Preparedness Pays II: Slight Change In Plans

Today’s topic was scheduled for later in the series, but when you get someone saying this, and then Sarah says this, and a list like this pops up, it makes a point/makes one wonder.

Preparedness is about much more than basic sustenance and comforts. It is about taking care of the things that truly matter: family, Family, life, and spirit. In the worst case, it is about rebuilding so as to take care of those things and for a better future. It is about helping ensure that the best of our generation and previous generations survives, and that does indeed include philosophy and the far more important Faith.

I think it was at the start of Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (stupid lightning), one of the characters is overseeing the final stages of securing a cache of good and important books against what was to come. Plan to revisit this a bit, as how it was being done is a good way to do things. Can’t really remember, but it seems that this character was not the only person/group doing such a thing.

That is a good thing, and I think we need to do it on whatever scale we can. If you think that your books (or anything else) are safe, you are not paying attention. Christianity and Judaism are under attack from multiple quarters. The progressives hate anything that detracts from their control and the supremacy of their deity, the government. When various Muslim groups talk about ‘first the Saturday then the Sunday people’ know they are not joking. I could go on, but if you look, you will find. If you will see and think is the only real question.

In my younger days, I often got into trouble for ‘reading ahead’ on assignments. Today, I’m encouraging you to read ahead in thinking about the need to preserve knowledge, civics, and most of all, Faith. I want you to read this and this, courtesy of my friend Snarksalot, so you can be thinking a bit before we get to the topic of food. Think and read ahead, as I am increasingly worried we are all behind the curve.

Today is one of the few times I will ever tell you to hide what you have done and deny all you have done. I say that because I can see how any number of things can unfold such that large-scale efforts to restrict and censor information, to seize and destroy knowledge, could take place. Not just in limited areas, but large-scale efforts even. I hope we don’t go there, but if you are looking and staying informed on the censorship-industrial complex and more, you should be concerned.

There are three major areas of knowledge to be preserved by everyone.

First, there are the books and more that tell you how to do things like canning, preserving, sewing, knitting, and more. They are the books on survival, on how things used to be done before the advent of modern refrigeration and food preparation/preservation. These are things like the Foxfire books and similar. It’s things like the Ball canning or other food preservation books. It’s the emergency medicine books and guides. It’s the old Boy Scouts Field Guide and similar. Got a favorite or a list to share? Sing out in the comments.

Second, there are the books that shaped our lives and the Great Experiment that was/is the American Republic. It’s books on civics, on discourse, and those that show what can be done by a free people. It’s Paine, it’s L. Neil Smith, and so much more. It is also the books that have shaped us as individuals. In my case, I very much want to preserve the key works of C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Kipling, Heinlein, and more. Again, if you have a list or suggestions, sing out in the comments.

Third, there are the books of Faith. For me, that would be the Bible as well as some other key works. Heck, I would print out and include a copy of the Didache in that since I don’t have a bound copy (only electronic). BTW, if anyone has any of the other translations they would care to share, I would appreciate it. For you, it may be different. In fact, I would recommend including multiple copies of the Bible, including give-aways if you can get them.

If you belong to a group that can do something on a larger scale, do it. Secure it. Hide it.

Some quick thoughts. First, if you can, go hardcover and/or archival editions of as many books as possible. If needed, they are going to be very much needed and used. Paperbacks and cheap are not going to be up to that type of use. That said, do whatever you can.

Second, particularly on books of Faith, but for as many others as you can, do multiple caches and hide them well. Treat them as the first rule of Preparedness Club, taken up several orders of magnitude and put on steroids. Forget about them, and tell no one about them, until it is time to either keep the knowledge alive or bring it back out.

We will be revisiting this topic, but I just have an odd feeling I need to get this out now. That you need to be thinking and acting now. We are a resilient and inventive species, especially when it comes to hiding and doing things our “betters” don’t want us to do. There is a long history of humans hiding things from rulers, from scrolls of old to history they wish to deny or destroy. Of hiding Faith and knowledge from those in the majority who do not share and want to destroy such. Make our ancestors proud.

Yes, I will be going into a bit on how to prepare and store books and such. This is a huge topic, and there is much to explore. I also hope you have much to share, especially suggestions on the works that are essential in every category.

For now, the word is out and the seed planted. What comes next, on several levels, is quite literally up to you.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, which include moving once we have medical issues cleared up, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.

Preparedness Pays II:

Intro

Slight Change In Plans