The Scarcity of Skills

Last night I laid restless the entire night—yup, the entire night.  As I’m not a morning person, it’s rare that I am conscious enough to hear my husband’s alarm go off—both of them. (grin) But this morning I did.  As I heard the unfamiliar static of the talk radio station which usually rouses him into the planned activities of his day, I couldn’t help but wonder what would it require for the people that I care about to finally hear the rational, logical wake-up call for action—to be more independent of vulnerabilities which surround them?

The end of the great Roman Empire was not brought about by a depression or even a recession.  While history shows us that entire industry and commerce itself was crumbled into dust, we can’t simply blame their demise on the attack of foreign enemies. The more important view of that epic fall is to see that it was brought about because of a failed economic system of ease and entitlement. What we can learn from the fall of that nation is that those in power were permitted to conspire and control the flow of vital supplies through a monopoly of specialized skills held by a few instead of the talents  and work ethics of everyday persons—skills which could be handed down from one family to another.

The persons who understand and control our nation’s flow of supplies are few and unfortunately, the ability to plan, prepare, sow, harvest, and reap is also scarce. Think about it.  Does the job of overseeing six feet of a conveyor belt prepare them for a meaningful contribution and sustainment of a flourishing society? Such a “skill” does nothing to prepare someone to render any other skills or assets to contribute to a society other than their tax dollars.  But what happens when our nation’s dollar value comes into question?  Who pays for the skilled few to oversee and ensure the flow of vital supplies? What then happens when the food supply is interrupted or when there is an oversight of supply needs for everyday medical supplies? Sadly, this same person, and so many others like them, will suffer needlessly for a lack of preparation in knowledge and supplies which can help produce a self-sustaining community.  In the name of “efficiency” and “immediate satisfaction,” without the risk of investment or labor on our part, we have allowed our food and medical supplies to be vulnerable to a highly volatile system managed by a relatively small number.  This flow of vital supplies in our country reminds me of a top secret project that is so secret, no one person is able to see the entire picture, only the small, snippet of specialized secrecy which they are required to work on before passing it on to only one other person, who then works on their narrow segment of information, and then passes it on to the next person, and so on, and so on.  Just how vulnerable is our present system of supplies?

Only sixty years ago, the average family had enough grain and preserved produce to last them seven years. In 1964, the Federal Government bragged of having enough food stockpiled to feed our entire nation for three years. Recently, FEMA admitted that they have the means of feeding only 6 million persons—once—in spite of the fact that our nation has over 300 million members. Today, we have naively accepted that it’s ok for our nation’s residents as a whole to only have FOUR WEEKS supply of food. Even worse, the majority of Americans who are NOT even considered to be living at the poverty income level have no more than three weeks supply of food in their home.   Why does FEMA only have enough food for 6 million persons in a nation of 300 million?  Because it’s simply not their job to feed the nation.  It’s their responsibility to provide aid to those who are thrust into exceptional living circumstances. As surely as our freedom is our own responsibility, so is our sustenance for now and in the future.

The bottom line? Our access to vital supplies such as food, herbs, and medicinal plants is not threatened because of a scarcity—at this moment.  Rather the abundance of such is threatened because of our lack of skills to reproduce and distribute such supplies independent of specialized skills among a few persons. Thus our access to such supplies is at a highly vulnerable state because we have not taken measures to prepare against such a time—NOT because of a specific looming famine, act of war, or cataclysmic event.  A needy, clingy society is no more awarded with independence and prosperity than a sniveling, groveling emotionally unstable woman is to a single man.  Ironically, a prepared, self-reliant home in our nation is as specialized and niched as are the skills necessary to sustain a thriving community. Many of us do not have sufficient supplies in our own home, nor have we mastered the sufficient skills needed to ensure that we can produce our own food with a modest amount of care independent of outside sources. To me, this just isn’t acceptable. If I behaved that way, I’d consider myself to be ungrateful for what I presently have been blessed with; akin to a spoiled brat, presuming that I’m entitled to what I have for the rest of my life without a care or concern as to how I’m going to receive it.

I also feel that this scenario is a somewhat alarming state of vulnerability—more so because it is not necessary.  We all have the ability to alter away that vulnerability and replace it with strength, confidence, competence, independence, and peace.  Yet so many I care about consciously choose to bring about painful consequences upon themselves.  Case in point—as a nation we mindlessly spend over $500 billion dollars a year protecting things such as houses, boats, RVs, and automobiles, and yet so many commit nothing in the form of time, money, or intelligence, towards protecting our own persons and our family.  $500 billion spent on overpriced insurance so that folks can replace inanimate, non-living things; and yet sadly, encouraging someone to simply spend at least $20 a month on their future security by purchasing necessary provisions seems to be too much of a stretch mentally and/or financially to these very same persons.  The really ironic angle of all of this, is somehow the persons who spends hundreds of dollars insuring toys and non-essentials label those of us who are willing to plan for the future as “wackos, crazy survivalists, or extremists”! Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?  Just because some of us plan for a realistic rainy day and have the audacity to learn how to start a fire without a blow torch, we’re somehow worthy of the label “nut job.” *heavy sigh…recollect myself.*

In the past I usually really try to put my thoughts out there in a bit more educational, neutral, kind, and inoffensive manner. However today, I’ve decided to acknowledge the fact that death isn’t too kind to those of us left behind. It’s real. It’s painful. And it’s a lot more costly than the alternative in the long run. Thus I will close by saying that a dearth of critical supplies only encroaches on a society that ignores the eternal truth of self-reliance. In such an instance, even the strongest, most stable economy can find itself crippled, begging to be enslaved to such self-defeating behaviors once again, all in the name of progress.

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