A couple weeks ago, my brother was in a serious wreck. Sparing the details of that, he will make a full recovery except for the use of his left hand which he almost lost entirely. So, I’m sitting in the emergency room, waiting room at around 1am with about 60 family and friends. At this point, we know he’ll live but are waiting to see if they can save his arms. So, from across the room, I hear my sister’s husband read a text he’d gotten“ Which brother was in wreck? The linguist or the survivalist”….. And everyone looks at me and laughs. I look at my older sister’s husband and say. “I didn’t know you were one of those crazy Preppers”. I then begin to think about my family. My group. Amongst us are: Electrical engineer/comms expert Mechanical engineer Speech Pathologist Two Pediatricians OBGYN(some kind of surgical specialist) Chef(been on tv, lol) Two Pastors Linguist Two teachers That’s a pretty fat spread!! Amongst us we also have some very handy skills other than our professions. But no one takes having a plan serious! I’ve talked to all of them one on one and they agree that we should have a plan. But nothing ever comes of it and I know only a couple have any prepps at all. We may end up being the most qualified group of dead sheep ever! How have you guys been able to form a group?
There used to be a sticker that many bikers put on their ride. It said, "ass, grass, or gas .... nobody rides for free". Now that is a bit crude I admit. Bottom line, what they were saying was. "NO FREELOADERS". Post SHTF is too late to try to prepare. I know you are thinking, all these talented people, we need to save them for the future. Maybe so, maybe not. Unless you are prepared to put the lives of your closest loved ones at risk of death by starvation or worse, you have to decide before hand who and how many will be accepted, before you shut the door. You can not save the entire world. Do you have the resources to put aside enough essentials to single handedly support and save the entire non prepared group. If not tell them now. Tell them to get their asses in gear and onboard or they will not be welcome. Tell them to read Aesops Fables about the Ant and the grasshopper, and the tortose and the hare. Building their preps dose not have to happen over night. All this may seem harsh, but it is going to get a whole lot more harsh post SHTF. Good Luck making converts.
Your Group has a lot of Professionals, and not many Warriors, looks like to this observer.... that means you have a lot of smart folks, but No One Trained as a Leader. Leadership is mostly a matter of consensus, and your group lacks a consensus, on Leadership. Fix that, and the rest will fall into place. To many "smart" folks and no Leader is a prescription for disaster, as you have noted. Every group needs a Leader, or a pair of Co-Leaders. If you have never read the Earths Children Series of books (Clan of the Cave Bear) by Jean A. One of the major things portrayed, is Group Leadership, and what makes a Good Leader, as opposed to a BAD Leader. ..... YMMV....
Awhile back I told my oldest bro inlaw "I love you guys and your kids, but if you show up at our door, Ill turn you away. With force if neccesary! And I wont let you take advantage of my parents either! They will take you in(theyve stored a bit), but Ill come kick you out." I came across pretty tough, it thought...? He has since gotten his CCL and made a coment about increasing the food in their pantry. Being a chef, he actually has a decent amount of food stashed naturaly.
You should talk to them on a one on one basis rather than in a group where they may feel that it will be seen negatively. Also consider that many preppers keep OP-SEC
"Group" sounds too established for us. More, family I assume will come wanting. father inlaw is the only one that knows what OP-SEC is....... And I only harass them one on one! lol
I like ''harass''..But only in a fun way !!! Keep us posted...I have some stuffed shrimp bellpepper's to attend too....
Time to give "Light's Out" or "One Second After" as Xmas presents to all to get them thinking....to be given early...say, in July. Then, have a big family 'book club' about it. If we make it past the election, I will be surprised...so don't wait until Xmas.
Are you prepared to be ruthless with your own family ? Not just talk tough now but back it up when tSHTF ? When they show up at your door with little children in tow will you turn them away ? Or let them in and possibly doom you all ? If they do not believe you will, why should they prepare when you have ?
One of the beauties of living out where I do.... Nobody will be walking up to my door, begging.... It would be a 250 mile walk, thru alaska wilderness....