Why So Many People Fail To Prepare Even Though They Have The Money

I am curious. Why it is that so many people do not prepare at all (at all!) for emergency, disaster, or worse…SHTF. ??

And I’m talking about people who have the money to do it.

Yes, I know, money is only part of it… You need to spend it on the right things. There’s lots more to it (preparedness) as you further your involvement. Even to the extent of a sort of lifestyle adjustment. And yes, good preparedness is more than just throwing money at a problem. But money sure does help! No one could argue with that…

But (most) people with money still don’t do it (even basic preparedness)!

We can only guess as to why.

(I have updated this list to include bullet-points from the original post comments below)

Why People Don’t Prepare – Even If They Have Lots Of Money

  • They do not perceive the need for any preparedness.
  • Preparedness? What’s that??
  • Incapable of recognizing the threats we face.
  • Head in the sand, normalcy bias.
  • Poor (non-existent) real journalism in the mainstream.
  • The curriculum does not include basic preparedness.
  • The notion of preparedness does not fit with the agenda of TPTB.
  • The powers that be, frown upon “self reliance”.
  • People are too “busy”.
  • Entertainment fills ‘spare’ time.
  • Things will always be ‘okay’, right?
  • The belief that others will be there to provide for them.
  • The belief that government will always provide an adequate safety net.
  • Many people live in a ‘Nanny’ state or environment of coddling.
  • Preparedness is ‘old fashioned’ in today’s ‘modern world’.
  • ‘Prepper’ has bad stigma attached to it.
  • Most people are plain old LAZY.
  • “It only happens to someone else, not me.”
  • Most people don’t think ahead.
  • Critical Thinking is a rare thing these days…
  • Once they begin to prepare, it all becomes “real”. So ultimately it’s fear. Paralyzing fear!
  • Most people have never really had to truly support themselves.
  • People believe that being prepared is fringe behavior for crazy people.
  • The govt is making people into livestock, so dependent that they will do anything they’re told.
  • Are people “generally stupid?”
  • Most seem to lack “common sense”.
  • Being caught up in a routine, refuse to accept any change that would indicate a negative thought.
  • FEMA will save me.
  • Perception that money or their perceived “power” will work the same way in SHTF that it does now.
  • Arrogance.
  • “I’ll go to your house”.
  • The modern world has bred a whole herd of lemmings.

 
What’s your opinion?

Why is it that some estimates indicate that only 3% of people are ‘prepared’ at all?

158 Comments

  1. They’re LAZY. Taking care of yourself usually requires work. Beach’n

    1. I think this is true in many cases. However, some just do not want to believe bad things will happen. It is truly the head in the sand.

  2. “It only happens to someone else, not me.” A lot of people think that’s true.

    I love the picture you posted Ken. Another good one would be the three monkeys. Many people don’t want to HEAR about it, TALK about it, and even don’t watch the news so they won’t have to SEE it.

    After all…what you don’t know can’t hurt you?????
    ???

  3. It seems that a large number of people just don’t think ahead. Working in a doctor’s office, I can’t tell you the large number of calls I got saying “OMG, I’m leaving town in half an hour and I need my med refilled RIGHT NOW.” You’d think they would have at least noticed that the bottle was almost empty a few days earlier.

    1. HIPPA doesn’t allow me to give 100 examples, but agree totally. Try being in a vacation area on the receiving end of your patients. DW is yelling all the way up to transplant drugs!

  4. Some people just can’t afford it. My sister has been struggling since before 2008 due to her husbands business not taking off at all.

    She constantly came to me for $$ because they NEVER had enough to pay bills. Always behind in bills several months back, power & other things was always turned off. Now I have not had a job since May 2012, my car died in June 2012 not able to find job, I fell down back steps a few yrs. ago–affected me getting job-can’t stand over hr.

    Sister still comes to me for money, how do you turn down someone who is family. Sad, but I now hide my Tp & PT when she comes. Sad. She is not able to prep cause whatever $$ she gets goes on school for son or for bills that are past due.

    1. I sort of ‘get it’ regarding those who cannot afford it (or think they cannot afford it) – although even those folks can find a way (if they wanted to)… I’ve posted a number of articles here on that very subject.

      However, what about those who can afford it? Why don’t they? That is the question ;)

    2. It’s very easy to turn them down. In my world if your an adult and have been continually told the friggen white headlight of the speeding train is visible and getting bigger and brighter and still choose to ignore then your on your own.

      I will provide for the kids (which are innocent) within my home but the adults will absolutely not get any assistance/shelter!

      i have zero tolerance for people like this, regardless if their relatives or acquaintances.

      if your of sound mind and find yourself in this situation tuff luck!

  5. Spiritual warfare is very real too. I believe many are deceived and have chosen darkness over light. Their eyes are not opened and they’re unable to see the truth.

    1. Prov. 21:20 ¶ There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.

      Prov. 22:3 ¶ A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished (suffer for it).

  6. All of the above and people just don’t think that “it” can happen here. A friend of mine calls my pantry room something like the end of the world room and then rolls her eyes. BTW- she has never been in the room.

  7. Normalcy bias is very strong. A number of Jews saw the approaching danger, and took the difficult step of uprooting their family and leaving their homeland (Germany) before the holocaust. The majority stayed and things didn’t go well for them.

    1. Normalcy bias truly is a VERY strong thing. Very difficult to overcome for most… It’s a ‘comfort’ factor to convince one’s-self that ‘it won’t happen to me’.

      1. Ken
        You hit the nail on the head with my siblings…the “comfort” factor.

        If it happens, it happens to someone else and not them. So they need not worry until it occurs, fore- thought is not in their vocabulary.

  8. You can not blame the sheeple too much. The corrupt manipulators are very good at hiding the truth.

    If there were no EBT cards, you would see lines of people on the street waiting for their bread and tp – same as in Venezuela. We preppers are more skeptical about the robustness of the supply chain but others see no difference on the supermarket shelves (except for the prices).

    Many of us see the fake financial system as certain to collapse, but most only see the results of printed money providing never ending credit. Yellen (the Fed) just stated that another 2T of printed money could prevent another recession. It is no different in other countries that I thought would fail years ago Japan, Italy, Spain, …. Printed money can keep these fake economies up for many more years.

    Given that these catastrophes do not appear to be immediate, I prep for the more localized events; earthquake, tornado, ice storm, flooding if living on a flood plain near a river, power grid problems,….

    1. Hi Homebody,

      You make a good point. Most people take things at face value because that’s just the way they live their lives. Many think Venezuela would never happen “here” (wherever here may be). Or, they believe that years of low interest rates are really a good thing – not recognizing or even really caring about the rest of the economic picture or what our hapless Fed is doing to us.

      Unless it is plastered on the evening news, or all over MSM websites, people just don’t know (or choose not to believe). Just how TPTB like it.

  9. I know people who know they should prepare but don’t. The reason I think they don’t start is the fact that once they begin to prepare then it all becomes real to them. So ultimately it’s fear. Paralyzing fear!

    1. @The Truth,

      You wrote,
      > The reason I think they don’t start is the fact that once they begin to prepare then it all becomes real to them. So ultimately it’s fear. Paralyzing fear!

