Self-Sufficiency

At its heart, preparedness means being self-sufficient. That should be your true goal. But what does that mean?

The prudent see danger and take refuge; but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

Proverbs 22:3

Let’s talk about food first, since we are seeing out-of-control inflation on food and a concerted effort to limit your options for purchasing meat and the addition of mRNA vaccines to food products that we might not want. Food self-sufficiency, despite what some “preppers” will tell you, is not having a 10-year supply of long-term storage food. That’s a stopgap measure, because once you crack the seal on that supply, the countdown to running out has begun. True food self-sufficiency involves having a food production plan. You need to have a plan and the ability to grow food, gather food, and to produce protein through raising livestock, hunting, trapping, and fishing. Until you have a realistic plan for this, you are not truly self-sufficient.

This is vital, because throughout history, food has been a weapon to bring people into compliance. Imagine a food shortage, but one community has a bunch of people who own guns in it. Without their own source of food, their “benevolent” government masters can force them to surrender their firearms as a precondition to getting food. The same goes for forced labor – if you want to eat, you have to work on the government farms or camps.

The second area is water. In order to be self-sufficient on water, you need your own water source. It doesn’t have to be directly on your property, it just has to be somewhere you can get without exposing yourself too much to others. A wooded stream a half mile away isn’t that bad. A river 4 miles away is. You can never store or carry enough water, so you need enough supplies or capability to purify water. Remember that what may be a secluded source today, like that stream in your urban park, will NOT be secluded in a true collapse/WROL (Without Rule of Law) situation, because EVERYONE will be using it.

As always, boiling water remains the best way to purify it, but have filters or chemical treatment options as a backup. I have a well with filtration at my bug out location, but I keep tablets for filtration on the move. If you are moving and come across a water source, fill the containers you have. Never pass up a source of water without at least topping off your carried water.

Great numbers of people are completely at the mercy of municipal water systems and would have no idea how to safely source their own water. This will lead to violence, disease, and dehydration deaths. Plan to rise above that.

The flip side of water is sanitation. You need to be self-sufficient here also, because the normal sewage system will back up quickly. If you have a place with its own septic system, you are in good shape. A good portion of the world still uses vault toilets (outhouses) so you should consider a plan for one on your property. The time to put one in is NOW, you can just wait to use it until needed. These facilities need to be set up away from water used for drinking, but most won’t think of that. Middle Age cities were disease-ridden because of improper handling of human waste. Plan ahead.

Next, you need to be self-sufficient for security. This means having a plan to secure and defend your property from criminals and the inevitable hungry hordes traveling the countryside. Many people think that being remote is enough. It isn’t. Eventually, when the cities are picked clean, hungry refugees will start venturing out looking for food and shelter. You need the means and a plan to defend your property, when there are no police or sheriff to call.

A lot of folks I talk to say, well we have a good Constitutional Sheriff, so we’ll be OK. Well, when the lights go out, the Sheriff will be too busy protecting whatever infrastructure his local government needs like water sources, government buildings, and hospitals to come out and help you. You also won’t exactly have a means to dial 911. You need a solid plan with your neighbors to defend your community or farm (TW-03 can help here).

One of the first things to go down will be the cell phone and internet. You need to be self sufficient in communications. This means having a radio communications plan, whether it be CB, VHF/UHF, or some other system. Hammer out the details NOW and more importantly, start carrying that radio. I have a mobile radio in the car and a handheld with me at all times.

Make no mistake, the government would like you to rely on them in every one of these areas. If you rely on them, they can bend you to their will. This is how the old feudal systems worked. The serfs produced food or goods and paid the local warlord in food, goods, or labor for protection from bandits. They were literally at the mercy of the local lord. You don’t want to be that way.

Our heritage in America is that of the pioneers. They were self-sufficient militant farmers. They spent their days working their land, hunting/trapping/fishing, and making their own goods. They engaged in barter-trading with tradesmen who produced the unique items (metal and woodworking) that they needed. When a threat emerged, the men armed themselves and defended the community or sallied out to meet the threat far away from their homes and families (TW-04 can help here). We have drifted from that, but we can return.

I hope this article helped you understand that your freedom is only guaranteed through self-sufficiency.

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