Prepping – Logic, Part 2

Sorry this one took a couple of weeks. It’s been busy here. Things are starting to settle down, though. Of course, that also means it’s almost National Novel Writing Month, and I’m going to be writing a flurry of words (50,000+ in 30 days), but I’m not going to think about that for a bit. LOL… We left off Heinlein’s list about here:

Take orders. You need to be able to take orders because no matter how “high up” you are on any particular totem pole, at some point you’re going to run into someone who’s higher than you. This is because we’re not ever going to be experts at everything. We each spend time with people who are better at something than we are, and when those people are in charge, you must be able to do what you’re told. But as any American soldier will tell you, it isn’t that simple (even though it sort of is). Per the Uniform Code of Military Justice, soldiers are only required to obey LAWFUL orders. Our soldiers are given more latitude as to what’s lawful and what’s not, while still being held to an extremely high standard (and getting higher, thanks Pete!). All of our soldiers are expected to be thinking people. Blind adherence is not useful. But the ability to continue to take orders, even when things are tough, even when you’re shitting your pants, even when you’re scared, is absolutely necessary. That’s also true of those of us NOT soldiers, though perhaps to a slightly lower level. As non-combatants, even if we end up as guerrilla fighters, we just need to be able to follow orders at a competent level. You need to recognize when someone knows more than you do, and be able to take a back-seat for a bit.

Give orders. There will be a moment when YOU are the expert, the leader, the person in charge. It might be on purpose, and it might be by accident, but regardless, you must be prepared to give orders. More than that, you may have to give orders that you know damn well will end up with someone hurt (physically or emotionally), or worse, dead. You need to be prepared for whatever outcome happens when you give those orders.  You have to be ready to give them decisively, with authority, and with strength of belief.

Cooperate. That’s a tough one, hm? Yes, you might have to cooperate with people who don’t share your world view. You might have to work with liberals and Democrats. But it CAN be done. And you must know both how to, and when to. Sometimes, it’s just going to be an easy choice. Groups often have better survivability options than singletons. It’s a skill we’re horribly underdeveloped in, in my very strong opinion. When was the last time you reached out to someone you disagree with, to cooperate? Maybe it’s time. Practice, because it’s important. And just in case someone wants to leap to conclusions, no, this doesn’t mean you have to “give in and open the government” or anything like that. I’m talking small scale here. Neighbors. Friends of friends. Local government maybe.

Act alone. No matter how good it is to be a part of a larger group, some actions must always be done alone. The smallest “personal interest group” covered by the Constitution is the individual. You must know how to act by yourself. When you act alone, you have to be able to be decisive. You have to know how and when to act fast, when to go slow, and when to moderate yourself. In many ways, it’s considerably more difficult than being in a group, because you have only yourself to lean on. Acting alone can also be very self-sacrificing, and that’s a thought that you must come to terms with.

Solve equations. This is probably the only one where I don’t fit Heinlein’s definition of a human being. I’m better than I used to be, but I find math, equations, algebra to be difficult. And it’s so necessary! Yes, we have phones in our pockets to answer a lot of questions, but here’s the thing… if the grid goes down, or the satellites fall out of the sky for some reason, there will be very little use for the hunk of metal in your back pocket. Each of us really does need to know enough math to build a shelter, figure out the load of a bridge, or calculate the amount of stuff you need to make black powder. If you can’t do that, you’re going to be in trouble.

Analyze a new problem. So there it is, the New Problem. It might be as simple as how to get moving animals onto your plate for dinner, or as complex as figuring out how much explosive you need to take out a rock that’s blocking your path. If you want to learn how to analyze new problems, go out and actually engage with problems. Chris does it with computers and programming, and to a lesser extent with legal proceedings. I do it with writing (laying out a cookbook is way more complex than you might think), cooking (why do we do certain things, like sear meat or cook with alcohol?), and with historical living (I know they did X, Y, and Z, but **why** did they do those things?). Set yourself to working through a new problem every week, if not every day. Challenge yourself on the regular, because you will need a functioning brain if anything ever goes wrong with our government and our society.

