Stop being a patient in a collapsing system

COVID showed us what happens when we let fear and dependency rule. The next round doesn’t have to steamroll us.

Recently we read a piece by

Michael Campi

(author of

Way Past What the F**K

) that got us thinking about staying healthy (or “safe” as he put it) in a time of collapse. While we differ on some of the framing (we don’t see COVID as a deadly threat), his central question is the right one: how can you prepare if you’re afraid of getting sick or medically dependent on a system that’s already cracking?

Michael wrote:

…from what I’ve seen, the privileged version of staying safe is a very expensive proposition, largely dependent on the continuation of industrial civilization.

Derrick Jensen mentioned once that he would not survive the collapse because he was tied to the medical establishment for the medications he needed to treat his condition.

I have never seen any posts about what happens to a carefully constructed, expensive Covid safe environment when those people are confronted with having to flee a fire or hurricane or tornado or flood and end up in an evacuation center with other refugees who are largely ignoring precautions.

How is that going to affect their lives?

How are they going to deal with the rest of the unconscious world when they are forced into close contact?

When their bubble is popped, and they realize that none of their home based mitigations are available, will it finally dawn on them that they are helpless in a world that has largely forgotten Covid?

COVID touched everyone differently. Some lost loved ones. Some lost jobs. Some lost trust in government, medicine, and even their own neighbors. But what’s undeniable is that the experience steamrolled entire societies. We can’t let the same dynamic flatten us again.

If we’ve learned anything from the last few years, it’s this: the system will not save you. Hospitals tried to kill you, public health advice was useless, and supply chains buckled. In our estimation, the best insurance for the next round of whatever is coming is to take your health into your own hands right now.

Here’s a starting framework:

Build your foundation

• Get as strong and healthy as you can be in your current situation. We know that will mean different things to different people and there’s no silver bullet, but there is something each one of us can do to improve our health situation from where it is today. Don’t wait for the system to collapse before you start walking more, stretching, lifting weights, fasting, or whatever it is you need to be healthier.

• Dial in your nutrition. If you eat things from a cardboard box, start replacing with real, whole ingredients. If you buy all your organic veggies at Whole Foods, start growing some of your own at home. Figure out how to replace or live without the things you eat most often in case they become unavailable. Learn how to cook real food, preserve it, and source it locally.

Break your dependency

• As much as possible, unhook yourself from reliance on medical interventions. If you’re on daily prescriptions, make sure they are all 100% necessary and start exploring alternatives if at all possible.

• Stock up on anything you truly can’t live without. Look for multiple ways to source your necessary medications so you won’t suffer if there’s a supply chain breakdown. As much as you can, secure a buffer of a few weeks or even months.

Strengthen your knowledge

• Learn basic first aid. If you can stop bleeding, set a bone, or give someone CPR, you start to become your own hospital. The confidence you’ll gain from knowing what to do in an emergency will immediately push panic into the corner.

• Study natural remedies. Plants, herbs, and traditional practices are the medicines that have outlasted empires. Know which plants in your area have beneficial qualities (and learn which ones are poisonous, too!). Stock up on essential oils, homeopathic remedies, Chinese tinctures, or whatever works for you. Having these on hand and knowing how to use them may make all the difference in a pinch.

Rewire your mind

• Stop being scared. Fear was the real pandemic that was unleashed in 2020. The more you know about how things work and what you can do to take control, the braver you will feel. Courage, ultimately, is your immune system’s best friend.

• Train yourself to endure stress. Do a prolonged fast, expose yourself to cold temperatures, practice controlled breathing — all of these things will be dress rehearsals for the hard days to come.

Fortify your environment

• Assess your home now, before an emergency sets in. Do you have a way to secure clean water and air? If not, invest in filters before you need them (and before they sell out at the box stores).

• Stock your medicine chest. Make sure you have a good supply of bandages, antiseptics, vitamins, and probiotics — and the knowledge of how to use them.

Build your tribe

• Find alternative care providers. Midwives, herbalists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, naturopaths — these people will matter when the system is rationing care.

• Share skills in your community. What your neighbor knows may be the key to your survival, and vice versa. Relationships may prove much more valuable than your insurance card when the chips are down.

Health is the first line of collapse preparedness. Without it, nothing else matters. With it however, you’re harder to break, harder to control, and harder to scare.

It comes down to a pretty simple choice: stay a fearful patient in a collapsing system, or become the master of your own resilience.

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