You’re Killing Me, Smalls

“You’re killing me!”  This is what I found myself uttering again and again as I read the comments posted on the Talk Show Host, Glenn Beck, Facebook page.  Apparently, unbeknownst to me because I rarely watch him, he had done a show today promoting preparedness.  I have to say I was truly shocked with most of the posts I read. For one, if people are that antagonistic towards him, why in the world are they on his Facebook page? (I wonder that same thing with some comments that get posted here, periodically.  As one woman put it once while encouraging me to ignore such naysayers “Hello! You rubbed my lamp!”—thanks again for that, by the way.)

So allow me to rebut some of the comments I saw on Beck’s Facebook page in this article. Perhaps you’ll find some benefit either for yourself or for that last stubborn holdout, family member that you’ve been trying to get to see the light for oh, so long.

1)      I saw so many folks saying that they couldn’t get prepared because they were unemployed or were barely paying the bills as it was now.  To me, reading excuses like that is nothing short of being SAD.  There’s nothing worse to me than to see a perfectly awesome person go to waste because they have been UN-educated in matters of self-reliance.  Don’t these folks know that there is an abundance of ways that they can get better prepared without costing them a dime?

Some schmuck on the page ranted and raved that Glenn was just trying to sell more groceries for his advertisers.  I’ll  going to tell you something folks that I haven’t shared with anyone yet.  As of this month, I no longer PAY extra out of my budget for HARDLY ANY of my preparedness supplies– And it’s not all about coupons either.  I have officially found a way that I can get nearly everything I need without cutting into my monthly budget anymore.

OK. Sorry, but I just couldn’t go without saying that.  I’m not going to get into all of that because there will be some of you that don’t believe me; and then there will be some of you wanting to know what the catch is, so I’m just going to set that statement aside for now. Instead, how about I share with you all of the ways that you can be more self-reliant WITHOUT spending any money.

2)      Remember, preparedness is rooted in a foundation of spiritual and mental strength. When I say spiritual I’m talking about a person’s core system of values. When I say mental, I’m referring to knowledge, skills, mindset, and mental fortitude. If they look at their life as a victim who can’t be self-reliant in any way, then sure as shooting, when something really rough comes their way they are more likely to just roll over and die because it will be too emotionally and mentally overwhelming.  And yet this can be rectified with a whole plethora of possibilities including reading books from the library, attending church meetings of your choice, and attending FREE community classes that teach you skills that you can use for self-reliance.  The first time that you make a loaf of bread that only costs you a smidgen of money to make and have it taste ten times better than that garbage you’d pay for in the store, you can’t help but feel a little bit puffy-chested inside knowing that you have just snipped one more apron string.  When I stand in front of my shelves of canned meat knowing that I got them for Uber-cheap and bottled them myself, I can’t help but feel like thumbing my nose at whatever shenanigans DHS is up to this week. Knowledge is FREE.  Applied knowledge is FREEDOM.

3)      “The Mormons” do not have a monopoly on being prepared—nor do they have a monopoly on needing to be prepared.  (I really can’t believe I even have to say this.)

Let’s look at New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, Haiti, Chili, the Philippines, and a host of other areas in which Mother Nature has been no respecter of persons, race or religion. She’s not prejudice or a racist. She batters on everyone equally when she gets a mind to.  A serious earthquake is due for the Missouri/Tennessee area any day now, as is expected for the Utah area and California.  There were very few “Mormons” in the Boston area this past May when a “boil water order” was issued due to contamination of the public water supply. What are people going to do if a worse form of the flu virus takes on massive populations—especially those who are already suffering for a lack of work?  Regardless of a person’s religion, thirst, fatigue and famine tastes the same and it goes down rough!  Just because you know of a particular, even peculiar, religion that’s really into preparedness doesn’t mean that you are embracing the religion if you dare to take back some independence in your life. A full cupboard, bug out plans, being out of debt, and a spare water supply does not make you a particular groupie. It simply makes you wise.

4)      ANYTHING that you can purchase right now in the form of “necessities” will be significantly more expensive in at least 2 years, but more likely in as little as 6 months.  This is not a “the sky is falling” kind of statement. This is simply a matter of mathematics. When you have the Federal Reserve talking about infusing hundreds of billions of dollars into our economy, you know that the other end of that plan is hyper-inflation. In the past, hyper-inflation has been curbed in some areas because the Federal Reserve stopped informing We the People how much money was in circulation at one time (via the M-3 Report). So a lot of their playing with the international trading platforms and the U.S. Treasury money has been veiled. But now we have a blatant admission to messing around with the market and one of the primary consequences of that is super inflation.

5)      Preparedness has nothing to do with being your own private army of S.E.A.L.S.  It has nothing to do with your political beliefs.  And it certainly has nothing to do with being paranoid. It’s recognizing that things change, even those things which have been the same for your entire life.  Even more importantly they can change “on a dime” so to speak. Preparedness is simply about being ready for those changes in such a way that you can adapt positively to them and thrive in spite of them. Nowadays, I dare say that I thrive because of such opportunities.  I can’t say it enough.  There is nothing like the peace of mind and confidence that comes when I was able to “fix it, make it, discover it, do without it, forge onward in spite of it, or get around it.”  That whole “praying for the mountain to be moved” thing is not for me. I’m more about “praying for the rope and a pair of hiking boots” nowadays and I feel much more fulfilled emotionally and mentally in doing so. I can promise you that no one has an allergic or fatal reaction to self-reliance. It’s as addictive as a belly laugh if you ask me.

6)      Preparedness has nothing to do with hoarding or greed any more than always having a spare tire in your car does. It’s just that we are so used to instant gratification and fulfillment of what we want, when we want, that so many of us can’t fathom a time in which there was no such thing as microwaves, drive-thrus, and 24 Hour Service. It’s not crazy to have a spare tire in your car. Nor is it crazy to wear your seat belt, lock your doors, put your baby in a car seat, prepare financially for retirement, keep an eye on your credit card statements, or practice “safe sex.” In that same vein it’s also not crazy or paranoid to have sufficient food, money, water, and other necessities in your home so that you can be self-reliant in so many ways. Is someone who saves their money a lunatic? Would some really think that a person who is completely out of debt to be a hoarder or greedy?  Storing up on necessities for a rainy day is simply taking financial preparedness to a higher level as they are determining how much they will pay for a particular item in the future regardless of the economic whims of the day. Personally, I believe that preparedness is actually the opposite of greed; its very concept is rooted in charity as one prepares and is mindful of what others might need at some point in the future as well as ensuring that we don’t unnecessarily burden others as a result of our own lack of planning. We are all inept at helping others if we can’t stand strong ourselves.

Ironically, many of these people who whine and scoff about people who make an effort to be prepared are the same persons who believe the government owes them something, and that their parents are obligated to provide 24 hour free babysitting, and that a weekly allowance is a right, not a privilege. Preparedness is a critical factor in not taking everyone else for granted. In my opinion, the opposite of Preparedness is Entitlement.  An entitlement mentality never made a man or a country strong.

Just remember, step by step with a concerted effort will lead to a panic free and very successful state of preparedness. And that is something that I can personally 100% guarantee because I KNOW it’s a fact. Of course that doesn’t mean that challenges won’t come our way, but it does mean that we will actually be able to grow from them instead of being crushed into smithereens.