I saw that the Bernie Madoff family was pitching about $100 bucks worth of advice and a set of emergency contact numbers for $750. And if you are a big spender, for an additional $250 you get a go-bag.
According to the Black Umbrella web site, here is a description of the $750 kit:
Basic Family Preparedness
Up to 4 go cards
A family reunification plan
A family communication plan
Prepackaged go bags (priced separately)
So what is in that “Go Bag” priced separately at $250? Eye goggles, a PVC raincoat, batteries, a first aid kit, a radio, four aluminum, personalized, emergency contact cards, and a giant black Sharpie marker. There’s more. If you go to the Black Umbrella web site you will see that all of these so-called custom go bag emergency supplies are off the shelf items sold through Amazon.
Say what????