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This topic was suggested by fellow youtuber LordHumungus and I just finished recording the video clip. I think it’s a good exercise as a way of reviewing what’s important and what may deserve a bit more attention in our preparedness.
1) Realistic Security and Self Defense
By this I mean both planning for realistic events where your life is being threatened by criminals and how hard (or soft) your home may be to criminals.
For self defense since time and funds are limited your objective should be very clear. What are you preparing for? If its zombies just go for the sawed off 12 gage shotgun. You might as well be cool in your fantasy. But are you planning on you defending yourself from some of the worst our society has to offer, against criminals that would attack you during your daily routine when you happen to be most vulnerable? Then your weapon of choice will be reduced to what you can carry with you concealed, maybe a carbine or rifle at home or in the car trunk but not counting on it really. You’ll be outnumbered by armed criminals. “Oh FerFAL, if that happens you’re already dead”. Maybe, but then again you may survive, like the cop and his son that shot it out when attacked yesterday right in my neighborhood, outnumbered 2 to 1. (story, in Spanish ) During a car jack attempt, father and son, both police officers, killed two criminals, wounded a third and a fourth one escaped after trying to rob their vehicle. The car happens to be a popular Peugeot 206, favored by criminals because of the spare parts demand. Avoiding high priority car models is something I’ve covered before.
You can win, but to even have a chance you must have the will, the training, and consistency to carry a capable weapon with you at all times. LordHumungus mentions fitness and hand to hand training. Of course these must go along in your self defense capabilities, otherwise your weapon will be of little use. But when outnumbered by armed criminals you’re getting yourself into a gunfight, so that’s where you must excel at. Be ready for that. As for fitness, I think its underrated among survivalists too. Not physical fitness in a sissy esthetic manner. By being fit I mean being capable to walk distances carrying gear, run, fight, do physical work and not have a weight problem that brings along health complications. Either that or as fit as possible giving your age and personal circumstances.
When it comes to home defense you see post after post of how patrols would be carried out or what concertina wire brand is best to stop hordes of looters, yet at the same time the guys posting this on line have doors that can be kicked down, unlocked back yard doors, or sliding doors with locks that can be broken and opened by an angry Chihuahua . No alarm, no motion sensor lights. How hard a target is your house NOW? Its not as bad as in the 3rd world but Americans are already suffering terrible crimes, even in the “good” neighborhoods. Expect more of that to come.
2) Saving Money.
Working on your budget, and eliminating unnecessary expenses. Too often you hear of survivalists going through rough times selling gear and supplies they probably should have never bought in the first place. We all do that at some point, its just that some get worse at it than others. Make informed decisions and purchases, there’s TONS of reviews of gear out there, including this same blog. Writing down every cent you spend per day has helped me a lot when we had little money to get by. Write down every thing, no matter if it’s a power bill you just paid or a bus ticket, it brings a new perspective to how you spend money.
3) Making money.
The ability to increase your wealth should never be underestimated. Sometimes you read about survivalists wishful thinking that the rich will be ruined after the economy collapses because they lack skills, they don’t grow their own food, etc. Well, they do have money making skills, and that’s very important. Maybe they’re not ready for accidents and disasters, they don’t have bug out bags and kits, but they’ve learned to thrive economically in a society and that’s important when a large middle class segment is becoming poor. Money isn’t the most important thing but it does matter a lot in today’s world. Be careful of the person that says he doesn’t care about money. Through the years I’ve confirmed time and again, it’s the people that say that that are the most materialistic, and place money above everything else.
4) People’s Skills.
Knowing how to talk and interact with family, friends, neighbors, etc. I’ve said several times that you shouldn’t expect much from people in general, specially friends and neighbors , 9 out of 10 will let you down during tough times, but that also means there’s that 10% and you need people’s skills for that. Even when it comes to your own family, so as to be ready for harder times you family must be a tight unit, close to one another and as strong as possible to endure what’s coming.
5) Self Development.
The ability to cope mentally and physically, being able to solve problems, having the patience, even accepting what can’t be changed. Finding solutions to problems, being as positive as possible and not letting the problems you’ll be dealing with on daily basis get to you. If you’re easily depressed, the crisis will slowly consume you. You must be emotionally as strong as you can be, leaving behind you flaws of character, hysteria fits, childish attitudes. Maybe its things like drinking or drugs. Get rid of all that. The times to come will put you to test in all areas, including your personality and mindset.
Check the video, I’m sure I’ve mentioned a bunch of different things not covered here.
Take care and good luck.
FerFAL
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6 comments:
Regarding defense, like you have said before, the police will arrest YOU and run YOU through the legal grand while letting the criminal go free! That frightens me a lot. I don't have an answer. Yes you're alive but your nightmare is just starting.
Life is better than death but...
great post. related to #3 making money and #5 self-development I would put Education!
I think if you're not constantly upgrading your skill level and knowledge you are stagnating, which is bad. Not necessarily college. But the best way to learn is to have someone mentor you, rather than trying to teach yourself and making simple mistakes and learning bad fundamentals.
But back to college, I think it's criminally underrated in this community. College isn't for everyone, but I think it's worth the effort if you know you can do it.
Going to the cheapest most local school and working while going to school and avoiding debt at all cost is my advice to anybody. Except for the top schools, it doesn't really matter where you go, as long as it's not one of those for-profit Internet colleges. A local city or state college is cheaper and often has better teachers or the exact same teachers.
Learn something practical and in demand, not just be another art major. The world will always need engineers, doctors and pharmacists.
Thanks for that post FerFAL. The videos hammer home your points. It's easy to get distracted the more one is exposed to preparedness and protection.
1) I would add two more skills. One is knowing the environment --else you can be surprised by sudden events.
College education, unfortunately, is designed to keep us ignorant of the world. The Italian economist Leonardo Pareto once showed that in every society, a small group of people control most of the wealth, get most of the income, have most of the power, and make most of the decisions.
You need to know who those people are and what they are doing. You need to know the major military, economic, wealth, tech and natural resources powers and the trends in power. Most of the news is time-wasting trivia -- you need to be able to spot the important events --which often are not on page 1.
2) A second skill is the ability to accept what you cannot change--
and not let it distract you or waste your time/resources.
If you look behind the deceitful theater screen of the news media, you will be angry. At how some of the richest members of a nation have no loyalty whatsoever to that nation and in fact prey on that nation. Psychopathic selfishness is how they became rich.
3) But you cannot fight them. Politics is a fight between two rich factions putting on a deceitful Kabuki Dance for the rabble. If you want "Change You Can Believe In" then build a terrorist movement. Else stay out of politics.
And even the terrorist option is not worth considering -- because most of the population are lazy sheep who are happy to be slaves.
4) The American Revolution was led by very rich men who didn't want to pay their taxes. The American CounterRevolution -- the Constitutional Convention -- was also run by very rich men wanting to protect their gains from the rabble and make the rabble pay taxes. 225 years later, 1 percent of the US population receives 24 percent of the national income.
"have doors that can be kicked down, unlocked back yard doors, or sliding doors with locks that can be broken and opened by an angry Chihuahua ."
ROFL - so true!
Here in paraguay the most common used tool is ...a simple screwdriver!
So this is the very first thing I do with a new house: "Where could I break in, if all I have is a screwdriver".
If you walk your dog next time - look around and ask yourself "How many houses could i get into when all I got is this lousy old screwdriver?"
Then ponder how to use a crowbar and a sledgehammer to bust in.
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