Editors comment – “Jer in America” is obviously a pseudonym used by a friend and colleague who lives in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. He is a modest, private person, and generally keeps both his “prepper” side as well as his personal religious convictions to himself.
Once upon a time, not so long ago, people in the United States and Canada who took an active interest in preparing for an uncertain future of intermittent scarcity and disruptions in food and other key supplies (“preppers”) were considered to be a somewhat odd fringe group, far from the mainstream of America. Like so many things that have been transformed during the COVIDcrisis, so many “conspiracies” that have turned out to be true, the previously “fringe” prepper movement has increasingly become mainstream.
Knowing that so many “leading indicators” are pointing towards supply chain disruptions in food and fuel this winter both here in North America and throughout Europe and much of the rest of the world, and that many of our readers are interested in how to prepare for an uncertain future, I asked “Jer” to write an essay in which he would share more of his personal practices and world view. I hope you enjoy learning more about the way that he approaches his life (and prepares to protect his family) in the Rocky Mountains, and that you and I both will learn from his insights and experience. If you like what he has to share, perhaps I can convince him to write more about his approach to life in the Rockies.
Be Prepared, Not Scared
By: Jer In America
Beginning with the outcome of the 2020 election, events of the past 2 ½ years caused a sudden paradigm shift within me. The blessing of being surrounded in very close proximity by very like-minded ex-military brethren who love and fear God, as well as family, friends, country, community and the U.S. Constitution allowed me to make some very proactive and intentional decisions on resources my family would need in the very near future.
At first I thought to myself “am I overreacting, having a knee-jerk reaction here…is this really necessary?…I mean after all, God said he would provide for all my needs.” Some of these new friends confessed they had already been doing serious prepping for 10 years. I thought good grief, I need to get going…I want to catch up! I pressed-in and prayed hard and asked God to reveal to me if this was his will for us. The answer came back a very clear ‘YES, trust me ultimately for everything and you know this is not your real home here on earth, but these decisions you make to invest in these resources also require faith and I want you to be engaged….times are going to get tougher in the world, even for those I call my own’….or something like that. So I started making a series of significant purchases, and each time more and more cool stuff arrived at the house, it started giving me some peace of mind, a quiet confidence and new kind of purpose. And I wasn’t even thinking about my own family. I thought since God can bless me, I can bless and share with others and pay it forward when I am led to do so.
Fast forward to today and I thought I would share with you some of my prepping tips. I would surmise many of you reading this have already pulled the trigger on some of your own preparedness plans. Good for you. Some may say if you haven’t already started, it’s really too late. I partially disagree. It is never too late, and while you may experience delays in getting stuff because of the supply chain debacle, start today if you have thought about this but have not executed your plan and pulled the trigger.
If your spouse or significant other is not totally on board, talk to each other with patience and respect, pray about it. Avoid the emotions and stick with the practicality of how these resources can indeed come in handy. I had to do the same with my wife, and we grew closer because of it. We actually watched this short webinar together early on, and she totally got it. If diesel production soon ceases or is shut down, we’re all going to be up a creek. In this article, I will focus on just two critical categories: emergency food and backup power generation (in the event of power outages and rolling blackouts) for your home and property. There are many other prepping categories (i.e. guns and ammunition) I could delve into more details, but not this time. OK, are you ready? Here we go:
1) Emergency Food Supply:
· I would recommend having 6-12 months of long-shelf life meals for your family. MyPatriotSupply is a great place to start. The buckets have a 25-year shelf life. A little pricey, but worth it. But they also have great promotions, specials and discounts. Boxes shipped are plain, unmarked discreet boxes. I would still recommend being home to take receipt the day they arrive if you don’t work from home for instance, especially if there is perhaps any history of thieves stealing packages off people’s porches in your neighborhood. Check out AzureStandard as well. Their delivery concept is quite unique: they use small trucking companies/independent truckers and have pre-arranged drop off points in your zip code where the drivers deliver to and you go pick it up. And after watching the Canadian Truckers Protest/Freedom Convoy movement that began in January, who doesn’t love and appreciate our over-the-road truck drivers?! A word of caution: after receiving and storing any emergency food supply, be careful who you share this exciting news with—now they know where you live and where to go if they are starving!
The post Be Prepared, Not Scared appeared first on LewRockwell.