Modern Survival Philosophy

The "Modern Survival Philosophy" is the common name given to a set, or list, of ten basic principals which has become popular with a number of groups of 21st century survivalists, many of whom are eager to shed the persistent stereotype of the survivalist as being some "kook up in the woods with enough canned food and ammunition to outlast the end of the world."

The list emphasizes principals useful not only to the hardcore survivalist, but also to the "average Joe" as well.

The list

While the fine details have been known to change somewhat between specific individuals and groups, the ten principals of the Modern Survival Philosophy, in no particular order, are:

How

Everything you do to prepare for emergencies, whether they be natural disasters, economic turmoil, civil strife or anything else, should be blended into your life in such a way that it improves the quality your life, even if nothing disastrous ever occurs.

Debt

You don't much need to be a survivalist to understand this one. Debt is the financial equivalent of an aggressive cancer! Minimize it, pay it off early and stay away from credit cards.

Horticulture

Growing your own food is a good idea for everyone, not just people that want organic fruit and vegetables. Whenever you produce your own food, even if it's just as little as 10% of what you consume, you reduce your dependence on the system. If nothing else, gardening is a great way to relax, it's good for your emotional and physical health and has been shown to increase the value of your property.

Taxes

Tax is theft, no matter what you are told to the contrary. The best way to combat it is to understand every legal deduction you can take or create. In general terms, "the system" is bad enough just on its own to warrant avoiding, but when it comes to taxation, you need to either learn the system or hire a damn good accountant to work it for you. Every dollar you keep can be used to improve your self sufficiency, every dollar taken from you can be used to strengthen your dependence on the government.

	A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.
— President Gerald Ford, to a joint session of Congress, 12 August 1974

Food

Stored food is an exceptional investment, and not just in terms of disaster preparedness. Food, like everything else, is not in the habit of going down in price and is increasing in cost at a rate faster than almost any investment right now — substantially faster than the current rate of inflation. While some argue that food prices will stabilize and possibly even drop when the current "biofuels" fad passes and frees up more corn on the markets, you simply can’t lose by storing additional food that you use on a regular basis.

Priorities

Plan for disaster in the following order of priority: personal, local, regional or state, national and finally, global. Despite the real possibility of a true economic meltdown, catastrophic terrorist attack or some other major global calamity, the most probable disaster for any individual is personal. Loss of a job, loss of a family member, a fire or localized weather event are the most probable threats to any individual. Plan and prepare for those first, then continue to build going forward.

Energy

Renewable energy is great — if you do it in a way that saves you money, whether in the short or long term. However, your solar panels are NOT going to "save the planet." Man-made global warming is a fraud designed to crowbar the U.S. and other developed western nations into a global taxation system designed for "wealth redistribution." If you want to promote solar, wind, hydroelectric, or other alternative means of generating power to meet one's own needs, the best way is to develop it in a more cost effective manner. Fuel efficient vehicles, for example, are great things. The best way to promote green energy is via economics, not hamfisted social engineering.

Land

Owning land is the only true wealth. Wherever possible, strive to own land away from the cities, where taxes are low and restrictions are limited. Even if you live in the city, finding, buying and improving land within 3-5 hours of your primary residence makes good sense. If you can use it to get out of the city at some point, so much the better.

Other things

In addition to food, water and other common survival stores, use common sense methods of hedging against disaster. Pragmatic and seemingly mundane things, like cash emergency funds, good insurance and secondary income streams are not just for people in "the system." These types of basic protection can make you life a lot less miserable when something goes wrong, so be sure to make them a part of your planning.

Philosophies

Your personal philosophy is more important for you than someone else's! You and you alone are the master of your own life and if you don’t agree with my someone else's views or ideas, that's fine; define, understand and implement your own.

The most important thing you can do is to understand that it is you who are in control of your life and that what you do matters. Those two factors have the greatest impact on individual survival, across every demographic you can imagine.