Recommended reading: The Art of Survival: Essential Skills for the Post-Apocalyptic World. Not the book, but the article linked here, and especially the comments.
The Independent is notably liberal, progressive, socialist, or whatever you call it. You’ll learn a couple of things about the readers. First, they are as bad about stereotyping as anyone else. That’s neither a liberal nor conservative thing, but a human nature thing. Second, while it’s possible onPoint Tactical is hardly suffering from the “rugged individual survivalist” mindset, so typical of many American films, the article fails to provide enough background to tell you either way. I’m not sure the article wasn’t produced simply to mock the whole emergency preparedness concept, except that which your official government advises. The article isn’t anti-government, per se, but certainly assumes it can’t be trusted.
That is as it should be. There is no human government in history (history = on record) which long cared for the governed as real people worthy of consideration. Just the last few days here with the wildfires gutting several housing additions, and observing how the government emergency response acted, shows it’s all about control, not about human needs. This I note with the experienced professional eye of a former law enforcement supervisor. Ignoring, or simply pooh-poohing, the mindset of victims is the trademark of government bureaucrats. If your needs inconvenience them, you are out of luck. This, while better planning and behavior is easily available at no extra cost to the taxpayers. Yes, I’m insisting I could do better, not because I have no idea, but have a very clear idea what’s involved, and have done the grand emergency work several times. Public safety has been so narrowly defined it has no real meaning beyond your immediate survival, if that. Let me be the first to tell you: While you may not be able to bypass government controls, don’t ever make the mistake of thinking those controls are in your best interests.
At the same time, the records of history, both recent and long ago, show genuine TEOTWAWKI events bear little resemblance to most movies, which seem to have shaped the thinking of most Americans, and large amount of the rest of the world. Right here in East Oklahoma County, people were struggling to help each other. Those whose homes survived the fires opened them to those who lost it all. Sure, their kindness could easily be exploited, but I suspect they would rather have that than look in the mirror at someone who told a stranger in apparent need to go away.
Perhaps this is a weakness which encourages predators, but there really aren’t that many predators. People don’t become predatory overnight. There are more of them in urban areas because that’s where their behavior pays off best. Still, the anecdotes are notable as exceptions. While I might warn everyone to expect some selfish and fearful behavior among some of their neighbors, particularly among folks who find urban living comfortable, I also counsel you to be prepared for the pulling together you always see during real disasters. Yes, there were looters in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, but there were far more stories of people treating each other humanely. The only real fools were those who trusted government and went to the shelters. Government officials distinguished themselves by unfailingly making a bad thing worse. Trusting each other on that small scale of neighbors and random encounters worked out far better, always has, and always will.
The best survival strategy is training yourself in emergency civil engineering. Train yourself for work more than for fighting. The lone survivalist won’t get very far, unless he can isolate himself completely. Let them have their isolation as much as possible. The rest of us need each other, and we know it instinctively. Those equipped, mentally and physically, to rebuild will become the real survivors, and leaders, of the day after disaster.
