There's a name for the unprepared: Victims.
There's seven and a half billion humans on the planet currently; That means 50 people per sq. kilometer (129 per sq. mile) This figure is calculated on land mass only, not the total surface area of the planet including water. As a comparison between countries I have selected a few below based on population per sq. kilometer and is based on that countries' land mass including inland water bodies, Lakes, rivers etc.)
- Monaco 16,923
- Hong Kong 6,439
- United Kingdom 255
- Germany 229
- Nigeria 167
- Spain 91
- USA 33
- Finland 16
- Australia 3.4
That's a lot of people per square kilometer in general, and considering people tend to reside together in cities, towns and villages it generally means most people in the world live in close proximity to other people. Take Australia for instance; 89% of our population live in urban areas. I've actually read that 90% of Australia's land mass is deemed as uninhabitable which means only 10% is being utilized for our population. Yes, it's a big brown and bloody inhospitable place. source
With all those people living together around the world, and humans being humans, there's always going to be problems. Greed often rises to the surface and so neighbour steels from neighbour, village from village and country from country and so on. Wars happen and people die. There's always some megalomaniac seeking to have more. In that way we seem to be one of the biggest threat to human survival than almost anything else. But there are other threats. The list below is just a snippet.
- Malaria
- HIV
- Measles
- SARS
- Bubonic Plague
- Swine Flu
- Meningitis
- Bird Flu
- Ebola
- Spanish Flu
- Small Pox
- Cholera
These are just a few of course although the number of infected and deceased people from pandemics is staggering. The Spanish Flu infected 500 million people around the world in 1918 and killed an estimated 50 million people. The Black Death (Bubonic Plague) spread through Asia, Africa and Europe in the 14th century and was responsible for about 75 million deaths. I don't think it's possible to truly count the total cost in human life through plague, disease and pandemic however it's a lot I would imagine. source
The way I understand it the Black Death was spread by rats coming ashore from ships from other infected places. You know, a ship visits Asia with trade goods from Europe and then heads back to Europe via Africa bring exotic goods back. Travel was reasonably slow though; There were no planes to take people across the world in mere hours and the journey would take months. Still, the Black Death raced around the world infecting millions of people.
I'm heading to the UK in June, via Singapore. We leave Australia on a Saturday morning and land for a 9 hour stop-over in Singapore that afternoon then arrive in London on the Sunday morning so within 24 hours would have travelled a long, long way. Now imagine that I am infected with the Black Death and how many people I'm coming in contact with, how many things I am touching and possibly infecting. Pretty scary I think.
In thinking about pandemics and the human propensity for greed, war and chaos I'm often left thinking about being prepared for events of that nature. Ok, so can anyone be truly prepared? I'm not so sure. However there are many people around the world who spend time, effort and lots of money preparing themselves for various apocalyptic events from EMP or nuclear attack to flood, famine, meteor strike, economic breakdown and earthquake. There's a lot of threats some of which are only barely held in check seemingly.
I know people who scoff and laugh at people who endeavour to have a heightened level of preparedness; They call them crazy doomsday looney tunes and the like. However I wonder who would be laughing in the advent of a situation arising in which law and order was non-existent, government services broke down and utilities were unavailable. It won't happen you say? The government would look after you? Ok, maybe...But maybe not. Things happen all the time in life and at times those things create an environment where the usual amenities we take for granted are disrupted. Here's a few recent cases when this happened:
- 2010 Haiti earthquake
- 2010 Sumatra earthquake/tsunami
- 2011 Tohoku earthquake/tsunami
- 2004 Indian ocean tsunami
- 2005 Hurricane Katrina
- Somali Civil War
- Venezuela Crisis (ongoing)
- 1974 Cyclone Tracy (Darwin, Australia)
I won't go on as the list would be almost endless. A little research on the above list will show you how ill-prepared the governments and people were. I don't believe there is ever an excuse not to be prepared as a person living in this modern world. I don't necessarily mean people need to be stockpiling guns and ammunition, digging spider holes and creating defensive perimeters however in having some degree of preparation is simply prudent.
Think about a family home filled with two adults and two children. Do they have a well-stocked first aid kit and the skill to use it. Is there enough medicine in the household to cater for everyone's needs. Is there a fire extinguisher, blanket and fire evacuation plan? Is there sufficient water and non-perishable food in the house held in reserve to last a couple of weeks? Is the house kept secure from home-invasion and are doors locked when the family is inside? Is there a go bag packed for each and every family member? These are some simple and very basic preparations and yet most households would not have them in place.
