The citizens of this country are conditioned to wait for the authorities to show up during a crisis. Your local government even goes so far as to tell you what you should stockpile for a disaster. Everyone has heard the mantra leading up to a natural disaster. You need at least a three-day supply of canned goods, water, batteries, and candles and do not forget the hand operated can opener.
Survivors of disasters in many cases have come to realize that the government itself is not prepared for a crisis. Super storm sandy victims learned firsthand how well certain organizations operate during a disaster and to this day, many of the survivors are still in recovery mode. Disaster relief agencies actually shuttered their offices during the crisis because of “bad weather”.
Financial problems, political posturing and mismanagement means that most communities are not prepared for any type of major calamity. This means that survival is an individual responsibility.
The threats and possible disaster scenarios that might befall the country or larger cities are too numerous to mention. Anyone that has been paying attention knows it is just a matter of time. It is not if but when hackers slip through the firewall or another so-called national security agent goes rouge and really causes damage, and no one really knows as of yet if the latest one has set the wheels of our destruction in motion or not.
The Government
The government is designed to survive so it can continue to govern in any situation. That is why leaders and others are whisked away to secret bunkers at the first sign of trouble. Leaders must survive to lead at any cost and this means during a national or world crisis the average citizen is on their own.
The end justifies the means and the government will commandeer supplies and people such as doctors, engineers, and others to keep the government going. Your local government may be forced to provide to a higher authority (federal government) before they can provide to you.
Survival at the Individual Level
Given everything, you know about past disasters a three days’ supply of food and water is not near enough. Power disruptions can last for weeks or even longer, water treatment plants can be damaged and it may take weeks to get them back on line. If you are not prepared for the worst-case scenario then you are not prepared at all.
The simplest of things that you take for granted can cause you problems during a crisis. For example, what will you do with all of your household garbage if the sanitation trucks do not run, what about sewer systems that are not operational, and what will you do about not being able to push a button and communicate with others. The simplest of things will cause great angst during a crisis if you have not planned. Not to mention the things that really matter such as water, food and medical care.
Change Your Way of Thinking
Freedom gives you the ability to succeed or fail on your own and it is not freedom if you expect the government to take care of your every need. The government has its place and job to do as do you.
Set goals, achieve those goals and move forward. For example, your first goal is to get to the point you can survive for 90 days without intervention from anyone. Once that is achieved, go for six months and so on.
Ultimately, you will need enough emergency supplies to sustain you while you develop alternative food and water sources. However, you should be thinking about other sources of food and water long before you will need them.
What tools and supplies will you need to grow your own food using hydroponics, Aquaponics and traditional growing methods? Most of you will not want to survive on just fruits and vegetables so you will need other foods such as fish, chickens, goats and possibly even larger farm animals if you have the land and resources to raise them.
Most of you cannot make dramatic changes such as purchasing acres of land in the wilderness or building underground bunkers so you have to work within certain parameters. There is much that you can do however, but you will have to plan around certain things because of the fact there are some things you cannot change.