Why should I be prepared?

"Why should I prepare?  I am not some paranoid nutcase expecting the end of the world or a zombie apocalypse."

This is the type of response I tend to receive when the subject of preparedness or survivalism enters into a conversation.  I personally believe that the main benefits of prepping don't have much to do with the ideas that are typically tossed around when discussing survival in popular circles.

The traditional hardcore survival situations including nuclear holocaust, EMP, solar flares, asteroid strike, global warming, or 2012 doomsday could possibly happen, but I don't believe that the odds are very good that any one of them will come to fruition.

So why prepare?  I believe the greatest reason lies in the self-sufficiency and security that you will gain during a temporary civil breakdown related to one or more of the following events:



1. Hyperinflation (most recently seen in Zimbabwe in November 2008)

2. Pandemic (read about the Spanish Flu in 1918-1919 that killed 50 million people in 6 months)

3. Bio-terrorism (dates from the Roman Empire all the way up to the recent 2001 Anthrax attacks)

4. Peak Oil Crisis (modern civilization is entirely based on the availability of cheap oil)

5. Natural Disaster (on a small scale that could happen anywhere, read about 9 Days Without Power, courtesy of  The Survival Mom)

Any one of these five events could happen at any time, and could cause a breakdown in society due to interruption of utility services, delayed food, fuel and medicine deliveries, & under-staffed police and fire responders.

The next two paragraphs will illustrate why you need to prepare:

You will still need to provide food, water & shelter for your family regardless of the supermarket shelves being empty, the gas pumps being shut off (no electricity) or the city water being shut off.

When your friends and neighbors start seeing their children go hungry, they will seek out food and water and take it by any means necessary.

The combination of these two scenarios are the building blocks for a breakdown in society, and are not far-fetched or a result of paranoia.  It is said that our modern society is 72 hours away from anarchy, and a short glimpse back in time to the Katrina hurricane bears this out in case you are doubtful.

Anyone who can't see the logic in preparing for situations like I have described is simply kidding themselves or content to go through life wearing blinders.

My last piece of advice for this post?  If you won't prep for yourself for whatever reason, you need to man up and do it for your family.  You'd hate to have to watch your kids starve to death.



LWM out........