Being prepared, or prepping as it is called is a hobby for some, the writer included, and it is done to varying degrees. No matter where a person lives and how safe they think they are this world can throw up unexpected challenges. Some of these will allow for no opportunity of survival for some, however for those left behind having the basics for life, especially in the initial few weeks can mean the difference between life and death. source
There are many things to consider when it comes to being prepared and there are also many resources to assist a person thinking about getting prepared. In this post I don't hope to answer any of those questions; Rather, I hope to impress upon people the importance of being prepared. Even if you don't want to become a prepper you need to be prepared. Do a first aid certificate at least; The life you save may be that of your child, partner or loved one. Devise a fire plan for your house, look for hazards in the home and eliminate or take steps to mitigate them. The little you do today may make a massive difference tomorrow.
We are constantly fed images and stories of disasters and pandemics from Hollywood; Hundreds of movies showing possible disasters and human reactions to them and yet in reality the average person is woefully prepared for even the most simple of problems like the power going out for 24 hours. (Oh my gosh, my fridge went off. What will I eat?)
Being prepared is not really a hobby, it's a requirement in my estimation and if you are not then you should get busy!
[- Design and create your ideal life, don’t live it by default - DM on Discord @galenkp#9209 -]
And the list goes on and on and on on reasons why to be prepared. Im there with you.
When I was still working my 9-5 all I could do to prepare was purchase goods and stockpile. I did that, never enough but with limited capital i have what i have stored away. Now im working on sustaining food and water and heat. Shelter is here, but if shelter was to come down then things get a little tougher.
Even with all the steps I think I have taken.. i feel I will never be fully prepared for a SHTF scenario. But I will be a bit more ready than most others. I think a big first step in preparing is simply thinking about your current situation.
Galen, you write excellent posts. Good luck to you Sir, in Aussieland.
Thanks mate, I just write what's in my head.
Being prepared can be as simple as having a box of bandaid's and some panadol in the cupboard. I still maintain that if people are not prepared for some of the more realistic scenario's then they are going to be a victim, or at least are at risk of it should trouble visit.. Think home invasion for one. no one could ever prepare for everything that may happen, but there's a lot people can be prepared for.
Great example of once of those events you never really think would occur.. good to be prepared for yes.
I find it interesting how few people even have a couple of weeks worth of canned food in their house, much less a couple of months worth. A good first aid kit, a couple of fire extinguishers, some basic hand tools, simple stuff. No matter where you live, severe weather has the potential to make a mess of a person's life, and that's just the more common stuff. There's a lot of things that can be done to be more prepared without spending a lot of money.
I agree! It’s also mind-boggling how many people see those who prepare as odd-balls. That makes no sense. Still, the world is full of all types of people.
Being a victim isn’t in my make-up.
I'd say your name is a little apropos for @galenkp's topic as well :)
It did seem like a good name when I joined steemit. :-)
Being prepared is never a bad thing. After all, the virgins in the Bible, who had come to the feast with extra lamp oil were the ones who got in at the end. I encourage preparedness in all things because we just don't know what will come, how it will come or when it will come.
Thanks for this post. Stay safe and have a lovely flight to the UK, just in case I forget by the time June gets here. Peace.
I'll consider my flight to the UK a success if I:
A) Get there
B) Don't get Ebola, Bubonic Plague or other such disease
C) Get to eat some nice food and watch a movie or two
D) Mange to have a few hours sleep
:)
😂 you won't get any plague. Very funny.
If you fail at B), please feel free to skip visiting Finland. 😝
Copy that, I'll divert to Sweden.
Wow post a good friend, I really like it, good luck always, I will try to make a post like you, congratulations on the achievement of an accurate post
The geometric increase of the world's population has been a challenge to most Gorvenment of the world, especially the developed world. Its an area i have been researching on for the best solution, instead of depopulation projects being fed in the rumour mills.
Its a well articulated and concise point you have shared with us. But in your own opinion, what do you think is the best solution.
Thanks for your comment. You ask me what my solution is. My solution to what exactly @factism?
I meant what solution can you suggest to policy makers to curb the negative effects of the speedy population growth in the world as you have stated above?
Oh ok, that's a tough question. I'm of the opinion the world is ridiculously over-populated and that it needs to be reduced. The novel Logan's Run handled the issue pretty well, however that's just a book and that method may not be popular. The novel Inferno by Dan Brown also makes a suggestion to address the population issues.
We could make better use of the remote uninhabitable areas of the planet through regeneration and greening or maybe colonise the moon: The plague that is humanity finding new environments to destroy.
