Prepare? Prepare to Die!

Ah I see. Thank you the Libra for clarifying all that for me. I didn’t know about the land around Chernobyl was in fact growing again. I swear I did read an article a few years back about the area still being regulated as dangerous though people still preferred to return to live there. Am I off the mark?

In fact preparing for survival is really not uncommon for my area either in regards to natural disasters. I am from Far North Queensland Australian where we are usually hit by a major cyclone (hurricane) every 2 years or so including the stage 5 cyclone that hit about 2 years ago that took out a small city to the point where the whole area had to be re-designed and re-built by the government, so we naturally carry most of the prerequisites of said survival paraphernalia that has been listed so far including food, water, fuel, generator, candles, torches batteries, radio, UHF, ammunition but most importantly beer and other forms of alcohol so we can still watch satellite T.V. . Since we get hit so often anything under a stage 4 cyclone most Australians consider it a normal part of the weather cycle and it is usually given cause for a week off for beer and BBQ.

Originally posted by HimWhoHathAnEar
reply to post by Prote

 

During sitX, if I had prepared and another hadn't, would I say, "screw you, you didn't prepare, even though I warned you". I doubt it. Still, the lesson is valid.

I think you may be interjecting something that's not there, or is not spelled out in the Story of Grasshopper and Ant. It won't be a 'screw you, hahaha attitude. There simply won't be enough for everyone.

Well I don't know where the hahaha came from but in my world, you share. You don't cut someone out because there isn't enough. A service to others oriented being will share or sacrifice regardless of quantity.

I stand by it.

Maybe a lack of selfishness will be my ultimate demise. I'll take that, and will already be ready to make that sacrifice as I've identified it as number one priority.... prepare... prepare to die!

Perhaps you've inadvertantly helped make my case in the OP from another angle.

This is not a reply to anyone's post. Just something I thought might be helpful. Again, it's from the American Psychological Association. It's a list of links on psychological effects of disasters and terrorism.

Disasters & Terrorism

* Coping With Terrorism
* For Parents: Helping Teens Build Resilience After Hurricanes
* Managing Traumatic Stress After the Tornadoes
* Managing Traumatic Stress: After the Hurricanes
* Managing Traumatic Stress: Dealing with the Hurricanes from Afar
* Managing Traumatic Stress: Tips for Recovering From Disasters and Other Traumatic Events
* Managing Traumatic Stress: Tips for Recovering From Natural Disasters
* Managing Your Distress in the Aftermath of Shootings
* Managing Your Distress in the Aftermath of the Mall Shootings
* Mind/Body Health: The Effects of Traumatic Stress
* Preparing for Bird Flu
* Psychology and Law Enforcement - Criminal Profiling
* Psychology and Law Enforcement - Using Psychology to Find Liars
* Recovering from floods
* Recovering from the Wildfires
* Resilience and Disease Outbreaks
* Resilience in a Time of War
* Resilience: After a Hurricane
* Stress Management Tips for Parents of College Students in the Aftermath of the Virginia Tech Shootings
* Stress: When and How to Get Help
* The Road To Resilience
* Tips for Hosting Families Displaced by Tornadoes and Hurricanes
* Tips for Hurricane Volunteers
* Tips for Managing Your Distress Related to the Wildfires
* Tips for Parents of Hurricane Volunteers
* Tips for Parents of School Age Children: Helping Your Children Manage Distress in the Aftermath of School Shootings
* Tips for Teens: Building Resilience After The Hurricanes
* Tornadoes, Hurricanes and Children

That page is at www.apahelpcenter.org...

I'm just now digging in to read these so I have no comment.

reply to post by SemperParatus


Mental state will definitely be a very important issue in surviving. If you don't have the will to want to live, you are throwing a lot away. A lot of the time it is a choice, something we realize and are determined to follow. This doesn't mean of course that we should be unrealistic about the dangers; there are real dangers of death or serious injury.

As far as equipment goes, if I had to survive I would carry my regular backpacking supplies, and perhaps eat berries, fish, hunt, what have you, and stick to a reliable group. Also, I carry a small military book about survival in my regular backpack.

Edit: Engrish

[edit on 10/2/2008 by Nyorai]

reply to post by thelibra


You bring up good points. One thing I have always been interested in was an old missile silo. This is about the best anyone can do on their own to create a secure environment. Many have the actual massive missile launch tube flooded with clean water to provide basically an endless supply for a small group of people. One that I know of was used to train people to dive because they could simulate 100 feet depth or more. Living space in these places is in the 100,000s of sq ft with a front door that can withstand anything but a direct nuke hit.

If this is not doable for a person I think the next direction is to plan where you live. Most areas basically doom everyone just because of the limits of the area. A big city is most likely the worst with suburbia running second place. My next job is taking me about an hour from Portland and I find that area very capable for a survival situation.

First I will get about 5 acres a little outside the normal subdivision style of living that will allow me the ability to create a better survival situation. Even a basic ability to put a few 1000 gallon tanks in the ground for both gas and water is not doable in the majority of situations. To have some privacy to advoid some big event as it happens is the most important survival requirement, and that place is a good spot for major disasters and events to pass on that in a big city you could see millions dying from.

