I have pondered this question for years. And I still don't understand the mindset of people who delude themselves into thinking that they don't need to prepare because others will be willing to share, or forced to share, if necessary. I don't understand those who prioritize material items over caring for their families. I don't understand those who say they can't afford it, when by all appearances, they can. I understand money is tight, been there and done that, but you do what you have to do to prepare. I just don't understand those who say they'll be coming to my house when they can't feed themselves and their children.
And I also don't understand those who do
prepare, but say they will be happy to share with all who need it.
Maybe I haven't achieved the level of Christ-like compassion that they
have. I know I have so many faults and sins to overcome. I'm working
on it. But in the meantime, I take the words of the Apostle Paul to
heart: "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of
his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel"
(1 Timothy 5:8).
My first responsibility is to my family. If I have surplus food and
supplies, what is my responsibility to those who come begging? Where
does my responsibility begin and end? Of course, these questions are
not directed to you. Give or take a couple of tenths, 99.8% of my
readers do not know me in real life. So this isn't directed to
you, but rather to those who tell us they're coming to our
houses for food. These aren't well-organized thoughts, but they
represent what I think when I hear people say they don't prepare or that
they're going to share with everybody. If you have an outlook or
observation that could persuade me of the error of my thinking, please
share in the comments below.
Am I supposed to just somehow know that you will be coming and that I am to prepare for you?
Am I supposed to feed you like a king?
Am I supposed to feed you what you are accustomed to eating?
Am I supposed to cook and clean for you?
Am I supposed to give you the good stuff?
Am I supposed to feed you like I feed the rest of my family?
How many of you are there? Am I supposed to do it all if 5, or 10, or 20, or 100 extra people show up?
Oh, you are willing to help. Well then, am I supposed to trust that you can
help? To trust that you know your way around a kitchen? That you
understand proper hygiene enough that you won't make others sick?
Am I not supposed to feed you food that is out of date?
Am I supposed to feed you the number of calories you want?
Am I supposed to feed you the treats you want?
Am I supposed to come up with something else if you don't like what I made?
Am I supposed to modify my storage to make sure that my food is
gluten-free, lactose-free, or nut-allergy free? Vegetarian? Vegan?
Am I supposed to feed you for nothing when there is a boatload of work to do around here?
Am I supposed to believe that you can be oh-so-helpful in a garden when you have never raised a potato?
Am I supposed to feed you what you want even though you are overweight?
Am I supposed to give you very valuable oil for your baking, when bean puree will substitute?
Am I obligated to do it all for you?
Am I obligated at all to you?
This is how the situation will play out.
If you get anything...
You get the cheap stuff--wheat, oats.
You get the old stuff. The stuff that is long past its use-by or best-by date.
You get the undesirable stuff. Pickled pigs feet. Canned salmon with
bones that I haven't thrown away yet. Cat food. Well, not really cat
food. Pressure canned chicken bones that can be mashed and fed to the
cat. Actually, maybe not. The cat is very valuable for keeping down on
vermin and snakes around the house. You, on the other hand, didn't
have the intelligence to prepare yourself or your family. You have
already branded yourself as severely lacking.
You get stuff you might be allergic to. My kitchen is not safe for
anyone with nut or milk allergies. Home-canned fruits were cut up using
a cutting board that I normally oil with peanut oil. Sometimes I
changed my mind on what was going into a jar. I might have started out
with peanuts or almonds and changed my mind. Just blew out the jar
without washing and then put something else in it.
You get stuff with weevils or other bugs. You'll be happy to take the
free stuff, whatever comes with no strings attached? That would be
whatever the mice chewed on. Oh, and there isn't actually any of that.
We store everything very well so that mice don't get to it before the
cats get to them.
You get rancid stuff. Sometimes nuts go rancid, and I haven't figured
out a use for those. I've got ten-year-old rancid vegetable oil. But
that still has value for oil lamps, so I'm keeping it. Rancid
flour--it's happened once--gets made into dog food.
You might get mixes I didn't like enough to ever make, like the stuff
that my husband brings home from the store that I never used.
Some people might offer you home-canned foods. They'll probably be
really old. How safe were their home canning practices? Some may offer
stuff that was stored for years in a hot garage. It's not gonna be
tasty. You might be offered foods you can't cook with because you never
learned to cook.
I'm sorry, but in our new normal, cooking and baking take a lot of time
and a lot of fuel. I don't have extra time to make food for you. I
don't have extra fuel to cook it for you.
Oh, you wanted the good stuff. Sorry.
My children learned how to work as children and they still work now.
They need the good stuff to keep their morale up as they work with
people who refused to prepare. My husband, one daughter, and one son
have specific dietary needs. They aren't sacrificing their health for
your irrational desires that weren't important enough to prep for.
Oh, you look like you could shed a few pounds. 500 calories per day for you.
