Honestly and Self-Deception
by Deborah in the UP

Honest people are deceived by seeing honesty in others. If you are planning to bug out to a location where other people will be, now is the time to see if those other people are safe, honest and share similar work ethics and morals. Once shtf there will be no place to go. If your group is made up of family members it may be more difficult to arrange alternative plans. However your life and well-being may be compromised if there are problems with one or more people in your group.

People tend to present the side of themselves that they want others to see. It is easy to mask personal quirks in today’s society, but a trial run with things as close to a shtf situation provides an in-depth look into behaviors and traits that will be exposed after shtf. If you can, spend a week with your group. Use only the things that you will have after shtf. Eat only the foods that you plan to eat once shtf. It is easy to talk a good shtf game. “I will eat grass if I need to…” for example, may not be the truth. Wild greens are available in most areas almost year round. Yet the person who won’t eat them now will not easily eat them after shtf. Wild game is another food item that a lot of people say they will eat, but in reality, if fed rabbit or squirrel will opt to go hungry instead.

Test the skills of those in the group. By asking others to make a fire without matches, you can observe and learn if the basic survival skills are present. Purchase a domestic rabbit or chicken to test the skills and see who is actually prepared to eat what they kill.

At various times during the trial period, stage mock accidents and injuries to test response skills and emergency first aid. While it’s easy to remove splinters and treat poison ivy, the skills needed to rescue someone who’s fallen and has multiple injuries is different. A group who lacks these skills will lose members as a result.

Listen to conversations. While eavesdropping may not be socially acceptable, you can learn a lot about how people feel about each other, the work load, the situation and their hidden personality traits. The man who appears and presents himself as a moral individual may say things quietly like “Man, she’d be a good one to…” or “my, my, look at those….” or “can’t wait for her to grow up…” The same can be said for women. “Oh, my, isn’t he gorgeous…” “wonder how he kisses….” On a more ominous note, the person who appears mild mannered may whisper phrases like “I’m going to kill that ….” “she needs her butt kicked…” “that child needs to be smacked..” While these things may be perceived as innocent in this society, a shtf event may allow people to act on these feelings as law and law enforcement will not be available. Since the repercussions of beating a child or killing another will be absent, these types of feelings would be easily acted upon.

Closet alcoholics are a dime a dozen. People function quite well in today’s society as borderline or hidden alcoholics. However, once shtf and the access to alcohol is gone these people can and will become dangerous to any group. Medicated people will also be a risk to a group. Without checking their stored supplies of medications or knowing what medications they are on, some people may become emotionally or psychologically dangerous. Mental illness and emotional dependency can be a big problem in a shtf event. Better to find out now what and whom are the weak links.

I urge you to consider taking the time now, while you still can, to test the metal of your group. Humans are social people. Most need the companionship of others. If shtf those needs will increase as there will not be alternative connections like the internet, telephones, cell phones, social events. parties, church or neighbors. I read an interesting quote the other day which applies to survival, preparing for some type of emergency or shtf:

“An honest man is easily deceived by the honesty he sees in others.”

Meaning, people will see what they want regardless of what is really in front of them. Your safety, the safety of your family, may depend on your ability to strip away the facade and view people as they are, not as they present themselves as being.