Author of The Dark Secrets of SHTF Survival and the online course SHTF Survival Boot Camp
Misinformation brings panic, then panic brings fear.
And once fear is settled in, everything is possible. Among many things that fear can bring, one is especially important for us – hate.
Hate is usually toward others who are “different” than we are.
Hate towards “others” is always alive in any society, no matter how modern and human that society is.
I watched a group of tourists standing at the airport a couple of weeks ago There were some 20-30 of them standing in line for check-in, and there was a big circle of empty space around them.
Everyone stared at them, looking and acting kinda scared. Security guards were standing a little closer to them. I saw a few women leaving in a hurry with their kids, afraid of that group.
I was almost sure if some of them sneezed at that moment that other folks would use force to remove them from that place.
It was a small local airport and those 20-30 people looked like they were Chinese.
The interesting thing was that they were not Chinese at all, nor had they traveled from China or to China.
But to the locals, they looked like Chinese.
Now you can say “it is better to be safe then sorry” or something like “I would do the same if I was there” and actually you may be right.
But the point here is that the line of let “transfer” that goes “misinformation-panic-fear-hate” leads to one important thing for us who are interested in survival.
It leads to the dehumanization of others.
Dehumanization
Dehumanization is something that fascinates me. (In a bad way because I saw it how it works in real life.)
If you ask how mass killings, private prisons, rapes, concentration camps, genocides, and all those other horrible things happened in the Balkans, the answer is the dehumanization of others who are different then you. This is something I discussed in detail in my book, SHTF Survival Stories.
It has happened many times in history that groups of people (misinformation, panic, fear, hate) are being led to a belief that people from another group are practically worthless. Even more, they are brought to the place where “every normal man” has a duty to eradicate “the others.” And they can do it in any possible way; they can treat them for medical experiments like rats.
Because they are not people anymore.
Others
An interesting thing here (and again proven through history) is that once when you start to dehumanize a group, that process can not be stopped until spreads to all parts of human society. So over time, everybody will be “others”, maybe because you will be an “other” simply because you want to think with your own head.
There is a strong and ancient need that we as humans want to accuse people who are different then we are of very abstract things. They may be a different race, religion, or have different political beliefs.
It all goes well until society is not running. Once society begins to fall, it is kinda open season on “others.”
Pay attention carefully where misinformation, panic, fear, and hate may lead you, or the people around you. It sucks to be “other.”
Coronavirus
The “Chinese” tourists from the beginning of this article were real-life examples of how panic works. There is saying here that “everything changes when heads start to roll.”
In other words, when people start to kill each other without real fear and consequences from the law and the system, when your life or life of your kid is on the line, things like freedom of speech, human rights, law and similar becoming distant memories. Suddenly, they’re just words and that transfer can happen really fast.
Since we mentioned fear from the coronavirus, I have some thoughts about that too.
This new epidemic has already brought a lot of panic, fear, and misinformation to all of us.
In truth, I do believe that nobody knows for certain how serious this may become worldwide. We do not have enough information.
The prepper world is full of information about it, and actually, there is a lot of fear and panic there, too. A lot of that is very excessive. I have a feeling that the S. may hit the fan because of fear and panic, not necessarily because of the virus itself.
On the other hand, we can look at how the Chinese government is reacting to that situation. And that really tells us it is something serious happening there.
Now, another interesting thing is that the Chinese system of rule is something that I am familiar with. I grew up in a similar system.
In situations like this, that kind of system is made to WORK instantly.
There are a few reasons for that. Let’s say it is a system where every man is a “soldier” and also it is a system that keeps people in strict control, for years.
I am not saying it is a good system. I am saying it is a system where things like failure, panic, and “desertion” are not acceptable.
Now, transfer a similar situation to your current system wherever you are. Ask yourself how would that response would work in your case. What would happen around you? I know for sure if that situation happened here around me, the system would simply cease to exist in a couple of weeks., Folks would be left to take care of their own with no system.
Are you ready to sacrifice your life, life of your family for “the greater good” of fighting the disease as they are asking in China? Or you would just bug in or bug out?
There are few good choices when panic and fear are involved.
About Selco:
Selco survived the Balkan war of the 90s in a city under siege, without electricity, running water, or food distribution. He is currently accepting students for his next women’s survival course here.
In his online works, he gives an inside view of the reality of survival under the harshest conditions. He reviews what works and what doesn’t, tells you the hard lessons he learned, and shares how he prepares today.
He never stopped learning about survival and preparedness since the war. Regardless of what happens, chances are you will never experience extreme situations as Selco did. But you have the chance to learn from him and how he faced death for months.