Yes, as a matter of fact, there is a lot of work to do on the property.
You can bust your butt all day and earn 2,500 calories in food. Yeah,
that will feed you. Not your family. If they want food, they have to
bust buns as well. And actually, all will be fed in accordance with how
well they worked. Lazy, spoiled American? No food. Lots of
children? Sorry. If they're young enough to forget you and be trained
well, I'll take them in, on the condition that you leave and never
return. Guess you should have prepared better. If your children are
old enough to remember you, you sure as heck better teach them to work
hard and well darn quick so they can get enough to eat.
It's not a pretty picture, is it?
But don't make our family out to be unkind or mean for not sharing our
food. You were the one who neglected your family and refused to
prepare. And if you didn't care enough about them to prepare for them,
why should I?
in regard to sharing your prepper stockpile - food in particular >>> it's a death sentence - it'll either reduce you down to a sub-sheeple level of preparedness or someone will outright murder you for your supplies ...
ReplyDeletehighly unlikely you'd be successful in a secluded secrecy exchange with even another single family - keeping a life saving cure to yourself much less an entire corp of people is almost an impossibility ...
There are a heckuva lot of people who can't even imagine that those who have supplies wouldn't be happy to share. And then there are those who say they will be happy to share their supplies. I hope that the thoughts provided here will alert readers to problems inherent in these lines of thinking.
DeleteMany years ago, I once loaned a tool to the adult son of a friend. As we walked past the vegetable garden, he made the comment, "If the economy collapses, I know where I'm going." I was kind of stunned by the comment, and didn't say anything, which I regret very much.
ReplyDeleteNow my garden is large by modern standards, but I know that I will have to double its size to feed my family if I can't bring in outside food. (I do have stored food, I'm just saying the garden alone isn't enough to feed us for a whole year at this point in time.)
Anyway, after thinking about it a lot over the years, my first response should have been, "And which child of mine would you like me to not feed so that I can feed you?" and/or "if you think the economy is going to collapse, why aren't you storing your own food?.
I think if anyone dared express such sentiments to me today (after having years to ponder the best responses), and of course the response would vary depending on the person, she or he would never dare say such a thing to me or anyone else ever again.
DeleteIt is the common view that finding like-minded, preparedness-oriented individuals who will "have your back" before a crisis occurs will be very important in making it through a crisis. The problem is how to go about doing that.
ReplyDeleteAll too often, those new to preparedensss, with their "newbie" enthusiasm, attempt to proselytize like missionaries among their friends and family by bringing them "the word." and by exhorting them to do just as they are doing.
Because the percentage of people who will actually heed "the word" will likely be, in normal times, in the low single digits, if that, the newbie's effort will compromise what is known as his "OPSEC" (Operational Security).
Out of the 20 whose participation in preparedness the newbie solicited, 19 won't do much of anything, but they will be the first to remember that he is prepared when times get tough. If a major, long term disaster does occur, there will be a queue forming outside his door, all of them with their palms held out.
It only gets worse if the people the newbie has attempted to proselytize are neighbors who live very close to the newbie. Crowds of those he turned away outside his home chanting, "Hoarder! Hoarder!" come to mind. How dare he not turn his home into the neighborhood Supply Depot? And if the newbie gives in and hands out a meal or two (or five or ten), it is not as if these people won't return in desperation when this food is exhausted. Do pigeons in a park take one kernel of popcorn and then fly away forever?
Let's face reality here. If, after a week, you and your family were considering tomato ketchup to be one of the "five fruits and vegetables" each day, and if you and your family were eating half a peanut butter sandwich for dinner, would you ignore the opportunity of obtaining food from someone you knew had a deep larder? Would you say about your predicament, "Well, I have only myself to blame?" How long would you be likely to do nothing but tightening your belt, rather than engaging in self-help?
I was a newbie once myself, as were we all. I made several mistakes about all of this, too. My advice now is to proselytize only after your "prepper radar" has confirmed that the other individual has expressed sentiments that give you good reason to believe that he will very likely become a "fellow traveler." Dropping hints about preparedness in normal conversation, hints that elicit a promising response, is one way to ensure that you do not compromise yourself before you proceed further.
Making serious preparations for hard times allows us the luxury of avoiding having to make hard moral choices in our behavior. Yet, it won't entirely prevent us from having to make serious moral choices with regard to how/whether or not we help others.
"Do pigeons take one kernel of popcorn and then fly away forever?" I love that.
DeleteObviously, our OPSEC here is somewhat compromised due to this blog. However, we are at peace knowing that this is what God has wanted me to do. We do not fear.
ReplyDeletewell said! I think that many of us who feel like we should always give our best to those "in need" have been trained in our families of origin to be victims. You are absolutely correct that our own families come first and I might also add that family members who could have prepared and had more resources than I did sort of fall into the same catagory as those other indolent people who refused to prepare for hard times. Those who way that they will be helpful for food often are just using that to scam you. Once they get what they want they are gone.
