A Bushel of Bullets
There is a section on this website called Food - Can Help Others. You can find it here.
I bring up this thought because it is my answer to the people who say that if things go south, they would rather have bullets than food. I have been hearing more of this sort of talk lately, as we get closer to the next big event. Frankly, I tend to stay away from the subject, because I have very strong personal feelings about it, and my opinions tend to offend almost everyone. But the time to be cautious is passing. So here’s what I really think.
First, bullets only work if someone, somewhere, HAS food.
Second, there are some people who know a whole lot about bullets. If you think you can shoot it out with them, unless you have more training than most people now buying bullets have, you will be the casualty and they will be the proud possessor of a new gun. You’ve seen this kind of person in the movies, on both sides of the law and in the military. I’ve run with them… the good, the bad and the ugly. Occasionally all three at the same time. You don’t want to mess with them. Even if you have a gun and they don’t… yet.
Third, do you really want to live that way? I do not.
Okay, I can hear the arguments already. It’s the only way to protect what you have. You need to provide safety for your family. You will NOT have your things taken away from you. You do not want to cower in fear.
All reasonable arguments. You have every right to make them.
But consider for a moment having enough stores to be able to give some away. For the price of a 30.06 and a few rounds of ammunition, you can probably buy 600 pounds of rice. Imagine further that in your area you could help other people see the value in stocking enough emergency food to share, before it hits the fan. Where there is enough to share, things will be much, much better.
Does that prevent an outside group from coming in and taking everything? No. It just increases the possibility that things in your area will be stabile for a longer time. It does not solve the problem of violence in the world. It just gives you a little time to come to grips with things.
So I also suggest you develop a trade for hard times. Knowing how to provide at least first responder aid for gunshot wounds would be a very valuable skill. In fact, the more ‘wilderness medicine’ you know, the more valuable you would be. Someone may think twice about shooting a person who might save their life some day. A very nice trading card for otherwise desperate situations. You might start by reading A Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness & Travel Medicine, by Eric A. Weiss, M.D.. This is my all-time favorite, and I carry my copy with me in my gear. I have, of course, read it… many times. This should get you started in the right direction.
Or learn how to grow vegetables. Or sew clothes really well. Or know how to treat animals. Or… any one of a hundred old-time trades that are fun to learn, and may some day prove more valuable than a bushel of bullets.
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:37 pm
You make a good point.
Countless books - fiction & non-fiction - have been written about this very situation… and we read them because we can vicariously live through the conflict with out LIVING THROUGH the conflict. I suppose a few of these books mention, or even focus on, those who have prepared well… but they tend not to reach best-seller lists as far as I have seen.
If the ‘golden rule’ were followed, we would all be living in sustainable communities where owning guns to defend would be part of a last-ditch idea to defend against the criminally insane.
What does it say about us that, on the whole, that is the first idea considered?
As it stands, it looks like we will be living through a Mad Max-type world if anything momentous happens.