      IMHO, there are many reasons, but you’ve probably hit the core of it! Many people prefer to deal with a potential fear by putting it out of their mind — because facing that fear and putting in real time, effort and attention to prepare for takes thought and effort. I see it as somewhat akin to computer backups. I was too casual about that for years, then I spilled some coffee….

      Engaging with a fear, admitting that something *bad* could happen, is uncomfortable (for many) — until/unless one overcomes that fear. I do this by preparing. Yes, for me, prepping is, among other things, relatively cheap anxiety “therapy.”

      I think attitudes also vary depending on what problems one has lived through or heard about from someone very close. For me, a couple of earthquakes, a brush with the outer edges of a hurricane and a few odd snowstorms had me heading in this direction already.

      While I’ll gently advocate for situation-appropriate preparation, many people are only adults by virtue of age, not behavior or judgement. My $ 0.02. YMMV.

      1. That last line reminds me of an old Dave Ramsey saying, “Maturity is not reached by age, it is reached by acceptance of responsibility”.

      2. c4talyst wrote: ‘I think attitudes also vary depending on what problems one has lived through or heard about from someone very close.’ I agree with the above wholeheartedly. However…

        I have family who lived through a bad natural disaster 15 years ago. They suffered greatly. In the immediate aftermath they swore they would never again live without certain items always on hand. I think that lasted about a week.

        Today they don’t even remember that lesson. They also seem to think that lightning doesn’t strike twice. When I point out it could easily be something else next time (tsunami, social unrest, interruption to the supply chain) they are in complete denial.

        So I would add two more reasons people don’t prep: 1. inflated ego (I’m too good for this to happen to me) and 2. stupidity. Uncharitable of me, I know, but I’ve given up trying to help them remember a lesson they had learned.

  10. Most people have never really had to truly support themselves (lifestyles) their entire life. Growing up on a farm, we raised & slaughtered our own chickens, had our own garden, slaughtered pigs for meat, etc. Many people today think that’s awful, mean, horrifying.

    I know of people that have never driven a vehicle their entire lives, (44 years old), born & lived in the city and rely entirely on government transport. To me, that’s horrifying.

    People often don’t seek the truth because its a begets a mirror to painful to acknowledge. Denial has become a pretty well accepted train of thought these days.

  11. I recognize MANY of the reasons/excuses listed. But, the big 2 I see the most:

    1. People think something devastating will never to happen to them (or the corresponding belief that if something THAT bad happened and they survived that their house would be wiped out and their “stuff” would do them no good anyway, so why bother).

    2. People believe that being prepared is fringe behavior for crazy people, religious fanatics, extremists and people who’ve read too many sci-fi books or are like “the guys on TV”.

    Look at Germany, the govt there talks about people having 10 days of food, and the next thing you read is that Merkel is “fear mongering”. It’s a no-win deal – tell people to prepare and you are hyping fear, don’t tell people and when something bad happens they want to know why they weren’t warned.

  12. I think it is hard for people to understand preparing for disaster when they really haven’t experienced a disaster happening to them personally.

    Today, the government has taken care of them, and their friends and relatives took care of them if they were in trouble, so in their thinking there’s no dire need to prepare for themselves. After all, it’s a lot of work that they have no interest in when they’d rather be on social media smart phones and watching the Kardashians.

    Also prepping and survival skills are mostly taught to children as they grow, introducing it into a lifestyle. I attribute a lot of prepping from farmers and pioneers from our ancestry, but the further away from these lifestyles, the further away from prepping given our modern society that draws them away from being self efficient.

    I am two generations away from farmers and farming pioneers who made it a living to make most of their food, store food for the harsh winters without going to a store, and learned many skills that were nearly lost, just revived in the prepper movement. I had an interest given to me from my mom and grandparents to experience that lifestyle growing up and helping them at our remote cabin where I would spend my summers.

    However, my sister and brother did not enjoy their time there, and did nothing to help so they are not preppers. If my parents forced them to work in order to eat, it may have made a difference. How many spoiled baby boomers are compared to generations before them! Those like my brother and sister learned nothing.

    Again, I will repeat myself and mention the old cliché how “our parents worked hard to make it easier for the next generation” didn’t really make it easier, it made them lazier. ;-)

    1. I was thinking about this today and came to a disturbing conclusion–nothing new, but perhaps a new way of looking at it.

      People don’t make other people dependent. People make livestock dependent. Animals, that they can eat or use in other ways. The govt is making people into livestock, so dependent that they will do anything they’re told. It isn’t for the benefit of the livestock, but for the benefit of their masters.

      1. Lauren
        How true a statement if I have ever read one.

        Those who worked with livestock on a daily basis know the up keep to control them and train them so they behave. You are spot on!

        1. They also tend to get very upset with those who won’t be controlled.

        2. Oh, Yeah, I saw that individual thought and solutions to problems drive the controllers crazy because it is not part of the “herd” mentality…like when the government listed someone who had more food than they need for three days was a possible terrorist.

  13. The picture that is posted with the article is a little misleading. Most people do not have their head stuck in a hole in the ground, their head is really stuck up their a$$ for all the reasons listed above. This is natures way of improving the gene pool after SHTF: so its not their fault, right!

    1. Agreed, no joke. People need to realize when their head is in the sand they are leaving their rear end exposed…

  14. All those reasons for different people. I think most of it boils down to “It couldn’t happen here” which is code for “I don’t want to think about it.” Regardless of what they’re fed, people would see the problems if they wanted to.

    1. Hi Lauren,

      Yes, and to take it a step further, those who might actually see possible danger ahead are likely to rationalize it away… there’s always civil unrest somewhere, or trouble in the Middle East, or a natural disaster in the news, etc…

      So, people sleep better at night figuring it’s not going to have a serious effect on them because it hasn’t in the past – just more bad news that will blow over when the next big story hits.

  15. I add one more, “Since it never happen in their life time they believe it never will”. Even I haven’t seen real bad times in my 62 years. My parents and grandparents talked about the depression of 1929 so I know it can happen, but even that one did not cause a social collapse. This time we will not be as lucky.

  16. I’m pessimistic. I think people are generally stupid, preferring to watch rubbish on TV to taking care of themselves.

    My grandfather patrolled the Swedish border to Norway against a Nazi German invasion during World War II. He taught me preparedness and self-reliance.

    I did my military service during the twilight period of the Soviet Union. I was in the military for over a decade and saw the fall of the Soviet Union and the civil war in Yugoslavia up close. I know things can fall apart very quickly. If you want to find out how bad things can get talk to a veteran from Iraq or Afghanistan.

    1. Red-bearded Viking
      I am married to one from the Nam era, and understand what you are speaking of. He and my nieces hubby(Afghanistan) are the only two who served during a major conflict, all others during peace time. Makes a difference in their outlook on life for being prepared at all times.

  17. I grew up in a very poor family. It took my parents the bulk of their adult lives to LEARN how to manage their resources wisely. I had to learn all on my own, and am fairly ambivalent towards those who HAVE the financial resources to adequately prepare even for the most basic personal emergency kit, but refuse to do so.