I've never seen anyone work as hard as we do here. (I'm sure there are hard workers out there--I just haven't experienced them personally at my house outside my family.) And with that experience, anyone who thinks s/he can meet my expectations of hard labor all day for a meal or two is going to realize that Simon Legree (I think that was his name) was a saint.
DeleteIn my vetting process (not perfect but has worked well for my 6 decades so far) is to give a neighbor a hand cleaning their yard. If they come over to help me clean my yard, that is promising.
ReplyDeleteBible reference do onto others as you want them to do unto you.
Nobody needs takers. We need good neighbors.
Then I loan them some tool for their yard work. If they buy their own and return mine in good shape, that's very promising. If they return it but need to borrow it next time not so much.
Bible reference about faithful with little comes to mind.
Do they garden or keep critters, look to their efforts and how they treat the critters? If not, are they interested enough to help you out and maybe start a garden? Good people are kind to even the chickens they are going to butcher and eat.
Bible reference know them by their fruits.
Do they get angry easily? DO they forgive? If not, the bible is full of warnings not to associate with an angry man.
Does that really shrink your pool of prospects? GOOD. Better a few I can trust than a dozen that may as Juluis Caeser one said "Yon Cassis has a lean and hungry look, mark him, such men are dangerous.
One real betrayal, murderous or not is a soul-destroying event.
Those are excellent ideas for how to vet a neighbor.
DeleteI never could tolerate a person who is unkind to animals or angers easily.
Incomplete post sorry. The HARDEST thing is teaching your children they cannot feed their Best Friend "just this once" as they do not have the full experience with the badness in many people's hearts nor betrayal.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jennifer if they are willing to work as hard as I do I'll find food for them as I can. Not a welfare agency.
I am so fortunate in that my children are each other's best friends. And they have a pretty clear understanding of how bad things are going to get--and inviting others to come and eat is simply inviting trouble.
DeletePrepare to share or prepare to do battle! Regards
ReplyDeleteVery thoughtful article! Between the article and the comments, it gives everyone a lot of food for thought!!!
ReplyDeleteYou can be as tight-lipped and OPSEC as possible, but unless you cut yourself off from enabled friends/family and move away and not tell anyone, you will never be able to hide your preparedness. Even something as innocent as having a friend over for a cup of coffee can reveal what you're doing. all they'll have to do is see your extensive vegetable garden, chickens roaming in the coop, canning jars lining your shelves, solar panels on your roof etc. If someone walks past your home and you've got the garage door open, they can see 5 gallon cans of gas or hear your generator roaring when the power goes out. Unless you're totally isolated, these signs will signal that you are prepared and you will be remembered
ReplyDeleteWell, we are somewhat isolated. Nobody walks by our house, so no one sees into the garage. We rarely have friends over, and the few that do see the garden only see the flowers (see article on stealth gardening). I'd never let any outsiders into the pantry, and our son and daughter-in-law are raising the chickens (though we are planning to pick up a couple again if the opportunity presents itself). And out here, everyone has generators. About 10 years ago there was a snowstorm that closed our roads for 2 weeks. So people here prepare a little more than average. There are people who know we prepare, but they'll be hard pressed to get out here, and we have several other advantages not discussed herein.
DeleteWe also have to remember that people may be unable to get to your place and may be "stuck" where they are at...all the more reason to remind them of that and encourage them to stock up. Tell them you have other family memebers that may be with you and you won't have enough to share with others. You will be able to tell those that are leeches and those that are sincere. I could not turn away young children needing food but again, encourage others to stock up and remind them "what makes you think you will be able to get to my house". Pray for them for sure.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Who's going to take a chance driving 20 miles through a sparsely populated area when gas is $20 per gallon? And then what makes them think they'll make it here anyway? They've got to pass by several ranches first, and those ranchers will shut the roads down PDQ to protect their herds from pillagers.
DeleteAs a born again Christian; this is what the Bible says:
ReplyDelete“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
2 Thessalonians 3:6-7,9-10
The last sentence says it all. Not just getting up and going to a job to earn to eat, but physical work as well to earn your keep so you are not a disruptive burden to others. Not sharing with those who have an enabled mindset does not make me less Christ-like. Our mindset of preparedness is to be a guide, a model, a blueprint for others to follow. It’s up to them whether they choose to or not. If not, we’ll…. read the last sentence.
Joseph interpreted pharaoh’s dream and stored up 7 years of plenty for the 7 years of famine to follow afterwards. And when the famine happened, Joseph didn’t just open the storehouse and invite those outside of Egypt to take what they wanted. He SOLD it to them. If they wanted food from Egypt who was wise to store up, they had to work yo earn the money to purchase it.
