As a prepper, I’m continuously looking for “intel” that can help me be more self-reliant and a better protector of myself and my family.
Truth is, it’s all around us – but often invisible to those who are blind to see the subtle lessons that real life makes available for us.
Take Venezuela for example…
By now, it’s become one of the most humorous (or humorless) comments ever suggested on national television…
Trump’s debate comment about Haitian immigrants “eating dogs and cats” – thrown out as political “fear-porn” – first shocked, and then amused, a head-scratching American public.
But while many may laugh at this shocking statement as “extreme” and residents of the Springfield, OH town deal with the fallout of the political theater, the background to this concept is more real than most even know about.
You see…
Eating Dogs And Cats Isn’t A “Culture” Thing – For Many Venezuelans, It’s Been A “Forced Survival” Thing, And…
Here’s What The American Public Will Never “Get” About Doing The Unthinkable When Your Life Is On The Line…
It’s no secret that Venezuela has been a petri dish for observing the various stages of “collapse”.
Once an oil-rich country, a combination of factors – including poor leadership, government corruption, and economic mismanagement – triggered a downward spiral that began in 2010 and has affected the life of the average Venezuelan on all levels…
- More than half of Venezuelans didn’t have enough income to meet their basic food needs.
- By 2021, 95% of the population was living in poverty
- 77% of these lived under extreme poverty
- 20% of Venezuelans (5.4 million) had left the country just to find a way to feed themselves and their families
Chants of “We are hungry!” echoed through the streets of Venezuela and in front of barren supermarkets.
People resorted to hunting dogs, cats, pigeons, and anything they can capture in order to put food on their family’s table.
Delivery trucks were stopped at rogue checkpoints and looted for the food and other supplies they contained.
There were even verified reports that citizens were “hunting” zoo animals as these wild beasts started to waste away behind the fences of public attractions that could no longer care for these animals.
In our modern society where hot meal is just a cellphone call away for a fast delivery, extreme poverty and hunger is a foreign concept for most Americans.
It’s easy to say what you “would” do under such extreme circumstances – but the fact is, you don’t know, until you HAVE to know.
And Venezuelans know what this life looks like…
By 2017, Almost 75% Of Venezuela’s Population Had Lost An Average Of Over 19 lbs Due To Lack Of Food!
Extreme Starvation Triggered Food Lines Miles Long… “Honest” Citizens Transformed Into Criminals… And Demonstrations And Looting Became An Every Day Threat!
The ultimate end-result for Venezuela’s collapse comes down to “survival” at its most basic nature.
Food at supermarkets went from insanely expensive… to scarce… to gone.
Looting of grocery stores pharmacies, shopping malls, and food delivery trucks have become common as food supplies have dried up into a state of emergency.
And while looting grocery stores has been “accepted” by the citizens, stealing from individuals has turned violent.
In one case, a man who was caught robbing fellow citizens was the victim of “mob justice” when passers-by beat him and set him on fire before police could arrive.
Not only is this a stern warning sign that hard times are ahead… but it also gives you a glimpse into how people, governments, and “security” will react in the absence of basic resources.
Now, if you’ve made it this far in the story, you may be thinking that this could never happen in the good ‘ol US of A, right?
Well Warrior, think again…
The Fact Is, The U.S. Is Always Just One “Trigger” Away From Being Neck-Deep In Our Own “Collapse”, And The Question Is…
How Far Would YOU Go To Feed Your Family When You’re Watching Them Starve Right Before Your Eyes?
Most people have no clue that most American cities and towns operate on a 3-day resupply cycle of food.
That means that during any disruption in our supply chain (from financial collapse, blackouts, disasters, etc.), it only takes 3 days to go from calm… to complete chaos!
Grocery store shelves will be cleared out in a matter of hours when people realize food is scarce.
Endless “food lines” will pile up at markets and distribution points handing out smaller and smaller portions.
If your children or grandchildren were hungry and there were no resources to feed them…
Would you resort to stealing in order to keep them alive?
Would you join the throngs of protesters demanding the government “do more” to ensure you’re not going to bed hungry?
Would you eat a dog? A cat? A pigeon? A lion?
You may say “Of course not!”
But how do you know?
If You’re A Carrying Parent Or Grandparent Like Me, There’s Only ONE Answer When A Collapse Transforms Life As We Know It And It’s “Every Man For Himself”…
Fortunately, The #1 Thing You Can Do To Safeguard Your Family From “Venezuelan-Like Starvation” Is ALSO The Absolute EASIEST To Plan For…
The bottom line reality is that, if you don’t have food to feed your family, you are guaranteed to suffer the same fate as the unprepared citizens of Venezuela.
But if you take care of this very simple survival factor now, then you’ll NEVER have to worry about having to steal for your family… begging for handouts… being attacked at the grocery store… or forced to eat dogs and cats.
You can start out small and build from there.
Even just simply buying “one more” item of canned food your family already eats at each trip to the grocery store can quickly fill your pantry with life-saving nutrition.
A better option is to invest in a small chest freezer to buy more foods in bulk that will make stockpiling your food cheaper and make it last longer.
Of course there are some “cons” to this as well, because if you’re forced to leave your home when things heat up in your area, you won’t be able to take an entire freezer of food with you.
And if there’s a significant power-outage (such as a grid-down blackout “trigger”), that food will spoil over time.
This is why the best strategy I absolutely recommend is to set aside at least some of your budget for long-term “survival food” that’s more mobile, tastes great, and has the nutrition you and your family need during hard times.
Whichever route you take, I can’t stress enough that this is the very first thing you need to take care of to keep your family safe during a crisis or collapse.
The scenes that came out of Venezuela’s collapse are very real… and should be a serious wake-up call to every American as the threat of our own financial collapse looms in the near future.
