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Letter Re: You Don’t Need To Be A Conservative To Be Prepared
Sir:
Anyone who spends any amount of time on survivalist and preparedness
oriented forums knows that a certain political worldview is the most
commonly encountered perspective, particularly with respect to
economic concerns. Particularly in the literary niche that is
survivalist/preparedness fiction, the protagonist is often identified
as a conservative critic of Keynesian economic thought and favors the
gold standard. Very often the plot presupposes a very right-wing
political orientation. Matthew Bracken (Enemies Foreign and
Domestic), Thomas Sherry (Deep Winter, Shatter), Glen Tate (299 Days),
and even James Wesley Rawles (Patriots) all share to some degree this
worldview. Some authors even make efforts to settle scores with
Democrats and liberals. I enjoyed all those books, and authors
certainly have the right to write whatever they want. However,
fiction serves a valuable role in outreach and education (not to
mention entertainment!), and I think that it may useful to remember
that being a card carrying member of the political right is not a
requirement to be a survivalist. There is nothing inherently
political about wanting to guarantee the health and safety of your
family. You don’t need to be a conservative in the Austrian school of economics to want to be prepared.
Government Might Not Help You
Both the Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party protest movements share a
common jaundiced eye toward the motives of government. Whether the
criticism comes from the right or the left, it is not unreasonable to
worry that the most powerful people in this country, or the world,
don’t necessarily have your best interests in mind.
There seems to be a perception that rich bankers and the political
elite all seem to eventually hold some fraction of their wealth in
precious minerals and mountain retreats. Perhaps they have peeled
back the curtain and have seen the fragility of modern civilization.
Or perhaps it is just prudent for the super wealthy to take some small
percent of their vast wealth and put it to work as a hedge against the
most extreme of dangers. After all, gold is pretty and so are the
mountains of Montana and New Zealand. Either way, whether through
special insight or just good planning, many powerful people are
preparing for something. That just makes it all the more likely that
if a true danger does appear, they have the ability to escape. That
mere possibility of escape means that if comes time to navigate
through rough seas, the normal captains at the helm may already be
lowering their private life rafts.
Even If “They” Have Every Intention Of Preventing Collapse, They May
Miscalculate
You don’t even need to be a cynic about government to want to prepare
for trouble. Maybe the power brokers and elites that run the country
do have the best interest of you in mind. After all, collapse and
disorder are not the ideal methods to accumulating wealth and power.
It would be far better to own a small slice of an enormous pie than
control a larger slice of a shrinking post-collapse society.
Source:
