Is Prepping Selfish?

I was reading an article about the objections to Prepping-

Answering Objections to Preparedness | Tim Gamble
The article goes on about it is okay to take care of oneself. But it did make me think. Many people strive to be selfless and giving. Humans as a whole are giving and caring and will help each other in times of need. We are taught from a young age to share. I think that is why some may view preppers as selfish. Do you have your sharing boundaries set? Some preppers have buckets set aside to give to neighbors and friends yet some plan on closing their doors to all in need. There are three little kids next door. I know I would have a really hard time being selfish and keeping my food to ourselves and seeing those kids go without.

 

I would feed the kids what I could within the confines of opsec. The adults that didn't prep for them could go pound sand.

 

Well it depends.
if the time of struggle short to medium term (natural disaster local/regional) and there is aid is available from outside agencies, Then yep people will help one another. The exception would be, if the person asking for help makes no effort to help themselves and rely upon charity .. that will only last so long.

if the duration is going to be long term, wide spread (entire countries or continent(s)), resupply is non existent and governments have attempted to restore control .. then i'm betting, if you are outside of friends(including mutual support collections) and family circle then it's going to look pretty shellfish.

Then there is case where one already is surviving in a hostile environment (desert, city where public services/conveniences are gone). A struggling stranger will probably not get that bottle of water as that could mean life and death to the one who has it.

Giving and caring do have limits, and those limits change based on ones age and if they have kids/grandkids that need to survive. A grandpa may eat a little less so that the grandkids may survive. a single 30 something .. may not be so sharing.

Just musing a bit.

 

I have to think it is a mental thing. Too many are conditioned to expect the government to take care of them. Food stamps, section 8 housing, free cell phones, the list goes on and on. Do you really expect that those folks will set anything aside for emergencies? Not likely. Share mine with them? Also not likely. I won't feel selfish, and I couldn't care less if they say I am selfish!

 

I think that western ideas are what you are talking about here...

and it should be remembered that the west was greatly affected by Jesus and his Disciples...

if you actually look closely at ancient Rome and the Greeks their society in several ways paralleled the current Islamic Iran...

women had to wear veils... if the husband had a dinner party the wife was confined to her room/quarters during...

and many other things...

that said WESTERN people strive to be selfless and giving... and yes that is the way they're brought up...

in some areas of the world it more like kick em when their down and proceed to get yours...

could end up being that way here... if the progressives get what they seem to be aiming for...

 

It is a tough question when, how much, where and to whom you would give. I am not sure you can decide with any degree of certainty before the event. Would you give to save another's child if it endangered you own? Most of us would not. Even less chance if it were my grand child. They would eat regardless of who died on my doorstep.

 

I am pretty sure my preps will allow me to generous with my water, free of charge, just have something to put it in. Food stores are another story altogether. I might share a small amount of rice and beans and all the water they could carry. Specially if I had some outside the perimeter or perimeter duties that able bodied adults and teens could perform for me. Family and tribe comes first. Adding to the tribe or family will be on a case by case basis for the good of the tribe. jmho

 

I’m not rich but I have put back for a emergency as most other people do. I would try to feed the little people but their parents will have to go elsewhere. I would try to feed the very young but teenagers and their parents go bye bye. I don’t know what would happen to the homeless or people who are in prison,I just don’t know.

 

I would imagine the arguments against prepping parallel those arguments against self-defense.

 

The corollary to the "you are being selfish" claim (by non-preppers) is the use of the word

hoarder.

Clearly, people who use this term have a limited command of the English language. More importantly, the reason the word is so...loaded is that too many jurisdictions have very strict anti-hoarding laws.

The 'net doesn't help - outside of mental issues and the law, we see

Federal Anti-Hoarding Law

Food storage and anti-hoarding laws during "national emergencies"

If you put up supplies for time of need - in times of plenty, it is not hoarding, it is being smart. For those that don't take any time or effort to weather a storm, well Darwin was ahead of his time.

Forest Gump's mother was quite correct.

 

It shall be dog eat dog and kill or be killed so I'm good with not sharing much

Law what Law at the end of times other than your own moral code there is no Law

 

I’ll just out beg them so loudly they’ll run away to keep what little they have.

