Posts Tagged plague suvival
Preparing for a plague
How do I prepare for a plague? That question has been on a lot of peoples minds over the past few years. With the recent release of the swine flu, and the past talk of the bird flu people seem to be getting a little more serious about plague survival.
Because there is more and more discussion on the topic, I thought its about time to share with everyone what I am doing to prepare for a plague.
Knowledge – the first thing to do is understand the effects that plagues have a society. And this is done by reading history books, and several of them. Through past examples we can learn the mistakes of our forefathers. What worked, what didn’t and what caused tens of thousands of people to die in a matter of months.
| One of the books that has been added to my library is The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death by John Kelly. This book gives a true and histrionically accurate of the Black Death written by the people that saw it first hand. Some of the accounts, such as entire towns and communities dying off are almost unbelievable. Its reads more like a science fiction book then a real life – first person account – of what happened during the plagues that killed millions.
Overall this was an enjoyable book. In some parts of the book, I would have never thought that humanity would have sank so low. But when multiple accounts were recorded of thousands of people dying every day, stories of graveyards filling up, stories of thousands of people starving to death, what can you really say about it? We can say that we will learn by their examples and not repeat the same mistakes. |
Survivalist retreat example
A survivalist retreat should start off with the most basic of necessities – food, water and shelter. Besides those items, location is very important. Access to running water, wild game animals, land for gardening, and away from the public view should also be important considerations.
A lesson from the Black Death
A few months ago as I was reading a non-fiction book on the Black Death. There was an interesting story of a family that was out of food and staving. The family members decided they had a choice to make – either try to get some food from town, or stay at home and starve to death.
The family gathered all of the money that they had, the father and son then headed off on their journey.
On the way to town, the father decided to stop by his cousins house. Upon arrival, the cousin was sick with the plague, her husband was dead, but the cousins baby was well. The cousin – knowing that she was dying – begged her cousin (the father) to take her baby with him – which he did.
The father and son decided to turn around and go back home, instead of going on to town. Right before the trio got home, the father and son killed the baby, skinned it and cut it up into small pieces. The father then presented the butchered baby to his unsuspecting wife, along with the story of how his cousin had butchered a hog and gave them part of the meat.
The wife cooked the baby and served it to the family.
About 10 days later all of the family were dead from the plague, except the son. Who went to town and confessed to the sheriff as to what he and his father had done to the baby.
Now ask yourself, how bad would things have to get before “you” resorted to such measures to survive?
Are you and your family prepared for self sufficiency over long periods of time? In other words, if there were no grocery stores, how long until you and your family starve?
Food supply chains
During outbreaks of the plague in Europe, there was one major problem that faced the rich and poor alike – and that was the availability of food.
The more moving parts a machine has, the more likely it is to break. The supply lines that feed the world are fragile. Before the crops are ever planted, there is fertilizer that has to be made, seeds harvested from the previous year and both of those sent to the farmers. The farmers then spread the fertilizer, plant the seeds, apply water and hope for the best.
In some parts of the world, crops are only grown because modern technology allows them to. Examples of this are water pipelines and irrigation systems that span hundreds of miles. It is only with water that crops can be grown.
Before the first sprout ever breaks through the soil, there are already several “moving parts” or factors. Some of these factors include:
Seed supplies
Manufacturing of fertilizer – either organic or commercial.
Transportation of seeds and fertilizer to the farmer.
Water – either through rain or irrigation.
Pesticides and / or herbicides
Harvesting the crops.
Transporting the crops to either market or to a commercial processing plant.
Processing of food into canned goods.
Transportation from manufacturing to warehouses.
Transportation from warehouses to stores or other outlets.