Reality Blog by Shawn Hoffman

February 2nd 2010

What is modern survivalism? In the not to distant past we watched the main stream vilify so called, “survivalists”. Usually the rejected loner who sat in a bomb shelter with 10 years of freeze dried food cut off from society babbling about the end of the world.

Today we want to break this stereotypical image and concentrate on lessons learned in and around recent events and the skills we have lost. Modern preparedness isn’t new. In the not too distant past most of us had grandparents who prepared as a way of life. They usually were a lot more self sufficient than we are. They usually had the skills necessary to get by without help from the outside world. These simple skills are something we should be studying and practicing as they are slowly being forgotten. Here is a list of the modern survivalist philosophy to make you think.

1. Everything we do must improve our lives even if nothing ever goes wrong. You can live your life by this. When you store food; store what you eat and eat what you store constantly keeping your stock rotated. That will improve your life by allowing you to purchase in bulk, purchasing on sales instead of when you “have to have” it. Storing what you eat and eating what you store will improve your life now whether you ever have to use your food for a disaster or not. You can apply this thinking to many things in your daily life but remember whatever preps you make should always improve your life even if nothing ever goes wrong.
2. Debt is cancer! Just like cancer slowly mastecizes and destroys your body debt will certainly slowly destroy your life! There is nothing that causes more grief in the life of a family than debt. Debt must be eliminated as soon as possible. There are many ways to do it. Take another job, trim your budget, do without some of the stuff you don’t really need to have. Start with the smaller debts and pay those off then take that money saved and get rid of the larger stuff. Listen to Dave Ramsey even though I don’t always agree with him he has some wonderful advice for those who are eliminating personal debt.
3. Become a producer. Anyone interested in the modern survivalist lifestyle should strive to produce some their own food. There is a power in being able to grow a garden to feed yourself. You are in danger of becoming FREE! You should strive to produce as much of your food as you can. If you absolutely cannot for whatever reason then reach out to the community and seek out or start your own community supported agriculture project. CSA’s as they are known are becoming popular as communities wake up to the fact that our modern life is not really sustainable. Become a producer of your own power! Learn about solar power or put up a windmill or even better do both. Research alternative energy technologies and become well versed in them. You should strive to produce some of your own power while living a sustainable lifestyle.
4. Tax is theft. What is the biggest drain your ability to provide for yourself? TAXES! Not only does it take away money from your pocket but it takes away time. Imagine how much less time you would have to work to produce the same amount of money if you weren’t choked with taxes. You should do everything in your daily life to avoid as many taxes as possible. I don’t advocate breaking any laws but you can minimize the damage done. Drive less and pay less fuel tax. Buy things used and avoid sales tax. There are countless ways to avoid paying some taxes. I drive older vehicles which allows me to pay much less to the thieving state to register them.
5. Stored food is an investment. Making an investment in stored food should be every bit as much important as purchasing gold silver or stocks!
6. Disaster probability and commonality. In the disaster world there are different kinds of events. There are high probability low impact events such as a loss of a loved one, loss of job, and small localized events that affect you directly or a small group but are not usually wide spread. These do not require a huge amount of preps to get you through. Then there are low probability high impact events such as economic collapse, large solar ejections (EMP), nuclear war, and large scale disasters (pandemic). These are those large scale events that are less likely to happen but require a lot of preparations on our part to make it through. You should strive to get yourself to a point to be able to make it on your own for 30 days. This will empower and encourage you to keep going.
7. Owning land is true wealth. We are lead to believe by the powers that be that having a huge house on a postage stamp lot and shiny luxury cars is a sign of wealth. You have been duped folks. The true sign of wealth is LAND! Not only just a piece of dirt but land that produces. You should have land that produces for you NOT you producing for the land. Your land should be your homestead and should be a project in sustainability.
8. It isn’t the event that is the disaster it is the aftermath and how people react to it. Hurricane Katrina didn’t last very long. Hurricanes usually don’t neither do earthquakes like Haiti. It usually isn’t the sudden shocking event that is the disaster. It is the aftermath and how the people react to it. The lawlessness, the looting, and complete ineptitude of government; these are the true disaster. Remember this when you are preparing for whatever might happen. Think about how those around you will react and prepare for that as well.
9. Write it down. Make a plan. Start your preparation on paper first. Ensure that it makes sense. When you are prepared on paper then you can start to work that plan in your life.