Do We Think We're Special?

I grew up in a small farming town i live in one now , growing up a medical waste recycling facility moved in about 3 miles north of town , this was about the same time as HIV became widespread and widely known about , many people in town were very concerned , the fire department toured the facility and told people nothing to worry about , the deputy fire chief was one of my teachers , he explained to all of us that , we should be much more concerned with the Mill that was square in the middle of town , and the grain company just north of town as the grain company stored enough anhydrous ammonia that on a calm day with slight breeze from the north we were all dead if it leaked.

because people grew up on farms and life was good or because they don't know any better , people think Ag can't be dangerous , even when it tallies more deaths than many industries that most think are very dangerous peoples perception often outweighs actual risk or the risk often out weighs peoples perception depending on what it is.

one farmer here or there dieing from a farm accident doesn't make sensational news but there are more dead farmers and farm or grain elevator workers than in most any other American industries

a friend died in his silo about 5 years ago , he had been farming all his life , and was about 65 and in good shape and would have likely lived much longer.

the actual danger of farming is much closer to that of being a cop about the same number die working every year.

So true, Pete, so true.

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"Do we think we're special?" I believe the question is phrased wrong. Most people who live in places with relative stability, whether governmental, cultural, seismic, or meteorologic; don't think they are special, they just tend to take for granted that "things out of our ordinary experience don't happen here". It's a low effort way to look at their world, with an implicit trust that others will take responsibility for anything out of the well accustomed ordinary. Ask the folks in Juarez what is "ordinary", and you will get far different answers than someone from Juneau, or Jaharta. A blast in Alepo that kills 3 and injures over a hundred is sadly quite ordinary. A drone that kills 30 and injures 100 in Pakistan is not even news in the US, but is becoming "ordinary" there. It simply becomes a matter of perspective.


When and wherever the non-ordinary things eventually do happen, the ptb do everything possible to reinforce that "we are in control", even when it is obvious that they are reeling from and as powerless in the situation the average guy or gal on the street. The idea is to repeat the lie often enough to re-convince most of those who want to believe it. Eventually, the brute force of the resources at their disposal usually contribute to making things more orderly, even if not better for those directly effected. Anyone with half a gram of observation skills can name at least half a dozen places from the recent news where the "unexpected" happened, the gov immediately claims they are in control, and that is an outright lie - snowstorms in the northern US where plows were ordered off the roads, tornadoes in the south; earthquakes in Iraq and China; civil unrest in Syria and Egypt; bangs in Boston and Texas - no control over the actual events whatsoever, only attempts after the facts to put some semblance of order over the chaos. Their eventual success (or failure) depends entirely on the resources available and whether the chaos abates. What happens if (or when) the resources aren't available? What if some version of the chaos becomes the new normal? A foot or two of snow in a day is normal for some, if it only happens once or twice a winter. A foot a day for 20 of 30 days probably isn't. Six inches of rain a day is normal for some, and for others, 6 inches per year is normal. Gunshots and killings in some neighborhoods are normal, even where guns aren't legal, and in some neighborhoods, gunshots everyday with noone killed are the norm, because people aren't targets.


I know I'm special, but that's proven because I don't think (or act) like those who think they are immune to any or all the 'bad nasties' that happen 'somewhere else'. There is nowhere that is completely safe. No matter where I am, I'm eventually downwind of nuclear fallout, and other than KPo for the short term, there is very little I can do to mitigate that risk, especially for a large scale event. I know that if I wander through the pasture across the road that contains over 100 cows and at least a couple bulls thinking "no danger here", I stand an equal chance of getting hurt as thinking "no danger here" while walking through the lower east side of Chicago (or Johannesburg, or Dubai). If I am not well aware of my surroundings at all times; if I don't know all of my immediate neighbors well enough to know explicitly and implicitly who can be trusted with my life and who can't, as well as some in the wider community, there is no amount of the 3 B's that will keep me safe, especially over a long term.


Depending on your spiritual perspective, the only way you are safe from all potential physical harm, is death. Regardless of the place you live, the life you live, and/or the preps you have, there is no escape from death. Period. So from my perspective, as a very first prep, I need to be prepared for that eventuality. Everything else is gravy.

