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For many years I have toyed with the idea of what is commonly called Doomsday Preparation. You know, storing up a hidden cache of food and water and weapons and other supplies in case of the eventual zombie apocalypse—or the complete overthrow of the American government, which seemed equally absurd at the time I started thinking about it. In any case, the idea of laying in extra supplies was only a theoretical one for me back then, since I didn't have the kind of disposable income required to make such an investment a possibility. But how could you not at least entertain the notion of preparing somehow for a possible future dystopian world, especially when you grew up with movies like Logan's Run and Red Dawn playing vividly in your imagination?
At the present moment in American history it seems more likely than ever that such a possibility may be shortly upon us. I have no idea whether the Lord intends America as we have known it to last another 200 years, or go down in flames during this generation like Venezuela, but with the way the current administration is dealing with our economy and supply chain, doesn't it make good sense to—at the very least—consider putting some extra canned goods away on your shelves? I mean, just in the event of hyperinflation, which seems increasingly likely to overwhelm us in the coming months, you'd at least have locked in some lower prices on a few items for a little while.
Those were the thoughts that I was dealing with a few months ago. Admittedly, there is a case (from a Christian point of view) to intentionally not prepare for a doomsday scenario. I'll tackle that one tomorrow. But today I'd like to make a case for preparing for a severe set of circumstances happening soon—this very winter, perhaps.
I considered several different factors when deciding what I wanted to prepare for. First, what might be the worst-case scenarios that could plague us in the next few years (other than outright annihilation)? I wondered, now that our military has been weakened in both leadership and hardware—not to mention enthusiasm and patriotism—how likely it was that some foreign enemy might launch a devastating attack against the U.S.? We have enemies aplenty, all of whom have been greatly emboldened by the faltering and apologetic actions of the current president. If, say, China decided they wanted to exercise dominion over America, would there be any way we could resist them? And whether we attempted a bold resistance or just folded up like a cheap suit, the ensuing conflict would certainly disrupt our access to resources that are vital to our wellbeing. Our way of life would be dramatically altered, whether there was a hot war, or merely a cold one.
Even if no foreign aggressor launches an attack against us, our supply chain is already seriously broken right now. Might it be likely that we will have empty shelves in the grocery store this winter? I think so. How about gas stations that don't offer fuel? Seems like a possibility. If those things happen, we may be stranded inside our homes during the coldest days and longest nights of the year, unable to go out for food, and unable to find it even if we could. Remember what happened in the state of Texas just last year. Texas, of all places, running out of electrical power because of too much reliance on green forms of energy. If that can happen there, then surely it could happen in my home state of New York, which is governed by a barrel full of trained chimpanzees compared to Texas.
And even if President Biden's economy doesn't leave us all hamstrung and immovable, there is always the chance for a renewed season of terrorist attacks, now that the world's terrorists have been reinvigorated by—once again—the Biden administration. (I struggle to show the current president respect, even though I know that God has commanded me to render honor to the civil authorities.) I have wondered for years why some enterprising guerrilla group hasn’t attempted to take out the nation's power grid. It seems like such an obvious target to me. If Americans didn't have electricity to run their cellphones and ATMs and Teslas, what would they do? We would have utter anarchy.
So, armed with these thoughts, and a couple of thousand dollars that didn't have anyone's name on them, I decided to take a small step toward securing my family's ability to continue eating in the event of a local or national disaster, either natural or manmade. I ordered some food from a survivalist organization (details at the end)—food that Is reported to be edible for up to 25 years. Now, I'm going to be dead in 25 years, I think, but I may get a chance to eat some of it before then. I also stocked up on some canned goods, which are supposed to be safe to eat for three or four years according to the dates on the cans. And like I said earlier, we may be eating them this winter if we have a shortage of groceries, or if the price gets too high. I also saw to it that some new hardware made its way into our house: a solar-powered mini generator, and some small ceramic space heaters, in case we need to spend any amount of time without the availability of gas or electricity. I also got what amounts to a solar-powered thermos, in order to be able to boil water without the assistance of my household appliances. And—this may be vitally important—I built up an advance quantity of my most critical pharmaceutical (I have Parkinson's Disease) so that I would not quickly run out should I not have access to a pharmacy or the medicines that a drug store would normally provide. A lot of our meds are sourced from China, after all.
And that's about it. I won't tell you about my armory. Let it be a surprise to you. But if the day of disaster does arrive, and you find yourself or your family needing some food to survive, come and ask. We'll share with you.
For those of you with a Biblical perspective, to what scripture could I possibly turn to attempt to justify this preparation for my own defense? I actually struggled to come up with an answer, except for the admittedly feeble recommendation in Proverbs 6:6-8:
Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.
This is a sound principle. When you see a change of seasons approaching, you adjust your behavior to fit the circumstances. If it's harvest time, you gather in the crops, so that you can eat throughout the winter. And that reminded me of the story of Joseph in Egypt, where the principle is played out full force. Joseph had advance information from God that there were going to be years of famine coming, and he made plans to provide food for those days. You can read the whole story in Genesis 41 if you're not familiar with it.
There are other places in scripture where the principle is evident, for example in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, though I believe that is actually talking about spiritual, rather than tactical, preparedness.
Also, similar to the Joseph story in Genesis is Jesus' brief comment on a parable He had taught in Luke chapter 12:
“Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes."
So there's a principle in the Bible that sort of justifies planning ahead for likely disasters. And I spent some money, and did what I could. Tomorrow I'll tell you about my mild case of buyer's remorse.
If you are interested in reading about the particular supplies I purchased and what is available for you, I recommend 4Patriots.com. There are other suppliers out there too, and they are probably worth checking out. But I have tasted the food from these guys that comes in the good-for-25-years packages, and it's quite delicious. And if the Socialists have their way in America, I may be eating it long before 25 years comes around.