This is not about the election. Everyone has made up his mind and there are not enough of us here to change anything anyway. This is about the events surrounding & following the election.
As you know the election is a focus of conflict for several interests on several fronts. All of that has been jawed about endlessly and I won't rehash it here. My goal is to help you prepare yourselves & your families to avoid the problems that may result.
My list is intended to be of general value in situations like what we're seeing today. Perhaps the election theme will help get you going.
Overview
Your circumstances are unique but not that unique. Everyone needs certain things.
You want to be safe. This has prerequisites.
You need a safe home base. Where your wife sleeps, where your children come to play with their toys. Your home.
You need to maintain employment. No employer, no money.
You need supplies. Food, water, duct tape.
You need transportation. Car, subway, walking.
You need information. What is going on and how will it affect you?
You need networks. A group of trustworthy people can gather information, access supplies, and adapt to change better than lone individuals.
You need optionality. One option is not an option at all. Having multiple ways of getting what you need gives you breathing room.
I will break these things down temporally.
Before the Election (when life is still somewhat normal)
At this period of time the world is still somewhat predictable, things are available, and plans can be made. Take advantage of it.
Home Base
Is your home safe? What makes it accessible to bad guys? What makes it attractive to bad guys? How can you change this? If it turns out not to be safe where can you go instead?
- Reduce your home's accessibility to casual aggression. Close gaps, leave gates & garage doors shut.
- Reduce your home's attractiveness to aggression. Determine what people can see from the street both outside and inside the home. Consider removing objects such as flags that may have political insinuations.
- Find alternate places to live such as a friend's house or a hotel. Talk about it now. These choices may be safe now but unsafe later so have backups. If you are considering a hotel have the contact information handy so you can get ahead of others with the same idea.
Employment
Is your place of employment safe? Odds are you don't have the pull to make changes but you can still cover your six.
- Identify multiple entrances & exits and know which direction threats can come.
- Park where you have multiple ways to get out.
- Review your company's emergency plans with an eye towards mass human threats. Consider talking with your safety coordinator about how the company plans to deal with threats posed by local protests.
- If you work at a risky location or anticipate needing to get out consider putting in for a vacation day on election day
Supplies
You need some stuff. In normal times you can go out and buy it. Abnormal times may require you to have it on hand.
- Water. If water supplies are contaminated or broken you will not be told ahead of time. The rule of thumb is to have 5 gallons of water on hand per person per day to cover drinking, food preparation, and hygiene.
- Food. Have several days' of food on hand that doesn't require preparation or refrigeration.
- Fuel. Stopping at the station during a riot is dicey.
- Stuff. This is a catch-all. Whatever you may need to have on hand, have it.
- Location. Having what you need is no good if it's somewhere you can't get to. Split up your supplies among possible destinations and your transportation so you are guaranteed to have something no matter what.
Transportation
You need to get to work, get home, and maybe get out of dodge.
- Vehicle maintenance. Make sure your wheels will get you where you need to go when you need to get there. Low tires? Low fluids? Half a tank? Fix it.
- Secondary transportation. If you can't use your car what can you use? What special considerations will it have? Bicycles are lower in profile than cars & can go places cars can't but are slow and lack shielding.
- Multiple routes. Determine multiple routes to get to all your destinations. Find three ways to get to work. Find three ways to get to each of your prospective home bases -- both from your home and from your work. Find routes that avoid possible hot spots.
Information
Multiple options are of little use if you don't know which one is appropriate at the time.
- Plug into mainstream news sources that will cover mass events. There is much the MSM won't tell you but protests and riots are well covered.
- Identify social media sources. Many left-wing social media sources are used to publicly coordinate events. Find some for your area.
- Police & emergency scanners may be useful in your area. You don't necessarily need a physical scanner to listen in; there are smartphone apps that stream this information. Some police channels are encrypted and thus unusable.
Networks
Real people are more likely to know what needs knowing, provide back-channel access to scarce resources, and offer some kind of protection.
- Refresh your existing connections. You already know a lot of people. Get on the same page.
- Reciprocation is key. The ability & willingness to offer value opens the door for others to do the same.
- Show people they are not alone. Isolate leads to desperation and despair. Community provides encouragement and the sense of responsibility that can get things done.
- Cultivate multiple networks. Don't get stuck on forming "your team." Odds are you touch multiple tight networks as well as larger, looser networks.
- Identify key people and become valuable to them. Be valuable both now and later.
Election Day (when things get critical)
This is the period of acute crisis. Events are bigger than you and you must be alert, nimble, and reactive.
Home Base
- Be grey. Blend in with everyone and everything else. Attracting attention is wrong.
- Be hard. Predators go for easy prey. Don't be easy.
- Be elsewhere. Be a hero at the time & place of your choosing. The rest of the time stay out of trouble.
Employment
- If you have to be at work, pay attention to what's going on both nearby and further away. You may need to leave at short notice or coordinate with others.
Supplies
- What you have is what you get. Keep it near by.
- Be prepared to make quick choices. Accept that you may have to ditch stuff.
Transportation
- Be aware of your surroundings and your options when you travel. Don't get pinned in. Don't get fixated.
Information
- Keep sources queued up so if one thing drops off or loses value the next is available.
Networks
- Keep in touch with your people. Communication is key.
- Consider scheduled checkups on key people, such as the elderly.
After Election Day (the new normal)
Maybe things go back to the way they were and maybe they don't. Expect changes and expect further changes.
Home Base
- Re-evaluate your situation based on the properties of the new world. Should you leave? Don't let sentimentality get in the way of survival.
- Identify new alternate home bases.
Employment
- Is your company responding well to the changes? Are you staying valuable?
- Identify alternate opportunities in this new world.
- If you anticipate needing a new job odds are others will as well. Be prepared to beat the rush.
- Get a side hustle. Be valuable.
Supplies
- Identify things you need that will be scarce or hard to acquire. Develop ways of securing them outside normal channels.
- Maintain accurate inventory so you know far in advance when you will be short something.
Transportation
- Continue with regular maintenance. Breaking down will not get safer.
- Re-evaluate routes based on the features of the new normal.
Information
- Find new information sources that have emerged since the crises. These things keep changing.
Networks
- Continue strengthening your existing networks & engaging with new ones.
- Repetition is reputation. Buy car parts from your car parts guy. Buy beef from your rancher guy. Play poker with your poker guys. One-off transactions are not relationships. Some things may be cheaper from the big box store but the big box store doesn't need you.
Nothing stays the same forever. The aftermath of one crisis is the prelude to another. Don't get in a rut.
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