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Why preparedness matters!

timwebb82



If there’s one thing we likely can all agree on regardless of where you stand on the

political spectrum, your age, sex, origin of birth or any other demographic is that we are

living in a very dynamic, anomalous rapidly paced, higher stakes world than any of us

have lived in before.


Despite the headlines, despite the seemingly huge highlighted writing on the wall, we

still find ourselves in perpetual denial. We find ourselves on the spectrum from

arrogance, “that can’t happen to me,” to willful ignorance, simply denying problems

exist. And if they do, they won’t happen to me, it’ll be someone else’s problem. It is easy

to fall into that pit, problems are hard, life is tough. We don’t want physical or mental

discomfort, we just want easy. As a result, we are far less resilient and much more

reliant on the “system” than we have ever been before. Our dependence on technology

has far surpassed our instinctual habits of self reliance and because of that we are far

less capable than we were before. Depression and anxiety numbers are way up partially

due to not being comfortable coping with tough times. Therefore one could argue that

we are far less equipped to handle the inevitable crisis that befalls all of us at some

point in our lives.


Modern society and all of its comforts has made it very difficult for us to stay resilient,

self-reliant, fully capable people that can care for ourselves and our families when

disasters strike. It’s human nature to want it easy, convenient, to not take chances, to

not explore, to want to stay safe at all times but at what cost does that mentality come

at.


We are facing a lot of unknowns this year. We have a severely hardened political divide

in this country, neither side wanting to budge or listen to the other. We are heading into

the hottest and most contested presidential election that any of us have seen in our

lifetime. We have border chaos, increasing crime, civil unrest, a poor economy, inflation

and two ongoing wars capable of igniting into World War III. To top it off, FBI Director

Wray recently testified to Congress that he fears a Black Swan event is likely due to the

open border crisis. He also testified that China has already penetrated our critical

infrastructure systems including the electric grid, water, oil and natural gas pipelines.

Which means likely when or if China moves on Taiwan and we defend them that we

could see a China led Trojan Horse event that could cripple America’s infrastructure.

When these issues are brought up, many will say that it’s just fear mongering, that those

things aren’t real or it’s all hyperbole. Hopefully they’re right but relying on hope is not a

plan. Hope is not a course of action, and hope instead of action is what likely got us into

this situation to begin with. When people don’t believe what their own eyes tell them, it’s

typically because of insecurities. The fact that they aren’t prepared so they don’t or

won’t believe, they make excuses. It can’t happen to them, it’ll happen to someone

else. Being prepared is not paranoid.


The definition of preparedness according to the Cambridge Dictionary is, “The state of

being prepared for a particular situation.” Obviously we cannot prepare for all

eventualities, but we can be pragmatic, reasonable and base our preparedness on the

likely threats you’ll face in your area. If you live in Michigan, preparing for a hurricane

doesn’t make much sense, but a crippling snow storm, tornadoes, or civil unrest sure

does. Likewise Floridians need not spend time on blizzard preparedness.

In today's world, it’s difficult to have the mindset of being prepared. Our modern

civilized, everything at our fingertips world has made it difficult to develop even a basic

level of resilience. There’s almost always power, we have running water, heat and

cooled homes and vehicles, food at every store, restaurants, seemingly endless

supplies at stores, plastic is our currency, no need for cash on hand. We have the

internet, and YouTube, GPS systems to navigate everywhere we go, reliable comms

along with all the other luxuries and technologies available to us. Very few of us have

any idea what it would be like without all the amenities we have on a daily basis, and

clearly no knowledge or understanding of what it would be like to go without. We are

truly blessed to have what we do, but it can all go away.



In the preparedness world there’s a common phrase, “We are only 9 meals away from

anarchy,” meaning the just in time supply chain is stocked for no more than three days

and without a constant resupply the selves will empty quickly. Remember the early days

of COVID, how so many seemed to panic buy, there wasn’t a roll of toilet paper safe.

During COVID the supply chain stayed intact. What would happen in a large scale

terrorist attack? We tend to believe there’s endless supplies in stores, but the reality is

something very, very different.


We are facing internal and external threats, some threats we can control and some we

cannot. Recently Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin and the

Chairman of the U.S Senate on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, testified

with near certainty that when a large electromagnetic pulse (EMP) or a geomagnetic

pulse (GMP) event happens and cripples the electric grid that estimates of American

deaths could reach 60% to 90% of the entire population. Not from the suns energy but an

electromagnetic pulse or from the blast of a nuclear weapon. The deaths are likely to

come from a lack of food and water, disease and civil unrest.


In Amanda Ripley’s excellent book, “The Unthinkable,” she talks about how much faith

we put in our first responders to be there when it counts. She describes the dedicated

brave men and women that respond to our aid, day and night 24/7. After being in public

safety for over 3 decades, I can totally support that. I’ve worked with some of the best

and brightest, but as Amanda points out, they can’t be everywhere at once. The larger

the disaster, the longer the wait. We have to be our own first responders. We have to be

the ones helping first. We have to stop the bleed, do CPR, lift debris off a victim, help

move victims, provide shelter and maybe evacuate the wounded ourselves. Even on a

day to day basis, it’s best to remember our first responders are minutes away when

seconds count. Having the ability to help could very well be lifesaving.


Being prepared, having the right mindset, making that paradigm shift in your life takes

time, it takes effort, it takes planning, and yes, money but it can be done. Take

deliberate small actions now, take an inventory of your supplies, develop a plan, a

course of action and implement it now before you wish you had, The term “preppers”

has an over the top connotation to it due to poorly done TV shows that didn't do the

preparedness community any favors either. They came off as paranoid, unrealistic and

militaristic. It doesn’t have to be that way. It can start with a simple conversation with

your spouse and what your current state of preparedness is and where you can start to

make changes. A good starting point is with FEMA’s recommendations of having at

least 3 days of supplies on hand and then build from there.


Another great step is to look at the likely threats to your area and then plan for the

worse case scenario. Not out of fear but with the mindset of if I prepare for the roughest

situation, then everything else in between our daily lives and a disaster is covered.

America and Americans have traditionally been some of the most resilient, most self

reliant people on the planet. Preparedness is in our DNA, it’s who we are, it’s what we

do. We solve nonlinear problems all the time, every day, we create out of necessity, we

work hard, we improvise and adapt. We aren’t afraid and we shouldn’t be now. No one

truly knows what’s coming. We can hope for the best but prepare for the worst. We can

survive the worst case scenario. We can be mentally and physically prepared if we do

the right things. At the Raven Strategic Group we understand it seems daunting and can

feel very overwhelming but we are here to help you. We offer guidance and training to

help you through the process of becoming the most prepared, most self reliant person

you can be.


Continue to follow Raven's socials and Quoth the Raven to gain more insight as we dig deeper into preparedness on a personal and family level.


*Tim Webb joins us as a contributor. He has an extensive background that we will post in the coming months. Though he's a newer member of the Raven team, he has extensive experience and knowledge that stems from an expansive military and emergency medicine background.

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