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The Fallacy of Bugging Out – Are You Prepared to Be a Refugee?

Survival Acres
April 19th, 2012
http://www.SurvivalAcres.com

This article has been generously contributed by Survival Acres – Sustainable Living & Common Sense.

Many websites, blogs and forums have covered the topic of bugging out in excruciating detail, all under the assumption that this will be a necessary escape plan for many of us when the proverbial shit hits the fan. This notion is predicated upon the belief that escape and evasion, necessary for your immediate survival will be a (likely) event that you must plan and prepare for now.

However, nothing could be further from the real and actual truth. This cherished myth is a deceptive and dangerous notion that has little place in reality. I’ve long held a stanceagainst this notion because in nearly all cases and all situations, this is a very bad idea with oftentimes fatal consequences. Bugging out is embracing the refugee lifestyle – a very bad idea. Refugees throughout history have fared very badly, suffered extreme hardship and deprivation, with many not surviving the experience. There is a far better alternative to this.

The rejection of the “bug out” mythology flies in the face of the so-called ‘expert advice’ and theory being proposed by many websites and authors, who are also very active in selling products and gear specifically oriented around this concept. You could say quite rightly, that there is indeed a agenda at work here, but it is not one in your best interests. Hold onto your pockets and read on.

Bugging out entails leaving everything you are, and everything you own, and everything you use, day in and day out, and everything you cannot carry or transport with you, behind. Not only behind, but inaccessible, unusable and abandoned.Potentially forever.

How much of our lives, and the things within our lives, do we truly want to abandon? You will also leaving behind all rules of normalcy, the concept of “plenty” and abundance (which also means replacements and repair), all laws, rules, behavior andexpectations that we have come to expect from each other and within our society, both good and bad.

Let’s make a list of these things to put this reality into perspective:

You will be leaving behind your job (income), perhaps your family (wife, kids), your home (shelter), your friends (support network), your contacts (other people you know), your bank accounts (money), your credit (ruined), your retirement (pension), your property and everything you own (everything you cannot carry with you), your vehicles (except perhaps one, at least until the gas tank is empty), your future (prospects, employment, credibility, integrity). Don’t forget things also left behind, such as electricity, running water, Internet access, news and information, communications, telephone and even cell service, a warm, dry bed and other ‘essentials’, some more then others.

You will also leave behind all expectations of normalcy, decency, morality and expectations, i.e., a “normal life”,forever – more on that below.

If you were dependent upon a job, it will be gone. You will have either been fired or laid off with a ruined reference for any future employment. You would not be able to pay your rent or your mortgage, your utility bills or any of your monthly obligations. If they’ve lapsed far enough, then you would be facing bankruptcy and / or forfeiture of your (remaining) assets, or at the very least, their liquidation (if you still have them) in order to survive a few more weeks.

It’s possible your kids or your wife could be gone, having abandoned you for abandoning them or sucked up into the system by the welfare state or child protective services. Your marriage could be in ruins, your family and friends could disown you, but in any case, what would be left of your relationships could potentially be in complete tatters. Worthwhile? You decide.

Your connections to society and civilization would also be destroyed, or certainly damaged, perhaps beyond repair. In effect, you’d be “cashing out” completely and perhaps forever, of the life you’ve lived and starting over. Worthwhile? You decide.

But you’d be alive! (supposedly).

In effect, bugging out will mean you will be totally abandoning your present life in exchange for huddling under a tree in the woods, trying to avoid hypothermia and starvation, wondering where you next meal will come from, and how long you can hold out in your new ‘reality’. And whatever it was that you chose to run away from — will still be there. This is perhaps the most overlooked point of all.

How long could you hold out? Not long. The reasons are many, but they are sound.

The need to bug out is an exceedingly tiny reality — a future event that will probably never happen. But it is not a zeropossibility (nothing is, not even an alien invasion). Yet this topic still receives a ridiculous amount of attention despite its extremely low probability, which makes no sense at all. The reason is because escapism is thought to be a ’solution’ versus contributing to the problem. It’s not, as the points above demonstrate.

Running — from whatever the problem is, usually ensures that you are taking your problems with you. Only if your life is inimmediate danger does running offer a better opportunity then staying put and dealing with the problem. Running does not make problems go away, it will very often make them much worse.

