Recognition

Just because it’s a Crisis doesn’t mean we’re all going to die.

In the Ken Burns documentary “The War” there’s a telling anecdote from near the end. It attempts to look at World War II by examining the effects in four different locations in the U.S., including Sacramento. A family from there had a scion in the Philippines when the Japanese invaded. One of the young girls discussed what it was like to be in a refugee camp, watching her sister and herself grow thinner, pushing their fingers into their abdomen to see if they could feel them out their back. After they returned home,  she couldn't quite believe how people would talk about how rough the War was, when they had to deal with ration cards, and had no beef or sugar. 

These young girls survived being behind enemy lines for several years, and came back to the U.S. to tell the tale and go on to live long lives. As did most of the people back home. If you weren’t personally in a war zone - and in the U.S., you probably weren’t - your survival rates were going to be pretty good. 

There’s lots that could happen, and lots of ways things could go bad. I wouldn’t be going through this if I didn’t think preparation and prediction weren’t helpful. Nonetheless, there are likely to be plenty of situations where survival won’t be that difficult, and where gold, lead, and food are no more important than they are at this very instant.