BEANS AND BULLETS: Survival of the Fittest
Survivalists! Preppers! Communists! Lefty Loonies! Gun Nuts! Patriots! Globalist! It seems in the day of identity politics everyone must either claim a label or they will be labeled by someone else. Gone are the days when it is OK to be just an average American working 9 to 5 to feed the family and make ends meet.
Across the political spectrum everyone seems to be pointing to some crisis, real or imagined, and blaming someone else on the spectrum but no one has any real answers. Is the country headed for social and economic collapse that will bring about a civil war? Is the country headed to a glorious future, with a few bumps along the way, of globalism, electric cars and equity for all?
Probably none of the above. There is certainly international turmoil that has been made worse by the pandemic. The spectre of natural disaster looms large. Supply chain disruptions are causing global problems and shortages of some commodities may worsen. But how does one realistically prepare for such eventualities?
Emergency preparedness in uncertain times, whether for an individual, a family or a community, involves a few basic categories. These include shelter, food and water, home and community protection, transportation and travel, communications and information, and short-term and long-term planning. Each element is in turn influenced by geographical location, population density, available resources and political stability.
“Beans and bullets” is simplistic at best. The more involved individuals, families and communities are the better all will function in a real emergency. True preparedness will require a cooling down of the political rhetoric and a renewed sense of caring for each other as fellow Americans.