CLUELESS REBEL

     Yes lets face it preppers really are a crazy bunch. Oh and if you don't know what preppers are then let me explain. They are this new group of people who are always paranoid something bad is going to happen. Because of this they are always in a frenzy stocking up on food, guns ammo, survival supplies and car insurance.

     Most of these fools have no idea that the economy is too big to fail. Hell some have said even God couldn't stop the economy at this point. Now I know that same group did say that about the Titanic but the Titanic did not have computers. Besides do you really want to listen to people who probably think you should be wearing a tinfoil helmet?

     Well maybe not but Just the same as with any decision it is good to stir in a little logic first and then decide. A good therapist told me that once. When ever you are trying to decide something he said just stir in a little common sense logic and to see how well your decision stands up to it. If it passes the logical test then you are as fine. At least as you are going to get in this "no guarantees" world.

     OK first off you have to decide what is prepping and what is not. After all we are all preppers in some manor. Especially if you bought car insurance, candles, vitamins or took water with you on a hike in the mountains. With car insurance you only bought it in case you have an accident. If you do then you are at least prepared and won't lose everything you own to someone's lawsuit lottery. All just because you rear ended them.

     But hey lets get honest here. If you are like me you have never had a "your fault" accident in 40 years. Why waste the money just because of negative thinking? Sure after 40 years of no accident driving the odds are very low that you could have an accident. But if you do the costs of that accident could be through the roof. Thus getting the insurance is a no brainer. Even though the odds are very low the potential loss rules the decision.

     So how we made the decision is we factored in the cost of the insurance, the odds of an accident and if we have an accident what do we risk losing. Then you decide if your pile of stuff is worth more than the cost of insurance. In most cases here in North America the answer is no. At the same time if you factor in what you could lose besides your "stuff" the story gets a little scarier. Often times your losses could be millions of dollars worth of your future income. Then it gets real. The choice is again obvious. Even though you have never had an accident in 40 years. The big number in this situation is the potential losses you stand to gain.  

     So when it comes to prepping like the average prepper does, which is mostly factored around the economy, we have to factor in all the scenarios. First off if the economic system does crash what happens then?.

     Well it is a known fact that every city in North America has about a two day food supply. In a crash it would be fair to say all food coming into the city would be down for at least two weeks to two months give or take a few weeks. How would your cute little overweight couch potato kids last without food for that long? My guess is you could use a watch and not a calendar to determine that number. These days if someone misses or is late on a meal they get hangry... A day of no eating they are going to get angry. Three days and they are going to get psycho!!!  

     The next thing you would want to consider is how much would it cost to prepare for such an event? This number could vary substantially depending on so many factors but lets say between a thousand to five thousand. In fact for here lets just say three thousand. So if you bought an extra three thousand in food for a "floater" you could be prepared for an economic crash. At least as far as food goes.

     That is pretty dam cheap insurance that could save your family's life! Especially when you consider car insurance is around that much per year. At least if you have criminal government insurance like we do here in BC Canada. Except with the food insurance you get the money back when you eat the food. So in reality the "insurance" doesn't cost you a dime!!! Only a little effort and of course some money up front that you would have had to spend anyway!!!

     Now if the crash does not happen then what then? Well like I said no big deal as you can still eat the food. In fact since inflation keeps going up you would end up saving money on that food by buying it now. Likely by the time you used it up the prices for that same food would be a lot more. So by stocking up on food it would not really be costing you anything and in some cases could save you a lot. Not to mention having more food stocked can save you a lot of trips to the store just for another bottle of sugary tomato sauce. Also if you  have a lot of food on hand it can save you from your hunger stealing your wallet and ordering in take out food. 

     Now lets say a crash were to happen. After all governments have been causing economic crashes since the beginning of time. On top of that in the history of mankind there has not been one case of a fiat currency lasting any longer than a few decades. Our currency now is just another fiat currency and a ton of VERY intelligent people say it too is about to crash. If that were the case and a crash did happen that would mean your family would have at least food for the next few months. They would also not have to stand in some non-existent government food line to receive some "modified" food-like product to survive. Either that or starve to death. Though this sounds highly unlikely any intelligent Nobel Peace Prize winning scientist would tell you different. Simple math alone says it is bound to happen. Especially since all systems for most supplies are all computerized. A big solar flair could alone take out the power grid and that would stop all shipments of everything right there. 

     There is another thing that happens when you stock up food for your family. You take your power to provide back. Sure you are still using the "system" but in a way that gives you power and not one that makes you dependent on daily visits to your local store for food.  

     Now just like having an accident if you have not had one in forty years why the hell worry about it. After all we have not had a real crash since 1929. Ok 2008 hurt a bit but food flow did not stop so it wasn't that bad. A lot of people just lost a lot of paper and digital numbers. Well the reason you worry is because the consequences if you don't far out weight the cost of prevention. With the food situation it is the same. The consequences by a long shot far outweigh the costs of prevention. Not to mention you get to enjoy the benefits no matter what happens.  

