Personal Responsibility

Over the last decade or so there seems to be a rise in random public shootings in the US. The anti-gun crowd would have you believe that these shootings keep happening because guns are too easy to get. I think that it's because over the last several decades we've been bred into a society of victims. Most people can't conceive of a situation where they may have to defend themselves. Why should you have to worry about defending yourself in the first place? That's what the police are there for. The general consensus in the civilized world is that unless you're properly trained then you're more likely to hurt yourself or someone else than you are to correctly handle a bad situation. In other words you don't know what's best for you. Why bother trying to do something if you're just going to screw it up? Unfortunately this philosophy spills over into just about every aspect of our lives. It's too easy to blame everyone else for your own shortcomings and bad situations. Personal responsibility for our own well being has all but vanished in our society. Why should we have to be responsible for ourselves when there's someone else that can do it for us?

How does this relate to preparedness? Well if things get really bad then people will still think the same way for a long time. You may not have anyone to rely on but yourself. The police may not always be there when they're needed. You might not always be able to go to the grocery store to get food. You might not always be able to get gas at the gas station. The safety net of the government may disappear and then all of the people sitting around waiting for the life saving handout that they're convinced they're entitled to will either starve or find some other way to get what they need to survive. The people that refuse to give up that way of thinking won't be among the survivors. If you change how you think now and you start getting ready for situations where you only have yourself and your preps to rely on then you'll be ten steps ahead of everyone else. Just don't wait too long to start preparing. The longer you put it off the less likely you are to actually do it.