ReadyNutrition Readers, there have been numerous articles that I have penned regarding home defense and also what to do when you’re either in a rural/suburban or an urban setting pertaining to hunkering down and defending your home and family. There have been quite a few comments posted and e-mails received that naysay some of the actions suggested, and I will further clarify those suggestions. Most of the naysayers have said that such actions in an urban setting (such as escaping an apartment building and heading to a predetermined location, such as an abandoned building) are either “unrealistic” or “impossible.”
Food for thought
The reason for such suggestions is this: they are last-ditch attempts, to be made only when there is not another option available.
The purpose for articles such as these posted on this venue is to provide you with ideas to be used as tools and food for thought that may make what most consider impossible to become a real possibility.
How you may either stay in place or, conversely, run for your lives is going to depend on a lot of variables that do not pertain to each and every reader. Such is because everyone has their own unique situation, family structure, and problems associated with those two factors and the locale in which they reside. I recently received an e-mail from a reader who will remain anonymous asking specifically what to do in a running situation, that is a situation when running from the home is the only option.
Combat the uncertainties with organization and planning
As you can see and perhaps either understand partially or relate to entirely, there are many who, when faced with the only option (for whatever reason) of having to leave their home, still do not know what to do, where to go, and how to arrive there. My first piece of advice is this:
Combat the uncertainties by being well-organized and formulating tentative plans as far in advance as you can.
There is another piece of advice I wish to share. My wife and I have the sixth season of the “Walking Dead” on DVD and we just finished watching it. She and I like watching it not for the zombies, but for the situations that arise that are very realistic and true to form involving human behavior. One of the dislikes that she mentioned to me was that there seems to be no end to the amount of mistakes the characters make over and over again, and she becomes tired of these situations arising so many times. I told her that I understood, and I gave her the same words I’m giving to you, now:
When a SHTF event comes to pass it will take years…perhaps even decades…for society to return to “normal,” if it does so at all.
Consider the fall of the Roman Empire. The succeeding centuries were not termed the “Dark Ages” for nothing. It was a time of lawlessness, a time when great kingdoms and small petty ones arose and fell…a time of alliances and broken alliances, a time when robbery, rapine, and slaughter were the norm rather than the exception. I wrote a book review of a work entitled “The Coming Dark Age” by Roberto Vacca that emphasizes such a return to lawless times and neo-feudalism, where communities form around a central leader, and where either civilization or barbarity, one or the other are upheld and protected by these communities by force of might, not simply by legislative dictate or philosophical mindset.
An excellent example of such neo-feudal communities can be found in the movie “The Postman,” a post-apocalyptic movie starring Kevin Costner (from the novel by David Brin) in which he encounters many different communities, some organized along lines of a free and voting democracy, and one group in particular run by a warlord whose dictates were enforced quite brutally by his band of fighters.
Eventually, no matter how well-ensconced or remote we are, we may all have to become “nomads” and refugees, living each day as it comes, until we can meet up with like-minded others to form some kind of societal organization. This is why I continuously recommend “pop-culture” disaster and collapse movies and series for observation…to understand the realities of what we will be facing when the SHTF.
By seeing these situations that are similar to what we will face, we have a better understanding of the way societal collapses occur. I highly recommend the nonfiction works of Jared Diamond, such as “Guns, Germs, and Steel,” “The Third Chimpanzee,” and “Collapse,” for in-depth studies and analyses that delve into things deeply from a social and anthropological perspective. The first work characterizes driving forces of disease and warfare, the second is an anthropological treatise on man and his history and nature, and the third takes models of societies that have collapsed and explores the underlying reasons for their downfall.
My final piece of advice regarding these studies: Do not discount what is possible merely because it is improbable.
Has it happened before? It is written that nothing new is under the sun, and what has happened will happen again, just not remembered from when it happened before, in a nutshell. How close is it to happening? What plans do you have in place if you are going to defend where you live, or if you have to run? Have you examined the types of situations you may face at home or on the run, factors such as marauders, a hostile government, a plague, or an area that has been rendered radioactive?