I don't know what the answer is however this post was inspired by a History Channel show I watched about pandemics. In it it was stated that the World Health Organisation (WHO) expect a catastrophic pandemic to sweep the world the result of which will be millions and millions of deaths. They actually expect it; It's not an "if" but a "when". Maybe these things happen to realign the population.
Humans have a tendency to always want more. More this and more that and so use up resources, we are destructive to ourselves and the environment and uncaring, generally, of our impact upon the other inhabitants and the world itself.
In my opinion the world would be better off without us.
I know opinions like mine will not be widely accepted however I still hold it. We, humans, are a plague on the world.
Personally, i will rather support the opinion of decongesting the spaces we are already populating and make use of the spaces which are still unused, rather than reducing the world population.
If we say the world's population should be reduced, the question is "how ?". Rumour mills have it that there are ongoing programmes aimed at reducing the world's population. Only time can tell if they will be sustainable.
I will go through the books you have cited and learn more.
Thank you so much for opening my mind on this topic.
This is great. Basically, I'm a victim waiting to happen. lol
Some interesting information and troubling scenarios in your post. It makes me think that, yes, I need to be better prepared.
It starts small with the idea that things go wrong sometimes. What would I do to protect my children is a good place to start. If the answer is nothing then don't get prepared. If the answer is anything else, then get prepared. Thinking about what could happen is easy because we can simply look back at history and see how depraved and disgusting humans can be towards each other and that natural disasters occur. We know they have and know they will do so again.
Ps. We are all victims to some degree as things can always happen outside of our ability to control them. Limiting the impact on us from certain circumstances can help though. Imagine having a swimming pool at home, like many in Australia do, and not having it properly fenced or not supervising the kids when they are in there and not knowing first aid. The child get's into trouble and drowns...This could have been prevented by a little preparation, but many just don't do it. Victims, the drowned kid and the parents who didn't prepare.
That's good. I should probably think about 'what if' scenarios. You get spoiled living in Finland. Most of the mild scenarios end in 'Nah, it'll be fine.' But I should consider a wider range of scenarios including lesser likely ones. Then I can think more about how to be prepared for such things.
Sounds good. Hopefully you never get into a scenario where you feel out of control however it's not inconceivable that it could happen. Thats really the point of my post I guess. That to be prepared doesn't mean a bunker in the back yard necessarily. Has anyone ever fallen through the ice and into a lake? They would need rescuing and some action would be required. Being prepared for that would be a good idea I think.
Being prepared for common occurrences like fire, theft, accidents on the home is very sensible indeed.
However individuals trying to prepare for more unexpected outcomes like mass pandemics, nuclear war and so on, I don't really understand.
The reason is, there is always a bigger catastrophe that the universe can throw at us. At any time an extinction level event can occur, be that super-volcanos, space rocks or gamma ray bursts; you can have the bunker stocked with a lifetime supply of corned-beef and clean air, either way; you aren't going to make it.
We all need to face up to the reality that we aren't immortal, we are going to die, so is everyone we know, and in a few generations (assuming there are any more generations) we will be utterly forgotten.
Even at a species level, we can be absolutely 100% sure we wont survive indefinately. It's not something to worry about, it's just the nature of our reality.
Some people may find that depressing, but I view it as freeing; dont worry about what you cant control.
That being said, I hope you have a good flight and a nice visit here in the UK, oh and bring an umbrella!
Everyone has their own ideas I guess and some like to be prepared for things as it gives them a feeling of security whether their hopes of survival are good or not. Most people are woefully unprepared for anything. Taking the we're going to die of something approach is one way to go I suppose. I know a few like that and the other type also; The government will look after us approach. Maybe they will, maybe the government might be the actual problem in the first place.
Love the title @galenkp; especially when we live in a world full of victims.
You made a valid point for sure; there's a big difference between building an underground bunker, than having basic necessities compiled in the event of a disaster.
Speaking of wondering if our governments will help us: there was a ferry explosion in town (at the dock) last week and immediately rumours of terrorism began to fly around. In no time, the Canadian government ordered all government workers out of the area, which included the Canadian Consulate workers. I always thought the consulates were there to help its' citizens living abroad in a case of emergency? I guess we're on our own here too!!
Thanks for bringing this up; it's nice to see the reminder before an actual emergency of any kind :)
Cheers!
I believe that in certain circumstances the government are going to be no help at all. They'll be out there trying to get back to their own families. If a person relies on others that person is likely to be let down. Being prepared isn't just having drums of vac-packed rice...It's about having a plan, understanding possible threats and mitigating their impact.
You said it!! You're preaching to the choir here though:)