How far will you go to improve your safety and self reliance?
Bill Masen - April 14, 2021I’m curious as to just how far or how much effort and sacrifice people will make to improve their prepper quality of life. Just exactly WHAT are YOU willing to do to improve your safety, security and quality of life.
For years my wife and I have been into survivalism and prepping going as far back as the 1980s. We did all the normal things that most people who become preppers do. We realised there was clearly identifiable threats, hazards and risks to us as a family. So we learned skills, cached, stockpiled and developed plans.
BUT we also changed professions to equally increase our quality of life and also to improve our level of readiness. My wife became a Nurse Practitioner, I left the military for the Security industry, Our income rose as did our skills and levels of readiness. YET we were still uncomfortable / unsettled/ unsure .
We invested in skills, we invested in kit and supplies, we changed vehicles, we moved house within our communities, we developed relationships with other preppers. but still the underlying concerns lingered.
We stopped doing conventional social and leisure things like dining out, clubbing, holidaying on beaches etc and started using our free time to develop our skills and knowledge further, learning useful skills and attending convensions in prepping, survival skills, overlanding events, off gridding and homesteading events etc but STILL those fears festered away in the background.
Then we had kids and thats when things started hitting home like a manic jackhammer.
First we realised the overall quality of standard supermarket food was POOR, to much salt, chemicals, preservatives, processing etc especially when it came to feeding the family. We ended up having to source ORGANIC or UNPROCESSED foods to replace what came from the four local supermarkets.
Then we discovered that our kids occasional wheezy chests, chest infections, runny noses, etc was only happening at home, when we went camping the kids were 100% healthy, enlightenment it was AIR POLLUTION in the city ( Mainly vehicular emmissions)
At the same time we were told our kids were INTROVERTED and WITHDRAWN at school and were not learning fast enough. That was odd because when they were not at school they were extroverted, happy, inquisitive, curious and VERY sociable. We discovered that it was not the kids but the SCHOOL (s) they attended (500 primary school kids in one complex) .
Then a neighbour informed us our kids were often bullied verbally and occasionally physically by SOME not all of their schoolmates.
We also could not let them play out unsupervised because of the local trouble making street gangs of feral teens (and preteens) and a total lack of intetrest by the police or council to deal with the non stop vandalism, petty theft, criminal damage, noise and general anti social behaviour found in most urban areas.
Then it finally dawned on us, ALL OF OUR PREPS were for nought when all of us were being ground down by living in a city. Our air and food was a problem as was WHERE we lived, it was a problem with air pollution, crime, poor facilities, overcrowding and a totally ineffective local government and law enforcement system.
This is where I reach the crux of the matter, We finally realised that WHERE we lived was as important as HOW we lived.
We are both only working class people with modest incomes but we had clearly identified that the city was slowly killing ALL of us one tiny bit at a time.
We immediately looked for a quiet more rural community, we found one with a wonderful close knit village school of only 200 primary and junior school kids, who welcomed our kids.
Within 6 week the kids were transformed they LOVED school, they LOVED learning, they absolutely thrived, We found a house we could just about afford it needed loads doing to it but the kids and ourselves loved it. No sirens at night, no gangs, no vandalism. Neighbours looked out for each other, The kids health improved massively.
We found locally produced foods ( both normal and organic) our STRESS levels collapsed.
It took SACRIFICE, My wife had to take a Nursing job on much less money nearer our new home. I had to completely give up my urban security work as I could no longer respond to clients in minutes, I took up a couple of very menial part time jobs to bring in money whilst I also took over running the house. We used up ALL of our savings just to pay the deposit on the house.
Do I have regrets? YES absolutely. I 100% regret that we did not identify it was our ENVIRONMENT that was as much as issue as the global issues that turned us into preppers in the first place.
We gave up just about EVERYTHING to escape the city, careers, money, savings, friends, social groups etc but it was absolutely worth the sacrifice and effort.
If YOU are thinking about escaping the city then I say to you that we believe the LONG TERM BENEFITS far outweigh any negatives and hope you manage to escape to greener prepper friendlier pastures.
Now 20 years on and I see riots, looting, arson, division, hatred, violence etc consuming not only the US but much of Europe, Africa, south America, Middle East, UK etc as well. Compounded by POLICE/ COURTS and Governments paralised by political correctness and fear of offending assorted sections of society who are simply allowed to get away with mass civil unrest and violent crimes. Many cities are becoming NO GO AREAS not just for decent people but also for Law Enforcement as well.
How much sacrifice are YOU willing to make to protect YOUR families and quality of life?
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RedneckContributor
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Bob
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