The Crash Course - Chris Martenson [130]
Becoming Resilient
The point of personal (and community) preparedness can be summed up in a single word: Resilience.
We’re more resilient when we have multiple sources and systems to supply a needed item, rather than being dependent on a single source. We’re more resilient when we have a strong local community with deep connections. We’re more resilient when we are in control of how our needs are met and when we can do things for ourselves.
We’re more resilient if we can source water from three locations—perhaps from an existing well, a shallow well, and rainwater basins—instead of just one. If we throw in a quality water filter (essential for the rainwater anyway), then just about any source of water becomes potentially drinkable.
We’re more resilient if we can grow a little bit more of our own food, rather than rely on a single grocery store. Our community gains food resilience when we demand local food, perhaps by shopping at a farmers market or purchasing a farm produce subscription (also known as “community supported agriculture” or CSA), thereby increasing the number of local farms and food sources.
We’re more resilient when our home can be heated by multiple sources and systems, perhaps wood and solar to complement oil or gas.
For me and my family, resilience now stretches well beyond the four walls of our physical home and deep into our local networks and community. But it began with focusing our initial efforts within our household.
Resilience has become the lens through which we filter all of our decisions. It’s a great simplifying tool. Should we buy this, or that, or nothing? Well, which action will make us more resilient? Should we invest in developing this new skill? Well, how will that help us, or our community, become more resilient? Should we plant these trees or those? Well, which ones will add the most to the natural diversity and abundance around us so that our environment will be more resilient?
It’s really that simple. Instead of finding ourselves overwhelmed by all the things we could or should be doing, we find our lives to be simpler and easier when we increase our resilience.
The first concept of becoming prepared is resilience.
Insufficient, but Necessary
We must become the change we wish to see. If we just sit back and wait for a world where people are living with a reduced footprint and in balance with our economic and natural budgets, we will wait forever, and that world will never come. It’s up to each of us to inspire others by first inspiring ourselves. The good news is that you are not and never will be alone on this journey.
But let’s be perfectly honest: No matter how grand the steps we might take to prepare for a potential environmental, social, or economic disruption, they are almost certain to be insufficient. Yet at the same time, they’re still necessary.
They’ll be insufficient because being perfectly and completely prepared is infinitely expensive. Even trying to maintain a specific standard of living may become too costly to bear. But actions are still necessary, even if they’re inherently insufficient, because they help us align what we do with what we know.
In my experience, when gaps exist between what you know to be true and your actions, anxiety (if not fear) is the result. So while the state of the world may contribute to your sense of anxiety, it’s a lack of action that lets it fester.
So we take actions because we must. If we don’t, who will? We change the world by changing ourselves. We reduce stress, fear, and anxiety in our lives by aligning our thoughts and our actions, being realistic about what we can preserve, and setting our goals and plans accordingly.
The second concept of preparation is that actions are both necessary and insufficient.
Set Targets
When considering preparation, the first question is usually,