Preparedness Movement History and My Own Preparations- Part 1, by Old Bobbert

We will take a look at some history, the preparedness movement history and also some of mine. My goal here is to move you to see happiness and enroute stop off to visit anger, sadness, feeling shamed, and then fully satisfied. We will be thrilled with ourselves, and finally recognize “I’m both right and righteous”. I have been reading and contributing to this blog for about 10 years. So far I have about 76 3-ring binders of preparedness data on the book shelves. I like to read. (I’ll share why I read later.)

A Lot of History That Points to Necessary of Preparedness

Being 76 years young with four children, eight grandchildren, and three fabulous great grandchildren, I therein have a wondrous history of failures and successes to my name. Those events, good and not so good, all of them helped me to be me. I love it. In my world, I was among the WW2 babies who grew to adulthood in the sixties, parented four fabulous teens in the seventies, and became sickenly proud grandparents in the eighties. And now, finally, we are thrilled great grandparents in our strange, newer world of the newest century. I am thrilled to see, to know, to believe, to preach to the lower levels of Americans that:

• We have always been right.
• Being prepared is always a necessity!
• Preparedness is never, not ever, just an optional endeavor!
• Yes, it is forever an absolute life’s necessity.

History Computer Program

The history computer program/application I am using to help with this article was purchased on March 10, 2017 but not used until the evening of July 4th, which is actually named Independence Day, for many of us. For you readers who need numbers, that totals 116 days of “non-thinking” idleness between the date it was purchased and the date it was used. I’m telling you how many days because most folks in the preparedness movement only have a grand total of 20 fingers and toes. (Thumbs are actually fingers!) Okay, that too was as a deliberate mean-spirited prepper put down, carefully inserted and easy to spot to demonstrate that society as a whole has taught themselves that we are wrong and somewhat dangerous to their slow, never-blinking way of life. You see, they like being lame sheeple.

Granny Says “Be Nice”

Again, I have used a mean-spirited word, and it is our mean word not theirs. We must do better and be kinder. All of the time, we too can be disrespectful and unkind, without meaning to be such. Therefore, stop that. You are being bad. Granny said so, to all of us. And Granny is still right! Be nice. Be good to everyone, all of the time. Preparedness is about changing who you are and not about what you do.

Love My Mac

My history program/application was purchased and entered into a Mac, all in one computer. Some people hate Macs. I love it because it makes me look good and sorta smart.

***Reference Sources Follow:*****REQUIRED QUOTE SOURCE… To cite this page:

* MLA Style: “Preparedness Movement.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 2015.

* * APA Style: Preparedness Movement. (2015). Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica

Beginning of “Preparedness Movement”

The single word “prepared” was input into my computer, using this history program, and it immediately brought to the forefront the following information. It’s not a definition in any way. But therein by way of just a few historical phrases beginning in 1915, the “Preparedness Movement” moved from not merely in existence to one that is necessary. Then, it transitioned to something “wonderful, really good, warm, widely appreciated, respectable, earnestly All American” in U.S. history. It tied to a campaign prior to U.S. entry into World War I (April 1917) to increase U.S. military capabilities and to convince the U.S. citizenry of the need for American involvement in the conflict. Almost immediately after the outbreak of hostilities in Europe, a small number of Americans—former president Theodore Roosevelt being among the most prominent—sought to persuade the Wilson administration and the population at large that the nation must prepare itself for war.

Fate of An Unprepared Nation

The fate of occupied Belgium served as an example of what could happen to an unprepared nation. Roosevelt wrote two books on the subject America and the World War (1915) and Fear God and Take Your Own Part (1916), which helped popularize the Preparedness Movement.

Preparedness Movement Becomes Largely Superfluous

And then it happened, and it was really bad. With passage of the National Defense Act (June 3, 1916) and a subsequent naval appropriations measure authorizing an enormous increase in U.S. armed forces, the Preparedness Movement became largely superfluous. It disappeared when mobilization began in earnest following U.S. entry into the war. Our movement history is important. Our world changed around the circumstance of life, and the Preparedness Movement went into the communal language trash bin.

A Little Band of Thinkers and Doers Grew

Every now and then a few hearty souls slipped out of the big unguarded trash bin, usually in the dead of secret preparedness documentation night. They talked to a few courageous companions, and together they slowly rekindled the weak flickering dim light of preparedness response to hidden dangerous forces and incidents. In time, through many difficult years and great ridicule, their light brightened their world. And the little band of thinkers and doers grew. They smiled at one another and even some relatives, and they felt good about themselves. A just cause was found and they loved it. They shared their love with us, and now we are them.

“Preparedness” Became a Powerful Force

They and we progressed. And eventually we became strong enough to even say the word preparedness to powerful forces and organizations. Then, we even said that word to our mother-in-law. All was well in our serenely brave new world of functional preparedness. Why am I tempted to spell preparedness with a capital letter “P”?

Now, we are sort of respectable, if not quite understood by family and friends. We are growing in numbers, and it is getting much easier to say that word “Preparedness”.

People Too Caught Up to Notice the Need

As I typed these last few words and read them to my wife, she responded and said the following: “It’s like the little boy crying wolf. Then there was no wolf, and the people stopped listening.” She continued, “That’s it. That’s their ball game. People are busy trying to just survive another day or two. They are caught up in the moment. It is hard to look ahead to something that is not there and is not predictable.” And I said, “Yea, when it is hard to put bread on the table, it’s really hard to see the fire ten blocks away. It isn’t a welcome topic.”

Saving Tomorrow’s Money By Buying Today

But it will soon be a more important topic as more people see and hear about the Preparedness movement. They will learn about how to save tomorrow’s money when they buy today’s extras for tomorrow at today’s lower “on sale” prices. They will welcome the wonderful real-time felling of both financial and personal security. People will grasp that new to them notion that there will be a future for the children.

A Discussion With My Wife

My wife asked, “What will make them feel that way?” My answer is simple. Down deep where they really live, buried in their being, is a sense that there can be a better life, a stronger sense of self help through good service to others. That deeper inner sense of self worth will rise up slowly with each small successful effort, with each good example to the children, with each good effort, even when that good effort is not a success. And then we continued the conversation.

Now, mind you, she is committed to serious Preparedness. She “requires” me to forward preparedness data to our kids and their kids. Her response was that the people are the same as the government, buying stuff today on credit and paying credit interest with more credit. How can they possibly buy extras for the future? It’s not possible. She has a point. That’s true, unless they make a decision to live less today so as to even have a tomorrow. And then she said, “It’s late and I am very tired. Good night.”

Blessed By My Wife

Oh, I do love her so. She works at enabling me to be successful. Because of who she is, I am.

Tomorrow, I will share, in part two, some things about the credit trap and what I learned in the financial industry and from some fine people in it. I will also tell how we planned, built, and financed our home to live in it basically for free.

See Also:

• Preparedness Movement History and My Own Preparations- Part 2, by Old Bobbert

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been part one of a two part entry for Round 71 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

1. 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.
2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
3. 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,
4. 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),
5. An infrared sensor/imaging camouflage shelter from Snakebite Tactical in Eureka, Montana (A $350+ value),
6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
7. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
8. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
2. 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,
3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
8. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
9. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Third Prize:

1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
2. A custom made Sage Grouse model utility/field knife from custom knife-maker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
3. 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,
4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
7. Montie Gear is donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a $125 Montie gear Gift certificate.,
8. 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), and

Round 71 ends on July 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.