The Only Way to Withstand Crisis

Joel Salatin|April 7, 2020

This unprecedented pandemic shutdown, almost unthinkable just a couple of months ago, begs the question: If we could turn back the clock, how could we have minimized the damage?

It’s a fair question.

Conspiracy addicts, of course, assume this is just a dress rehearsal for something more sinister in the future.

I’m not a conspiracist, but I do think powerful interests routinely have agendas that either consciously or ignorantly harm a lot of people.

While this list may be consistent with the usual prepper recipe, I’m going to forego the nuclear disaster or electromagnetic war commonly invoked in doomsday scenarios.

Let’s just look at what we have in front of us.

To begin, what’s the most valuable equity anyone could have?

1. Personal Health

Where do you get health? Where does it come from?

You can’t go out and buy it at the drugstore. You can’t bake it in the oven.

While the coronavirus certainly is skewed toward the elderly, every report indicates it targets those of any age with underlying immune compromises.

An incredibly strong immune system, then, is the most valuable personal defense in our arsenal against this virus.

Robust health comes from a combination of diet, exercise and lifestyle. While genes play a part, the field of epigenetics now offers new possibilities for our health trajectory. Finding the alternative health mechanism and believing a true solution exists seem to be the keys to discovery.

I’ve met countless people diagnosed with sugar diabetes, for example, who refused to go down the orthodox path and instead went a different direction, completely curing themselves.

Going against orthodoxy takes courage; many label such folks foolhardy. But I’ve seen too many cured folks and listened to too many testimonials to think pharmacies dispense health.

From camel’s milk curing autism to 100% meat diets curing rheumatoid arthritis… herbal, dietary and lifestyle options exist for those who dare to seek them.

For the record, we would be a much healthier country if not 1 ounce of sugary soft drinks were consumed. Not an ounce of tobacco.

Alcohol? Hershey’s chocolate? Little Debbie? Starbucks? You get the drift. If none of this existed in our country, we would certainly be healthier. Oh, and we can’t forget Lucky Charms and Cheerios. Enough.

Doing away with the bad is one part; adding the good is the other. Pastured meats, GMO-free animal feeds, compost fertilization, pronounceable ingredients. Investing in good fuel for our bodies is the foundation of personal health.

2. Crisis Cash

If instead of Disney vacations, cruises and Starbucks we all committed to stashing three to six months of cash to live on, a sudden shock wouldn’t be as daunting. Paycheck-to-paycheck living is simply unwise.

I can feel pushback about the folks who can’t afford savings. Do hardship cases exist? Of course. That’s what philanthropy is for. But anytime someone pushes back on this notion, I want them to take me to their house and show me that they spend no money on alcohol, tobacco, coffee, lottery tickets, soft drinks, fast food and processed food. Who needs a TV?

In this politically correct era, it’s not acceptable to suggest that most poverty – not all – reflects not so much economic problems but budgeting, character and emotional problems. If a person can’t hold on to a penny, he doesn’t have a money problem; he has a discipline problem.

We are a spendthrift culture… spoiled consumerist brats. If we wanted a cash cushion as much as we wanted that new shirt or that cup of espresso, we’d be much better able to withstand economic shocks.

3. A Larder

A stash of food is just as important as a stash of crisis cash. Three to six months’ worth of food on hand is about right. That means we would have a chest freezer or two full of safe meat. Even some extra ice cream might not be the worst thing in the world.

Dried goods, canned goods (preferably canned from local produce in season in our own kitchen) and staples. This includes natural supplements we may be taking or herbal tinctures and other home remedies we’ve either purchased or created.

This is all about reducing panic. When we have no cash, questionable health and no larder, shocks like this pandemic don’t move us to calculated, reasoned decisions… They move us to panic.

Nobody makes good decisions when they’re panicked. The whole goal is to situate ourselves so that a major disruption like this does not send us into a frantic “What will we eat tomorrow?” mode.

That anxiety attack makes us vulnerable to every possible malady, from disease to financial to mental breakdown. The way to keep a level head is to build a nest that can carry us when we’re cut off.

How about growing something yourself? Most lawns could grow a family’s entire vegetable and fruit supply. For the time and money we spend on lawn maintenance, we could become food independent. Guttering all the roof runoff into a cistern could make us water independent.

The goal here is not 100% shock-free status; it’s 5%… then 10%… and so on.

Most folks don’t start anything because they can’t do or have everything. That’s nonsense. Doing nothing because you can’t do it all is a stupid response to the situation.

Certainly other things could be added to this list, but these I think are foundational. If this pandemic showed us only one thing, it is how fragile most folks live. Today is the time to start shoring up our weak spots.

As for employment and usefulness, if you know how to grow something, fix something or build something, you’ll never lack for work. Add top-line character to any of those skills and you’re the solution to society’s worries.

Let’s be the ones who keep our heads when all around are losing theirs.

Note: What else would you add to Joel’s list? Send us a note here.