- Read more of Selco’s articles here.
- Buy his PDF books here.
- Buy his best-selling paperbacks, SHTF Survival Stories and The Dark Secrets of Survival here.
- Take advantage of a deep and profound insight into his knowledge by signing up for his online course SHTF Survival Boot Camp.
- Learn the inside story of what it was really like when the SHTF with his online course One Year in Hell.
Real survival is not romantic or idealistic. It is brutal, hard and unfair. Let Selco take you into that world.
Excellent article, Selco. One of your best. Thank you.
Speaking of “bugging out”, those planning to “live off the land” for any period of time should consider purchasing commercially made traps–ideally leg hold traps. Hunting involves active participation that may prove fruitless–in the case of shooting game or birds, the sound of gunfire is sure to draw unwanted official as well as unofficial attention. Traps are silent and work 24/7 and don’t require the trapper stay in the area. Prepare to eat animals you otherwise might not–so you can stay alive long enough to better your situation. Avoid snares–they are one-time use only, and resupply may be impossible. Consider subscribing to The Meat Trapper on YouTube–he teaches survival trapping, not fur trapping…
Anyone planning to “bug out” and live off the land is going to die.
If the locals don’t shoot them, they will starve to death in short order.
Exactly!!! 1.There is not enough wildlife 2.Local “hunters” will get it first 3. Local “residents” will get the outsider “poachers” 4. Most will starve 4 to 6 weeks after food stores empty out. Even country folk have limited resources outside the food supply chain,
@J. Roberts (DOM, what is the DOM for?), and GenEarly,
Yep.
But us country folk have more resources at our disposal than most.
IF this Coronavirus thing were to come to the USA like it has in China, I got about 100lbs of frozen beef, pork, and chicken in the freezer now. If the power were to go out, well, the other night, it was in the single digits. We have had a few negative lows this year. Some in the up coming forecast.
Then there is the dozen or so chickens in the coop. Some are laying eggs.
I could put down a goat if it really came down to it.
“What does DOM stand for?”
I am a Licensed Doctor of Oriental Medicine/ Acupuncture Physician.
I studied in the US and briefly at theHeilongjiang School of Chinese Medicine in Harbin, China (up near the Russian border). In 1985 China was still very Communist, and the people had no freedom and were not allowed to practice capitalism. China at that time was an agricultural country and very very poor. There were almost no cars in Beijing, and everyone rode the same black bicycle called a “flying pigeon.” There were no skyscrapers or tall buildings.
For 35 years i have upheld and lived a 4,000 year old medical tradition. I stood in the trenches taking on all comers: The old, the chronically ill, those destroyed by Western Medicine and other types of “alternative” therapies. For most of those who came to me, I was the last hope, and many got better, because I stand with both feet in a proven and ancient medical tradition, didn’t charge a lot of money, and because I can “See.” Part of my training involved my teacher and I sitting in the treatment room, and the patient comes in. I am not allowed to ask the patient questions or touch them. My teacher then says to me: Tell me, why has this patient come for treatment?
The Chinese treat me with great respect, and they consider me as almost one of them.
Those Westerners who do business in China and think they know the Chinese people are fooling themselves. The Chinese say one thing to each other and another thing to the Gewilo.
As my translator once said to me: “When Chinese speak English, then the US has the power, but when Americans begin to speak Chinese (Mandarin) then China has the power.
@J Roberts,
Ok, tracking ya!
My comment was just placed into moderation.
Dear moderators, please delete my comment.
And…….If I am not allowed to freely comment, then this is not the place for me, and we can part as friends.
I didn’t put your comment in moderation – each name has to have a certain number of posts cleared before it goes through automatically. You recently changed your user name, so that is why your posts went into moderation. We do this to cut down on spam appearing on the website. As well, if there is a link in a person’s post, it will also go automatically into moderation for the same reason.
@Leonard,
I agree, traps are good.
Sitting in a deer stand waiting for dinner to come into range for hours or days on end is not fun.
But better is raising rabbits.
“We do not have enough information.” Quote from Selco’s article above.
Some accounts have called what is happening in China a “lockdown”. A lockdown can take place when prisoners riot. A situation doesn’t have to have one or two sides, there can be more to an event.
“On the other hand, we can look at how the Chinese government is reacting to that situation. And that really tells us it is something serious happening there.” From article above.
As a side-note, vice-versa, when a Communist government does not do anything regarding an event, it may be an indication that something is occurring. When six children saw apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the town of Medjugorje, a town located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on-site government officials keep quiet and reported nothing. Then, the Catholic Church has not recognized the apparitions as either supernatural or authentic.