Being prepared. Providing for your own. Not being idle. Not being a burden to others. Using wisdom. Being good stewards of your funds and goods. It’s all biblical And as a Christian, I’m not preparing for the end of the world because I believe the Rapture will happen prior to that and the 7 years of Tribulation to follow will resemble the end of the world. It’ll be the worst time in human history. Believers in Christ will not be here for that ( This is not to get into a theologian discussion about the rapture, but to make a point in this comment), but those who will be left behind and happen upon our vacant home will find food, supplies and shelter should they need it. No, they won’t have to pay or work for it - surviving the tribulation will be a heavy enough price
Comments from 2020:
ReplyDeleteAnonymousJuly 9, 2020 at 4:42 AM
If you think that you have "extras" to share because the current SHTF is predicted to terminate in a month and you're good to go for 4 months >>> Did anyone suspect we'd be looking at certain shortages 7 months after the Virus Crisis began and maybe more to come?
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CWfromIowaJuly 9, 2020 at 5:17 AM
Thank you for bringing a serious issue to your blog. It is a shame that so many people are living in a world of make-believe. Accepting reality takes courage. Accepting responsibility requires hard work. So many people lack critical thinking skills and simply don't exercise their minds beyond the moment their living in. They are going to expect the government or "the rich" to give them what they need. I don't think it is going to work out very well for them...
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JenniferJuly 9, 2020 at 10:00 PM
Amen!
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VickiJuly 9, 2020 at 8:25 AM
CW said it better than I can. And your post clearly expresses my thoughts on the subject. Thank you.
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RobJuly 9, 2020 at 9:52 AM
Just found you with help from Vicki..I told my wife I only worry about the 4 of us under my roof. Not my son in Canada or my 3 other kids living 15 min away.
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BarbJuly 9, 2020 at 10:23 AM
I found your blog through another, so I hesitate to comment. I am a sharer. I do so now and cannot imagine not doing so. I take food from my pantry weekly to organizatuons in dire need, to seniors with less resources than I and am the mom who had the kids whose parents don't or can't at my door. So my short answer is simply that I cannot imagine not doing the same. This obviously doesn't answer you questions about coming to the door but may about helping others. While I do this because I believe it is what God want, I also believe society functions better when all who are in need are cared for no matter the reason.
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JenniferJuly 9, 2020 at 10:03 PM
Barb, you are more than welcome to comment. While I agree that society functions better when we care about each other, I feel in our society right now, there are far too many able-bodied individuals demanding to be cared for--more than our society can handle. As such, I feel collapse is in the air. I wish we could somehow protect all the small children from what is coming.
and the final batch from 2020
ReplyDeleteEck!July 10, 2020 at 11:16 AM
I am of the if you arrive uninvited and unknown the request
is go away. If you don't it will be enforced.
The rule as I grew up was you eat what is placed before you
and we sometimes had only enough. I learned to like spinach
and many of the others that kid were supposed to hate. Winter was tight and summer better. Work is how you got extra money
or since there were farms around food in trade.
My parents learned disasters do happen, they passed it to me.
It was always family first then others close to the family, usually neighbors.
AS my brother put it "Your failure to plan does not constitute
an emergency for me." and he was right.
So any excess is for the future as unpredictable as it may be.
Eck!
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MichaelJuly 10, 2020 at 11:36 AM
If you work as hard as I do I will feed you because you earned it. I can find useful work for you hauling water and expanding my gardens. If you want to complain and do nothing useful you will leave. If your a threat to me and mine you are gone. On the open internet that's all I will say about that. We have hungry Bears in our woods.
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OtisJuly 13, 2020 at 3:39 AM
I live in a farming community and from what I am hearing and seeing from other livestock producers, the scarcity is going to continue for years. And for the most part it's going to be the things that we take for granted on a daily basis. your good protein sources. Because animals by the thousands if not more are being gassed and tossed in a pit because the gubmint deems their processing can not be successfully carried out because the people/machines that do so very efficiently, are infected with a man made cold virus.
Those of who are hanging on by our fingernails to grow food for the other 98% aren't going to be able to much longer.
This of course, is all by design. The elites don't want us to be self sufficient. They don't want the barter/trade system to work, nor do they want us to trust one another. We now live in a low trust society. Tribalism will spiral into rules of the jungle; survival of the fittest will seperate the wheat from the chaff.
Because without the use of force to defend western civilization, will result in barbarism.
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JenniferJuly 13, 2020 at 5:38 AM
I wish I could believe that you are being overly alarmist. Sadly, I can't. I wish you the best as you seem to be on the front lines in this situation.
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WOW - allll kinds of commments already over the years >>> just one of the totally necessary assetts that a prepper will need to survive is intuative thinking - and - any prepper that does a quik census of their street to & fro and thinks they can supply resources for ALLLL those people - can't possibly be thinking correctly ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
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