Pitch manure. Manual labor. Not one of us is too good to shovel shit, plant seeds, care for ailing animals or people, or stack boxes. If you think you’re too good to mop a floor because Mama’s too exhausted to do so, then go away. Not only that, but what are you doing with that manure? Are you making it into a pile somewhere? If so, will it cause a problem at some point? Why? (See above: Analyze a new problem.) Can you use it for something, like fertilizer? How do you turn it into black powder? Sometimes, even in the good times, we just have to get down to business and move things, shovel things, plow things. If you’re able bodied enough to survive TEOTWAWKI (and I recognize, some of us may not be, and that’s something else to come to terms with: see Die gallantly.) then you are able bodied enough to pitch manure. Now go get better at it (even if that means going to the gym, walking, or house repairs as exercise).

Program a computer. I know basic computer programming. Mostly what I know is the very early stuff they taught in my “computer science” class in high school, when computers still had 64k of memory and we thought that was more than anyone would ever need. What you need to know is not the kind of programming that Chris does, but the basics of computer logic. You can learn it free online. It’s worth knowing, because it feeds back into a bunch of other things (equations, analysis, etc).

Cook a tasty meal. Do you know why we don’t have cookbooks that date before the 1500s or so? It’s because everyone knew how to cook. Why did everyone know how to cook? Because at some point in your life, everyone except for the ultra rich was going to end up being in a situation of having to fend for themselves. So men knew how to cook. Children learned early how to cook. Maybe it won’t be gourmet, but no one’s asking you to do that. It needs to be EDIBLE. That’s it. It’s a low bar. Pick seven different easy to make meals that can be put together from the type of foods you store, and then make them over and over again until you’ve got them down pat. Then tuck that knowledge away, and bring it out to pass along to your offspring or proteges, and be prepared to use it if necessary. And if your answer to your wife being out of the house during a particular meal is to go without food, that’s on you.

Fight efficiently. Note that it says efficiently, not “well” or “right” or anything like that. There will always be opponents who can take you out. This is not about them. This is about knowing how to apply the logic you learned above, to deal with a physical problem in a way that just works. It’s knowing when words will work (because they can and do work, which you’ve all pointed out in my previous article about Trump’s memes) and when they won’t, and what to do when they won’t. You want to fight, but don’t do it without thinking. Know your target. Know what to do and when to do it. Know that fighting efficiently sometimes means smiling and shaking hands, and walking away until a later date.

Die gallantly. And that’s the final one, and the most difficult one. I’ve long said, I’m not terribly afraid of dying. I have strong faith (even if it’s different than yours), and I know where I’m going when I leave this world. I’m afraid of pain, though. But I long ago went over this list, and decided to work toward a point where, if the moment came and it was my turn to die, I would do so with dignity. I will not go out crying like a baby or having a tantrum (though of course there may be tears). If I have to go, I want to take along a bunch of the enemy with me. If that means I have to hug a bomb to save my family, then that’s that. If it means putting myself in front of others who aren’t capable of fighting, or if I’m incapacitated and can’t fight anymore, then I will go out in a blaze of glory. Only I don’t want glory. I don’t want to be glorified. I just want to die well, when the time comes.

All of that is a lot to take in. It’s a lot to think about. In some ways, I think this second half of the list is more intense, more poignant, perhaps, than the first half. I’ll leave you with some of my favorite quotes from Heinlein:

• Men are expendable; women and children are not. A tribe or a nation can lose a high percentage of its men and still pick up the pieces and go on… as long as the women and children are saved. But if you fail to save the women and children, you’ve had it, you’re done, you’re through! You join Tyrannosaurus Rex, one more breed that bilged its final test.
• Whenever women have insisted on absolute equality with men, they have invariably wound up with the dirty end of the stick. What they are and what they can do makes them superior to men, and their proper tactic is to demand special privileges, all the traffic will bear. They should never settle merely for equality. For women, “equality” is a disaster.
• Listen, son. Most women are damn fools and children. But they’ve got more range than we’ve got. The brave ones are braver, the good ones are better — and the vile ones are viler, for that matter.
• A managed democracy is a wonderful thing… for the managers… and its greatest strength is a ‘free press’ when ‘free’ is defined as ‘responsible’ and the managers define what is ‘irresponsible’.
• I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.