Being Prepared For Unprepared People

ByKen J. Last Update

Being prepared. If you’re reading this, you are likely on your lifestyle journey of preparedness. Being preparedness minded. It’s sensible. Logical. Reasonable.

I have lots and lots of articles here about the many aspects of “being prepared”. How to go about it.

However with this article, I thought of the angle of being prepared for the unprepared. They are the vast majority. Yes, the word “unprepared” is enormously generic. But in the context of survival-and-preparedness, the prepared should consider being prepared for the unprepared… Kind of a tongue-twister.

So what do I mean by this? Well, it’s just something to think about. That’s the goal here. To consider “what if’s”. What if a series of events resulted in shortages way beyond what we’ve recently witnessed during the year 2020?

Critical-thinking people have come to understand that there are many interdependencies that entangle our modern way-of-life (behind the scenes). Some of them are critical to our survival!

How do you think we’ve been able to grow our present civilization to such a population level? It would have been quite impossible without the development of critical infrastructures. And there are a number of things that can wreak havoc on those systems.

  • Natural Disasters
  • WAR
  • Politics
  • Policies
  • Accidents
  • Attacks
  • Sabotage
  • Aging Systems
  • Economic
  • Bad Design
  • Just-in-Time (JIT)
  • Pandemic
  • Foreign or Domestic Enemies

(I’m sure you could add more to this list)

How To Prepare For The Unprepared

As one example, most of the unprepared do not realize or know about the “just in time” method of supply and distribution. Instead, there’s a simple mindset of a never ending supply. (Although there’s little doubt that the shortages of the year 2020 (and beyond) has awakened some…)

[ Read: ‘Just-in-Time’ Food Supply Disaster ]

How to prepare for the unprepared?

First, understand that the unprepared will be without. Without what? Exactly… that is the question to consider. That’s where the “what if’s” come into play.

Next, understand WHERE the unprepared will attempt to GET that which they are without. Again, the “what if’s” and hypotheticals.

Third, understand what YOU can do to mitigate any potential exposure to the many risks to yourself and your property. The risks of the unprepared.

The Necessities Will Be The Issue

Inconveniences. The modern luxuries that make our way of life “easier”. This won’t be too much of a threat to you. It will just irritate them. (So watch out for angry people.)

As the fall deepens, the “it’s” will turn into necessities, and this is when things get dicey. I mean really dicey… I’m talking about hungry people (just one example). Remarkably, it is widely reported that most of the unprepared do not have much more than 3 days, maybe a week at most, of enough food for everyone in the household (I still marvel at this).

Many of the unprepared will not know what to do. They will have little or no clue as to how and adapt to their new normal. Many will whither in place.

But others will start knocking on doors after they realize that handouts aren’t coming. What will you do if and when they knock on your door? That is the initial question to consider. The answer will depend on you and the hypothetical situation itself. I’m not going to tell you what to do. But I hope to provoke related thoughts and self-questioning.

Mitigate Exposure To The Unprepared

Okay let’s get down to it…

The best way for the prepared to be prepared for the unprepared, may be to become the gray man, so to speak.

A short-term hypothetical infrastructure disruption (pick your infrastructure) does not present much, or any problem for the prepared. It might not even be too much of a big deal for the unprepared. But it’s TIME that makes the difference. How long is “it” (an infrastructure) broken? Or might it be broken?

If this is going to be long term (you might noodle-out some hypothetical time frames in your head), then you will likely (at some point) be affected by the unprepared.

While realizing that you cannot save the world, your inner instinct will shift your actions into survival mode. Self preservation (which is instinctive for most humans, and animals). Hard choices and decisions may be forced upon you. These decisions might make the difference between survival, or not…

Gray Man & OPSEC

The ‘gray man’ is a concept of not being noticed. Blending in. Not standing out. Avoidance.

This is why the concept of OPSEC (Operational Security) is so very important. Sadly, in today’s world, having a deep pantry of food storage is looked upon as odd (and others will distinctly remember it). These same people will most certainly and absolutely remember it, if and when the time comes…

With that said, it’s best to keep your mouth shut (unless you need a few select others to help with your overall situation or group).

You (the prepared) will be adapting your way through life after the collapse (of whatever it is). The absolutely most important aspect for preparing for the unprepared will be security. The ‘bleeding hearts’ may disagree to their heart’s content, but I would like to suggest that in the hypothetical circumstance of a deep collapse, your life will be in grave danger from the unprepared. And potentially from some of ‘the prepared’.

Your personal and home security will vary widely depending on where you live. The type of people around you. I’ll suspect that security may be minimal for some while absolutely crucial for others.

With that said, I believe this notion requires some serious thought…

I welcome your comments to do with being prepared for the unprepared: