There was a time when everyone was expected to be a “survivalist.” If there was a disaster or a long-term crisis, people were expected to take care of themselves and each other. Why are survivalists n

[desertrose]

There was a time when everyone was expected to be a “survivalist.” If there was a disaster or a long-term crisis, people were expected to take care of themselves and each other. Why are survivalists now portrayed as paranoid conspiracy theorists?

August 22, 2012 by desertrose | Edit

Sustainability

Disaster Preparation and Survival

Why The World Needs Survivalists

Urban Survival Site

How to Survive in the City When Disaster Strikes

| Author: Urban Alan

Although survivalists are usually  portrayed as paranoid conspiracy theorists by the main stream media, during a crisis they are heroes.

Take a look at this poster. The U.S. Department of Agriculture printed and distributed it during the Great Depression. At that time the country was suffering terribly and soup kitchens were being stretched to the limit. There was a desperate need for regular people to pick up the slack, so the government actually encouraged them to raise chickens, grow gardens, and can food. Nowadays, local governments are actually trying to stop people from growing gardens on their own property or arresting them for harvesting rainwater from their own roofs.

There was a time when everyone was expected to be a “survivalist.” If there was a disaster or a long-term crisis, people were expected to take care of themselves and each other because it wasn’t possible for the government to take care of everyone. But now that we have things like welfare and Medicaid, few people bother to be self-reliant because they think if something terrible happens, someone else will help them. The problem with this attitude is that one day the government won’t be able to take care of everyone, and communities may rely on those “crazy preppers” for survival. The more preppers there are, the easier it will be on everyone.

Consider FEMA’s pathetic response after hurricane Katrina. Governments tend to be slow and inefficient, particularly in situations like that. But if average citizens all had a 72-hour kits with food and water purifiers, there wouldn’t have been near as much suffering. For every survivalist, there is one less person waiting in line for food or water, which makes life easier for everyone.

Consider a couple other areas of survivalism where everyone benefits. When more people have first aid kits and know how to use them, less people die because the hospitals aren’t as overwhelmed. Or when people have guns to defend their homes, looters and rapists are less of a problem because they fear for their lives.

The point of all this is to say that the world needs survivalists. There are certain to be more disasters, and I’m positive another economic crisis is coming. But if you’re able to take care of yourself, you won’t be a drain on others and society will recover more quickly. You might even say it’s your civic duty to be more self-reliant, as the Department of Agriculture once believed.

Related articles

• Survivalist convention prepares public for emergency situations (charlotte.news14.com)
• The Most Often Forgotten Survival Preparations (truth11.com)

[Rosemary S]

When I was young, one thing that always impress me is the number of garden people had. Now you are an odd ball for doing so. Now on TV, we see a lot of shows that show who to garden. In one town however, it is illegal to have a vegetable garden in the front yard. The owner of the property are being sued by the municipality for doing so.