SurvivalBlog.com

In 1976 Ronald Reagan said “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.””

Why do so many of us agree with these words?
Is our innate distrust of an organization that’s takes our hard earned money and uses it to restrict our rights and freedoms because “we need to be protected from ourselves”? Is it that we have seen how government agencies perform in major disasters like hurricane Katrina and we fear that we would receive the same treatment in a SHTF scenario? Or is it that the government has the power and resources to make us do what they want (or at least they think they do)?

Many of us have prepared for our own and our families survival in the event of man made or natural disasters. If we can agree that we don’t want the government and their “helping” agencies taking control of our lives, possessions and freedoms when TSHTF, what can we do to prevent it? Jim Rawles has said on many occasions that we can vote with our feet and leave states or countries whose political leanings don’t match our own. On Election Day we have been casting our paper vote but that doesn’t seem to be working too well so what other options do we have?

To paraphrase Sun Tzu, you need to know your enemy and the best way to do that is from within his ranks.

Before you switch off, consider this: Who is more likely to be escorted to a refugee camp when stopped at a check point? a) a family in a 4×4 with cartons of food, guns, ammo, medicals supplies and civilian ID or b) a family in a 4×4 with red/blue beacons on the dash board, a Civil Defence/Fire Department/Sheriff Deputy/Search and Rescue/Crisis Management sticker on the doors and a matching ID card. If you act like you are supposed to be there and appear know what you are talking about you will probably be able to get through unmolested.

Being part of the government doesn’t necessarily mean being a governor, senator or even a full time employee. Jobs that might suit include:
Armed forces reserves
Emergency services (police, fire, and ambulance)
Local government (mayor, town council member)
Crisis Management teams
Search and Rescue

However: consider that you must be able to leave for your retreat without the additional problem of being recorded as a deserter. If you bugged out and it subsequently turned out to be a false alarm or the disaster ended, you don’t want “DESERTER” attached to your permanent record.

Benefits of working for the government include:
Job security
Good pay (or at least regular pay)
Free training (medical, rescue, risk management, emergency planning etc)
Access to various equipment & supplies
Networking with other agencies and government employees (knowing the local Sheriff and deputies by name can’t hurt)
More access to restricted areas (using lights & sirens when bugging out or even familiarization with areas the general populace aren’t aware of)
More likely to be left alone (attitude, knowledge and an ID to back it up can be a big advantage)
More information (emergency plans, strategies…maybe help develop them to create protected routes for yourself)

Besides these benefits you could corrupt the government by actually helping your fellow citizens. Many of the events we are preparing for are not necessarily instant TEOTWAWKI events and society is unlikely to crash over night. You can work from within the system to maximize freedoms and information sharing until it gets too bad and as a bonus you can be fairly sure that government employees will be paid for longer than private employees (even if the money becomes worthless.) If enough people with a survival mentality are in government jobs they will have the resources to guide the population into that way of thinking, for example, if a local council had five members who were survival oriented, there could conceivably be stores of water, food and medical supplies created instead of new statues; local tax incentives for home solar power and water; Appleseed shooting programs at the local gun club and many more programs that would help the community as a whole while leaving you and your family safer and better prepared.

A final word from Sun Tzu: “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.”

Hello Jim,

My family and I are fortunate enough to live in a sparsely populated area of the Rocky Mountain West. Seems we are always being “discovered” by someone who wants to move here and get away from it all. Some even sell their homes and set up residences here, but more often than not, they last about 2 years and the “for sale” sign is back up again.

Seems to me that the old adage is true… a Leopard cannot change its spots. You can’t take a fellow from the suburbs… drop them in the middle of a Prickly Pear patch and expect them to thrive. Momma starts missing the malls… the kiddies whine that there’s nothing to do. Dad is tired of driving 150 miles (each way) to the nearest big box store.

Couple years ago, a family from California moved in down the road. First thing they did was to install a “security light”. I did the neighborly thing, I introduced myself and asked them if they’d mind killing that light. They were flabbergasted. “We need that for security!” was their answer. I observed that “If a man is afraid of the dark, then he ought to stay in the city.” Eventually, the light went out and we all can enjoy nature again.

Most folks think they’ll be just fine without all the conveniences they left behind. But give them a year or so of living with no doctors, grocery stores or night life within 50 miles and reality sets in… especially when gas hits five bucks a gallon.

The climate here seems to be getting hotter and drier. This year, the prairie never turned green in the spring… it just went from winter brown to late summer brown. The days are hotter and the moisture comes more and more infrequently. The silver lining to that of course, is that the pilgrims will find even fewer reasons to migrate here. – Dutch in Wyoming