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What if something so bad happened that the entire government shut down? Perhaps surviving without the government would be tougher than many of us may think.
As I sit here writing this, the government is shut down. I know you’ve probably heard about it and if you’re like me, you’re wondering what’s the big deal. After all, what most of us would really like to say is some version of “So what?” “Good riddance” or “We don’t need them” in response. But the reality is that we need the government; perhaps now more than ever.
What’s So Tough About Surviving Without The Government?
Don’t get me wrong; I’m no big fan of the government, especially not of big government. As far as I’m concerned, most of the regulatory agencies in the government do nothing useful. They merely take our money to pay their extravagant salaries and expense accounts. Nevertheless, even those agencies have a place in modern society, or at least some of the functions they perform do.
Sadly, we need a few of these regulatory agencies because our country is not currently populated by the moral and religious people that John Adams said [1] our Constitution was written for. Since there are many who lack self-government, we need someone to keep them in line.
“Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
In reality, only a small portion of the government is out of operation. The rest is functioning under partial spending bills which came into effect late last year. Even some of the parts where there is no money to pay workers are still open for business [2]. Moreover, authorities have promised to pay those government workers as soon as Washington approves the budget. They are working because their functions are critical. So, it is illegal for them to leave their posts, even without pay.
Surviving Without The Government During A Total Shutdown
Notwithstanding, what if the government was really shut down? What if something so bad happened that the entire government shut down? What would happen then?
The government exists to do things that we can’t do for ourselves. On a national level, the most important of those are national defense and representing our interests with other countries. At lower levels of government, the most important thing that happens is to protect us from criminal activity through the capture and prosecution of criminals. If the government were to go down, those functions would cease to exist.
Granted, there are a lot of other important things that the government does. Another example would be the municipal water authorities who supply clean drinking water. Nonetheless, these things all pale in comparison to the problems which would exist without the government present to enforce the rule of law.
Surviving Without The Government Means Surviving Without The Rule Of Law
The first thing that happens in countries which lose their governments is that they lose this rule of law. Everything else that happens to them follows after that. Without the government in place and the rule of law, other services that the government provides come to a screeching stop.
However, nature abhors a vacuum and so does humanity. If there is no government in power, there will be people who move in to take control. It has happened over and over again. These people are usually called warlords. By and large, they are nothing more than gang leaders backed by a bunch of bullies with guns. Rival groups fight against each other, thereby seeking to take control. Everything else collapses since these warlords and their backers don’t know how to keep it running. Ultimately, they are more interested in power than anything else. They are thugs and nothing more.
Consequently, surviving in a world without government means surviving in a world run by these warlords. How do we do that? You can forget about bugging in and hoping they will leave you alone. One of the things that warlords always do is steal from people. It’s no different than the mafia making people pay for protection. Once they find out that you have anything of value, they’ll come to take it away. As a result, there are only a few things that you can do.
Surviving Without The Government: Should You Just Join The Bad Guys?
The first option is to join them… which is not a very good option. This entails being just as bad as they are and treating others just as poorly as they do. It also means giving them everything you have. If you kept it for yourself you would show that you aren’t really a part of the group. The leader would decide what you got to keep and I doubt it would be anything worthwhile.
Surviving Without The Government: If You Can’t Join Them, Beat Them
The best time to defeat any warlord or gang that tries to move in is as soon as they arrive and before they can consolidate their power and grow their ranks. You may not want to join them, but there are always people who will, seeing that as the only way to survive. No matter how many followers that warlord has when he arrives, that will be the point where he is at his weakest. It will also be the time when he has the least knowledge of the area. As a consequence, you will have your greatest advantage at that point.
You probably won’t be able to defeat them on your own unless you have a strong survival group. This would consist of individuals who are experts in military operations. Rather, you’ll need to gather other armed citizens together and form a militia to defend your homes and community. This strategy will have to include killing off the invaders before they can kill you off.
When Worst Comes To Worst, Build A New Government
Gathering that militia together is the first step of the next option, along with building a new local government. Men cannot coexist without some sort of governmental order. This is because the rule of law can’t exist without some sort of governmental authority. Even in communes and other social experiments where groups of people have tried to separate themselves from society, there was still some form of leadership and government, even if it was informal.
Whether your existing local government becomes part of this new government or not will depend on the strength, ability, and character of the people in it. Those who feel a responsibility to their community will try to do what they can to establish order and protect the people. Those who don’t have that moral conviction will inevitably fail to do so.
This may seem strange, but for your own protection, you need to be concerned about the safety of your community. I realize that this goes against the isolationist attitude that is typical of preppers, but it is necessary. If there is no local government to protect you, you’ll have to protect yourself. While you may be able to do that against 10 or 12 people trying to steal your food, there’s no way you can do it against 20 or 30 armed ruffians under a warlord.
Out Of Options? Try Bugging Out And Getting Away From The Chaos
Finally, your best option might just be to bug out and get away. Of course, that means having someplace to bug out to. You’ll need a place where you and your family can live in peace, perhaps with your survival team. But that means having a prepared survival retreat you can go to which is equipped and supplied with enough to get you going.
Even then, you will need to establish some sort of governmental order within your survival team or community, along with the ability to defend yourself. Unless you can get away to a place that is sufficiently isolated enough to guarantee that those warlords can’t find you, they eventually will. Then you will be in the fight of your life just to survive.
You may also enjoy reading an additional Off The Grid News article: Here’s What We Can Learn From Brexit Doomsday Preppers In The UK [3]
What are your thoughts on surviving without the government? Let us know in the comments below.