If the End Came Tomorrow

The following is a paper that I wrote for my Composition Class. I did get an 86 on this paper. My biggest mistakes were grammatical errors primarily, according to my teachers. This paper was turned in on the 24th of April of 2011 to give a perspective of the time it was written.

If the End Came Tomorrow

All around us there are natural disasters of differing magnitudes. Tsunami, floods, hurricanes or typhoons, wildfires, as well as, plagues of insects or disease, each one of these disasters, seemingly increasing in number, to an eschatological survivalist, point at an apocalypse being upon us. While those who cogitate the disasters anticipate and prepare, there are unmoved masses in this country and world who repudiate the eventuality of a disaster materializing in their area. Perhaps they envisage the government actualizing their disaster relief plans, or conceivably they are not ruminating about what may transpire out of trepidation of withstanding the inevitable. The aforementioned is impractical. Not only should an eschatological survivalist have an emergency bag constructed, everyone should anticipate an impending natural disaster and have an emergency bag ready.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of prophecies, with individuals of all faiths and creeds debating vehemently the translations of each individual scripture. With these prophecies predicting everything from tornados, earthquakes, tsunami, nuclear disasters, hurricanes or typhoons, meteor strike, as well as, plagues of insects and disease spreading in ever increasing numbers, it is not surprising that everywhere there are people crying that the “End of the World” is upon us. It is even possible to have multiples of these disasters as we have recently seen in Japan. In a report by Nancy Gibbs, entitled “Apocalypse Now”:
A TIME/CNN poll finds that more than one-third of Americans say they are paying more attention now to how the news might relate to the end of the world, and have talked about what the Bible has to say on the subject. Fully 59% say they believe the events in Revelation are going to come true and nearly one-quarter think the Bible predicted the Sept. 11 attack.(2)
Many of these individuals are what would be called “eschatological survivalists“, people who have studied the prophecies and realized that each scripture does speak of a remnant that will survive. The increase in disasters may come from the increase in technology that connects the world, or perhaps, there is a true increase. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has been able to detect the majority of earthquakes over a 6.0 since the early 1940’s. Through a study of the charts on the site earthquake.usgs.gov... it is possible to see that there has been a steady increase since 1994. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) investigations into atmospheric and ocean phenomena have shown a combination of increase in temperatures, hurricanes, and major storms over the past thirty years. The important fact to notice is that NOAA, the USGS, and NASA have all launched more satellites, placed more sensors, and have better computers than were in use prior to the 1970’s. With the increase in the ability to detect phenomena, it is inevitable that we would detect more in the way of disasters.

With the phenomena of the past ten years, one would surmise the people of the United States would be in readiness for any potential natural or unnatural disaster. However, according to an investigation by the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) in 2007:
Despite the high perceived threat, only one third (34%) of Americans have started preparing or are prepared for a major disaster: 24% of Americans this year have been prepared for at least six months; and additional 10% are just beginning to prepare. Strikingly, 43% are not planning to do anything about preparing. (3)
What makes this such a dichotomy is that the NCDP also found that “[n]early half the people (47%)
believe they will personally experience a disaster… within the next five years.(NCDP 3)” With the numbers that do envisage something happening the inadequacy of preparedness is highly surprising.

The problem that the majority of individuals have in a natural disaster, apocalyptic situation, or even a simple house fire is that most people will attempt to take more than needed. Mixed martial artist, Forrest Griffin, and self-trained survivalist Erich Krauss wrote a comedic approach to the apocalypse entitled Be Ready When the Sh*t Goes Down, A Survival Guide to the Apocalypse. In this book they point out that:
Your Go Bag should contain everything you need to get from your house to your safe zone. Remember, you’re not going on a two-week camping trip: You’re running to save your . . . life. As a result, you only want the bare essentials. If your Go Bag ends up weighing seventy-five pounds, you will need a Sherpa. . . . Personally, my Go Bag weighs less than thirty pounds. (Griffin 61)
With this in mind, be certain that a personal emergency bag does not weigh more than 25 pounds, as most people, including children, can easily carry this amount of weight for a long period. This can save lives.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have created a conglomeration of websites in collaboration with the NCDP to give to the American people and the people of the world the information to be better prepared for any possible disaster. The list includes, but is not excluded to, water, canned food, dried food, blankets, multiple changes of clothes, tents, backpacks, water purification tablets, first aid kit, flash lights, batteries, dust mask, moist towlettes, garbag bags and plastic ties, wrench or pliers, can opener for food, local maps, and cell phone with chargers(Ready America). In the report “Are You Ready?” FEMA states,
Being prepared can reduce fear, anxiety, and losses that accompany disasters. Communities,
families, and individuals should know what to do in the event of a fire and where to seek shelter during a tornado. They should be ready to evacuate their homes and take refuge in public shelters and know how to care for their basic medical needs. (7)
With a few simple preparations, families and individuals will observe that they experience a facile and tranquil time during any disaster that may come their way.