    We have almost a full year’s supply of food, other commodities including water for our present needs, plus some “extra”. We started out after we were married, by simply purchasing ONE EXTRA of whatever we could budget for at the time. We use coupons, as it IS “found money”, that goes unclaimed and takes us about one hour per week, combined to arrange for and to do while shopping.

    I don’t listen to the excuses/rationalizing/justification as to WHY people exclaim, “I can’t, because….”.

    With that ideology, and I believe it IS an adopted ideology, they will never BE ABLE to prepare for the next few days or even an upcoming well publicized storm that is OBVIOUSLY approaching.
    I won’t let a child “starve” if I can help it, but, I cannot morally enable adults, who so willingly CHOOSE to be so myopic, simply because they choose so willingly to be lazy.

  18. I would add to my comment, we are coming up on 39 years together, so we do have life experience, of both good times and. Tough times. I do not remember who to attribute this to, “Tough times never last, but tough people do…”.

  19. NRP…I found it interesting to read your reply. It is always good to know that when you try to teach the younger generation about the why’s of prepping, they get it.

    I truly believe that one of the reasons people don’t prep is because they don’t understand what is truly going on in the world today. I don’t think I paid any attention to world news when I was in my early 20’s and if something had happened it would have been SOL. However, I think there is a lot more information out there on the internet these days to help people become aware of what is going on all around us. I am sad to say that I didn’t truly become more aware until 2008 and am glad that the government has been propping us up so that I could get on board and get some preps in place. I just hope when the bubble bursts it isn’t a hard landing.

  20. NRP

    How far do you think the citizens can be pushed into breadlines, TP lines, etc before they will finally wake up? Perhaps some of us have already reset and the rest will do nothing.

    1. @ homebody

      “Perhaps some of us have already reset”

      Your statement made me think for a while, maybe that’s what my wanting to live more and more into the “lifestyle” is. I’m doing a personal “reset” in the way I want to live and spend a lot more time doing things as they did “before”? This harder and harder unknown drive to get separated from the masses of people, to live more as a hermit I could say. To be a LOT more self-sufficient.

      Hummmm, you sure got my brain working, need to do some more personal review and contemplating about your statement…. Interesting…

      NRP

      PS; the masses? they will never know what hit them before it’s too late… Honestly.

      1. NRP, I too feel I have reset ….OMG has 9 years gone by since I have been called a hermit? It has become my normal. I sometimes wonder when I die how many years it will take before they find my bones, unless my dogs chewed them up too ;-)

      2. @NRP

        Ha.. Make sure you get yourself some cheap sunglasses, when you get up in the morning to meet the masses. LOLOL

  21. I have come to the conclusion some people are just dumb with no common sense. I know this is a simplified response but I see this in all parts of our society.

    People hike in the woods without pepper spray or a firearm, practicing unprotected sex, smoke, drink and never exercise, let their kids go to dangerous activities because it is cool, etc. You get the idea. I have a close relative who has no jack or take down tools for his vehicle and I just found out his daughter’s vehicle doesn’t have one either. After my shock I asked him why on Gods earth would you let your 18 year old daughter drive cross country without a jack let alone do it yourself. His response was, “we can always call AAA”.

    I pointed out there is no cell phone coverage in many places they travel and he responded, “some one will come along to help” besides she wouldn’t know how to change a tire if she had to. This person has a high paying job and a masters degree. If this type of thinking is not dumb I don’t know what is. People who never prep or even consider what strategy to use during a crisis fall into this mind set.

    1. Wow, even people with a Masters degree can be stupid. That is just plain sad.

      1. I believe it is called being educated beyond one’s intellectual capacity.

        Try this sometime when you are bored. Find one of those super-educated multiple master’s or PhD types, always bragging about their credentials and ask them: “what do you actually DO?”

        It’s fun.

      2. It is sad but how does one contemplate such stupidity? These are the same people who roll their eyeballs when any type of common sense, let alone prepping is mentioned to them. This is why I have little sympathy for the lackadaisical attitude of certain people especially if calamity befalls them. They made their bed, let them sleep in it!

  22. People make time to do what’s most important to them. Apparently Pokémon, latest electronics and cable TV has their mind occupied. I think its an excuse to bum or loaf off another, when SHTF, I had preached for 6 months to a year to my closest family members. I will happily say “Sorry you can’t come here” & Mooch off my hard work, time, energy and preps.

  23. My oldest son, who is a very astute businessman, and has built a multi-million $ business, just laughs when I bring up the subject,and calls me a ‘doom & gloom’ person.

    The positive attitude that serves him well building his business, refuses to accept what he calls a ‘negative’ attitude about the future.

    You know the saying: “To each, his own.”

  24. I’m always sending preparation info to my family, most of which do not prepare for all the reasons listed in this article.

    I just ended an email with prep info to them with the following excuses they use and my response to that excuse:

    I don’t have time. – Don’t take much of it.

    I don’t have the extra money. – You’d be surprised when priorities are in play. I can show you how to prep on an extra $5 each trip to the grocery store.

    I have other fun things to do/spend money on. – Again, priorities.

    I don’t have the storage room. – Awh-you can hide it in plain sight.

    People will say I’m weird. – Grow a thick skin and soldier on.

    It will never happen. – DON’T BE A Venezuelan !!!!!

    1. @ grandee

      “DON’T BE A Venezuelan !!!!!”

      Hope you don’t mind if I use that phrase. How friggen truer can one be?

      NRP

  25. Over and Over I hear my neighbors say, We know where we are going if the SHTF, my house. I think not. Sometimes I feel like chicken little. They are vacationing, going to concerts, going on cruises, buying “toys” while I grow a garden, an orchard, can food I grow, and spend my social security check on preparedness things. I would love travel in my old age. When something does happen I know they will be at my door, but my question will be, “what do you have to bring to the table?”

    1. The story of the ant and the grasshopper would be a better comparison story rather than chicken little. :)

      1. Chicken little ate the grasshopper as a “last meal” before the sky fell.

  26. AND…now for the one no one mentioned.
    The believers that think ‘the rapture’ will save them. I attended church for two years with this group.
    Narrow-minded? You bet!!!

    I Timothy 5:8

    1. At a resort job I had 3 years ago, I asked my supervisor if she was preparing for disaster by stocking up on food and supplies and she told me, “I don’t have to prepare, the Rapture will take me before it happens.”

      I asked her then, “So will every Christian be Raptured up with you if you lose your job and the bank takes your home?”….I was fired from my job and replaced.

      1. ~~~ “I don’t have to prepare, the Rapture will take me before it happens.”~~~

        Right, like the Venezuelans!!!

    2. I’ve never been able to figure out where the “rapture” believers get their information. The scriptures I’ve been given supporting it don’t make any sense in context, and most people I ask haven’t really thought about where they got the information.

      Most doctrines (regardless of religion) I can at least figure out where it came from, but not that one.

  27. Hi NRP,

    Don’t be sorry for the novel, I remember you writing about your nephew coming to visit, and it’s wonderful to hear he is taking your conversations to heart and taking steps to get his family prepared. The time you continue to invest in him may save his family’s lives one day (I know, you didn’t need me to tell you that).

