A portion of the complete article Welcome to the Promised Land has been republished with copyright permission from James Rawles’ Survival Blog. It has been written and contributed to Survival Blog by Rod E.

Over the years, many people have told us that WTSHTF, they are coming to our place in the country. When people say things like this, we hear, “…so that you can take care of me.” This document is presented as a source of information for those who might need a realignment of their expectations, a clarification of ours or both. It should serve as a harsh wake up call for anyone who plans to flee to someone else’s survival retreat should the need arise.

If you have neglected, failed or refused to complete your plans for survival, here are things you need to know, should you decide to depend on someone who has been more diligent.

• No One Will Provide You With Shelter
• No One Will Feed You
• No One Will Provide Drinking Water
• No One Will Protect You
• No One Will Provide Medical Attention

Did the Children of Israel expect Moses to provide all of these things for them? Nope! He started walking and they had to keep up. Everyone carried what they needed and everyone did everything they needed to do to survive.

Let’s take a look at what your life might be like WTSHTF.

For any number of reasons, you lose electricity without notice and your water stops running. (Public water supplies need electricity) When people eventually realize the outage extends beyond their immediate circle of travel, they will panic and stores will be looted. Stores cannot be protected because…the police departments have no electricity. Gas stations will be closed when they cannot deliver fuel because…they have no electricity. It’s funny how that works, isn’t it? As more people begin to panic they will assemble into angry mobs armed with guns, knives, baseball bats and sticks. No police presence means no protection for you or anyone else. The police have raced home to protect their families.

You are now officially unemployed with no benefits, you cannot withdraw your worthless money from the bank, you cannot make a phone call, listen to the radio or watch television. Your stove, microwave oven, refrigerator and Internet connection are no longer working. You cannot run to Wal-Mart’s camping section to pick up a sleeping bag or kerosene lantern. Your car has less than a half tank of gasoline and your terrified wife and children are begging you to do something.

A horde of lawless desperadoes is making its way down your street, hurling rocks and bricks through windows, setting cars on fire and breaking into homes in search of food and supplies. Through sheer numbers and merciless force, they overwhelm every feeble attempt at defense or escape, leaving death and destruction in their path. Like killer bees, they swarm your home and discover that it is vacant because you somehow managed to escape, either through a miracle, proper planning or dumb luck. They ravage what was once your comfortable home sweet home, laying waste years of financial sacrifice and hard work as you are driving or hiking or crawling down the highway or back roads to The Promise Land, your friend’s place in the country.

For the sake of this frightening glimpse into your new reality, let’s assume that you and your family somehow beat the one in a million odds and successfully escape the chaos and anarchy in the city. Exhausted and emotionally paralyzed with fear and anxiety, you eventually make your way to an overgrown pasture bordered by woods, provided that you were not attacked and killed on your journey or shot as an intruder when you arrive, which is always an unfortunate possibility.

So, in summary:

• There is no comfortable shelter waiting for you
• There is no water
• There is no food
• There is no security, no protection at all
• The mobs will eventually make their way out into the countryside and find you

The place looks deserted, and there is silence as you cautiously scan the edge of the woods. You can’t help but wonder how many guns might be aimed at your head.

Welcome to The Promised Land. It is everything you expected it to be?

More than one person has referred to our place in the country as, The Promised Land. It is important to remember that the people followed Moses. He did not carry them…and I am not Moses…and our place is not The Promised Land. Adhering to the analogy, the city from which you fled was the land of Egypt, our place in the country is the desert. The Promised Land comes later if you survive and behave yourself.

In spite of arriving with nothing more than the inappropriate clothes on your back and the meager amount of food that you were able to carry, and given the obvious absence of expected amenities at your adopted survival haven, you are are still somehow confident that you will survive because you’ve been responsibly paying the premiums on your Emergency and Disaster Preparedness insurance policy.

You haven’t been paying the premiums? You did not sacrifice what you wanted today for what you might need tomorrow? The bad news is, your prognosis for survival is definitely grim. There is no good news. Read the full article…

Editor’s Note: The above article depicts a complete SHTF TEOTWAWKI scenario. Though it is an unlikely event, the possibility simply cannot be ruled out. Social structures have been known to collapse throughout history. The Roman empire collapsed, but it took decades for it to play out, during which there was pillaging and much suffering. During the American Revolution there was disease and famine – those who were unprepared died due to starvation or lack of medical attention, though this was not as widespread as a complete collapse where 90% of the population may be wiped out. In SHTF collapse scenarios like the German Wiemar republic which fell into serious hyperinflation or more recently Zimbabwe, which experienced a similar effect, the majority of the population survived.

We live in a modern world, and the hope is that the majority of people will survive a collapse scenario. However, because we are so technologically dependent, we must consider the possibilities of an all out grid-down collapse. Electricity is a very big factor, especially for a society that is completely dependent on it for energy and food transportation, as well as interpersonal communication. If we lose power for any sustained period of time, we’re going to lose lots of lives in the process. Think hurricane Katrina, 5 days, and the amount of lives lost due to lack of resources and planning – and this was isolated to a small region. People were dying while the entire world watched it on TV.

At the very least one should consider worst-case scenarios and prepare at least a 30 day reserve in the event of emergencies. In 1859 a solar flare took out a large portion of the communication grid, but people survived because they were not in any way dependent on electricity. If we were hit with a similar solar flare, an EMP weapon, a nuclear attack, or a full on economic collapse that led to riots and eventually famine, we could experience a long-duration grid-down situation. It is unlikely, yes. But it can happen.

The investment in time and energy to prepare yourself and your family for the possibility of a far-from-equilibrium situation is very small compared to the benefit. Several hundred pounds of rice and beans can be bought for under $200 – but they can get you a long way when there’s nothing on grocery store shelves. A weapon(s) and ammunition will undoubtedly be necessary, as will survival skills or barterable skills. Consider where you are today and what you might be able to do, even if your budget is limited, to be ready for an unforeseen emergency.

Hat tip Wheedle for sending the Survival Blog article our way.