Can you save everyone?

Recently a scenario was put forth by someone asking for help in planning. In this scenario the author had family members that he was struggling to plan for. The big obstacle focused on was how to gather them to his chosen bug out location. Geography was one issue because they were in the opposite direction as the B.O.L. and several population centers existed on the route to them. In explanation of the problems he elaborated that several of these people had a variety of addictions and severe character flaws. On top of this, there was a lot of strife between him and them. This brings up a very good point related to your planning.

When planning for the team that will share your bug out location, you need to take more than blood relation into account.  The people you have there will be depending on you, but you also should be able to depend on them. While addiction is a medical issue, it may very well be a symptom of an underlying flaw. The last thing you need while fighting everything on the outside to survive, is to have to fight those on the inside. Take a clear look at what that person can bring to the team. Do they have specialized knowledge or skills? In addition does their skill set fill in a hole in the team? Those with engineering, medical, or farming skills can be a big help in making a long term go of it. Also take a look at that person’s negatives too though. Does their personality and methodology conflict with yours? You do not need a group of yes men, but if their core philosophy is 180 degrees different than yours, you will have problem.

There are exceptions to this though. Obviously close family members such as children and spouses get a pass on skills. Despite all the calculated planning, there are those you include because your plan is to protect them. The trick is to strike a balance between cold hearted efficiency and taking the flood of humanity in.

So when planning know that unless you have unlimited resources, you have to pick and choose. The longer the disaster, the harder the choices may be. Even giving resources to someone and turning them away may set you up for an attack. Also, groups may use emotional plays to infiltrate your refuge. It is not uncommon to hear of kids being used. During war they gain entrance to places where they either sabotage things or or open the doors to their marauding team mates. So do not forsake your humanity, but in the end, you can’t save everyone.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *