What if the collapse never comes?
A reader asked this question in the comments of a recent post . What if we spend all this time and money preparing for a collapse or disaster that never happens. Then what? We’ll have wasted our lives, time and money he says.
One example given was Mel Tappan (1933–1980) – Tappan was a stable fixture of survivalist movement before his death at age 47. The commenter thinks, Mel wasted his life planning for a crash that never came.
I doubt Mel would feel this way, but I guess we’ll never know.
I’m sure a lot of people have abandoned the idea of preparedness when the crash failed to happen within their allotted time frame (the year 2000 millennium bug “Y2K” for example). This is natural and I’ll admit it’s happened to me more than once. Sometimes it’s difficult to stay on target and motivated.
When you think about it, collapse and disasters happen every day, albeit on a personal or local level. Job loss can cause a personal economic collapse and natural and man-made disasters can be sudden and deadly (the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma for example) – these types of disasters are becoming more common place.
I see survival planning as an insurance policy for the future, and a way of life (and it can also be a lot of fun if you’re doing it right).
How many home owners have paid insurance premiums for 30 or more years, yet their home has never flooded or burnt? How many have dropped their policy only to have their home destroyed by fire months later?
But what if I spend all that money stocking up on survival food only to throw it out when it passes the expiration date?
What’s that you say? Why would you have to throw it out? You have to eat – don’t you? If you eat and rotate you should never have to throw anything out. Let me say that again – If you eat and rotate you should never have to throw anything out. Got it? Good.
All you’re doing by stocking up is buying in advance and when you consider the fact that you’re eating at last year’s food prices, stocking up is a no brainer because it’s only going to get more expensive. If you’re throwing food away you’re doing something wrong.
If you learn to prepare food using basic foods, such as beans, rice and whole grains you’ll actually be saving money, eating better and learning new skills.
By learning skills and doing things yourself, you not only save money, you gain independence and a feeling of self-worth and pride in your accomplishments. This is valuable no matter what the economic or surrounding conditions.
Survival planning and self-reliance also has many health benefits, and we all want to be healthy and live longer.
By raising a garden, hunting and foraging, you not only eat healthier, you get off the couch and get some exercise and again you save money.
I don’t think a life including survival planning is a wasted life. There is no need to hide in a bunker or live in fear as some seem to think – it can be a lot of fun, you can save money and probably live longer.
What do you think?
Is prepping a waste of life?
Via: thesurvivalistblog
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