Politically Correct Prepping - We Don't Have Any Time for That
On last night's SHTFM radio show, a discussion came up about Walmart shoppers and there was some back and forth between the hosts. It was good-natured of course, because they all seem to get along pretty well, but two of the hosts were talking about how bad it is to shop at Walmart. To be fair, they were giving good reasons about why you shouldn't use WM as the only place to shop.
But then they asked my favorite commentator, Herbalpagan, what she thought. While she acknowledged what they were saying as truth, she also stated something I totally agree with and sums up my own approach to prepping. She said "We don't have any time for that," meaning she believes we're in the 11th hour as far as prepping is concerned.
Ideal or Unrealistic?
It would be ideal for those of us who have dreams of living off the grid and being totally self-sufficient to never have to prepare for this by buying stuff made in China or non-organic, hybrid seeds. I'm in Michigan, and like many of the states across the nation, many of our citizens are hardly in an ideal situation. Some people are just this side of homeless. It looks like we'll be hitting the $5 mark for gas sooner rather than later. In my own household, gas at $5 a gallon won't make us homeless but it will definitely put a dent in our budget. Imagine what it would do to people who sweat their electric bill every month.
Prepping in Layers
Prepping to me means doing what you can right now which will hopefully lead to you being able to do more later on. Preparing for emergencies needs to be done in layers. There is a list of different preps such as food, medical, bug-out, bug-in and so on that you could be slowly chipping away at. Within each of those topics there's a forward progression. For instance, food prepping for many of us involves starting with a timeline from a month to 3 months of what you normally eat and then 6 months and up to at least a year.
Either during or after this time, some of you might start gardening on a small scale and move upwards as your ability, finances and environment allows. Because someone is still building up their base supply of food, they may not be able to buy the best seeds, but they are still learning some basics of gardening. As you learn to do more for yourself, eventually you'll rely less on places like Walmart.
If I'm visiting a prepper or homesteading site or blog, I'm turned off when I see something like, "there's no excuse for these people to be shopping at Walmart" or "only buy American made" or "OMG, you're raping the earth by not buying the right seeds." Believe me, I grew up in a UAW family in Metro Detroit and buying American has been ingrained in my psyche. But we don't have time to be the PC or the budget police. While some use the no-money excuse for not preparing, others truly mean it. They have to make every dollar stretch as far as they can. If that means buying food and medical supplies at Walmart, then so be it.
There's a reason for the acronym SHTF. Hitting the fan certainly doesn't mean, "Oh wait I have a few more days to shop at the politically correct place." It may mean "Crap, I hope I have enough food and water for my family to live."
Preparedness means being ready not being trendy or perfect. We don't have any time to be PC.
But then they asked my favorite commentator, Herbalpagan, what she thought. While she acknowledged what they were saying as truth, she also stated something I totally agree with and sums up my own approach to prepping. She said "We don't have any time for that," meaning she believes we're in the 11th hour as far as prepping is concerned.
Ideal or Unrealistic?
It would be ideal for those of us who have dreams of living off the grid and being totally self-sufficient to never have to prepare for this by buying stuff made in China or non-organic, hybrid seeds. I'm in Michigan, and like many of the states across the nation, many of our citizens are hardly in an ideal situation. Some people are just this side of homeless. It looks like we'll be hitting the $5 mark for gas sooner rather than later. In my own household, gas at $5 a gallon won't make us homeless but it will definitely put a dent in our budget. Imagine what it would do to people who sweat their electric bill every month.
Prepping in Layers
Prepping to me means doing what you can right now which will hopefully lead to you being able to do more later on. Preparing for emergencies needs to be done in layers. There is a list of different preps such as food, medical, bug-out, bug-in and so on that you could be slowly chipping away at. Within each of those topics there's a forward progression. For instance, food prepping for many of us involves starting with a timeline from a month to 3 months of what you normally eat and then 6 months and up to at least a year.
Either during or after this time, some of you might start gardening on a small scale and move upwards as your ability, finances and environment allows. Because someone is still building up their base supply of food, they may not be able to buy the best seeds, but they are still learning some basics of gardening. As you learn to do more for yourself, eventually you'll rely less on places like Walmart.
If I'm visiting a prepper or homesteading site or blog, I'm turned off when I see something like, "there's no excuse for these people to be shopping at Walmart" or "only buy American made" or "OMG, you're raping the earth by not buying the right seeds." Believe me, I grew up in a UAW family in Metro Detroit and buying American has been ingrained in my psyche. But we don't have time to be the PC or the budget police. While some use the no-money excuse for not preparing, others truly mean it. They have to make every dollar stretch as far as they can. If that means buying food and medical supplies at Walmart, then so be it.
There's a reason for the acronym SHTF. Hitting the fan certainly doesn't mean, "Oh wait I have a few more days to shop at the politically correct place." It may mean "Crap, I hope I have enough food and water for my family to live."
Preparedness means being ready not being trendy or perfect. We don't have any time to be PC.
© P.J. Deneen
I agree with you and Herbalpagan putting together the preps is the important thing! I like you layer approach.
ReplyDeleteI agree on the no time for PC on most things except seeds -- the reason for that is that if you buy hybrids the seeds from the grown plant will not breed true, and may have a lower fertility/germination success rate as well. Good seed doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg (Seed Savers org, for one), and even if you do pick up some higher-priced heritage seeds, if you get into seed-saving you will save plenty of money that way, plus being more sustainable and better for survival.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment shadowfoot. I still disagree that it has to be either/or. I think I laid that out in my layered approach. Just do what you can. I'm not going to condemn people for buying non-PC seeds now and then buying better seeds later.
ReplyDelete