The key is to start NOW so it’s not a huge expense all at once… and you don’t wait until it’s “too late”.
I have researched historic food of natives throughout the world, but in special intrest is the native Americans. And what animals they turned to when American bison were not available. Squirrels, rabbits, opossum, racoon, and even coyote are edible. You just have to be hungry enough. Shooting isn’t always the best option, traps destroy less meat. Fishing banklines are more productive than lure fishing. I have sought out edible plants too. Lambsquarters and amaranth species are prolific seed producers. Even the leaves of those have high balanced protein.
Immediately stop your “normal” behaviors and mindsets, and visualize what not having abundant food and clean drinking water would look like where you’re living today. Avoid “optimism bias” (the belief that “it can’t happen to me”). Avoid hope that any government agency is going to help you. Avoid procrastination. Avoid despair.
Today is Tuesday September 17, 2024:
Tangible actions (yes, start right now!): skip a regular meal and all snacks for the remainder of today. You’ll save money and reinforce what it feels like not to be fully satiated. Take money equal to the cost of that meal and snacks and put it in a storage device that lets you see the contents. This starts the bank of your prepping budget that must be added to daily until it reaches at least $(fill in your desired amount). Get a notebook and write down exactly what you’re going to do tomorrow to be better prepared for food and water shortages. Make sure that what you write down (your objective) is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Bound).
Weak objective: Take action to be better prepared for food and water shortages. (Fails to identify what specific tasks will be done, who will do them, when they’ll be done, how you’ll be able to measure success or failure, etc.)
Good objective For Tuesday 9/17/24: By end of day today, start a notebook* of food and water preparations for your family that shows the date, the specific thing (that you actually can and will do) that is to be done, how you will know/could prove to someone else that it was done. Include space at the end to record how this objective was completed. Go to bed early and say a prayer thanking God for your blessings today, the wisdom to see that evil is coming, and the strength to be prepared to improvise, adapt, and overcome all adversity. *Yes, a notebook, because you need to keep a record of exactly what you’ve done to mentally reward progress and help set a baseline for continuous improvements over time!
If you failed to complete this simple objective, acknowledge your failure and write down those elements which you failed to complete as an objective for tomorrow. (Gives you evidence to show yourself and others what you’re capable of doing and have done once you’ve taken personal accountability for your actions).
Good objective For Wednesday 9/18/2024: By end of day Wednesday 9/18, have at least one more unopened jar of peanut butter in my pantry than you had on Tuesday. Record your actual results, addressing failures as before. Write down Thursday’s objective. Go to bed, and thank God that you’re making progress on being better prepared.
Good objective for Thursday 9/19/2024: By end of day Thursday 9/19, have at least one extra gallon of clean drinking water in your home. Record your actual results, addressing failures as before. Write down Friday’s objective. Go to bed early, and thank God that you’ve got one extra day of food and water for one person on hand.
Good objective for Friday 9/20/2024: By end of day Friday 9/20, have at least one more normal size (15oz) can of pinto beans in your pantry than you had on Thursday. 2nd objective for Friday – make sure you have a non-electric manual can opener in your kitchen. Record your actual results, addressing failures as before. Write down Saturday’s objective. Go to bed early and thank God that you’ve started taking personal accountability for being prepared, and know how to write meaningful objectives.
Good objective for Saturday 9/21/2024: Go to Wal-Mart or camping supply store and buy one package of a Mountain House freeze dried meal entrée. Prepare that meal per label instructions and eat it. Record your impressions as to how much food it provided, how it tasted, and keep these realities in mind as you write an objective for Sunday 9/22. Don’t forget to record your actual results for the day, addressing failures as before. Go to bed early and thank God that actually understand how small the serving sizes are for the standard Mountain House 2-person meal entrees, and that you’ve positively identified a meal that you either like to eat or never want to have again.
Good objective for Sunday 9/22/2024: Go to church and thank God that you have the ability to support and defend the rights that others have fought, sacrificed, and died for as their personal gift to you. Research the history of the U.S. Civil War of the 1860’s and reflect on the considerable cost in human suffering. Acknowledge that it can happen again and resolve yourself to do what you can to be better prepared. Review the small wins you’ve already recorded since you started your preparations notebook. Write your objectives for Monday, September 30, 2024. While it’s good to start building stretch objectives, keep them limited to one or two days ahead and of a doable scale so that you can continue to build on your progress. Reward your accountability for success, and remember that your family holds you accountable for failures.
If you’re already an advanced prepper, use the notebook approach to stop and objectively evaluate and record where you’re at today. If you have one month of preps, start working on what it takes to obtain two additional months of readiness. If you have 3 months, start your action plan to get to 6. When you’re at 6 months, create action plan to get to one year. When you’re at one year of readiness, modify your planning to address issues of supply mobility, extended family support, and financial liquidity/freedom.
Ball is in your court Warrior – Godspeed your work in progress!
Thank you. I’ve never seen this expressed so clearly.
Coconut oil about 2 tablespoons to a cup of white rice will stretch out the rice last much longer when you eat it.
Cook the rice as far ahead of time as you can as in over night but you can get away with less time if needed.
Cook the rice and then mix in the coconut oil and let it cool down. The oil in the rice triggers a response in the body and makes the rice digest more like a whole grain or brown rice there in more calories and time in your gut to digest.
Also soak the rice for 8 hours then you need much less fuel to cook the rice.
Coco nut oil last a long time and is cheep. This info is very new. I love me some white rice but my blood sugar levels do not the coconut oil will also help prevent that spike in your blood sugar levels. Iv found this trick works.
Source info for rice hack I learned at greenmedinfo.com wealth of non corporate medical information and good people to.