“Ma’am, all I got left is this gun and these bullets”

 

Several levels to that question and they have several different answers. My main problem is the use of the word selfish as if you let someone else describe your actions as such, you have lost the argument as it has already defined your actions in a negative manner. Kind of the old "When did you stop beating your wife?" argument, nothing you can say will remove the doubt from the other observers. I would prefer to use self interest as a definition, as while some actions may be defined as selfish, they may also keep you and your loved ones from being dead I would share and help with anything that was provided as aid or resources that are gathered as a community after the SHTF as not doing so I consider hoarding. The resources we have stored, including garden, greenhouse, stored foods, etc, would be limited to my "tribe" which is larger than family. The things we purchased while they were using their money for bigger houses, TV, cars, etc or while others were collecting their welfare checks are mine and keeping them I do not consider hoarding even though I know those with a 3500 sq ft house for 2 people and no food will join together to take my hoard as will those who depend on someone else for their livelihood, be it food stamps or what ever. Some things, water, excess seeds, excess tools, some basic food stuffs and medical, some weapons and ammo, are kept in stock with the expectation of sharing them with people that are either family or part of a larger group that I want to survive for both reasons of support, I am 80 and I do not see myself cutting 6 cords of wood with a hand saw and splitting it with a maul, or that I would both miss and feel a sense of responsibility if they did not make it and I could have helped. Beware of the mass media and its attempt to set the agenda. Today, 2/11/18,the NPR in its fair and unbiased reporting, had an hour long attack on anyone that doesn't believe in their version of Kum By Ya thinly disguised as a discussion of a book written attacking the alt-right and any of the media that the left disagrees on. CSPAN had a 1 hour discussion of an anti Trump book, and of course both claimed that any other view point was totally irrational and had to repressed.
There are situations that used to be handled in a manner best described as a Birkenhead Drill, in which everyone tried to help the women and children to the best of their ability. Today we do indeed live in a classical selfish world and women and children may just as well be a source of income as something to be loved, cherished, and provided for. Our recent experiences, New Orleans, Haiti, Puerto Rico, urban areas, etc would seem to suggest that you may well be better served by your self interests than by a totally unselfish view of the world.

 

My wife says that I am a rescuer and can't help it. She says this with both pride and consternation. I have spent my adult life working in the wake of disasters, hurricanes, earth quakes, fires, wars. I have provisioned my fortress as well as I see need but have no visions of barricading myself inside against those that need help. I will help where ever I can and with whatever resources I can provide, allocate, appropriate, or scavenge. I have never walked away from an injured person or animal that I could provide assistance too or at least a bullet to end their suffering. If this world reaches a state where I can no longer help my fellow man then it has effectively ended for me and I have no further need to be here. So be it, this is my deal with both God and man.

 

"Objection: Preparedness and self reliance are selfish."

Being prepared makes me a "non-competitor" to others if things go bad.

They should be happy to know I will not be in need, but only if they are not selfish!

 

I am not obligated to help any one but those in particular how my heavenly Father instructs .
I encourage my neighbors to prep , which gives away the fact the I believe in it .
Many of them indicate they already do .
No one knows how their own particular situation will go down, nor where they will be when it happens ,life is fluid and being able to swing with the punches is all a part of it .
People in general are going to make good choices and bad choices and preparedness "only helps", it's not a guarantee .
But No one can say they had no warning .
No one can say they had no opportunity .
Good neighbors will be grateful , and teach their children so.
Bad neighbors will be opportunist, and teach their children so.
City people know there is food being grown out here ,but will fail to realize that it takes electrically pumped well water to make that happen, and assume there to be food here for the taking .
People will use/send their children to beg for food or scope out the landscape for resources , the problem being once word gets out you have any thing, their need will exceed your resources .

If you care to help some one , do it anonymously, no matter what it is . You will save your self a lot of misery down the road .
A democrat can't do that.

 

Objection: Preparedness and self reliance are selfish.

From years of experience and travel, I've learned I cannot save the world. I will be lucky in such a severe SHTF scenario if I can save just a few - meaning - my immediate family.

Travel abroad has desensitized me, probably too much so, for if threatened, I could kill any individual immediately in such an environment, to include woman or child; however, it is quite another thing to see a starving child and deny that child food especially when you have it to give...

This question (starving children) has been asked before and discuss in depth but I truly don't think any of us know the answer to it until we are knee deep in the situation. The problem is not one giving a bit of food and then you have to skip a meal or two yourself. No. The problem is giving the food and then they come back or tell others...then what happens for there can be only a few different outcomes to this problem set and none of them are good. The odds of them taking the food and just moving on are slim especially if they are starving so...

So, my answer to 'Preparedness and self reliance are selfish' is, "No, but I am." I say this for having like @BTPost already made the decision 'family first then close friends/neighbors' and I seriously hope that I can keep to that decision because I cannot see anything good coming from a charitable act during a serious SHTF scenario. I must force myself to put away my Christian and charitable values and rely on good logic and judgement if I want my family to survive.

Understand also, that if things ever get that bad that people are going door-to-door begging for food - well - we are then in a life and death situation which is also probably a kill or be killed situation so the problem set is completely different. Do you give a warning shot or shoot on sight?