Study nonfiction to learn what situations have arisen, and study the fiction to see what will arise in the future. You can best prepare by immersing yourself in study, familiarizing yourself with the situations that can arise, and either as an individual or as a family unit coming up with plans to follow that can smooth things out and enable you to arrive upon a solution. Prepping needs material and training to work, but also a discipline of the mind, and the realization that our minds need constant study and reinforcement in order to be at our best. So, do the best you can in the fight, and study what has happened and the possibilities of what is to come in order to better prepare yourself. JJ out!
You forgot # 1
Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savor.
There was no Jesus. It’s a metaphor. There is NOTHING in your life you have not been lying about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1S6rG7qFr4 – Zeitgeist – Greatest Story Ever Told
MAN! Are you in for a surprise!
The entire bible is filled with evil dictates, confusions, contradictions, false prophecies and just plain bad advice. The kind of advice one would expect from a tribal volcano war god named Yahweh, created in the desert during the Iron Age. Even Sigmund Freud wrote a book about the volcano god. You might want to check out Joe Atwill’s, “Caesar’s Messiah”. All 3 branches of Abraham are based on exclusion. One must be chosen, saved or redeemed, or one is goyim, unsaved or infidel. All 3 branches believe in a messiah, and all 3 branches believe in an end times. Christians froth at the mouth when you inform them that Allah is indeed Yahweh.Observe the behavior of all 3 branches on a global scale, each vying for “dominion over the Earth”. Why do those believing in Matrix Religions think they have a corner on morality and consciousness?
Allah is NOT the God of the Jews or the Christians. Allah said to kill everyone who does not believe in him.
Jesus said to forgive those who were killing Him. Not the same. Allah is the devil. Jesus is the only way to God.
As I stated, the bible is filled with contradictions.
Luke chapter 19 verse 27, Jesus says, “But those mine enemies, which
would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them
before me.”
Isn’t that the same paraphrase in which you credit Allah?
The “god of the muslims has a gravesite that the muslims visit. Yaweh GOD has NO grave!!! He is alive
Allah is Yahweh, the 3 branches of Abraham worship the same God. You must be referring to the grave-site of the prophet of Islam, Muhammed. The Christians didn’t think the Jews got it right, and the Muslims didn’t think the Christians got it right. That is why new messiahs and prophets appeared, but it is all under the same god Yahweh.
Jesus is LORD of ALL. Thank you.
Anna, you are wrong on so many levels. Have fun wearing your Hijab after you undergo the female mutilation they make the muslim women do..
I reject all 3 Abraham religions, and their devil too, 2 sides of the same coin, can’t get much more psychopathic then Mr. Yahweh.
” Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.” Psalm 137:9
Jesus was an historical figure. And He is as real as you or me.
How to get to Heaven ? Just admit to Jesus that you are a sinner, and accept His forgiveness. Congratulations ! Now I will see you in Heaven !
Go and start your life anew.
As a former Phoenix/PRU operator with over 5 1/2 years in the bush I find your articles enlighten and informative regardless of what the wannabes chime in with! Thanks brother!!
Dear Arizonian,
I thank you, Sir. That is exactly what I want: what I write is not for me, it’s for them. To give an edge and maybe a little more of a fighting chance when it hits.
I thank you for your service, Sir. You may reach me at jj@SHTFplan.com to go to my e-mail. Feel welcome to write me anytime, and watch your six!
Respectfully Yours,
JJ
One of my big concerns is the number of people planning to barter.. REALLY?? It’s a good way to broadcast that you have extra widgets to be plundered. Don’t think for a minute that your neighbor wouldn’t kill you for a food item he knew you had when his kids are hungry. Also, don’t tell people about your preps! I have seen people on various sites saying “I am going to set up a big pot of soup at a table on the sidewalk and feed every hungry person who walks by. Really a good way to use your prep foods up in record time and have the rest stolen. Maybe even get killed…