The Tortoise Website

The Tortoise Website
Click on image to go to Author website. "THE RACE IS NOT TO THE SWIFT." Eccl. 9:11

Saturday 24 September 2016

Create A Community When The Grid Goes Down

By George Thompson


Many Americans would identify themselves as survivalists, and there are numerous online communities where they share advice on the topic. It frightens us to imagine life without the comforts of electric lights and central air. People have capitalized on this and created an industry based on food stockpiles, survival gardening, and self defense when the grid goes down.

Most of the manifestations of this fear seem harmless enough, and no one ever suffered a terrible fate from growing their own food. Unfortunately, the notion of home defense has become an ugly aspect of the need for survival in a crisis. Few people have really thought out how they might handle a situation in this scenario, and instead they prattle on about shooting trespassers in defense of their home, their food, and their own family.

Some level of panic will always govern the behavior of some humans in a crisis, but the panic only worsens when people hear gunshots. For those who are not run out of their homes, firing upon a crowd of trespassers without knowing who they are or what they want is unforgivable. Things only become worse when each and every human approaching is regarded as an enemy.

Survivalists go on the assumption that they must be prepared to care for themselves and their loved ones in a crisis. There is nothing wrong with this notion of independent existence so long as they do not allow themselves to view every stranger as a danger. History has shown that people generally help one-another in a crisis, and this should continue to be the case.

Anyone owning firearms should maintain a personal understanding that no round should ever be fired unless they can clearly see who they are shooting at, and clearly know why they are firing the shot. An overzealous gun owner may wind up firing a shot that they will regret for the rest of their lives. Most people wandering the countryside in this scenario are probably traveling in family groups, and they simply seek food and shelter.

A group of hungry people becomes much less dangerous to one another once everyone has been fed. The chances of a collapse lasting so long that one family feeding another results in their starvation is extremely slim. Wars and natural disasters always have the potential to create refugees, but being homeless does not automatically make someone an enemy.

Traveling groups of refugees are also quite likely to have armed members within their ranks as well. Should a family group begin firing upon refugees without first asking them to state their business, they may find they have made matters much worse for themselves and their loved ones. Should a group of travelers refuse to state who they are and why they are there, then deadly measures may be called for at that time, but not before.

A wandering family or traveling band of individuals could become a valuable friend, and provide assistance in growing food, building structures, and maintaining equipment or machinery. Each of us has different talents and abilities, and these talents may help us redefine ourselves in a crisis. When groups comes together in a tradition of sharing and helping each other provide abundance, then a community is born.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment