Modern Survival: EOTWAA vs. TEOTWAWKI

Image Source

We may not be heading into a "great depression," but a lot of people are beginning to act like something worse is coming. EOTWAA: "End of the world Armageddom Apocalypse" is the extreme viewpoint. TEOTWAWKI: "The end of the world as we know it," is the milder version of the same idea. Both acronyms describe visions of catastrophic cataclysm, and both motivate an increasing number of persons living in the affluent world, to seek out survival information and tools.

It is no longer consider totally insane to think about survival issues. You might even say that "survival" is pushing into the mainstream.

2009 is all about survival. And what better way to prepare than to become a survivalist? Survivalist websites and books were last year’s sleeper hit, no longer the preserve of lone wackos. Barton Biggs, former chief global strategist for Morgan Stanley, rebranded survivalism “sensible”. In his book Wealth, War and Wisdom, he said all right-minded people should “assume the possibility of a breakdown of the civilised infrastructure” and advised the well-off to invest 5 per cent of their income in creating a refuge “well-stocked with seed, fertiliser, canned food and medicine”. A number of self-help books are on the market such as Cody Lundin’s When All Hell Breaks Loose, which instructs readers how to get rid of bodies and feast on rats in the event of disaster.

Jim Rawles tells me traffic to his website, survivalblog.com, increased threefold in the past year: “The demographics of [readers] have noticeably broadened, to include far more left-of-centre and green people ... from a wide range of backgrounds and income levels. In 20 years we may all qualify as survivalists [as] the world seems headed for a deep depression.” _FT

The business of survival has never been so good:

While survivalist offerings expand, consumers often have different ideas of what exactly it means to "be prepared."

"I'll get one potential buyer who will say, 'I want to have a remote location,' and for him that means a house a couple miles out of town," says Moss, the realtor. "Then I'll get the guy who wants to be able only to hike into his location."

...As survivalist businesses grow in uncertain economic times, consumers new to the lifestyle might be overwhelmed by choices. Industry insiders suggest those preparing for the worst do their homework to find companies that put surviving disasters, not profit-making, at the core of their mission. Mr. Lundin estimates that only 5 percent of survivalist businesses are actually committed to living the lifestyle.

For Ritter, of Equipped to Survive, this means that people need to be serious about how they go about purchasing peace of mind. The recession might be cutting into paychecks and cheap survival gear ordered from a slick new website might seem like a great deal, he says, but in a disaster other considerations are more important. "There's a key question," he says. "Are you willing to bet your life on a piece of equipment?" _CSM

For Americans who have grown soft depending upon local and national governments to rescue them in a pinch, the harsh reality of growing governmental incompetence under the narcissist-elect should be enough to shock them into at least considering a slight preparation or two, here and there. Western governments have always had officials with the third world mentality of "bleed the taxpayers and producers, strip the commonwealth bare". With such officials soon achieving full residence in Washington DC, times may look particularly bleak for the hard working person who lives honestly, pays his bills and taxes, and expects no favours from anyone. No wonder people are flocking to survivalblog.com and other survival sites and stores.

Start simple. Water, food, heat, shelter, sanitation, medicines. What are your fallbacks if your current arrangements fall through? What are the fallbacks to your fallbacks? With the spreading insanity in governments, it is only you now, to take care of yourself and people you are responsible for. Think it through.