The One Most Important Question Survivalists Can Ask Themselves: Why Are You Trying to Survive?

Dan and Sheila Gendron, Contributors

With the news being what it is, the world has now come to the point at which a huge shake-up is undeniable – to anyone who has 2 cents worth of brain matter between their ears. So hordes are joining the stampede to become “survivalists”. The movement has even spurred the development of the “survival industry”, with commercials now being played on mainstream media stations for freeze-dried storage foods and solar generators. 

There is an old saying, “If you don't know where you're going, any road will do.” So if you are going to go the path of being a “survivalist”, first you'll want to know where you are going – and why. 

Plenty of alternative news outlets are trumpeting that “martial law” is soon to be implemented – and the facts they present in support can only lead to that conclusion. So everyone wants to survive martial law. But what is on the other side of the marital law? The reality is that martial law can't go on forever, but what will society/government look like after it has been dismantled? If 9/11 caused so much restriction – by law or by fiat – of travel, of personal dignity rights, of speech, of redress of grievances, what will the next event (planned by man or by the hand of The Almighty) bring? Will you take the chip to be given your ration of food? If you allow your children to stand naked to be viewed by pedophiles in order to shop in a mall or fly on a plane, will you say no to anything else demanded of you? 

Another major story all over the Internet – alternative and mainstream outlets – is that virtually the entire world's economy is about to collapse – again, a foregone conclusion. Not a matter of if, but when. Eventually, the creditors demand their due. So everyone wants to survive an economic collapse and the chaos that will bring. But what is on the other side of the collapse? 

Putting aside all the sensationalism, putting aside all the hype and all the wishes, the most likely scenario is that a new monetary system, digital in format, no cash, will be instituted and run by the same bankers who run the dollar systems now – if not the same people, people with the same heart. They will tout the new system as being just like before (hush . . . except that everyone's every financial move will be tracked, incoming and outgoing).

It will usher in the removal of personal privacy and the instilling of fear. Fear that stops you from doing something, not because it's not right, but because someone says you shouldn't do it – usually because it does not benefit them. Is that alright with you? Will you join that society? Is that why you want to survive – to end up just as entrapped, even more so, than you are now? 

Far too many people die soon after reaching retirement. The reason for this is that they have spent their entire careers with the only goal being that retirement. They did not have a vision of life after retirement, and so they had none. An unfortunate fact. 
We have met many people who believe that they truly want to be survivalists. They have many reasons for wanting to survive, based on what they understand of the news. But over time they show that they still want to have one foot on third base, and so will never make it to home plate. They really don't want their comfy lives upset, they don't really want to have to give up their 62” plasma screen TV, they don't really want to eat foods they actually have to cook, they want to be able to whip out their credit card at Trader Joe's forever . . . but they want to be out of the way when TSHTF, too. Their vision is to “hole-up” in a sanctuary until the noise stops, and then go back to the same rat race they were in before – the same rat race that got us all in the predicament in which we now find ourselves as a society. 

So why bother? If your ultimate goal is to save your neck so that you can go back to the same old same old, why would you put yourself through this? It's like quitting smoking and starting again, knowing that you'll just have to go through the withdrawal all over again. To be more exact, an ancient book of wisdom talked of “a dog returning to its own vomit.” Why put yourself through that? Why dislocate yourself and your family, mentally as well as physically, if you are ultimately happy right where you are? 

If you are contented to fight your way through the morning commute so that you can be given a paycheck for performing a job you hate just so you can still afford your $8 Latte Enema at the local coffee chain and you can use that money to buy your kids every throw-away toy the commercials tell them they want, STAY THERE! You won't be comfortable outside of those bonds. 

The right answer to the question proposed in the title is: I want to survive because there is a better way to live, regardless of what the world “out there” does or does not do.
I want to be paid by nature for my own labor and that of my family (by blood or otherwise) in being good stewards of the Earth.

I want to help others who are also willing to work toward a common goal, each lightening the load of the other.

I want to look out my window and be invigorated by the Earth's natural beauty before my eyes, by the stars in the sky.

I want to be judged by my acts of kindness, not by how much money I can obtain.

I want to give something of real value to my children and to theirs.

It's not impossible. It's not a foolish wish. It is being lived now by those who have stopped complying with that which is wrong. It is being lived now by those who know the depth of their own power and use it – not to impose evil acts upon another, but to lead a good and natural life for themselves. It is being lived now by those who choose to survive – not to survive the chaos, but to survive the beating down of the human spirit so that they may be a beacon to renew that spirit in light.

It ain't easy – but it sure is worth it.

Read other articles by Dan and Sheila HERE. 

Dan & Sheila are the authors of Surviving Survivalism – How to Avoid Survivalism Culture Shock, and hosts of the podcast, Still Surviving with Dan & Sheila. For questions about space in their Intentional Survivalist Community or other survivalist issues, they can be reached at surviving@lavabit.com.

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