The long shots are events like asteroids that just happen to ground zero you or NWO events that create an Iraq situation in our own country. The events I would be more worried about to overcome are either nuclear or biological based, and where I plan to live next will do well to avoid both of those disasters.

reply to post by Prote

Maybe a lack of selfishness will be my ultimate demise.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're not preparing, so you won't have anything to share right?

I would share as much as I could. But if it comes down to sharing with those who refused to prepare and thereby having all of us perish, no way. That 'Group Hug before we all die' thing doesn't make sense to me.

I'm sure you derive some self satisfaction out of this 'selflessness' that you portray here in cyberspace. But as someone said earlier in the thread, when push comes to shove and hunger sets in alot of that chivalry will go right out the window. So forgive me for taking that stuff with a huge lump of salt and being prepared to defend what I was smart enough to set aside!

Originally posted by HimWhoHathAnEar
Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're not preparing, so you won't have anything to share right?

If you read the thread, thelibra has successfully changed my mind that there is some preparation that is well worth doing, that does not border on paranoid and is sensible for emergency situations.

Originally posted by HimWhoHathAnEar
I would share as much as I could. But if it comes down to sharing with those who refused to prepare and thereby having all of us perish, no way. That 'Group Hug before we all die' thing doesn't make sense to me.

I have never said I refuse to prepare. The premise of the thread is to understand more about the mindset of those that go to extraodinary lengths to prepare but preparation is nothing without mental preparation, of course, you need both.

Originally posted by HimWhoHathAnEar
I'm sure you derive some self satisfaction out of this 'selflessness' that you portray here in cyberspace. But as someone said earlier in the thread, when push comes to shove and hunger sets in alot of that chivalry will go right out the window. So forgive me for taking that stuff with a huge lump of salt and being prepared to defend what I was smart enough to set aside!

Yes, I forgive you. When push comes to shove, reality may well be different when it comes right down to it. Nevertheless, despite my understanding of your opinion, mine differs, and still does.

I would still like to think I would give to others no matter what, as that is how I live my life now without sitX so it would be nice to think I could carry that through. Whether you have a belief in what I would do is neither here nor there. I could just as easily express an opinion that states that your disbelief in my willingness to be selfless is a justification of your own desire to not share.

I think the majority probably share your opinion over mine. I'm OK with that, but I stand by my opinion that it's a shame that there is, and perhaps needs to be, a selfishness in certain situations. It is possible to have situations where some have to perish in order that others survive, a tough situation that few of us would truly know our actions when put in that situation, that point I take on board.

Thanks for your thoughts.

reply to post by Prote

I have never said I refuse to prepare. The premise of the thread is to understand more about the mindset of those that go to extraodinary lengths to prepare but preparation is nothing without mental preparation, of course, you need both.

My apologies for assuming that you would not prepare at some level. I would say that 'extraordinary' preparation on my part is only a product of time. I began years ago, and as time went on I simply added additional layers. Mental Preparation was the very first thing that happened before I even started material preparation. I do have some things set aside for others and my primary plan is to work with my neighbors as a community. But my priority is my family. Thank you for your candor, it speaks volumes about your character.

Originally posted by Prote

Originally posted by HimWhoHathAnEar
reply to post by Prote

 

Well I don't know where the hahaha came from but in my world, you share. You don't cut someone out because there isn't enough. A service to others oriented being will share or sacrifice regardless of quantity.

I stand by it.

Maybe a lack of selfishness will be my ultimate demise. I'll take that, and will already be ready to make that sacrifice as I've identified it as number one priority.... prepare... prepare to die!

Perhaps you've inadvertantly helped make my case in the OP from another angle.

I don't think that the post-apocolyptic world would benefit from someone who is useful and beneficial sacrificing themselves in this way. There are always ways, and rather than believe that it's a fear of death that keeps you striving to live, think of it as a love for life.

It is this desire to keep living that will keep our species going after the class 5's. This desire is what drives innovative thought. Coupled with your strong desires to sacrifice (of) yourself so that others may also live, this would drive you to seek any means necessary to ensure your immediate group's survival.

Keep that in mind, because we would all benefit a lot more from someone in that mindset than who is eager to take the easy way out even if it would help others.

Sacrifice of yourself, do not sacrifice yourself.

[edit on 1-3-2008 by Sovereign797]

I understand that some will espouse this zest for life as their justification for the lengths they will go to. In a post apocolyptic world, when sharing and helping your fellow man goes out the window for the survival of the fittest, I really don't want to be around.

Death is a good thing but we are programmed to think not, but there we wander into the realms of beliefs.

If a situation comes down to the continuation of the species, what sort of world will you end up with where social and economic meltdown has occured, no infrastructure or technology and the remaining inhabitants have come through a survival of the fittest, dog eat dog period? It could be years, many years.

All I am advocating is that should I be one of the survivors, I hope that particular sit-x produces a service to others mentality where we share and help one another to survive rather than the service to self I imagine it may do.

If I die during sit-x... so be it.
If I die so that others may live... so be it.
If I survive... I hope we learn how to pull together and not screw one another over.

Are you living underground for fear of radiation or living off the land...which is it?

Originally posted by CyberSEAL
Are you living underground for fear of radiation or living off the land...which is it?

"Are you talking to me?" - Robert DeNiro, Taxi Driver

"Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die; and none are fit to die who have shrunk from the joy of life and the duty of life. Both life and death are part of the same great adventure." - Theodore Roosevelt

"I won't be found in any darn bunker" - Prote, ATS member