    It’s got to be pretty amazing to watch someone’s level of awareness change that much – from unaware to facing some hard truths and taking action to be ready. Good for you, great job!!!!

    1. @ So Cal Gal

      Thank you, at least he’s open-minded enough to listen, heck, he may someday be watching my 6, who knows.

      NRP

  28. @ kevin

    I have said it many of times; I believe that the .gov may have a slightly difficult time removing Billy-Bobs Squirrel Rifle from his possession….. Just was thinking how many cousins that good-ole-Billy-Bob has when the revenuers show up????

    NRP

    1. NRP!
      I am quite certain that Billy-Bob has a whole LOT of adopted cousins that will/would show up when needed. At least in my delirium of clinging to MY guns and religion, I like to think so.

      On the matter of assisting your nephew, excellent proselyting work with that young man! I wouldn’t worry about his frame of reference at all. Sometimes, the “aha! Moment” comes quite close to the arrival of the thug demographic.

      For the rest of society, they merely turn butt up in submission, and “take it”. I don’t play well with others in that fashion at all. So I choose to “opt out” of placing my posterior in the receiving position, be it from thugs or the .gov crowd of pimps.
      Enjoy your comments immensely!

  29. Al:

    I’m 75, and my answer to you is the same as what I myself do: Just keep on doing what you’ve always done. ‘The Journey is the Destination.’

  30. @ Al

    Honestly? Hold her hand and tell you love her. Nothing else matters…..

    NRP

  31. I can hear the cursing and screaming of folks as they pound on their neighbors doors whom they know have prepared. Oh Lord…..Well, there are enough reasons as people on why people do what they do.

    But the bottom line is that once “something” happens to the majority of us we will have about three days before the second waves of SHTF starts. The false facade will quickly wear off and the violence will begin to escalate. I don’t care where you live, how well you have prepared, each one of us will be faced with someone with a screaming, hungry child, an injured spouse, or God knows what else.

    Not only must we have out physical supplies ready, we had better be putting on the battle gear of God Almighty right this very minute. Every day I pray that The Holy Spirit opens humanity’s eyes to the dangers we are facing and prompt hearts to be changed. Hold boys and girls….it’s going to be a very bumpy ride!

    1. @ Kate in Colorado

      When TSHTF; your neighbors will be your worst nightmare….. Look at the rioting and violence in the cities for absolutely no reason at all. Guess what happens when the power goes down, or any SHTF you want to use…. But not to worry, the .gov and FEMA will be there to save the day… NOT!!!!

      NRP

      1. NRP I agree 110%. All in our ‘group’ agree the nice neighbors will justify anything when the reset comes ‘for the sake of their family’ maybe a short relocation to outlying area will be the plan of choice and situation in order to allow these ‘good people’ to self eliminate each other.

        The priority (not) for such people brings me back to my parents warnings who lived the 1930s depression in the country…..and saw first hand the sheeple (city types) get anything, at whatever justified means because it was for the family. They saw Govt at its worst and the Banks were the robbers along with the tax collectors.
        God help us

  32. I really think it comes down to those who have experienced hardship and disaster in our life, versus those who have not.

    The former knows their vulnerability innately and we take steps daily to mitigate it.

    The latter takes comfort in the contrived pablum they have been fed since birth.

    I can count on one hand the number of folks who have genuinely helped me along my life path. Their kindness will be returned one day. As for the rest…. well, bye.

    1. I agree McGyver. People who have lived through various hardships in their lives have learned to prepare for the future. They see what can happen and how it can affect them. Those who have always had, and never experienced having to go without don’t believe it could happen to them. So they see no need to prepare.

    2. McGyver

      In some cases the opposite is true. There have been several times when I have offered or given help to others, only to be (figuratively) spit on. Some turned up their noses at a free gifts of vegetables – gee do we have to cook these things. Some took the help and hardly said anything but were never heard from again – until one morning when a wind storm had taken down a building on their property. Since I have the tools and know how, many assume that I will continue with my generous ways. As society degenerates I am re-assessing my open nature.

    3. Hi McGyver,

      Hope you are doing well and holding up in all this heat (at least it’s a little cooler today!).

      I agree as well… I grew up in a family where money was always short, so I learned the value of a dollar and the importance of earning your keep. I’ve had some bumps in the road that have taught me not to take the good times for granted, and to plan for times that will not be as good – because everything has ups and downs. I’ve learned who friends are (and are not) in the tough times.

      If a person is smart enough to learn from those kinds of life experiences they will be better prepared for the curve balls when they come… and for those too ignorant or self-involved to learn from hard times (or who have never really had hard times) – well, they aren’t going to fare very well at all in a SHTF situation.

    4. @ McGyver

      “Their kindness will be returned one day. As for the rest…. well, bye.”

      Hummmm, that’s sounds exactly like something I would say….

      NRP

  33. Hi Al,

    I am so very sorry to read that your wife has brain cancer. I cannot imagine what you are both going through.

    I’m sure you’ll get plenty of good ideas from more experienced folks on this site, but for starters:

    – Do you have any trusted neighbors who may have kids or grand-kids who could use some food and/or pocket money to help you?

    – Do you have a local feed store, home supply store or other place where there is a bulletin board where you could post flyers about trading help for fresh produce?

    – Is there a local 4-H club, FFA group or even a community college with agriculture students you could work with?

    – Do you belong to a church or community group of any type that may know of someone who could help, or at least point you toward local resources you may not know about?

    I will keep you and your wife in my thoughts and prayers.

  34. You’re ABSOLUTELY right! I’m dealing with this issue now.

    Situation- I prep. I spend about 20% of my paychecks on a deep pantry and other “consumables”. No need to itemize, everybody here knows what they have for the reasons onto their own. I’ve planned to take care of 4 adults.

    I have a brother who rakes in around 120K/yr. He has done ZERO. I tell him to get on it, you got the resources, do it while you can. He laughs and says that he’ll pick up everything he needs while the crisis is happening. I told him there may be a time when that piece of plastic or the dollars in your wallet will be worthless. He said “I’ll come to your house”. I told him “don’t show up with a bag of Cheetos and a milk jug of water and expect me to share; not happening”.

    He’s banking that something won’t happen, I’m banking that it will. He banks on stocks and 401k, I bank on silver and long term food storage and skills.

    The word “prepper” is not a dirty word to me. It defines the optimism and potential of those who visit this and other preparedness sites. Wear the badge proudly.

    Interesting side note- A friend recently had to clear up his folks place after they passed. Their basement was filled with brand new truck and car tires. The reason- they lived through WWII. Tires were hard to come by and were rationed.

    Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

  35. Some of the people I know and have heard comment, say things like, I will just deal with what ever, or nobody is taking my stuff. Problem is they are not prepared to deal with anything. I have begun to think some of that attitude is simple over confidence.

  36. Most of those that can afford to prep but don’t are caught up in a routine and refuse to accept any change that would indicate a negative thought.

    They also may think to anticipate something that could be negative in their future would bring negative karma into their life. Some may feel so secure that nothing will happen to them because they have had financial security for decades. These people may also deny that MSM would deceive the public.
    they have become complacent, arrogant and most likely choose not to be in the bast physical shape.

