Preppers: You Cannot Sacrifice the Good In Search of Perfection
François-Marie Arouet (21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778), known by his nom de plume Voltaire
There is something called the 80–20 rule that may help explain why the search for perfection may be all in vain. For example, it commonly takes 20 percent of the full time to complete 80 percent of a task, while to complete the last 20 percent of a task takes 80 percent of the effort.
Robert Watson-Watt may have summed it up best. Robert Watson-Watt developed an early warning radar system during World War II. He developed it for Britain.
In the midst of war, he believed in the “imperfect”, you may only have your third best to give them, but that is fine, because your second best effort will be too late and perfection will never come. When bombs are raining down around you do what you can, you do not stand around bemoaning that things are not perfect (HistoryLearningSite, 2014).
What does all this mean? It means you cannot use the lack of perfection as an excuse not to do something. Some consider the search for perfection to be a form of extremism. Always searching, but never achieving because it truly is subjective.
People get the notion that they will do nothing unless it is perfect, and this may turn into a crutch, so you do not have to do anything at all. Learn to accept less, because perfect may never come if you are waiting for it to save your life.
The Perfect This and That
It seems because of the over-hyping of any situation that people may come to believe that any crisis will spread to their town or community, it may, but will it actually. Experts always advise you to plan for the worst-case scenario to ensure you are prepared, but are you preparing for the worst at the expense of the most likely.
You have the perfect bug-out-vehicle for example. It pre-dates 1986, and you are assured it will be operational after an EMP attack. You spent a lot of money on the old clunker but it will be worth it during an EMP. How do you really know though? Who do you know that has lived through an EMP, no one right? You spent countless hours and money getting it perfect, and all based on what information, really what did you base it all on?
You are planning for an EMP to the point possibly that you have forgotten about civil unrest, tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and flat tires and the list goes on.
You are searching for the prefect and spending time and money, and you simply do not know. What is less perfect however, is a bicycle, a horse or a mule, second and third best, not perfection but you know these will work when the SHTF and it is raining down around you.
The perfect knife, the perfect bug-out bag the perfect plan is the one you have with you when the SHTF. You do not know before it happens how it will be, you can only assume, and unless you have been through it, you really have no idea.
Take super storm sandy for example, the storm that ripped up the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. The storm not even categorized as a hurricane created more havoc than storms twice its size. People assumed they knew what would happen, they all had the perfect plan, and as it turned out they failed to plan for the simplest of things, flooding for example, shifting sands that at one time kept the water at bay and they failed to ensure that the generators even worked. They walked on dollars to pick up pennies.
You can be too smart for your own good, “can’t see the forest for the trees” and all that. Bring yourself back to earth, prepare sensibly, and stop looking for the perfect this or that, because you do not really know.
Not All Disasters Are World Ending They Do Not Change the World As You Know It
Your vehicle breaks down along the side of the road, its late at night, are you prepared for this. This crisis is devastating for you personally, but not for anyone else, survival is always at the individual level, and you have to be prepared for the so-called little things in life that can put you in a survival situation. You may be a Prepper that is preparing for a super volcano, a massive 10.0 earthquake, an Ebola outbreak but are you prepared for a dead battery, a flat tire or a blown radiator hose?
Any plan is a good plan, because you do not know what is going to happen so how can any plan be perfect. Look at some survival forums and you will see people commenting on other peoples prepping plans, and usually stating the plans will not work or some other derogatory comment. How do the commenter’s know, well they do not, because they have not been there or done that, but if asked they will tell you they have the perfect plan.
HistoryLearningSite. (2014). Retrieved 2014, from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/robert_watson_watt.htm