I propose that everyone reading this is a survivalist/prepper. We will only face so much danger without mitigating any possible negative outcome. It’s in our nature, it’s how God made us. Where we differ is in what we see as potential dangers.

Most of us wear a seat belt; have auto insurance, homeowners insurance, health insurance and dental insurance. Many among us have a life insurance policy or even a will. We have these in case something bad happens. Yet we don”t think of these people as paranoid. In fact we see someone who hasn’t taken these precautions as foolhardy.

As I stated, the difference is in what we see as potential dangers and at what point we would say “the stuff has hit the fan” or, if the “stuff” is even in danger of hitting the fan.

The average citizen is aware that the economy is in bad shape. They might know someone directly impacted by unemployment or under-employment. They might not, however, understand how close our economy is to falling, like Argentina’s did in 1999 or Iceland’s did in early 2010. They might not see our economy on the road that many European countries are now on. They may be unaware of the rioting that is happening in Europe because they have had to extend the retirement age.

Modern technology has made our lives so much easier; as a consequence many people, especially here in America, have been lulled into thinking that bad things can’t happen here, or at least not to them. I have heard this line of thinking called “arrogant”. I’m not sure I would go that far, but I would say at the very least it is naive.

One of the biggest traits of a prepper is in the analyzing of the things that could negatively impact their life, realizing that we live in a world that has some very real potential dangers in it. As believers we are aware that the world we live in is fallen, imperfect. Seeing it as potentially hazardous shouldn’t be a large stretch; natural disasters, the economy, rapidly expanding government, terrorist attacks, pandemic, lions and tigers and bears oh my.

This doesn’t mean we’re Chicken Little, worried about the sky falling and it doesn’t mean that we’re ostriches, oblivious to what is happening. (Have you ever noticed all of the animal metaphors that are used?) As with all things we must find a happy medium, an objective view and prepare for the dangers we see, with a level head. There are some real concerns, but as I state on the About Page Jesus reigns and there is no room for fear.

The more prepared you are, the less you are dependent on man or on government. Also, the more you are prepared before an event, the less of a drain you will be on community resources after. If you are not prepared, you will be forced to rely on others, including the local government for aide, instead of being the part of the solution and being able to provide for your family, friends and neighbors.

On that note let me share a story that I heard on The Survival Podcast.

There were recently a couple of young preppers, the wife begrudgingly, who had a friend that had lost her job and was on unemployment. She was distraught when faced with either buying groceries for her family or paying her rent. Because of their prepping, they were able to give the woman enough food to feed her family. My guess is that the wife may not be so begrudging the next time they spend money on their pantry.

When it comes to food most families have a week or two of groceries in their homes. If you add up all of the food that has a long storage life and is infrequently eaten, like rice or macaroni and cheese, they may have three weeks worth. So at what point does food storage become paranoia?

At what point in our history did it become paranoia? Preppers live a life style that our great grandparents lived. It wasn’t called prepping or survivalism then. It was called normal. They frequently stored enough food to get through winter. In fact the further you go back the more common it becomes. Not only did they store food, but also they knew how to preserve it without refrigeration, a skill that is all but lost.

 
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There are things that we Christians do that the secular world does not, such as communion, baptism and others. In other areas of life we should judge if something makes sense at all and then see what God thinks of it. Examples of this are eating a healthy diet, getting an education or leading a preparedness lifestyle. The last three examples are not religious, but are they a good idea to do?

Since preparedness isn’t a religious issue, let’s explore and see if leading this type of lifestyle makes sense at all. I’ll cover what the Bible has to say soon.

The first thing that needs to be done is to define what it means to be a Prepper. The term Prepper is used to describe someone into preparedness. Many often use the survivalist interchangeably with prepper, I am fine with that, but prepper more fits my mindset. I do not want to survive just for survivals sake; I want to be prepared for what the Lord sets before me.

Dismiss how the mainstream media portrays survivalists. In some cases they are right, but in the vast majority they are way off the mark. That being said, what qualities make a prepper a prepper?

Here are three qualifying factors that to me define a prepper. Sure there are more, but I think most traits fit under these three nicely:

1. A prepper is someone who looks for ways to enhance their life, both now and in the future.

2. A prepper is someone who looks at what around them could most negatively impact their life, and finds ways to mitigate or remove it.

3. A prepper is someone that strives to be self-sufficient and not dependent on the government for aid.

Crazy huh, these loons need to be locked up!
 
 
Now let’s take a practical look at this.

For most of human history man has hunted and gathered food and preserved it by some means, often times storing enough for winter and sometimes storing much more.

Today, many families have less then one or two weeks of food in their homes, we have become a society dependent on the grocery store.

The grocery stores use what is called a “just in time delivery”, only carrying enough perishable supplies in them to last a few days without getting re-supplied by the delivery truck.

There are so many possible breakages in the supply chain that most people are not aware off. Everything from the local weather in the country the food was grown in, to oil prices. Oil is used in almost every part of food production. From transportation to get the farmer/worker to the crop, fuel for the tractor to till the soil, for the plane or other machinery to spray the crop, for delivery to the supply depot, depot to destination and finally for the packaging.

Just this year Russia has said they will not be exporting any wheat, due to severe drought and wildfires that have plagued them this year. This may not have affected you, but it absolutely affected many through out the world.

Russia, Crippled by Drought, Bans Grain Exports

Grain, Soybeans May Surge as Russia Halts Exports

In 2008 the price of diesel was over $4.75 a gallon, if it would have gone much higher truckers could have very well decided to stay home and not lose more money.

To mitigate any effect this could have, preppers store the foods they eat on a regular basis. Because it is food they would be buying anyway, their life is enhanced by less trips to the grocery store. If one of the links in the supply chain breaks a prepper might be affected, but to a limited extent.

Read more Should You Prepare? Part Two

 
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