Running is also thought of as being romantic, adventurous and even ‘brave’ in some circles. Taking on the world all by yourself while you’re on the run is a common theme in movies and books, but has nothing to do with real life. Running means you’re in full-blown survival mode and all bets are off, including all notions of morality, right and wrong, doing the “right thing” and what you can even reasonably expect to happen. Anythingcan happen if you run, and often does, because you are replacing all of your security for a whole series of things unknown (and insecure).

Did you know that if you abandon the system, then the system will also abandon you? Nobody much talks about this point, but it is true. You will find yourself outside of society, unhelped and unhelpable, unknown, disconnected and even hated for being what you have now become. With no address, connections, no references, no family or friends, nothing with which to help connect you back into society, society will turn its back upon you in fear, and you will be outside of all normal channels of help and assistance, effectively cut off. This is a huge issue, but nobody ever mentions it.

Continue to read:
http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-prepar...e_04192012

Post: #2

Well of course, this with all the road warrior movie nonsense about the complete breakdown of society where we all turn animal on each other.


It faulty programing people! Don't believe the hype!

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Life has many paths choose wisely.



Preparation is real insurance against trying times.


A cage with golden bars is still a cage.

Post: #7

Nope - no bugging out for me. I'm kind of hoping that if something actually does happen, I can live off the hundreds of acres of bush behind me. If thats not going to happen then its goodbye for me.

btw really like those wig wam photos. Or should I say tepee?

Post: #8

the bugging out thing is total BS,


people wont leave until they HAVE TO,


why would people HAVE TO leave a major city,

WW3

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Glass Half Full  Wrote:

Nope - no bugging out for me. I'm kind of hoping that if something actually does happen, I can live off the hundreds of acres of bush behind me. If thats not going to happen then its goodbye for me.

btw really like those wig wam photos. Or should I say tepee?

I have bugging out way on the bottom of list right above, FEMA camp and suicide.

Post: #10

Sunny  Wrote:

Glass Half Full  Wrote:

Nope - no bugging out for me. I'm kind of hoping that if something actually does happen, I can live off the hundreds of acres of bush behind me to lie down and go to sleep in. If thats not going to happen then its goodbye for me.

btw really like those wig wam photos. Or should I say tepee?

I have bugging out way on the bottom of list right above, FEMA camp and suicide.

I don't think a FEMA camp (or the equivalent of) will happen where I am, as for suicide the only way I could do that would be by hypothermia - I hear that is the nicest way to go. Again, I have hundreds of acres of bush and mountains just behind me. I've got myself prepared to live off the bush - but not to run except for the highest peak if needed. Thats only 30kms away. I just need a possum trap.

Post: #11

LoP Guest  Wrote:

the bugging out thing is total BS,


people wont leave until they HAVE TO,


why would people HAVE TO leave a major city,

they hate the idea of martial law cattle ranching ?

rules of the tyrants and their drones?

Post: #12

Glass Half Full  Wrote:

Sunny  Wrote:

Glass Half Full  Wrote:

Nope - no bugging out for me. I'm kind of hoping that if something actually does happen, I can live off the hundreds of acres of bush behind me to lie down and go to sleep in. If thats not going to happen then its goodbye for me.

btw really like those wig wam photos. Or should I say tepee?

I have bugging out way on the bottom of list right above, FEMA camp and suicide.

I don't think a FEMA camp (or the equivalent of) will happen where I am, as for suicide the only way I could do that would be by hypothermia - I hear that is the nicest way to go.

what, they failed and lived to tell?

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I've always been more inclined to hunker down rather than bug out. I've got preps to be self-sufficient for awhile. It would have to be an "imminent danger" situation for me to hit the road.

Post: #15

My congrats to the author; this is without doubt the shallowest and stupidest essay on survival I have ever read, made even more shallow and stupid by inferring that those who advocate for "bugging out" are only trying to sell you something.

What is the first rule of bugging out? Having a better, safer, and more survivable place already picked out and set up. As every writer on the subject I have read emphasizes. And WTF is with leaving your family behind and ruining your credit rating?

The kindest thing I could say is that it's a pretty good government propaganda piece to keep the sheep from thinking about leaving when roundup time comes around.