    These people will likely try to buy their safety when SHTF to no avail.

  37. Al

    I like the other replies to your post, and second/third them.

    I would only add, possibly sit with her and go through family photos…talk about the times in them..

    re: the finding some group to help you out/give produce too, such as church group, neighbor, local kids etc…

    If you can join up, so to speak with someone like this, it will also give you an out when you are approached to give away your hard work (Oh, I would but so and so helps maintain it, and the share goes to them).

    Even if you don’t belong to the church close by, you could ask the minister if there is a couple/family who might trade help for produce, etc.. Most ministers are happy to have these discussions, even if you are not part of the congregation.

  38. NRP
    He (nephew) took the first baby steps.

    You just made sure the shoes fit properly, before he started down the new path of life, under your direction which will lead him to a new awakening.

    Good job!

    1. NRP
      Happy to hear he is progressing along…but Portland..

      I just get chills (we call it heebie-jeebies) thinking about having to travel pass that place or getting near it to visit dh’s son who lives to the west. If I am driving I use the back roads saves my sanity, and not looking like a zombie is behind the wheel. lol

  39. It’s Groundhog Day— in the drive-through lane for food, got some stylin flip-flops on, AC blowing high, slouched behind tinted glass, thumping bass-notes out the sub-woofer, fondly stroking the screen of my phone as I check my FaceBook page again… everything is awesome!

  40. Between Ken’s list, and all the comments, I think the group has pretty much identified the key causes for the non-prepared. I think acculturation from an early age plays a major part in this phenomenon.

    My sister and I were both adopted and, while we lived in the same family, we lived completely different lives. Our parents divorced when I was very young. Mom moved to town, with my sister, and they lived the city life while I spent most of my younger years with my granny, on my dad’s side, at their homestead farm.

    Pretty much everything we ate we either grew, killed, raised, or bartered for. Mom and sis ate out a lot and mom developed the habit (she still lives by today) of stopping at the store every day or two and keeping a minimal supply of food on hand.

    On our side, out in the Tennessee sticks, we understood the need for storing food, medical supplies, having good sources of water, and all the necessary tools for hunting, fishing, farm work, and gardening.

    I have always been the black sheep but, to this day, I am fiercely independent and can’t imagine being “taken care of”. The rest of the family wouldn’t know how to react if they weren’t comfortable. I guess we have to be born into it to a certain degree, but it can also be learned, such as the case with NRP’s nephew, if the person wakes up and has the desire. I hope many more wake up soon…

  41. I believe Clint Eastwood had it right:
    ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,’

    In my travels, I have met them all.
    Those that will help. Those that will ignore. And those that will hurt.
    That’s the Human Race.

  42. Years ago, after a Category 4 hurricane struck our community, my friend took his chain saw up and down his road to help out. There were fallen trees on the road and in neighbors’ driveways. When he asked one neighbor if they needed help getting the large tree out of their driveway, they told him that they did not need for him to cut up the tree, and that FEMA would come along and take care of it. Days later, when the roads were finally passable, he drove by the neighbors’ house, and the tree remained in the driveway. This was AFTER a disaster, so I am not surprised when people do not take measures to prepare before a disaster.

  43. Maybe they think their money or their perceived “power” will work the same way in SHTF that it does now. They may think they can get whatever they need at the last minute. If that’s the case, they need to “think again” on both accounts.

    1. LifeLongLearner,

      No doubt many think that way. Are they in for a shock!
      I have had many of my ultra wealthy clients who have left for parts unknown. They figured out that their huge bank account will not insulate them from the Sh** Storm heading our way.

      It’s reminiscent of the Jews who saw the hand writing on the wall in Germany and got out. We know how it turned out for the rest.

      Sad to say most will not make it…

  44. Because dammit the 0% credit card (for 6 mo. 22% after that) is charged to the limit and we have no place in the storage unit! Its filled up with the Bow-flex, juicer, boat, jet ski, the “too small” 55″ TV and all that other s**t we didn’t need… Anyway we’ll just come to YOUR house anyway!!!

  45. I have casually responded to neighbors who tell us, “when the Schumerhitsthefan, WE are coming to your place!”

    My response is as selfish (to them) as their opening to me, “Well, you will all die at the bottom of the hill with everyone else who chooses to be that foolish.”
    This is always followed by their nervous laughter, and I’m not laughing at all.

    Morons abound. Although a mere movie, I am fond of the two brothers in the movie, “Second hand Lion”, great attitude overall, makes me feel like I’m not the antisocial “neighbor” I am sometimes thought to be.

  46. Al
    Do you have any close friends by that can help you and your dw?

    I must concur with NRP, hold her close let her know you love her, live each day to the fullest.

    So Cal Gal has great ideas also, hope you find the help you need.

  47. old guy

    interesting….

    had not heard of this..

    what form does the fellow in your rehab class take this in?

    1. It comes in bottle with dropper, powders are mixed and used in same way. The Internet has a wealth of info, use it.

  48. It’s funny. All these different answers from the same question. Crazy part is they all are the right answer to some degree.

    It reminded me of something I read in the book World War Z by Max Brooks. (Movie is nothing like the book BTW!) I liked it so much I highlighted in the book.

    It really fits what this post is about so here goes:

    The first labor survey stated clearly that over 65% of the present civilian workforce were classified F-6, possessing no valued vocation. We required a massive job retraining program.

    Anyone F-6 but physically able became unskilled labor: clearing rubble, harvesting crops, digging graves. A LOT OF GRAVES NEEDED TO BE DUG. Anyone A-1, those with war appropriate skills, became part of our Community Self-Sufficiency Program. A mixed group of instructors would be tasked WITH INFUSING THESE SEDENTARY,OVER-EDUCATED,DESK-BOUND CUBICLE MICE WITH THE KNOWLEDGE NECESSARY TO MAKE IT ON THEIR OWN.(capitalization by me!) Thanks to Max Brooks for that fine piece of writing.

    Now they were talking about fighting Zombies but the bit about our workforce is dead on! (Maybe a little pun intended). Throw in all the clueless and the lazy and it’s a right fine mess we will be in when the Scat Hits The Propeller!
    Coming soon to a town near you…LOL!!

  49. No one has mentioned the obvious answer I have heard and read many times. “I would rather die than live like that.”

    1. I’ve heard that too along with, “well I guess we just die with everyone else”. Give up without a fight? Nope, not me! Those people will be better off dead anyway. They couldn’t live without all their toys.

  50. I am the only child among my brothers and sisters that has worked as a first responder for years in California for over 10 years. I am also big into preparedness as are a few other siblings who have asked me questions over the years. My parents were both into having supplies on hand having lived through the Great Depression and the internment camps for the Japanese Americans during WW 2.

    Lessons on having supplies on hand when needed is most often a hard earned lesson with suffering and deprivation burning a long-lasting memory into the brains of observers and survivors. My brother has memories of having no money and no food in his memories of hardship. I still remember opening the pantry to a cabinet full of Ramen noodles and tea bags when my paychecks were delayed.(so I grabbed my rifle and a box of shells and went to the woods.) We made it through and did not starve. We also made a vow to ourselves that we never wanted to find ourselves in that situation ever again. That is why we prepare and lay in supplies to this day.

