11th Hour Preparedness

"THE SYSTEM” refers to our current infrastructure of information and supply. Information is supplied by phone, television, radio and the internet. Food is supplied by local grocery stores. Power is distributed from a massive system called an electric grid. Fresh water is piped to our homes and sewage is piped away. Even our garbage is picked up regularly. Most system failures last only days to perhaps a few weeks but let me assure you, there are scenarios present which would take down THE SYSTEM for a long time and require at least six to twelve month's food supply for families who will be completely on their own. The six month supply applies only to those situations where the infrastructure can be restored. For those conditions where the systems cannot be regained (and there are many) a full twelve month supply is necessary to sustain life until resources from your own garden, hunting and fishing become sufficient to supply all food requirements.

How fragile is THE SYSTEM? Take a close look at your grocery store. Massive amounts of almost any kind of food ever needed, right? Where did it all come from? Few items in our stores come from less than hundreds of miles away, some from much further. Even fresh bread, though baked locally, requires basic ingredients that are shipped in. Everything comes by truck. Since the efficiency movement found ways to avoid tax on inventoried products, stores don't “store” things like they used to. Computerized checkouts scan items and build inventory orders to THE SYSTEM for re-stock. National food warehouses (less than a dozen across the country) put together a distribution system that assures you will find cans of peas and corn on the shelf at all times, “just in time”.... unless... something 'out of the ordinary' happens.

Napoleon learned what every military commander now knows. Long supply lines are fragile, can be easily disrupted and “the lack of supply” will defeat an army faster than any other enemy. Fragile supply lines that can't respond to sudden changes in demand are why store shelves empty in the path of storms and why gasoline is unavailable when masses of people try to leave town at the same time. Power grids depend on large numbers of workers to keep them operating, as do our water and sewer systems. Anything that disrupts these fragile systems will bring them down and leave stranded those who depend on them.

Domestic terrorism only has to disrupt our supply for little more than two weeks before anarchy tears society apart from the inside. Almost any major event can trigger street violence, smash-and-grab looting and social mayhem. Our police and National Guard are not sufficiently manned to address lawlessness on a grand scale. If one city gets out of hand, neighboring cities lend police resources to assist. When a larger area needs assistance the National Guard is called. Where would the resources come from if every city needed assistance? We don't have the resources to restore law and order on that grand scale. As stated in “The History Chanel” docu-drama After Armageddon “America is only about nine meals from anarchy.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlcYpgfI564 (Part 1 of 9)

None of the pieces of the system can stand independently. Everything depends on electricity, fuel, the internet, computing and armies of people to keep them running. If one piece of the system goes down it can take the entire house of cards with it.

I'm not saying anything new. There are many good books that document the frailty of our society. So why did I write this book? Why should you listen to me? Even better, why should you spend money to attend one of my seminars? Just one reason. I can help you become prepared. By all indication, there may not be much time and preparation needs to start now. If money is no concern, various survival product websites enable credit card holders to spend their way to preparedness. If you are like the rest of us, you can use good advice from those with experience to help in making the best of limited resources. Preparedness doesn't have to empty a retirement account. Preparedness also includes more than can be purchased with a credit card.