Saturday, September 24, 2016

Staying Calm When The Grid Goes Down

By George Thompson


Most of us have come across online communities that share stories and information about what could happen when the grid goes down. It is frightening to face life without the usual comforts of electricity and availability of food. Industries have been created around this scenario, and many people are already growing gardens and preparing for life without central air.

While home defense will be necessary in some situations, it has unfortunately become the focus of many people on these survivalist boards. There is no harm in having a food stockpile, a canister of survivalist garden seeds, and a plan for bugging out. However, it can become an unhealthy obsession, and people talk on for hours and days about how they will have to kill trespassers.

There are always people who panic in a crisis, and the collapse of basic infrastructure will result in some people acting in uncharacteristic ways. However, many people will be able to remain in their homes, and with proper preparation, they can maintain their basic survival. This does not mean that the panic will be so severe that the law of the jungle will prevail.

While we cannot always count on law enforcement or the military to protect us, we still have to use some basic common goodness when regarding other people. Most refugees travel in family groups and are more than willing to identify themselves to anyone they approach. The Great Depression taught us just how people come together and help one another in a crisis scenario.

Those who are armed have a responsibility to know who or what they are shooting at, no matter the circumstances surrounding them. As a rule, people will travel in family groups, and pose no threat to anyone they meet. Shooting at strangers simply because they wandered into your yard is never an acceptable behavior.

There is no reason to deny food or shelter to a family group, or any other band of people who come peacefully to the door. Most emergency scenarios are only temporary collapses and come due to war or natural disasters. Very few people who approach a homesteader are likely to be willing to kill them in order to ensure their own comfort or survival, and if they did, they would likely be tried for their crimes once the situation abates.

It would be foolish not to assume that a traveling group is totally unarmed. What could have become a helpful friend all too easily becomes a deadly foe once the shooting begins. Without cool heads prevailing, opportunity to help those in need can become an even worse tragedy, and nobody wins when bullets are wasted on defensive measures rather than hunting.

The fact is, a small group of refugees may have members who have knowledge of gardening, medicine, and maintenance of machines or farm equipment. As family groups come together in the spirit of cooperation, they become a community that helps house, feed, and protect one another. Human beings have survived by their kindness towards others and not because they had a million bullets to fly at a stranger.




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