  51. With all due respect, I think you’re side-stepping a key aspect of the issue, which is this: Money is useful only if the marketplace itself is still working.

    If, on the other hand, there is no marketplace that you can participate in, wherever you are, when TSHTF, I don’t think that cash, gold or a Swiss numbered account will help nearly as much as beans, bullets, iodine tablets or antibiotics, to name a few.
    My $0.02
    (Which I’d rather have in beans or bullets)

    1. Money helps, but you need to eat and live safely in the absence of an existing economy (local and otherwise).

      The trick, IMO, is to hedge resources as efficiently as possible, which means converting a portion of $$ into assets that produce and maintain value/wealth. Do I go to the store now and try to barter a chicken? No, that’s why I keep enough cash resources to live a “normal” life until otherwise necessary. Was I comfortable with all my eggs in one bottom line on my computer screen? Definitely not.

      The majority of millionaires in Venezuelans might have left pre-crash, but those that were stuck behind were scrambling with the masses to find food. Most likely they could afford black market prices, but at a hugely devalued rate (of their original wealth) and thus not a very good long term investment. I am surprised there is not a trend for wealthy people in the US to not only have a BOL, but more specifically a fully sustainable, operating farm constantly in operation. They could pay tenant farmers to oversee and operate and either reap the crops for themselves or give it to charity. Should conditions require otherwise, they jump on their jet and are there within hours to ride out the storm.

      1. @Blew, quote, “I am surprised there is not a trend for wealthy people in the US to not only have a BOL, but more specifically a fully sustainable, operating farm constantly in operation.”

        There may be more than you think (although I doubt that there are many). For example I believe that I have identified one such case in the small town where I live… There’s a farm that’s operated by a tenant who raises chickens, goats, cows, gardens, etc.. fields of hay/silage, etc., and its all owned and funded by someone else out-of-state who is apparently wealthy enough to do so… I don’t know much else about that situation, but it may be an example of a ‘rich’ person who is hedging his bets…

        1. Ken

          “a rich person hedging bets”
          or

          a foreigner who has “Purchased Citizenship by buying a farm etc”
          or

          just a foreigner who is investing in American land, as a safe place to keep money

  52. Why do some people refuse to prepare for emergencies even when they have the financial resources to do so?

    I suspect that the increase in narcissistic tendencies in so many folks in our country today may be one of the root causes. The mindset that “the world owes me a living” because “I am such a special snowflake” can really derail any hope of assuming personal responsibility for one’s actions. It’s always someone else’s fault in the eyes of the narcissist, so why should they prepare for possible disasters when the world should be meeting their needs?

    The narcissist is a taker who is only concerned that others should gratify his/her personal wants/needs. As a result, narcissists fail to take personal responsibility or to consider the needs of their own families as important. Unfortunately, this self-absorbed/immature mindset plays out in many negative ways, not just in a failure to proactively provision for their families in the event of an emergency. Sigh.

  53. My husband gave me the best advice while taking care of my elderly parents and also when our daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (and I was in nutcase mode) …there is NO cavalry. No one is coming in and saving the day, it is up to us to do the work. So that is my mode of thinking. In order to prepare and be safe you have to do the work. Thank you for your blog and your readers comments. It encourages me a great deal.

  54. They don’t care.
    They are living in the moment, and ignore the realities of it all.
    They believe someone will save them because they have “Money”
    Lazy
    Ignorant
    Self Indulged
    “I’ll just go to your house”
    They are “Better” than the rest and don’t need to (Entitlement)
    Arrogance
    Too caught up in the Kardashians life and others like them.
    Too busy playing video games, or focusing on online social media sites.
    Prepper Phobia
    “I don’t know how to ____________” <— fill in the blank.
    "I don't have time to learn ___________" fill in the blank.
    "My family has a __________ in or at the ___________, I'll go there because its not in the city" fill in the blanks.
    "TPTB will NEVER let that happen in the USA"
    "I'll just wait for my neighbors to leave and take their stuff"

  55. @ VaeVictis99

    Would not disagree with you at all, I believe “they” are also the ones that incite and pay for the current riots. Y-all know whom I’m talking about.
    What most will forget is a well-known fact that most, if not ALL, of the prepared are also prepared to defend and fight with the same or worse tactics that those that will “want”.

    To be honest a bunch of “home-boys” that believe that the sights on a firearm are to lay sideways with the grip horizontal probably would not stand much of a chance against 99% of the preppers I personally know.

    Do you remember seeing that famous photo of the Ferguson Riots where several Tattoo Parlor people were standing with firearms in hand, and “Surprise Surprise” not a single of the rioters would even get close to them……. Imagine that, hummmmm real tough guys till ya get a firearm stuffed up your nose.

    Mob mentality is fine, until the Mob loses a few, after that I would bet that “mob” heads to softer targets…

    Although I could be wrong, but I doubt it. Standing and fighting for the “home ground” makes the odds a lot different than marching down some street burning down some unprotected Gas Station or Supermarket.

    JMHO
    NRP

  56. 1) Arrogance in that they think they are isolated from any event because they are living on equity of overly inflated home prices( CA especially).

    2) Ignorance in that they believe the MSM propaganda, the status quo and that government “wont let that happen” or it “cant happen”.

    3) They believe their “smart phones ” hold the keys to the kingdom and information eternal.

    4) Many believe they will just be taken into others homes( friends, family, coworkers) and rely on goodnature and goodwill.

    5) Most people don’t/cant think what I have termed ” 5 minutes or 5 feet” ahead. Most just push buttons in some office environment or “systems analysts” positions and haven’t planned any project bigger than grocery shopping, or fueling their vehicles( BIG accomplishments) if they even do that any more (eating out).

    The information is out there, they just elect to ignore it. To busy worrying about the stats or drama of some “pro” sports douche.

    I WILL NOT HELP/ASSIST ANYBODY. YOUR ARE ON YOUR OWN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  57. All great, thoughtful responses. Yes, I have heard the “I’ll go to your house” to which my husbands response will be, Yes, and its now a labor camp. What do you bring to the table?

  58. Talking with a woman from the middle east she said that American6s live in a pink chiffon world not like her home country where each day it was possible that they would be killed before sun down. The govt is the greatest problem regarding getting people to prep. Even people who lived through he great deprseeion era can be blind to the need to prep. Talking with a preper friend he lived in Germany as a kid under Hitlsr and was int the Hitler Youth. he survived as a kid feeding a machine gun for an older b5y who was the shooter. he knows the need for a food storage since he lived on tree bark and tulip bulbs for a while. Some people in his family killed themselves trying to eat things that were not eatable driven6 by hunger

  59. The modern world has bred a whole herd of lemmings,(helpless grass hopping concrete walkers and I will come to your house) fortunely there are a few exceptions, the survivalists. Some but not all of us survivalists will survive a very major setback for modern mankind. Thinking outside of the box this might not be such a bad thing for mother earth as sad as a great die off would be for us. The survivors of a global disaster would have a very different mind set from those that passed. They would be life long peppers like many of our grandparents that survived the great depression. Do not encourage lemmings to hang around your house, know anything about your stuff, marry one or heavens forbid breed with one. Befriend like minded people and you will be far ahead in case of a disaster.