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Of all the evils that have befallen the earth, the worst is the desire of men to profit one from another. (Book of Andy 3:1)

Andy, good post for the most part, but I think you missed a critical connection. Most people don't actually think "there is no danger here". They have no inkling to think at all. As you noted, most people are so accustomed to not being responsible for much of anything in their lives, that even entertaining the possibility that they can or should be responsible is unthinkable. They are usually required to have auto insurance so they don't have to be personally responsible for driving safely. They desire health insurance so they don't have to be personally responsible for their health. They desire "public services", like police and fire, so they don't have to be personally responsible for their safety or their neighbors. They send their children to school because they are either unwilling or unable to be responsible for raising them (which is far more complicated than just instructing them). Nearly every aspect of most people's lives is "someone else's responsibility", usually by their willing default, because it's 'easier' that way (and more profitable for others).


So until they are forced by external circumstances to be aware, to be responsible, to be prepared, those thoughts would be as foreign as seeing a three story tall Improbability Drive powered space ship on a Cricket Pitch, cloaked with a "Somebody Else's Problem" field (requires much less energy than true invisibility), and even when confronted with the facts, many will just refuse to acknowledge it, after all, they've been conditioned from birth that "it's not my responsibility".

Do we think we're special? Why yes, yes we do.

Americans have been raised to think we are very special. Even now, with terrorist attacks and fertilizer plants blowing up and tragedies happening, even with the people who seem to hate us just because we are Americans, there are still millions of people who WANT to immigrate to the US. There is something magical about being an American, and I'm proud to be one. We need to guard that magic daily.

If the question is: Are we so special that we cannot be attacked, that we do not need to be prepared, that we can be complaisant? Then the answer is a resounding NO! We must prep, we must be vigilant, we MUST work to keep ourselves free.

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People are under prepared across the world too, not just here, that's just human nature. 358,192 people are born every day, and 154,889 people die every day around the world on average, I don't get all weepy because some die in sensational ways that make the boob tube for 24hrs a day for weeks at a time..

The easiest way to prep for the rash of bad crap happening now is to turn off the news and stay away from most of the internet after the initial report reducing media overload while you take logical steps to preserve the safety of your home area while going about your normal life and only check news updates sporadically .

Every decade has had its share of wackos be they called terrorists, watch tower shooters , boston strangler, Zodiac, The Goldbergs, Unabomber, Son of Sam, etc.

All past wackos delivered periods of terror however the communities didn't let the media hype and eat up their lives.

Folks simply took note and concentrated on the issues within their home areas.

As I recall the Son of Sam or maybe the BTK nut who targeted women with a particular hair color so women in the risk area changed their hair color.

Food prepping has always been an insurance for those in tornado alleys or economic hard times (no news there).

Everything else is pretty much out of our control unless we want to dig a hole , crawl in and cover ourselves up for safety sake

Sure I prepare for storm related power outages and service interruptions as I live in a tornado alley and those same preps will afford me an additional option in the event of a services interruption caused by a riot, terrorist attack or whatever. Just as the weather, I can't control the nuts out there.

However just as with the weather I may carry an umbrella as the nuts start robbing folks or invading homes I will carry my firearm as I go about my usual days activities. For the risks in my area that is the logical response.

Do I think I am special? No, I just consider myself to be smart enough to know that without fear, terrorists and psychos have little power over those of us capable of viewing the situations and risks and continue our lives as we do every day.

None of us non-special people know how long we have but we know to prepare for the worse within reason, avoid jumping out into traffic and enjoy our days ____as many that we have

The ones who think they are special are the media and the 15 seconds of fame interview junkies the media sends out to the airwaves for weeks on end just for the sweeps rating factor.

Of course mainstream media does serve a purpose as there are plenty of soap opera addicts with no soaps now that the media can pander to the dramatic needs of.

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"I didn't have time to slay the dragon. It's on my To Do list!"

IN 1981 there was a bombing at Ramstien AFB and several others bombings on or around US bases in W. Germany. I was stationed at Landstuhl 2nd General Hospital about 5 km away. I pulled up to a gas pump late at night to fill up my jeep when I notice a Fire Extinguisher made in W. Germany. I called the bomb squad.

The mechanic showed up and apologized he had forgotten to put the fire extinguisher away (never figured out why they locked it up at night) like he usually did and explained that he had gotten a new one just that day. No one was mad about wasting time or upset for the false alarm. Just relived it turned out to be nothing and that someone picked up on something unusual.

I topped off every day 5 to 6 days week but this time something was different.

I messed up myself when I set a brief case down and then walked out to go into an office across the hall. Anything not in its normal place or anything new we suspected was a bomb.

We all need to be aware and all when something does not look right/normal .