Prep For A More Perfect Union

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” — Abraham Lincoln

By now, most of us know about the prepper community. I have to say that I like preppers. Preppers, or what we used to call survivalists, are people interested in things that might be critical in an emergency. Some of them have diverse skill sets that they've been developing for many years. There are many decent YouTube channels, websites, and blogs offering sound advice about survival and thriving through an emergency. Canadian Prepper has an extensive online store with all the gear one might need. Acquiring things is fun.

One can argue about how effective any given "prep" might be or whether particular fears and concerns are warranted. However, I feel that, in general, preppers are focused on doing good things for their families and communities. Many seem to have an active, healthy lifestyle that they enjoy. At any rate, what's wrong with being prepared for the worst.

If society breaks down and you are on your own, you won't survive very long, no matter how well prepared you are.

Imagine if you had a very nice, well supplied and defended farm. Suppose some gang wanted it, and you didn't have a platoon of special operative mercenaries or a larger community willing to protecting it. In that case, the bad guys could easily take everything from you. If you are a billionaire paying a private army, what happens when your currency is no longer worth anything to your soldiers? How long would it take for the team's alpha to depose you? Think of Mongolian or native American raiders; heck, if you are not interested in history, think of the tribes in the TV show, The Walking Dead. There will always be another group with good reasons to take your resources.

So if you want to be well prepared, you will be a member of a well-organized team of skilled people.

We live on a fantastic scale. Please think of how extensive, productive, and elaborate the global economy is; what's more, we are all dependent on every institution, business, and person who helps run the global economy. If you aren't, you live in a cave in the wilderness somewhere. Even if you are off-grid, you depend on institutions that afford you the right to private property. Unless you are squatting, slash, trespassing in the wastelands somewhere. Yes, even the wilderness is under some institution's dominion.

It is fascinating to learn how indigenous tribes or nations thought of the resources required to sustain themselves. We are far from hunter-gatherers. We are dependent on container ships, jet airplanes, and Satellites, for goodness sake. Most of us couldn't live without a networked computer in our pockets.

When I hear extreme libertarians complain about the government or this or that institution, I think to myself, go ahead, try to get on without them, and see how well you do. When people spend their days on conspiracy websites where bloggers complain about Klaus and The Great Reset, I think of how helpless and powerless they must feel and how confused they are about the social system they’ve inherited.

It is tough to set up a sustainable institution. And once you have something, you need to maintain it and evolve to meet new needs and challenges. History has a lot to teach us here.

What does it take to form a "more perfect union," and who is in charge of that project?

What we think of as democracy today may be far from democratic. The main reason is that I don't believe the Demos (whole citizen living within a particular city-state) is up to the challenge of taking responsibility for the Kratos (power or rule.) What runs our world is corporate interests. A person's utility serves the profit-making machine that feeds the upper classes. Today's democracy is similar to classical periods of history when the power to rule and vote was limited to members of a club of "citizens" who were then trusted to look after laborers, slaves, merchants, farmers, soldiers, etc. The only difference now is that people who don't directly serve the corporate class's interests are arguably much better off than in antiquity.

But, of course, one might say that people back then were illiterate, more straightforward, with ritual and magic to frame their lives. They didn't have to bother with understanding artificial intelligence while nursing a dozen addictions. Today, if we don't know about the sixth extinction, quantum computing, enlightenment era political philosophy, nuclear bombs on hypersonic missiles, climate change, quantum mechanics, etc., we can hardly call ourselves well informed. Our ancient brothers and sisters only had to fear the usual wars and marauding gangs. If Roman Legions could keep things stable, then let Legions be Legions and get on with life.

So what would it take to engage in the project of forming "a more perfect union?" In my opinion, it would take a much better-educated society. Who decides what a well-educated society is if not all of us, and we need to take responsibility to make that happen. We need to step up and take power but in the right way. Being more responsible, having more agency, and sovereignty starts with educating ourselves.

Social systems, cultures, economies, etc., have changed throughout history and will continue to change.

We must understand how our institutions work and how they operate in concert to manage all the services we take for granted. We need to comprehend what's wrong with our institutions, with our systems if we are going to reform them and improve them structurally. Our challenges today are unlike any that have come before.

We can be productive members of society, working to make things better, overcoming complex challenges in our rapidly changing world, or one can sit back and complain as if our only options were violent revolution or living in a cave.

Radical change is necessary, but today that is a very delicate endeavor. If we don't do it right, we lose everything; we lose the future.

We may be frustrated with people working in corporations, working for government agencies, or the myriad of diverse institutions required for civilized life on a global scale. Still, without them, no matter how well prepared you might be, you wouldn't last long.

After this world falls apart, it will take generations of survivors to get back to anything resembling civilization. I don't think we want that to happen. I mean, isn't continuing to learn about our amazing universe, our unique selves, and everything else that informs us a wonderful thing? Don't you want to see thousands of future generations have a chance to take this marvelous adventure?

Our only real option is to understand in-depth what risks we face and discover ways to avert these threats through a vast community effort— working together within well-governed institutions to ensure the world doesn't fall apart.

Let's not let our emotions get the best of us; instead, let's let our minds inform our feelings and be the best we can be.