Pandemic

Overview

Given Covid-19, I almost did not write this threat report.  However,  I think it is helpful to look at some of the lessons learned, some of the things that could have gone worse, and some things that may yet get worse.  There are plenty of resources these days that focus on the epidemiological aspects of pandemics, but here, I want to focus on how government  and societal response to pandemics can provide a threat equal to or greater than the diseases in question.

History and current analysis

All throughout history we have been plagued by a litany of microscopic particles (some alive like bacteria and some just random bits of toxic DNA  or RNA like viruses).  For most of history these outbreaks or deadly pathogens have occurred in population centers,, and the population has generally reacted about the same.

SARS-Cov-2 (The pathogen said to cause COVID-19), was the first major pandemic to hit the global population an roughly 100 years.  The problem is that in the last 100 years our world has become more integrated, complex, informed, and to a certain extent iresilient.  This interdependency and lack of resilience has been and continues to be apparent as we now must suffer through the supply chain and economic consequences of the government and sociological responses to the SARS-Cov-2  pandemic.

While the supply chain and economic  aftershocks are just beginning to become apparent. There are other effects of the response to the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic that are much more subtle and subversive, that we have not really stopped to take measure of as a society.

The first response is the “Othering”. Notice that the global leaders have started to try to manipulate the global populations into taking the COVID-19 vaccine by trying to separate those resistant into a sub-class of citizen.  This has had a profound effect in causing division across many sociological institutions, from the workplace, to the church, to the family.    This has made western society vulnerable to yet unseen threat, that most people do not realize.   If you recall the old adage “Divide and conquer”.  The government response to COVID-19 has mad western society much more vulnerable to being conquered.

All of this for a disease with less than 5% mortality (even in the most vulnerable populations).  Now what if we where hit with a much nastier disease.  There have been recent reports that the Government views Small Pox as a likely bio weapon that may be deployed against a population in the near future and spark a small pox pandemic.  Or what if the Yersinia Pestis Bacteria (bubonic plague) mutates to be antibiotic resistant?  Not to mention the various hemorrhagic viruses.  IF we ever have a plague along these lines, we can expect a total and complete not just shut down, but end to our modern supply chain economic and defense infrastructure.

What can be done?

So how to prepare for such an event?  Some ideas to think about:

• -Disease always spreads faster in population centers, so move to as  rural of a setting as you can (I understand that jobs and family are a concern, but still avoid population centers as much as possible.
• -Try to structure your life in such a way that your are independent of modern supply chain, or at least work to have a plan that will give you resilience if the supply chain goes down.  This can be done by growing your own food via hydroponics, a garden, or raising back yard chickens and rabbits.
• -Make sure you can get and filter water
• -Use solar, wind power, batteries, and/or generators to provide power that can be relied on if the grid fails
• -Stack long term storage food to the rafters
• -Get your HAM license and practice to use HAM radio should the cell infrastructure go down
• -Get to know your neighbors, try to build a resilient local community.