    1. Beach’n,
      My evil twin is visiting me this weekend. He must of got on my computer…

  60. Wow, this article was retro as most comments were from 4 years ago. Since that time, in my AO we have recently gone through: Covid 19 lockdowns for the past year and we are still wearing masks and debating vaccine/no vaccine, Valentines Day Ice Storm of 2021, Numerous riots in larger cities this past Summer of 2020. My how things have changed.
    Many people have moved out of cities and are buying homes in suburbs and in rural areas because tear gas does not go well with their cocktails at the end of the day. Many restaurant and business owners are moving out of larger cities and relocating to a smaller town where they can run a store/restaurant or food cart without fear of being vandalized or store front from being defaced.
    I type this at the start of 2021 when many people are buying homes in suburbs or rural areas and laying in supplies like guns and ammo, house pets, chickens and feed + accessories for the same pets and livestock. Regular posters on this site have been reporting on the shortages of canning supplies, livestock feed and fencing material in their areas. More people are getting into being prepared these days as opposed to 4 years ago.

  61. Wow…only 3% are prepared at all? I had no idea it was that low. I would have thought it was at least 15-20%. Just wow!

  62. I occasionally read forums about ham radio. I’ve got a LOT to learn, so trying to pick-up a few tips. When this topic comes up, wow the disdain and condescending attitudes really come to the fore. Most hams are reasonably intelligent with math, electronics, etc. For whatever reason, they refuse to even consider it. It is below them to consider such a thing EVER happening to them. Many are angry that anyone would even dare to bring it up. I don’t comment or join the fray. Makes me really question the IQ of those with the attitude. I don’t think it’s fixable. Truly a head in the sand thing, I guess.

    Who knows how many secret preppers are among us. I try to remain very quiet about it, except on this blog. Those who choose NOT to prepare, are risking a lot. They have to know that, but ……..

    1. Plainsmedic,
      I have gotten similar response from a family member..who is into Hams…. Said i did “not have faith”… What about Noah? he prepared for over 100 years… for something that had never happened before. I have been hungry before. People that have never had to scrap for the next meal many times have no idea.. Yes, they have an IQ issue.. . It would take a large amount of detox to pull the heavy metals out of all those spaces and raise IQ even a little.
      .In circles where people tend to think of others- like church. I have had the most impact by asking a few questions. one of my favorites to ask…” If __( bad event happens) that does not affect you but 2 of 3 families around you- How do you help them if you have little yourself..?” fill in with hurricane, tornado, ice storm w/ no power…what ever worst calamity is..

      1. Just Sayin’
        I don’t think it’s just hams. The baofeng crowd has entered ham radio and SOME attitudes are changing. I have baofengs BTW. Prepping is what brought me to ham, necessity. We’ve all been fooled at one time or another, by the quiet person in the corner. I’m trying to emulate the quiet one.

        1. Plainsmedic,
          There are a lot of old curmudgeons in Ham radio. Look at it from their standpoint: the new flock of ‘preppers’, taking over “their airwaves” comes in with “cheap” chinese radios and starts filling up what was perviously open airspace. Kinda like on Christmas past where kids all got walkie-talkies and the airwaves on certain frequencies were a mess for a week or two until the broke or the batteries wore out. In this case though, “those preppers” are not going away.
          My advice? Ignore the fools.
          In my life i have always had at least 10% (if not more) of the people telling me i “can’t/shouldn’t/better not!” do whatever i set out to do. there will always be nay-sayers.
          Just be courteous on the air and follow the rules, show them that “preppers” are really not the people they have “decided in their minds” that we are. just my 2 cents.

        2. Minerjim,
          When I’m on-the-air, I never mention anything about preparedness. I make sure “that topic” never comes up, or if it does, I have no opinion. Silence is good opsec.

      2. OFS,
        Amazing what some people call “faith”. The Bible tells us to prepare, to store away, to help others in time of need. You are good to point this out to those that will listen. Just remember that some are not in place where they will listen and learn. Sometimes the loudest form of protest is to just quitely walk away.

  63. You hit on many of the reasons that immediately came to my mind.

    FEMA, or the government will just be there to provide in a real emergency. Other interruptions to normal life will be so short and temporary, there’s no reason to do anything. Normalcy bias. The thinking that there everything will always be available.

  64. I think it might be a lack of familiarity. Not “normalcy bias” per se but just no practice thinking and doing. It’s easy for me. My grandparents on both sides farmed and were mostly food self sufficient. My parents, aunts, and uncles all hunted and gardened and put food away in season. I grew up gardening, raising small livestock, and putting away. Beloved offspring grew up with me stocking up food from commercial sources as my career didn’t lend itself to growing and preserving.
    . . . .
    I’ve had pretty good luck with folks by just talking and thinking together. One that’s worked is “imagine what it would take if the only food you had for your family is what you grew and preserved on your own. Where would we get bread, other staples, sugar?” Lends itself to a buying spree. Seeing full shelves at home just feels right to folks I know.

    1. Just speculating, but
      I believe people with money, don’t feel the need to prep.
      It’s been engrained by those that hold office, that those with money are untouchable.
      Money is power.

      We know that this is not the answer.
      Money will not save our hide when it all comes down.

      Money will not be the answer to buy/save yourself out of upcoming circumstances.

  65. I’m just speculating.
    But
    I believe those with money, find the safety and security of their money.
    They find no reason to prep.
    Of course our leaders have driven that mindset.
    Untouchables.
    Money is power.

    We find that money is not the answer, to all that is good.

    We know that money will not be our saviour for the times that lay ahead of us.

    We know we can not buy our way out of the mess that awaits us.

  66. Why don’t people prepare? They live like the grasshopper instead of the ant. All my forebears remembered the depression of the 30’s and how they bartered and traded labor. In the book of Genesis the expression “and there was a famine in the land” is common. People who don’t learn history are doomed to repeat the mistakes.

  67. They have no clue what to do or where to start. They are used to someone telling them exactly what to do.

  68. I would be curious to know what makes some people different. Some people with plenty of money and with no experiences that would lead them in that direction still prepare. Others with plenty of money AND experiences that should lead them in that direction do not. Some do not who have no money at all, and some with no money find ways to do it.

    I can say I’ve never been hungry, but my parents were both raised by their grandparents generation so I’m essentially a generation behind–I have the same attitudes as someone born in the 40’s, the post depression era. I have a sister who has oodles of money and her “food storage” is a bag of noodles, a box of jello and a case of water. Another sister is nearly as deep into preparedness as I am.

    I know people who HAVE been hungry, and spend a great deal of energy convincing themselves that they don’t need extra–they’ll never be there again.

    So what makes the difference?