Easy to read book on how simple it is to break down a person,
“Snapping: America’s Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change” is a 1978 book which describes the authors’ theory of religious conversion. They propose that “snapping” is a mental process through which a person is recruited by a cult or new religious movement, or leaves the group through deprogramming or exit counseling. Political ideological conversions are also included, …”.
Substitute “boot camp” for “cult” and the book’s premise is still valid.
It’s easy to dehumanize or break down someone in boot camp. Say there are ninety “draftees” not happy being there. What the company commander does to deflect these emotions away from him is to pick a scrap-goat, a person who didn’t properly fold their underwear that led to a failed inspection with the resulting mass-punishment, two thousand jumping jacks. That person receives a blanket -party. Now there are eighty-nine in the company. Figure fourteen weeks of boot camp, one sacrifice every one or two weeks. Pray you’re not number seventy-six or higher.
Moloch lives.
Now the reminder of the company has be dehumanized and trained to perceive themselves as us against them. Once a person is broken down without a sense of individual identity or self-worth it is easy for them to be controlled. There is no bounty between that person and their handler the company commander. All it would take is a suggestion to do something they wouldn’t otherwise. Anyone remember a Beatles song lyric “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together “?
This doesn’t explain what happened in Sarajevo but may possibly illustrate what can blossom when a seed of an idea is planted ahead of a major stressful situation. Perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence Radovan Karadzic was a psychiatrist before being a politician.
Or, we just all have the latent potential already in us whelter we think we don’t or not.
“Now, another interesting thing is that the Chinese system of rule is something that I am familiar with. I grew up in a similar system.”
Being in the military is like a Communist system. Top-down control. In the military they have Leadership Classes for ‘third and second class’ personnel where they teach how to play mind games or how to control those below you. It works regardless if you understand how it does it or not. Kinda like dog obedience training.
Why do humans go to war?
by Lindybeige
Time 1:06:40, that’s one hour six minutes.
YouTube
1/31/2020
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+lindybeige&view=detail&mid=D9625FCA587A21FF2829D9625FCA587A21FF2829&FORM=VIRE
Interestedly, he also has videos of what happens what happens when the bullets begin to fly, and soldiers quickly lose their will to fight.
To wax philosophical along with you Selco, I would add that there is a downward spiralling process that leads to dehumanization. So much can be traced back to the seven deadly sins. The antidote to which are the opposite being virtues. These happen on an individual level and then are combined with others who have similar angst against normal decency because they somehow feel deprived of supremacy over others. Those become obsessed with an agenda and so their path leads to dehumanization of others to achieve their personal ends ensconced in the ideals of “the greater good.” This has been with all people in all times everywhere. These are the true slaves whether they be elite or dirt poor.
The need for revenge is as old as the hills and usually takes the most god-awful forms. But only as individuals can we decide in favor of redemption wherever we find ourselves facing our fellow.
Also, misinformation is useful to the PTB. It keeps people demoralized and neutralized from being proactive. The MSM has cried wolf so many times we don’t know what to think about what the truth really is. And then we’ve got everyone’s theories about what *might* be true because it sounds plausible.
So prep on because that is the only way to know how to be at least somewhat ready for what comes your way mentally and physically. Reality will sort itself out eventually.
Fear-porn is useful for controlling people as it then takes over rational thought. Similarly, it’s best not join in when peope are rioting and observe who is contolling the event.
Fear is also useful for ‘divide and conquer’ as it causes one group to turn against another only to be walked over when all sides are exhausted.
Isn’t the Rule of Law one form of Revenge? Violent people hestitate knowing the reaction for their action will be worst.
(On the other side of the coin, people with short term memories forget people with long term memory don’t. A case in point would be the Seige of Peking. It was a tactical and strategic win but a moral loss as the then defeated people still want revenge.)
Dehumanizing an enemy is useful since a person will be less likely to kill someone if they see that person as similiar to themselves, a regular person with a family and a job. Better to create a stereotype or caricature of the enemy, then they are viewed as sub-human. Europe is funny in this respect since as a general rule of thumb anyone to the East of you is an animal, same for anyone to the south of you. The English and the French look down on the Germans who look down on the Poles and Russians. Unfortunately, geographically that leaves the Balkans in a precarious position. Ironically, the families that started WWI were all cousins. And the war was halted by the Spanish Influenza.
Always view information as suspect until it can be verified by other sources.
Unfortunately in this Cornonavirus thing, there is so much information, you would not know the real, actual truth if it was staring you in the face.