The 3 famous excuses

When you talk with people about crisis preparedness (be it in regard to natural disasters, economic collapse, terrorist attack, or whatever) you quickly realize that most folks have the same tendency to react with categorical denial of the obvious. We all create certain safe and predictable ways of dealing with the world that involve some slanting of reality. In order to cope with life, and make it more tolerable, we may distort, embellish or ignore certain aspects of our environment, our feelings, or our memories. There are things we just don’t want to deal with because they are too painful, we fear them, or we may get overwhelmed by such information. For most people, crisis preparedness topics fall into this category.

Curiously, the most common excuses for people refusing to prepare are also the most irrational. If you talk to people about this subject, you will most assuredly come across the following illogical reasons:

Excuse #1:

“Whatever will happen, will happen, you can’t prepare for it anyway”

Just stop for a second and think how absurd this statement really is… yet, this is by far the most common response, especially from the younger generation. Though you might not be able to prevent an earthquake, a terrorist attack, or an economic collapse, it’s obvious that you can however prepare for the consequences.

The attitude “if I gotta go, I gotta go” or “whatever will happen, will happen” is a peculiar mixture of defeatism and bravado. No matter which crisis might occur, there is a strong likelihood you will survive. And if you are going to survive, you might as well be prepared with food, water, first aid, and a way to defend yourself, your family, and your property.

Excuse #2:

“You are just paranoid and I refuse to live in fear of the unknown.”

If this line of reasoning was correct, then the same person should never wear a seat belt, because a potential auto accident is in the same category of the “unknown” as a potential natural disaster. Yet, nobody will ever accuse you of being paranoid for putting your kid in the car seat. It’s just common sense and it’s the responsible thing to do. The same goes for emergency preparedness.

People who think that preparing for a crisis is “living in fear”, got it backward, really. You prepare and educate yourself so that you do NOT live in fear. The fact that you’re stocked with essentials and ready for a crisis is a reason NOT to be scared or paranoid. The truth is, people that should be really scared are the ones who are totally unprepared and living under the assumption that nothing will ever go wrong.

Excuse #3:

“Our government will take care of us.”

Two words: Covid Pandemic. Learn from that disaster and do not be so naive.

Also, understand that at a time of national or extended crisis, governmental resources will be stretched out too thin to be able to properly cope with that kind of disaster. Relying on yourself and the preparations you have made ahead of time is the smart and responsible thing to do.

So what’s your excuse? And please remember, “Someday” is not a day of the week, so get started now.