Inclusiveness in our prepper world of “after the SHTF event” is that element wherein everyone who will be involved in an activity, regardless of the nature of the activity, will be involved in the creation of the plan. This way they can thereby be more fully committed to the plans’ success.
We are currently in the midst of looking at itemized “inclusive” strategic planning considerations to apply in an event situation. Ten points have been covered so far.
11. Applied Knowledge
We have often heard that ”knowledge has value”, or “knowledge is power.” While these simple and well-worn sayings do sound right, they are both actually very incomplete.
Only “applied knowledge” has value or is power. While unused knowledge does have value potential, until it is used it is without value. Application is the path to the value of our knowledge. Knowledge never loses its potential value. Sadly, idle knowledge is always totally useless.
A Little Knowledge Can Carry You A Long Way
Even a little knowledge can carry you a long way in the right direction. Additionally, a little knowledge will soon attract more knowledge and others to further your efforts and to help you gain additional skills and abilities. Knowledge seeks community and enlargement. That’s the best part.
Today’s Customer May Be “Provisional” Group Member Tomorrow
Today’s customer, worker, or student may be a new “provisional” group member tomorrow. In our previous example of providing a barter arrangement for reloading primers and services, your customer or student will go home enlightened and/or very happy with 250-275 shiny reloads. We, who provided the reloading services, will therein be able to supply our group with additional 25-50 finished rounds of ammo from every sale and possibly build up a silver coin nest egg for future growth needs. Ammo will always be used as money. In the event that we may need to enlarge our site defense force, our ammo customers may well want to help protect our business, which is their ammo source. Some of us still follow old time thinking and may well live to regret it.
Be Careful of Tired Old Maxims
Consider this statement: “The enemy of my friend is my enemy.” This is often said to be the main reasoning of the start of the Viet Nam war efforts. That was not true, so be careful of tired old maxims. Silent, sneaky, and serious can overpower excited and overly enthusiastic every time. My opinion of this type of reasoning is that it will usually cause more problems than were ever expected.
12. Quality Delegation of Responsibilities
So far we have looked at these topics that are often lost in the planning stages for our future prepper lives. These losses will often be the small parts on page two, and even the awareness of the loss of page two will disappear in the maelstrom of emergency and difficult decisions in the early days to the post event life.
Major New and Troubling Responsibilities
As we deal with this new life after the event, we are going to be very busy with the many new requirements and with new disappointments. There will be major new and troubling responsibilities in our post-event days and nights. We must work at quality “delegation” of responsibilities.
Failure to Delegate on Leader’s Part is Failure For the Group
We should not, and can not, be successful if we try to do everything that needs to be done. That is the sure and certain short road to failure. Failure to delegate on the leader’s part is actually a failure for the group, the team, and the family.
Something necessary to the group will be neglected. Someone will need products or tools that were forgotten and never acquired, and the intended work will be left undone. These failures may be insurmountable and can cause an immediate group/team disintegration.
The extended family members may then just fade back into the darkness of being alone again. It may not be necessary and might be avoided through better communications, better responsibility enlargement, more sure-footed inclusiveness from the start of the chores of your post-event renewal. Inclusiveness is a basic tool to be used early.
Provisions For Decisions Made Without Stress and Well In Advance
Good planning includes provisions for decisions made without stress and well in advance of the timely need for decision activations. The various changes and modifications often necessary due to event-driven needs beyond our immediate control will be less of a problem when response decisions have been made in advance and are then readily available to the task leader and others, as may be needed for successful task completion.
Inclusiveness in planning lowers the highly probable losses from hasty, last-minute decisions made under stress, and it enables task management delegation, or to move around difficulties, instead of a surprise head on collision with disaster.
Group
Group– we have used and re-used this key word. It’s a very key concept snugly contained in a single word. Group leadership, group medical specialist, group child nursery leader, group food storage specialist, and on and on and on. We do groups simply because individuals will usually fail to survive disasters. No one can do everything necessary to continue life as a lone individual. You just gotta sleep sometime.
It’s difficult to stand a guard post while you are digging a slit latrine. We can and must plan our activities for the post-event of 90 days to definitely be a major disaster for everyone at exactly the same time everywhere. Please note that there has never been a severe nation-wide disaster of any type, magnitude, or duration. Yup, nary one little nation-wide anything, good or bad; not even just one. Groups survive and singles fail. This is the reality of post-event life!
Think Outside the Box the Unprepared World Currently Lives In
Be prepared to think outside of the box that the unprepared world currently lives in. Remember that they have a comfortable but ignorant place in their society and that they fully believe that society will never change or disappoint them. That’s so sad, so bad.
13. Economics– Single Most Likely Disaster Looming
And then there is that big, single most likely disaster looming over head all day every day. World politics really stink these days. The global financial system is confused, greedy, buying their own false reports, and very very broke, with huge mountains of national debt that can never be paid.
Bank Closed Its Doors Without Notice
In the late 1970’s, in Ohio, we cashed in a CD on Friday. On Monday morning the same bank where we had been using to save some cash closed its doors without notice. The small, private bank— Seven Hills Building and Loan Co.– was chartered in Ohio with only State Depositors Account insurance. The state funding unit was suddenly without sufficient cash for thousands of customers who had an open account. We were lucky. It was ugly and caused great ripples of financial damage and pain. Soon after, Ohio changed to be a federally-insured deposit account state.
Single Best Financial Information– in Archives of SurvivalBlog
The single best financial information, which I have relied on for ten continuous years, is still located and easily available day and night in the archives search of this blog. Search SurvivalBlog results for: “Derivatives Meltdown from Modern Financial Alchemy, October 20, 2007”.
Economics & Investing For Preppers
SurvivalBlog offers the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, as well as the precious metals markets. The blog covers hedges, derivatives, and obscura, and it bears mention that most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR, SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor.
The above data has enabled our extended family to endure and survive many changes in our financial planning and our use of funds as tools for the present and the future, mostly very successfully. Two of our sons and a son-in-law earn $100K+. Son #3 retired to the country to raise goats and now dogs, starting at age 44. He’s happy at age 50 to live without debt, out in the quiet countryside on his 30 acres.
Tomorrow, I will discuss in more detail the implications of financial upheaval on strategic planning.
See Also:
- 1 – “Inclusive” Strategic Planning As Part Of Everyday Environment- Part 1, by Old Bobbert
- 2 – “Inclusive” Strategic Planning As Part Of Everyday Environment- Part 2, by Old Bobbert
- 3 – “Inclusive” Strategic Planning As Part Of Everyday Environment- Part 3, by Old Bobbert
- 5 – “Inclusive” Strategic Planning As Part Of Everyday Environment- Part 5, by Old Bobbert (Active on 1/13/19)
SurvivalBlog Writing Contest
This has been part four of a five part entry for Round 80 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
- A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
- A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
- A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
- DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
- Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
- A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
- American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
Second Prize:
- A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
- A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
- A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
- A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
- Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
- An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).
Third Prize:
- A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
- A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
- Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
- Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
- Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.
Round 80 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.