    1. Some people can not face reality. There is a reality the world and our economy is fragile.They believe it will suddenly get better by printing more money. They have enough -not necessarily rich,but think impact will be minimal for them…

  69. ”it won’t happen. If it does happen, it won’t happen here. If it happens here, it won’t happen to me. If it happens to me, it won’t be that bad”

  70. Hey guys. ,, the folks I run with are a mix of high rollers and your average Joes and some that are to broke to to know it. I don’t think there is much of a percentage difference as to preping ,wealth envie is a loosing way of thinking ,granted there is two kinds of wealth. That earned by honest work and the other kind by pull and corruption ,,would that you could what would you do?bad mouthing wealth by people that make bad decisions gets tired ,

    1. There are those who got lucky and grandpa was a wealthy entrepreneur or was also endowed by family wealth,

  71. I would tell them when the electric goes out don’t come here. My Ex- hubs used to tell our Daughter.If you’re gonna act dumb you better be tough. This was after she put her finger under the sewing machine pressure foot and turning the wheel.

    1. TOJS, Lol, oh ya, they have been told; But it went in one ear and out the other.

  72. People think they are free because they come and go and generally do as they please. They think they don’t need to prep because they say “I can just go to the store.” Even if they can just go to the store, they aren’t free. They have to go to the store. Any time you are compelled to do something, you are not free. In that regard, only the truly self sufficient are free. That is none of us.

    If I don’t buy food, I am compelled to hunt or grow food. If I am rich I may be a bit more free, but I am compelled to make someone else supply my food. Rich people have always depended on others and seldom do for themselves. They normally do not need to…

    As long as people are satisfied with the freedoms they have, there is no reason to prep. If you want more freedom and more independence you prepare. Freedom is about options/choices. You prepare so you can make choices and have options and are not compelled into things/places/situations you do not like.

    Of course, I have been wrong before. But it is my current opinion.

  73. With my station in life now, I’m content to take as many of the enemy with me as possible and would welcome death. I am a Christian and do not fear death, just death without honor. The cause of freedom is worth dying for, and after a catastrophic event I can see no reason to live if my family is dead, and my closest friends. Hopefully I van thin the ranks of the oppressors before I die.

    1. PP,
      Think you need to move this conversation over to the Attack on Liberty site.

    2. I hear ya…
      The place for this type of discussion is over on AttackOnLiberty.com where you could use the open forum or comment on any article. Thanks.

  74. One thing that blows my mind is the people who run to the store and panic buy when things go sideways, then when it looks like everything is clearing up or the event passes they try to return everything they bought.
    i dont understand that, then the next time, they are right there, in the commotion trying to get supplies they think they need, then repeat,
    We dont have much money either, but you wont see us running a thin margin, my better half is all too aware of the consequences of that. But to have bought the stuff, brought it home, then to try and return it all after a few days or a week, just makes no sense. But then again these are the same people who go to the store daily to get groceries, and wait for the warnings to be issued for hurricaines or whatever

    1. Kula,
      the peole you are describing have bought into that whole “Living for today” concept. Like any man-made doctrine, it has its faults.

    2. Kulafarmer,

      I really have to agree with you! A lot of people only stock up when the wolf is at the door. One day they will try and it will be too late.

      An other piece of info most people are not considering is FEMA has run out of money and it shows in the SE with all of the hurricanes we had last year. Local Electric coop had to take pictures to “prove” they actually did storm repairs! What happens when you give a disaster and FEMA doesn’t show up?! ;)

    3. I always say nothing interesting happens in Wisconsin (disaster wise) but I think it’s fun watching the panic buying.
      It wasn’t a mad rush with the TP and hand sanitizer shortage a while back but was still interesting to watch.

  75. The Gov has no plans is not accurate.
    “They” have plans for most everything, “they” have spent billions on planning, supplies, means and ways.
    It’s was all to protect themselves.
     
    FEMA had one original concept when it was created, to assure the survivability of the United States government in the event of a nuclear attack on this nation.
    Fema was to implement Continuity of government (COG)

    Later under Carter EO: April 1, 1979 The agency’s primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities

    Yea, not all descriptive but you can look it up for more info.

  76. I don’t know if others have mentioned this, but it is becoming quite a trend to be anti-prep. “They” consider it hoarding and selfish. There are even christians who believe this way. Even when the bible has clear examples of the importance of preparedness. I think they have indeed confused preparedness with panic buying.

    And when they do panic buy, they purchase bread and milk lol, all things that will immediately go to waste.

    To go even further, the socialist sentiment that no one should own anything is growing. Rather than not needing to prepare, they think that they shouldn’t have to.

    1. If I were to “panic buy” milk (specifically, because I make my own bread) I would do it with the intent of making cheese.

  77. People with lots of money believe that the money can solve any problem they encounter. Money blinds them to the fact that they are totally dependent on others, for food, water, transportation, security and any kind of repair/maintenance. If everyone had the experience of being poor most would do better.

    1. If I recall correctly the saying goes, “if money can’t solve it, it’s a problem”.

  78. I don’t see much difference between high rollers and folks of lesser wealth in what and how they prep ,i question the idea that more is always better ,more stuff can be a anchor on you ,the best prep is the ability to think things out , and act accordingly , in war the common mistakes are fighting the new war like you fought the last one ,a cavalry charge did not go well against the new machine gun in the first WW ,,trench warfare of WW one didn’t work out in WW2 ,tank warfare of WW2 was not so good in nam , we tend to plan to fight our battles on what we have experienced in the past ,,, big mistake ! best weapon you is your ability to think ,,, not how much STUFF or money you have , if you lost every thing you have tomorrow what would you do? Would you start over ?that is the story of mankind ,start over with just your ability to think ,that is the key to your future ,,, NOT STUFF

    1. OH, Very well said. The stuff between the ears is the most important ‘stuff’ we have.

    2. Skills, Trusted Friends and willingness to Root Hog or Die (WORK Hard those two evil 4 letter words) is indeed the most important factors to surviving a BAD situation.

      People with out trusted friends are unlikely to do well. Unskilled people have to survive under the “If your going to be dumb you better be tough”. Folks who choose not to work will find others WILLING to work “Stealing” their Jobs.

      However some stuff to support your Skills (Tools, Seeds etc.), help your trusted friends and in general keep body and soul together is not a bad thing.

      It’s really hard to be a successful gardener with out seeds and trying to made do with bits of scrap wood.

      Killhouse rule #4 Always be working, there is ALWAYS something you can do now to improve your situation.

      Off to plant Austrian Field Peas to build up some of my more barren soil.

  79. I know a man that has nothing. He lives day to day and depends on the Lord to provide for him. He is now living in constant pain and he suffers to the extent I can not imagine. This man gave me something this past year that I cherish…. it is so valuable to me that I would not sell it at any price, yet he is the poorest of the poor in earthly terms. He asks me for nothing in return. I will seek him out in the days to come if the Lord allows. I gladly share what I have with him and consider it an honor. His name is Frank and he is my friend. He turned me around…… and gave me hope. AMIDNIGHTCRY – youtube. He is my present to you….. who might listen.

  80. Having grown up on the farm , miles to a store , prepping was a necessity. When employment took me to a city , a very unnatural habitat , I continued to prep. Without advertising a few found out and thought I was nuts. I might see them again. They are assured the government will take of them. They are wrong.

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