Survival Preparation - Getting Others to Prepare for the Collapse

I was listening to Glenn Beck this morning and a caller was asking for advice about his wife whose beliefs about the coming collapse were described as “ostrich like” – meaning she was putting her head in the sand. The caller said that when he mentioned to his wife about buying additional food or maybe buying some precious metals she would freak out.

The caller also asked Glenn Beck how he can get his wife to see the need to prepare. Glenn said something to the effect that “how can anyone not see what’s coming?” – a rhetorical question to be sure. He then further asked the caller if his wife had any friends that saw the future the way the caller did. When the caller replied yes, Glenn then suggested he get the friends to help get the wife to see the aspect of “preparing for the worst, hoping for the best”.

When your wife or family doesn’t want to listen to your perspective on Survival prepping, this is called “There is No Expert in the Village” syndrome. Where because of the simple fact you are so close to your family and friends, they think you cannot possibly know much more than them. It doesn’t help your credibility for them to have seen you crap faced drunk on occasion (come on that’s a joke).

But what is not a joke is that if your family and friends do not prepare they will be a burden on you come collapse time. Plus if you cannot get your immediate family to see the need to prepare, even just a little, then it could even lead to a break up of the family unit. I have a friend who follows what I say,....he bought an M-4 carbine and his wife freaked out. They are currently separated and heading for divorce court where I’m sure the wife will paint her soon to be ex-husband as a Survivalist Loon.

If you have a wife or even close family members who are in the "denying the coming collapse camp", then you need to be in a careful hurry to get them to see the light. Short papers or conversations on facts, and short videos may work the best. This is called “Dripping”. Sometimes if make take five, ten, maybe 20 drips for your intended audience to say “tell me more”. This may seem like a chore, but it is absolutely critical that you get the immediate family on board and build a survival team with your close family, close friends and even neighbors.

I recently got a close friend of mine not only interested in prepping but on a frenzied pace to prepare. All I did was call him up and say “Hey buddy, I know you go camping often, can you use a case of MRE’s that will expire in 6 months?” He replied “Heck yes, I would love a case of MRE's. Why are you giving them up?” I told him “I bought a bunch more long term food and am trying to make room.” He asked “Why are you buying a bunch of food?” and I simply said “mainly for insurance, but lately I’ve been thinking I’m going to need it.” He asked why and I went into some financial factors indicating a coming collapse,.....then I said, “on a lesser extent preparing for bad things such as terrorist nuclear events or pandemics is a good idea also.”

So I drop the MRE’s off and have lunch with this friend of mine where he proceded to ask me a laundry list of questions pertaining to survival prep....stocking food, building Bug Out Bags, buying cold weather gear, developing power supplies during a infrastructure collapse, etc. He had did some research on his own and he was prompted by “fear of loss or fear of being left behind” by me NOT trying to convince him. I then let him in on the fact that this website was mine - he was floored which even add fuel to his prep fire. The good news is that my friend is more than an avid gun collector,...he has a Class III license, owning some belt fed weapons, and many others. So he doesn’t have to prepare for that aspect. And in fact, part of my strategy on getting him focused on survival preparation was that he can be a big asset, as I can to him, when the collapse comes.

So if you’re having problems getting people to listen to you may try the short survival prep drips,...remember that there is no expert in the village,…use the fear of loss/being left behind concept. Some recent facts that can help are posted on the fuel price signs at your local gas station! with no reduction in price on the horizon; commodities such as Gold, Corn, Cotton and Sugar up 60%, 78%, 43% and 164% respectively in the last 12 months; Food stamp recipients up 35%; number of people in poverty up to 43.6 million an increase of almost 10%; and most importantly the National debt up 32% to a level that cannot be fixed – yes we are heading for at least an economic collapse.

Good luck, prepare well and preach preparedness to the extent you are willing to compromise your OPSEC.