     So prepping for a food shortage is a no brainer. Especially if you have a responsible attitude and truly do love your family. After all mankind has been "prepping" food wise since we finally got half a brain. You had to "prep" if you wanted to actually survive. Those that didn't were often had their genetic code removed from reproducing. Either that or they were forced into  politics.

     Ok that's fine but lets look at another scenario like someone nuking our city. The odds of that happening are very likely especially if you live on the coast somewhere and the country is still run by a government. So in this case what would it cost to prepare. Taking a long shot guess I would bet a good bomb shelter would cost fifty to a hundred grand. Having a bomb shelter could mean your family survives the fire ball. Great!!! But then what? Die slowly of radiation exposure?

    So you see this huge expense really doesn't stand up to logic. Sure your family survives but only to live in a nuclear hell. It just doesn't make logical sense. Now it could if your family were a bunch of rough and ready survivalists keen on hardship, struggle and adventure it could be a different story. But just between you and me your "couch potato chip eating phone staring group" is no where near that. Not to mention life as an apocalyptic survivor is a lot harder than the thousands of movies on the subject portray it to be.  

     Thus a better mentality would be to just let you and your family go. Hell let's be honest people have been dying since the beginning of time. It can't be all that bad. Not to mention it is going to happen to almost all of us eventually anyway so why worry about it. Not only that but going instantly in a government designed and built thermo nuclear blast is far better than losing body parts one at a time due to radiation.

     Now I should add that if you have a ton of money then building a bomb shelter could very well be a great good choice. It would stimulate the economy and if it did happen all that money you have in the banks would be gone anyway. Thus why not use it now. Remember how much disposable money you have is a big factor in your logical decisions. On top of that it could be a cool guest house for your visitors.  

     So in this example logic shows the best route for most people is not building the bomb shelter. Better to save the money and use it to enjoy the life you now have while you have it. Spend all that bomb shelter money on creating special and memorable moments with your family. Moments and memories that you can take with you after your government gets your bodies turned into radioactive  dust. Remember your family might not have the survivalist mentality that you have so dragging them into an appocolypse where they have to die slowly might not be their idea of a good time.

     Where most people get into problems with making decisions is they never stop to think. They just follow the latest consensus of the main stream media. They let the media make the decision for them and then nervously crack a few jokes about preppers before changing the subject. Sure prepping might get you some dirty looks from your pollyanna neighbors but it doesn't have to. In fact you are far better to not tell a soul anyway. After all if there were a crash guess who would be knocking at your door? Instead it is far better to just keep quiet and tell no one. None of their business anyway.

     Now for me I am lucky. I have been dead and out of body three times due to severe accidents. I know what dying is like and believe me there is nothing in the world that even comes close to how good it is. On top of that I don't have a family to worry about so I could care less about prepping. The key thing is in doing so I am not making decisions for those who are counting on me. Thus acting like a bit of a tough guy and know it all regarding the economy when you have never really studied it is a fools trap. Taking chances with your life regarding potential situations is fine as in my case. But if you have a family and arn't prepping you could be missing out on one of the biggest chances to be hero to your family you will ever get in this life!!!

     Now you must remember if you do decide to do any prepping always pay cash for your "preparations" when you can and keep a low profile. I read about one guy in California. He had a water purifier and was making and selling purified water to people for the same price bottled water companies were selling it for at the time. He saved a lot of peoples asses and was a true American hero.

     Needless to say the government of course gave him a heavy fine for doing that!!! Yes the mentality of government can bend your mind. Here was a guy providing clean water for desperate people and asking a reasonable price and they fined him with taking advantage of people!!! Taking advantage of people is the governments domain I guess. One thing you can bet is the people who bought the water didn't think that way. They were probably thanking their lucky stars that they did not have to wait a month for the government to get them clean water. 

     Of course once you realize that the government is more about control than actually benefiting anyone the above water story makes perfect sense. Mostly because it discourages people from getting prepared and then when tough times hit the government has all the control. Of course that is often a big leap for the average consumer to absorb. Especially for those shelling out half their income to taxes so their government can drop bombs in foreign countries.

     One other thing that is really important to remember. Prepping is not an all or nothing game. You don't have to buy seventeen semi-automatic guns and two truck loads of ammo or enough food to feed you and your family for ten years. If you are on a budget by an extra can of soup every time you shop and stash that. Maybe buy or freshen up your fishing gear and pick up a rifle with some ammo. You can start small and work up. You will be surprised at how quickly it can add up. This is because anything done steadily no matter how small adds up quicker than most people believe.

So quick summary.

•  First decide on what it is that you could be preparing for.
  

•  Second come up with a number for what those preparations could cost you.

•  Third factor in your financial situation as far as your cash on hand etc.

•  Fourth come up with what the potential loses or pain that not prepping could  cost you and or your family if said event did happen.

•  Fifth assess the odds that the event will actually happen. Don't be afraid to do a little research here. Of course not through mass media or other fake news sources.
  

•  Sixth make your decisions and live with it. At least with the above you have made that decision consciously instead of just blindly following the "herd" so to speak. Remember no one gets it right all the time.
  

     Oh and don't forget nothing beats the feeling of being prepared when a problem strikes. Not to mention the old saying: Victory loves preparation!