While it is certainly provident to be prepared for short term or focused disasters or discontinuities in The System; the commonly expressed notion of 'prepping' is delusional nonsense when it comes to the kind of societal/ civilizational collapse that threatens The West (and probably The World).
The preppers see themselves as the ants in Aesop's fable of the ants and the grasshopper. When times get tough, the ants will eat their supplies and the 'good-time' grasshopper will sing until he starves to death.
But this fable has it that there is only one grasshopper and plenty of ants; whereas the equivalent in The West is a just a few ants, often just one ant - but a vast swarm of locusts.
The fable of the ant and the locusts; raises the question of whether the vast swarm of locusts will immediately lie down and die of starvation - leaving the ant to subsist on his stores and build a new world.
Or whether the locust swarm will immediately eat all the supplies of the ant at their first feelings of serious hunger; and probably eat the ant himself.
Some preppers make a big deal of their supplies of 'guns and ammo' - but the locusts have plenty of those too, and vastly outnumber the ant.
And some of the chief locusts also have bombs and rockets; and locusts will support their own kind.
As I have said before, if things get really tough - as I believe they will; then prepping will merely serve to keep the locusts alive for a little bit longer.
A Man should not aspire to be a metaphorical ant! - concerned only with bodily survival and reproduction; survival for what can only be a little bit longer, because all shall and should die.
The 'prepping' we, each of us, absolutely need to do is spiritual - not physical; and that means being able to discern, detect, and understand the difference between the sides of Good and evil.
And it means knowing when, on a timescale of eternity; there are more important things than staying-alive for a bit longer than one's improvident neighbours.
Furthermore: if/ when your faith in God is strong; you will realize that the perceived material realm is (merely) a sub-set of the spiritual; and that a single Man whose thinking, striving and choosing are in spiritual harmony with God; has a far more powerfully-beneficial effect on The World - than any conceivable number of well-armed but dubiously-motivated ants ever would or could.
4 comments:
Numerical advantage
Bruce,
This is an interesting topic, ultimately, I agree that spiritual prepping should be uppermost on everyone’s menu. However, material prepping is also important. (God helps those who help themselves.) Christ did tell his disciples that if they have money, to buy a sword, and those with no money, to sell their coat and buy one. Luke 22:36.
In the event of societal collapse, there is no doubt in my mind that things will get UGLY. However, the locust contingent generally tend to be lazier and less willing to be disciplined to work as a body than the ant contingent. This should not be read to mean that there won’t be powerful and rapacious locust groups. But, generally locust groups will withdraw in the face of determined resistance. One need look no further that Afghanistan, whose poorly armed, led, trained peopled resoundingly kicked the asses of the US, Russia, and Britain.
There are a whole bunch of fictional accounts describing post apocalyptic worlds. Two I can recommend as being well thought out are One Second After by a William Forscheim and Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven.
In the end, I believe resistance to evil requires focusing on God, good, and one’s spiritual development. But it doesn’t mean abdicating the obligations attendant to that path.
Finally, I am partial to Psalms 144:1
@Jeffrey - There are no valid precedents for what is coming. Read the linked references.
Bruce,
I read the linked references and respectfully note that they contain much in the way of assertions, but little in the way of facts. (Note: for the purposes of this response, I take it as assumed that those who prepare not only stockpile food; medicine; and yes, arms; but they also arm themselves through spiritual growth, and theosis.)
Disaster preparedness does not guarantee survival in a wonderful world, but being prepared is something that everyone does to a greater or lesser degree. It ranges from simply buying groceries for the week to the Mormon practice of having a year’s worth of food on hand at all times. (Fact.) I live in a location with a large Mormon population. Heck, even though the Mormons believe in self-sufficiency, they routinely send someone to check on members in the event they miss a weekly meeting. (Fact.) Also, I agree that there is a difference between disaster, collapse, and total civilizational destruction, but that is a continuum, not just three discrete stages.
While it is obvious that in the event of societal collapse there those with a stockpile of supplies will become targets of looters, it is also obvious that in a contest between looters and preppers, violence will erupt and not just the preppers will take casualties. Looters will be on the receiving end as well. Everyone is worried about the looters as being mobs of organized bad guys with offensive capability at hand, but there is nothing that prevents good guys from organizing and asserting their version of a “rule of law” against their oppressors. I believe that is what happened when colonists in the new world accomplished when they threw off the yoke of King George III in the 1775-1783 contest. (Fact.)
I believe that history provides many more examples. Ghengis Khan “looted” much of the world, but in the end, those people did survive. (Fact.) I believe Adolph Hitler also oppressed huge swaths of people, but despite his best efforts, those people also survived. (Fact.) A review of Judiasm reveals much oppression and survival in the face of that oppression. (This survival includes religious survival, not just mere physical survival.) And again, I reiterate that the example of Afghanistan resisting seemingly overwhelming power cannot be ignored. (Fact.)
Given the ultimate truth that “In the end, God wins,” (Fact) everyone should take heed and “man up” in the face of an uncertain future. By preparing, even if that ultimate collapse does not happen, you are at least providing a better starting point for your offspring, clan, or community. Anything less is putting off the responsibility of resisting evil and global satanic totalitarian rule on the next generation. Chesterton said “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” Thomas Paine said “If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace; and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty.”
I just don’t buy the argument that prepping is a waste of time or a cause of spiritual degeneration.
I forgot to mention that I have no objection, should you wish, to you "fixing" my language to make it more obscure. :-)
Post a Comment