What Is Real Security?

Since the start of the economic downturn, I have been feeling a sense of anxiety and insecurity among my friends and acquaintances. Unemployment is currently around 10% and the real number is probably closer to 20%. People view their livelihood in terms of their jobs, career, and money. We have evolved into a society where our survival is dependent on very few members of society. These are the people that provide items are services that are essential to life such as water and food.

How many of us do anything or are capable of doing activities that are essential to human life? I know I don't. I sit in front of a computer and write SQL code for someone. Numbers are added electronically in some computer. I goto a store and pick up the T-bone steak that I am eating now and numbers are then deducted from the same computer. I'm fine as long as the numbers are big enough in my account and there are T-bone steaks at the store. It's an amazing if you think about it. Society has almost magically turned my SQL code into a delicious T-bone steak. But does my SQL code have anything to do with the production of steaks? It is not even remotely related! At the most basic level, there isn't anything I am doing or producing that people truly need. This is true for the vast majority of things people are doing everyday. Most of us spend our days worrying about frivolous things in life.

What if this system breaks down? This system can break down for any number of reasons. It has broken down in the past and it will break down again in the future. Perhaps people no longer want my SQL code. Or it could break down for reasons that are beyond our control such as war, economic or political crisis, or natural disasters. You hear about how the system can break down in the news everyday. Study history and you can see what happens when the civilized world breaks down. It is not pretty and it happens with alarming regularity. You do not have to go very far back in history to see the devastation that results. Some examples are Katrina, 2005, LA riots 1992, Balkan Wars in '91, and most of what happened in World War 2. It may happen again in the near future if the global financial system collapses as many intelligent people are predicting. The truth is, most of us no longer have the skills to sustain our life or the life of our loved ones for even a short period of time. The human population is too large that the Earth does not have enough resources to sustain us all of us without modern technology.

What is it that people truly need to have security? Most of us think in terms of jobs and money, but that is because we live in a world that is so far separated from what is really important for our survival. What is essential to support human life and do most of us have enough of these skills to survive? That is what real security is. Most of us are just at the mercy of the society and environment we live in.

Stop and think a minute of what is really important in life. Everything else is bullshit if you really think about it. If you have the ability to produce these things, then everything that is happening around you is irrelevant. You are self sufficient and the most secure position you can be in in life is the ability to rely on yourself for all your needs.

1. Clean water. Without a source of clean water, we are dead in 3 days. We take water for granted, but when things break down our source of water is often the most vulnerable. Do you know how to locate and treat water? This usually requires either chemicals or energy for boiling.
2. Food. Acquiring food means being able to hunt, fish, farm, or ranch. Personally, I don't know how to do any of these.
3. Shelter. Are you able to build a shelter? I have trouble pitching a tent.
4. Energy is needed for transportation. More importantly, we need energy to cook food and treat water. For most of us, the only kind of energy we can produce ourselves is to gather and burn wood.
5. Protection/Security. In normal times, we depend on law enforcement and our military to provide security and protection. When the system breaks down, we will be responsible for protecting ourselves.

Having these abilities is the only way to truly have security in life. Perhaps if we learned some of these skills we would not have the anxiety about what is happening with our jobs, and finances. We would know that no matter what happens out there, we will be able to make it.

Unfortunately for myself, I don't know how to do ANY of these things. I just write computer programs, hope the system doesn't break down, and people still want my programs....