Every country, nation, city, and town experience a disaster at some point in its history. Some countries, such as Japan, unite and work together. In other countries the people become nonsensical and begin rioting. With the proper preparation, however, every individual can weather any natural disaster. Failure to be ready endangers not only one individual, but it endangers their family and friends. For this reason, not only should those who expect the world to end at any moment be ready with an emergency preparedness bag, but every man, woman, and child should have at least the bare minimum to survive for three days without support prepared at all times.










Jones 5
WORKS CITED
Department of Homeland Security “Printable Get-A-Kit”, ready.gov, DHS Ready America, 2010, Web. 15 April 2011.
Federal Emergency Management Association. Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness IS-22. Federal Emergency Management Association. 2010. Web. 15 April 2011.
Griffin, Forrest and Eric Krauss. Be Ready When the Sh*t Goes Down, A Survival Guide to the Apocalypse. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. 2010. Print.
Gibbs, Nancy “Apocalypse Now” TIME.com. TIME Online, 01 JULY 2002. Web. 17 April 2011.
National Center for Disaster Preparedness. The American Preparedness Project. Where the US Public Stands in 2007 on Terrorism, Security, and Disaster Preparedness. National Center for Disaster Preparedness. 2007. Web. 15 April 2011.
United States Geological Survey, Earthquakes. United States Geological Survey. 2011, Web, 15 April 2011.

Also the fearmongering media exacerbates this end of days mentality.
And it is also frightening how the people, unwilling, unable or too lazy to fight for their rights, prefer to wait for a hypothetic catastrophe.

I honestly wasn't sure how to approach the way the media has been exacerbating the situation. The statistics on that particular information was not as easy to find. I have been continuing my particular research into the readiness of my local area, and have found that even my local DHS agent was unsure as to how to react to a major disaster. Then we got hit by the tornado swarm that swept through the southeast. My county was hit badly, but we luckily had only 9 deaths. Turned out the people in this area banded together, cleaned up the county, and have been going around helping rebuild. Food was immediately sent in and dispersed through the local churches, who have the largest dispersal base in this area.

reply to post by Attrei


I'm a little of a late bloomer as to emergency preparedness. However I have been working on my emergency pack for a couple of months. Lately I stepped it up, I need a few more items and its done. You spoke how some countries like japan work together, and others riot in chaotic situations. New Orleans showed us how Americans react...SO I have asked this question a few times, after TSHT, be it natural or man-made, personally I am for forming small community`s and working with others to re-establish our lives and NEVER EVER let another body(government) control us, charge us taxes, take from us, again. So how do you feel about this? It would be real difficult to try and make a community relations in America as most Americans don't trust each other if they don't already know you ,and in the even of a catastrophic event the distrust will probably only heighten.

reply to post by lbndhr


I am for building a community based around freedoms as well. The problem historically has been when communities have gotten too large. Once they reach a point of around 300 people or more they begin to demand things, such as police forces, government assistance. If more people were willing to share with their neighbors perhaps this would not cause as big of a problem. There are tribes in many places where they give to one another to make certain that others will give to them later. Amazingly, in their society, it works great. I wish more people of the world would awaken to such bounties.

reply to post by Attrei


The best way to deal with problems like that is to have rules clearly established to act as a baseline before the community gets to large. Having a firmly written constitution for your little nation is very important. If something comes up that needs to be added the entire community votes, and if there is a better than 2/3 margin in favor of making the change make it so. Every citizen should be required to train either as a member of the town militia, or as a medic if they have moral objections to fighting. There should also be an actual military force, trained by whatever branches of the military you can find. The militia should have less stringent requirements, and the armament of said militia and military will depend on the situation at hand. If you want a good idea of what I mean for this read There Will Be Dragons by John Ringo. This book is basically where I get this information. And before you deride me for suggesting a si-fi fantasy book as prep for a disaster situation, the information it provides would be very useful in a situation where a person is trying to organise a community. (Remember the secondary lesson, nothing you do will be perfect.)

reply to post by JDBlack


Being merely human, I must agree I am definitely not perfect. I haven't studied enough of things like law, constitutions or any such thing to formulate a strong opinion on how things should be run. The vocal ten percent, however does become the majority most times. They are discussing that in this thread www.abovetopsecret.com...

If you can get the entire community to participate. Perhaps make it worth their while to participate in the voting. I am studying natural sciences and ecology myself not politics though. Most of my beliefs in politics stem from Robert A. Heinlein.