In the past Americans expected to be prepared. Whether it was helping to raise a barn, saving seed for the next spring planting, or being part of the local militia, it was expected that you would be ready. Today we have become increasingly more dependant on others to do such things for us. Many people wonder if we need to know how to save food, cut wood or light an oil lamp.
If you are reading this you are probably fully aware of the value of preparedness, but maybe someone among your friends, family or neighbors needs convincing. And convincing these folks is important because they are the ones who will show up at your door when things go wrong. While preparedness has gained vastly more acceptance than it had twenty years ago, some audiences will still be resistant to simple ideas that seem like common sense to most of us. Why the resistance? Why is it so hard for some to see that it’s a good idea to be prepared? It’s all in the perception.
WE ARE OUR OWN WORST ENEMY
If you are reading this, sitting in your bunker while thumbing rounds into AK mags, you probably need to get out more, and more importantly you are part of the problem rather than the solution. The common perception of the “survivalist” is of the local nut case hoarding guns, ammo and food. The guy is probably out of shape and doesn’t have much of a plan beyond hoarding guns, ammo and food. He just sits there fantasizing about the day when those sneaky Russians finally push the button, or the rascally Chinese parachute onto the streets of Hometown USA.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for bunkers, for topping off the AK mags, for managing food stocks and ammunition stores and really a few extra pounds won’t hurt if you maintain some type of fitness. So what is wrong with the image as often perceived?
First off, if you are living in a bunker mentality, get out of it. It’s not good for you or anyone around you. Life is short and it can happen without you. As crazy as the world is today, if you don’t get out and enjoy what you can while you can, you may be depriving your family and yourself of healthy and enriching experiences.
The other common misperception is that we are all doing this just for a The End Of The World As We Know Ia (TEOTWAWKI) event. "Tea-ought-wah-ki" has kind of a Native American sound to its. It is that cataclysmic event that sends people spinning into the bunker mentality, and it is the least likely thing to happen.
The fact is that preparedness should cover a vast spectrum of eventualities. From the weekend power failure to the local tornado to the post apocalyptic. If all we ever talk about is a Mad Max existence, we will be marginalized and discounted by the very people we may be trying to reach, and rightly so.
We are missing out on the opportunity to point out that preparedness is for that winter storm that paralyzes the city. Preparedness is for that unexpected job loss. You have a year supply of food and some cash saved up, you can get through until you get back on track. Preparedness should simply make life’s little hiccups more palatable, make regional disasters endurable and make cataclysm survivable.
Coming on too strong is a common mistake in trying to convince people to prepare. Showing them what preparedness is good for is more convincing; let the state of the world do the rest of your talking.
Politics can be a part of coming on too strong. I find it easy to get worked up into a rabid frothing frenzy regarding today’s political environment. It doesn’t help your position to do this and frankly, it is largely irrelevant. Left or Right of the political spectrum has nothing to do with being prepared. Being prepared and self-sufficient can, and should be apolitical. Being prepared is about what is within your realm of control.
YOUR IMAGE
Look in the mirror. Are you wearing an ACU boonie cap, 5.11 vest and woodland BDU pants? Aside from the fashion faux pas of mixing camo patterns, what’s wrong with this picture? Save the camo for your time in the woods, or don’t buy it at all, that stuff can be expensive and over rated. If you are having a discussion with a relative that just doesn’t quite get it yet the camo/military/contractor clothing puts up a wall between you and a potentially receptive audience. I’m not saying you need to go tie-dyed and dreadlocks to get through to people, I’m just saying that some people pay a lot of attention to what you are wearing and what you are wearing may influence how you are perceived and even how you portray yourself. Relax. Go with the casual regional norm. Go gray, as that is an important survival skill too.
Physical Fitness
Let me step back a bit about the earlier overweight remark. Having a few extra pounds may be of some benefit in a survival event. Being too obese to get out of your own way, never will. Physical fitness may be one of the most easily overlooked elements of preparation. Again, this runs the full spectrum. From being fit enough to take a chainsaw to that tree that is blocking the driveway after the storm to being able walk several miles at a time with a pack because that is suddenly your world.
Physical fitness pays off in how you present preparedness. You don’t need to be a svelte triathlete for me to listen to you about preparedness. If, however, you are sitting there guzzling beer and eating pizza out of the box propped up on your gut telling me what you’re going to do during the apocalypse, yeah, I’ll probably discount whatever you have to say, even if its valid. Is that right? Is that fair? Nope, that’s life. I’m not as good a person as I would like to be, the world’s not as good a place as I would like it to be either. Another overlooked element to preparedness is accepting the world for what it is rather than what we want it to be.
OPSEC
Operational Security (OPSEC) while perhaps being overused in preparedness circles, is important. It means keeping information about your preparations and plans closely guarded. OPSEC is a term better suited to our military brethren, discretion is all we need. Be careful who you tell what, and don’t tell anyone everything. The point of this piece is that we need to get the word out on preparedness, and we need to do that in a way that gets people interested and engaged. We don’t want to go around spilling our guts to everyone, that puts up that wall too. The benefits of getting people interested in being prepared is that if everyone is striving for a level of self sufficiency then there are fewer we have to look out for or worry about when things get worse. Some people will always look for the path of least resistance and that will mean instead of prepping, their only plan is to show up on your doorstep. So don’t detail any of your plans or preps with anyone outside your most immediate circle of trust. It has been my experience that there are some men you can trust with your money, some men you can trust with your wife and some you can trust with your life, but it is rare that you can trust one man with all three. If you can, he is in your immediate circle of trust. (I find I have a very small circle.)
Publicly Using Term Like OPSEC
As I said, OPSEC is a term probably best left to our esteemed military brethren. Another quick way to put that wall up when trying to get the word out about preparedness is to try to sound too “tactical”. Leave the military jargon to the military, even if you were in the military. Most often, by trying to sound like a “Tier 1 Operator” you just wind up sounding a lot like a moron. Most “Tier 1 Operators” I know don’t even sound like that (for some reason they tend to talk more like laid back surfers). Throwing a bunch of military terminology into a conversation can have the same effect on the perception as throwing a bunch of Spanish words in when you don’t speak Spanish.
Your language, your appearance and your knowledge all contribute to your legitimacy on any topic and preparedness is no different. To get the word out on practical preparedness, you have to come across as a legitimate authority on the subject, not a bunker dwelling moron.
Preparedness isn’t a military or political endeavor. Preparedness is a patriotic and moral obligation. Preparedness is the embodiment of the rugged individualism that has always made America great and it is becoming a lost art. We have to save it and the only way to save it is to spread the word effectively. Remember that the reality is that what you are saying is only important if you can get yourself heard convincingly. Doing our part to promote preparedness is doing our part to help bolster our family, to help steady our community and help save our country.